The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board did not comply with its own rules when it suspended chief executive Dali Mpofu, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Friday. ”The SABC board acted before it complied with its own internal rules … the suspension cannot stand,” said Mpofu’s lawyer, advocate Vincent Maleka SC.
HIV-positive people will be able to join the South African National Defence Force after it admitted in the Pretoria High Court on Friday that its policies preventing HIV-positive people from employment, foreign deployment and promotion in the armed forces were unconstitutional.
The African National Congress and its labour allies called on Friday for electricity prices to rise only gradually, rejecting the state power firm’s appeal for a sharp hike to solve a dire power crisis. ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said it would be wrong for Eskom to use price rises to recover from past losses.
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=zuma_report"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/243078/zuma.jpg" align=left border=0></a>Addressing the students and teachers at a University of Zululand graduation ceremony in Empangeni on Friday, African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma said that nation-building is not only about people’s attitudes. "We must understand that nation-building requires that we tackle the material differences between our people," he said.
Nick Fraser, the editor of the BBC’s international documentary series Storyville, comments on the state of affairs at the SABC.
Eskom has awarded a R2,9-billion contract to a consortium of South African companies for the construction of the main civil works at its Medupi power station in Limpopo, the utility said on Friday. A consortium made up of Murray & Roberts, Grinaker-LTA Civil Engineering and Concor was awarded the contract.
A Johannesburg High Court judge on Friday questioned the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board’s lawyers about the legality of CEO Dali Mpofu’s suspension. Hearing an urgent application from Mpofu challenging his suspension, Judge Moroa Tsoka put it to the respondents that there were discrepancies in their court papers.
Petrochemicals giant Sasol on Friday said its shareholders had approved its planned R25,9-billion black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction. The world’s largest producer of oil from coal announced its intention to conclude a broad-based BEE ownership transaction in respect of 10% of its issued share capital in September last year.
Members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union downed tools in Limpopo on Friday, the union said. Samwu said the protesters were gathering at SABC Park in Polokwane and would march to the offices of the provincial minister of local government later on Friday.
South Africa’s economy cannot afford a sharp electricity price increase, a leader of the African National Congress (ANC) said on Friday, adding that Eskom should not be allowed to use pricing to make up past losses. As part of efforts to tackle power shortages and fund infrastructure expansion, Eskom has requested a 53% increase in electricity tariffs.
South African stocks hit another fresh high on Friday morning, boosted by strong gains for resources. At 11.56am, the all-share index was up 0,82%, boosted by a 1,48% rise in resources and a 2,06% gain for the platinum-mining index. Banks were up 0,37% and financials were 0,61% better. Industrial were flat (-0,03%) and the gold-mining index eased 0,80%.
Dillon Davie speaks to Isak Roux, who is in town for the premiere performance of his <i>Coming Home</i> cantata at the Johannesburg City Hall.
They are still in the Absa Premiership title race by the skin of their teeth, but the 1-1 draw with Santos in a dour, uncompromising Cape derby at Athlone Stadium on Thursday night was not the result Ajax Cape Town were seeking. Now three points behind log leaders SuperSport United going into the final round of fixtures on Sunday, Ajax’s hopes are hanging by a thread.
eThekwini municipal manager Michael Sutcliffe has likened the international Blue Flag scheme to an ”apartheid” system that creates separate beaches, the Mercury newspaper reported on Friday. Blue Flags are part of an international beach-quality accreditation scheme.
Football’s calendar in the coming two months appears to be quite hectic. Next month, Europe’s top countries will play in Euro 2008, which is being co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland, and in July there will be a football world cup — yes, a world cup for ”unrecognised nations”.
The United Nations’s Department of Social and Economic Affairs predicts that world economic growth will fall steeply to 1,8% this year and 2,1% next year, down from 3,8% in 2007, according to a report entitled <i>World Economic Situation and Prospects 2008</i>.
Police engaged ”hooligans” in a tense game of cat and mouse through the informal settlement of Diepsloot on Thursday night. In an attempt to prevent a similar situation to that which emerged in Alexandra this week, police scoured the streets, dispersing any groups that had gathered.
Najwa Petersen appeared in court every day wearing a colour-coordinated suit, matching scarf and hennaed fingernails. She ordered 30 new outfits for the trial, allegedly underwent liposuction and had a breast enlargement operation barely a month after Petersen’s death. ”She’s now a 36DD!” friends and relatives of Petersen said outside court.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel commended the staff of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) for having exceeded the revenue target for the last tax year. He was speaking on Thursday at the launch of Sars’s 2008 filing season. ”When I speak to my international colleagues, they can’t match the figures,” he said.
Having a judge head the politically loaded Erasmus commission undermined the principle of separation of powers, lawyers for the City of Cape Town and the Democratic Alliance argued on Thursday. The city and the party have asked the court to quash the commission to probe the legality of the city’s spying on renegade councillor Badih Chaaban.
World famous scientist Stephen Hawking met former president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on Thursday. Said Hawking: ”I admire how you managed to find a peaceful solution to a situation that seemed doomed to disaster. It was one of the great achievements of the 20th century.”
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on Thursday reiterated its call for media houses to refrain from accepting any advertising from the City of Tshwane metropolitain council. The ASA said it had come to its attention that media houses were accepting advertising from the city despite its instructions not to do so.
The South African Revenue Service on Thursday announced details for the 2008 tax season, that for the first time puts specific emphasis on the central role of employers in the personal income tax system. Changes would be introduced that would impact on the legal obligation of employers who administer payroll taxes such as Paye, UIF, Site and SDL.
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief executive Dali Mpofu’s move to suspend his news chief Snuki Zikalala was the last straw that prompted his own suspension, according to court papers on Thursday. Mpofu has launched an urgent application with the Johannesburg High Court, to challenge his suspension last Wednesday.
South Africa’s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Thursday wage increases had negative implications for price stability, but it was important to ensure that inflation did not erode workers’ salaries. The central bank has cited electricity tariffs and wage settlements among the key issues its monetary policy committee will monitor closely.
Test cricket needs a radical overhaul to ensure its continued existence in the face of the Twenty20 revolution, India coach Gary Kirsten said. Kirsten suggested in an article on his personal website that there should be a one-year cycle of Test matches with an annual champion.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma will not stand trial on August 4, instead he will be seeking to have the decision to charge him declared unlawful. The legal teams of Zuma and his co-accused met the National Prosecuting Authority and the KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Vuka Tshabalala on Thursday to finalise a court date.
Rene Burger, the sister of Springbok rugby player Schalk, has decided to confirm that she was raped last week at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), a family spokesperson said on Thursday. ”She is amazingly brave and courageous,” said Elna Boesak, appointed to speak on behalf of the family.
It is impossible to have an HIV-free South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and a defence-force policy discriminating against people with HIV is unconstitutional, the Pretoria High Court heard on Thursday. Advocate Gilbert Marcus, SC argued that people should be assessed individually, since an individual who was HIV-positive was not necessarily sick.
Criminal elements were behind xenophobic violence in Alexandra, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Thursday. Speaking to journalists after a meeting with community and provincial leaders, she said not only foreign nationals were attacked, but South Africans were also forced out of their houses.
The horror facing Movement for Democratic Change members in Zimbabwe became apparent this week.
Arms-deal activist Terry Crawford-Browne on Thursday denied that he was waging a personal vendetta against Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. Addressing the Cape High Court, where he has applied for a contempt-of-court ruling against the minister and former finance director general Maria Ramos, he said: ”The arms deal is not some Trevor/Terry saga.”