American boxing promoter Don King surprised pupils and their teachers at the Seona Marena High School in Soweto when he presented them with a 000 cheque on Thursday. The visibly thrilled children and staff responded by bursting into a song that they had specifically composed in his honour.
The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition (ATC) called on the South African government on Thursday to expel the Israeli ambassador as well as cut all trade and diplomatic ties with Israel, which it accuses of "ethic cleansing". The ATC will be supporting a protest before the gates of Parliament on Friday.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=66642">More die as Israeli army marches on</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=66608">SA govt condemns Israeli incursion</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=66598">Israeli tanks fire on peaceful protest</a>
Departmental budget votes are scheduled to dominate the next few weeks of parliamentary activity following the official opening of Parliament by President Thabo Mbeki — and the delivery of the State of the Nation address — on Friday. The State of the Nation address will be debated next week.
KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial traffic authorities will take a new look at school transport safety following a truck accident near Umlazi on Tuesday that left 83 children injured. A programme looking at all safety aspects regarding pupils and children and ways to regulate it will be launched shortly in the province.
Dispensing doctors accused pharmacists on Wednesday of trying to deprive the poor of cheap medication following the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa’s call for its members to object to their dispensing licences. Meanwhile, the Department of Health is concerned that it has only issued slightly more than 200 licences.
Although the consensus view among economists and financial-market participants is that interest rates in South Africa will rise in the second half of 2004 in reaction to expected higher inflation, there is a case to be made for the possibility of the next move in interest rates being down rather than up, according to a Sanlam economist.
Key opposition parties in the South African Parliament are expecting President Thabo Mbeki not to divert too much from his State of the Nation address delivered in February when he reopens the newly elected Parliament on Friday. A Democratic Alliance spokesperson said "he probably won’t mention HIV/Aids or escalating crime levels".
South Africa has to overcome the colonial and apartheid legacy of unskilled and jobless workers to create a workforce for the reconstruction and development of the country, President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday at the launch of the Expanded Public Works Programme in Limpopo.
One of Africa’s largest transportation projects, Gautrain, is making good progress and will be completed by 2010 when the Soccer World Cup is hosted by South Africa, Gautrain spokesperson Dr Barbara Jensen said on Tuesday. Gautrain will link Pretoria and Johannesburg with the Johannesburg International airport through Sandton.
Traffic came to a standstill on Tuesday as a herd of strange and beautifully decorated cows took to the streets of Saxonwold in Johannesburg. The world-famous CowParade has come to town to raise funds for sick children with its life-size, fibreglass cows decorated by artists, celebrities and the public.
The thorny issue of the Table Mountain tahrs may be headed for court again following a threat by the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) to seek an urgent interdict. NSPCA executive director Marcelle Meredith labelled South African National Parks’ decision to cull the goat-like creatures "maverick slaughter".
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=66496">Tahrs to die a ‘slow death'</a>
Newly appointed Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk is to visit the Eastern Cape’s Pondoland coast to assess the impact a plan to mine titanium from sand dunes will have on the area, known for its biodiversity and scenic beauty.
Soaring international crude oil prices could drive local fuel prices up by between 30c and 40c a litre, a Department of Minerals and Energy official confirmed on Tuesday. ”There is no doubt we are staring a hefty price increase in the face at the moment,” said Theunis Burger, director of petroleum and gas regulations.
Empowerment and transformation in South Africa’s telecommunications sector has shown a remarkable degree of maturity, Deputy Minister of Communications Radhakrishna Padayachee said on Tuesday. He was speaking at the opening of Futurex 2004, a trade fair held in Sandton.
The New National Party’s federal council is to meet in three weeks — on Saturday June 5 — to assess the party’s future after its poor showing in the national and provincial elections. A newspaper report on Tuesday said the Free State region of the party will motivate that the party should disband.
South African chemical and synthetic fuels group Sasol on Tuesday named Eyesizwe Coal, the largest black-owned, -controlled, -operated and -managed coal-mining company in South Africa, as its lead black economic empowerment mining partner. Eyesizwe’s total coal production is approximately 25-million tons a year.
As the government’s national roll-out of anti-retrovirals (ARVs) intensifies, there is growing concern that the available sources of supply — including the only South African company manufacturing generic ARVs, Aspen Pharmacare — could be pressurised by the demand.
A 32-year-old Johannesburg man was found guilty on Monday of loading a virus on to the computers of Edgars, an act which the company claims cost it R20-million and affected up to 700 stores. Because the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act is not yet in force, the man was charged with malicious damage to property.
Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana said on Monday he and Minister of Education Naledi Pandor will soon meet to discuss ways to refocus South Africa’s technikons and universities. The drop-out rate of black students at these institutions is of concern to the government, Mdladlana said.
With almost 1 900 tons of bunker fuel removed from the holed bulk carrier Cape Africa, salvors are expecting the vessel to enter the safety of False Bay by Tuesday. The vessel was on Monday morning still under tow, stern first, by the salvage tug Smit Amandla.
South African sugar producer Illovo Sugar announced on Monday that it has entered into an agreement to sell its interests in the Gledhow sugar mill and refinery and the associated cane-growing estates to broad-based black economic empowerment company Grand Bridge for R335-million.
A North West school pupil committed suicide after shooting dead a fellow pupil at the Nelson Mandela Secondary School at about lunchtime on Friday, police said. Captain David Serepa said police were investigating how the boy got the gun, which allegedly belonged to a member of his family.
As South Africa’s new government braces itself for the task of extending clean water supplies to more people, environmentalists are warning there may soon be little water to distribute if conservation efforts are not stepped up. They believe the country will run out of water by 2030 unless current water resources are better maintained.
After four years of litigation, a non-profit research organisation has received an out-of-court settlement from former employees whom it accused of poaching clients for their own new consultancy while still in the NGO’s employ. The Community Agency for Social Enquiry (Case) was a key think-tank during the apartheid years.
The eThekwini (Durban) municipality is planning a national conference on cemeteries and land to address the shortage of space for burial grounds, the head of cemetery services said on Friday. The municipality is also looking at alternatives to cremation, even freezing and shattering bodies.
Reflecting on worldwide celebrations that marked South Africa’s 10 years of democracy, President Thabo Mbeki said the world must unite to give meaning to the concepts of humanity and hope. He said South Africa’s past and present challenges are ones that many other countries around the world are also facing.
The Jali commission is costing the taxpayer more than R1-million a day, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said on Friday, repeating its call for the commission to be disbanded. A Popcru spokesperson said the commission into prison maladministration is ”prepared to do anything to prolong its existence”.
Millionaire farmer and coup plotter Lourens du Plessis on Friday told the Boeremag treason trial in Pretoria he does not think blacks are the problem in the country ”because our fight is not against flesh and blood but against evil spirits in the air”. Du Plessis said he has undergone a religious change after being arrested for treason.
The government intends to create a ”lot of pressure” within the private banking sector by forcing it match the savings interest rates of the newly launched RSA Retail Bond launched on Friday in Pretoria, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said. The public has the option to purchase one of three bond types.
Kidnap victim Jameel Pandor is back at his parents’ Durban home after being treated in hospital following his release, his father said on Friday. Pandor senior, a wealthy businessman, said his son had been kept blindfolded and handcuffed throughout his ordeal, but had otherwise been treated quite well.
The Democratic Alliance on Thursday questioned the government’s wisdom in allowing ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide ”visitor status” in South Africa, saying the decision has not been adequately explained. The DA also objected to the costs involved in accommodating Aristide and his entourage.
The Mafikeng campus of the North West University will reopen on Friday and classes will resume on Monday, the university said on Thursday. The campus was closed for staff and students last week after protests by both groups against management and the suspension of students.