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/ 8 February 2008
Parts of the Eastern Cape are experiencing an outbreak of African horse sickness, which led to the death of 11 horses in the past six weeks, said the province’s department of agriculture on Friday. ”Fifteen cases have been reported to state veterinarians over the past six weeks alone, mainly in the Ndlambe (Port Alfred) and Makana (Grahamstown) areas.
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/ 8 February 2008
Police at the Soshanguve police station, north-east of Pretoria, were unpleasantly surprised on Friday afternoon when a scrap-metal dealer brought a live mortar round into the station. ”He just walked in with the bomb, saying he was suspicious when he found it on a heap of scrap metal that he recently purchased,” said Captain Solly Marindi.
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/ 8 February 2008
Woza Moya’s beaded dolls and their creators are on exhibition, writes Niren Tolsi.
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/ 8 February 2008
The circulation figures of some magazines published by Media 24 were adjusted downwards, the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) said on Friday. This follows an audit the ABC did on all Media24 magazines after it was found that the circulation of some of the company’s women’s magazines were fraudulently inflated between April 2006 and June 2007.
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/ 8 February 2008
There was nothing ”unusual” about President Thabo Mbeki’s Friday State of the Nation address, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said. ”Contrary to the stated theme of his speech, this was business as usual for the president,” she said. Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille said Mbeki’s address was ”another list of promises”.
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/ 8 February 2008
The Confederation of African Football and the Ghanaian local organising committee should apologise for using the old South African flag on Africa Cup of Nations posters, the Young Communist League (YCL) said on Friday. The YCL said it was ”flabbergasted” and ”despises” the posters put up in Ghana, symbolising South Africa but sporting the old flag.
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/ 8 February 2008
Public officials and top managers needed to be scrutinised more carefully in light of the current electricity crisis, the National Consumer Forum (NCF) said on Friday. ”Our current electricity crisis is the result of public officials not doing their jobs properly,” said NCF chairperson Thami Bolani in a statement.
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/ 8 February 2008
German arms group Rheinmetall on Friday signed an agreement with state-owned Denel, indicating its intention to take a majority equity stake in Denel Munitions. The agreement, signed in Pretoria, would see the German firm take a 51% stake in the South African munitions entity.
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/ 8 February 2008
The African National Congress parliamentary caucus was full of praise on Friday for President Thabo Mbeki’s State of the Nation address, while opposition parties expressed optimism about the future of the Scorpions detective unit following the president’s address.
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/ 8 February 2008
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Friday dismissed an application by Dina Rodrigues for leave to appeal against her murder conviction. The SCA also refused an application for an order directing that an appeal against her sentence be heard by the Bloemfontein court.
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/ 8 February 2008
The row over selection issues that has erupted between Proteas coach Mickey Arthur and Cricket South Africa (CSA) president Norman Arendse is to be handled internally. CSA chief executive Gerald Majola said on Friday that the CSA had formal human-resource procedures for dealing with disputes.
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/ 8 February 2008
A firmer United Kingdom equities market added more support to the JSE by midday on Friday, lifting the bourse after a lacklustre start. By noon, the broader all-share index had gained 0,6%. Banks collected 1,36% and financials advanced 0,65%.
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/ 8 February 2008
As President Thabo Mbeki delivered his State of the Nation address in Parliament on Friday, ordinary South Africans told the Mail & Guardian Online they were concerned about crime and unemployment, but didn’t expect the government to get to grips with these problems.
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/ 8 February 2008
The mother of murdered King Edward VII (Kes) high school pupil Mfundo Ntshangase wept in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday when the case against seven teenagers was postponed. The seven accused have to produce their birth certificates at their next appearance.
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/ 8 February 2008
Some of the 17 fires that were raging through the Western Cape on Thursday were under control in the evening, said Cape Town chief fire officer Ian Schnetler. ”Firefighters are still battling the blaze at Naval Base as the winds are making the situation worse,” he said.
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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
A 16-year-old schoolboy who stabbed a fellow pupil to death was sentenced to six years in prison, suspended for five years, by the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday. The youth may not be named as he is a minor. He was ordered not to commit a similar crime within five years or he would be arrested.
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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
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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/ 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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/ 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.