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/ 2 November 2004

Palazzolo police officer hospitalised

The former police officer who broke down at the Vito Palazzolo inquiry on Monday has been admitted to a clinic, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court heard on Tuesday. Abraham Smith was to have testified at the inquiry, in which questions from Italian prosecutors are being put to a series of South African witnesses.

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/ 2 November 2004

Rustenburg is SA’s boom town

Rustenburg in the North West province has the distinction of having been South Africa’s fastest-growing urban area between 1996 and 2002, with an annual compound economic growth rate of 6%. The worst performance was put in by the Free State’s Goldfields, which showed an annual decline of 4,3% over the same period.

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/ 1 November 2004

Ten arrested for R4,5m mine pension fraud

Ten people were arrested on the West Rand and in the North West province on Monday, for allegedly defrauding the Mine Pension Fund of more than R4,5-million, police said. A spokesperson for the Johannesburg commercial crimes unit said several plots and houses of former mine employees were raided on Monday morning.

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/ 1 November 2004

Witness breaks down in Palazzolo hearing

A former elite police officer broke down on Monday in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, where he had been summoned to answer questions about alleged Mafia kingpin Roberto Palazzolo. Abraham Smith was called on the first day of a hearing in which questions drawn up by Italian prosecutors are being put to a series of witnesses.

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/ 1 November 2004

Namibian envoy’s grandson out on bail

A Namibian national accused of assaulting and attempting to rape a Pretoria advocate was granted R50 000 bail in the city’s magistrate’s court on Monday, radio news reported. Twenty-year-old Ismail ”Zondi” Ashipembe is the grandson of the third secretary at the Namibian High Commission.

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/ 1 November 2004

Chamsa wants VAT hike, end to pension tax

The Chambers of Commerce and Industry of South Africa (Chamsa) has welcomed the South African government’s commitment to low inflation — but says a thick-point definition of the target should be introduced. Chamsa also said value-added tax (VAT) should be increased by 1% to raise about R6,5-billion in tax revenue.

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/ 1 November 2004

Writing’s on the door for Telkom

Solidarity, the mainly white trade union, and the left-leaning Congress of South African Trade Unions were to work jointly on Monday to protest against retrenchments by fixed-line monopoly Telkom — by posting 25 statements on the door of the National Assembly. The Assembly is to debate the Telkom retrenchments on Tuesday.

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/ 1 November 2004

Sombre mood at school after wall collapse

Pupils and teachers at Brandwacht Primary School near Mossel Bay on Monday were mourning the death of an 11-year-old pupil, Aubrey Peterson, killed by a collapsing wall. The Western Cape education department said four other pupils were injured in the accident on Friday. The wall that collapsed was under construction at the time.

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/ 1 November 2004

Media pursue the sound of Shaik

<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/140506/shaik_icon_new.gif" align=left>The media took centre stage in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial in the Durban High Court on Monday. South African Broadcasting Corporation radio, e.tv and talk radio stations 702 and Cape Talk have applied to broadcast the trial. In its application, e.tv said it wants to broadcast sound, not pictures.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=124664">No proof of Shaik loans to Zuma</a>

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/ 30 October 2004

Grisly find during record dive

An Australian deep-water diver has discovered the 10-year-old remains of a fellow diver while setting a new world record, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Friday. The skeletal remains of Deon Dreyer, who died in 1994 inside Boesmansgat in the Northern Cape, were found at a depth of 271m.

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/ 30 October 2004

No proof of Shaik loans to Zuma

Despite two acknowledgement of debt letters, there was no indication that the R1,2-million that fraud and corruption accused Schabir Shaik gave Deputy President Jacob Zuma was as loans, the Durban High Court heard on Friday. It was not evident from the accounting records of Shaik’s Nkobi Holdings that there was an amount owing by Zuma.

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/ 29 October 2004

Wall collapses on schoolchildren

An 11-year-old pupil died and four others were injured when the wall of a classroom under construction collapsed on them at a school near Hartenbos in the southern Cape on Friday. Aubrey Peterson, who was in grade five at Brandwacht Primary School, and his school mates had been playing on the site.

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/ 29 October 2004

SAA soon out of Transnet stable

South African Airways (SAA) will soon be a separate entity reporting directly to the Department of Public Enterprises, Transnet chief executive Maria Ramos said on Friday. Addressing the Cape Town Press Club, Ramos said she has received permission from the Cabinet to begin the process of taking SAA out of the Transnet group.

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/ 29 October 2004

Mbeki honours the brave and talented

”Feeling great” and accepting his award on behalf of all New Zealanders who fought apartheid, was how Trevor Richards expressed himself after receiving the Order of OR Tambo on Friday in Pretoria. Amid much pomp and ceremony, President Thabo Mbeki bestowed national orders on 30 recipients at the Union Buildings.

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/ 29 October 2004

Govt was right to start Aids plan

The public protector ruled on Friday against a complaint that the Cabinet acted improperly when it approved the Department of Health’s plan for the treatment of HIV/Aids. This followed a complaint by Johannesburg woman Anita Allen, who said the assumption that HIV causes Aids has not been proved.

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/ 29 October 2004

SA will consider reviewing bank ownership

South Africa will give consideration to reviewing its policy on the ownership by foreign interests of South Africa’s banks, says Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel. In Parliament, he said the current policy "is informed by the view that four major banks is the minimum number necessary to ensure a certain level of competition in the market".

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/ 29 October 2004

Big news for small eyes

The evening news contains footage of bombs exploding in Baghdad and the ensuing carnage, as well as gruesome details from crime cases such as the murder of Leigh Matthews. SABC2 on Friday launches a news programme with the big news explained for kids.

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/ 28 October 2004

Thatcher court bid: Judgement reserved

Judgement was reserved on Thursday in Mark Thatcher’s Cape High Court bid to avoid answering questions from Equatorial Guinea prosecutors. Lawyers involved in the three-day hearing said that given the complexity of the case and the judges’ other commitments, judgement is unlikely to be handed down in the near future.

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/ 28 October 2004

‘Fuel price won’t break R5 a litre this year’

As the country holds its breath for confirmation of a fuel hike on Friday, economist Mike Schussler believes it will not break the R5 barrier this year. Preliminary figures released this week show that motorists should expect to pay an additional 19c a litre from next Wednesday. This means Gauteng drivers will be paying R4,87 a litre for petrol.

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/ 28 October 2004

Thatcher hearing enters third day

The Cape High Court hearing of Mark Thatcher’s bid to avoid answering questions from Equatorial Guinea prosecutors entered its third day on Thursday. State advocate Michael Donen is expected to finish his argument by lunch on Thursday, and Thatcher’s senior counsel, Peter Hodes, will reply after lunch.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=124499">E Guinea on ‘fishing expedition'</a>

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/ 28 October 2004

Shoprite reports improved turnover

Food retailer Shoprite Holdings is expecting an "exciting" and much-improved second half of 2004 compared with the same period in 2003, with its turnover in the three months from July to September rising by 9,3% on a like-for-like basis, continuing the upward sales trend it experienced in the latter part of its financial year to the end of June 2004.