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/ 13 February 2008
The MD of Standard and Poor’s (S&P) South Africa, Konrad Reuss, said on Wednesday that some of the recent pessimism in South Africa is completely overdone and that he does not feel the country is going to dip into a recession. South Africa currently has a "stable" foreign-currency rating by S&P.
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/ 13 February 2008
A resolution to open up the arms deal to further discussion was shot down by the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) on Wednesday. Democratic Alliance MP Eddie Trent, who brought the proposal, finally withdrew it and agreed to the suggestion that the committee merely look into what progress has been made in implementing Scopa’s recommendations.
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/ 13 February 2008
The railway police have arrested 7 487 people during the last 10 weeks, the National Rail-Crime Combating Forum said in a statement on Wednesday. ”The presence of policemen and policewomen within the rail environment is certainly having a huge impact on crime prevention as well as the safety of commuters,” the forum said.
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/ 13 February 2008
South African stocks were slightly lower at midday on Wednesday as heavily weighted miners continue to falter on falling metal prices, while other investors refrained from making any large moves ahead of Wall Street opening. At midday, the broader all-share index had was off 0,18% at 28 533,810.
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/ 13 February 2008
A second wicket partnership of 117 off 122 balls between Gulam Bodi and Francois ”Faf” du Plessis guided the Titans to a comfortable seven wicket victory over Zimbabwe in their MTN domestic championship match at Supersport Park on Tuesday.
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/ 13 February 2008
The government has not yet decided whether it will be compulsory for school children to recite a pledge each morning. Lunga Ngqengelele, Education Minister Naledi Pandor’s spokesperson, said: ”From the department’s point of view, we would want each and every school to recite it.”
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/ 13 February 2008
Top seed Ivan Ljubicic had to survive a second-set scare before putting away qualifier Lamine Ouahab of Algeria in the first round of the SAA Tennis Open at Selborne Park on Tuesday. After one hour and 40 minutes, the Croatian finally won through 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and set up a second round encounter against Laurent Recourderc of France.
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/ 13 February 2008
Pupils at the Trinity House Preparatory School will remember their slain classmate Emily Williams (12) with a memorial service in the school hall on Monday. Williams died when she was hit by a bullet fired in a stand-off between robbers and security guards at a house in Kessel Street, Fairlands, on Tuesday morning.
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/ 13 February 2008
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday declared he would work with anyone who opposed the dictatorship of President Robert Mugabe while denouncing former ruling party presidential candidate Simba Makoni as tainted goods.
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/ 13 February 2008
Golden Arrows jumped from ninth to fifth position on the log with 23 points after beating Platinum Stars 2-0 in their second Absa Premier League encounter at Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg on Tuesday night. The visitors were leading 1-0 at the break.
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/ 13 February 2008
Former leader of the Democratic Alliance Tony Leon, who now speaks for the party on foreign affairs, has launched a scathing attack on South Africa’s plan to host a second World Conference against Racism in Durban next year. "Quite what good will come of this exercise remains open to serious question," he said.
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/ 13 February 2008
Manufacturing slowed in December and mining output also fell, official data showed, fanning concern the economy’s two main power consumers will suffer from electricity constraints this year. At the same time, the Bureau for Economic Research warned that power shortages may trim the pace of economic growth to 3,4% this year.
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/ 13 February 2008
A 29-year-old man is accused of breaking into a Rhodes University residence and raping a woman — while he was out on bail on a previous rape charge. The man appeared in the Grahamstown High Court on Tuesday.
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/ 13 February 2008
South Africa has been plunged into a fresh debate over the racial make-up of its sports teams 14 years after the country emerged from apartheid. As the cricket squad prepared on Wednesday to fly to Bangladesh after a furious row over the dearth of black players in its line-up, white rugby legends protested against government pressure on selectors to put colour ahead of ability
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/ 13 February 2008
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was robbed at his Johannesburg offices on Tuesday evening. Police spokesperson Thembi Nkhwasu said Tsvangirai and two of his officials were in their offices in Homestead Avenue in Bryanston at about 6pm when they were confronted by three men armed with pistols.
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/ 13 February 2008
South Africa’s five Super 14 teams will have to produce some of their best rugby yet if they are to retain the title they so famously won, for the first time, last year. After years of being denied the title by the Australian and New Zealand teams, South Africa’s Northern Bulls finally went all the way in 2007.
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/ 12 February 2008
The North West department of health on Tuesday rejected suggestions that young people were trained to become sex workers. ”The three complainants from Schweizer Reneke were invited to attend a workshop in Mmabatho to teach the youth about HIV, drug abuse and crime,” said a spokesperson.
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/ 12 February 2008
After a five year contract that kept her in Las Vegas, pop diva Celine Dion is keeping a promise she made to former South African president Nelson Mandela by kicking off her world tour in South Africa, she said at a press conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
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/ 12 February 2008
The head of Adcock Ingram Critical Care, Tiger Brands’s healthcare division, has been suspended following allegations of collusion by the Competition Commission, the company said on Tuesday. Tiger Brands non-executive chairperson Lex van Vught said the company is ”devastated” by the allegations.
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/ 12 February 2008
Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille on Tuesday moved a motion calling on President Thabo Mbeki and his Cabinet to resign over the energy crisis. Speaking in the National Assembly during debate on Mbeki’s State of the Nation address, she said the ID has lost confidence in the government and its leaders.
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/ 12 February 2008
English Premiership champions Manchester United will once again square off against Premier Soccer League giants Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs in the 2008 Vodacom Challenge championship. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said on Tuesday he is going to bring the best available squad for the tournament.
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/ 12 February 2008
Former mineworkers on Tuesday listened during the resumption of former miner Thembekile Mankayi’s bid to secure R2,6-million from AngloGold Ashanti after he contracted silicosis. One of the group, Willie Fuledi, said he hoped the court would make a ruling for other mineworkers seeking a payout for the disease.
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/ 12 February 2008
A man trying to outrun police in a stolen tractor was arrested in the Eastern Cape early on Tuesday. East London police spokesperson Superintendent Mtati Tana said police were told the tractor had been stolen from a farm in the Blue Water area outside East London at about 4am.
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/ 12 February 2008
Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary leader Sandra Botha tabled a notice of motion in the National Assembly on Tuesday calling for Parliament to be dissolved. Speaking during debate on President Thabo Mbeki’s State of the Nation address, she said in order to tackle the challenges currently facing South Africa, it is necessary to start from a clean slate.
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/ 12 February 2008
South Africa’s elite, FBI-style Scorpions anti-crime unit will be dissolved, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Tuesday. ”The Scorpions … will be dissolved and the organised crime unit of the police will be phased out and a new, amalgamated unit will be created,” Nqakula told Parliament in Cape Town.
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/ 12 February 2008
Standard Bank said on Tuesday that it is issuing about 20 000 chip and PIN bank cards a month as part of an ongoing exercise to match international standards and sharply improve card security. The group said in a statement that card skimming is again on the rise.
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/ 12 February 2008
A shocking new range of price increases were announced on Tuesday as Zimbabwe’s world-record hyperinflation spun further out of control, with charges for cellphone calls soaring by nearly 1 700%. The official National Incomes and Prices Commission said international calls were up to Z,2-million from Z 400 per minute.
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/ 12 February 2008
Billy Joubert, director of tax at Deloitte, said on Tuesday during a pre-budget seminar that no rate changes to personal income-tax rates are expected, while at best the corporate tax rate may be cut to 28% from the current 29%. Joubert noted that South Africa’s corporate tax rates compare favourably with other countries.
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/ 12 February 2008
South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa, said on Tuesday the country’s support for a planned aluminium smelter at Coega remained unshaken despite a power shortage. Eskom said in January that electricity intensive investment projects could be reviewed due to the country’s power shortage.
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/ 12 February 2008
The United Democratic Movement councillor for the Metsimaholo municipality in the Free State, who was shot in the face recently, has died in hospital, police confirmed on Tuesday. Isaac Mokgatla (38) was shot in the Tshepiso informal settlement after he collected his two children from a school on January 31.
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/ 12 February 2008
Cellphone operator Cell C expects full-year core profit to rise by over 30% as a turn-around plan pays off, its chief financial officer said on Tuesday. Newly appointed CFO Fabrizio Mambrini said the struggling firm expected growth in revenue to be ”quite outstanding”.
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/ 12 February 2008
The African National Congress’s (ANC) national working committee urged party members on Tuesday to refrain from undisciplined and divisive behaviour ahead of the ANC’s provincial conference season. Members were asked to ”desist from behaviour that threatened the unity and discipline of the movement”.