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/ 10 December 2007

Explosive Selebi allegations revealed

Startling revelations of allegations forming the basis of the Scorpions’ case against, among other people, police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi have come to light in a lengthy document acquired by Beeld newspaper. The 141-page document was compiled from sworn statements handed to the Scorpions.

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/ 10 December 2007

Media24 shuts down two magazines

Magazine publishing giant Media24 has shut down two of its magazines that, three months ago, were caught up in a massive sales-figures scam, media reports said on Monday. It has closed down InStyle SA and the Wisden Cricketer because ”the magazines were no longer considered to be commercially viable”.

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/ 10 December 2007

Zuma: I won’t be a sore loser

African National Congress presidential hopeful Jacob Zuma has assured South Africa he would not be a sore loser if he were not elected leader of the ruling party, a newspaper reported on Monday. The result ”could be anything and I am ready to accept any outcome”, he told Business Day.

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/ 10 December 2007

Celtic, Royal match ends in exciting draw

Bloemfontein Celtic were held to a 1-1 draw by Thanda Royal Zulu in an exciting Premier Soccer League clash at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium on Sunday. Celtic netted in the seventh minute through Lebohang Kukane, and three minutes later Bernard Parker equalised for the struggling Royals team and earned them a valuable point.

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/ 10 December 2007

Cobras, Warriors clash fizzles out

The SuperSport Series match between the Cape Cobras and the Warriors ended in a fairly tame draw at Boland Bank Park in Paarl on Sunday. In Durban, unfavourable weather meant the match between the Dolphins and the Highveld Lions at the Sahara Stadium was always destined to be a tame draw.

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/ 10 December 2007

Close but no cigar for Els

Ernie Els blew a two-stroke lead by hitting two balls into the water on the final hole of the Alfred Dunhill Championship, handing the win to John Bickerton. Els (73) took a triple-bogey on the par-five 18th, leaving Bickerton to win at 13-under 275 after a four-under 68 in the final round.

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/ 10 December 2007

Armed robbers strike Nando’s outlet

Three men, of whom two were armed, robbed a Nando’s takeaway outlet in Rivonia of an undisclosed amount of money and cellphones, Johannesburg police said on Sunday. Captain Julia Claassen said the incident happened at the Nando’s outlet on the corner of Calvin and Rivonia roads at about 9.50pm on Saturday.

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/ 10 December 2007

Long wait ends for homes in Kagiso

More than 100 houses were finally received by Sinqobile residents in Kagiso on the West Rand after a housing project that began in 2003 was completed, the Gauteng housing department said on Sunday. ”The long wait for houses has finally ended,” said spokesperson Aviva Manqa.

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/ 9 December 2007

Santos and Chiefs draw again

It hardly required a soothsayer to forecast the goalless draw in the Premier League game between ”goalless-draw champions” Santos and Kaizer Chiefs at a windswept Athlone Stadium on Sunday evening. ”We played against the wind in the first half,” complained Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral afterwards, ”and could not master it”.

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/ 9 December 2007

Chamanga in record goal charge

Like King Midas who turned everything he touched into gold, James Chamanga turned everything he touched into goals during Moroka Swallows’ emphatic 6-2 Premier League victory over a hapless Platinum Stars at the Germiston Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

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/ 9 December 2007

South African politics are a joke, seriously

As the African National Congress prepares for its elective conference in Polokwane on December 16, satirists have not run short of gags designed to cut the party’s members down to size. ”The satirist in South Africa today has become probably more of a psychiatrist than an entertainer,” says comedian Pieter-Dirk Uys.

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/ 8 December 2007

Titans celebrate first win of season

The Titans secured their first victory of this season’s SuperSport cricket series when they defeated the Eagles by 231 runs in their encounter at the Outsurance Oval in Bloemfontein on Saturday. It was also the home side’s first defeat of the series and first loss at home this season.

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/ 8 December 2007

Boks eliminated from Sevens series

Fiji won a semifinal of sheer quality against South Africa 21-12 to set up a replay of last weekend’s Dubai final against New Zealand in the International Rugby Board Sevens World Series in George on Saturday. In the other semifinal, Argentina tried to catch defending champions New Zealand off their guard.

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/ 8 December 2007

Banyana keep hopes up for Beijing

Banyana Banyana soccer coach Augustine Makalakalane believes his side will turn the tables on Ghana by beating them in their own backyard and increase their chances of making it to the Beijing Olympics next year. Banyana face Black Queens on Sunday at Accra Stadium. Kick-off is 6pm (South African time).

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/ 8 December 2007

Easy victory for Boks in Sevens series

Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu was quite happy with his side’s defence in their first match when they beat Argentina 24-7 in the International Rugby Board Sevens World Series in George on Friday — but the Boks needed hardly any defence when they overran Uganda 41-0 in their second match.

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/ 8 December 2007

SA unknown leads at Leopard Creek

South Africa’s Omar Sandys, a player little known on the international golf stage, carded a four-under-par 68 on Friday to open up a two-shot lead in the €1-million Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club. Tournament favourite and world number five Ernie Els of South Africa was in joint third place.

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/ 7 December 2007

Top Sundowns official leaves after dispute

Problem-plagued Mamelodi Sundowns on Friday announced that executive director Afzal Khan will be leaving the club in the wake of the protracted dispute in which Venezuelan international striker Jose Torrelaba alleged his signature had been forged on a document confirming the renewal of his contract with the club.

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/ 7 December 2007

Skweyiya regrets publication of Lekota letter

”Unfortunate and regrettable” was how Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya on Friday described the publication of a letter in which he criticised Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota. ”I wish to state that the letter was intended for internal discussion within the African National Congress, and not for public consumption,” he said.

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/ 7 December 2007

Outgoing CAA chief full of praise

The South African Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) outgoing chief executive, Zakes Myeza, has no plans following his resignation this week. Myeza said he joined an ”almost dysfunctional” CAA 20 months ago, when it had functioned without a permanent chief executive for almost three years.

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/ 7 December 2007

Pollsmoor whistle-blower gets his job back

The Cape Town Labour Court has ordered that whistle-blowing prison doctor Paul Theron get his job in Pollsmoor back. He was suspended after telling the Inspecting Judge of Prisons and a parliamentary committee about what he said was an acute healthcare crisis at Pollsmoor, including chronic understaffing and lack of disease control.

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/ 7 December 2007

State to pay millions for Shaik’s legal fees

The state will foot Schabir Shaik’s legal costs at the Constitutional Court next year when he fights to retain his assets worth about R33-million, the Star newspaper reported on Friday. In an application to the Durban High Court recently, Shaik indicated that he had no cash and would need about R2,5-million to cover legal costs.

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/ 7 December 2007

Aids crisis looms for ANC ahead of vote

HIV/Aids has driven a wedge between the leadership and rank-and-file of the ruling African National Congress, with top officials accused of ignorance and activists aghast at the government’s handling of the pandemic. President Thabo Mbeki and his former deputy, Jacob Zuma have both been burned politically by the HIV/Aids crisis.

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/ 7 December 2007

Firearms ‘have completely changed the face of crime’

Not only are robbers hitting more houses, they now prefer to strike when residents are at home, the Institute for Security Studies said on Friday. ”It’s fairly obvious that this is what’s happening,” said researcher Johan Burger. ”There seems to be a correlation between the decrease in burglary figures and the increase … in the house-robbery figure,” he said.