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/ 26 October 2007

Minister: SA totally opposed to nuclear weapons

South Africa remained totally opposed to all weapons of mass destruction, Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Friday. The country had called for their total elimination in all international forums, she said. Suggestions that South Africa had made a U-turn on its nuclear stance were a ”figment of the imagination”.

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/ 26 October 2007

Cheer for the Hot Beans — or the SA Penguins

”Hot Beans” is one of the many names suggested by readers of a daily newspaper for Bafana Bafana after President Thabo Mbeki this week questioned the distinction of the national senior soccer team’s name. The Springboks’ recent Rugby World Cup victory inspired some fans to name the team after their coach, Jake White.

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/ 26 October 2007

Buthelezi slams KZN parliamentarians

The sitting of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZ) government in Vryheid earlier this week, which was aimed at ”taking parliament to the people”, was a scandal, said Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Friday. ”It is scandalous for parliamentarians to hold a glitzy imbizo [meeting] to tell the electorate what a fabulous job they are doing,” he said.

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/ 26 October 2007

ANC is making steady progress, says Mbeki

President Thabo Mbeki on Friday said the African National Congress (ANC) government was making steady progress in meeting the basic needs of poor people, despite attempts to discredit it by the ”left alternative”. Writing in the ANC’s weekly newsletter, he said the Community Survey 2007 showed there had been an improvement in meeting basic needs since 2001.

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/ 26 October 2007

AG: Discipline key to avoiding qualified audits

Simply enforcing financial operating disciplines will go a long way towards reducing the high number of qualified audit reports received last year by government departments, said Auditor General (AG) Terence Nombembe on Friday. He highlighted measures adopted by other countries that were successfully applying accrual accounting.

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/ 26 October 2007

Eskom: Load shedding could extend into next week

Load shedding could be extended to the weekend and Monday if electricity demand is not reduced and the supply situation not normalised, Eskom said on Friday afternoon. Eskom said initial investigations at the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric project indicated there was a supply problem on the Mozambican side because of poor weather conditions.

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/ 26 October 2007

China digs deeper into Africa with bank deal

China has served notice it is accelerating its investment drive in Africa towards full throttle with the planned ,6-billion cash purchase of a major stake in Standard Bank by Beijing’s biggest lender. China’s ICBC bank said on Thursday it is to buy 20% of Standard Bank, the biggest foreign acquisition by a Chinese commercial bank to date.

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/ 26 October 2007

Cosatu says there’s no ANC wish list

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has not compiled a ”wish list” of candidates for the national executive committee of the African National Congress (ANC). This follows the Mail and Guardian publishing a list on Friday that it said named the 57 people Cosatu wanted as ANC leaders.

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/ 26 October 2007

Rain doesn’t stop Bok parade

Thousands of people in Pretoria turned up in rainy weather on Friday for a parade to celebrate the Springboks’ victory in the Rugby World Cup a week ago. They were due in Johannesburg later in the day — and in Soweto on Saturday, after a public outcry over the initial cancellation of that leg of the victory tour.

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/ 26 October 2007

Manto criticises EU plan to attract health workers

A European Union scheme to attract health workers will hurt developing countries, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Friday. ”Many developing countries are already struggling with the migration of health workers. We cannot afford schemes that seek to cream the very limited health skills we still have in developing countries,” she said.

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/ 26 October 2007

Springboks to tour Soweto after outcry

South African rugby chiefs said on Friday that the Springboks would tour Soweto on their nationwide World Cup victory parade after an outcry over a decision to bypass the country’s biggest township. ”Tomorrow morning [Saturday] our team, the coach, the manager, the captain, early in the morning, are going to Soweto,” said SA Rugby president Oregan Hoskins.

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/ 26 October 2007

JSE extends gains as banks climb

Solid gains in bank stocks pushed the JSE further into the black at midday on Friday, while platinum stocks added some extra light. At noon on the JSE, the all-share index was 0,62% higher as banks collected 2,01% and financials added 1,08%. The platinum mining index added 1,24% and resources edged up 0,29%.

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/ 26 October 2007

Teenager dies in canoeing accident

A terrible tragedy has befallen the Soweto Canoe and Recreation Club barely one month after it was recognised nationally for its efforts to promote the sport among Soweto children. A 16-year-old paddler, Luzuko Sidzumo, this week drowned when his canoe capsized on the Orlando Dam, police said on Thursday.

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/ 26 October 2007

Eskom loses power from Cahora Bassa

Power failures hit parts of the country on Friday morning after ”unplanned” failures at Eskom. ”Eskom started implementing load shedding this morning [Friday] after losing electricity imports from the Cahora Bassa [hydroelectric project in Mozambique],” said the company.

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/ 26 October 2007

Durban shootings leave one dead, two hurt

One person has died and two others were seriously injured in separate shootings in Durban late on Thursday night. Spokesperson Superintendent Danelia Veldhuizen said detectives were investigating the possibility that two of the shootings — which took place in the Hillcrest area — could have been linked.

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/ 26 October 2007

Zille faces call to quit over spy row

The African National Congress (ANC) called on Thursday for the head of opposition leader Helen Zille over claims that taxpayers were made to foot the bill for an investigation into a political opponent. In its latest attempt to unseat Zille as Cape Town mayor, the ANC tabled a statement in Parliament urging her to resign.

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/ 26 October 2007

Eastern Cape leads in poor accounting

With Limpopo still to be accounted for, Eastern Cape provincial government departments are leading the field when it comes to poor accounting, according to figures released by the Auditor General on Friday. Eleven of the province’s 12 departments received qualified audit reports for the 2006/7 financial year, and three of the 11 got an ”adverse” rating.

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/ 26 October 2007

Load shedding under way in Tshwane

There will be power failures in Tshwane for two to three hours per area until Eskom has sorted out its problems, the municipality said on Friday. Spokesperson Console Tleane appealed to motorists to drive carefully because of bad weather and the fact that some traffic lights would be off.

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/ 25 October 2007

Mediator appointed for UJ fee talks

An independent mediator has been appointed to facilitate talks between students and management at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), its Student Representative Council (SRC) said on Thursday, The Department of Education had on Monday appointed mediator Onkgopotse Tabane, said SRC president Mhlobo Hoyi.

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/ 25 October 2007

Man arrested at US embassy may be scam victim

A man who may have been the victim of a money scam was arrested by police outside the United States embassy in Pretoria on Thursday. The man, who is in his early 40s and who was initially reported to have been planning an attack on the embassy, was praying and chanting across the street from the embassy when police were alerted.

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/ 25 October 2007

Two cows, one Fiat Uno and a case of overloading

In a bizarre case of overloading, two policemen in northern KwaZulu-Natal impounded a blue Fiat Uno on Thursday that was being used to transport two cows and two goats. Police spokesperson Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said two off-duty policemen were informed by residents of the Phelindaba area near Emanguzi that they had seen a man loading a cow into the small vehicle.