Ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is not a refugee in South Africa, but a free person and a guest of the government, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Wednesday. She told reporters in Pretoria that Aristide will be allowed to make political speeches while in the country.
The African National Congress on Wednesday dismissed media reports claiming the party had criticised National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka. Several daily newspapers reported that the ANC criticised Ngcuka and former justice minister Penuell Maduna for attacking Lawrence Mushwana, the Public Protector.
Total South Africa has issued a warning to its dealers nationwide over the sale of loose cigarettes, telling them they could face heavy penalties. The Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act bans the sale of any tobacco product not ”in a package” with the mandatory health warning and tar and nicotine content.
Wholesale trade for 2003 was 17% higher than previously reported, motor trade 17% higher, and retail trade 20% higher, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said on Wednesday. This represents a difference of about R70-billion on wholesale trade, R47-billion on retail trade and R21-billion on motor trade.
Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana on Wednesday stated that more than 600 000 domestic employers have registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to date. The minister expressed his satisfaction with the process of registering domestic workers.
South African food and industrial group AVI has reached an agreement to acquire Denny Mushrooms for R197,5-million rand, less all interest-bearing debt as at the effective date. Denny is a producer of fresh, canned and value-added mushroom products in South Africa, with a market share exceeding 50%.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) customs division has raked in R200-million in extra revenue from the oil industry in the past financial year, MPs were told on Wednesday. There has been limited auditing of the oil industry’s accounts but this has now changed considerably.
William Kekana (19) pleaded guilty in the Temba Circuit High Court on Tuesday to 10 counts, including four charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and the rape of a 17-year-old girl. But he denied the killing of one-year-old Kayla Rawstone, the murder and rape of her mother or the murder of Kayla’s grandmother.
‘Developments’ in Kekana trial
Burundi’s political leaders failed to agree on a timetable for holding elections following four days of talks in Pretoria, setting the stage for a showdown on the thorny issue at a weekend summit, an official said on Tuesday. Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and leaders of former rebel groups have been meeting since Saturday.
Provinces wanting to put more children on to the government’s programme of anti-retrovirals (ARVs) should first make sure that they have adequate and sustainable supplies of the drugs, the Department of Health said on Tuesday. The department was responding to a newspaper report that no more children will be put on ARVs.
Health dept won’t suspend ARVs
The JSE Securities Exchange (JSE) and the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) formed a partnership on Tuesday to promote black economic empowerment through small- and medium-sized enterprises. The parties signed a memorandum of understanding at the JSE in Sandton.
Key political players in the Burundi peace process, including President Domitien Ndayizeye, entered a fourth day of talks in Pretoria on Tuesday to try to agree on an election timetable. South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who is the chief mediator in the negotiations, continued consultations that started on Saturday after the Burundi government announced that it had plans to delay elections by a year.
One of the major issues holding up the announcement of South Africa’s much-delayed taxi recapitalisation programme is an assessment of the costs of the subsidy scheme, which applies to the purchase of the envisaged new 18- and 35-seater taxis. The government has for five years been struggling to implement the programme.
The Shembe church in Inanda, Durban, is laying claim to the vuvuzela horn, which has become the ubiquitous symbol of South African soccer. A spokesperson said on Tuesday that the horn was first used by Prophet Isaiah Shembe in 1910 and since then church members have been using it when they dance during worshipping.
The state may be able to speed up a 19-year-old’s High Court trial for the murder of a baby girl, the rape and murder of her mother, the murder of her grandmother and the rape of a teenager, a state advocate said on Tuesday. On Monday, a belligerent William Kekana swore at cameramen and media before the trial began.
Sensitive wetlands and the Vaal river catchment area are safe for six years from effects of East Rand Proprietary Mines discontinuing the pumping of extraneous water following the suspension of a government pumping subsidy. This is according to a statement issued on Monday by the Department of Minerals and Energy.
Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide began his stay in South Africa on Monday by thanking his hosts in Zulu for allowing him and his family to enter the country. President Thabo Mbeki and a host of government ministers and diplomats gave him a high-powered, red-carpet welcome at Johannesburg International airport.
Port Elizabeth-based General Motors on Monday conceded defeat in a long-running defamation case against Jaco van der Merwe regarding his labelling his Isuzu KB280 bakkie the ”worst 4x4xfar”. The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein ruled on Monday that the slogan was not defamatory.
The fine for the sale of tobacco products to minors has increased from R10 000 to R50 000 for a first offence, Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Monday. Other smoking fines have also increased steeply — the first-offence fine for advertising tobacco products has increased to R500 000.
South African President Thabo Mbeki pressed Burundian political leaders on Monday to agree on elections, seen as crucial for advancing peace in the Central African country, wracked by civil war since 1993. Talks between Burundi’s president and leaders of former rebel groups and political parties opened in acrimony in Pretoria on Saturday.
Girls under 18 can legally have abortions without parental consent, the Pretoria High Court ruled on Friday. The court dismissed the Christian Lawyers’ Association’s (CLA) challenge to the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act. This is the second time the CLA has lost an court challenge to the Act.
Seven pharmacy and health-care groups launched a joint court challenge against controversial new medicine regulations in the Cape High Court on Friday, their legal firm confirmed. This brings to at least nine the number of legal challenges against the Medicines and Related Substance Act, which came into force on May 2.
The rise of ”modern individualism” had helped destroy the family values that were the foundation of society, Deputy President Jacob Zuma said in Cape Town on Friday. He was addressing the annual ceremonial opening of the National House of Traditional Leaders.
Taking his cue from President Thabo Mbeki, Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool — while delivering his maiden premier’s speech in the provincial legislature — committed his government to implementing 20 ”measurable actions” within the next 100 days, including training 515 new railway police.
Cape Town has switched on to MyWireless technology — or broadband wireless high-speed, no-limit internet access via regulated high-powered radio frequency — Sentech said in a statement on Thursday. Sentech, a state-owned but commercially run TV and radio signal distributor, launched MyWireless in Gauteng in January.
New Minister of Education Naledi Pandor has acknowledged that it going to take a little longer than the end of the financial year to ensure that there is no longer a school pupil learning under a tree. She was referring to President Thabo Mbeki’s promise that the problem will be eradicated by the end of the financial year.
The South African government is looking into ways of cushioning the anticipated price rises for petrol and diesel in June, Minister of Science and Technology Mosibudi Mangena said on Friday. Given the sharp increases in the global price of oil, the retail price of petrol will need to rise by 38 cents a litre on June 2.
The majority of the members of South Africa’s oldest media trade union, the South African Union of Journalists (SAUJ) want the organisation to disband, the outcome of a recent referendum on the matter shows. Of the 297 members who voted, 229 cast their ballots in favour of winding up the SAUJ.
Two children’s rights organisations are calling on the government to extend the child support grant to all children under the age of 18. In a statement released to coincide with Child Protection Week, the Alliance for Children’s Entitlement to Social Security said this is a constitutional requirement.
More than 1Â 000 pharmacists and University of KwaZulu-Natal pharmacy students, chanting ”save our profession” and waving placards, gathered outside Durban City Hall on Thursday. The protesters said they were protesting against the ramifications of the government’s new medicine pricing laws and dispensing licences.
Twelve Department of Home Affairs officials and seven ”runners” were arrested this week for allegedly selling identity and birth registration documentation, Free State police said on Thursday. The arrests, mostly in Bloemfontein, come after a two-year investigation by the police and the department.
South Africa’s nine major cities have not fully recognised the importance of ”systematically” managing built-up areas and critical stresses have been placed on natural resources, the first State of the Cities report warns. The report brings together detailed empirical data about the country’s nine largest cities.