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/ 11 February 2008
Durban police are investigating 10 cases of fraud linked to national insurance and investment giant Liberty Life. It is alleged that 10 people had chunks of their salaries taken out of their bank accounts, seemingly by Liberty Life, for premiums they did not owe the company.
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/ 11 February 2008
The Democratic Alliance on Monday sided with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on a possible court challenge to the composition of the new South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board. Cosatu confirmed earlier it is considering legal action to have a new board appointed by the National Assembly.
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/ 11 February 2008
Isidingo actress Ashley Callie remained in a critical condition in the intensive-care unit of a Johannesburg hospital on Monday after a car crash over the weekend, her sister Lauren said. ”She’s still stable but she’s in a critical condition,” said Lauren Callie.
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/ 11 February 2008
The Durban University of Technology (DUT) and its student representative council (SRC) reached an agreement on outstanding student fees at a meeting on Monday. University spokesperson Nomondi Mbadi said the SRC had committed itself to ending student protests as an agreement in terms of outstanding student debt had been reached.
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/ 11 February 2008
A 14-year-old boy appeared in the Kwamsane Magistrate’s Court on Monday for the rape of an 11-year-old girl at Mchakwini reserve near Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal police said. The girl was sent by her mother to a shop on January 26. On her way back home she was accosted by a boy who threatened to kill her with a knife.
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/ 11 February 2008
A Pretoria High Court judge ruled on Monday that Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla had failed to exercise her constitutional duties diligently over the applications of 384 prisoners for presidential pardons.
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/ 11 February 2008
The Erasmus commission, appointed to look into the Cape Town city council ”spy” saga, has suspended its hearings following a request on Monday by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool, who says he is seeking legal advice on the inquiry. Rasool’s request was prompted by objections from Cape Town mayor Helen Zille.
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/ 11 February 2008
The United Nations launched an appeal on Monday for almost -million in aid for the hundreds of thousands of victims caught up in devastating flooding in a large swathe of Southern Africa. Floods have already affected the lives of nearly half-a-million people from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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/ 11 February 2008
The Independent Democrats (ID) on Monday dismissed as false claims by Cape Town mayor Helen Zille that the Democratic Alliance (DA) did not sanction the bribery of ID councillor Sheval Arendse. Simon Grindrod, ID caucus leader for the city, said it was clear that the bribery was done with the full blessing of the DA leadership.
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/ 11 February 2008
The ”Jeppestown massacre” trial was on Monday postponed to Tuesday in the Johannesburg High Court so that a decision on the recusal of the judge could be made. Eleven out of the 13 accused on Friday filed an application for the recusal of Judge Ratha Motkgoatleng on the basis of reasonable apprehension of bias.
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/ 11 February 2008
Residential market activity levels dropped to 5,1 from 5,3 in the fourth quarter of last year, according to First National Bank’s (FNB) Residential Property Confidence Indicator. FNB research indicated that constraining factors continued to be rising interest rates, inflationary pressures and the effect of the National Credit Act.
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/ 11 February 2008
South African President Thabo Mbeki said he has no plans to appoint the deputy president of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to the Cabinet or make other changes to accommodate allies of ANC leader Jacob Zuma. Mbeki told the Star there was no truth to reports that he would appoint Kgalema Motlanthe to his Cabinet.
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/ 11 February 2008
Platinum cleared the $1 900-an-ounce mark on Monday for the first time in its history as concerns of further supply disruptions due to power shortages continued to plague the market. The precious white metal gained $27 to trade at $1 917,50 an ounce by 1.45pm after hitting $1 890 in late after-market trade on Friday.
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/ 11 February 2008
A tired-looking JSE was 89 points in the red by noon on Monday as weak global markets continued to weigh. By midday, the broader all-share index had shed 0,32%. The gold-mining index pulled back 1,42%, resources added 0,05% and the platinum-mining index was up 0,97%. Industrials fell 0,77%, financials were down 0,29% and banks gave up 0,29%.
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/ 11 February 2008
South Africans can expect tight energy supply for another four years, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said in Cape Town on Monday. The country’s energy supply problems are no different from those of other developing countries, he told a media briefing in Parliament.
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/ 11 February 2008
South Africa’s energy needs — specifically refined petroleum products and electricity — were expected to put severe strain on the economy in the short to medium term and ultimately impact negatively on economic growth, Ernst & Young said on Monday.
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/ 11 February 2008
The "specialist nature" of the Scorpions might well be retained, wherever the unit is finally located, President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday. He said the government remained firmly committed to ensuring South Africa’s capacity to fight organised crime was enhanced, not reduced.
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/ 11 February 2008
Absa, South Africa’s biggest retail bank, said on Monday it expects group headline earnings per share and EPS to be between 15% and 19% higher in 2007. Absa, which is majority-owned by Britain’s Barclays, said headline EPS and EPS for the bank unit would be between 25% and 28% higher than the previous year.
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/ 10 February 2008
The Health Department recalled 10,8-million condoms after the country was hit by ”quality issues” during last year, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Sunday. ”Yes, we have had a challenge recently with regard to quality issues, but once this was brought to our attention we acted on the matter.”
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/ 10 February 2008
The print media was, as usual, overreacting to the African National Congress’s (ANC) intentions to investigate the establishment of a media tribunal in South Africa, ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe said on Sunday. Motlanthe was speaking at the South African National Editors’ Forum question-and-answer session in Cape Town.
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/ 10 February 2008
In his State of the Nation address on Friday, President Thabo Mbeki repeated an all too familiar pattern of legitimising Zimbabwean elections before they have even taken place, said the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) spokesperson for foreign affairs Tony Leon.
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/ 10 February 2008
The turmoil at the top of South African cricket deepened on Sunday when the board’s chief executive overruled a move to sack coach Mickey Arthur as a selector in a row over racial quotas. Arthur was removed from the selection panel on Saturday at a meeting of Cricket South Africa’s general council.
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/ 10 February 2008
An intense battle over the future of the Scorpions is raging between the government and the African National Congress, the Sunday Times reported. The party’s parliamentary caucus was setting up a heavyweight committee to drive the dismantling of the unit, while President Thabo Mbeki was mounting a defiant fightback campaign.
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/ 10 February 2008
Hansard, the official record of parliamentary proceedings, does not agree with Buyelwa Patience Sonjica’s version of recent events, the Sunday Independent reported. Sonjica, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, said on Tuesday that she did not say that all South Africans should go to bed earlier so that they could grow and become cleverer.
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/ 10 February 2008
The United Kingdom is ”likely” to strip South Africa of its ”visa-free” status this year because of rampant corruption in the Department of Home Affairs, the Sunday Times reported. South Africans would have to pay £63 (nearly R1 000) and provide fingerprints, ”facial biometrics” and travel documents to obtain visas, the newspaper said.
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/ 10 February 2008
Strike action led by the Durban University of Technology’s student representative council (SRC) looked set to continue after the SRC issued a statement on Saturday demanding an urgent meeting with management. The SRC and the management have been at loggerheads for the past two week over how to deal with the rising student debt.
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/ 9 February 2008
The general council of Cricket South Africa (CSA) has called for the crisis regarding the selection of the national team to tour Bangladesh to be resolved as a matter of urgency. The Proteas are scheduled to fly to Bangladesh on Wednesday, but the announcement of the squad has been delayed by the row between CSA president Norman Arendse and Proteas coach Mickey Arthur.
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/ 9 February 2008
Isidingo soap star Ashley Callie is out of surgery and in a stable condition after she was involved in a car accident on Friday night, an executive producer of the soap said. ”She is now in the ICU [intensive-care unit] at Johannesburg General Hospital, and has remained unconscious since the accident occurred,” producer Pumla Hopa said.
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/ 9 February 2008
Soap star Ashleigh Callie, known for her role as Lee Haynes in Isidingo, will undergo surgery at Johannesburg General Hospital following an accident in Linden, it was reported on Saturday. ”The accident took place at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Tana Road last night [Friday],” said Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.
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/ 9 February 2008
The ”Jeppestown massacre” accused filed an application for the recusal of the judge from the Johannesburg High Court proceedings on Friday. Judge Ratha Mokgoathleng was accused of being biased during court proceedings. The accused said that early in the week, one of them complained of acute stomach pain.
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/ 9 February 2008
Fire and emergency services countrywide will collapse due to massive staff shortages, the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union said on Friday. The breakdown in fire services came about because municipalities had failed to set aside sufficient funds to fill critical vacancies, said general secretary Johan Koen.
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/ 9 February 2008
The festive tone that once marked South African President Thabo Mbeki’s State of the Nation speeches was absent when he outlined his priorities for 2008 on Friday, two months after losing control of his ruling party. There was less cheering, singing and dancing as Mbeki’s motorcade pulled up to the Parliament buildings.