The office of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) acting head Mokotedi Mpshe was quarantined on Thursday when it was discovered that a threatening letter addressed to him was laced with a poisonous substance, the Sunday Times reported. NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali confirmed that at least one employee had a violent physical reaction to the letter.
Santos recorded their fifth consecutive Premier Soccer League win when they beat Golden Arrows 3-1 at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday night. An uneventful first half gave way to an action-packed second half that saw all four goal scored. In the first half very little scoring opportunities were created.
Orlando Pirates were held to a deflating 0-0 draw by bottom Premier Soccer League club Black Leopards after the heavens opened up at Johannesburg Stadium shortly before the kick-off on Saturday night. An uninspiring display against a team who had lost their last six games has left the Buccaneers seven points behind log leaders Ajax Cape Town.
Godfrey Khotso Mokoena, South Africa’s best long and triple jumper of all time, gave himself a fine 22nd birthday present in Valencia on Saturday when he won South Africa’s third-ever gold medal at the IAAF World Indoor Championships with a jump of 8,08m.
Flanker Keegan Daniel scored a 16-second try to give the Sharks a perfect start en route to a 22-17 triumph over the Auckland Blues in a Super 14 thriller on Saturday. Daniel dotted down again as the home team took a 19-3 half-time advantage and then withstood fierce second-half pressure.
Eskom has increased coal stockpiles at power stations, the utility said on Saturday. Spokesperson Brian Dames said of the five power stations with the lowest stockpile days, only one remained below the desired level. Eskom announced that it aimed to secure 45-million tons of coal over two years to combat crippling coal shortages.
A proposed million-person march against crime is gaining momentum, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Saturday. Actor and singer Desmond Dube called on all South Africans to join the march scheduled for the middle of April in Johannesburg. Dube said South Africans have had enough of crime.
Mamelodi Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic drew 0-0 in an exciting Premier Soccer League match on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld to both remain in the bottom half of the 16-team table. Sundowns, though, jumped to 12th place with 25 points, while Celtic stay 11th on 26 points.
Heroin is more easily obtainable than a hamburger nowadays, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille told an anti-drugs rally in Johannesburg on Saturday. This was after she led marchers — wearing DA T-shirts bearing the slogan: ”No to drugs and save our children” — through the streets of Vrededorp in Johannesburg.
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille led a march against drugs through the streets of Johannesburg on Saturday. A main concern is that drugs are being brought into areas once considered safe for children, said Westsiders against Addiction group chairperson George Pappas.
A spate of wide deliveries by the Dolphins — there were 19 extras amongst the first 22 runs — did much for the cause of the Eagles as they came back to snatch victory by three wickets in their MTN domestic championship cricket match at Kingsmead on Friday night.
Despite having to play for 10 minutes with 13 men, the Bulls beat the Lions 31-17 in a pulsating Super 14 match in Pretoria on Friday. The home side lost Springbok hard man Bakkies Botha to the sin-bin, and fullback Zane Kirchner to a red card, in the first period, but still had too much fire-power to overcome the Lions.
An 85th-minute own goal by Wits defender Wilson Shendzelani gave Premier Soccer League log leaders Ajax Cape Town an invaluable 1-0 victory at a rain-swept Bidvest Stadium on Friday night. Shendzelani sunk to his knees and held his head between his arms at the final whistle .
The council of the University of the Free State on Friday mandated management to consider the possibility of closing down the Reitz men’s residence. Chairperson of the council Judge Faan Hancke said this included the possibility of converting the hostel into a beacon of transformation, hope and liberation.
Dozens of prominent South Africans have signed a statement condemning a racist video that surfaced at the University of the Free State (UFS) last month. The list of 81 signatories includes renowned authors Nadine Gordimer and Andre Brink, journalists John Perlman and Max du Preez, retired judge Arthur Chaskalson and cartoonist Zapiro.
South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest rates of HIV/Aids, is worried a national programme to fight the disease could founder on a lack of financial resources, it said in a report to the United Nations. President Thabo Mbeki’s government has been criticised for not doing enough to halt the spread of the pandemic.
A national taxi body is to apologise to the woman who was sexually assaulted at Johannesburg’s Noord Street taxi rank last month. ”We would like publicly apologise to her … we just want to meet her,” said South African National Taxi Council secretary general Philip Taaibosch in Johannesburg on Friday.
![]()
The Mauritian Attorney General (AG) has asked for more time to prepare his documentation in Jacob Zuma’s court battle, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday. Rama Valayden wants to counter Zuma’s attempt to prevent Mauritius from handing documentation over to the National Prosecuting Authority.
A project to remove the remnants of apartheid laws from statute books was launched by the South African Law Commission on Friday. It hoped to review about 2 800 statutes that had been placed on the law books since 1910 within the next 18 months, modernising and simplifying the statute book.
Anthea Buys speaks to Ross Douglas about the commercial possibilities of the country’s first art fair.
Company black-empowerment levels must be considered before firms benefit from international export agreements, Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana said on Friday. ”The government has opened the doors for not one race, or one sex … but for all the people of South Africa,” she told agriculture sector partners in Boksburg.
The Chamber of Mines has welcomed the decision to marginally increase the supply of electricity to the mining industry, it said on Friday. In recent weeks the chamber has been urgently interacting with the government and Eskom in an effort to persuade them to normalise power-consumption levels in the mining sector, CEO Mzolisi Diliza said.
Durban’s Mangosuthu University of Technology was officially closed down on Friday following a week of student protests. A pamphlet distributed at the institution and signed by vice-chancellor and principal Aaron Ndlovu ordered all students to vacate the institution’s residences and leave the premises by noon.
![]()
African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma asserted, in an interview published on Friday, that power in South Africa rests with the ruling party, not with his rival, President Thabo Mbeki. ”Power lies in the ANC,” Zuma — who ousted Mbeki in a bitter ANC leadership contest three months ago — told Britain’s Financial Times newspaper.
The University of the Free State (UFS) has obtained a further court interdict to maintain calm on the main campus in Bloemfontein and on the Vista campus, also in the city, a UFS spokesperson said on Friday. Spokesperson Anton Fischer said the interdict was obtained because a number of outside organisations were planning to hold mass demonstrations.
International credit woes causing losses among overseas equity markets continued to dampen the JSE by midday on Friday. The JSE’s broader all share index had shed 0,45% by noon, which was led by a 2,5% decline in the bank index. Financials were down 1,86% and industrials gave up 0,57%.
![]()
Common ground on affirmative action should be found, African National Congress president Jacob Zuma told a largely white Afrikaner gathering on Thursday night. He told union members that they had no home other than South Africa and as such, their concerns should be taken seriously.
Zimbabwe has invited 47 regional and sub-regional organisations as well as countries from Africa, Asia, the Americas and one European country — Russia — to observe this month’s election, the government mouthpiece Herald reported on Friday.
A man accused of killing 18-year-old Kyle Norris in an East Rand nightclub in 2006 pleaded self defence in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday. ”I had no intention of killing anyone,” Jonathan Street told Judge Nico Coetzee on Thursday afternoon.
Hundreds of members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) were arrested on Thursday after invading the Nelson Mandela 2010 Stadium in Port Elizabeth, the union said. Branch chairperson Nomvula Hadi said workers were leaving the stadium when police opened fire with rubber bullets and teargas.
Sexual harassment of women in miniskirts at Johannesburg taxi ranks has been occurring for at least eight years, the Gauteng community safety portfolio committee heard on Thursday. However, only one incident has been reported to the police.
South Africa’s Cabinet has approved a Bill that would speed up its land reform programme aimed at transferring 30% of farmland to black ownership by 2014, a government spokesperson said on Thursday. An existing land expropriation act has failed to make significant inroads into land redistribution.