A woman was killed and three other people injured during an overnight storm in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape, police said on Sunday. Superintendent Mzukisi Fatyela said the woman (64) died when strong winds collapsed her home. ”There is lots of damage. Roofs were ripped off homes, whole structures came down, cars were damaged,” he said.
Cases of corruption in the public sector reported to the National Anti-Corruption Hotline increased by 46% between 2004 and 2007, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday. DA spokesperson on public service Karel Minnie said this was according to a 2008 report released by the Public Service Commission.
Zimbabwe’s opposition on Sunday accused the authorities of waging a ”war” that has killed 10 people and injured 500 others since disputed parliamentary and presidential elections. ”Ten people have so far been killed in Zimbabwe since March 29,” Tendai Biti, secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change, said.
Brazilian World Cup-winner Carlos Alberto Parreira will announce his resignation as coach of South Africa on Monday, soccer officials said on Sunday. Parreira will meet with the South African Football Association’s executive committee to explain he is being forced to end his tenure after just 16 months because of the poor health of his wife.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday it would again write to National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete to request that she reconsider her decision to turn down a request for a special sitting of Parliament to debate the crisis in Zimbabwe. DA chief whip Ian Davidson said his party believed that President Thabo Mbeki’s policy on Zimbabwe had been a failure.
President Thabo Mbeki is set to appoint African National Congress deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe to his Cabinet next month after being ordered to do so by his party, the Sunday Times reported. Motlanthe is likely to be sworn in as a member of Parliament when it opens in the first week in May.
FC Cape Town took Mamelodi Sundowns to extra-time before the Premiership side finally triumphed 2-0 in a Nedbank Cup quarterfinal game played at a wet Athlone Stadium on Saturday night. The first half saw FC Cape Town paying scant respect to the Premiership champions as they dominated the game and at times made Sundowns look ordinary.
The Stormers scored a fifth win in six matches when they beat the Wellington Hurricanes 20-12 to move into fourth spot on the Super 14 log on Saturday. While both teams scored two tries, Stormers flyhalf Peter Grant enjoyed more success with the boot, which ultimately separated the teams at the end.
The Italian ambassador to South Africa, Alessandro Cevese, was killed in a freak accident in Tom Burke, Limpopo police said on Saturday. Police spokesperson Superintendent Ronel Otto said Cevese was apparently part of a hunting party that was travelling in an open vehicle early on Saturday morning. The vehicle swerved to avoid an eland that crossed its path and overturned.
The Bulls turned around last week’s shocking form to beat the Otago Highlanders 47-17 in the Super 14 on Saturday. Having lost 50-22 last week to the Wellington Hurricanes, the Bulls scored six tries to two against Otago at Loftus Versfeld, with fullback Zane Kirchner and winger Akona Ndungane each collecting two.
Black Aces are through to the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup after a resounding 2-0 win over fellow National First Division outfit Nathi Lions at the Atlantic Stadium in Witbank on Saturday. Jacob Machaka netted in the 25th minute and Visiwe Masonda sealed victory for Aces two minutes before half-time with a well-placed effort from the edge of the area.
![]()
Soweto is internationally recognised as a home for all South Africans, African National Congress president Jacob Zuma said on Saturday. ”I’m really happy to celebrate my birthday in Soweto,” he said. Zuma arrived just after 1pm in Klipspruit.
Carlos Alberto Parreira’s uncertain future as South Africa coach will be made clear on Monday, the South African Football Association (Safa) said on Saturday. ”We will make a statement after an executive committee meeting,” Safa CEO Raymond Hack said. The announcement follows in the wake of reports he planned to resign to return to Brazil.
Supporters of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF have set up a network of torture camps where they have been assaulting opposition activists, a leading rights group said on Saturday. The New York-based Human Rights Watch said that suspected supporters of the opposition were being rounded up and then beaten.
The first Standard Bank Pro20 semifinal bubbled and fizzed on Friday night as the Dolphins produced a powerful performance to defeat the Diamond Eagles by five wickets at Kingsmead. It was an amazing turnaround by the Dolphins, who were crushed by ten wickets when the two teams met earlier in the competition.
A national task team to urgently achieve the reductions required to reduce load-shedding and to achieve targeted power savings has been established, power utility Eskom said on Friday. This was done during Friday’s briefing set up by the government to help manage the energy emergency.
The South African Football Association held talks with national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira on Friday amid reports the Brazilian was about to quit and return home. Safa and 2010 World Cup organising officials said a meeting with Parreira was under way but gave no details of its content.
A ship that was carrying weapons and ammunition destined for Zimbabwe lifted anchor and sailed from Durban less than an hour after the Durban High Court ordered that its controversial cargo cannot be transported across South Africa to that country.
The recent shoot-to-kill comments by a deputy minister display disrespect for the country’s Constitution, the Wits Centre for Applied Legal Studies said on Friday. The centre also deplored African National Congress president Jacob Zuma’s support for the remarks by Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Susan Shabangu.
Though one of Taliep Petersen’s alleged killers has now formally admitted being at the scene of the murder, another is still fighting hard to keep his confessions out of court. It has emerged that not only did the second man, Waheed Hassen, make a formal statement to police, but he also gave them 15 pages of handwritten notes on the December 2006 killing.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) will investigate allegations of racist incidents on campus where black students say they are ”living in a climate of fear”. Local South African Students’ Congress chairperson Xolani Mkhwemnte said on Friday there had been an outbreak of ”racially motivated incidents” on the Kingsway campus since Monday this week.
![]()
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma expressed surprise at the level of poverty among white people during a tour of an informal settlement outside Pretoria on Friday. ”I did not think it was at this level,” he said as he talked with the small, poor white community living at Bethlehem.
Taliep Petersen’s last recorded words, moments before his wife demanded repeatedly that he be shot, were ”God is great”, according to a confession by one of the men charged with his murder. In a surprise move, the confession was admitted unopposed as evidence in the Cape High court on Friday.
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille on Friday urged President Thabo Mbeki and national conventional arms-control committee chairperson Sydney Mufamadi to stop the transfer of arms aboard a ship, the An Yue Jiang, in Durban harbour to Zimbabwe. The ship has been at anchor off the port of Durban since Monday.
A downtown "fash off" will highlight clothing as a unifier of circumstance and culture.
The beautiful game played a vital role in raising morale on Robben Island. Now a new film looks at sport and struggle, writes Niren Tolsi.
”Alcohol abuse among our youth has reached alarming proportions. People who drink are engaged in violence and sexual abuse …We will continue to campaign to deliver a better life to our youth and educate them on the ills of alcohol abuse,” says newly elected African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema.
![]()
The case involving African National Congress president Jacob Zuma in Mauritius has been postponed, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported on Friday. The case has been postponed to May 7. Zuma’s lawyer told SABC news that the case had been postponed because the defence team wanted to study the affidavit filed by Mauritian Attorney General.
After a contamination scare on Friday morning, residents of northern Johannesburg can now safely drink their tap water again, Johannesburg Water said. During routine water testing, a "possible compromise" of the quality of drinking water in several suburbs had been detected.
Snow is expected to fall on the high ground of the Eastern Cape this weekend, the South African Weather Service said on Friday. A cold, wet weekend is expected throughout most of the province. Heavy rains of 50mm plus in 24 hours are expected along the coastal belt and adjacent interior on Sunday.
The death toll in an accident involving a truck and a taxi in KwaZulu-Natal’s Colenso area has risen to 12, police and transport officials said on Friday. An official of the provincial emergency services said 18 people had been inside the taxi and that six had survived. Three were in a serious condition in hospital.
The JSE remained firm by midday on Friday, with a trader saying that the market was consolidating after hitting record levels earlier this week. Starting from Wednesday, the bourse had two consecutive days of hitting all-time highs, but failed to close at its record peak of 32 130,75 points.