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/ 29 October 2007
Former spy boss Billy Masetlha said he found it amusing that the inspector general of intelligence kept asking for a report that had been sent to him several times, the Hatfield Community Court heard on Monday. Testifying under cross-examination, Masetlha said repeated requests from the inspector general for information ”took him aback”.
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/ 29 October 2007
The scourge of armed gangs who attacked and robbed innocent citizens in their own homes caused profound social demoralisation and impeded the transformation of society, a Pretoria High Court judge said on Monday. Judge John Murphy effectively sent a 55-year-old man to jail for 27 years for his role in torturing and robbing an elderly Laudium man and his son.
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/ 29 October 2007
A two-year-old boy abducted by his father in mountainous terrain around Beaufort West was found unharmed on Monday afternoon, Western Cape police said. ”The boy was found safe and sound between the hours of 3pm and 4pm today [Monday],” said Captain Malcolm Pojie.
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/ 29 October 2007
Cape Town mayor Helen Zille has asked the police to let her listen to tapes related to the city’s ”spy” affair. Her request, in a letter to provincial Commissioner Mzwandile Petros on Monday, comes after police played some of the tapes to journalists. She said in a statement that Petros had also ”presented” the tapes to Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool.
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/ 29 October 2007
Three ATMs were bombed while another ATM bomb was deactivated in Vanderbijlpark on Monday, Vaal Rand police said. ”The first blast took place in Shakespeare at about 1am and another, at about 3.10am, [took place] at a Shell filling station in Evaton,” said spokesperson Captain William Mcera.
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/ 29 October 2007
One of South Africa’s most wanted criminals was caught on Monday after Gauteng police received information from the public about his whereabouts. Police spokesperson Inspector Richard Munyai said Mkhonto Mandla Cele (27) was one of the most wanted and dangerous criminals in Jeppestown and KwaZulu-Natal.
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/ 29 October 2007
Senior African National Congress (ANC) member Kader Asmal on Monday called on hundreds of the ruling party’s influential branches to back business tycoon Cyril Ramaphosa as the next president of the ruling party and the country. Ramaphosa has said he has no interest in becoming South Africa’s next president.
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/ 29 October 2007
The trial of a man accused of manufacturing and exporting components that may be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons was postponed in the Pretoria High Court on Monday, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported. Daniel Geiges’s trial was postponed to November 27.
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/ 29 October 2007
Groutville, the party branch founded by former African National Congress (ANC) president Albert Luthuli, has nominated Thabo Mbeki for ANC president, the Daily News reported on Monday. Arch-rival Jacob Zuma did not even make the branch’s list of its top six preferred candidates.
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/ 29 October 2007
Former president Nelson Mandela was at the Ellis Park stadium on Monday to greet the South African artists who had agreed to perform in his fifth 46664 concert aimed at fighting HIV/Aids. Johnny Clegg, Arno Carstens, Loyiso and the Soweto Gospel Choir are just some of the local stars scheduled to appear at the 46664 concert later this year.
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/ 29 October 2007
Capetonians turned out in their tens of thousands on Monday to salute the victorious Springboks on the final leg of their national victory tour. There were scenes of near-hysteria as the Boks made their way through the city centre in an open-top bus. Businesses shut down, and young and old lined the streets, crammed on to balconies.
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/ 29 October 2007
Aviation is the key to boosting growth in South Africa’s tourism industry, says the Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk. A total of 27,6% of all tourists arrived in the country by air, he said in a speech prepared for delivery at his department’s sixth annual tourism conference.
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/ 29 October 2007
Former president Nelson Mandela was at the Ellis Park stadium on Monday to greet the South African artists who had agreed to perform in his fifth 46664 concert aimed at fighting HIV/Aids. Johnny Clegg, Arno Carstens, Loyiso, the Parlotones, Prime Circle and the Soweto Gospel Choir are just some of the local stars scheduled to appear at the 46664 concert later this year.
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/ 29 October 2007
A KwaZulu-Natal woman accused of stealing a placenta pleaded guilty to the crime at the Durban Regional Court on Monday. Hloniphile Sokhela was charged with theft and contravening the Human Tissue Act. The mother of two stole a placenta from a storage room at Parklands Hospital on October 6.
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/ 29 October 2007
Concrete moves are needed to address conflict in the Johannesburg taxi industry ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, following the shooting of a passenger and a driver on the West Rand, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. Proper enforcement of laws and a body ”with teeth” would contribute to passenger safety, said Barnes.
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/ 29 October 2007
Growth in demand for credit from South Africa’s private sector slowed in September, but remained above forecasts, keeping up pressure for higher interest rates. Credit growth eased to 22,46% year-on-year from an upwardly revised 23,16% in August, while money supply growth also eased to 24,94%.
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/ 29 October 2007
Five men who were arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a Lansdowne man last week were expected to appear in court on Monday. The men — between the ages of 20 and 40 — were arrested last Thursday following an investigation into the death and kidnapping of a 21-year-old man.
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/ 29 October 2007
As gold and platinum prices climbed on a weaker dollar, the JSE’s gold mining index and resources continued to lift the all-share index on Monday. By noon, the JSE’s all-share index was up 1,25% as the gold mining index progressed 2,1%. Resources rose 1,93% and the platinum mining index picked up 1,86%.
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/ 29 October 2007
Cyril Ramaphosa has been formally nominated to lead the African National Congress, media reports said on Monday — though the businessman has maintained he is not interested in the position. The ANC’s Rondebosch branch in Cape Town has nominated Ramaphosa as its candidate in the party’s succession race.
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/ 29 October 2007
The cellphone industry plans to invest more than $50-billion in sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years to provide more than 90% of the population with coverage, the GSM Association announced on Monday. The investment will be used to extend the reach of GSM mobile networks and to provide a rich suite of mobile multimedia services, including internet access.
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/ 29 October 2007
A search has been launched for a two-year-old boy who was kidnapped by his father, Western Cape police said on Sunday. Police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie said the mother, Lea Muller, from Beaufort West was also kidnapped on Friday but managed to escape.
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/ 28 October 2007
A superb strike by Siphiwe Tshabalala earned Kaizer Chiefs a semifinal berth in the Telkom Knockout Cup when they beat SuperSport United 1-0 at the Loftus Stadium on Sunday. Ironically, SuperSport had the better chances to win the game but bad finishing and the crossbar denied the hosts victory.
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/ 28 October 2007
The tripartite alliance will not survive if Thabo Mbeki is re-elected president of the African National Congress in December, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Sunday. ”A status quo will see the destruction of the alliance itself,” he told what was in essence a Jacob Zuma election rally in Kimberley.
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/ 28 October 2007
A 45-year-old skydiver was killed in Carletonville on Sunday when a landing manoeuvre went wrong, the Johannesburg Skydiving Club said. Spokesperson Mark Bellingan said Eric Stephenson died of multiple trauma injuries at the club. Stephenson started skydiving more than 22 years ago and had completed more than 5 300 skydives.
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/ 28 October 2007
An official of the Vietnamese embassy to South Africa was shot and seriously injured in a robbery at his Pretoria residence at the weekend, police said on Sunday. The man, believed to be in his late forties, was shot in the stomach in a scuffle with one of five intruders who surprised the official, his wife and two children at home on Saturday evening.
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/ 28 October 2007
Thousands of fans of South Africa’s internationally acclaimed reggae star Lucky Dube paid their final respects at a funeral service on Sunday as they mourned his murder. The service in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal was attended by Rastafarians and other fans from as far afield as Rwanda, Liberia and the United States.
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/ 28 October 2007
Thousands of people turned out to see the Rugby World Cup champions hold their victorious ticker-tape parade in Durban on Sunday morning. Bok jerseys, South African flags and banners proclaiming the Boks’ World Cup triumph were seen along the entire route.
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/ 28 October 2007
An enterprising and attack-minded Free State Stars gobbled up Jomo Cosmos’ cup hopes at a rain-soaked Goble Stadium in Bethlehem on Saturday afternoon and qualified for the semifinals of the Telkom Knockout competition with a deserved 1-0 victory.
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/ 28 October 2007
As South Africa’s economic growth slows and inflation heats up, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel will present a medium-term budget on Tuesday with decidedly less to smile about than six months ago. While analysts expect Manuel to be more cautious in his revenue predictions, they believe past prudence has left him with enough room for manoeuvre.
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/ 27 October 2007
Three yellow cards, two of them on the advice of the touch judges, played a huge part in the Absa Currie Cup final played at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein on Saturday, which saw the Free State Cheetahs beat the Lions 20-18. The Cheetahs, with the victory, retained their hold on the Currie Cup that they had shared with the Blue Bulls in the 2006 final.
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/ 27 October 2007
Fast bowler Shane Bond led New Zealand to victory by 216 runs against a South African Invitation XI in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Bond took 3-26 as the home side, who were set 308 for victory, crashed to 91 all out in the eighth over before the scheduled close on the third day of the four-day match.
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/ 27 October 2007
Unemployed and casual workers were better off under apartheid than now, said Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Saturday. He said inequality had widened in the past 13 years with a minority of capitalists and bureaucrats getting richer.