The arrest warrant against police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi was cancelled last year because acting prosecutions boss Mokotedi Mpshe thought the Scorpions might undermine him and serve it while he was still reviewing the matter, the inquiry into Pikoli’s fitness to hold office heard on Friday.
The judicial inquiry into the murder of former senior Free State official Noby Ngombane was on Friday postponed for a decision on whether his wife and family members should give oral evidence. Willem Edeling, legal counsel for Ngombane’s wife, Nokwanda, and other family members asked regional magistrate Dawn Soomaroo to consider not calling the so-called ”suspects” to the stand.
A record number of black chartered accountant (CA) candidates passed the final exams in 2007, the Association of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (Abasa) said on Friday. More than 300 (67%) black candidates passed the final qualifying exam, compared with 64% the previous year, Abasa said in a statement.
One of the key motives behind the Erasmus commission was to stop the realignment of South African politics, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille said on Friday. The commission was set up by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool in December 2007 to investigate the City of Cape Town’s probe into controversial councillor Badih Chaaban.
Former Springbok centre and current Sharks coach Dick Muir and Stormers assistant Gary Gold were on Friday named as new South African coach Peter de Villiers’s right-hand men. Muir, who led the Sharks Super 14 team to the final of the southern hemisphere inter-provincial competition last year, will take charge of the Springbok backs.
After opening firmer on Friday morning, the JSE had given up its gains by midday and was trading 125 points in the red. A local trader said that after the all-share index posted an all-time high of 32 440,9 earlier, the market saw some profit-taking, particularly in the resources stocks.
Adcock Ingram Critical Care, a healthcare unit of JSE-listed Tiger Brands, has been fined R53,5-million, or 8% of its annual turnover, for admitting its role in fixing the prices of medicines supplied to hospitals, the local anti-trust authorities said on Friday. The matter was referred to the Competition Tribunal on February 11 2008.
<i>Payback</i> by Mike Nicol (Umuzi) and <i>Dead Point</i> by Peter Temple (Quercus) are reviewed by Barbara Ludman.
The Constitutional Court has reserved judgement on a ban prohibiting journalists from reporting on divorce cases, a media report said on Friday. Earlier this year, the Cape High Court ruled that section 12 of the Divorce Act was unconstitutional after media group Johncom brought an application challenging it.
Ike’s Books and Collectables still has stalwart supporters among bibliophiles, writes Niren Tolsi.
Gold Fields, the world’s number four gold producer, posted a 67% rise in quarterly headline earnings on the back of soaring prices for the metal, but production fell on South Africa’s power crunch. Gold Fields said on Friday its adjusted headline earnings per share for the third quarter to the end of March rose to 155 cents from 93 cents in the second quarter.
The city of Tshwane will bestow a freedom of the city award on former president Nelson Mandela on May 13. Tshwane Mayor Gwen Ramokgopa said it would kick-off a year-long programme to celebrate Mandela’s life and legacy. The ceremony will take place at the Tshwane City Hall and simultaneously at a public event on Church Square.
A 36-year old man, accused of murdering eleven KwaZulu-Natal women and dumping their bodies in sugarcane fields, will be tried in the Ramsgate High Court. Thozamile Taki and his alleged accomplice Hlengiwe Nene appeared briefly in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court on Friday, where Magistrate Giel van Aarde ordered that they be held in custody until the trial starts on November 17.
The Law Society of South Africa on Friday called for an overhaul of the justice system to deal with crime in the country. Co-chairpersons Vincent Saldahna and CP Fourie said the scourge of crime needed a more holistic and serious solution, which included the proper training of police officers.
Conventional wisdom has it that this weekend’s Soweto Derby will be the worst since the PSL was founded. For the first time in years both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates are having their worst seasons simultaneously. Chiefs are ninth on the log, two places higher than their rivals from across the Orlando railway line.
The Movement for Democratic Change may seem hopelessly undecided about whether to fight or boycott the presidential run-off against Robert Mugabe, but sources confirm it will go to the polls in a run-off election, the date of which still has to be announced.
Valued at R34-billion, or ,4-billion — more than dollar billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s empire — Royal Bafokeng Holdings, the investment arm of the Royal Bafokeng Nation, has added about R2-billion to its asset base through its recent BEE deal with Vodacom.
Allegations that the Gauteng Transport Department (Gautrans) owed commuter bus operators payments as far back as June 2007, were untrue, the department said on Thursday. ”Hence, the department strongly condemns any attempts aimed at causing uncertainty and divisions within the bus industry.”
The Department of Health and the Department of Water Affairs are still collecting door-to-door information on the outbreak of diarrhoea in the Eastern Cape which cost 78 children’s lives, the provincial government said on Thursday. Spokesperson Papama Mfenyana said the province was still waiting for information from the team on the ground.
Suspended prosecuting head Vusi Pikoli considered ”unconstitutional” an instruction by Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Brigitte Mabandla not to pursue warrants of arrest for police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi. This was evidence on Thursday in the Ginwala inquiry’s hearing into the fitness of Pikoli to serve as National Director of Public Prosecutions.
South Africa should be prepared to intervene in the foreign exchange market to keep its currency stable and ”competitive”, and should maintain its inflation targets, a group advising the government said. In its report released on Thursday, an international panel — known as the Harvard Group — also suggested a budget surplus of between 1% and 2% to help ease inflation.
Although crime levels were lower, most South Africans thought crime was on the increase and had lower confidence in the police, said a survey by the Institute for Security Studies. ”Since 1998 house breaking and burglary has been the most common crimes that South Africans report,” said researcher Antoinette Louw.
It is still six times less safe to fly in Africa than the rest of the world, the annual safety report by the International Air Transport Association on Thursday showed. The report illustrated that the 2007 global accident rate of 0,75 hull-losses for every million flights by Western-built jet aircraft was slightly higher than the 0,65 rate recorded in 2006.
A funding crunch could delay South Africa’s plans to have digital broadcasting in place for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the chief executive of state-run telecommunications firm Sentech said on Thursday. World soccer governing body Fifa has demanded that South Africa use a high-definition digital format when it begins broadcasting the World Cup matches.
At least 40 potential buyers have expressed an interest in Nationwide, the airline’s provisional liquidators, Alta-Tshwane Trust, said on Thursday. In a statement, the trust said the potential buyers had all insisted on full financial and operational information on the company.
Salaries should increase on average by about 11,8% in 2008, an employment report released on Thursday shows. ”Higher inflation makes for high salary increases,” said economist Mike Schussler, who compiled the report for the United Association of South Africa trade union.
Power cuts in the winter months ahead are unlikely if the present power-saving trends continue, according to Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin. The overall savings target remains 10%, and the key factor is the behavioural changes that are crucial in the short-term, he told a media briefing at Parliament on Thursday.
Bones collected from an Eastern Cape farm suspected to be that of the Pebco Three will be examined, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Thursday. The NPA said it found around 12kg of bone material, identified out of 250kg of burnt material.
Presidency Director General Frank Chikane made conflicting statements about his treatment at the hands of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), the Ginwala commission heard on Thursday. Chikane earlier told the hearing into whether suspended National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli was fit to hold office, that he had been treated badly by the NDPP.
South Africa’s manufacturing output shrunk by 1,1% year-on-year in March from an upwardly revised 3,9% expansion in February, official data showed on Thursday, partly weighed down by higher interest rates. Compared with February, manufacturing production in volume terms contracted by a seasonally adjusted 4% in March.
Nationwide’s ”arrogant” management was squarely to blame for its recent provisional liquidation, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union said on Thursday. In a statement, the union said the team, led by chief executive Vernon Bricknell, had proven itself incapable of managing the airline.
Murder accused Najwa Petersen claimed repeatedly she had ”nothing to hide” when she made her first formal statement to police about her husband’s death, the Cape Town High Court heard on Thursday. She also said there had been no bad feelings between and her and her husband, Taliep, investigating officer Captain Joe Dryden said.