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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.”
”To be quite honest, trains at one stage were unreliable,” says Leon Vender, settling back into the plush seats of the new Business Express, a spanking new train service launched last week. While other commuters are battling the morning hell-run between Johannesburg and Pretoria, these commuters are sipping coffee and taking in the view.
A national electricity emergency programme management office (PMO) will be established immediately, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday. The office would be responsible for coordinating all efforts to deal with an emergency, Maseko said at a media briefing following Cabinet’s regular meeting on Wednesday.
The presidency orchestrated South African Broadcasting Corporation CEO Dali Mpofu’s suspension, his lawyers claimed on Thursday. Mpofu is challenging his suspension in the Johannesburg High Court. Mpofu said board chairperson Kanyi Mkhonza was acting on an instruction to ”get rid of the CEO” issued by the Minister in the Presidency, Essop Pahad.
A special task team will investigate the cause of the recent xenophobic attacks in Alexandra and elsewhere in the country, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday. The team will make recommendations about steps required to prevent a recurrence of this ”negative tendency”, he told a media briefing.
Lonrho Mining has discovered an ”exceptional 61,30-carat fancy yellow diamond” at its Schmidtsdrift mine, along the western bank of the Vaal River, the company said on Thursday. It said that the diamond is octahedron in shape and is expected to yield a high value.
The African Christian Democratic Party, Democratic Alliance, Independent Democrats and United Democratic Movement have filed a joint submission in the Pretoria High Court as a friend of the court in support of Hugh Glenister’s bid to stop the disbanding of the Scorpions, the parties said on Thursday.
South Africa has drifted closer to the bottom of a global-competitiveness index for 55 countries this year, hit by skills shortages, unemployment and weak infrastructure, where it ranked last, Business Day reported on Thursday. South Africa’s rating slipped to 53 from 50 last year — beating just Ukraine and Venezuela.
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Lawyers for African National Congress president Jacob Zuma will meet prosecutors on Thursday to decide whether his corruption case should begin on August 4, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said. ”It is only after the meeting today that we’ll know if the date we have proposed is confirmed,” NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said.
South African stocks were a mixed bag with a weaker bias at noon on Thursday, but brewer SABMiller climbed on above-forecasts year end earnings. At noon, the all-share index was down 0,16%. Resources fell 0,67%, the gold mining index was off 1,62% but the platinum mining index added 0,15%.
Fred van der Vyver is suing the government for R46-million after its failed bid to pin on him the murder of his girlfriend, Inge Lotz, the Times reported on Thursday. Van der Vyver, a Cape Town actuary, was acquitted in November last year. The judge dismissed the evidence against him as flimsy and criticised the police.
Johannesburg townships Alexandra and Diepsloot were tense on Thursday morning in the wake of xenophobic violence that has killed a number of people since the weekend, police said. Captain Louise Reed said one man was injured in a suspected mob attack in Diepsloot on Wednesday evening.
Vusi Ngcobo’s hat-trick helped Thanda Royal Zulu ease their relegation problems when they registered a hard-fought 3-2 win over Bidvest Wits in a thrilling Absa Premiership match at Absa Stadium, Durban, on Wednesday. The match started at a blistering pace with Royal Zulu pushing forward in numbers in search of the opener.
Bloemfontein Celtic were beaten 2-0 by Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus on Wednesday night in an Absa Premiership clash, with the Free State side outperformed by a team who playing their best soccer of the season. Amakhosi’s late surge has effectively earned them a place in next season’s Top Eight competition.
SuperSport United took a step closer to winning their first Absa Premiership title when they beat Golden Arrows 2-0 in their penultimate fixture of the season at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Wednesday night. United led 1-0 at half-time. The win heaps pressure on second-placed Ajax Cape Town, who play Santos on Thursday night.
Former Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown was examined by a doctor and a psychiatrist on Wednesday after being beaten up by fellow prisoners, the Times reported on Thursday. Brown’s attorney, William Booth, said his client had been moved to a private clinic in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Calm returned to Alexandra township on Wednesday night after earlier clashes between police and residents. Hardly any activity was visible late in the night, besides the flashing blue lights of police patrol vehicles. The stand-off between the police and residents arose in the aftermath of xenophobic attacks in the township this week.
Jomo Cosmos will play in the National First Division next season after losing 2-0 to fellow relegation candidates Black Leopards in their penultimate Absa Premiership game at the Oppenheimer Stadium in Orkney on Wednesday. A goal by Myron Shongwe in the 18th minute and a strike on the stroke of half-time by Thabiso Hlalele sealed the fate of the luckless Cosmos.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes that the Bill abolishing the Scorpions and amalgamating them into a police directorate will dramatically undermine the fight against crime, and against organised crime in particular. ”As such, the DA will do all in its power to ensure that the Bill does not become law,” the party said on Wednesday.