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/ 30 November 2007
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Thursday evening that inflation-targeting would be here "for many years" and economic policy is not going to change in South Africa as the foundations built up by President Thabo Mbeki, himself and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel were too strong to be weakened.
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/ 30 November 2007
Nationwide’s aircraft will remain grounded until the airline has fixed deficiencies in its maintenance section, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Friday. The CAA suspended approval for the airline’s aircraft maintenance organisation from midnight on Thursday, said CAA chief executive officer Zakes Myeza.
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/ 30 November 2007
South Africa’s monthly trade deficit jumped to a record R14,73-billion in October, compared to September’s R4,3-billion shortfall, the South African Revenue Service said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters last week had forecast a deficit of R6,8-billion.
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/ 30 November 2007
Nationwide Airlines said on Friday that all its domestic and international flights had been grounded by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority, but did not know how long the ban would last. Nationwide’s spokesperson Rodger Whittle said he did not anticipate that grounding would be a ”long situation”.
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/ 30 November 2007
President Thabo Mbeki will receive an African Union report into the country’s governance standards on Wednesday next week, the Ministry of Public Service and Administration said on Friday. Mbeki had to postpone a handover ceremony at his office on Thursday because of other urgent government matters.
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/ 29 November 2007
The Gauteng government is trying to curtail opposition politicians’ investigations into public health facilities, the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) said on Thursday. The FXI said a complaint by provincial minister of health Brian Hlongwa about Democratic Alliance member Jack Bloom’s visits to public health facilities in the province was ”problematic”.
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/ 29 November 2007
Hundreds of people gathered in a Cape Town church on Thursday to remember Ian Smith, Rhodesia’s widely reviled former prime minister, as a kind, stubborn and misunderstood son of the soil. The hall of the St John’s Anglican Church in Cape Town overflowed with well-wishers — all but a handful of them white and many ex-Rhodesian.
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/ 29 November 2007
Adam Scott of Australia and Trevor Immelman of South Africa both scored five-under-par 67s to share the first-round lead in the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City on Thursday. English pair Justin Rose and Luke Donald are lying one off the pace on 68, with tournament favourite Ernie Els of South Africa, who is trying for a record fourth title in this annual 12-man event.
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/ 29 November 2007
Four rare gorillas at the centre of a five-year international tussle are due to fly from South Africa just after midnight on Friday to a wildlife sanctuary in Cameroon. Tinu, Izan, Oyin and Abbey were all lightly tranquillised as they were loaded into giant wooden crates on Thursday for the 18-hour journey to their new home.
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/ 29 November 2007
Controversial Cape Town councillor Badih Chaaban is adamant he will not relinquish control over Greenmarket Square without a fight. According to recent reports, Chaaban has held a lease on Greenmarket Square for 15 years. The Cape Town council took a decision at the end of June to terminate Chaaban’s lease and regain control over the square.
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/ 29 November 2007
It’s a done deal. All the signs are there that Jacob Zuma will lead the African National Congress.
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/ 29 November 2007
Clutching an exam pad and diary, former bouncer Gary Beuthin took notes from almost the instant he stepped into the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Wearing a grey and white T-shirt, blue tracksuit pants and shackles at his ankles, Beuthin seemed to scan the court for supporters as he walked in.
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/ 29 November 2007
The handover of a controversial report drawn up by an African Union watchdog into standards of governance in South Africa was postponed indefinitely on Thursday, officials said. President Thabo Mbeki was expected to have received the African Peer Review Mechanism report at a ceremony in Pretoria to which journalists had been invited.
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/ 29 November 2007
The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) lost R66-million on fraudulent unemployment claims between April 2005 and March this year, the fund said on Thursday. UIF spokesperson Kgomotso Sebetso said it is considered fraud for people to continue to receive benefits despite having secured a new job.
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/ 29 November 2007
The Supreme Court of Appeal agreed on Thursday with a golf-estate homeowner that he is entitled to relief for badly aimed golf balls from the sixth hole at the Milnerton golf course. Nearly 900 golf balls had hit his home between 2003 and 2006. The court upheld an appeal by Alexander Simonis against a Cape High Court judgement.
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/ 29 November 2007
Toy distributor Just Fun Toys has recalled all its stocks in South Africa of Bindeez Magic Beads, the distributor said on Thursday. The stock was recalled as a new bead coating, changed by the Chinese manufacturer without consulting its developers, was found to be potentially harmful if ingested.
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/ 29 November 2007
The Cape High Court on Thursday found former Old Mutual actuary Fred van der Vyver not guilty of the murder of his girlfriend, Inge Lotz. The acquittal brought to an end a dramatic trial that had lasted nine months, which Judge Deon van Zyl described as ”long and emotion-packed”.
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/ 29 November 2007
Almost 80% of South African pupils do not develop basic reading skills by the time they reach grade five, a new international study released on Thursday shows. The Progress in International Reading Literacy study was conducted in 40 countries and carried out locally by the University of Pretoria.
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/ 29 November 2007
There is a stark difference of opinion as to how Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns view their status in South African soccer: Chiefs claim the Brazilians are attempting to usurp their role of pre-eminence while Sundowns, for their part, insist they have already achieved this objective.
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/ 29 November 2007
In a rare public-health success story on the world’s most beleaguered continent, Africa has slashed deaths from measles by 91% since 2000 thanks to an immunisation drive. Worldwide measles deaths fell to 242 000 between 2000 and 2006, a reduction of 68% made possible by the remarkable gains in Africa.
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/ 29 November 2007
An extra R87-million has been allocated to help people living in extreme poverty, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Thursday. The money was in addition to funds already given to provinces for relief, he told reporters after meeting provincial ministers of social development in Durban.
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/ 29 November 2007
Witnesses in the attempted-murder trial of former bouncer Gary Beuthin fear for their lives, the Randburg Magistrate’s Court heard on Thursday. Lead investigator Piet Byleveld was testifying during the bail applications of Beuthin’s co-accused, Melanie van Niekerk (31) and Warren Schertel (34).
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/ 29 November 2007
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A ”final briefing” on whether African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma would have to face new corruption charges would be given to the acting National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) on Thursday. The National Prosecuting Authority said in a statement that the prosecution team was due to brief Mokotedi Mpshe on the case.
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/ 29 November 2007
Government ministers have failed to provide written answers to 343 questions posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA), said DA deputy chief whip Mike Ellis on Thursday. "Next Friday, December 7, is the deadline for the submission of replies to all parliamentary questions posed to government departments during 2007," he said.
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/ 29 November 2007
Standard Bank’s position as one of the world’s leading emerging markets banks was endorsed on Wednesday night with the company winning eight awards, including the prestigious Emerging Markets Bank of the Year, at <i>The Banker</i> awards of 2007.
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/ 29 November 2007
The continued strong rises in credit extension provided little counter to the shocking inflation figures released on Wednesday and the chances of an interest-rate hike next week now seemed an almost assured fact, the Efficient Group said on Thursday. This comes after the South African Reserve Bank released both the October monetary aggregates and credit extension figures.
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/ 29 November 2007
South Africa’s factory-gate inflation ticked up to 9,5% year-on-year in October, data showed on Thursday, beating forecasts and reinforcing expectations for an interest-rate rise next week. Producer price inflation accelerated from 9,4% year-on-year in September, and outstripped forecasts of a 9,1% rise, Statistics South Africa said.
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/ 29 November 2007
The total number of travellers who visited South Africa through all its ports of entry during September was up 5,2% year-on-year (y/y) to 2,183-million from the 10,5% y/y growth recorded in August 2007, according to Statistics South Africa data released on Thursday.
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/ 29 November 2007
Most of the babies who died following a klebsiella outbreak at a Durban hospital were underweight and born to teenage mothers, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday. Tshabalala-Msimang was speaking at the opening of a public hospital management conference in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.
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/ 29 November 2007
Former Springbok centre Japie Mulder has admitted that over an extended period he indecently assaulted a young girl and tried to rape her, Beeld reported on Thursday. Mulder was fined R120Â 000 or three years in prison in terms of a plea bargain in which he pleaded guilty to charges of indecent assault and soliciting a minor. The girl is in grade 12 this year.
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/ 29 November 2007
The KwaZulu-Natal derby between Thanda Royal Zulu and Lamontville Golden Arrows petered out to a 1-1 draw in their Premier Soccer League clash at Absa Stadium in Durban on Wednesday night. Arrows led 1-0 at half-time. Arrows took the lead when Siyabonga Sangweni blasted a low shot that beat Royal keeper Aime Kitenge in the 26th minute.
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/ 29 November 2007
Tourism officials said this week it is ”business as usual” after severe floods hit the South Africa’s southern coast. ”Although the damage to property has been significant, the fact that the floods took place before the official start of the holiday season could prevent huge economic losses for the tourism sector,” said a tourism spokesperson.