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/ 16 January 2008
Suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has objected to government’s request for an extension to file its submissions to the Ginwala Commission of Inquiry. A copy of a letter, sent by Pikoli’s law firm Denys Reitz to inquiry head Frene Ginwala, was released to the media late on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, Ginwala herself criticised government for its ”slow response” and failure to deliver its submission on time.
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/ 16 January 2008
A 12-year-old Durban boy who was getting ready to for his first day back at school watched helplessly on Wednesday morning as his mother was shot five times by a robber. The boy, his seven-year-old sibling, his grandmother and a domestic worker were inside their Pinetown home at the time of the shooting.
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/ 15 January 2008
Raging veld fires in Hermanus have destroyed six houses and damaged several others, it was reported on Tuesday. ”We’ve had strong winds that got out of control,” explained an official in the Hermanus municipal office, who declined to give his name.
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/ 15 January 2008
The Ginwala Commission of Inquiry into suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has criticised the government for its ”slow response” and failure to deliver its submission on time. In a statement on Tuesday, inquiry head Frene Ginwala said she had ”reluctantly” granted the government a 10-day extension.
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/ 15 January 2008
The North West provincial government on Tuesday condemned the ”racist” killing of four people at the Skielik informal settlement. A 17-year-old was arrested in connection with the deaths on Tuesday after police launched a manhunt on Monday.
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/ 15 January 2008
The Presidency on Tuesday defended Thabo Mbeki’s handling of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s case. Addressing reporters at the Union Buildings, Mbeki’s legal adviser, Mojanku Gumbi, said Mbeki acted immediately when he learned that the National Prosecuting Authority was ready to proceed with action against Selebi.
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/ 15 January 2008
Opposition parties on Tuesday voiced their concern over Eskom’s inability to avert a power crisis in the country, with the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) calling for the appointment of a multiparty task team to handle the situation. FF+ spokesperson on energy Willie Spies said it was evident that the government did not have the capacity to deal with the current power crisis.
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/ 15 January 2008
With all the tension and trauma surrounding Bafana Bafana’s forthcoming test of strength in the African Cup of Nations, the man in the middle of the cauldron of emotions displayed his usual cool and composed demeanour on Tuesday. And Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira believes his Bafana squad are on course for their acid test in Ghana.
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/ 15 January 2008
Two separate fires and the subsequent repairs at Durban’s Engen Refinery have cost the company close to R200-million rand, refinery spokesperson Herb Payne said on Tuesday. However, while the cost of the blaze is known to the company, the eThekwini municipality has yet to release the results of air-quality assessment tests taken at the time of the blaze.
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/ 15 January 2008
The Cape High Court on Tuesday again postponed the Delft eviction case — the application will now take place on January 29. The court furthermore urged Democratic Alliance city councillor Frank Martin to engage a lawyer to represent him in proceedings.
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/ 15 January 2008
The bail applications of five people accused of murdering and robbing conservationist Franz Richter were postponed due to a power failure at the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Earlier, all five accused pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
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/ 15 January 2008
President Thabo Mbeki should explain to Parliament why he is reluctant to reinstate suspended National Prosecution Authority head Vusi Pikoli, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. ”President Mbeki needs to clarify his position on the DA’s call for him to brief Parliament on his refusal to review his decision to suspend advocate Vusi Pikoli,” the DA said.
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/ 15 January 2008
Video games in freight containers won a Sowetan entrepreneur a cash prize of R100Â 000 at a Johannesburg business college on Tuesday. Between October and December last year, more than 50 hopeful Sowetan business people entered the Soweto Entrepreneur Business Plan competition.
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/ 15 January 2008
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will call for a parliamentary debate on national power cuts as soon as possible, it said on Tuesday. Spokesperson and MP Hendrik Schmidt said electricity cuts were becoming unmanageable for ordinary South Africans and that the resolution of these cuts was of national importance.
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/ 15 January 2008
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) on Tuesday called on Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke to apologise for remarks he made about the party at his birthday celebrations. This comes shortly after an ANC statement saying that Moseneke’s comments showed disdain for delegates at the ANC national conference in December.
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/ 15 January 2008
Zimbabwean parties engaged in negotiations are within days of finalising a political document that would cover all the important issues needed to ensure a free and fair election. This emerged from a meeting at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday between President Thabo Mbeki, who is facilitating the talks, and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.
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/ 15 January 2008
A Johannesburg High Court employee was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the unlawful release of hardened criminals from prison, Johannesburg police said. Spokesperson Inspector Sanku Tsunke said the 30-year-old woman was expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court later on Tuesday.
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/ 15 January 2008
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma’s bid to have search-and-seizure raids declared unconstitutional will not derail the state’s case against him and French arms company Thint, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday.
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/ 15 January 2008
Lower gold-mining stocks as a result of profit-taking weighed on the JSE on Tuesday, leaving the bourse 0,31% in the red by midday. At noon, the gold-mining index had pulled back 2,51%, but the platinum-mining index was 0,49% firmer, while resources added 0,54%. Industrials gave up 1,16%, banks lost 0,88% and financials were off 0,76%.
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/ 15 January 2008
There was no change in the status of the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) position on its investigation into police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, the NPA said on Tuesday. ”There is no change,” said NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali. Selebi is on leave and has resigned his post as head of Interpol.
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/ 15 January 2008
The threat of prosecution at a high-powered meeting with Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang forced private hospital groups to commit to reconsidering their annual tariff increases last Friday, Business Report said on Tuesday. The Health Department warned hospital groups to comply with the law when charging for anaesthetic gases, or face prosecution.
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/ 15 January 2008
When world football supremo Sepp Blatter implored the South African national team to ”wake up” after poor results last year, he could not have been referring to Sibusiso Zuma. Only last weekend Zuma demonstrated again that he is razor sharp when it comes to putting the ball in the net.
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/ 15 January 2008
Parents, teachers and pupils staged a protest on Tuesday against the admission policy of the Kismet Combined Secondary school in Colridge near Vryburg in the North West. South African Democratic Teachers’ Union secretary Joe Molipa said the school had increased its fees by 37% in order to deny poor pupils enrolment.
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/ 15 January 2008
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota has reportedly been arrested for speeding. The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that Lekota was charged, at the Mondeor police station just before midnight on Sunday, with reckless and negligent driving.
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/ 15 January 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>Global analysts Lehman Brothers said in a research note on Tuesday that African National Congress president Jacob Zuma’s high-growth policy plans sounded "rather expensive", with funding probably coming from the budget surplus.
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/ 14 January 2008
Three Department of Home Affairs officials arrested on 39 counts of fraud appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday, the department said. Two senior male immigration officials were arrested on Friday in Mahamaba in Mpumalanga and one female official was arrested in Pretoria.
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/ 14 January 2008
With 24 hours to go before deadline, the Ginwala Commission of Inquiry into suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has yet to receive the government’s submission on the matter. According to the commission rules and timeframes, Pikoli has until January 31 to make his submission.
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/ 14 January 2008
The Democratic Alliance on Monday asked the Independent Complaints Directorate to investigate the arrest of Gauteng Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel. This came after charges of corruption and defeating the administration of justice against Nel were withdrawn in the Pretoria Regional Court.
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/ 14 January 2008
Lesser flamingos have started breeding on a specially constructed artificial island at the Kamfers Dam, the Northern Cape department of tourism, environment and conservation said on Monday. The birds at Kamfers Dam are of historic significance because it is only the sixth breeding locality in the world for the near-threatened species.
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/ 14 January 2008
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern expressed ”great concern” over the economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe at the outset of a visit to South Africa on Monday.
”I would like to thank President [Thabo] Mbeki for his work as the SADC [Southern African Development Community] mediator in Zimbabwe,” Ahern said.
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/ 14 January 2008
Former Springbok coach Jake White and his World Cup-winning side have been named Newsmaker of the Year for 2007, the National Press Club said on Monday. ”This award is made on the grounds of impact, news value and media attention, both print and electronic,” the club’s chairperson, Patrick Hlahla, said.
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/ 14 January 2008
Tiger Brands began charging 40 cents more for a loaf of Albany bread on Monday, with Pioneer Foods and Premier Foods in the process of considering their increases. In response, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) suggested the increases were linked to last year’s bread price-fixing scandal.