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.
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.
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.
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.
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.