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/ 15 February 2008
Eskom on Friday put out requests for proposals for cogeneration projects as part of its plan to bolster faltering electricity supplies. Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger explained that ”cogeneration” is when industrialists sell waste by-products that can be used to generate electricity.
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/ 15 February 2008
The Jeppestown massacre trial was postponed in the Johannesburg High Court on Friday to allow a defence attorney to recover. The court had to adjourn on Thursday morning after defence counsel Sibusiso Mbatha complained of pain. He had fallen down the stairs at his house on Wednesday night.
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/ 15 February 2008
The world’s fifth largest gold miner, Harmony Gold, said on Friday that its production for the March 2008 quarter would decrease. ”In the light of Eskom’s electricity-supply disruptions and with mines operating only at 90% of Harmony’s previous power supply, the company’s production for the March 2008 quarter will decrease,” it said in a statement.
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/ 15 February 2008
Sport Minister Makhenkesi Stofile’s attack against former Springbok rugby players is an attempt to distract attention from the government’s ”transgression of international sports regulations”, AfriForum said on Friday. Stofile on Thursday sharply criticised AfriForum after a group of former Springbok rugby players called for an end to ”racial discrimination in rugby”.
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/ 15 February 2008
Pointing out that Thursday February 21 is International Mother Language Day, the president of the African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, has called for the new schools’ pledge drawn up by the Department of Education to be recited in the different languages of the country — depending on the region.
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/ 14 February 2008
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille is to request a meeting with African National Congress president Jacob Zuma to discuss the future of the Scorpions, she said on Thursday. ”I intend to put this challenge to him. I will write to Mr Zuma and request an urgent meeting to state unambiguously the disastrous consequences that disbanding the Scorpions will have for South Africa.”
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/ 14 February 2008
The release of figures showing that 830 KwaZulu-Natal law enforcement officers were under investigation would be probed, the Independent Complaints Directorate boss announced on Thursday. Patrick Mongwe said that statistics could not be released with out having been ”audited and verified”.
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/ 14 February 2008
Sport and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile on Thursday slammed the ”re-emergence of the erstwhile ambassadors of apartheid” in South African rugby. Stofile was responding to a public campaign calling for an end to political interference in the sport.
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/ 14 February 2008
The winners of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) will get a colossal R10-million first prize. This was announced by league sponsor Absa at the Carlton Centre on Thursday. Just more than R29-million will be shared by the 16 PSL clubs at the end of the season.
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/ 14 February 2008
The African National Congress’s decision to disband the Scorpions is to be deplored.
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/ 14 February 2008
South African power utility Eskom will consider buying back ”significant” amounts of power from industrial customers in order to ease an energy crisis, CEO Jacob Maroga said on Thursday. Maroga also said industry had responded well to an appeal to cut electricity consumption by 10% after gold and platinum mines were forced to halt production.
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/ 14 February 2008
South Africa should continue supplying its neighbours with power, African National Congress secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday at the launch of the party’s Energy Efficiency Campaign. Mantashe said he did not want South Africa to be an ”island of prosperity in a sea of poverty”.
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/ 14 February 2008
The power situation has eased somewhat over the past few days and there has been no load-shedding since February 4, Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga told reporters on Thursday in Sunninghill, near Johannesburg. Maroga was announcing measures to be taken by Eskom to resolve the country’s electricity crisis.
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/ 14 February 2008
The government intends acquiring five million hectares of land next year in an effort to have 30% of agricultural land in the hands of black farmers by 2014, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Lulu Xingwana said in Cape Town on Thursday. Currently, black farmers own 4,7% of farm land, she told a press briefing.
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/ 14 February 2008
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=zuma_report"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/243078/zuma.jpg" align=left border=0></a>African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma has asked the Constitutional Court to strike down a court ruling allowing seized documents to be used against him in a corruption case. Zuma and his lawyer Michael Hulley argued that prosecutors and investigators had acted illegally when they raided and seized documents.
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/ 14 February 2008
The Department of Health on Thursday released a revised policy and guidelines clearing the way for dual therapy in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. At the same time, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang dismissed claims that her department was reluctant to implement the new regime.
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/ 14 February 2008
”A disgrace”, ”Answers needed” and ”Crushing more than the Scorpions” was how some newspaper editorials reacted on Thursday to Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula’s announcement in Parliament that the Scorpions would be dissolved.
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/ 14 February 2008
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Thursday dismissed claims that her department was reluctant to implement dual therapy for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. ”I was the first person to express concern about mono therapy … but we had to make sure that we had enough time to examine the implications of dual therapy,” she said.
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/ 14 February 2008
The case against a journalist who was arrested by Durban’s metro police was thrown out by the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday after the control prosecutor declined to prosecute the case. Mhlaba Memela of the Sowetan newspaper was arrested on Wednesday evening by an eThekwini metro police officer.
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/ 14 February 2008
Lindiwe Hendricks, the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, on Thursday denied that South Africa is facing a water crisis. "I can categorically say that we are not facing a water crisis, or a water-contamination crisis," she told a media briefing in Parliament. "The water that comes out of our taps is among the best in the world."
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/ 14 February 2008
An internet scam offering free dogs has come to light, the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) said on Thursday. The NSPCA said one recent scam offered free puppies and included photographs of the animals.
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/ 14 February 2008
South African families are grossly underinsured, by an estimated R10-billion, according to an independent study commissioned by the Life Offices’ Association. The Insurance Gap Study is aimed at measuring the life and disability insurance shortfall for South African households.
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/ 14 February 2008
The Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions) did not act improperly as suggested by the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL), Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana said on Thursday. The ANCYL lodged a complaint with his office stating that the Scorpions held an ”inappropriate” meeting.
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/ 14 February 2008
Grade progression was poorly linked to actual ability and learning among black high-school pupils, research has found. Economic Research Southern Africa’s survey found evidence of ”significant racial differences” in secondary school grade progression.
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/ 14 February 2008
Four men accused of killing 12-year-old Emily Williams were held at a high-risk detention facility in Johannesburg overnight and preparations were being made on Thursday to take them to court. Williams died when she was hit by a stray bullet in a stand-off between robbers and security guards on Tuesday morning.
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/ 14 February 2008
The African National Congress (ANC) is subscribing to the ”big-lie” theory, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. ”The ANC subscribes to the theory that if the ”big lie” is repeated often enough, then people will believe it, and reality can be shaped by the ruling party,” the DA’s Gauteng provincial safety spokesperson, James Swart, said.
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/ 14 February 2008
Impala Platinum Holdings (Implats) posted weaker half-year headline earnings per share on Thursday, and forecast ”very tight market conditions” for platinum due to a power crisis in South Africa that has helped push the metal’s price to an all-time record.
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/ 14 February 2008
Kumba Iron Ore, Africa’s biggest iron-ore producer, saw full-year headline earnings per share (EPS) leap by 43% as prices and demand soared, the company said on Thursday. Kumba said tight global supplies should support prices in the coming year, but said costs resulting from an energy shortage in South Africa could weigh.
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/ 14 February 2008
Firm world markets and stronger metal prices continued to support the JSE by noon on Thursday. At noon, the broader all-share index had risen 1,34%. Banks collected 2,33% and financials climbed 1,07%. Industrials advanced 1,44%, the platinum mining index gained 1,4%. Resources were 1,35% higher and the gold mining index added 1,16%.
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/ 14 February 2008
Fifth seed Rik de Voest won the battle of the South Africans and set up a quarterfinal clash with top seed Ivan Ljubicic at the South African Airways Tennis Open on Wednesday. De Voest lifted the level of his game from his first-round encounter to beat up-and-coming 21-year-old Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7-1) 6-4.
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/ 14 February 2008
In a remarkable match in the MTN Domestic Championship played at the De Beers Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Wednesday, Boeta Dippenaar’s Diamond Eagles snatched an exciting three wicket-victory over Zimbabwe. Set a 219 victory target, the Diamond Eagles appeared to be dead and buried on 133/7 in the 36th over.
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/ 14 February 2008
The Cape Cobras cruised to a third successive victory in the MTN Domestic Championship at Newlands on Wednesday, beating the Lions by six wickets with four overs to spare. The Lions won the toss and elected to bat first. Stephen Cook and stand-in captain Alviro Petersen got them off to a flying start with a partnership of 61 off 79 balls.