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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.
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/ 7 November 2007
Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has called for common sense to prevail in the quest to build a winning team for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Brazilian named two squads for games against the United States and Canada — but due to the Premier Soccer League schedule, the local players he selected will arrive late for training.
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/ 7 November 2007
Police torture and brutality are rife and High Court orders are openly disregarded in Zimbabwe, pointing to a ”grave constitutional crisis”, according to a report released on Wednesday. The most worrying aspect is open attacks on members of the legal profession, said advocate Andrea Gabriel.
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/ 7 November 2007
Construction on the Moses Mabhida Soccer World Cup stadium in Durban is on track and its delivery is not in jeopardy, the Group Five-WBHO Consortium said on Wednesday, hours after thousands of workers downed tools. A union negotiator said no agreement had been reached after 11 hours of talks with management.
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/ 7 November 2007
More than 40 cases of diarrhoea were reported in the Nkangala area in Delmas, Mpumalanga, on Wednesday, the provincial health department said. ”We had 44 more patients treated today [Wednesday]. That brings the number to 469 since the outbreak [two weeks ago],” said departmental spokesperson Mpho Gabashane.
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/ 7 November 2007
Hawkers, often the breadwinners of their families, should not be marginalised in the run-up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, a colloquium on the international soccer spectacle heard in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Stadiums under construction are often far from amenities and hawkers are providing much-needed services to construction workers.
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/ 7 November 2007
The commission set to investigate the disappearance of R500 000 donated to the South African Communist Party has not interviewed South African Democratic Teachers’ Union president Willie Madisha or his witness, Madisha told the union’s general council on Wednesday.
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/ 7 November 2007
The defence in Judge Nkola Motata’s case objected on Wednesday to the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court viewing recordings of Motata’s alleged drunken rantings after a car accident. A trial within a trial began to determine the authenticity, originality and admissibility of five video recordings.
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/ 7 November 2007
A delay in the government’s support for the establishment of the South African biofuels industry has hampered growth and delayed investments, business research group Frost and Sullivan said on Wednesday. A new analysis by the company found that South African biofuels markets could earn revenues of -million in 2010.
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/ 7 November 2007
The death toll has dropped to 12 in the devastating fire that gutted a Nkandla old-age home in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday night, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday. Earlier reports said that 15 people had died. Radio news reported that a cigarette may have caused the fire.
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/ 7 November 2007
South Africa have omitted leading wicket-taker Shaun Pollock from their starting XI for the first Test against New Zealand starting in Johannesburg on Thursday. The absence of Pollock, who also averages 32,31 with the bat, leaves South Africa with a telling lack of batting depth.
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/ 7 November 2007
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) in the Moses Kotane municipality in the North West Province said it was shocked to learn that the mayor intends to use public money to hire a personal chef. The union said it had tabled a demand that the position be cancelled.
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/ 7 November 2007
More than 1 000 labourers on Wednesday walked off the job at a South African soccer stadium work site, the latest in a string of disputes disrupting the nation’s preparations to host the Soccer World Cup in 2010. The National Union of Mineworkers said its workers had downed their tools to press demands for bonuses and improved safety conditions.
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/ 7 November 2007
People who open false cases and are convicted of the crime will pay police back for investigating the case, Durban central police station Commissioner Bala Naidoo said on Wednesday. ”If they don’t pay my money back, I will go back and arrest them,” said Naidoo at a press briefing in Durban.
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/ 7 November 2007
The JSE, ranked among the top 20 exchanges worldwide in terms of market capitalisation, will celebrate its 120th birthday on Thursday, it said in a statement on Wednesday. ”Today [Wednesday], the JSE’s total market capitalisation is over R6-trillion with approximately 400 companies listed,” said Russell Loubser, CEO of the JSE.
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/ 7 November 2007
Three new signings at fullback and the return of Springboks Chiliboy Ralepelle and Pierre Spies after a layoff are the outstanding features of the Bulls’ Super 14 training squad that was announced on Wednesday. The Bulls have also named six locks in their search to fill the huge boots of this year’s captain, Victor Matfield.
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/ 7 November 2007
South African investment firm Mvelaphanda Group (Mvela) said on Wednesday that it was in talks that may affect its share price if successfully concluded, sending its stock price higher. Mvela said the cautionary was not related to the deal in which the firm said it had agreed with fund management group Allan Gray to buy up to 30% of Johnnic Communications’ media unit.
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/ 7 November 2007
After bouncing back to 98,7 in October, the SACCI Business Confidence Index (BCI) dipped to 96,9 in October, which is its lowest level since June 2004. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that businesses were becoming concerned about international economic developments as well as local adjustments.
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/ 7 November 2007
Members of Parliament on Wednesday heard a plea from the troubled state airline, South African Airways (SAA), for an injection of R744,4-million to pay for one-off labour restructuring costs. The cash, they were told, is needed before the last day of November.
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/ 7 November 2007
Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile ruled out racial quotas for national teams on Tuesday after the mainly white Springboks’ recent victory in the Rugby World Cup reignited the debate over transformation. ”Quotas are out,” Stofile told a parliamentary sports committee. ”Let us put our resources into the development of talent.”
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/ 7 November 2007
The JSE was a touch higher at midday on Wednesday, lifted by miners on soaring metal prices, but weaker overseas markets and the stronger rand dampened the overall mood. At noon, the all-share index was up just 0,12% higher, thanks to a 2,31% and 1,70% gains by the gold and platinum mining indices.
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/ 7 November 2007
South Africa plans to extend its crackdown on mine safety and may prosecute mine managers if fatal accidents are caused by negligence. ”I don’t think the mine managers are doing enough to ensure the safety of workers,” said Sandile Nogxina, director general of the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs.
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/ 7 November 2007
The trial within a trial to decide on the admissibility of certain evidence in the drunk-driving case of Pretoria High Court judge Nkola Motata begins on Wednesday. Last month magistrate Desmond Nair ruled that the authenticity of the recordings needed to be determined before they could be used by the prosecution.
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/ 7 November 2007
An injury report from Moroka Swallows’ medical staff 24 hours before the crunch Premier League game against Kaizer Chiefs at King’s Park on Wednesday night conjured up a picture of the wounded limping back in pain from the Crimean War. Five Swallows players who ostensibly would be first-choice selections for the Sowetan ”Derby-by-the-Sea” are unavailable.
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/ 7 November 2007
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Tuesday he was committed to the north-south peace deal that ended Africa’s longest civil war and there would be no return to hostilities after a crisis threatened the pact. ”I would like to assure you there will be no return to war whatsoever,” he said at a state banquet with South African President Thabo Mbeki.
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/ 6 November 2007
A 21-year-old man was handed a life sentence by the Grahamstown High Court on Tuesday for raping and killing his sister-in-law. Judge Nambitha Dambuza, who sat with two assessors, also sentenced Themba Ngxokongxa, of Siviwe, Komga, to 20 years for rape and 15 for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
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/ 6 November 2007
Sudan has asked South Africa to mediate on Darfur, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Tuesday as attempts to end a conflict that has killed more than 200 000 and forced 2,5-million from their homes appeared to founder. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir met President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday.
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/ 6 November 2007
Premier Soccer League (PSL) board members deserve to be rewarded with millions of rands for their role in securing the controversial Absa soccer sponsorship deal, MPs heard on Tuesday. ”They have done the best for football … and have acted in the best interest of the PSL,” league chairperson Irvin Khoza said.
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/ 6 November 2007
African National Congress (ANC) chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota has rejected allegations by Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille that the ANC and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund benefited inappropriately from the arms deal. De Lille on Tuesday said such allegations had been speculation up until now.
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/ 6 November 2007
South African medical authorities need to start thinking about tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/Aids as a single epidemic, rather than treating them separately, a TB expert said on Tuesday at a media briefing ahead of a major international conference on lung health, which begins in Cape Town on Thursday.
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/ 6 November 2007
An application for the mayor of the Lekwa municipality to repair a Great Trek memorial that had allegedly been damaged by the municipality was postponed in the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday. The hearing, due to start on Tuesday, was set down to begin on May 22 and 23 next year.
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/ 6 November 2007
Inequality in South Africa has increased since 1996, the South African Institute of Race Relations said on Tuesday. Figures from the institute’s latest South Africa Survey indicate that the country’s inequality has increased in all the country’s race groups with the exception of whites.