A Gauteng couple accused of forcing their domestic worker to have sexual intercourse with a dog were found not guilty in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court, according to news reports on Saturday. Siblings Cheri Wang and Ken Wang were accused of beating up their 19-year-old employee in April last year.
Security on major routes to and from Johannesburg International airport is set to increase as authorities prepare to welcome the various dignitaries arriving for Tuesday’s inauguration of President Thabo Mbeki, police said on Saturday. A spokesperson said: ”There’s going to be a lot of escorts by police.”
The Inkatha Freedom Party’s specially convened national council meeting late on Saturday evening endorsed the withdrawal of two of its officials appointed to the KwaZulu-Natal provincial cabinet by Premier S’bu Ndebele. Earlier on Saturday the IFP said the two ministers were appointed without the party’s approval.
South Africa’s new Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete — elected unopposed by Assembly members on Friday — says she hopes to contribute ideas on how to ”jack up” the debate in the 400-member assembly — possibly without the aid of written texts that are then read out.
Iscor, Africa’s largest iron and steel producer, plans to lay off more than 1 300 workers by the end of the year in a bid to cut costs, a company spokesperson said on Friday. The staff cuts are expected to occur by the end of December this year.
Baleka Mbete, previously known as Baleka Mbete-Kgositsile, was elected unopposed to the position of Speaker in the National Assembly on Friday, where the process of swearing in of MPs was in full swing. Gwendoline Lindiwe (Gwen) Mahlangu was elected as the Deputy Speaker, succeeding Mbete.
New Speaker wants more natural debate
African National Congress leader Thabo Mbeki has been re-elected as President of the Republic of South Africa for his second term by the National Assembly. He was elected unopposed on Friday after nominations were called for by Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=58684">Where will Ginwala go?</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=58668">Mbete, Mahlangu elected to top posts</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=58678">New Speaker wants more natural debate</a>
Former speaker of the National Assembly Frene Ginwala looks set to be deployed by the organisation but her decision not to take the oath of office as a newly re-elected MP on Friday appears not to have been the decision of the ruling African National Congress.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=58668">Mbete, Mahlangu elected to top posts</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=58678">New Speaker wants more natural debate</a>
Confident that South Africa is now a stable democracy, the African National Congress has appointed the premiers in all nine provinces. While many of the new premiers have been branded unknowns, most have a record in the ranks of the ANC. ANC officials also underline that the new premiers, overall, are relatively young.
The African Christian Democratic Party will throw its weight behind the African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal but only under certain conditions, the party announced on Thursday. Before the election, the ACDP supported the IFP in principle in the legislature, as it had the majority support of the province’s voters.
Only 75 health-care workers out of an estimated 11Â 000 who dispense medicine have the licences they require by law, a Department of Health spokesperson said on Thursday. Under the Medicines and Related Substances Act, by May 2 workers who dispense medicine must have a dispensing licence.
Doctors threaten to down tools
Many dispensing doctors in South Africa might close their surgeries in the first week of May and march to the Union Buildings in protest against a new law that forces them to obtain licences to dispense medication, two medical associations warned on Thursday.
Frene Ginwala, who has been Speaker of the National Assembly for the past 10 years since democracy, got the axe on Thursday from ruling African National Congress MPs. The speaker will be replaced by the Deputy Speaker, Baleka Mbete, who has served in that position since the first Parliament.
The African National Congress on Thursday rejected suggestions the party is behind moves to evict journalists from their offices in the parliamentary precincts. Vienna-based International Press Institute director Johann Fritz on Wednesday suggested the "size of the ANC’s majority means it no longer needs to worry about the media".
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=34512">’Media need proper access'</a>
Despite a marginally firmer rand gold price, South Africa’s three major gold miners are likely to report that earnings remained under pressure during the March 2004 quarter, a survey of seven analysts shows. AngloGold is forecast to report adjusted headline earnings per share of 194 cents, down 15% from the December 2003 quarter.
The United Democratic Movement is to negotiate with the African National Congress regarding a provincial government in KwaZulu-Natal, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said on Tuesday. Holomisa said he was approached by President Thabo Mbeki on Sunday ”with a view to resolve the stalemate in KwaZulu-Natal”.
In a move that has called into question the freedom of journalists to report on proceedings within its two Houses, Parliament has threatened to evict media organisations from their offices within the parliamentary precinct. The threat came in the form of a letter from Secretary to Parliament Sindiso Mfenyana.
There were virtually no surprises on Tuesday as political parties finalised the names of candidates to be sworn in to the National Assembly on Friday. The African National Congress’s list includes President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Jacob Zuma, and there are 21 new faces who will represent the Democratic Alliance.
Concern is mounting over what will become of thousands of sick people, especially the elderly and people with HIV/Aids, once it becomes illegal for their doctors to give them medicine without a prescribing licence. Only 10% of South Africa’s approximately 11Â 000 dispensing doctors have applied for the licence that will allow them to continue.
An animal rights group on Tuesday accused South Africa of breaching international conventions by sheltering four young gorillas in a Pretoria zoo. It would seem the gorillas first came to light in 2001 when they were ”illegally” exported to the Taiping Zoo in Malaysia. They were then confiscated by the authorities.
The National Council of the Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) has condemned advice given by a contributor of the South Africa Gardening magazine on how to get rid of cats in the garden. Some of the advice included hiring a cat trap and dipping the trap in the swimming pool.
Between seven and 20 African penguins have been affected by an oil slick in Algoa Bay, the Addo Elephant National Park said on Monday. The oil-covered penguins were sighted by a member of the public on St Croix Island last week. St Croix is one of the islands that fall under the jurisdiction of the Addo Elephant National Park.
The jostling over the spoils of Cabinet posts in the Western Cape and possible representation for the New National Party in the national Cabinet will begin this week. The NNP on Monday went out of its way to underscore the point that there was no suggestion of any calls for its leader to resign.
![]()
The Democratic Alliance has vowed to pursue the matter of DA members being arrested at a Free State voting station, after a charge against them were withdrawn on Monday. Darryl Worth and other members of the DA were arrested in Botshabelo on April 14 after allegedly driving into a voting station in a vehicle bearing a DA logo.
Special Report: Elections 2004
Department of Labour spokesperson Snuki Zikalala has been appointed as managing director of the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) news and current affairs, SABC spokesperson Paul Setsetse said on Friday. Zikalala will be responsible for the leadership, focus and operational direction of news and current affairs.
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>Minutes after learning his party would have no representation in the National Assembly after a poor performance in Wednesday’s general election, National Action leader Cassie Aucamp quipped that he would have no choice but to stand on a street corner begging for money.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3_fl2.asp?o=40922">Special Report: Elections 2004</a>
Pick ‘n Pay Stores, one of Africa’s largest food and general merchandise retailers, is expected to post a 20% rise in its fully diluted headline earnings per share for the year to the end of February 2004 when it releases its final results on Tuesday April 20. Dividends for the year are forecast to rise by 17,8%.
Listed furniture, electronic and electric appliance retailer JD Group expects its basic headline earnings per share for the six-month period ending February 29 2004 to be more than 50% higher than those reported for the previous corresponding period.
Although no economists forecast a change in interest rates when the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) monetary policy committee (MPC) meets next week, this does not necessarily mean that the MPC may not raise the repo rate by a cautionary 25 basis points.
![]()
Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Party and the New National Party, led by Marthinus van Schalkwyk, appeared to be the big losers as the final counting for the 2004 polls drew closer on Thursday night. By 9.30pm on Thursday the UDM stood at 6,96% in its Eastern Cape stronghold, not even half of the 13,6% it got in 1999.
![]()
The election race in KwaZulu-Natal closed in on the halfway mark on Thursday evening with no indication whether the African National Congress or the Inkatha Freedom Party would win the province. The Democratic Alliance, which may tip the province into the IFP’s hands, was at 9,46%.
![]()
The leader of the Democratic Alliance, Tony Leon, was unperturbed by reporters’ questions about the apparent success of the Independent Democrats in the preliminary election results released on Thursday. ”If they [the ID] were expecting to be the official opposition, they won’t get that,” he said.
Special Report: Elections 2004