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/ 31 October 2007
A toy gun was used in a six-hour hostage drama in Lenasia on Wednesday, police said. ”The gun that was used looked very real,” said police spokesperson Captain Julia Klaassen. ”Negotiators did their job well. We are just thankful and relieved that the situation is now over.” The hostages’ ordeal occurred when a 20-year-old Durban man held up the family of four at their home.
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/ 31 October 2007
KwaZulu-Natal opposition parties on Wednesday accused the ruling African National Congress of ignoring the wishes of the residents of Matatiele and forging ahead with the district’s incorporation into the Eastern Cape. The Democratic Alliance (DA) accused the ANC of ”totally ignoring the wishes of the people of Matatiele Maluti”.
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/ 31 October 2007
Publication of the fact that a person is a client of a specific bank does not infringe privacy rights, according to Cape Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso. She made the finding in a written judgement, handed down this week, on a bid by FirstRand to prevent magazine noseweek publishing the names of clients involved in an allegedly dodgy tax scheme.
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/ 31 October 2007
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Businessman Cyril Ramaphosa refused to be drawn on his nomination as African National Congress president on Wednesday night at the launch of a fund-raising campaign for the University of Venda. He was hounded for an answer from the minute he set foot through the door of Gallagher Estate, in Midrand.
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/ 31 October 2007
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund announced on Wednesday it would not participate in this year’s Nelson Mandela Invitational Golf Tournament. ”As a result of our withdrawal the tournament can no longer be called the Nelson Mandela Invitational and should not be marketed as such in any form whatsoever,” the fund said in a statement.
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/ 31 October 2007
The restructuring of the police service was causing a drop in morale, South African Police Union spokesperson Barries Machakela told a seminar in Pretoria on Wednesday. ”We support restructuring, but the way it is done is not proper. Morale is low, members are disillusioned,” he said.
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/ 31 October 2007
South Africa recorded a trade deficit of R4,3-billion in September, compared to August’s R9,1-billion shortfall, the South African Revenue Service said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters last week had forecast a deficit of R6,4-billion, but the number is notoriously volatile and hard to predict.
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/ 31 October 2007
A bitter Jake White announced on Wednesday that he is to quit as coach of South Africa’s World Cup-winning rugby team, accusing Springbok bosses of bouncing him out of the job. White, who has been linked to coaching positions with rival national sides, said he would take the team to Britain next month for matches against Wales the Barbarians.
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/ 31 October 2007
Departure and arrival halls at Lanseria Airport outside Johannesburg are being upgraded to cater for increased passenger volumes and security requirements for scheduled operations as the airport expands to help relieve the pressure at OR Tambo International Airport.
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/ 31 October 2007
A 20-year-old Durban man who held a Lenasia South family hostage for nearly six hours on Wednesday has given himself up. Donovan Naidoo had earlier released two of the hostages, 23-year-old Denise Bathman and her one-year-old son Jodash. He later released the other two hostages, 27-year-old Gerald Bathman and 16-year-old Praise Archary.
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/ 31 October 2007
The suspension of abalone fishing has been postponed to February 1 next year, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Wednesday. Instead of the ban coming into effect on Thursday, as originally planned, a substantially reduced total allowable catch of 75 tons would now be permitted during the interim.
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/ 31 October 2007
In South Africa, the rising phenomenon of sex tourism is often overlooked.
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/ 31 October 2007
Mpumalanga-based Sipho Ngomane aims to stamp his authority at the Nedbank Soweto Marathon on Sunday. After his Comrades Marathon victory two years ago, Ngomane seemed to fade owing to a spate of injuries. He finished eighth in his attempt to defend his down-run title earlier this year.
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/ 31 October 2007
Call it an amazing coincidence or something worth a disbelieving mention in Ripley’s Believe it or Not. But with Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs kept apart and drawn to play Free State Stars and Bloemfontein Celtic in Telkom Knockout semifinals in 10 days, finding the match-ups reversed in league games on Wednesday is undoubtedly a mathematical phenomenon.
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/ 31 October 2007
Crime and violence are a way of life in South Africa and, according to David Bruce of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, respect for justice and the law needs to be fostered. Bruce was speaking at a seminar on <i>The State of Criminal Justice: Building Respect for Justice and Human Rights</i> in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
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/ 31 October 2007
Gold Fields announced on Wednesday that two employees lost their lives in the morning in an underground accident at the number four shaft of Kloof Gold Mine, near Westonaria. Two other mine employees were injured, one seriously. The four were part of a 10-man team working in a stope on 41 level, approximately 3Â 000m below surface.
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/ 31 October 2007
A tired but elated Proteas cricket team flew into OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday night carrying two silver trophies from their tour of Pakistan. The South Africans won the Test series one-nil, and secured a three-two victory in the one-day international series with a thrilling win in Lahore on Monday.
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/ 31 October 2007
Broad-based price increases in South Africa’s economy showed there was a problem that needed to be ”handled”, Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Tuesday. Speaking in Johannesburg, he also warned that, in general, faster inflation meant tighter monetary policy.
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/ 31 October 2007
A 42-year-old Mpumalanga man has developed breasts after he was enrolled in the government’s antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programme, a media report said on Wednesday. The resident of Standerton’s Sakhile township said doctors and nurses at Standerton’s TB hospital had refused to listen to him.
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/ 31 October 2007
The JSE was lower at noon on Wednesday on pockets of profit taking amid caution ahead of the United States interest rate decision later in the day. At noon, the all-share index was off 0,49%. Resources fell 0,96%, the platinum mining index gave up 0,11% but the gold mining index was up 1,70%.
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/ 31 October 2007
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has set aside R70-million with which to pay members as a ”token of gratitude” for their part in securing rights and sponsorship deals. The amount would be ”apportioned to the members of the negotiating team and other role players” and would be a one-off payment.
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/ 31 October 2007
The Congress of South African Trade Unions said on Tuesday it would approach the Cape High Court on Wednesday for an interdict to stop the government from implementing an abalone fishing ban that would impact on poor fishing communities.
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/ 30 October 2007
Former spy boss Billy Masetlha on Tuesday told the Hatfield Community Court how he went though a period of humiliation and victimisation while trying to get access to the premises of the National Intelligence Agency in order to get the information needed by the inspector general of intelligence.
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/ 30 October 2007
A Leopard can, after all, change its spots. The Leopards rugby side, which competes in the Absa Currie Cup first division, will forthwith be known as the Platinum Leopards. They became the first black-owned rugby franchise in South Africa when Royal Bafokeng Sports Holdings on Tuesday announced a groundbreaking sponsorship agreement.
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/ 30 October 2007
A patient was shot and a guard stabbed when patients unhappy with their medication tried to flee the Sizwe Hospital in Edenvale on Tuesday, Johannesburg police said. Spokesperson Captain Piet Mnyageni said the incident occurred at about 6.30am when patients attempted to leave the hospital premises.
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/ 30 October 2007
A senior Cape Town advocate, Geoff Budlender, is to head the inquiry into the City of Cape Town’s ”spy” affair. The appointment was announced on Tuesday afternoon by mayor Helen Zille, who said she was taking out full-page advertisements in three local newspapers to explain her position on the matter.
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/ 30 October 2007
He loved women, which is why he paid such a lot of them for sex, alleged Olievenhoutbosch serial killer Richard Jabulani Nyauza told the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday. Nyauza said he had sex with a multitude of women but did not know anything about the serial killings in which 16 women died in 2002 and 2006.
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/ 30 October 2007
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s 2007 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement has received a cautious thumbs-up from some opposition parties. Tabling the budget in the National Assembly on Tuesday, he announced that almost R81,5-billion was to be added to the government’s projected spending over the next three years, bringing spending growth to 6,4% a year in real terms.
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/ 30 October 2007
There seems to be little sympathy at SA Rugby for World Cup-winning Springbok coach Jake White’s unhappiness that he was not considered for the shortlist of four from which the next Springbok coach will be appointed. White, in Tuesday’s press conference, pointed out he had a clause in his contract that states he has the right to negotiate an extension of his contract.
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/ 30 October 2007
Survivors of apartheid-era crimes should be involved in investigating those abuses, a non-governmental body proposed on Tuesday. ”Survivors should be treated as a resource for information, and this will play a part in their healing process,” Theresa Edlmann of the Spirals Trust said in Johannesburg.
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/ 30 October 2007
The Nkangala area of Delmas has been hit by an outbreak of diarrhoea, the provincial health department in Mpumalanga said on Tuesday. ”Under normal circumstances 10 cases of diarrhoea are reported in a week, but we treated 47 people last week and 26 yesterday [Monday],” said spokesperson Mpho Gabashane.
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/ 30 October 2007
More than 3Â 000 people packed the local soccer stadium in Matatiele as the second day of public hearings on the region’s controversial incorporation into the Eastern Cape started on Tuesday. Matatiele was incorporated into the Eastern Cape on February 28, hours before voting started in the local government election of 2006.