Gold Fields said on Tuesday that four miners had been killed in two separate underground accidents at its Driefontein and South Deep gold mines on the West Rand. Vishnu Pillay, head of Gold Fields’s South African operations, said the company deeply regretted the loss of life and said safety was still their number one priority.
The JSE was weaker in quiet trade at midday, weighed down by a firmer rand, lower metal prices and what was described as a disappointing production report from Anglo American. South African markets were closed on Monday for a holiday and are also closed on Thursday and Friday this week, with many players away for the two days in between.
Electricity-supply constraints experienced at Anglo Platinum mines in January and February affected production, the company said on Tuesday. In its quarterly review report for the period January 1 2008 to March 31 2008, the company said that the ”ongoing impact of the constrained electricity supply is expected to continue to have some impact on production”.
A total of 7 868 items of luggage belonging to South African Airways (SAA) passengers were reported missing from airports in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London in the three-month period between December 1 and February 29 this year.
Power was restored to Kempton Park on Gauteng’s East Rand at about 3.30am on Tuesday after just under seven days of darkness, the Ekurhuleni municipality said. Spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said an investigation into the cause of the power failure was under way.
Telkom has introduced a second area code for Johannesburg, which will operate alongside the existing 011 code. "Following an announcement of a move to the mandatory 10-digit dialling, Telkom has recently been allocated … the first batch of numbers in the 010 area code for use within the same geographic boundary as the existing 011 code," Telkom said on Tuesday.
The so-called Waterkloof Four turn to the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday to ask it to overturn the effective 12-year prison sentence they were given for beating a homeless man to death and assaulting another man. The four will ask the high court to set aside both the guilty verdict of the lower court and the sentence.
A convicted rapist was arrested on Monday on suspicion of molesting a seven-year-old boy in KwaThema near Springs, Johannesburg police said. ”A young boy of about seven-years-old reported the matter to his parents this morning,” said police spokesperson Captain Johannes Ramphora.
About one third of posts for environmental impact assessment (EIA) officials are vacant, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday. DA spokesperson on the environment Rika Kruger said 37% of all posts in the directorate were vacant, while 25% of the managerial positions were also vacant.
Veteran cyclists Andrew McLean and Graham Cronje of Team Cycle Lab Toyota, on Sunday confirmed their dominance at the MTN Panorama Tour in White River when they won their second successive stage and extended their overall lead in the four-day race.
The full Khampepe commission report will be gazetted on May 5, the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. DA leader Helen Zille said the presidency had written to the DA to inform it of the move. Zille said the report was a crucial source of information during the legislative process to decide on the future of the unit.
South African President Thabo Mbeki’s failure to criticise neighbouring Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe has weakened his international stature, analysts said. Once hailed as a leader focussed on Africa’s revival, Mbeki’s silence on Zimbabwe has been blamed either on misplaced loyalty or crippling deference.
About 170 accidents occurred in Gauteng since late Friday afternoon, Netcare 911 said on Sunday. In one incident, a three-year-old boy died and two other children were in critically injured following a head-on collision on the N12 near Xavier Road off-ramp on Saturday.
Springbok World Cup lock Bakkies Botha has called the Blue Bulls ”tyrannical and autocratic” in court papers presented to the Labour Court this week. Botha filed the court papers in a bid to have his contracts with SA Rugby and the Bulls be declared null and void.
Two men were injured when an unidentified man shot at them in a News Café on Rivonia Boulevard in Johannesburg on Sunday, paramedics said. ”A man was found lying on the floor by the door at News Café around 6pm. He had a gunshot wounds on both his legs, his head, chest and arm,” said spokesperson Werner Vermaak.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu urged world leaders on Sunday to stay away from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in August. South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate lit a ”Tibetan” Olympic torch, which was kindled in Delhi on January 30 and will travel to cities on five continents before arriving in May back in Dharamsala, India.
There was a need for a ”new South African” who embodied everything that was morally good, President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday. He was addressing several thousand people at the national Freedom Day celebrations at a blustery Turfhall Stadium in Cape Town.
Did French fugitive from justice Jean-Claude Lacote have evidence implicating Jackie Selebi and other police officials in crime?
South Africa faces a new threat 14 years after the first democratic election, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Saturday. She was addressing a large crowd at the KwaZulu-Natal Freedom Day celebrations in Molweni, outside Durban. ”The threat is a ruling party that believes it is more important than the Constitution. It is a party that believes it will rule until Jesus comes,” said Zille.
The presidency has launched an 11th-hour bid to prevent embarrassing confidential information behind the suspension of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Vusi Pikoli from being made public. Hours before Pikoli was to release documents detailing what he told President Thabo Mbeki and others about Jackie Selebi’s alleged corruption, he received a settlement offer from the government.
It was all action, but little satisfaction for Kaizer Chiefs and Santos in a helter-skelter 1-1 Premiership draw at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Saturday night that left both teams’ objectives unfulfilled. Chiefs are no better off from sharing the spoils than they were before the game.
The Stormers picked up two second-half tries to keep their hopes of reaching the Super 14 semifinals alive with a 26-16 victory over the Otago Highlanders on Saturday. Hooker Tiaan Liebenberg and his replacement Schalk Brits scored in the space of 10 minutes to break open a game that was deadlocked 9-9 at halftime.
Teazer’s boss Lolly Jackson has reportedly been arrested again, this time for alleged fraud. He was thought to have been questioned about the alleged falsification of the visas of the eastern European strippers he employs. It was reported that 11 dancers from Russia and the Ukraine were also being questioned.
The Wellington Hurricanes ran in six tries to beat South Africa’s Cheetahs 38-10 in their Super 14 match on Saturday. Victory kept the New Zealanders’ hopes of a semifinal alive as they moved to 31 points on the standings, only one point behind the teams in third and fourth with three rounds remaining.
South Africa had a ”persisting inability” to deal with the legacy of inferior health, education and other social infrastructure for working-class communities, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Saturday.
Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club on Saturday announced that, effective from June 1, Nike South Africa will be the official technical sponsor of the club for a period of four years. Nike partners with the world’s most successful players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Wayne Rooney as well as Benni McCarthy and Aaron Mokoena.
The Free State Cheetahs secured their place in this year’s Vodacom Cup semifinals by beating the Boland Cavaliers by 35-20 at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein. The home side led the Cavaliers 24-10 at the break, but the visitors never gave up. Wilton Pietersen, South African under-20 fullback, scored a brace of tries and didn’t put a foot wrong on the night.
Resolving the thorny question of Robert Mugabe’s fate may hold the key to breaking the impasse over Zimbabwe’s disputed presidential vote. Mugabe has not himself suggested he would be willing to step aside if he were granted immunity for alleged human rights abuses and allowed to fade into comfortable retirement.
Zambia’s main opposition leader Michael Sata was in a stable condition in Johannesburg’s Milpark hospital on Saturday after having a heart attack. ”He is in the cardiac care unit …,” said hospital spokesperson Amelda Swartz. ”He is going to have an angiogram this afternoon.”
The Blue Bulls guaranteed themselves a place in the semifinals of the Vodacom Cup with their 51-7 victory over the Lions at Loftus on Friday. The Bulls scored a total of seven tries, five of which came in the first half, and led 36-7 at the interval. The hosts were first to draw blood with a Braam Gerber try in the first minute, followed by a Burton Francis penalty in the eighth minute.
Suspended National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss, Vusi Pikoli, will not ”at this stage” make public his submissions to the Ginwala commission. ”Mr Pikoli remains committed to doing so at the appropriate time,” said Deneys Reitz, attorneys acting on behalf of Pikoli, in a statement on Friday.
A man who admitted to taking nine Pretoria News advertising staff hostage on April 25 last year was acquitted on Friday on a charge of attempted murder. Lionel George, of Danville, west of Pretoria, earlier pleaded guilty in the city’s regional court to charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and two rounds of ammunition.