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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
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
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.
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/ 19 November 2007
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=zuma_report"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/243078/zuma.jpg" align=left border=0></a>There was no word yet on whether African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma would have to face new corruption charges as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was still considering the case, an NPA spokesperson said on Monday. "It is a very painstaking process of consideration," said NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali.
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/ 19 November 2007
The man at the centre of the African National Congress hoax email saga, Muziwendoda Kunene, had his case postponed for trial next year in the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Monday. Kunene, who had his left hand bandaged after he was shot last week, is charged with contravening the Intelligence Services Oversight Act.
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/ 19 November 2007
Apartheid-era germ warfare expert Wouter Basson on Monday pleaded not guilty to six charges of unethical conduct. A hearing of the Health Professions Council of South Africa into Basson’s activities during his time as head of the apartheid government’s chemical and biological warfare programme started on Monday.
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/ 19 November 2007
The JSE was weaker at midday on Monday, erasing earlier gains following a similar trend in European markets on early indications that Wall Street was likely to open lower. At noon, the all-share index was down 0,69%. Resources fell 1,75% while the gold- and platinum-mining indices gave up 0,46% and 1,81% respectively.
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/ 19 November 2007
Netcare 911 responded to three separate drowning incidents in the Gauteng area on Sunday. Netcare 911 spokesperson Nick Dollman said the first incident took place in Danville, Pretoria, where a nine month-old baby nearly drowned at home early on Sunday morning.
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/ 19 November 2007
Netcare, Africa’s largest private hospital group, increased full-year adjusted headline earnings per share by 27% to 61,8 cents and said on Monday it expected strong growth in its sector to continue. Netcare said total revenue from its South African and United Kingdom operations rose 66,8% to R18,61-billion for the year to end-September.
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/ 19 November 2007
For more than a decade, Molefi Selibo has been sent from pillar to post by the South African authorities in a futile quest to own a plot of land for his family. ”Land to us, it is a very key issue. There is a hunger for land in South Africa,” says Selibo as he looks out across the rolling green hills of Muldersdrift.
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/ 19 November 2007
The two-week strike by construction workers at Durban’s Moses Mabhida 2010 stadium may end on Monday, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said. NUM spokesperson Bonginkosi Mncwabe said an offer had been made by the building contractor, the Group Five/WBHO consortium.
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/ 19 November 2007
After a humbling defeat against the United States, Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will be taking a squad devoid of overseas-based players into Tuesday night’s friendly match at Durban’s King’s Park. It is a decision in contrast to that of the Canadians who have included 17 European-based players in their squad.
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/ 19 November 2007
The head of the Land Bank’s treasury, Makgale Gwangwa, has not been suspended from duty, the bank reiterated in a quarter-page advertisement on Monday. the Land Bank said it had become important to ”set the record straight” amid ongoing media speculation about the situation at the bank.
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/ 19 November 2007
South African fixed-line operator Telkom said on Monday first-half headline earnings per share fell 15,1% to 742,3 cents. Telkom said the reduction in earnings was due to a 4,8% decrease in operating profit to R7,313-billion rand, caused by a 13,8% increase in operating expenses and a 122,4% rise in finance charges.
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/ 19 November 2007
Finance ministers and central banks chiefs from the G20 grouping of largest economies meeting near Cape Town expressed ”deep concern” over the effect of climate change on global food prices and forecast a modest slowdown in global economic growth.
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/ 19 November 2007
South Africa is a leader in how human rights issues are dealt with at the United Nations, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday. The department was responding to a Sunday Times report that the country’s human rights reputation was ”in tatters” after a series of ”sell-out” votes.
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/ 19 November 2007
”We’re a Test team on the up” was the way Proteas captain Graeme Smith described South Africa’s innings and 59 run victory over New Zealand in the second Castle Lager Test on Sunday. South Africa bowled New Zealand out for 136 after tea on the third day, to clinch the match and the series with two days to spare.