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/ 30 October 2007
Two South African adventurers will be the first team to walk unsupported and unassisted to the South Pole, and one will be the first black person to accomplish this. Speaking at the Extreme Lifestyle Centre in Fourways, Johannesburg, on Tuesday, Alex Harris and Sibusiso Vilane said no one will be putting out food or rigging up tents for them.
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/ 30 October 2007
South Africa will spend an estimated R81,4-billion over the next three years to ease poverty and unemployment and deliver improved services, said the Treasury on Tuesday. The Treasury said in its Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement that education and health programmes will be a priority.
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/ 30 October 2007
South Africa will record a budget surplus for the next three years due to higher-than-expected tax revenues and would invest more to boost infrastructure, the National Treasury said on Tuesday. In its Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, the Treasury said robust economic growth over the past five years had provided for a more expansionary fiscal stance.
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/ 30 October 2007
Conjoined twin Mpho Mathibela was glad to meet former president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on Tuesday. Mpho is the surviving twin of the famous Mathibela conjoined twins, Mpho and Mphonyana. They hit headlines when they were born joined at the head at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on December 7 1986.
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/ 30 October 2007
At least 500 people packed a 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.
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/ 30 October 2007
A 37-year-old man has been arrested for arson after a family of four burned to death in Khayelitsha on Tuesday, Western Cape police said. Spokesperson Constable Siphokazi Mawisa said the house at Hempe Street in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, burned down at midnight.
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/ 30 October 2007
South African investment firm Mvelaphanda has reached agreement with fund management group Allan Gray to buy up to 30% of Johnnic Communications’ media unit, it said on Tuesday. Mvelaphanda said it will buy a minumum of 25,1% and a maximum of 30% of Johncom’s media business, provisionally named Opco.
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/ 30 October 2007
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The perception of a conspiracy against former deputy president Jacob Zuma has had an impact on the African National Congress (ANC) and suggests a convergence of political and legal interests, senior political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi of the Centre of Political Studies said on Tuesday.
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/ 30 October 2007
Teachers and school staff are the responsibility of their employers, and parents are responsible for getting their children to school safely, the KwaZulu-Natal Parents’ Association (KZNPA) said on Tuesday. KZNPA chairperson Sayed Rajack said schools have become the easiest targets for criminals.
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/ 30 October 2007
The Ministry of Land Affairs would not give reasons for the termination of the contract of Director General (DG) Glen Thomas until the minister returned from a trip to Namibia, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. Godfrey Mdhluli said: ”The minister and the DG made an agreement that the DG’s contract be terminated [on Monday].”
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/ 30 October 2007
The four men accused of the murder of reggae star Lucky Dube had their case postponed in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. The case has been postponed until November 30. The men, Sifiso Mlanga, Julius Gxowa, Thabo Mafoping and Mbofi Mabe, face charges of murder, attempted hijacking and the possession of an unlicensed firearm.
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/ 30 October 2007
The JSE rose modestly at noon on Tuesday as investors became more optimistic that the United States Federal Reserve would cut interest rates, which would bolster Wall Street. Investors cheered the news that Tokyo Sexwale’s Mevelaphanda group plans to buy up to 30% of Johncom’s to-be-formed Opco.
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/ 30 October 2007
Africa’s biggest cement maker PPC on Tuesday posted a 16% rise in full-year headline earnings per share and forecast a healthy performance this fiscal year, as demand for building materials booms. PPC reported headline EPS of 263 cents and a 19% rise in revenue to R5,6-billion.
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/ 30 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. ”Jaylin Muller was found safe and sound between the hours of 3pm and 4pm today [Monday],” said Captain Malcolm Pojie.
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/ 30 October 2007
South Africa’s World Cup-winning coach Jake White looks set to end his stint in charge of the Springboks after declining to re-apply for his job. The South African Rugby Union (Saru) said on Monday a four-man shortlist for the position of Springbok coach did not include him.
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/ 30 October 2007
A Durban teacher was stabbed and robbed of her vehicle by five men on Monday, police said on Tuesday. Police spokesperson Superintendent Daniela Veldhuizen said the teacher was leaving Mariann Park Primary School in Mariannhill when the incident took place.
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/ 30 October 2007
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Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi’s statement that President Thabo Mbeki’s re-election to the African National Congress (ANC) presidency would divide the tripartite alliance was unfounded and divisive, the ANC said on Monday.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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%.