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/ 5 February 2008
A Baviaanspoort prisoner who allegedly attacked and almost killed two nurses at the jail three years ago had acted rationally at the time of the offence, a psychiatrist told the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday. Dr Herman Pretorius told acting Judge Solly Sithole there were no signs that Thabo Masinga had suffered from psychosis.
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/ 5 February 2008
Fuels and petrochemicals group Sasol, along with the South African and Mozambique governments, will invest R1,1-billion to expand natural gas delivery to South Africa by 20%. The additional gas will be used under the first phase of Sasol’s planned 20% expansion of its synthetic fuel capacity at Secunda over the next eight years.
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/ 5 February 2008
The Scorpions are the country’s last effective corruption-busting unit and disbanding them will affect the fight against organised crime, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. ”Every time special units were integrated [into the police] it has impacted on the ability to fight crime in that area,” party spokesperson Tertius Delport said.
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/ 5 February 2008
The disciplinary hearing of a suspended Western Cape police officer linked to the alleged drunken-driving arrest of Tony Yengeni began on Tuesday, police said. Senior Superintendent Billy Jones said Goodwood station commissioner Senior Superintendent Siphiwe Hewana would face internal misconduct charges.
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/ 5 February 2008
South African schools are the most dangerous in the world, with only 23% of pupils saying they feel safe at school, the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Tuesday. Spokesperson for SAIRR Thomas Blaser said a Progress in International Reading Literacy study had ranked South Africa last in terms of school safety.
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/ 5 February 2008
The JSE changed course to turn negative by midday on Tuesday as weaker world markets and a bit of local profit -taking set in. By noon, the broader all-share index had given up 0,99%. Banks pulled back 2,39% and financials retreated 1,87%. Industrials lost 1,08% and the gold-mining index dipped 0,95%.
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/ 5 February 2008
A second member of an international nuclear smuggling ring, Swiss engineer Daniel Geiges, was given a suspended sentence by the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday. Judge Willie van der Merwe sentenced Geiges, who is gravely ill with cancer, to a total of 13 years’ imprisonment but suspended the sentence for five years in terms of a plea-bargain agreement.
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/ 5 February 2008
South Africa’s minister of minerals and energy has asked companies to apply for new mineral rights by the second quarter of next year, and plans to finalise a law to oversee the processing of minerals locally this year. The deadline for companies and others to renew or assert their rights under the review of the sector is April 30 2009.
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/ 5 February 2008
South African heavyweight boxing champion Osborne ”Big Daddy” Machimana (29) can go on to win a world heavyweight title. So says Golden Gloves promoter Rodney Berman after the giant from Limpopo smashed former two-time world champion Corrie Sanders to the canvas for the full count on Saturday night at Emperors Palace.
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/ 5 February 2008
Permanent solutions to South Africa’s energy crisis are being sought, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said on Tuesday. "I concede that this situation impacts negatively on planned output of the country’s mining operations," Sonjica said at a mining indaba.
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/ 5 February 2008
The Super 14 Lions have secured a sponsorship deal of more than R30-million over the next three years. The naming-rights sponsorship, brokered by Primedia and Megapro, was announced by Leon Vermaak, CEO of leading short-term insurer Auto & General at a function in Johannesburg on Monday night.
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/ 5 February 2008
Five South Africans who were airlifted from Chad to Gabon on Monday night arrived safely in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said on Tuesday that South African ambassador to Gabon, Jomo Khasu, confirmed that the evacuees had arrived safely.
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/ 5 February 2008
All household geysers in Gauteng will now have remote switches installed as part of energy saving in the province, provincial minister of local government Dorothy Mahlangu said at a media briefing on Monday. ”This will allow officials to switch off geysers rather than implement rolling blackouts,” she said.
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/ 5 February 2008
Eskom has removed the man in charge of its power stations, the <i>Business Report</i> said on Tuesday. Ehud Matya has been replaced by Brian Dames, another Eskom executive, who will now be responsible for primary energy, power plants and his existing portfolio of capital investment.
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/ 5 February 2008
A number of African National Congress (ANC) members at Alice in the Eastern Cape have sustained injuries after a branch meeting ended in an exchange of blows, it was reported on Monday. Reports said a group of party supporters arrived at Khayalethu village during the registration process for an AGM and called for its dissolution.
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/ 4 February 2008
Five South Africans will be evacuated from Chad on Monday night, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. The French Military will fly the South Africans to Libreville in Gabon where they will be met by the South African ambassador to that country, Jomo Khasu.
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/ 4 February 2008
Students, police and security personnel clashed in running battles on the Durban University of Technology’s Steve Biko campus on Monday. Bricks, bottles and stones were thrown by the students. Journalists were chased from the administration block and a photographer was struck on the back by a student wielding a stick.
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/ 4 February 2008
A ban on Sunday liquor sales was proposed as a part of the fight against drug and substance abuse among youths, outgoing African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Fikile Mbalula said on Monday. ”The ANCYL will propose that all clubs and taverns be banned from selling liquor on Sundays and their trading hours should be limited.”
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/ 4 February 2008
South Africa is not facing a water crisis, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Monday. The department was responding to media reports on the weekend, citing a National Nuclear Regulator report that suggested serious problems with the country’s water supply, including radioactive contamination, unsafe dams and waste spills.
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/ 4 February 2008
Two men have been arrested in connection with the burning of six Pretoria Metrorail trains, the South African Rail Commuter Corporation announced on Monday. Six trains were torched at the Pretoria North, Winternest, Acacia Boom and Wolmerton stations on January 18 after they had been delayed due to a power failure.
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/ 4 February 2008
Three men accused of robbing and assaulting Brett Kebble murder accused Glenn Agliotti appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Monday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. The men were also believed to have been involved in a crime spree around the Bryanston area in Johannesburg.
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/ 4 February 2008
African National Congress (ANC) leaders who supported President Thabo Mbeki in the build-up to the party’s elective conference in Polokwane will not be victimised, the party’s newly elected leadership said on Monday. The ANC said fears that there would be a purge were baseless as the party had no intention to change its traditions.
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/ 4 February 2008
Johannesburg’s metro police arrested 61 men for urinating in public in the inner city over the weekend. The offenders were apprehended mainly around hawkers’ stands at St Mary’s cathedral in the city, Joubert Park, Hillbrow and Jeppe station during a metro police operation in the area.
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/ 4 February 2008
Hammer thrower Chris Harmse, Sunette Viljoen (javelin) and hurdler Ockert Cilliers sparkled at the Yellow Pages Series meet in Potchefstroom on Friday night. Ghastly winds played havoc midway through the meet, leading to the women’s high jump and 100m hurdles being cancelled.
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/ 4 February 2008
Cycling in South Africa received yet another boost on Monday when it was announced that MTN has become the title sponsor of the country’s premier and only international road-cycling stage race, the Giro del Capo. The five-day stage race takes place yearly in the Western Cape.
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/ 4 February 2008
The Department of Home Affairs wasted more than R56-million in detaining illegal immigrants who did not exist, according to its 2007 annual report. The department had to pay a contractor for a fixed number of immigrants, regardless of the actual number detained, wrote the Auditor General in the report.
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/ 4 February 2008
Gauteng municipalities are switching off their lights to help prevent load-shedding. All 14 municipalities in the province on Monday committed themselves to a 10% reduction in electricity use, and to improve communication with residents and businesses on when and how long they will be affected by load-shedding.
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/ 4 February 2008
Sales of new vehicles were down by 9,4% in the first month of the year to 47 296 sold compared with the 52 212 sold in January last year, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa said on Monday. New car sales were down to 30 483, or 14,6%, in January this year compared with 35 687 sold in the same month last year.
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/ 4 February 2008
The attempted murder case against former Springbok rugby player James Dalton was struck from a Pretoria court roll on Monday. He can now only be prosecuted again for this alleged offence once the state is issued with a certificate from the National Director of Public Prosecutions.
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/ 4 February 2008
South Africa’s power crisis may already have damaged economic growth, even though the country’s mines have bounced back after electricity shortages brought production to a halt. The longer it takes Eskom to boost energy output for industry, the greater the chances that 2007 could have marked the end to four years of brisk economic growth.
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/ 4 February 2008
About a hundred shacks were destroyed in a fire on Sunday evening at the Joe Slovo informal settlement near Langa on the Cape Flats, Cape Town disaster risk management said. ”We were very fortunate that we have fire-detection cameras and the alarm was sounded,” said spokesperson Greg Pillay.
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/ 4 February 2008
President Thabo Mbeki must save democracy in South Africa by speaking out against the collapse of the boundary between party and state when he makes his State of the Nation address on Friday, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Monday.