A national energy summit must be convened with immediate effect to address the current electricity crisis, the African National Congress (ANC) said after a national working committee meeting on Monday. The meeting — which was also attended by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka — was held to discuss the crisis and proposals for a tariff increase.
There is no decision yet on the possible closure of the Reitz men’s residence at the University of the Free State (UFS), a university spokesperson said on Monday. Lacea Loader said media reports on Monday created the impression that the UFS had made a decision not to close Reitz, but this was incorrect.
One of Taliep Petersen’s alleged murderers has told the Cape High Court he confessed to a role in the killing in the hope of getting ”help” from the authorities in other criminal cases he faced. Waheed Hassen also told the court that he was assaulted by police and that he witnessed the beating of an armed-robbery suspect.
Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira announced his resignation on Monday as coach of 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa. World Cup-winning coach Parreira, who served 15 months of a three-and-a-half-year contract aimed at transforming the struggling national team, quit because his Brazil-based wife is ill after recent major surgery.
Newly elected African National Congress Youth League (ANC) head Julius Malema used his first letter as president to chastise those who showed ”unbecoming conduct” at the league’s conference in Bloemfontein recently. ”Thugs and hooligans who believe they can hold the organisation to ransom … will be dealt with,” said Malema on Monday.
A campaign to prevent arms currently aboard a Chinese ship from reaching Zimbabwe gained momentum on Monday with trade unions calling on their counterparts not to allow the vessel to dock at any African port. The Congress of South African Trade Unions called for an international boycott of the vessel.
Creating the most expensive dish in the country to help the poor sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. By making 10 exclusive little "Sexy Duck and Jozi Bling" pies and auctioning them online, the organisers of this year’s Jo’burg Wine Show want to raise funds for children from impoverished communities.
Cold and stormy weather that hit the Eastern Cape on the weekend has claimed three lives so far, police said on Monday. Two men apparently died from the cold near Mthatha on Sunday, while a woman was killed in a storm in the province’s Ngcobo area. By Monday afternoon, snow that had been falling over the province overnight was beginning to clear up.
The Witwatersrand director of public prosecutions will be asked to present legal arguments in the drunken-driving case of metro police chief Robert McBride on witness statements related to other cases under investigation. McBride’s case was postponed to Thursday to give his legal team a chance to serve documents on Charin de Beer.
The Cape High Court on Monday watched a police video in which murder accused Waheed Hassen not only admitted to a role in the killing of Taliep Petersen, but expressed remorse. The video came at the start of the second day of a trial within a trial, in which Hassen is contesting the admissibility of statements he made to the police.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa on Monday asked President Thabo Mbeki to meet South Africa’s ”collective leadership” to discuss three critical matters of concern. In a letter to Mbeki, Holomisa said, firstly, that there was the question of South Africa’s involvement in resolving the tribulations of Zimbabwe.
The vote recount in a number of constituencies in Zimbabwe following March 29 elections is futile because ballot boxes have been tampered with, a South African member of the Southern African Development Community observer team said on Monday.
The world’s biggest steel producer, Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, will buy a 16% stake in South African coal producer Coal of Africa (CoAL), CoAL said in a statement on Monday. ArcelorMittal will pay £66,7-million for new shares "representing approximately 16% of CoAL’s issued capital", the statement said.
Legal counsel for Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride on Monday asked the Pretoria Regional Court to compel the state to hand over all documents containing statements made against him. This included a statement not related to the drunken-driving case before the court.
African National Congress (ANC) veteran Andrew Masondo died on Sunday, the ANC said on Monday. ”Masondo dedicated his life to the cause of the South African people, having served as a soldier since the early years of Umkhonto weSizwe,” the party said.
South African stocks hung on to earlier gains at noon on Monday, supported by firmer overseas markets, but the stronger rand and faltering gold prices restricted gains, traders said. By midday on Monday, the JSE’s broader all-share index was 0,77% in the black. Resources were up 1,21%, the platinum-mining index advanced 0,34% but the gold-mining index fell 0,70%.
The Pretoria Regional Court on Monday turned down an application by Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride’s legal team for the state to hand over all documents, even those not relating to his drunken-driving charge. Advocate Guido Penzhorn argued that not having the documents affected McBride’s right to adequately prepare a defence.
Toronto-based First Uranium plans to build a plant in South Africa to secure a future supply of sulphuric acid for its uranium concerns at lower costs, the company said on Monday. The company expects that it will take 19 months to procure and commission the acid plant, with production beginning in January 2010.
A vehicle was burnt and a butchery was robbed during the early hours of Monday morning as residents of an informal settlement in Lenasia South protested against poor service delivery, Johannesburg police said. Two police vehicles were damaged on Sunday and some police officers sustained minor injuries.
AmaZulu striker Mpho Maleka netted thrice in an enthralling Nedbank Cup quarterfinal match to help his team beat Black Leopards 3-2 at their home ground, the Thohoyandou Stadium, on Sunday. Leopards started off briskly and took the lead through Christopher Netshidzivhe in the 19th minute.
Former Springbok captain Corné Krige has slammed rugby’s South African provincial presidents as being greedy in the way they have planned the upcoming British Lions tour. Krige, writing in Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Sondag, said that fans will ultimately lose out as provinces try to grab the cash out of the tour.
Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez could be heading to Europe as early as next month if he decides to accept one of four offers he has received. The Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Sondag reported that Du Preez is currently considering four offers and has not ruled out the option of an imminent move after the Super 14.
The case against Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride, relating to drunken-driving charges, started briefly in the Pretoria Regional Court on Monday before being stood down again. State prosecutors told magistrate Peet Johnson that they were ready to proceed but that McBride’s defence team wanted to bring an application.
Power cuts have led to an explosion of a substation in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, the Weekend Post reported on Sunday. Municipal spokesperson Lourens Schoeman said the blast was caused when oil-based circuit breakers exploded due to power surges from load-shedding.
Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is expected to announce his resignation at a press conference in Johannesburg on Monday, and speculation is rife about a possible successor, with big names such as Jose Mourinho and former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson in the mix.
While commuters are still digesting last month’s rise in minibus taxi fares of as much as 20%, the bus industry has announced that the latest increase of diesel by R1,28 a litre will add between 3% and 4% to the cost of operating bus services. Diesel costs represent between 20% and 30% of the total operating cost of a bus.
South African employers have short-changed the country’s intellectually impaired by employing only workers with physical disabilities and not intellectual ones. An oversight in the Employment Equity Act groups the intellectually impaired with citizens with other disabilities for job opportunities. Employers tend to opt for the physically disabled over the intellectually disabled.
The escalating fuel price has seen South Africans discarding gas guzzlers in favour of smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.Although car sales overall are down 23% compared with last year, small car sales are up by 25%, according to figures from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.
Economists say it is only a matter of time before the rising price of oil puts pressure on the petrol price, causing it to rise yet again. Econometrix’s senior economist, Tony Twine, says that it is too late for the oil price to affect the current petrol price, but that it would certainly take the petrol price up in May by another 25c.
South African motorists have their own Imraahn Ismail Mukaddam — the whistle-blower who blew the lid off collusion in the bread and milling industry. The consumer hero this time is Alwyn Parsons, director of Witbank-based Parsons Transport. It was his complaint more than a year ago that sparked the Competition Commission’s investigation into collusion in South Africa’s tyre-making industry.
Santos’ 10-week sequence without a defeat under Botswana Army coach Major David Bright was dimmed at Goble Park in Bethlehem on Sunday afternoon as Free State Stars earned a deserved 1-0 victory to qualify for the Nedbank Cup semifinals. Hero on this occasion was Jimmy Kauleza, who scored the solitary goal of the game in the 22nd minute.
The Titans snatched a thrilling six-run victory over the Cobras in a Pro20 semifinal played at Newlands on Sunday. The Titans booked their place to play the Dolphins in the final in Durban on Friday. The Cobras required 16 runs for victory off the final over and when Henry Davids struck Roelof van der Merwe for a six off the first ball, the Titans seemed doomed.