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/ 8 February 2008
Mutual & Federal’s full-year headline earnings per share (EPS) fell 15,5% after underwriting earnings at the South African insurer declined, the group said on Friday. Mutual & Federal, majority-owned by insurer Old Mutual, said headline EPS fell to 305 cents in the year to end December from 361 cents.
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/ 8 February 2008
Springbok coach Peter has challenged black clubs which claim he is neglecting black talent to name the players they say are overlooked. De Villiers reacted to complaints that rugby authorities paid no attention to black areas and therefore denied talented youngsters opportunities to play at the highest level.
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/ 8 February 2008
South Africa remains on course to become a winning nation, said President Thabo Mbeki on Friday during his State of the Nation address in Parliament — but, "I am aware of the fact that many in our society are troubled by a deep sense of unease about where our country will be tomorrow". He spoke at length on the electricity crisis and the war on poverty, among other thorny matters.
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/ 8 February 2008
South African Rugby Union (Saru) deputy president Mike Stofile faces questions after Saru’s audit committee found he had no mandate to discuss the future of former Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer with him. Stofile, who has ambitions to defeat president Oregan Hoskins at Saru’s presidential elections next month, met Meyer on January 22 in Johannesburg.
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/ 8 February 2008
Zimbabwe’s former finance minister Simba Makoni — who announced his bid to challenge President Robert Mugabe in presidential elections next month — on Thursday taunted the octogenarian leader, suggesting he could unseat Mugabe as the ruling party’s candidate and stand for the presidency in his place.
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/ 7 February 2008
The ”Jeppestown massacre” trial was on Thursday postponed at the Johannesburg High Court because some of the accused intended applying for the recusal of the judge. Eleven of the 13 accused indicated that they intended lodging a formal application for the recusal of Judge Ratha Motkgoatleng on the basis of reasonable apprehension of bias.
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/ 7 February 2008
Seventeen runaway fires were ravaging the Western Cape on Thursday afternoon, with the two most serious blazes at Simonstown, Cape Town chief fire officer Ian Schnetler said on Thursday. The two fires were reported at Redhill at 9am and at Naval Base at 11am and were burning strongly, he said.
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/ 7 February 2008
AfriForum and Aksie Potchefstroom would challenge the name change of Potchefstroom to Tlokwe in court, the civil movements said on Thursday. Spokesperson Theo Venter said AfriForum and Aksie Potchefstroom had opened a case against a member of the executive council, Howard Yawa, and the city council regarding the name change.
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/ 7 February 2008
The Erasmus commission appointed to look into the Cape Town city council ”spy” saga is ”unlawful and unconstitutional”, city mayor Helen Zille said on Thursday. Zille said she had written a letter to Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool asking him to reconsider the commission on the grounds that it was a ”gross abuse of power”.
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/ 7 February 2008
There is a greater public sense of anticipation about what President Thabo Mbeki will say in his State of the Nation address on Friday than before any previous such speech he has delivered since assuming office in 1999. This is in part due to the recent dramatic twist in Mbeki’s political fortunes.
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/ 7 February 2008
Proteas coach Mickey Arthur has laid a counter-charge of ”disrespectful and abusive behaviour” against Cricket South Africa (CSA) chairperson Norman Arendse. Arendse confirmed on Thursday that he had laid a charge against Arthur for ”disrespectful and abusive behaviour and for not complying with CSA’s policy of transformation”.
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/ 7 February 2008
The Competition Tribunal on Thursday set down dates for hearings regarding the milk price-fixing issue. The hearings stem from a complaint by a small milk producer alleging anti-competitive behaviour in the milk industry. In February 2005, the Competition Commission began investigating the milk industry.
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/ 7 February 2008
The Young Communist League (YCL) on Thursday blamed the media for ”wittingly or unwittingly” misleading the public on comments made by South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni. The league held a teleconference with Mboweni on Thursday during which his comments about certain African National Congress members and inflation-targeting were discussed.
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/ 7 February 2008
The director general in the Department of Education is in denial about a crisis in the school system, the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Thursday. This comes after Duncan Hindle on Wednesday ”attacked” the SAIRR for its statements highlighting the fact that most South African children do not feel safe at school.
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/ 7 February 2008
According to a <i>Finweek</i> report last week, South African education is in crisis mode.
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/ 7 February 2008
Despite an undertaking by President Thabo Mbeki, the South African government continues to undermine traditional leaders, Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Thursday. Buthelezi accused the government of paying ”lip-service” to the African renaissance programme.
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/ 7 February 2008
Human rights issues concerning refugees, immigrants and exiles needed urgent discussion and action at all three levels of government, experts said on Thursday during a panel discussion at the University of the Witwatersrand. The discussion dealt with the Central Methodist Church raid in Johannesburg as well as the country’s immigration policy.
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/ 7 February 2008
Lawyers for the Citizen newspaper will appeal against a Johannesburg High Court order that the newspaper has to pay Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride R200 000 in a defamation claim. ”We are definitely going to appeal,” the newspaper’s acting editor, Martin Williams, said.
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/ 7 February 2008
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) brand is worth R200-million. This is according to research conducted by BMI Sport Info, an independent research company. PSL consultant Peter Mancer said on Thursday at a press conference in Johannesburg that the brand has grown from strength to strength over the years.
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/ 7 February 2008
Liliesleaf Farm in Rivionia, north of Johannesburg, will reopen in June 2008 for people wanting to tour the former secret headquarters of the African National Congress’s Umkhonto we Sizwe. The farm was purchased in 1961 by the South African Communist Party, according to the Liliesleaf Trust.
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/ 7 February 2008
South Africa’s Parliament on Thursday approved legal changes to make abortions easier to obtain, despite criticism from opponents who said the law was already too lax. The changes will provide for 24-hour abortion facilities, do away with pre-approval procedures and permit all nurses — instead of just midwives — to terminate pregnancies.
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/ 7 February 2008
Zimbabwe’s draft mining Bill will not force firms to give a stake to the government for free as previously feared, and will be debated by Parliament after elections next month, a senior official said on Thursday. The government of President Robert Mugabe, who is running for another five-year term, published the Bill last November.
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/ 7 February 2008
While it was designed to cut costs and reduce bureaucracy, a new video-conference facility launched in Parliament on Thursday gave MPs the chance to see what their colleagues in the provinces look like. National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete hoped the project would one day link the government to rural areas.
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/ 7 February 2008
The rand is back to being one of the world’s worst-performing currencies in 2008 after a brief respite last year, and there appears nothing, for now, to halt its slide. A chronic energy crisis that is likely to slice into economic growth, political uncertainty and a gaping current-account deficit paint a gloomy picture for a currency prone to volatility.
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/ 7 February 2008
A top Pretoria matriculant who was shot and injured during a robbery was in a stable condition in hospital on Thursday. Razelle Botha was under intensive care and more X-rays were planned for Thursday to check the damage in her spine, Ronel Leyds, spokesperson for Pretoria East Hospital said.
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/ 7 February 2008
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday vowed to continue engaging traditional healers on health issues, saying they were important partners in the fight against HIV/Aids. ”Some people might be resisting traditional healers, but I believe we are on the right track,” she said.
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/ 7 February 2008
The case of a doctor who allegedly falsified a medical certificate for Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride was postponed in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Dr Joseph Morolong Moratioa appeared briefly in the court to hear that his case was postponed to March 12.
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/ 7 February 2008
Platinum-mining stocks continued to shine brightly on the JSE by midday on Thursday, but even this dose of positive news failed to keep the bourse in the black as a slow European market weighed. By noon, the broader all-share index had slipped 0,02% into the red. Banks dropped 1,07% and financials gave up 0,47%, while industrials pulled back 0,83%.
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/ 7 February 2008
Disagreement between South Africa’s selectors and administrators has delayed naming the squad to tour Bangladesh this month. The list of players was due to be decided on Tuesday but the announcement was deferred after Cricket South Africa president Norman Arendse refused to approve the selectors’ decision.
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/ 7 February 2008
President Thabo Mbeki will strive to show he is still in charge of the country on Friday when he makes his first State of the Nation address since being ousted as leader of the ruling party in December. Jacob Zuma, front-runner to succeed Mbeki as head of state, has already begun to eclipse his rival through control of the party.
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/ 7 February 2008
Mzwandile Stick, one of South Africa’s top and most experienced Sevens players, has been called up by Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu to replace teenage sensation Juan de Jongh for the San Diego leg of the International Rugby Board (IRB) World Sevens Series on Saturday and Sunday.
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/ 7 February 2008
With a piqued Jomo Sono effectively placing the move of Liberian international star Anthony Laffor to SuperSport United on ice , the Premier Soccer League (PSL) transfer window closed before next week’s resumption of league fixtures with the distinct feeling that there had been much ado about nothing.