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/ 30 November 2007
Dina Rodrigues — jailed for life for the murder of six-month-old Jordan Leigh Norton — on Friday filed papers at the Supreme Court of Appeal for leave to appeal her conviction and sentence. The Cape High Court in June this year handed down life sentences to 26-year-old Rodrigues and two accomplices for the contract murder of baby Jordan.
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/ 30 November 2007
Statistics that indicated HIV/Aids numbers were lower than previously thought was cold comfort, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on Friday. Speaking in Pretoria a day before World Aids Day, Tutu said that while the country might say things had improved, it was unacceptable that 600 people died of Aids everyday in South Africa.
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/ 30 November 2007
South Africa have ditched star striker Benni McCarthy for the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana. Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira also dumped first-choice defender Bradley Carnell and midfielders Delron Buckley and Macbeth Sibaya from a 23-man squad named on Friday.
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/ 30 November 2007
The African National Congress (ANC) must defend its principles and values without hesitation or ambiguity, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Some people seemed very keen to denounce any restatement of the most basic ANC positions as constituting an attack on ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, he said in his weekly online newsletter.
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/ 30 November 2007
Scottish singer and one-time Eurythmics member Annie Lennox is launching a new charity single titled Sing on Saturday, World Aids Day. The singer — who is a global ambassador for charity Oxfam — will be performing at former president Nelson Mandela’s 46664 Aids-campaign concert in Johannesburg on Saturday.
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/ 30 November 2007
The Aids crisis, already one of enormous proportions, is forecast to get even bigger, says Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille. ”Though a slight decline was experienced this year, analysts still predict South Africa’s HIV infection rate to increase from its current 10% to 18% by 2025,” she warned in her weekly online newsletter, SA Today, on Friday.
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/ 30 November 2007
Fifteen people were arrested during a crime-fighting operation at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport on Friday, said the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa). ”Fifteen people have so far been arrested and 10 vehicles have been impounded,” said Acsa spokesperson Tasniem Patel.
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/ 30 November 2007
The R22-million allocated for special wildlife projects was not unaccounted for; it was just not recorded on the annual financial statement, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife board chairperson Patrick Sokhela said on Friday. He was speaking at a media briefing in Pietermaritzburg.
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/ 30 November 2007
Thabo Gazi, the chief inspector of mines, has briefed the Chamber of Mines and labour unions about the health and safety audit of mines ordered by President Thabo Mbeki. Meanwhile, the National Union of Mineworkers said on Friday that more than 40 000 mineworkers will gather ahead of next week’s safety strike.
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/ 30 November 2007
Head judge of the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons Justice Nathan Erasmus will head the commission of inquiry into allegations of illegal surveillance by the City of Cape, Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool and provincial minister for local government and housing Richard Dyantyi said on Friday.
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/ 30 November 2007
Four men accused of the murder of South African reggae star Lucky Dube appeared briefly in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. The accused face charges of murder, attempted hijacking and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
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/ 30 November 2007
Schoolchildren in grade three and above are to be tested annually for the next three years to ensure their reading skills are up to par, the Department of Education said on Friday. Education Minister Naledi Pandor would gazette a three-year ”foundation for learning strategy … that will involve annual testing”, the department said.
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/ 30 November 2007
Five foreign tourists, including a child, were killed in an accident in the Kruger National Park on Thursday, the park said on Friday. The accident occurred when the vehicle in which the tourists were travelling struck the edge of a bridge before plunging into a river.
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/ 30 November 2007
The retail price of all grades of petrol will increase by 43 cents a litre on Wednesday December 5, the Department of Minerals and Energy announced on Friday. The latest changes bring the retail price of a litre of 95-octane unleaded petrol in Gauteng to R7,47 and to R7,23 at the coast — new highs.
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/ 30 November 2007
The JSE was sharply higher by noon on Friday as gains among mining and resource stocks added some cheer. At noon, the JSE’s all-share index rose 1,12% as the gold mining index advanced 2,59%. Resources collected 2,52% and the platinum mining index recovered 1,5%.
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/ 30 November 2007
Three condom suppliers, the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel face a R5-billion class-action lawsuit over defective condoms the Health Department distributed earlier this year, a media report said on Friday.
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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.