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/ 8 November 2007
Cold, rainy conditions are expected to lessen the number of firework injuries on animals and people during Diwali this year, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said on Thursday. ”It seems the weather is not conducive for setting off fireworks,” said the SPCA’s spokesperson for Pietermaritzburg, Maureen Vida.
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/ 8 November 2007
A 14-year-old boy was recovering in hospital on Thursday after he was attacked by a shark in Strand, Cape Town, the National Sea Rescue Institute said. Spokesperson Craig Lambinon said Andrew Smith — who lives in the area — was surfing at about 5.30pm on Wednesday when he felt something pulling him by the legs.
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/ 8 November 2007
Global economic power relations, the commodity cycle and food prices are some of the issues to be discussed at next week’s Group of 20 (G20) meeting in South Africa. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said the meeting is ”probably the most significant gathering of economic policymakers we’ve ever had in South Africa”.
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/ 8 November 2007
The drunken-driving case of Judge Nkola Motata was on Thursday postponed to allow magistrate Desmond Nair to rule on whether the defence could submit a request for a high court review of one of his rulings. The ruling allowed the court to listen to recordings of Motata’s alleged drunken diatribes following a car accident earlier this year.
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/ 8 November 2007
Like the Mona Lisa, she has a strange allure; the almost sad eyes looking at you across 2,15-million years. A lifelike bust shows what one of South Africa’s most famous fossils, Mrs Ples, probably looked like. The bust, reconstructed by French artist Elisabeth Daynes, goes on display for the first time in Pretoria from Friday.
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/ 8 November 2007
The Cabinet has approved 85% of government spending on a number of products and services procured from small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). This measure is intended to grow SMMEs and increase demand for goods and services from the sector, government communications head Themba Maseko said on Thursday.
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/ 8 November 2007
More than R500 000-worth of damage was caused to underground electricity cables when two men hacked into a live cable in an alleged attempt to steal the copper cable in Kensington, Cape Town, the chairperson of the metal-theft task team said on Thursday.
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/ 8 November 2007
South African investment group Mvelaphanda Group will buy 12,3% of telecommunications firm Vox Telecom for R292,3-million in cash. Mvelaphanda said that Vox Telecom — which provides voice and data services — is ideally placed to benefit from the development of the South African telecoms industry.
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/ 8 November 2007
Papermaker Sappi on Thursday posted full-year basic earnings per share of 89 United States cents after a loss in the previous comparable period, citing improved margins and higher prices for its products. For the fourth quarter to end in September, the world’s largest producer of fine paper posted a basic EPS of 27 US cents.
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/ 8 November 2007
Attorneys for the Group Five-WBHO Consortium on Thursday said they were seeking a high court interdict that would prevent striking construction workers from entering the site where the Moses Mabhida 2010 Soccer World Cup Stadium is being built in Durban.
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/ 8 November 2007
A court ruling on Thursday could allow the revival of corruption charges against former deputy president Jacob Zuma. The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by prosecutors against a lower court ruling that prevented them from using documents seized from Zuma, who was accused of bribery and fraud in connection with the arms deal.
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/ 8 November 2007
African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma will approach the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal two of Thursday’s Supreme Court of Appeal judgements, said his lawyer. They would also ”observe with keen interest” whether the rulings emboldened the National Prosecuting Authority to again indict Zuma on any charges.
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/ 8 November 2007
Santos put on their best home performance and were held to a 1-1draw by defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns in an Absa Premier League soccer match at the Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night. The home side should have held at least a 3-0 lead at the interval. Instead, they went into the break with a 1-0 lead, thanks to a penalty by Erwin Isaacs.
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/ 8 November 2007
Springbok wing Bryan Habana was crowned the 2007 Absa South African rugby player of the year at the SA Rugby awards banquet in Sandton on Wednesday
night. The other nominees in this prestigious category were fellow Springboks Victor Matfield, Percy Montgomery, Fourie du Preez and Juan Smith.
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/ 8 November 2007
A man and a woman were arrested while off-loading perlemoen worth an estimated R2-million from a truck in Westonaria on Wednesday night. Captain Joseph Magoai said police on patrol saw a man off-loading the perlemoen on to a bakkie that was pulled up next to a fruit truck.
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/ 8 November 2007
The City of Johannesburg will introduce new property rates by July next year, mayor Amos Masondo said on Thursday. Announcing the rates, Masondo said they would take into account the land and improvement or the current value of a property.
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/ 8 November 2007
The Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu) interest in the African National Congress’s (ANC) national conference is influenced by the will to retain an ANC bias towards the workers of the country. This is according to Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi, who was speaking at the general council of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union.
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/ 8 November 2007
Moroka Swallows walked off the pitch after the Premier League game against Kaizer Chiefs at King’s Park in Durban on Wednesday night with nine men and looking as groggy as a boxer who had come within a whisker of being knocked out in the last round.
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/ 8 November 2007
A majority of the countries who undertook to assist Sudan financially in implementing the African country’s peace agreement have not fulfilled their pledges, President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday. He said his government would do everything in its power to ensure that countries fulfilled their pledges.
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/ 8 November 2007
Lucky Lekgwathi scored a controversial goal three minutes before the end of a drab Absa Premier League match to give Orlando Pirates a 1-0 victory against Jomo Cosmos at Loftus on Wednesday. The defender looked offside as Excellent Walaza slipped the ball to him in the big box.
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/ 7 November 2007
The war to halt perlemoen (abalone) poaching has pitched R180-a-kilogram divers on the one side against R4 000-a-month marine inspectors on the other, MPs heard on Wednesday during a briefing to members of Parliament’s environmental affairs portfolio committee.
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/ 7 November 2007
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund is ”unaware” of having received any money from German arms manufacturer Thyssen-Krupp during the arms deal. Speaking in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Patricia de Lille said the African National Congress and the children’s fund benefited inappropriately from the arms deal.
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/ 7 November 2007
Locked security gates and the immobility of some residents as well as a suspected electrical fault all possibly contributed to the 12 deaths in a blaze on Tuesday night at one wing of a KwaZulu-Natal old-age home. One of those who managed to escape from the home is believed to be a 99-year-old woman.
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/ 7 November 2007
Soft-drink giant Coca-Cola, broadcaster SuperSport and the Octagon group of companies have withdrawn from the annual Nelson Mandela Invitational golf tournament. The three companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday they believed their continued participation in the tournament would be ”inappropriate”.
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/ 7 November 2007
Almost 6 000 people marched in the Johannesburg city centre on Wednesday, protesting against police murders in Gauteng. The march was organised by the Gauteng Provincial Community Policing Forum in partnership with police and Liquor Traders against Crime.
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/ 7 November 2007
Africa’s efforts to derive greater benefits from its mineral wealth were boosted on Wednesday with the launch of South Africa’s first black-owned diamond-cutting and -polishing facility. Southern Africa accounts for more than 40% of the world’s diamond output with Botswana being the world’s largest producer of the gem.
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/ 7 November 2007
A Nationwide Boeing 737 had to make an emergency landing at Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday afternoon when an engine fell off during take-off. The plane, which had been bound for Johannesburg, landed safely after airport fire and rescue services hurriedly cleared the debris from the runway. There were 106 passengers on board.
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/ 7 November 2007
A forensic audit report into the financial management of the Land Bank is to be referred to the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions for ”further investigation”, the Land Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday. This was among recommendations made by the Cabinet after consideration of the report, it said in a statement.
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/ 7 November 2007
Audio recordings of Pretoria High Court Judge Nkola Motata’s alleged drunken ranting following a car accident earlier this year will be heard in court in a bid to determine if they are reliable enough to be submitted as evidence, the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court ruled on Wednesday.
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/ 7 November 2007
There is a need for more reporting on developmental issues regarding the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Wits University’s investigative journalism coordinator Birgit Schwartz said on Wednesday. The topics currently being covered are predictable and journalists need to start looking at topics that editors don’t like.
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/ 7 November 2007
Suleiman Petersen, teenage stepson of slain musician Taliep Petersen, had to take over responsibility for the Petersen household after police arrested his mother, Najwa, for Taliep’s murder. This was disclosed in a letter handed to the Wynberg Regional Court on Wednesday during Najwa Petersen’s second bail application.
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/ 7 November 2007
Three men were arrested in Johannesburg on Wednesday in connection with an attempted armed robbery. ”The suspects were arrested in Braamfontein and they fit the description of the suspects that were spotted at Pick ‘n Pay in Jorissen Street while fleeing from the police,” said Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini.