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African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma’s rights to a fair and speedy trial have been violated with impunity, and the independence and credibility of organs of state have been severely compromised, the ANC Youth League said on Wednesday.
New Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is spoilt for choice ahead of the Springboks’ first Test of the year, against Six Nations champions Wales on June 7 in Bloemfontein. De Villiers, who took over from World Cup-winning coach Jake White at the beginning of the year, names his first South Africa squad on Saturday.
Eskom said on Wednesday that South Africa’s power supply remained limited and electricity prices were set to rise steadily. ”The system is still tight and vulnerable,” Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger said in a presentation. ”Electricity prices are going to go up steadily.”
Two men were arrested while trying to sell an expensive diamond to a Durban businessman, police said on Wednesday. Captain Thembeka Luhtuli said police had seized the diamond — valued at an estimated R250 000 — in Winder Road on Tuesday afternoon.
Food retailer Spar has installed diesel generators at four of its six distribution centres, with generators to be installed at the remaining two distribution centres by the end of the financial year. The group released its unaudited interim results for the six months ended March 31 on Wednesday.
About 70 people spent a harrowing half hour in mid-air after fuses blew and cut power to the motor that hauls the Table Mountain cable cars, the Times reported on Wednesday. The chief executive of the company that runs the cableway, Sabine Lehmann, said two cars were stranded for 35 minutes when the fuses blew on Tuesday.
A Frenchman pretending to be the Reserve Bank Governor, Tito Mboweni, and his four accomplices have allegedly fleeced a foreign businessman of more than R2-million. Adam Toure and his cronies Mark Ezende, Alpheus Onabuenyi, Meleece Ayoba and her husband Franklin briefly appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court this week on two charges of fraud.
Two construction sites in Durban, including Tongaat Hulett Sugar, have been closed down as they were considered unsafe for workers, the Labour Department said on Tuesday. At Le Domaine Estates in Hillcrest, inspectors stopped the construction of houses located directly under high voltage power cables.
Three teenagers, including a 14-year-old boy, were shot and stabbed as violence flared up again in Alexandra on Tuesday night, Johannesburg police said on Wednesday. Constable Neria Malefetse said the police arrested another five people, bringing the total number of arrests related to suspected xenophobic attacks to 66.
The African National Congress (ANC) on Tuesday night called on members of the Alexandra community to remain calm and to allow police to handle the situation. ANC Alexandra spokesperson, Pule Phalatse, said the party had attended a meeting held at the Sankopano community centre on the corner on Selbourne and 12th Avenue in Alexandra.
As jet fuel prices skyrocket, airlines the world over are closing down and analysts are speculating that the cheap-flight era is coming to an end. South African Airways, in the middle of a restructuring process to become profitable, could see its fuel bill almost double, which might lead to taxpayers having to bail it out again.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said on Tuesday inflation was expected to rise, but that it remained committed to bringing the gauge within target range ”over a reasonable time horizon”. The targeted CPIX consumer inflation gauge has persisted above the top end of a 3% to 6% range since April 2007, and accelerated to a new five-year high of 10,1% year-on-year in March.
The Democratic Alliance has called on the Speaker of Parliament to explain why a decision has been made to stop further investigations into MPs implicated in the Travelgate scandal. This follows publication of a notice directing liquidators ”not to pursue any action as against the various members of Parliament in relation to the un-invoiced tickets, levies and/or services”.
Willy Madisha was trying to ”milk dry” the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), it claimed in a statement on Tuesday. Cosatu had already spent R235 237 on the commission into Madisha’s conduct which recommended he be axed as its president, said spokesperson Patrick Craven.
Skills and contractor shortages are major obstacles to the upgrading of road infrastructure in Johannesburg, the South African National Roads Agency said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Ismail Essa said as the upgrading projects advanced, the challenges would be greater.
Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool has proposed community food gardens on state land as one solution to rocketing food prices. ”Government and society cannot close our eyes to the increasing hardship and the struggle of many families to put food on the table,” he told the provincial legislature on Tuesday.
The Directorate of Special Operations, or the Scorpions, had another nail hammered into its coffin on Tuesday, with the tabling of the General Laws Amendment Bill in the National Assembly. The draft legislation, now headed for the committee stage, provides for the establishment of a new division in the South African Police Service.
”I want to go home.” This is the appeal of a Zimbabwean woman who fought to prevent her little sister from being raped during xenophobic attacks on Monday night. Willet Sibanda, who also has an eight-year-old daughter, received blankets and clothes at the Alexandra police station on Tuesday afternoon.
It is shocking that Adcock Ingram Critical Care (AICC) would continue to benefit from public funds after it was found to have been involved in collusive tendering, the Black Sash said on Tuesday. This comes after the Department of Health said that AICC remained in the running for a R5-billion contract for antiretrovirals.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula on Tuesday gave the assurance that all cases currently under investigation by the Directorate of Special Operations, or Scorpions, will be finalised. ”There is not a single case that was investigated by the Scorpions, which is under investigation now by the Scorpions, that will not be finalised.
Former president Nelson Mandela on Tuesday warned against ”destructive divisiveness” in the country. ”Remember the horror from which we come.” Mandela was speaking shortly after receiving the Freedom of the City from Tshwane mayor Gwen Ramokgopa at a private ceremony at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg.
Efforts to determine why crime in South Africa is often accompanied by excessive violence will soon bear fruit, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Tuesday. The justice, crime-prevention and security cluster of ministers will present a progress report to the Cabinet at a July lekgotla (meeting).
Flu and respiratory illness are costing South African companies R2,7-billion a year, said absenteeism statistics company CAM Solutions on Tuesday. Spokesperson Johnny Johnson said absenteeism due to flu and respiratory illness was having a considerable impact at the workplace.
Suspended South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) group chief executive Dali Mpofu was tight-lipped on Tuesday over his planned court action against its board. ”I’m not commenting on this matter until after the court [case],” he said. He had also instructed his lawyers not to comment to the media, Mpofu said.
Xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg, are against the freedom and democracy that was fought for in South Africa, political organisations on Tuesday. African National Congress spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso said: ”Such acts can only take society backwards.”
State-owned South African Airways (SAA) said on Tuesday its restructuring plan was on track but rising oil prices and a volatile exchange rate posed big challenges. The airline said last year it was seeking to save R638-million in labour costs in a bid to return to profitability and could shed more than 2 000 jobs as part of a restructuring exercise.
The Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday remanded in custody Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown for a week, following his arrest last Friday on charges of fraud, theft and money laundering relating to the company Antheru. The charges involve about R800 000.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is arranging a series of protests to stop the use of a grade 12 history book it describes as ”biased propaganda … poisoning the minds of children”. National protest organiser Albert Mncwango said on Tuesday that the book, titled In Search of History, is currently being used by schools throughout South Africa.
Three people were arrested for smuggling cocaine into Cape Town and OR Tambo international airports, the police reported on Tuesday. Captain Dennis Adriao said a 28-year-old man was arrested at OR Tambo airport on Saturday after 5,7kg of cocaine, worth about R5-million, was found in his possession.
South African stocks remained weak at midday on Tuesday with miners the worst causalities on easing metal prices, while falling overseas markets added to selling pressures. At 12.09pm, the JSE’s broader all-share index was down 0,86%, weighed by a 2,88% drop in platinum miners.
”Good golly, it’s Ollie,” exclaimed one excited Stormers supporter on arrival at Monday’s training session in Durbanville. There he was, Ollie le Roux, the 128kg prop who had finally appeared after much speculation in the past week that he would be joining the Stormers. ”He’s been running like a spring chicken,” said Frikkie Erasmus, the Stormers media manager.
Argentina’s Damian Marchiano is reputed to be one of the toughest bantamweights around. And come May 31 at Emperors Palace, fans will learn just how tough when he challenges Silence Mabuza for the latter’s IBO bantamweight title. Not that the diminutive Mabuza is too worried about his latest challenger, having had his eyes firmly set on a unification bout later this year.