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/ 1 February 2005
A state witness in the sex-crimes trial of advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo aroused suspicions from the defence on Tuesday when he appeared to become ”very hot”. This happened while Prinsloo’s advocate, Piet Coetzee, was cross-examining Captain Carel Cornelius in the Pretoria High Court.
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/ 1 February 2005
South Africans have already topped the R10-million target the Red Cross set for aid to tsunami-ravaged Indian Ocean countries, the charity said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an aircraft on a South African mercy flight to tsunami victims in Somalia landed in that country on Tuesday morning after being delayed in Uganda.
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/ 1 February 2005
On the same day that the International Rugby Board confirmed the three host contestants for the 2011 Rugby World Cup — South Africa, New Zealand and Japan — the South African Football Rugby Union was warned that full and final government support for the event is not yet guaranteed.
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/ 1 February 2005
The reason the sex-crimes trial of Pretoria advocates Cezanne Visser and Dirk Prinsloo is in the high court rather than the regional court is for sensation, the defence argued on Tuesday. ”The sole purpose for the trial being heard in the high court is for sensation’s sake and to make an example of the accused,” Piet Coetzee argued for Prinsloo.
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/ 1 February 2005
A pathologist could not tell from Nelson Chisale’s broken bones whether he was dead or alive when thrown into a lions’ den in January 2004, the Phalaborwa Circuit Court heard on Tuesday. ”There was no flesh on the bones at all,” Dr Donald Mabunda told the court.
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/ 1 February 2005
Right-arm swing bowler Charl Langeveldt has been released from the South African squad for the next three matches in the Standard Bank one-day international series against England. Langeveldt broke a bone in his left hand during the third Test at Newlands on January 3.
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/ 1 February 2005
The opening of this year’s session of the South African Parliament by President Thabo Mbeki next week, on Friday February 11, is set to cost about R1,2-million, according to the government news agency BuaNews. It is "to be a spectacular affair, with South Africans from all walks of life expected to grace the event".
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/ 1 February 2005
Listed black economic empowerment fishing, medical equipment and information technology group Sekunjalo Investments has acquired 81,56% of the entire issued capital in the computer company Synergy Computing. The acquisition of Synergy boosts Sekunjalo’s strategic growth in its IT portfolio
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/ 31 January 2005
The African National Congress on Monday came out in support of the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ plans to visit Zimbabwe, while the South African government has criticised the trade federation’s plans. Said ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama: ”Cosatu should go there, but respecting the laws of the country.”
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/ 31 January 2005
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development will respond on Tuesday to a Sunday newspaper report that claimed an administrative bungle had resulted in the arresting powers of some peace officers being wrongfully withdrawn — rendering illegal certain of their actions, such as the issuing of fines.
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/ 31 January 2005
Giant soccer clubs Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, together with the biggest church in the country, the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), have merged to form a cellular network distribution. ZOK, derived from the first letters of Zion, Orlando and Kaizer, was officially announced at a media briefing in Midrand on Monday.
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/ 31 January 2005
The Department of Public Works is compiling a shortlist of candidates to be interviewed to head the government’s R15-billion Expanded Public Works Programme. The programme’s aim is to create a million jobs over a five-year period — at least 200 000 each year. But the Democratic Alliance said it is all going too slowly.
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/ 31 January 2005
Gold Fields will continue to oppose Harmony’s hostile offer, the mining company said on Monday. ”This deal is far from over, not only has the fat lady not sung, she is nowhere near sight,” Gold Fields chief executive Ian Cockerill said at the release of the company’s December 2004 quarterly results in Johannesburg.
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/ 31 January 2005
South African exports rose by 7% in rand terms and 25,7% in dollar terms in 2004, as the strong rand failed to dent export growth due to strong demand from China and high commodity prices. Exporters are reporting buoyant demand, which is sadly constrained by bottlenecks on the railways and harbours, not by the strong rand.
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/ 31 January 2005
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) thinks Deputy President Jacob Zuma should be the next president of the country, the organisation said on Monday. ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula said the league is satisfied that Zuma should succeed President Thabo Mbeki.
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/ 31 January 2005
A 20-month-old baby boy burnt to death on Monday morning when his mother’s shack caught fire in Orlando West, Soweto, police said. Police spokesperson Sergeant Richard Munyai said the 20-year-old mother was outside doing her laundry when the fire started.
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/ 31 January 2005
The government has officially given SA Rugby its support for the union’s bid for the 2011 World Cup tournament. Beeld newspaper reported on Monday that Minister of Sport and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile has handed an official letter, in which the government’s support is stated, to bid committee chairperson Francois Pienaar.
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/ 31 January 2005
A police officer had to cut the skin off a finger found in a lions’ den in Hoedspruit in order to get a fingerprint, the Phalaborwa Circuit Court heard on Monday. The court is trying three men accused of murdering Nelson Chisale by feeding him to lions in January 2004.
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/ 31 January 2005
The Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial resumed in the Durban High Court on Monday without the hype that signalled the start of the case last October. Forensic auditor Johan van der Walt told the court that Deputy President Jacob Zuma owed fraud and corruption accused Schabir Shaik R2,2-million in capital and interest.
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/ 31 January 2005
Volkswagen South Africa intends to expand its commercial vehicle interests and invest more than R1,2-billion in South Africa over the next three years, the company said in Johannesburg on Monday. The company intends exporting buses and trucks to right-hand-drive countries in Africa and, later, to Asia.
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/ 31 January 2005
Ajax Cape Town beat Swaziland’s Mhlambanyatsi Rovers in the first leg of the first round of the CAF Champions league by 1-0 at Newlands on Sunday. The goal came in the 35th minute when clever play by Brent Carelse saw the ball go to Nhlanhla Tshabalala, whose powerful shot ricocheted into the goal off a defender.
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/ 31 January 2005
Jomo Cosmos gained a valuable point when they drew 1-1 against title-chasing Moroka Swallows in a hard-fought Castle Premiership match at Rustenburg on Sunday. Struggling Cosmos were full value for their point and coach Jomo Sono was happy after successive defeats at the same venue against leaders Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
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/ 31 January 2005
A comment from the television commentators about Colin Montgomerie helped England’s Simon Wakefield to victory at the Dimension Data Pro-Am golf tournament at the par-72 Gary Player Country Club on Sunday. Wakefield signed for a three-under-par 69 on Sunday, to end the tournament on a nine-under total of 279.
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/ 28 January 2005
South African Airways (SAA) is offering voluntary severance packages to its 602 managers as part of its effort to turn the business around, the company announced in Johannesburg on Friday. Chief executive Khaya Ngqula announced this at a press conference at Johannesburg International airport on Friday.
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/ 28 January 2005
Scorpions spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said in a statement on Friday that the 40 MPs implicated in the Travelgate scandal — 27 current and 13 former MPs — will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on February 18. The names of the MPs — who allegedly used their travel vouchers for illicit purposes — will be disclosed when they appear in court.
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/ 28 January 2005
Four South Africans are still unaccounted for following their disappearance during the Asian tsunami disaster, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in Pretoria on Friday. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sue van der Merwe said the South African government is still working closely with Interpol to trace the missing people.
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/ 28 January 2005
Despite recent rain, Lake St Lucia — South Africa’s first World Heritage Site — is still below its normal levels, Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife said on Friday. At present, the level of the lake is about 80cm below mean sea level, and the lake’s surface area is about 30% of normal. The lake has become compartmented into three distinct water bodies.
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/ 28 January 2005
The Freedom Front Plus, which has waged a parliamentary campaign against retrenchments at Telkom, has congratulated the partly state-owned company and its three trade unions after an agreement was struck to put the redundancy of 4 300 of its workers on the back-burner.
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/ 28 January 2005
South Africa has sacrificed the nation’s sporting potential once before under apartheid, and the country should not make the same mistake again, says official opposition leader Tony Leon. ”If the state applies racial criteria to cricket and rugby, what is next? Will there be quotas for bridge and lawn bowls?” Leon asked in his weekly newsletter.
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/ 28 January 2005
Moroka Swallows are hoping to send struggling Jomo Cosmos deeper into the relegation quagmire at Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phokeng near Rustenburg on Sunday. ”Cosmos are in serious trouble, we are going to tear them to pieces in their own backyard,” warned Swallows marketing and communications manager Sipho Xulu.
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/ 28 January 2005
The burgeoning cheese industry in South Africa, which has been around for more than 100 years, is set to benefit when the first plug of formerly disadvantaged cheesemakers goes to France to learn more about the trade. The objective is to offer cheesemakers the opportunity to gain new skills and expertise by doing an intensive, three-week course.
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/ 27 January 2005
The war of words between former Western Cape Independent Democrats leader Lennit Max and the ID’s top brass refused to settle on Thursday, with Max refuting earlier claims by party leader Patricia de Lille that he had ”unconditionally” withdrawn high court litigation.