The Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (Cosatu) will stage the first of a series of protests against rising food prices in a march through Polokwane in Limpopo on Sunday, spokesperson Patrick Craven said on Friday. Besides drawing attention to rising food prices, the protesters will also complain about the electricity crisis.
The use of the word ”boesman” (bushman) by newspaper Die Burger is not derogatory hate speech, the Equality Court ruled in Cape Town on Friday. Kobus Faasen, an academic who says he is a descendant of the Khoisan people, had claimed the newspaper’s use of the word in several articles was ”contaminated with racism”.
Abbey Makoe, political editor at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), has resigned from the public broadcaster, it said on Friday. Makoe said: ”I am very sad to leave the SABC. Of all the media institutions for which I have worked, I found the SABC the most transformed and progressive.”
President Thabo Mbeki is blatantly violating human rights, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) claimed in a document handed to Amnesty International on Friday. The party’s chief whip, Koos van der Merwe, handed a written complaint against Mbeki to a representative of Amnesty International in Pretoria.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma on Friday said that the issue of bail for those accused of rape and murder needs to be debated. Speaking at the launch of the KwaZulu-Natal Institute of Local Government and Traditional Leadership Fundraising Summit, Zuma said: ”I don’t think we have debated the issue.”
Taliep Petersen’s death looked ”suspect” from the start, his younger brother, Igsaan, told the Cape High Court on Friday. Igsaan was the third witness to be called in the trial of Taliep’s wife, Najwa, and three alleged hit men, who are accused of murdering him on the night of December 16 2006.
Former bouncer Gary Beuthin and his two co-accused will go on trial in the Johannesburg High Court on October 20 for attempted murder and kidnapping. Beuthin (43) and his co-accused, Melanie van Nierkerk (31) and Warren Schertel (34), were formally served with a high court indictment in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Firmer global equities started to give the JSE support during the morning session on Friday, lifting the broader all-share index 0,91% by noon. Traders said that resource counters were also underpinning gains in the Alsi. By midday, the JSE’s resources index collected 1,59%. The platinum-mining index strengthened 3,07% and the gold-mining index advanced 1,25%.
A 24-year-old man who allegedly attempted to set fire to the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) offices appeared before the Newlands Magistrate’s Court in Sophiatown on Friday. ”Did you have a problem with the programming?” Judge Koos Pretorius quipped.
The South African Reserve Bank will be hosting the first round of regional monetary policy forum (MPF) meetings in May 2008. "Monetary policy has an impact on everybody. The main objective of the MPF meetings is to enhance the transparency of the bank’s monetary policy decision-making process and accountability to the public," it said.
Zulu queens spent R533 000 just on clothing between June and October last year, media reports said on Friday. This came as nearly R10-million was needed to avoid the collapse of some of the royal palaces. The spending spree emerged as the royal household appeared before the finance portfolio committee in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.
The final eight teams that will vie for the R1-million prize for winning the 2008 Vodacom Cup will be confirmed after this weekend’s final round of league matches. Though Griquas and Western Province are certain of their places in the quarterfinals, at least eight teams remain in contention for the six remaining play-off spots.
The hike in the repo rate is bound at least to slow down economic growth and the rate of new job creation, said the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Thursday. Cosatu said the increase raises the real possibility of retrenchments at a time when unemployment is still ”far too high”.
Leonard Chuene will have the last laugh on Sunday over his number-one enemy, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), when he is re-elected as president of Athletics South Africa. No one is standing against him. In the run-up to the elections, Chuene has been under pressure to resign.
The battle for the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) at its December conference in Polokwane should convince foreign investors that the country’s democracy is solid, ANC president Jacob Zuma told the Durban Chamber of Commerce’s 152nd anniversary dinner on Thursday.
A "racist column" has cost well-known <i>Sunday Times</i> columnist David Bullard his job, media reports said on Friday. "He wrote a racist column on Sunday. I had a conversation with him on Tuesday, I told him that what he wrote was unacceptable," <i>Sunday Times</i> editor Mondli Makhanya was quoted as saying.
President Thabo Mbeki will attend a Southern African Development Community (SADC) emergency summit this weekend in Zambia on the post-election crisis in Zimbabwe. However, Mbeki’s cherished policy of "quiet diplomacy" on Zimbabwe has been rejected by his own party.
A detective told the Cape High Court on Thursday that he became suspicious of murder accused Najwa Petersen after hearing her sobbing account on the night of her husband’s Taliep’s death. The officer was the second witness called in the trial of Petersen and the three men she allegedly hired to carry out the execution-style shooting.
The African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday called on the Competition Commission to intensify its investigations into the causes of high food prices. A spokesperson said all stakeholders in food prices should convene an urgent meeting to discuss ways of minimising the effect of high food prices on the poor.
The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa reserved judgement on Thursday in the hearing of a complaint against the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s broadcast of a ”hate song” by hip-hop artist Zubz, said the Freedom Front Plus, which had laid a complaint about the song in February.
It is possible that the crime-fighting Scorpions may not be incorporated into the South African Police Service by June, African National Congress national executive committee Siphiwe Nyanda said on Thursday. He was speaking at a seminar hosted by the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria.
The Eastern Cape health department will not recognise nurses trained at illegal nursing schools because the schools do not train quality nurses, the department said on Thursday. Departmental spokesperson Siyanda Manana said such institutions are not accredited by the South African Nursing Council.
A security guard accused of murdering Pretoria dancer Estée van Rensburg appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, wearing shackles around his ankles. State prosecutor Lucas Choma told the court the investigation against Aaron Mashishi (25) was almost complete.
Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs face up for a repeat of their recent pulsating Nedbank Cup clash in a Premier Soccer League game at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday afternoon. While it might not be of great significance in the PSL championship race, the match-up is certain to be the big crowd-puller of the weekend.
Deputy Safety and Security Minister Susan Shabangu must be fired for her comments that police should shoot and kill criminals, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. ”Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula has no choice but to fire her with immediate effect,” DA spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard said.
In its investigation of complaints laid against the Forum of Black Journalists, the South African Human Rights Commission twice wrote to FBJ chief Abbey Makoe.
South Africa will work with other countries in the region to ensure the will of the Zimbabwean people is reflected, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said on Thursday. The country has joined the chorus of international calls for Zimbabwe to release the results of its March 29 presidential election as soon as possible.
The British and Irish Lions are to play 10 matches on their tour of South Africa next year, including three Tests against the world champions, the Springboks, organisers said on Thursday. The Tests against the Boks will take place on June 20 in Durban, June 27 in Pretoria and July 4 in Johannesburg.
"We want to show that South Africa’s textile is definitely capable to stand on its own and that we don’t need to import cloth … We make people aware that South Africa has talent," says Eran Eyal, one of the designers behind Springleap, an innovative South African online retail outlet launched this month.
Efforts to push legislation through Parliament to disband the Scorpions are falling behind schedule, the deputy president’s office said on Thursday. ”It’s mainly because of consultation … which has taken much longer than was thought,” said Thabang Chiloane, spokesperson for Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni has raised the repo rate, at which the South African Reserve Bank lends money to banks, by 50 basis points to 11,5% following a two-day meeting of the bank’s monetary policy committee. The prime overdraft rate therefore increases to 15%.
Slain revolutionary leader Chris Hani would not have believed that 14 years into democracy, South Africa is still an unequal society, the Congress of South African Trade Unions said on Thursday at a memorial service marking 15 years since the assassination of Hani, the then-head of the South African Communist Party.