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/ 4 February 2005
De Beers Consolidated Mines will most certainly start its planned job cuts in Koffiefontein. The <i>Mail & Guardian</i> reported three weeks ago that the diamond miner planned to cut 1 400 jobs in its South African operations. The Koffiefontein mine is located in the southern Free State and employs 795 people.
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/ 3 February 2005
Cobras and green mambas endanger the lives of children at a ”jungle school” in KwaZulu-Natal, the principal complained on Thursday. ”You can’t leave your teaching aids in the classes because the monkeys run in and destroy everything,” said Anastacia Mhlongo, principal of Engweni Primary School in the Dukuduku forest near Mtubatuba.
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/ 3 February 2005
South Africans interviewed in a survey on education had some disagreeable things to say, with about two-thirds of respondents agreeing education is in crisis and standards are falling. Asked if schools are better today than 10 years ago, 48% agreed, 46% disagreed and 6% did not know.
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/ 3 February 2005
SA Rugby bosses and the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee executive emerged full of smiles from talks on Thursday, adamant that common ground had been reached. ”I think this was an excellent meeting — it was long overdue,” said SA Rugby president Brian van Rooyen.
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/ 3 February 2005
The African National Congress says the so-called "Travelgate" probe into the misuse of MPs’ travel vouchers has been carried out in a "vindictive" and "unplanned" manner. But the official opposition Democratic Alliance says the ruling party wants to "smear the Scorpions" and "obscure the culpability" of MPs.
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/ 3 February 2005
All 22 members of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturer’s Association (PMA) have agreed to adhere to their published medicine prices even though there is disagreement over whether they are legally obliged to do so, the PMA said on Thursday. The PMA is currently working to have all its members’ single exit prices on its website.
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/ 3 February 2005
The South African gold-mining industry has been in a period of decline over the past 10 years and further consolidation of the sector is a logical move, such as the proposed merger of Harmony and Gold Fields, Harmony chief executive Bernard Swanepoel said on Thursday.
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/ 3 February 2005
Beggars at major intersections in Johannesburg were pulled off the streets on Thursday by the Johannesburg Metro Police in a crackdown forming part of Operation Token Days, which targets the breaking of by-laws. Loud voices, screaming and sirens made a telephone conversation with a metro police spokesperson virtually impossible.
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/ 3 February 2005
A child complainant in the sex-crimes trial of Pretoria advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo had confessed to attempting blackmail others in the past, the high court heard on Thursday. Prinsloo’s advocate Piet Coetzee asked investigating officer Captain Carel Cornelius whether he was aware the girl had previously laid a charge against other people.
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/ 3 February 2005
Five people were critically injured and at least 20 hurt when a tornado whipped through the town of Klipplaat near Jansenville in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday evening. ”The town looks like Baghdad. It’s dead. There was wind, rain, hail coming from all four corners,” Iqwezi municipality councillor Mannetjie Blouw said.
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/ 3 February 2005
Defence counsel for three men accused of feeding a man to lions in Hoedspruit last year had to delay presenting their case on Thursday after one of the accused fell ill. ”Accused number one tells me he’s suffering from chest and throat pains,” Mathews Kekana, counsel for Richard ”Doctor” Mathebula, said outside the Phalaborwa Circuit Court.
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/ 3 February 2005
Silver Stars moved up to seventh spot of the Castle Premier Soccer League log on Wednesday afternoon courtesy of a late strike from Dingane Masanabo. His goal in the 82nd minute gave the home team a 1-0 victory over Ajax Cape Town at the Seshego Stadium. A number of opportunities were missed by both teams.
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/ 3 February 2005
Defending champions Kaizer Chiefs moved into second place in the Castle Premiership when they defeated Black Leopards 3-0 in their Premier Soccer League fixture played at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday night. Collins Mbesuma, who celebrated his 21st birthday in style after the game in which he scored the opening two goals for Amakhosi.
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/ 3 February 2005
Jomo Cosmos eased their relegation woes when they beat a struggling Santos 2-0 in a Castle Premier Soccer League match played at Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night. Santos, on the other hand, now face a real danger of being relegated. Both goals were scored in the first half.
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/ 2 February 2005
SA Rugby president Brian van Rooyen on Wednesday emphatically quashed rumours of a rift with the government regarding the bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup. A spokesperson SA Rugby has the full support of the sports minister ”on condition they come back and reach certain measurables”.
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/ 2 February 2005
Listed media group Moneyweb Holdings has agreed to sell 80% of its 19,62% stake in radio station Classic FM to empowerment group Huntrex for a cash consideration of R4-million, Moneyweb said on Wednesday. Moneyweb said the disposal will take effect from the earlier of February 15 or the payment of the first tranche of R2-million.
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/ 2 February 2005
South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs has signed a contract to play for the English club Lashings later this year from June to August. The club’s owner, David Folb, has brought a ”Harlem Globetrotter” element to the team in the past few years when it contracted some of the world’s greatest cricketers, past and present.
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/ 2 February 2005
Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter is taking no chances when he faces Australia in a friendly international at the Absa Stadium in Durban next Wednesday night. Baxter on Wednesday selected a balanced combination with the emphasis on attack. He named leading Premier Soccer League striker Sandile Ndlovu of Dynamos as his only new cap.
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/ 2 February 2005
The Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial has been adjourned until Friday, when the state and defence will argue the admissibility of documents submitted by the state. These documents include the infamous encrypted fax as well as those confiscated during search and seizure operations in France and Mauritius.
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/ 2 February 2005
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will meet its Zimbabwean counterparts on Thursday after the union federation was turned away at Harare airport on Wednesday. The 20-strong delegation was expected back at Johannesburg International airport on Wednesday afternoon.
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/ 2 February 2005
The official opposition has welcomed the South African Reserve Bank’s announcement that it will be changing the national payments system to create room for increased competition in South African banking. The Democratic Alliance said the move will encourage lower service charges.
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/ 2 February 2005
Mpumalanga Economic Empowerment Corporation chief executive Ernest Khosa has resigned again, the province’s finance department confirmed on Wednesday. Spokesperson Thomas Nkosi said Khosa resigned on Tuesday. He resigned last week, but withdrew his resignation over the weekend.
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/ 2 February 2005
The sex crimes trial of Pretoria advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo is not to be used as a forum to discredit the police investigation, a Pretoria High Court judge warned on Wednesday. Judge Essop Patel questioned the relevance of questions put by the defence to investigating officer Captain Carel Cornelius.
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/ 2 February 2005
Health managers in the Eastern Cape face censure and possible dismissal if they do not deal with complaints about negligence at hospitals under their care, health minister Bevan Goqwana said on Wednesday. In a statement, Goqwana warned quality assurance managers to ”pull up their socks or ship out”.
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/ 2 February 2005
The Inkatha Freedom Party has expressed its shock at the suspension of Compensation Fund commissioner Bongiwe Ncube, apparently under investigation for management irregularities. ”The IFP demands that the case be discussed openly,” IFP labour spokesperson Prince Nhlahla Zulu said in a statement on Wednesday.
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/ 2 February 2005
A ”no-name brand” air gun was indeed the weapon pointed at her from the tree that murder victim Nelson Chisale was tied to in January this year, a domestic worker testified on Wednesday. She was giving evidence in the trial of three men accused of feeding Chisale to lions after assaulting him on a Limpopo farm.
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/ 2 February 2005
Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett had been appointed Western Province’s (WP) director of rugby, the president of the WP Rugby Football Union, Koos Basson, announced on Tuesday. The newly created position forms part of the strategic vision for WP rugby. Mallett has been appointed on a contract basis for three years.
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/ 1 February 2005
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) denied on Tuesday that it had been summoned to cover an international leprosy conference addressed by Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Monday. SABC spokesperson Paul Setsetse said the SABC found it unethical that journalists were reporting on the minister’s private conversations.
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/ 1 February 2005
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla formally introduced Vusi Pikoli, the newly appointed boss of the National Prosecuting Authority, to the institution’s staff on Tuesday, saying she expects the best from him. ”Advocate Pikoli, good wishes and I know you will deliver,” the minister told Pikoli.
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/ 1 February 2005
Murder charges against an elderly couple accused of killing five children at Molomini reserve near Msinga (Tugela Ferry) last month were withdrawn in the town’s Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. The couple was arrested two weeks ago after the children’s bodies were found in an abandoned car at the couple’s home.
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/ 1 February 2005
Former president Nelson Mandela and his Mozambican-born wife, Graca Machel, are among the nominees for the 2005 World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child. The announcement was made in Johannesburg on Tuesday by 15-year-old Xola Dubula, who will form part of an international jury of children to decide who will get the prestigious prize.
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/ 1 February 2005
Unity Insurance — a new short-term insurance company owned 50,1% by Telesure Investments, the holding company of Auto & General, and 49,9% by a variety of black shareholders — has been launched in South Africa, the company said on Tuesday. Unity aims to bring black-empowered insurance products to the South African market.