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/ 20 November 2007
South African media company Johnnic Communications (Johncom) said on Tuesday it will now change its name to Avusa on November 26 after shareholders gave the name change the green light. The name was constructed in such a way so as to relate to the company’s vision and strategy, as it uses the words Audiovisual, Vision, Unique and Unity, and South Africa to make up Avusa.
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/ 20 November 2007
South Africa’s transport sector faces a ”huge challenge” in reducing HIV infections, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Tuesday. Opening a two-day national policy dialogue on HIV and Aids in the transport sector, Radebe said the negative developments of HIV and Aids in the sector could not be allowed to gain momentum.
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/ 20 November 2007
Projected costs for South Africa’s preparations to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup could be up to 20% higher due to factors such as rising steel and cement prices, Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi said on Tuesday. Officials in the host cities have delivered cost escalations between R2,8-billion and R3,4-billion above budget.
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/ 20 November 2007
South Africa and Mozambique on Tuesday signed a treaty for the establishment of a Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security. Speaking at the signing of the agreement, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said cooperation on defence and security between South Africa and Mozambique is critical with an eye on the 2010 World Cup.
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/ 20 November 2007
President Thabo Mbeki’s office said an investigation into the arms deal had already found no wrongdoing on the part of government. This followed a media report based on an addendum to Mbeki’s online letter in his capacity as president of the African National Congress on November 16.
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/ 20 November 2007
The hearing of germ-warfare expert Wouter Basson has been postponed until September next year, after prosecutors on Tuesday said they were embarrassed by the testimony of their own expert witness. Basson on Monday pleaded not guilty to six charges brought against him at the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
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/ 20 November 2007
South Africa and Angola have agreed to sign a declaration that will see ordinary passport holders no longer needing visas to travel between the two countries, government news agency BuaNews reported on Tuesday. It said that the declaration of intent would be signed on Wednesday.
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/ 20 November 2007
Volatility in resource stocks, as well as in the mining indices, buried the JSE in the red at midday on Tuesday. At noon, the all-share index gave up 0,69%, led by a 1,69% pull back in the gold-mining index. Resources dipped 1,59% and the platinum-mining index was off 0,42%. Financials eased 0,27% and banks were unchanged (+0,01%), but industrials inched up 0,15%.
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/ 20 November 2007
The filming of <i>Hansie</i> — based on the life of the late South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje — has been completed, its producer said on Tuesday. "The movie is looking beautiful and we are very happy with the quality of the scenes we have shot," producer Frans Cronje, the brother of the cricketer, said in a statement.
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/ 20 November 2007
A case of attempted murder has been opened against former Springbok hooker James Dalton following an alleged incident against his wife Andrea, the Pretoria News reported on Tuesday. Dalton allegedly tried to drown her in a bath, smother her with a dress and threatened her.
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/ 20 November 2007
Former bouncer Gary Beuthin was arrested in Rivonia road in Sandton on Tuesday morning, police said. Spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman said Beuthin was wanted for attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, illegal pointing of a firearm and possession of a firearm.
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/ 20 November 2007
The trial of three men accused of slaughtering a KwaZulu-Natal family is expected to start on Tuesday, police said. The Newcastle family of four, including a teenage girl and baby boy, were found stabbed to death in different rooms of their home in May 2006.
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/ 20 November 2007
Nashua Titans fast bowler Dale Steyn has been included in the Proteas squad for the Standard Bank International Pro20 as well as the three-match MTN one-day international (ODI) series against New Zealand. The Phalaborwa express replaces Justin Kemp in the only change to the squad that won the ODI series in Pakistan.
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/ 20 November 2007
South African banks are embracing self-service as a strategic imperative, and can be expected to invest heavily in solutions that allow their customers to access a full range of banking services wherever they are and at any time, according to the recent <i>Self-Service Strategies in South Africa 2007</i> survey.
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/ 20 November 2007
South African oil refiner Engen has slowed operations at its 180 000 barrel-per-day plant in Durban after an oil tank caught fire, although the blaze did not damage the refining facilities. The fire, which continues to burn, started on Monday evening when a petrol tank containing about seven million litres of petrol exploded.
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/ 20 November 2007
Ben Mafani never met Piet Koornhof, who died this week at the age of 82. But he hopes to come face to face with Koornhof in the life hereafter, because he has a question for the apartheid-era Cabinet minister. Mafani wants to know why he, his family, and thousands of other people were forcibly removed from ”white” South Africa three decades ago.
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/ 20 November 2007
Strict visa requirements for Zimbabweans intending to travel to South Africa are set to be reviewed following talks between the two countries, a media report said on Tuesday. The talks were held under the joint permanent commission on defence and security in South Africa last week, the report said.
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/ 20 November 2007
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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is ready to join the leadership race of the African National Congress (ANC), a media report said on Tuesday. Madikizela-Mandela’s publicist Malcolm X said: ”If the ANC nominates her, she will not say no, she is the loyal servant of her people.”
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/ 20 November 2007
A businessman who was arrested because his Porsche Cayenne was equipped with an anti-speed-trap device has been allowed to pay an admission-of-guilt fine, a media report said on Tuesday. Moto Mabanga was arrested by Ekurhuleni metro police on Sunday and charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
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/ 20 November 2007
A massive fire broke out at the Engen refinery in Durban on Monday night, the cause of which was not immediately known. However, Engen refinery spokesperson Herb Payne said it was possibly caused by a lightning strike. Payne said there were no injuries or fatalities and that all staff had been accounted for.
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/ 19 November 2007
European Union agriculture experts have recommended a ban on South African ostrich meat, but the Department of Agriculture says it has no official knowledge of this threat to the R1,2-billion export industry. ”As I speak now, I don’t have any official correspondence [from the EU],” the department’s chief communications director said on Monday.
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/ 19 November 2007
While he might have been part of the apartheid government’s secret chemical and biological warfare programme, he did not act unprofessionally, Wouter Basson said on Monday. Basson pleaded not guilty to six charges brought against him at the Health Professions Council of South Africa. The charges relate to his time as head of the apartheid government’s chemical and biological warfare project.
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/ 19 November 2007
Siyabonga Nqakula, the son of Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula, will testify that he fell asleep at the wheel before a head-on collision, a Cape Town magistrate heard on Monday. Nqakula (27), of Johannesburg, has pleaded not guilty to charges of drunken and reckless driving.
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/ 19 November 2007
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A special meeting will be held before the African National Congress’s (ANC) 52nd annual conference in December, the party said on Monday. ”The NEC [national executive committee] agreed to hold a special meeting before the conference to further discuss issues for inclusion in the NEC’s report to conference,” ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said.
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/ 19 November 2007
Standard Bank will raise its transaction fees by an average of 4,65% in 2008, the bank said on Monday. Increasing competitive pressure, rising interest rates and inflation were some of the reasons for the increase, said the bank’s CEO for personal and business banking, Sim Tshabalala.
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/ 19 November 2007
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The battle to lead the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has boiled down to President Thabo Mbeki and his former deputy, Jacob Zuma, in a clash that has shaken the party to its core. There are no signs that an economic boom will end anytime soon but millions of South Africans mired in poverty are waiting for the ANC to ease their hardships.
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/ 19 November 2007
South Africa’s former first lady, Graca Machel, on Monday joined President Thabo Mbeki in refuting claims that more South Africans are now poorer than they were in 1996. Machel said that while there was room for improvement, the African National Congress-led government had done exceptionally well in the fight against poverty.
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/ 19 November 2007
A grade 10 pupil, who stabbed his teacher to death in front of his classmates, was on Monday sentenced to an effective 10 years’ imprisonment. KwaZulu-Natal Judge President Vuka Tshablala sentenced 18-year old Mazwi Mkhwanazi to 15 years, five of which were suspended.
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/ 19 November 2007
The two-week long strike by construction workers building Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium came to an end on Monday after workers accepted an offer made by the Group Five-WBHO consortium. National Union of Mineworkers regional coordinator Bonginkosi Mncwabe said workers would return to work on Tuesday morning.
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/ 19 November 2007
Three robbers were killed and five others were arrested after they tried to rob a Coin Security van in Pretoria on Monday. National police spokesperson Sally de Beer said the Coin Security guards noticed they were being followed at about 9am on Monday morning by a black Nissan Navara on Christina De Wit Drive in Pretoria.
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/ 19 November 2007
Councillors other than Badih Chaaban may also have been under illegal surveillance in Cape Town’s spy scandal and police have ”a lot of information and detail” to back this up, Independent Democrats deputy leader Simon Grindrod was quoted as saying on Monday.
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/ 19 November 2007
An insurance fraud case against Brett Kebble’s security chief, Clinton Nassif, who has also been implicated in the murder of his boss, was postponed in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday. The postponement was made in order to allow Nassif’s lawyers and the state to negotiate a plea bargain.