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?
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) will monitor investigations into the cause of the deaths of nearly 80 Eastern Cape babies, the body announced on Friday. Earlier this week, reports emerged that 78 children from the Eastern Cape had died as a result of diarrhoea allegedly caused by contaminated water.
Measures to stem the looming food price crisis in South Africa will be put before the Cabinet next week, the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) said on Friday. A short-term solution is likely to involve more funds for the government’s social programmes to protect the poorest of the poor from the price hikes, NAMC chief executive Ronald Ramabulana said.
Angry protesters caused damage of R5-million to Daveyton Station on the East Rand on Friday morning, Metrorail said. ”Commuters torched ticket offices when a train failed between Northmead and Avenue, blocking other Johannesburg-bound trains from Daveyton,” spokesperson Sibusiso Ngomane said.
Shaun de Waal reviews three new books on local cinema.
A ferromanganese smelter near Durban did not insist its workers wear protective dust masks, even though dust levels were sometimes three times more than national legislative limits, a Labour Department inquiry heard on Thursday. The inquiry is investigating 40 alleged cases of manganism that have resulted from workers breathing in fumes.
A Pretoria magistrate on Friday denied bail to the security guard accused of murdering city dancer Estee van Rensburg. It also emerged on Friday that the guard, Aaron Mashishi, will go on trial in the Pretoria High Court on October 20. The 26-year-old is being charged with murder, robbery with aggravated circumstances and two counts of theft.
Central African Mining and Exploration, which owns interests in fluorspar and PGM projects in South Africa, on Friday said it had made a significant coal discovery in Mozambique. The company said in a statement that the discovery was made during the ongoing systematic exploration programme covering the 21 licence areas in the Tete province.