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.
Recently Chief Justice Pius Langa gave an address on the relationship between the media and the judiciary in which he said he hoped one day it might be possible for our judges to be ”ordinary” men and women. To be fair, he was responding to a question raising concern about the extraordinary pressure our transition is placing on judge.
Dozens of Zimbabweans were arrested on Friday outside the Chinese embassy in Pretoria during a protest over a ship that attempted to offload weapons destined for Zimbabwe, police said. "A total of 129 protesters were arrested staging an illegal protest. The police asked them to disperse and they refused so, they were arrested," a police spokesperson said.
While delegates at last week’s Southern African Development Community (SADC) conference on poverty and development pulled up in taxis and luxury cars to the Mauritian conference centre, Linda Marie L’Acariate took a bus to work at the canteen of the Sacota textile mill, just outside the town of Rose Hill.
Six of the Boeremag treason trialists in C-Max prison will have to put up with warders watching them around the clock, the Pretoria High Court ruled on Thursday. Judge Charl Rabie turned down a bid by six of the 21 accused for an order to allow them to paste paper over windows in their cells.
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) will deploy a new security plan after a number of alleged racist attacks on campus in the last week, university management said on Thursday. Last week, local South African Students Congress chairperson Xolani Mkhwemnte said there had been an outbreak of ”racially motivated incidents” on the Kingsway campus.
Moves to police the quality of medical treatment and other services in public hospitals were announced by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday. Speaking at Tembisa Hospital on the East Rand, she said these measures will cover a broad spectrum of performance areas, including the safety of patients.
South Africa is sticking to its target growth rate of 6% by 2010 despite a chronic power crisis and slower global growth, a government official said on Thursday. Alan Hirsch, deputy head of the policy unit in the Presidency, said the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa is unchanged.
Najwa Petersen looked suspiciously ”normal” only hours after her husband Taliep’s funeral, one of Taliep’s sisters told the Cape High Court on Thursday. She also did not give a convincing answer when asked whether she was involved in the theatre personality’s murder, Ma’atoema Groenmeyer said.
Fidentia chief executive J Arthur Brown was on Thursday late for a scheduled appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, on charges that include fraud involving the Transport, Education and Training Authority (Teta). In the dock without him were co-accused Dr Piet Bothma, Teta’s chief executive, and Jacobus Theart.
A power cut disrupted proceedings at a briefing in Pretoria on Thursday involving possible class action against Eskom. Lights went off at the briefing hosted by trade union Solidarity shortly before 12.30pm. The briefing discussed the possibility of class action against Eskom over possible job losses as a result of the power crisis.
Police acted ”exactly as instructed” in shooting a fugitive linked to the murders of Lichtenburg farmer At Deysel and his wife, Katerina, North West transport, roads and community safety minister Phenye Vilakazi said on Thursday. The 29-year-old had escaped from police cells in Ottoshoop on Sunday.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday proposed six steps to help the economy weather the current storm. ”Overall, sustainable and consistent policy is required,” DA spokesperson Kobus Marais told a media briefing at Parliament. ”Reverting to knee-jerk, short-term and populist measures will do more harm than ever before,” he said.
Areas in and around the Kempton Park CBD will be without power until Sunday, the Ekurhuleni municipality said on Thursday, following a fire at a substation in Spartan on Monday. The crisis has left one resident dead and residential and business areas without electricity. Meanwhile, South Africans will be free of scheduled power cuts next week, Eskom said on Thursday.
An intensive investigation is under way to establish whether contaminated water in the Eastern Cape caused the death of nearly 80 children, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Thursday. Earlier this week, media reports said nearly 80 children from the towns of Barkly East, Maclear, Sterkspruit and Elliot had died from diarrhoea and other complications.
The South African government was again left red-faced when its indifference regarding a Chinese arms shipment for Zimbabwe resulted in a public outcry and court action, here and abroad.
Taliep Petersen’s sister gave up on the 10111 emergency number on the night her brother was killed, driving to a police station instead to get help, the Cape High Court heard on Thursday. Ma’atoema Groenmeyer told the court she believed her abortive 10111 call was the first attempt that anyone made to summon police.
Authorities are boosting security at Table Mountain to fight crime, which has caused a drop in tourist numbers, a Cape Town city official said on Thursday. Councillor Simon Grindrod said the mountain’s Signal Hill area — popular with lovers seeking a secluded spot or tourists wanting unparalleled views across Table Bay — will have 24-hour security.
The South African Reserve Bank warned on Thursday that high household debt was a potential source of vulnerability and the growth in non-performing loans must be closely monitored. Elevated and volatile oil prices could also impact on economic and financial stability through higher inflation, interest rates and on an already large current-account deficit, it said.
The government’s decision to reopen teacher training colleges — announced this week by Education Minister Naledi Pandor — indicates that despite programmes to increase the number of teachers trained, there is still a shortage in key areas, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday.
The provinces of Mpumalanga in South Africa and Maputo in Mozambique provinces signed a cooperation agreement on Thursday relating to economy, health and agriculture, the office of Premier Thabang Makwetla said. This forms part of continued efforts to strengthen bilateral relationships.
The Pretoria Regional Court on Thursday turned down a new application by the defence team of Ekurhuleni metro chief Robert McBride to force the state to hand over all statements made by three state witnesses, even those not relating to his drunken-driving case.
Platinum Stars face the biggest match of their short history when they host the African club of the century, Al Ahly, in an African Champions League showdown at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Saturday. Facing the holders of the Champions League title — arguably the best and most successful club side in Africa — does not scare Stars.
The JSE was sharply weaker at noon on Thursday, led by banks after worse-than-expected factory-gate price inflation data pretty much sealed the case for another interest-rate hike in June, traders said. By 11.54am the JSE’s broader all-share index was down 0,96%, weighed by a 1,99% drop in banks.
An Absa ATM situated inside a Newcastle pub was blown up, police said on Thursday. Captain Shooz Magudulela said the incident took place in Newcastle’s industrial area late on Wednesday night. ”A security guard was found tied up this morning [Thursday] and he had been like that since 9pm last night,” he said.
South Africa’s producer price index (PPI) rose by 11,8% year-on-year in March from 11,2% in February, Statistics South Africa data on Thursday showed. Dawie Roodt, economist at Efficient Group, commented: "I am afraid all these price increases from producers will start filtering to consumers."
South African drugs and cosmetics retailer New Clicks said on Thursday first-half diluted headline earnings per share (EPS) rose 25,8% helped by health and beauty sales despite a tightening economy. The company said headline EPS, the main profit gauge in South Africa, which strips out non-trading, capital and certain extraordinary items, was 67,8 cents.
A mountain fire burning at Sir Lowry’s Pass, near Somerset West, had been brought under control by Thursday morning, said the Cape Town disaster risk-management centre. Spokesperson Charlotte Powell said the tract of veld caught fire at 9.50pm on Wednesday. It was not known what caused the blaze.
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief executive Dali Mpofu has conceded that the public broadcaster is under political pressure, but said it was resisting this pressure, Business Day reported on Thursday. ”The test is if you can withstand political pressure,” he said at a conference on media and electoral democracy held in Pretoria on Wednesday.
Ajax Cape Town’s brave 2-0 win over Orlando Pirates at the Athlone Stadium saw them reclaim their position at the top of the Absa Premiership standings. There was action from the outset as Ajax started the game at a cracking pace, with Nhlanhla Shabalala and Nathan Paulse bringing out saves from Bucs keeper Senzo Meyiwa within the opening six minutes.
A crisis in Zimbabwe? What crisis? This question was debated by three high-ranking Zimbabwean opposition politicians at the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>’s Critical Thinking Forum in Johannesburg on Wednesday evening. "We expect too much of South Africa," said one panellist. "There is a limit to what South Africa can do."
The drunken-driving charge against former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni has not been dropped, a prosecutor at the Parow Regional Court in the Western Cape confirmed on Wednesday. The prosecutor said earlier reports indicating that charges against Yengeni had been dropped were incorrect.