Bafana Bafana desperately need to uncover a new striker ahead of next year’s Confederations Cup. That was the opinion expressed on Wednesday by the CEO of the 2010 local organising committee , Danny Jordaan. While Jordaan is happy with the progress that coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is making, he is concerned by the fact that there is no successor to Benni McCarthy.
Intervention by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) on Wednesday brought an end to the pay dispute between workers and management at the 2010 Soccer World Cup Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. Spokesperson Lusanda Myoli said an agreement was reached after two days of intense negotiations.
The police have been accused of harassing street traders and charging them exorbitant fines. In a street-traders’ survey released on Wednesday, most of the traders interviewed — 94% — said they had been harassed by police. At least 82% of street traders said they had had their goods confiscated by the police and had difficulty in recovering them.
Property will be expropriated if it is in the public interest, according to the draft Expropriation Bill tabled on Wednesday. ”Expropriation in the public interest … provides government with a tool to achieve … land reform,” according to a memorandum attached to the Bill. This will broaden the scope of expropriation from the current narrow term of ”public purpose”.
The South African Police Service’s explosives unit confirmed on Wednesday that an uncleared Chinese vessel docked at the outer anchorage of Durban harbour was carrying arms. Leonard Hadebe, head of Durban customs, said: ”We have confirmed that the shipment was headed for Zimbabwe.”
Wintry weather conditions are expected to appear this weekend, the South African Weather Service said on Wednesday. ”The first outbreak of cold weather this year will occur from Saturday, taking more effect on Sunday,” said forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng. He said rain-free conditions were expected until Friday.
The African National Congress (ANC) backs the call for police to use lethal force should their lives or those of the public be in imminent danger, party president Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday. Addressing a Chambers of Commerce and Industry of South Africa conference, Zuma said: ”In this war against crime, we reiterate that our laws must bite.
The trial of the four people accused of murdering theatre personality Taliep Petersen has been adjourned to Friday to allow the state to prepare for a battle over the admissibility of confessions. On trial are Petersen’s wife, Najwa, and three men she allegedly hired to carry out the December 2006 execution-style slaying.
South Africa’s retail sales growth accelerated to 2,5% year-on-year in February at constant prices, from an upwardly revised 0,7% growth in January, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday. In the three months to the end of February, retail sales increased by 0,7% over the same period the previous year, also at constant prices.
After one of the most successful seasons since unification, the Proteas have a few weeks off before gearing up for one of the toughest assignments on the cricket calendar — a tour of England. The two-month tour of England includes four Tests, one Twenty20 clash and five one-day internationals, as well several warm-up games.
The South African Human Rights Commission will not pursue two complaints it received about the controversial column that led to writer David Bullard being fired from the Sunday Times, spokesperson Vincent Moaga said on Wednesday. This is because the newspaper has apologised, he said.
The JSE kept toying with an all-time high by midday on Wednesday as resources continued to fuel the bourse. By noon, the JSE’s broader all-share index had risen 1,02% to 31 600,360 points. It reached an intra-day high of 31 700,350 points earlier, just off its all time high of 31 728,180 points hit in October last year.
Documents stolen from the Johannesburg High Court in a recent robbery did not include dockets relating to the drunken-driving case of Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride, the National Prosecuting Authority said on Wednesday. Armed robbers broke into the court on Sunday night.
South Africa’s third-biggest bank, Absa, and food and clothing retailer Woolworths are to enter into a joint venture, the companies said in separate statements on Wednesday. The venture ”will provide Absa with access to customers in the retailer finance market at point-of-sale”, Absa said.
Stormers flanker Schalk Burger is a greater threat than ever to the Stormers’ Super 14 opponents, says Jerry Collins, star loose forward of the Hurricanes. The tough All Black, who will oppose the Springbok star at Newlands on Saturday, has been impressed by the way Burger and Luke Watson combine, reports RugbyHeaven website.
If governments take on private-sector debt created during the subprime crisis, the poor will be hardest hit, economist Iraj Abedian said in Cape Town on Tuesday. ”Heaven help us if it happens in developing countries,” he told a discussion on the global economic meltdown.
A farmworker who escaped the gallows for murder 23 years ago faces a possible life sentence after pleading guilty in the Pretoria High Court to another charge of murder. Acting Judge Peter Mabuse convicted Amos Zulu (57), of Bapsfontein, on Tuesday of murdering his employer, Johanna Maria Erasmus (76), in February last year.
A disabled 65-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the rape of a 10-year-old girl near Hazyview, Mpumalanga police said on Tuesday. Captain Leonard Hlathi said the man, whose legs were deformed and therefore had to walk with the aid of crutches, allegedly raped the girl in Nyongani Trust near Hazyview at about 3pm on Monday.
Consumer foods maker Pioneer Foods goes public on Tuesday April 22, with 400-million shares as part of its plans to raise capital, it said this week. Prior to the listing, the company will offer 20-million shares at R25 each in a rights offer intended to raise R500-million for its capital expenditure programme.
Mickey Arthur and Graeme Smith, Proteas coach and captain respectively, appeared unconcerned on Tuesday about a warning by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) that it plans to take up the issue of transformation in cricket, with mass action if necessary.
The group executive of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is ”disturbed” by inaccuracies in media reports indicating that the broadcaster’s board plans to axe its chief executive, Dali Mpofu. The Sunday Times reported that the SABC board planned to axe Mpofu for dereliction of duty.
About 200 people protested outside the Zimbabwe embassy in Pretoria on Wednesday, calling for the release of presidential election results. Gabriel Shumba of the Zimbabwe Exiles’ Forum said the protest was over the delay that had followed the March 29 elections.
The African National Congress (ANC) will meet the ministers responsible for proposed hikes in electricity tariffs in order to discuss the energy situation in the country, the party said on Tuesday. ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte said the ANC national working committee had expressed concern over the proposed tariff hikes.
Photographs of Taliep Petersen’s bloody corpse made him sick to his stomach, the man who claims he arranged the killing told the Cape High Court on Tuesday. Fahiem Hendricks, who has been warned as an accomplice, was on the stand for the second day in the trial of Taliep’s wife, Najwa, and three others.
African National Congress president Jacob Zuma criticism of the closure of teacher training colleges in the mid-1990s received backing from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Tuesday. An IFP education spokesperson urged Education Minister Naledi Pandor ”to urgently consider the reopening of teacher training colleges”.
The 2010 Soccer World Cup finals will do wonders to promote harmony and bring white soccer fans back to the game. In an interview on Tuesday, Premier Soccer League (PSL) CEO Kjetil Siem said South Africa will reap enormous benefits, both on and off the field, during and after the 2010 world showpiece.
South Africa have every chance of getting back into the top five of world netball, outgoing captain of the South African netball team Bronwyn Bock-Jonathan said on Tuesday. South Africa are currently ranked second in Africa, after losing to Malawi at the world championships.
Springbok and Lions centre Jaque Fourie is set to make his comeback after a stomach injury when the Lions meet the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in a Vodacom Cup quarterfinal next weekend. The South African Rugby Union has given its blessing for Fourie to take part in the Vodacom play-offs.
It afflicted Kaizer Chiefs and, for some time this season, it looked as though Mamelodi Sundowns were poised to be struck down as well by what has been called the curse of the top-eight competition. But currently out of the top eight, Sundowns have no intention to fall foul of the curse.
The government should intervene in food pricing to prevent further increases, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday. ”Government [must] not leave the market to determine the prices, in particular on the basic needs. [They must] introduce regulations,” Cosatu said.
Freedom of expression, says cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, better known as Zapiro, should only be limited when exercising it would cause physical harm or death. He was speaking at a discussion themed Cartoonists: Where Do We Draw the Line?, hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand journalism department on Tuesday.
Consumer complaints have declined for the first time in several years during 2007, breaking the trend of increasing volumes, the life-insurance ombudsman announced on Tuesday. Reporting back, Judge Brian Galgut said last year’s case load had dropped by 1 311 cases (15%) compared with 2006.