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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Each day, Edwin Makotore’s wife and children hit the streets to earn cash so he can pay for the privilege of working. The 38-year-old father-of-two is the only one in the family with a full-time job, but by the time he has met the soaring cost of travelling to work in a small Harare supermarket, paid out of wages wildly out of step with the 165Â 000% inflation rate, Makotore is out of pocket.
Najwa Petersen’s legal team is fighting a bid by the state to lead evidence on what her husband, Taliep, told a sister about the state of their marriage, and how Najwa stabbed him. Najwa is in the dock in the Cape High Court along with three men she allegedly hired to murder Taliep on the night of December 16 2006.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will present a set of proposals to the Foreign Affairs Ministry on how the government can resolve Zimbabwe’s electoral crisis, the party said on Friday. The proposals include the possible suspension of Zimbabwe from the African Union, arms embargoes and the severing of diplomatic ties.
The Sebokeng Magistrate’s Court on Friday postponed until July the trial of a former dormitory matron of United States talk-show host Oprah Winfrey’s girls academy, who has been charged with abusing minors. Virginia Makgobo (27)appeared court to face charges of indecent and common assault, and soliciting a minor to perform indecent acts.
South African stocks were mixed in a thin-volume session by noon on Friday, with MTN in focus on vague newspaper reports that an Indian firm might launch a takeover bid for the local mobile telecoms firm, traders said. By midday the JSE’s broader all-share index was down 0,14%. Resources fell 1,27%.
The huge increase in the electricity price was the result of poor planning and management on the government’s part, so it should not be allowed to get tax income from that, a media report said on Friday. The government would get a R4-billion boost in taxes if Eskom was allowed to increase its prices by a nominal 60%.
The top United States envoy to Africa said on Thursday that Zimbabwe’s opposition leader won his nation’s disputed presidential election and longtime President Robert Mugabe should step down. The opposition has claimed its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, beat Mugabe outright on March 29.
Former Springbok rugby player Joost van der Westhuizen has paid R15 000 to avoid prosecution on charges of malicious damage to property for breaking a security boom, a media report said on Friday. The father of two was to have handed himself over at Douglasdale Police Station on Thursday where he would have been formally charged.
South African mobile services operator MTN said on Friday that it had not received any "specific proposal" from any company regarding a takeover of the company. MTN was responding to a report that India’s Bharti Airtel is considering a bid for the company.
Of all the commendations that new Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana has to his credit is that he has coached the world’s best-supported team. He will have to accentuate this point as he has little else, other than the endorsement of his predecessor, to show why he should be entrusted with the job.