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/ 25 February 2004
The long-standing political battle between two MPs and the Auditor General, Shauket Fakie — on whether he altered the final report of the joint investigating team into South Africa’s controversial arms deal — appeared to fizzle out in Parliament this week.
DA, ACDP object to arms deal report
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/ 25 February 2004
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Prisoners should not be placed in a more favourable position than others who cannot vote, the Constitutional Court heard on Wednesday. The court was hearing an urgent application from certain prisoners who are excluded from voting to have their case heard before the court.
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/ 25 February 2004
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The Democratic Alliance in Tshwane has hired a private agency to keep an eye on its election posters after about 70 placards were recently vandalised — allegedly by members of rival political parties. Employees of the agency will use cameras secretly to monitor DA posters on lamp posts.
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/ 25 February 2004
Telkom has complained that media reports gave the impression the company had been tried and found guilty of breaking the Competition Act. Telkom was responding to the Competition Commission’s decision on Tuesday to refer complaints brought against Telkom to the Competition Tribunal for determination.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=31731">Telkom faces fine of billions</a>
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/ 24 February 2004
The joint investigating team report into South Africa’s controversial arms deal has been given the nod by the National Assembly, with the exception of the official opposition Democratic Alliance and the African Christian Democratic Party. The DA and ACDP made clear their opposition to accepting the report.
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/ 24 February 2004
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More than 20-million people have registered for the April election, an increase of 14,7% in the number of registrations since 1999, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced on Tuesday. The voters’ roll shows that 17% of all eligible voters are between the ages of 18 and 25, and 44% are younger than 35.
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/ 24 February 2004
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The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape on Tuesday challenged the New National Party/African National Congress alliance to say who it would nominate as the individual parties’ premier candidates. The DA unveiled its provincial election manifesto and named its candidates for provincial and national legislatures.
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/ 24 February 2004
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has pledged its support for a one-day strike in Zimbabwe organised for Wednesday, spokesperson Patrick Craven said in a statement. Craven said on Tuesday that Cosatu supports the stayaway and the demands of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.
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/ 24 February 2004
The South African economy grew by 1,9% last year, compared with a 3,6% expansion recorded in 2002, Statistics SA reported on Tuesday. Contributors to increased economic activity last year included transport and communication, finance, real estate and business services, and wholesale trade, retail, hotel and restaurant industries.
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/ 24 February 2004
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The Freedom Front Plus and Cape People’s Congress have agreed on a cooperation strategy for the April 14 general election, the two parties announced on Tuesday. The leaders of the two parties said their aim is to prevent the African National Congress gaining a two-thirds majority in the election.
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/ 23 February 2004
United Kingdom- and South African-listed financial services group Old Mutual plc CEO Jim Sutcliffe has reiterated the group’s commitment to retain its 52% stake in South African banking subsidiary Nedcor, saying that the stake is not for sale and that Old Mutual is even happy to further increase its shareholding in the group.
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/ 20 February 2004
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The African National Congress and Inkatha Freedom Party delivered messages of peace as they signed a code of conduct in Durban on Friday with 11 other parties contesting the April elections in KwaZulu-Natal. Several cases of political clashes have recently been reported between the ANC and IFP in KwaZulu-Natal.
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/ 20 February 2004
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New National Party leaders and delegates from across the country turned out in force at the NNP’s national election manifesto launch in Stellenbosch on Friday. The launch followed the party’s federal council meeting earlier, where incumbent leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk was unanimously re-elected to the post.
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/ 20 February 2004
Golf courses must be made into family centres and not the exclusive preserve of men, Deputy Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development Cheryl Gillwald said at a gender conference in Pretoria on Friday. Gillwald was hosting Swiss Foreign Affairs Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey at a gender equality luncheon.
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/ 20 February 2004
President Thabo Mbeki said the 2004/05 Budget, tabled in Parliament earlier this week, takes South Africans a step closer to realising their dreams of development and prosperity. Writing in the weekly online publication ANC Today, Mbeki said the Budget has provided for increased expenditure to meet the needs of the people.
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/ 20 February 2004
Pharmaceutical wholesalers proposed on Friday a gradual reduction in the manufacturer’s exit price of medicines instead of the immediate 50% slash the government wants to come into effect by May 2. However, this alone will not enable the industry to survive, the National Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers said.
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/ 20 February 2004
Johannesburg serial rapist Fanwell Khumalo was on Friday found guilty on 23 of the 126 charges he faces — and Judge Max Labe is to continue delivering his judgement on Monday. On Friday the chef was found guilty of nine rapes, eight kidnappings, four indecent assaults, one attempted rape and a robbery.
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/ 19 February 2004
The next Cabinet should include many new faces, despite President Thabo Mbeki’s often conservative approach to reshuffles, political analysts predicted this week. They forecast a big migration from the provinces, with Limpopo Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi leading the way.
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/ 19 February 2004
Dangerous awaiting-trial prisoners swapping identities with inmates wanted on lesser charges is one of the scenarios a pioneering correctional services programme intends to eliminate. The Department of Correctional Services is expected to start a ”tagging system” among awaiting-trial prisoners by the end of April.
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/ 19 February 2004
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The Democratic Alliance’s complaint that the Government Communication and Information System’s (GCIS) publishing of the government’s Ten Year Review was electioneering is likely to fail, the GCIS said on Thursday. The GCIS said the DA made a similar complaint before the 1999 elections and failed.
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/ 19 February 2004
President Thabo Mbeki’s assurances to the world that a resolution to the economic crisis and political impasse in Zimbabwe is imminent are meaningless, the Democratic Alliance said on Thursday. Media reports earlier on Thursday quoted Zimbabwe state radio as saying Mugabe had no plans to retire from political life.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=31473">Mugabe: ‘I’ll never be defeated'</a>
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/ 19 February 2004
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel does not appear to have applied his mind fully before rejecting the call to scrap value-added tax (VAT) on books, Care campaign coordinator Terry Bell said on Thursday. Manuel said the case for reducing tax on magazines or coffee-table publications was not very compelling.
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/ 19 February 2004
Photographer Sean Wisedale became the first South African to have stood on the summit of each of the seven continents’ highest mountains on Thursday when he conquered the one closest to home — Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro. ”The view from the top is awesome and it is a fantastic experience,” Wisedale said.
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/ 19 February 2004
Department of Labour inspectors on Thursday recommended the prosecution of managers of listed retail group Mr Price’s store at the Boulders in Midrand after they denied inspectors access to documentation and prevented them from interviewing staff.
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/ 18 February 2004
Reaction to tax cuts in Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s annual Budget speech has been favourable. But an economist said there was still not enough detail on black economic empowerment. ”I hope there won’t be unrealistic restrictions that will in turn create barriers for BEE. The devil is in the details,” he said.
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/ 18 February 2004
Judgement has been reserved in the Cape High Court matter where an NGO is trying to overturn the government’s decision to enter into the multibillion-rand arms deal. The NGO is challenging a decision by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel to enter into foreign loan agreements that finance the deal.
‘Minister Manuel lied under oath’
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/ 18 February 2004
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The Democratic Alliance will lay a charge of incitement to violence against the African National Congress, South African Communist Party and Congress of South African Trade Unions in the Limpopo province after the three organisations brandished placards with proclaiming: ”Enough is enough — Kill the farmer, kill the boer” and other slogans.
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/ 18 February 2004
The 2004/05 Budget lives up to expectations, said Nedbank’s group chief economist Dennis Dykes on Wednesday. ”It doesn’t divert too significantly away from what was expected,” Dykes said of Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s Budget delivered to Parliament on Wednesday.
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/ 18 February 2004
Various political parties on Wednesday reacted to Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s 2004/05 Budget speech in Parliament. "The Budget showed that after several years of plenty, now the pantry is getting empty," said Pieter Mulder, head of the Freedom Front Plus.
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/ 18 February 2004
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The African Christian Democratic Party, in response to comments made by President Thabo Mbeki, reiterated on Wednesday that it promotes shared economic growth, not free-market fundamentalism. The ACDP is concerned that limited economic growth since 1994 has not led to jobs and prosperity for all South Africans.
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/ 18 February 2004
Essential oils, organic vegetables and ingredients for trendy desserts are some of the niche items being produced in a project that is breathing life into small-scale farming communities in KwaZulu-Natal. This brings these farmers into agricultural production for high-return niche markets, many of them overseas.
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/ 17 February 2004
The managing director of PSC Guaranteed Growths Limited Funds, Jack Milne, was sentenced to an effective five years’ imprisonment by the Johannesburg Regional Court on Tuesday in a fraud case involving R160-million. Three years of his eight-year sentence were suspended in terms of a plea-bargain agreement.