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/ 11 October 2007
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The Scorpions’ investigations into African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma are calculated to undermine any leadership role he holds or is called to hold in the ANC, his lawyer said on Thursday. Michael Hulley said a recent meeting convened by the Scorpions was a matter of ”grave concern”.
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/ 11 October 2007
Najwa Petersen says she was framed for the murder of her husband, internationally renowned entertainer Taliep Petersen. She made the claim in an affidavit handed in to Cape Town’s Wynberg Regional Court on Thursday as part of her second bail application, launched on the basis of what her legal team says are ”at least” ten new factors.
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/ 11 October 2007
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President Thabo Mbeki’s chances of staying on as leader of South Africa’s ruling party improved on Thursday when the party said the biggest share of regional votes in a leadership contest would go to his stronghold. Mbeki, barred from seeking re-election as national president in 2009, has signalled he intends to stand for a third term as African National Congress (ANC) leader.
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/ 11 October 2007
More than 200-million litres of raw sewage have spilled into three rivers in Gauteng, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported on Thursday. The Apies, Hennops and Pienaars rivers were all affected. The broadcaster reported that the spillage had been caused by power failures at sewerage works.
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/ 11 October 2007
The international scientific community is trying to inject new urgency and unity into the elusive hunt for an HIV/Aids vaccine, just weeks after trials with the most promising candidate to date were halted. At a conference in Cape Town, Alan Bernstein was named on Thursday as the first executive director of the Global HIV-Vaccine Enterprise, an alliance of researchers and funders.
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/ 11 October 2007
South Africa and Namibia’s presidents has given the go-ahead to see if a hydro-electrical power station can be build in the Orange River between the two countries. President Thabo Mbeki hosted his Namibian counterpart, Hifikepunye Pohamba, for a bilateral economic meeting at the presidential guest house in Pretoria on Thursday.
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/ 11 October 2007
Expenditure figures for the Department of Housing released by the Democratic Alliance (DA) were ”fabricated and irresponsible”, Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said on Thursday. Sisulu said the DA claimed the department had increased its accommodation and travel expenditure by 153%.
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/ 11 October 2007
A pharmaceutical company has donated three Gila monsters to the Tygerberg Zoo near Cape Town to honour the advancements in diabetes care made possible by these lizards. A hormone is found in the saliva of Gila monsters that helps them regulate blood sugar.
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/ 11 October 2007
A march in protest against fee hikes and police shootings will take place at the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Kingsway Campus on Friday, students said. ”We are asking for a peaceful and disciplined march; we cannot allow the police to shoot us again,” a protesting student said on Thursday. The march will start at 9am.
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/ 11 October 2007
Following the panic that gripped Johannesburg on Monday when emails and SMSs said an alleged tornado was about to strike the city, the Cabinet has decided to ask the national disaster-management centre to find ways in which such situations could be better managed in future.
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/ 11 October 2007
The Democratic Alliance has asked former speaker Frene Ginwala to recuse herself from chairing the Pikoli inquiry, and threatened legal action if she does not. Ginwala was appointed by President Thabo Mbeki to probe whether suspended National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Vusi Pikoli is fit to hold office.
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/ 11 October 2007
Charges of murder, kidnapping and violating a corpse were withdrawn on Thursday against two men accused of killing a four-year-old girl for muti. Hairdresser Lourenco Eric Ngoveni (30) and sangoma and prophet Mandla Ephraim Zulu (46) were supposed to appear in the Pretoria District Court.
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/ 11 October 2007
A South African man was seriously injured when hijackers dragged him along a tarred road for 2km after his feet got stuck in the seatbelt of his car, police said on Thursday. The 44-year-old was forced out of his car in a suburban street on Wednesday by four fleeing men who had just robbed a house in Bellville in Cape Town, said a statement by police in the Western Cape.
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/ 11 October 2007
Polokwane will be a busy town come December with an expected 4Â 500 delegates, both voting and non-voting, attending the African National Congress’s (ANC) 52nd national conference. Smuts Ngonyama, head of the presidency of the ANC, on Thursday updated the media in Johannesburg on preparations for the conference.
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/ 11 October 2007
South African fixed-line telephone operator Telkom said in a cautionary announcement on Thursday that its discussions with Vodafone and MTN are still ongoing. Telkom said discussions were part of its mobile-strategy review, and that shareholders are advised to continue exercising caution when dealing in their shares until a further announcement is made.
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/ 11 October 2007
The South African government is speaking to the mining sector about setting up the industry safety audit called for by President Thabo Mbeki. ”The government calls on the industry to work with the Department of Minerals and Energy and other stakeholders to ensure that concrete steps are taken,” government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday.
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/ 11 October 2007
Two warring taxi organisations in the Empangeni area have been barred from operating following violent clashes over routes, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial minister of transport Bheki Cele announced on Thursday. ”As from midnight on Friday, not even a single taxi from the rival associations will operate, failing which they will face the full might of the law,” Cele said.
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/ 11 October 2007
The taxi industry will soon be part of the government’s public-transport subsidy system, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Thursday. Radebe said more than 60% of South Africa’s people used taxis. ”We need to support our taxi industry,” he said in Thaba Nchu in the Free State.
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/ 11 October 2007
The Presidency has declined to confirm whether President Thabo Mbeki will hold back on appointing the new South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board as requested by labour and civil society organisations, saying it will address its written response directly to those organisations that had made the call.
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/ 11 October 2007
The 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa has already generated record levels of revenue three years before it kicks off, the head of the local organising committee said on Thursday. Danny Jordaan told the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry that doom merchants had been proved wrong.
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/ 11 October 2007
In Japan, the Japanese run the economy, so in Africa, why aren’t the Africans running the economy? Minister of Science and Technology Mosibudi Mangena asked on Thursday. He was addressing delegates and corporate representatives at the 40th annual Black Management Forum at the Sandton Convention Centre.
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/ 11 October 2007
Former ambassador to Indonesia Norman Mashabane (51) has died in a car accident outside Polokwane, police confirmed on Thursday. Inspector Lesiba Ramoshaba said a 20-year-old man, believed to be Mashabane’s son, also perished in the accident.
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/ 11 October 2007
Government spokesperson Themba Maseko admitted on Thursday that the authorities were worried about the damage being done to the country’s international image by the ongoing saga surrounding suspended National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli and police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
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/ 11 October 2007
Resource stocks added plenty of extra muscle to the JSE on Thursday, which was underpinned by strength in gold and platinum. Earlier in the session the JSE hit a fresh trading high of 31 628,820 points, but was slightly below that level by midday.
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/ 11 October 2007
South African petrochemicals and fuels group Sasol has sold 20% of its mining subsidiary to a black women-controlled mining company for R1,9-billion, the company said on Thursday. Sasol said the black women-controlled firm, Ixia Coal, will acquire the stake through the issue of new shares.
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/ 11 October 2007
There was no need for President Thabo Mbeki to make any statements on the suspension of Vusi Pikoli, the National Director of Public Prosecutions, the Cabinet has decided. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said the Cabinet urged the public to be patient.
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/ 11 October 2007
South Africa’s gold companies, already mining at the world’s deepest depths, are looking to plumb even deeper veins in a new gold rush spurred by record prices.
The deeper miners go, the richer the ore being uncovered. The price in dangers, though, includes rockfalls, poisonous gas explosions, flooding and earthquakes.
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/ 11 October 2007
”Enjoy yourself,” was the parting advice of Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira to his 12 locally-based players before leaving OR Tambo Airport on Wednesday night for the challenge against world champions Italy in Siena next Wednesday.
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/ 11 October 2007
South Africa is confident that a ”critical number” of European and African leaders would be in attendance at the planned European Union (EU)-African Union (AU) summit in Portugal in December to make it worthwhile. Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said: ”Summits depend on a number of people to be there, not just one person.”
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/ 11 October 2007
Fifa ended its three-day inspection tour of South Africa on Wednesday praising the progress made in building the stadiums that will be used for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. There have been concerns about the country’s high crime rate and poor transport system, as well as the pace of construction.
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/ 10 October 2007
Controversial Soweto principal Jackie Maarohanye is to testify in the Protea Magistrate’s Court when she returns to the dock on a kidnapping charge next month. Maarohanye (49), Ronnie Nyakale (34) and Mpho Makhate (21) are facing charges of assaulting and kidnapping a former Ithuteng Trust student, Siphiwe Ncugothu, on February 21 2006.
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/ 10 October 2007
The exodus of police officers out of the Northern Cape must be addressed, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) in the province said on Wednesday. Popcru provincial secretary Glisson Itebogeng said union members had expressed their dismay and concern over the ”massive transfer of members” who leave the province after being employed or promoted.