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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Cape High Court on Tuesday dismissed an application for the acquittal of a 13-year-old youth who allegedly purchased petrol with which a woman was doused and set alight during an argument about a missing cellphone. The boy and three others are alleged to have set alight the woman at a drug den near Cape Town last year.
While anxiety due to the delay in the announcement of Zimbabwe’s presidential election results is shared, the process has not reached a dead end, the South African facilitation team said on Tuesday. ”The anxiety about the delay is certainly legitimate,” said Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi.
Conservation authorities began to drain the Silolweni Dam on Tuesday to prevent algal poisoning of the wildlife in the area, the Kruger National Park said. The decision was made after conservation officials and rangers found five zebra carcasses near a picnic site and suspected that blue-green algae was responsible for the deaths.
The Erasmus commission is facing three new urgent interdicts to put its activities in Cape Town on hold, prompting commission chairperson Judge Nathan Erasmus to adjourn proceedings on Tuesday afternoon. The interdicts are expected to be heard in the Cape High Court on Wednesday morning.
About R6,9-million has been spent on nine cases pertaining to Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride and senior officers, Ekurhuleni mayor Duma Nkosi said on Tuesday in reaction to photocopies of three invoices given to the media by Ekurhuleni councillor Izak Berg.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) on Tuesday expressed its deep concern at media reports signalling a ”looming battle” between the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board and management. ”We are deeply concerned,” SACP spokesperson Malesela Maleka said in a statement.
Three hard drives were stolen from the Jeppestown Magistrate’s Court, Johannesburg police said on Tuesday. Police spokesperson Inspector Richard Munyai said staff at the court discovered on Tuesday that there had been a break-in some time during the night.