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/ 30 January 2008
Circumstances surrounding the arrest of Scorpions investigator Ivor Powell will be investigated, the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) said on Wednesday. ”We are investigating the matter. The decision comes after a letter of complaint was received from the Democratic Alliance,” said spokesperson Dikeledi Phiri.
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/ 30 January 2008
The African National Congress’s (ANC) drive to close the Scorpions is ”myopic and dangerous”, political analyst Professor Adam Habib said on Wednesday. Speaking at the University of Pretoria’s African Dialogue Lecture series, both Habib and fellow academic and analyst Professor Stephen Friedman said the move sent out the wrong signals.
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/ 30 January 2008
The Bulls have included three of their previously injured World Cup Springboks in the side to play the Lions in a warm-up match in Windhoek on Saturday. Danie Rossouw, Gurthro Steenkamp and Akon Ndungane have all been given the green light, and the starting line-up is arguably the best Frans Ludeke could have selected.
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/ 30 January 2008
A kulula.com passenger aircraft was forced to turn back after a bird flew into an engine during a Durban-to-Cape Town flight on Wednesday. Airline spokesperson Glenda Zvenyika confirmed that a ”bird strike” occurred on flight MN702, 15 minutes after taking off from Durban. The captain had to shut down the engine.
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/ 30 January 2008
A South African National Defence Force helicopter from Pretoria was expected to deliver food parcels to flood victims in Limpopo on Wednesday, the province’s housing and local government department said. ”Those residents are cut off from the outside world. We can only access them by air,” said a departmental spokesperson.
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/ 30 January 2008
After all 13 people implicated in the Jeppestown massacre had pleaded not guilty to every charge put to them on Wednesday, the trial settled into the task of admitting vast amounts of evidence into the court records. Earlier, the woman and 12 men elected to remain silent on the 23 charges they face collectively.
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/ 30 January 2008
An organisation formed by women’s rights activists in response to Jacob Zuma’s rape trial has been denied an opportunity to hold a "peaceful protest" outside the Emperors Palace casino complex in Gauteng where visiting boxing champion Mike Tyson is to attend a charity fund-raising event.
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/ 30 January 2008
The Pretoria High Court refused bail on Wednesday to one of the accused in the Boeremag treason trial, Kobus Pretorius. Pretorius (34), whose father and brother are on trial with him along with 17 other accused on 42 charges including high treason, terrorism and murder, said he had experienced a religious conversion while in jail.
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/ 30 January 2008
The JSE ignored CPI data that came in slightly higher than market expectations and continued to gather momentum by midday on Wednesday on news that power had been restored to the mining industry. December CPI came in at 9% year-on-year, while the market expected 8,9%, and CPIX came in at 8,6%, against the expected 8,5%.
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/ 30 January 2008
A 27-year-old Durban woman who allegedly set her boyfriend alight and then locked him in a toilet at the weekend is expected to appear at the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for murder, police said. Captain Bongani Khomo said the woman was arrested in Umlazi on Monday afternoon.
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/ 30 January 2008
Trade union Solidarity is introducing its own medical fund in a move against what it called "high medical rates", it said on Wednesday. "It’s a non-profit service. We don’t want to make millions out of the sick, but make private healthcare more accessible to the people of South Africa," said Jaco Kleynhans, Solidarity spokesperson.
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/ 30 January 2008
Vehicle maker Ford Motor Company of Southern African (Ford SA) plans to invest more than R1,5-billion to expand operations for its next-generation compact pickup truck and Puma diesel engine, it said on Wednesday. The investment will start in 2009 and be split between its assembly plant in Pretoria, and engine facility in Port Elizabeth.
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/ 30 January 2008
Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, once nicknamed ”The Baddest Man on the Planet”, isn’t about to set foot in any hotspots on his first trip to Africa. Tyson, whose career has been marred by controversy, including a prison term for rape and the infamous ear biting incident in a title fight with Evander Holyfield, says he has mellowed.
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/ 30 January 2008
Heavily polluted water from a punctured sewage pipe appears to have been flowing into the Durban harbour via the Umhlatuzana River for up to nine months — reportedly the result of a bungled repair job by eThekwini council contract workers, a media report said on Wednesday.
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/ 30 January 2008
South African mining companies were set to resume production this week after power failures brought the industry to a halt last Friday. Anglogold Ashanti said it expected all its mines would be in full production by the end of the week. Gold Fields spokesperson Willie Jacobsz said: ”All our mines are busy mobilising as the power flow is being restored.”
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/ 29 January 2008
Springbok coach Pieter de Villiers, who is currently on a tour to address the players and coaching staff of all five of South Africa’s Super 14 franchises, will visit England coach Brian Ashton on his upcoming overseas tour — but he won’t have contact with any of the Springboks currently playing overseas.
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/ 29 January 2008
South Africa believes that no political ambition could justify the current cycle of violence in Kenya, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. Speaking at the Union Buildings, Pahad called on Kenyan political parties to rise above ”narrow political interests” and settle the conflict through dialogue.
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/ 29 January 2008
Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has done her best to try to bring order and stability into the chaotic Home Affairs Department, MPs heard on Tuesday. ”The political responsibilities have been exercised boldly, and we are working towards an unqualified audit,” Deputy Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said.
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/ 29 January 2008
Mining company Rio Tinto will review plans for a major aluminium investment in South Africa as the country continues to suffer from serious power shortages — the first sign that the current crisis could hit foreign investment, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
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/ 29 January 2008
The Presidency on Tuesday denied that anti-apartheid activist John Minto had been nominated for a prestigious national order, which Minto said he would decline on the grounds that the situation in South Africa was worse than under white rule. Minto published a letter to President Thabo Mbeki on his website.
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/ 29 January 2008
Stephen Rosen, described in court as a ”trained con artist,” was on Tuesday effectively jailed for six years on 101 charges of fraud and theft and three of unlawfully acting as an attorney and advocate. He was warned he would be declared a habitual criminal if again found guilty of any offence involving dishonesty.
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/ 29 January 2008
More than 5 000 public servants have been convicted for defrauding the South African Social Security Agency, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Tuesday. In April 2005, Skweyiya tasked the Special Investigating Unit with investigating fraud and corruption which then plagued the social-grant system.
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/ 29 January 2008
Anglo Platinum, the world’s largest platinum producer, on Wednesday said it was able to operate its mines at full capacity with 80% of its power needs. Spokesperson Trevor Raymond said the company’s smelting and refining operations remained in standby mode.
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/ 29 January 2008
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske, in announcing his side to play the Sharks in a warm-up match in Bloemfontein on Friday night, has admitted that he was still undecided on a number of positions. Springbok Meyer Bosman gets the nod at inside centre ahead of Herkie Kruger, and former Bull Jacques-Louis Potgieter is preferred to Conrad Barnard at flyhalf.
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/ 29 January 2008
The mandate of about 1 000 South African soldiers deployed in Burundi under an African Union mandate is to be extended as efforts to get the last remaining rebel group to re-join the peace process gain momentum, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday.
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/ 29 January 2008
South Africans can expect current load-shedding by Eskom to continue, if not worsen, for at least the next four weeks. Eskom, which met major industrial customers and the six metro mayors on Tuesday, proposed a three-phase recovery period that would include load-shedding, at least in the initial phase.
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/ 29 January 2008
An African National Congress MP on Tuesday proposed that prostitution be legalised during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The suggestion of George Lekgetho was met with groans of protest and chuckles from other MPs at the portfolio committee on arts and culture in Parliament.
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/ 29 January 2008
It is critical that South Africans respond to the energy-saving proposals made by the government for industrial, commercial and residential consumers, the African National Congress (ANC) said on Tuesday. ”The success of the programme taken by the government … depends on the contribution of all South Africans and sectors,” the ANC said.
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/ 29 January 2008
Widespread media attention over the health risks associated with paddling the Hansa Powerade Dusi Canoe Marathon has resulted in the appointment of a consultant to oversee actions to be taken in order to make the race safer for canoeists. This was announced on Tuesday by chairperson of the race organisers, Cameron Mackenzie.
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/ 29 January 2008
Positive sentiment flowing through from world markets and a boost from the platinum mining sector helped support the JSE on Tuesday. Speculation that mines could return to production after operations had been halted the last few days because of power supply concerns, underpinned the rally in the mining and resources sector.
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/ 29 January 2008
The Zimbabwean Ministry of Industry and International Trade will within the next 40 days open ”people’s shops” countrywide after the Cabinet last week approved the concept, the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday. The people’s shops ”will provide basic commodities aimed at the very low-income earners”.
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/ 29 January 2008
Charges have been laid against the owners of an historical church in KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Ixopo area after it was demolished over the festive season, the province’s heritage body said on Tuesday. mafa/Heritage KwaZulu-Natal CEO Barry Marshall said the church dated back to the closing years of the 19th century.