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/ 15 November 2004
A clinical psychologist has described Pretoria’s high-security C-Max prison as ”inhumane, depressing, debilitating and destructive”. Dr Jurgens van Olselen on Monday testified in the Pretoria High Court trial of a convicted murderer who is claiming R500 000 in damages for allegedly being sent unlawfully to C-Max.
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/ 15 November 2004
Three police officers appeared in the Johannesburg Regional Court on Monday on charges of theft, defeating the ends of justice and assault — while a fourth was arrested on similar charges. The trio — a captain and two inspectors — were arrested on Friday after an investigation into the theft of stolen funds.
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/ 15 November 2004
Côte d’Ivoire rebel leader Guillame Soro will visit South Africa soon to discuss with President Thabo Mbeki solutions to the Ivorian civil war, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday. The United Nations Security Council is currently considering imposing financial and movement sanctions on Côte d’Ivoire.
Chirac vows to prevent ‘anarchy’
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/ 15 November 2004
Listed retailer Woolworths Holdings plans to repurchase R1-billion of its own shares using the proceeds from a securitisation of its in-store card book, the company revealed on Monday. The move could possibly be in preparation for a future black economic empowerment deal.
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/ 12 November 2004
A salvage team is removing all movable items, panelling and fittings from the wrecked ship BBC China, the ship’s joint response committee said on Friday. The team finished recovering all major pollutants from the wreck on Wednesday, and is now focused on stripping the accommodation section of the ship.
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/ 12 November 2004
The leaders and people of Israel and Palestine should honour the memories of Yasser Arafat and slain Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin by acting practically to achieve the ”peace of the brave”, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. He was paying tribute to the late Palestinian president in his weekly ANC Today newsletter.
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/ 12 November 2004
The African National Congress Youth League on Friday issued a statement in reaction to a Mail & Guardian report on Friday that listed ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula among African National Congress members with business interests. The league challenged the M&G to disclose Mbalula’s business interests.
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/ 12 November 2004
The Department of Home Affairs has again come under the spotlight with the arrest of an ”illegal agent” caught issuing legitimate documents, Pretoria police said on Friday. ”Top-level discussions will be held with the Department of Home Affairs to find what the problem is,” said police spokesperson Captain Piletji Sebola.
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/ 12 November 2004
Despite criticism he is beholden to the interests of big business, recently re-elected United States President George Bush appears to have driven a strong, principled and effective pro-Africa policy, says Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. ”There are aspects of the Bush presidency that deserve a closer look,” Leon states in his weekly newsletter.
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/ 12 November 2004
The government is being misled into believing the minibus taxi recapitalisation programme will work before it is tested, the Top Six Taxi Management said on Friday. ”There is no doubt that the government is being misled into believing the project will be implemented without a pilot run,” said a Top Six spokesperson.
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/ 12 November 2004
Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa started the debate in the National Assembly on Friday morning on the National Small Business Amendment Bill, which he said is aimed at reducing duplication of institutions underpinning small-business development.
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/ 11 November 2004
No licence application by a dispensing doctor has been turned down, the Constitutional Court heard on Thursday. This was in response to argument by dispensing doctors that their constitutional right to practice freely is being hampered by regulations linking the licence to where a health practitioner plans to operate.
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/ 11 November 2004
In a precedent-setting decision, the Cape High Court on Thursday ordered the attachment of the car of a Western Cape man arrested for drunken driving. ”This is the first, and we expect to do a lot more, particularly over the festive season,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Sipho Ngwema.
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/ 11 November 2004
Democratic Alliance Western Cape chairperson Kent Morkel says a claim that he took a bribe is "utter nonsense". Micro-loan provider Gilt Edged Management Services on Wednesday agreed to pay R65-million in fines and compensation on two counts of corruption, one of which involved an alleged R10 000 bribe to Morkel.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=125339">DA man linked to loan scam</a>
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/ 11 November 2004
Seventy people were left homeless and a toddler was killed when fire spread through shacks in KwaDabeka near Pinetown on Wednesday. Sanele Mene, 13 months old, burnt to death when he wandered into his family’s shack soon after it was set alight by a toppled paraffin stove.
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/ 11 November 2004
Thousands of hawkers handed over a memorandum to Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo’s office on Thursday, demanding an end to the confiscation of their goods in the inner city. The protest march was also intended to introduce the new Johannesburg Traders’ Alliance to the mayor.
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/ 11 November 2004
South Africa’s largest commercial banking group, Nedcor, has confirmed its previous earnings forecasts for the financial year to the end of December, saying on Thursday it expects its headline earnings per share (excluding translation gains or losses) to be between 6% and 19% lower than the 502 cents per share reported in 2003.
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/ 11 November 2004
South African President Thabo Mbeki has joined the international community in expressing sorrow and a deep sense of sadness at the passing away "of that icon of the Palestinian struggle, President Yasser Arafat". The ruling African National Congress and other parties have also paid tribute to Arafat.
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/ 10 November 2004
Senior Democratic Alliance politician Kent Morkel has been accused of taking a bribe in a multimillion-rand corruption case that came before the Cape High Court on Wednesday. In a plea-bargain agreement, micro-loan provider Gilt Edged Management Services consented to fines totalling R5-million on two counts of corruption.
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/ 10 November 2004
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Wednesday asked whether members of a black empowerment consortium have used their official positions to obtain a deal with Telkom. The consortium, linked to the ruling African National Congress, is to buy a 15,1% share in Telkom worth more than R6,5-billion.
Banks will finance Telkom deal
Deal is ‘crony capitalism’
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/ 10 November 2004
The controversial new medicine regulations will come under the spotlight at the Constitutional Court on Thursday as dispensing doctors challenge sections that force them to register and complete new dispensing courses. Various aspects of the regulations have been rejected by health practitioners and pharmacists.
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/ 10 November 2004
Côte d’Ivoire opposition group leaders will arrive in Pretoria on Thursday for a second stage of talks to resolve the crisis in that country, news reports said on Wednesday. Clashes between the government, rebels and the French military shattered an 18-month-old ceasefire this week, and killed at least 145 people.
Foreigners, citizens flee violence
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/ 10 November 2004
Banks will provide finance to an empowerment consortium with close links to the African National Congress that is to buy a 15,1% stake in Telkom for R6-billion, the party confirmed on Wednesday. The deal has drawn criticism from opposition parties and the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
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/ 10 November 2004
Some traffic offenders in Tshwane can now pay their fines at automated teller machines. Following the success of a First National Bank pilot project launched in June last year in Potchefstroom in the North West, Tshwane recently became the first metropolitan area to benefit from the service.
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/ 10 November 2004
The state produced a surprise witness in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial under way in the Durban High Court on Wednesday. A chief police inspector, Pierre Coret, from Mauritius, has taken the stand and is testifying about the two counts of corruption against Shaik with the aid of a French translator.
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/ 10 November 2004
The bid by world number-six gold miner Harmony for world number-four gold miner Gold Fields remains too close to call, with both groups of shareholders likely to make their final decision to vote for or against the merger on the day of the shareholder vote, investment market players said on Tuesday.
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/ 10 November 2004
Listed retailer Edgars Consolidated Stores (Edcon) has reported an 88% rise in its headline earnings per share for the six months to the end of September 2004 to 968 cents, from 516 cents a year earlier. The group doubled its interim dividend while maintaining two times earnings cover, to 494 cents per share from 247 cents in 2003.
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/ 10 November 2004
Cape Town has taken its next step in improving tourist services in the region with the launch of Cape Town Tourism’s new united corporate identity. Cape Town Tourism was previously the bureau responsible for the CBD, Waterfront and Atlantic Seaboard areas only.
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/ 9 November 2004
An official of the Department of Correctional Services has been arrested in connection with the deaths of Pretoria’s C-Max prison head, a warder and two inmates in a failed escape bid on Sunday. The official, who was employed at the maximum-security jail, was arrested on Monday.
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/ 9 November 2004
Gauteng still has a housing backlog of more than 440 000 people, provincial housing minister Nomvula Mokonyane said on Tuesday. Mokonyane said Gauteng’s housing goals fall within the Breaking New Ground housing-plan document introduced by Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu earlier this year.