President Thabo Mbeki on Friday called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the Gatumba massacre in Burundi and prosecute those responsible. Writing in the African National Congress’s online publication, he urged the African Union and United Nations to declare Burundi’s rebel Palipehutu-FNL a terrorist organisation.
The urgent application by French arms dealer Thint to have criminal charges against it dropped is to be argued in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday. Counsel for the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions argued on Friday that the application should either be struck from the roll or adjourned as non-urgent.
Police were preparing on Friday to exhume the body of a six-year-old boy whose head was found in a man’s refrigerator at Ntunda Trust near Tonga, Mpumalanga, on Thursday. Police spokesperson Inspector Leonard Hlathi said a 32-year-old man had been arrested and was going to show police where the boy’s body was buried.
While the government speaks nobly about transparency and good governance, there is an enormous gap between its words and its deeds, says Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon in his weekly SA Today newsletter. Leon also commented on the minister of defence’s signing of a new trade agreement with Iran.
The South African Reserved Bank (SARB) will be watching carefully the impact of the high oil price on inflation in the country, SARB Governor Tito Mboweni said on Friday at a meeting of Parliament’s joint finance committees. He acknowledged that there is nothing to be done to influence high oil prices.
Although "carry trade" has played a role in the strength of the rand, the activities of exporters and importers have the biggest impact on the rand’s exchange rate, according to South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni, who was addressing a meeting of Parliament’s joint finance committees on Friday.
A Corporate Law Reform Bill is scheduled to be put to the South African Cabinet for approval by September next year, while the drafting process is expected to be completed by the end of this year. It is expected that a single corporate entity will replace distinctions between close corporations and public and private companies.
Old Mutual South Africa has announced the resignation of Sello Moloko, CEO of Old Mutual Asset Managers (Omam) South Africa. He will be replaced by Thabo Dloti, currently executive general manager of Group Schemes at Old Mutual. Sparks said it was with "deep regret" that he had accepted Moloko’s resignation.
Delegates attending the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ministerial conference in Durban, South Africa, are expected to shortly approve sanction-type measures against Israel, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Dr Nasser Al Kidwa, said on Thursday.
Minister of Communications Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri is willing to meet with the three unions at Telkom to discuss the fixed-line monopoly’s retrenchment proposals, her spokesperson Donovan Cloete said on Thursday. ”The meeting will happen. The minister will engage with the unions,” he said.
Deputy President Jacob Zuma has condemned the carrying-out of a witchhunt against MPs allegedly involved in the Travelgate scam. The deputy president told MPs: ”I will never participate in the campaign against people when they are not found guilty … if there is no evidence conclusively that says, yes, they have erred.”
The head of a suspected mercenary recruitment agency, one other man and a two women were released by the Scorpions in Cape Town on Thursday after being questioned about possibly illegal military activity. A spokesperson for the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions said the investigation is not over.
National health legislation, due to be signed into law by President Thabo Mbeki, will prohibit the manipulation of any human genetic material for the purpose of reproductive cloning. The minister of health said the legislation permits her to allow ”therapeutic cloning … under prescribed conditions”.
Police say crime at Johannesburg International airport is low and ”there is nothing out of control”, but it appears theft victims are discouraged from reporting their cases. Two passengers recently fell victim to what seems to be a trend that is swept under the carpet: theft by officials and porters from travellers.
South African media and entertainment group Johnnic Communications (Johncom) on Thursday announced details of restructuring at the Sowetan and Sunday World. A new editor-in-chief of both publications has been appointed and some retrenchment of staff at the two newspapers will occur.
The body of Paul Meintjes, whose resurrection was predicted by a ”prophet” after his death about six weeks ago, is back with his family, mortician Nico Foulds said on Wednesday. Foulds said he delivered the body to the family at their home in Hertzogville in the Free State.
The South African Students’ Congress on Wednesday decided to embark on mass protests against alleged racist policies at the University of Pretoria (Tuks). At a meeting attended by approximately 150 students, it was decided to ”go to the streets” in protest against allegedly racist policies adopted by the university.
Avian flu has been detected on three more farms near Middleton in the Eastern Cape, but the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs said on Wednesday there is no need to panic as the farms are within its quarantine zone. Blood and tissue samples from ostrich farms around the country are also being tested.
The South African movie Forgiveness has received two prestigious awards at Switzerland’s 57th Locarno International Film Festival, taking away the best-film accolade and the Human Rights prize against stiff competition. Forgiveness stood out in a festival dominated by Middle Eastern themes.
The South African Navy’s fourth and last patrol corvette, the SAS Mendi, will set sail from Kiel, Germany, on Friday, the navy said in Pretoria on Wednesday. The ship, a German-built Meko A200SAN patrol corvette, will be joining her three sisters — the SAS Spioenkop, the SAS Amatola and the SAS Isandhlwana — in Simon’s Town.
The World Press Freedom Committee has expressed concern at what it calls the ”South African government’s attempts to muzzle media” after reports of a terrorist attack emerged from Pakistan earlier this month. The government later ”expressed its outrage” at the manner in which the reports had been aired.
Five officials of the Eastern Cape health department were arrested in a pre-dawn raid by the Scorpions on Wednesday for allegedly defrauding the government of R12,5-million. The five will soon appear in the Mdantsane Regional Court on charges of fraud, theft, money laundering and tax evasion.
A blaze that gutted at least 40 shacks in Alexandra in Johannesburg on Wednesday was brought under control thanks to prompt action by residents who were trained by the fire department. The ”Umashesha”, or ”fast movers” as they are known, were first on the scene and formed bucket lines with other community members.
A nurse at Sterkfontein mental hospital has been suspended for allegedly using the same needle on several patients, an action that could spread the HI virus. The Gauteng health department said on Tuesday the senior nurse was conducting routine glucose needle-prick tests on patients at the hospital in Krugersdorp last Wednesday.
The body of a Free State man whose resurrection was predicted by a ”prophet” after his death six weeks ago is on its way to a state mortuary, if a local undertaker gets his way. On Monday some disgruntled family members and town residents protested in front of the Meintjes family home.
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Tuesday gave an undertaking to sceptical representatives of the Western Cape fishing industry that he will ensure fishing quotas are allocated in an open and honest way. He was addressing several hundred members of the fishing community.
Short-term insurance policy holders in South Africa are under-insured by about 45% on average, according to market research conducted by Santam, South Africa’s largest short-term insurance company. This means policy-holders will only receive partial compensation after submitting an insurance claim.
South Africa and the rest of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has once again failed to stand up for democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe by siding with President Robert Mugabe’s government, South African official opposition leader Tony Leon said in a statement on Tuesday.
Allegations of racism and unfair discrimination may lead to class boycotts and protest rallies at the University of Pretoria, the South African Student Congress (Sasco) warned on Monday. ”We will be calling on students to boycott classes and join marches on campus,” said Sasco branch secretary Joe Heshu.
Radio Pretoria lost its case over its broadcasting licence on a technical point in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Monday. The station manager said no principal judgement was given on the reasons the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa previously gave for dismissing the station’s licence.
The government must tackle muti killings and ritual murders even though some might want this problem to remain hidden, an expert said on Monday. Professor Thias Kgatla, professor of religious studies at the University of the North, said a repeat of a successful campaign in 1994 against the practice is needed.
Some of the Boeremag treason-trial accused feel so aggrieved about media reports on their trial that on Monday they threatened to apply for an order to have journalists barred from court. The men complained about an Afrikaans radio talk show on radiosondergrense on Friday in which they claim they were ridiculed.