A South African has been killed in unclear circumstances in Iraq, in a week of violent clashes which has claimed the lives of more than 100 people, the Foreign Affairs Department said Thursday. Spokesperson Manusha Pillai said the department had no details on the circumstances of the man’s death.
Former Elite bouncer Jonathan Street sat impassively as he was sentenced to an effective 24 years in jail for the murder of 18-year-old art student Kyle Norris, the Star reported on Thursday. Street was found guilty, earlier this month, of shooting Norris in the head at the Mac X sports and strip club in Edenvale, east of Johannesburg, on November 19 2006.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on Thursday said that production at the Golden Falls mine, formerly Cape Diamonds Elandslaagte mine, has been brought to a halt by mineworkers who have downed tools until they are awarded better wages. The NUM said the workers downed tools on Wednesday and were willing to strike indefinitely.
Benni McCarthy created a record and South Africa equalled one as they outclassed Paraguay 3-0 in a lively international friendly on Wednesday. Blackburn Rovers striker McCarthy headed the crucial second goal two minutes after half-time at Super Stadium near Pretoria to overtake retired Shaun Bartlett and become the leading national team scorer with 30 goals.
Unions have called on the government to place a moratorium on electricity tariff hikes or face protest action, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Wednesday. Eskom has requested a 53% price increase from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa.
You will be paying an extra R20-billion to Eskom this year — over and above the R40-billion collected last year — for it to buy billions of litres of diesel to fuel its peaking power plants. Further steep tariff increases are likely as new peaking power becomes available and is relied upon more heavily.
The Pretoria High Court has issued an interim interdict to restrain the government from relocating people from the former Pomfret military base in the North West. The order also brings a temporary halt to the demolishing of property in the town. Judge Brian Southwood granted an urgent court order to the 6 000-strong Pomfret community.
Construction of the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town is on schedule and the city is in the process of selling naming rights and finding a long-term operator for it, mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday. The stadium is being built in preparation for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, and has been earmarked for a semifinal.
The City of Johannesburg proposed an increase in essential-services tariffs on Wednesday in a move the Anti-Privatisation Forum labelled ”the latest salvo against the poor”. The city cited increased input costs of 22% in bulk purchase costs from the Eskom and Kelvin power stations.
An eight-year-old girl allegedly molested by Andrew Jordaan, the man accused of murdering seven-year-old Sheldean Human, said he threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the abuse. The girl on Wednesday testified behind closed doors through an intermediary — after the court heard that evidence in an open court could further harm her emotionally.
Cape Town’s director of health, Dr Ivan Toms, died of meningitis, city manager Achmat Ebrahim said on Wednesday. Toms, an anti-apartheid and gay rights activist, was found dead in his Mowbray home on Tuesday morning. The estimated time of death was late Monday afternoon or early Monday evening.
Zimbabwe police have pressed fraud charges related to a hotel booking against a Johannesburg-based pilot arrested while flying Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai to election rallies, the party said on Wednesday. Zimbabwe’s police were not able to confirm the arrest.
A war of words has erupted ahead of election day in Zimbabwe this Saturday, with the opposition saying the government has already rigged the vote. These elections were ”never meant to be an even playing field”, said Nkosana Moyo, coordinator of presidential hopeful Simba Makoni’s campaign, in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Nine train passengers were injured on Wednesday when they were hit by timber logs protruding from a stationary freight train near Tembisa on the East Rand. The Railway Safety Regulator said six of the passengers suffered serious injuries and the rest only minor injuries.
The Soweto Gospel Choir presented their second Grammy Award to former president Nelson Mandela at his foundation in Houghton on Wednesday. ”We thank you for seeing us. We are here to show you what we brought back home and also to give you some of our CDs … your presence blesses us,” Siphokazi Luzipho said.
A senior bond-portfolio manager and an emerging-markets analyst from Lehman Brothers both uttered the same dreaded word soon after reading what Tito Mboweni had said in Parliament on Wednesday: hawkish. In fact, Lehman Brothers now predicts a 50-basis-point increase in the repo rate on April 10 to 11,5%.
An eight-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually abused for months by Andrew Jordaan, the man accused of murdering and raping Sheldean Human, on Wednesday took the stand behind closed doors. Pretoria High Court Judge Chris Eksteen ordered that the girl must testify through an intermediary.
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni warned consumers on Wednesday to tighten their belts further as higher food and fuel prices fan out into wider inflation. South Africa’s targeted CPIX inflation has surged through the top end of the bank’s 3%-to-6% band and hit a high of 9,4% year-on-year in February.
South Africa could be making better use of Zimbabwean migrants’ skills but current immigration policy makes it difficult, according to a report released by the Centre for Development and Enterprises on Wednesday. Research has suggested a high level of skills among these migrants.
Mining counters gave the JSE some extra momentum on Wednesday, pushing the bourse more than a percent higher by midday. At noon, the JSE’s broader all-share index was 1,29% in the black, driven by a 5,45% rally in the platinum-mining index. Resources advanced 2,47% and the gold-mining index rose 1,07%.
About 800 workers face retrenchment at BHP Billiton’s Bayside aluminium smelter in Richards Bay, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Mziwakhe Hlangani said company management confirmed that it will be issuing final notices to the affected workers on the weekend.
Thirteen reserve constables charged with corruption were set free after they appeared in the Komatipoort Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. This was because the prosecutor had misplaced the charge sheet, said Mpumalanga police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi. The 13 were arrested last Wednesday.
The ban on free-to-air television broadcaster e.tv from covering the Zimbabwean polls detracts from that country’s claim to hold free and fair elections, the South Africa National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said on Tuesday. Zimbabwe’s state-owned Sunday Mail first reported the ban.
The increase in South Africa’s consumer price index excluding mortgage rate changes (CPIX) for metro and other areas, which is used by the South African Reserve Bank for its inflation target, was 9,4% year-on-year in February from 8,8% in January. The key drivers were higher food and petrol prices.
An elderly woman was shot by robbers fleeing from a crime scene in Phoenix, Durban police said on Wednesday. Inspector Michael Read said five men, three of them armed, had entered the Smilesons shop in Phoenix on Tuesday evening and held staff members at gunpoint.
South Africa has steadfastly refused to join in the chorus of criticism of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe despite paying an ever higher price for the crisis across its northern border. As Zimbabwe goes to the polls this weekend, analysts believe South African President Thabo Mbeki may feel little enthusiasm towards Mugabe but will never embarrass his fellow leader.
Three men who were arrested in connection with the killings of two foreign nationals in the Brazzaville informal settlement in Atteridgeville were expected to appear in court on Thursday. The investigating officer was busy preparing a docket and the three would appear on murder and damage to property charges in Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court.
Political interference in South African cricket has not produced the best team for their tour to India, the Afrikanerbond said on Tuesday in a letter to the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Managing director Jan Bosman said that international standards must apply in the selection of the best team to represent a country.
An uncle and his 19-year-old nephew accused of murdering and robbing a petrol station attendant appeared in the Grahamstown High Court on Monday, and pleaded not guilty. The pair are accused of stabbing to death Johannes Mokok (52) at the Barkly East Toyota Service Station, on the evening of October 1 2005.
Building costs for poor households have increased by 25% year-on-year, mainly due to the cost of serviced sites going up, the Banking Association of South Africa said on Tuesday. The increase was primarity due to the increase in the cost of serviced sites, said managing director Cas Coovadia.
There is a need to investigate collusion between state prosecutors and white farmers, the Congress of South African Trade Unions said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Patrick Craven said they demanded a full investigation into the conduct of the police and prosecutors.
About 800 workers face retrenchment at BHP Billiton’s Bayside aluminium smelter in Richards Bay, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Mziwakhe Hlangani said management had confirmed that it would be issuing final notices to the affected workers at the weekend.