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/ 17 February 2004
The head of the local prison in Pretoria was ordered on Tuesday to return a Boeremag treason trialist’s laptop to him and allow him and his fellow accused to use the computer for purposes of the trial. The prison had told him his computer was only to be used for ”study purposes” and not for preparing for the trial.
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/ 17 February 2004
Rape and indecent assault charges against three University of Pretoria (Tuks) students and a former student were withdrawn in the Pretoria Regional Court on Tuesday due to insufficient evidence. Two of the accused are the grandsons of former foreign affairs minister Pik Botha.
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/ 17 February 2004
President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday vowed to keep up the battle of preventing ”powerful countries and civilisations” from doing what they want to smaller countries. Mbeki was replying to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s credential hand-over speech by incoming Ambassador Mohammad Ali Ghanezadeh Ez Abadi.
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/ 17 February 2004
South African Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel is likely to unveil some reductions in personal income taxes as part of the government’s 2004/05 Budget when it is released on Wednesday, but these reductions will be smaller than those in previous years, according to Old Mutual Asset Managers.
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/ 17 February 2004
Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel is expected to announce a rise of about 10,8% in excise duties on tobacco products — or 42 cents per pack of 20 cigarettes — when he unveils the Budget for 2004/05 in Parliament on Wednesday. He is also expected to announce substantially higher increases in excise duties on alcoholic beverages.
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/ 17 February 2004
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The New National Party in the Western Cape on Tuesday became the first of the party’s provincial structures to release its candidates lists for the coming elections. Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk tops both the national and provincial lists by virtue of his position as provincial leader.
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/ 16 February 2004
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The Democratic Alliance on Monday accused the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) of ”brazen hypocrisy” in airing a radio advertisement for the African National Congress’s election launch in January, while refusing to accept a comparable add from the Inkatha Freedom Party.
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/ 16 February 2004
The South African Budget to be presented by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Wednesday is expected to be in the region of R363-billion according to the projections in the Budget Review of 2003. Education spending is expected to remain the largest category of expenditure.
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/ 16 February 2004
As South Africa’s airport baggage handler and ramp workers’ strike headed for its second month, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said on Monday it will intensify its labour action. Satawu is planning to march on Transnet’s offices on Thursday in solidarity with the strikers.
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/ 16 February 2004
Two Boeremag treason trial accused claimed in the Pretoria High Court on Monday that police spy Johan (JC) Smit was behind a plot to have them killed. Counsel for Adriaan van Wyk said a statement made by Smit in an unrelated murder investigation proved that Smit wanted Van Wyk dead.
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/ 16 February 2004
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Two political minnows announced on Monday their coming together to contest the general elections, united in their ”fight against moral decay and godless government”. The New Labour Party and the Christian Democratic Party signed their cooperation agreement on Sunday evening, following months of negotiations.
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/ 16 February 2004
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President Thabo Mbeki’s ”refusal” to debate with Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon on television is a sign of growing presidential arrogance, disregard for the democratic process, and disrespect for the people, the DA said on Monday. The DA also said Mbeki is taking advantage of the calendar to elude tough questions.
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/ 16 February 2004
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The New National Party has committed itself to building almost a quarter of a million houses by 2010 as part of a blueprint for eliminating the Western Cape’s housing backlog. The plan is contained in the party’s 92-page manifesto for the province, released on Monday by NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
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/ 16 February 2004
The People’s Budget Campaign, representing NGOs, church groups and trade unions, has motivated for a modest increase in taxes relative to gross domestic product and an increase in state borrowing and a cancellation of the third tranche of fighter jets for the South African National Defence Force.
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/ 16 February 2004
South Africa’s 2004/05 government Budget, set for release on Wednesday, should reveal a "go for growth" strategy, tolerating an increase in the Budget deficit in the coming years, according to investment bank Lehman Brothers. This expansionary fiscal policy could prove to be crucial to sustain economic growth in 2004 and beyond.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=31237">Budget could bring positive surprise</a>
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/ 15 February 2004
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The Democratic Alliance list of candidates for the 2004 election, to be contested on April 14, holds some surprises and a few predictable placements. DA leader Tony Leon predictably heads the Gauteng national list, followed by sitting MPs Ian Davidson, Richard Ntuli, Janet Semple and Chief Whip Douglas Gibson.
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/ 15 February 2004
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Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi lashed out at African National Congress criticism of his statement that many South Africans in rural areas were much better off 10 years ago than they are now. He was speaking at the launch of the party’s election campaign in Limpopo.
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/ 15 February 2004
Top Mafikizolo band singer Tebogo Benedict Madingoane was shot dead in a Soweto roadrage incident early on Saturday and police have arrested a man. Madingoane (32), who was one of the lead singers for the popular kwaito group, was shot dead next to a Caltex garage at Zone 3 in Diepkloof.
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/ 14 February 2004
The Roman Catholic Emeritus Archbishop of Durban, Denis Eugene Hurley, died on Friday in Durban after returning from a religious celebration. At the age of 31 Hurley became the youngest Catholic bishop in the world at tht time and was hailed as a champion of human rights.
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/ 12 February 2004
The Treatment Action Campaign’s (TAC) condemnation of President Thabo Mbeki’s stance on HIV/Aids death figures stemmed from a misunderstanding, the government said on Thursday. The TAC claimed on Wednesday Mbeki had ”misrepresented facts” when he spoke on SABC television on Sunday.
Mbeki ‘misrepresented’ Aids facts
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/ 12 February 2004
There was laughter in the public gallery on Thursday as a prisoner questioned the man who accused him of fabricating evidence for submission to the Jali commission probing prison maladministration. The commission chairperson had to stop a heated exchange between the two convicted murderers to ask the audience to behave.
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/ 12 February 2004
About 5 000 workers, covering seven shafts, at world number-five gold miner Harmony’s mines in the Free State and Klerksdorp went on strike on Wednesday over wage increases. The National Union of Mineworkers said the strike follows a lengthy process of wage negotiations that began as far back as October 23.
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/ 12 February 2004
More than 600 civil society activists from around the world will meet in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, next month to exchange information and ideas about development in Africa and elsewhere. The gathering, under the theme Acting Together for a Just World, is the biennial World Assembly of the World Alliance for Citizen Participation.
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/ 12 February 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>The Democratic Alliance on Thursday accused the government of using drought aid to buy the votes of farm workers. "The ANC [African National Congress] government’s ‘drought assistance’ to farm workers who still receive salaries and haven’t lost their jobs amounts to buying votes," a DA agriculture spokesperson said.
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/ 12 February 2004
Seventeen people were badly injured on Thursday when about 7 000 people turned up to apply for 500 jobs at Durban’s new marine theme park, police said. Another 52 job seekers suffered minor injuries. Some of the job seekers, gathered at Durban’s International Convention Centre, were crushed against a steel fence.
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/ 12 February 2004
Kumba Resources is missing out on the rapid expansion of demand for iron ore from commodity behemoth China due to South Africa’s rail and port infrastructure not keeping pace, says Kumba CEO Dr Con Fauconnier. As a result, Kumba’s competitors that can more easily raise output are increasing their share of iron ore exports to China.
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/ 11 February 2004
Convicted apartheid killer Eugene de Kock was accused by a fellow inmate on Wednesday of fabricating evidence for submission to the Jali Commission of Inquiry into prison maladministration. Hendrik Slippers said De Kock and another prisoner held meetings with warders to discuss discrediting witness Louis Karp.
Prisoners falling through ‘gap’
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/ 11 February 2004
Thousands of supporters have signed a petition that Botswana’s Gana and Gwi Bushmen be allowed to return to their ancestral land, a human rights spokesperson said on Wednesday. The petition, containing 100 000 signatures, will be handed to Botswana consulates and embassies this week.
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/ 11 February 2004
”White Wolf” Barend Strydom is to testify for the defence in the Boeremag treason trial, the Pretoria High Court was told on Wednesday. Daan Mostert, appearing for one of the accused, Adriaan van Wyk, told the court he intended calling the far-rightwinger as a witness for the defence.
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/ 11 February 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/41909/10-X-Logo.gif" align=left>South African President Thabo Mbeki told Parliament on Wednesday afternoon that the upcoming April election will be a test of whether doomsday theories about the failure of the economy are true. Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon on Monday said for millions "life [in South Africa] is actually worse" than in 1994.
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/ 11 February 2004
Police were battling to get more information on who had castrated a Katlehong man allegedly caught raping a five-year-old girl, East Rand police said on Wednesday. Gauteng provincial safety and liaison minister Nomvula Mokonyane said: ”We cannot allow having people taking the law into their own hands.”
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/ 11 February 2004
There is likely to be continued competition among the world’s major gold players for the remaining listed quality bullion assets, says world number-four gold miner Gold Fields’s director of international operations John Munro. During the past decade global gold mining has seen consolidation that has left about six major producers/