Cape Town’s Ella Joyce Buckley has turned South African folk music on its head with her debut album, writes Lloyd Gedye.
The JSE extended losses at midday on Friday as profit taking-induced selling on resources offset modest gains among banks and financials, traders said. At 12.03pm, the JSE’s all-share index was down 1,24%, weighed by a 1,75% drop in resources. The gold mining index was off 0.18% but the platinum mining index added 0,17%.
Uncontrollable and unpredictable fuel and capital costs were key principals in the proposed 53% electricity tariff increase, Eskom chief executive Jacob Maroga said on Friday. ”The volatility that we see we cannot absorb as a company,” Maroga said at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s public hearings in Pretoria.
The moral decay continues in the second season of the corporate drama <i>The Lab</i>, writes Kwanele Sosibo.
Andre Nel is back in the Proteas Test squad for the four-match cricket series against England, to be played in July and August. Cricket South Africa selection committee convener Joubert Strydom on Friday announced a squad of 15 that consists of Nel plus the 14 players who did duty on the recent tour of India.
Anti-foreigner violence in South Africa has already hit the mining sector, a mainstay of the domestic economy, and threatens to undermine confidence among international investors, analysts say. Even before the unrest broke out, the outlook for the South African economy was clouded by uncertainty.
Criminals are using xenophobia as a ”perfect excuse” to commit crime, KwaZulu-Natal safety and security minister Bheki Cele said on Friday. ”I am just concerned that criminals are using xenophobia as an excuse to commit crimes … Why else would they steal the foreigners’ belongings?”
Global analysts Lehman Brothers wondered out loud on Friday morning whether some notably hawkish statements by Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni on Thursday might be a signal that a rate hike of 100 basis points could be on the cards come June 12.
Anti-immigrant violence has spread to Cape Town, where mobs attacked Somalis and Zimbabweans and looted their homes and shops, police said on Friday. Hundreds of African migrants were evacuated overnight from a squatter camp near Cape Town, the hub of South Africa’s prized tourism industry.
Twelve pedestrians were knocked down and injured by a police vehicle in Berea in Johannesburg on Thursday, ER24 emergency services said. Spokesperson Riana Beech said the accident happened at the corner of Tudhope and Soper Streets at about 4.30pm.
An HIV-positive man, who may have infected an 11-year-old girl he raped, was jailed for life by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday. Bhoyi Plaatjies (44) of Pietermaritzburg, was convicted in the local magistrate’s court and was referred to the high court for sentencing.
Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad will not be available to serve in public office after next year’s elections, a media report said on Friday. Pahad is the latest government figure to announce his intentions after Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin went public about his resignation, also planned for after next year’s elections.
Cape Town police and refugee organisations are on full alert after two Somalis were robbed and shot dead in Durbanville last weekend. As reports of these killings trickled in from across the Cape peninsula, the top three Western Cape policemen ordered every station commander in the city to an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s third biggest gold producer, said on Friday it planned to raise R13,48-billion through a rights offer of new stock. The mining group said it had finalised terms of the offer and shareholders had approved the issue of up to 71-million shares.
Attacks on foreigners in Gauteng seem to have abated, with police reporting that the situation has been ”quiet” since Wednesday evening. The anti-foreigner attacks broke out in Alexandra last Sunday and have since spread across the province and now into Mpumalanga, the North West and KwaZulu-Natal.
Although the violent nature of crime in South Africa is often highlighted, white-collar crimes are rampant and impact negatively on citizens’ rights. Bribery and corruption were perceived to be the most prevalent crimes, said a South African Human Rights Commission report.
The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) on Thursday called for a municipal state of emergency to be declared in Pretoria. ”A municipal state of emergency must be declared in terms of the Disaster Management Act number 57 of 2002 in order to prevent a waste disaster in Pretoria,” said the party’s Conrad Beyers.
The man accused of killing seven-year-old Sheldean Human last year started crying when telling police how he strangled the child and dumped her body. Director Piet Byleveld and investigating officer Michael van Aardt both testified that Andrew Jordaan was emotional when he confessed the murder to them.
Woolworths will take the majority of its yoghurt products off the shelves because a supplier had included gelatine as an ingredient, the company said on Thursday. Julian Novak, head of food, said Woolworths had an explicit agreement with its yoghurt suppliers not to include gelatine in their products.
South African Airways (SAA) and its pilots have reached a three-year salary and restructuring agreement, the airline announced on Thursday. The agreements would facilitate greater labour stability and assist the airline with its return to sustainable profitability, CEO Khaya Ngqula said.
A whiff of panic surrounds South Africa’s tourism industry after deadly xenophobic attacks that have prompted travel warnings from Western nations and led some Africans to cancel visits. Tourism is a cornerstone of the economy, contributing 8% of annual GDP and employing about one million people.
Power failures could be expected between 5pm and 10pm on Thursday due to technical problems at power stations, Eskom announced. ”About 16% of Eskom’s installed capacity is currently not available due to planned maintenance, unplanned outages, and load losses.”
Mpumalanga Black Aces coach Kenny Ndlazi, who will lead his side to the Nedbank Cup final on Saturday at the Johannesburg Stadium, has at least one attribute nobody can take away. He is the only South African coach to occupy the bench when a South African national team beat their Brazilian counterparts.
A Somali community in Johannesburg on Thursday accused police of firing live ammunition at its members as more xenophobic attacks were reported in Gauteng and former Cabinet minister Kader Asmal questioned claims of ‘third force’ involvement in the attacks.
More people across all race groups in South Africa are living in relative poverty, a report released by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said. The number of white South Africans living in relative poverty has doubled, from 2% to 3,9% since 1997, the number of black South Africans has increased from 50,3% to 57,2%, the commission’s report found.
The Pretoria High Court has ruled that a statement to police by the man accused of killing seven-year-old Sheldean Human was admissible as evidence. Acting Judge Chris Eksteen said on Thursday he would only give reasons for his ruling at a later stage. This was after Andrew Jordaan of Pretoria West took the stand on Thursday, claiming he was innocent.
South Africa made the front page of world newspapers for all the wrong reasons this week as anti-foreigner violence spiralled out of control.
There had been production setbacks at DRD Gold’s ERPM operation in Primrose on the East Rand due to violent attacks on foreigners, who make up 38% of the workforce. Spokesperson James Duncan said fewer foreign nationals had been reporting for work since Monday and the mine was in a ”loss-making situation”.
South African inflation was facing stubborn and persistent external shocks that were helping to drive prices higher, central bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Thursday. But it would be foolish to change the 3% to 6% inflation target range, he said in a speech at a monetary policy conference in Johannesburg.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has accused Helen Zille, the leader of the Democratic Alliance and mayor of Cape Town, of fanning the flame of xenophobia by saying that attacks on foreigners were in part due to the fact that foreigners were selling the drug tik to South African children.
Fate has dealt a cruel hand to Mamelodi Sundowns’ budding right back, Papi Mungomeni. The 23-year-old, who has become a regular in the Brazilians’ starting line-up this season, will miss playing in Saturday’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) showpiece, the Nedbank Cup final against First Division Mpumalanga Black Aces at the Johannesburg Stadium.
African National Congress deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, recently sworn in as an MP, will remain on the back benches of Parliament for now and will not join the Cabinet, he said on Thursday. ”I will be on the back benches. I’m going to have to learn how the institution works,” he told reporters at the International Media Forum in Johannesburg.