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/ 22 November 2007
South Africa will launch a nationwide safety audit in December on all mines in the world’s largest producer of precious minerals in a bid to reduce deaths and accidents, a senior official said on Thursday. Stung by the loss of lives that union officials have called a ”genocide,” the government has vowed to temporarily shut mines whenever deaths occur.
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/ 22 November 2007
The parole of former bouncer Gary Beuthin is to be revoked following his re-arrest in connection with an assault case, the Department of Correctional Services said on Thursday. Correctional services spokesperson Manelisi Wolela said the department was in the process of revoking his parole conditions.
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/ 22 November 2007
Minutes before being shot dead in an argument over a baseball cap, Godfrey Hendricks challenged his two alleged killers to take the cap from him by force. The two men then fetched a firearm from their car parked nearby. Two shots were fired, leaving Hendricks lying dead on the ground, the Cape High Court heard on Thursday.
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/ 22 November 2007
Fifa president Sepp Blatter arrived in Durban on Thursday amid tight security. His arrival ahead of the 2010 preliminary draw came on the same day that 2010 South African local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan unveiled the 2009 Confederations Cup emblem at Durban’s International Convention Centre.
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/ 22 November 2007
As Piet Koornhof quietly shuffled of this mortal coil last week, an Eastern Cape man said he still had a question for the apartheid-era Cabinet minister.
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/ 22 November 2007
It would be a recipe for disaster if the intelligence services had to apply to the courts every time it wanted classified documents kept from the public, the Constitutional Court heard on Thursday. ”This would be hopelessly impractical,” said David Unterhalter, counsel for the Intelligence Ministry and the Presidency.
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/ 22 November 2007
International bodybuilding legend Reg Park (79) passed away in Johannesburg on November 22 from advanced skin cancer. ”In his dying moments he was talking in his sleep and training people and exercising them,” his son, Jon Jon, said. Jon Jon said Reg had suffered with the debilitating illness for eight months but had accepted that he was going to die.
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/ 22 November 2007
Jacques Kallis will play for South Africa in Friday’s Twenty20 international against New Zealand, captain Graeme Smith said on Thursday. Kallis, the nation’s leading run-scorer in Tests and one-day internationals, was controversially omitted from the squad for the Twenty20 World Championship, which they exited before the semifinal stage, hosted by South Africa in September.
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/ 22 November 2007
South African rugby boss Oregan Hoskins says he played a key role in helping outgoing Springbok coach Jake White survive his four-year tenure. Without his support, Hoskins said on Thursday, White would not have been able to continue in his role as coach of the national side. ”All I want to say is that my conscience is abundantly clear towards Jake. I’ve stood by Jake.”
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/ 22 November 2007
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The African National Congress (ANC)’s December national conference will serve as a springboard to propel the party to new heights, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Thursday. Speaking during the launch of the ANC parliamentary caucus website in Cape Town, Mlambo-Ngcuka said the party would surprise its critics.
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/ 22 November 2007
A total of 170 countries will go into Sunday’s draw for the 2010 World Cup preliminary competition being held in Durban, Fifa said on Thursday. The teams will be chasing 31 places at the World Cup finals to be hosted by South Africa in 30 months’ time.
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/ 22 November 2007
Africa’s biggest packaging group Nampak posted a 22% jump in full-year headline earnings per share (EPS), and said on Thursday it expected real earnings growth in the current year. The company had said on Friday it expected full-year headline EPS to rise by 20% to 25%.
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/ 22 November 2007
South Africa’s trade union federation Cosatu on Thursday threatened to call a strike if state-owned electricity utility Eskom is allowed to raise electricity tariffs by 18%, as requested. Cosatu’s general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, told reporters that the federation was canvassing members for a possible general strike next year.
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/ 22 November 2007
A final decision on which country will host the giant Square Kilometre Array radio telescope is now expected in 2011, the Cabinet announced on Thursday. South Africa was confident it would win the bid, government communications head Themba Maseko told a media briefing at Parliament on Thursday, following the Cabinet’s fortnightly meeting the day before.
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/ 22 November 2007
Heavy rainfall in the Southern Cape on Wednesday resulted in a number of people calling for assistance, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said on Thursday. ”The NSRI Mossel Bay helped evacuate residents near Groot Brak River as rising water threatened to burst the river bank in the vicinity of Pine Creek,” said NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon.
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/ 22 November 2007
The Standard Bank Pro20 match and the three MTN one-day internationals (ODIs) will give New Zealand a chance to restore some pride after their crushing defeats by South Africa in the two Test matches. That was Black Caps skipper Daniel Vettori’s view on Thursday on the eve of the Pro20 match at the Wanderers on Friday.
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/ 22 November 2007
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was not ready to announce a date for the completion of the review of the case against police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, it said on Thursday. Acting NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe was instructed to reconsider the case following the suspension of National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli.
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/ 22 November 2007
World soccer governing body Fifa was concerned about 2010 stadium preparations, its general secretary, Jerome Valcke, said on Thursday at a media briefing in Durban. Stadium workers in Nelspruit, Durban and Cape Town recently staged strikes for better wages and this raised concerns that South Africa would not be ready to host the World Cup.
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/ 22 November 2007
Officials at Durban’s Engen refinery on Thursday reiterated that a fire that resulted in millions of rands’ worth of petrol going up in smoke would not have an impact on fuel supply. ”We don’t believe that this will have any significant impact in the short- or long-term,” Herb Payne, speaking on behalf of Engen general manager Willem Oosthuizen, said on Thursday.
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/ 22 November 2007
A case of attempted murder and kidnapping against former bouncer Gary Beuthin and two others was on Thursday postponed in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court. Gary Beuthin, Melanie van Niekerk and Warren Sherkle appeared on charges of attempted murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, possession of a firearm and pointing of a firearm.
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/ 22 November 2007
Four government departments are collaborating to produce a ”comprehensive electricity master plan” for South Africa, says the Cabinet. Such a plan was long overdue, government communications head Themba Maseko told a media briefing at Parliament on Thursday, following the Cabinet’s fortnightly meeting the day before.
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/ 22 November 2007
Higher interest rates and over-indebtedness of individuals will suppress demand for residential property in months to come, reports I-Net Bridge. This reduction will continue to feed through to the building sector, making developers more cautious about submitting further building plans over the coming few quarters.
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/ 22 November 2007
De Beers Consolidated Mines, the South African arm of diamond giant De Beers, on Thursday said it had agreed to sell the Cullinan Diamond Mine as a going concern to the Petra Diamonds Cullinan Consortium for a consideration of R1-billion payable in cash.
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/ 22 November 2007
South Africa’s second-biggest media firm, Johnnic Communications (Johncom), increased first-half headline earnings per share by 460% to 1 681 cents. The company said revenue for the six months to end-September rose by 16% to R2,974-billion while profit from operations before exceptional items rose 25% to R409-million.
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/ 22 November 2007
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The battle for the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) moves one step closer this week to a head-to-head clash between Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. While there has been talk of a compromise candidate, one commentator believes that time has run out for that option.
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/ 22 November 2007
A third person wanted in connection with a kidnapping case for which paroled former bouncer Gary Beuthin and his girlfriend were arrested, handed himself over to police on Thursday morning. Superintendent Eugene Opperman said the three were expected to appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
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/ 22 November 2007
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will provide -million to Slum/Shack Dwellers International (SDI) to help the urban poor improve their housing, water and sanitation. The grant would go directly to grassroots groups that gather under the umbrella of SDI, enabling them to improve their living conditions.
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/ 21 November 2007
The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) will appear in the Constitutional Court on Thursday in the case of Independent Newspapers versus the minister of intelligence. The FXI said on Wednesday it would argue that Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils did not follow proper procedure when trying to withhold certain documents from the public.
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/ 21 November 2007
President Thabo Mbeki’s announcement on Wednesday of a ”window of opportunity” for people convicted of alleged political offences before June 16 1999 has been warmly welcomed by most political parties. Pan Africanist Congress leader Motsoko Pheko hailed Mbeki’s announcement as an act of courage against odds.
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/ 21 November 2007
Members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), who downed tools at a 2010 World Cup soccer stadium in Mpumalanga, were back at work on Wednesday afternoon. This comes after construction workers at the Nelspruit 2010 Soccer World Cup stadium went on strike over wages and bonuses on Wednesday morning.
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/ 21 November 2007
A police officer was killed and eight others seriously injured in a South African Air Force helicopter crash in the Free State on Wednesday, the military said. Seven other people suffered minor injuries. The Oryx helicopter was carrying 19 people when it crashed at about 11.40am near the Lesotho border.
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/ 21 November 2007
A number of kulula.com crew members went on a tongue-in-cheek swimming outing on Wednesday. The outing was an ”act of defiance against the bizarre claim by the Labour Department that kulula.com doesn’t hire crew who cannot swim”, said Comair spokesperson Glenda Zvenyika.