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/ 18 October 2007
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) fears party politics was behind the suspension of National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, it said on Thursday. The way in which he was suspended raised ”serious suspicion” that the government may have intervened for ”narrow political reasons”, said spokesperson Patrick Craven.
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/ 18 October 2007
To ignore the vexed question of how to deal with Cape Judge President John Hlophe is to stick your head in the sand.
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/ 18 October 2007
The National Assembly on Thursday adopted a motion of full confidence in Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, thereby rejecting the original motion by the Democratic Alliance, which called for a special committee to probe her fitness to hold public office.
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/ 18 October 2007
South Africa’s mining industry, which records an average of 200 fatalities every year, is seeking to reduce death rates by at least 20% by 2013, the Chamber of Mines said on Thursday. ”To be world-class by 2013, an annual milestone of reducing fatality rates by at least 20% a year is needed,” the chamber’s chief executive said.
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/ 18 October 2007
Murder accused Fred van der Vyver was questioned closely on Thursday on how he came to know that his student girlfriend Inge Lotz had been stabbed. Van der Vyver (25) was under cross-examination in the Cape High Court after his defence team was given permission to reopen its case to present his testimony.
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/ 18 October 2007
Free State crop-spraying pilot Johann Foley described on Thursday how he survived a crash after his aircraft’s engine faltered near Clocolan. ”I made two passes spraying on Wednesday afternoon and was about to make the second turn at a mountain when the aircraft lost power,” Foley said.
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/ 18 October 2007
The case against two boys who allegedly burnt a toddler was postponed in the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, Children of Fire said. The organisation’s director, Bronwen Jones, said the case was postponed to next month because the court’s appointed probation officer had not completed a report.
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/ 18 October 2007
A civic movement on Thursday demanded that a ”degrading and discriminating” Rugby World Cup advert featuring Khoisan people be pulled from the airwaves. ”It degrades our Khoisan indigenous people as illiterate,” said national secretary general of the African Renaissance Civic Movement Richard Huber.
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/ 18 October 2007
The world’s biggest producer of platinum, Anglo Platinum, said on Thursday it shut a shaft at its largest operation on Wednesday after one worker was killed, sending platinum prices to a new record. Simon Tebele, a spokesperson at AngloPlat, could not say for how long the Paardekraal shaft in Rustenburg would be closed.
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/ 18 October 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will not be able to pursue its threat of legal action to force Frene Ginwala’s recusal from heading the inquiry into suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, it emerged on Thursday. The DA has previously stated it would be prepared to fight her appointment by President Thabo Mbeki.
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/ 18 October 2007
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With biltong, braais, beer and Bok shirts at the ready, rugby-mad South Africans are preparing to hunker down in style for Saturday’s World Cup final showdown with England. Even wedding plans are being redrawn to ensure that no one misses a minute of the action from the Stade de France in Paris.
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/ 18 October 2007
Security measures will be tightened in shopping centres across the country, Business against Crime (BAC) said in Johannesburg on Thursday. Addressing a media conference in Illovo, BAC’s Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane said the prevalence of violent crimes in shopping centres was of serious concern for the government, the business sector and law-abiding citizens.
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/ 18 October 2007
Earlier this year, Cape Town was debating a by-law that would make solar water heating compulsory for relatively costly new buildings, and certain renovations. But what of solar water heating for less expensive structures — especially homes being built under the country’s extensive low-cost housing programme?
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/ 18 October 2007
Environmental NGO Earthlife Africa has threatened a legal challenge to what it says is South Africa’s ”hasty and ill-informed” draft nuclear policy. The threat was made in a submission on Earthlife’s behalf by the Legal Resources Centre on the policy document, released by the Department of Minerals and Energy in August.
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/ 18 October 2007
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The youngsters assembled at Soweto’s Jabulani soccer grounds for an after-school training session are united in their reply when asked to name their hero: ”Habana. He’s the man!” As the Springboks prepare for Saturday’s World Cup final, a sport that was traditionally seen as a ”white man’s game” is slowly but surely gaining interest among South Africa’s black majority.
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/ 18 October 2007
Nolwazi Mbananga, from the Medical Research Council of South Africa, said that the country’s mines should become "knowledge-based organisations". "We often hear of miners who are trapped underground, but have we asked those miners what the signs are before mines collapse?" she said.
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/ 18 October 2007
The JSE was clutching on to gains at midday on Thursday as heavyweights in the resources and industrial sector kept the bourse firm. BHP Billiton and Anglo American kept the resource index up, and SABMiller lifted the industrial index. By noon, the all-share index was 0,13% higher as industrials advanced 0,25%.
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/ 18 October 2007
A tipper lorry driver who crashed his vehicle into a KwaZulu-Natal school on Wednesday has been arrested, police said on Thursday. KwaMashu police spokesperson Constable Siwe Nxumalo said the man faced charges of reckless and negligent driving, and drunken driving.
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/ 18 October 2007
Information on the Vusi Pikoli saga seemed to indicate interference with constitutional safeguards, the Johannesburg Bar Council said on Thursday. The controversy about the suspension of the National Director of Public Prosecutions required a strong and unambiguous response from the government, said the council.
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/ 18 October 2007
Freedom of expression is a right South Africans should not have to ask for, businessman Tokyo Sexwale told a gathering at the Star’s 120th anniversary celebrations in Johannesburg on Wednesday. ”You have the right, you don’t have to ask for that right … you have won that right by being citizens of this country,” said Sexwale.
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/ 18 October 2007
In the land renowned for its scrumptious pizza and ravioli, Bafana Bafana were forced to eat humble pie in Siena on Wednesday night while losing 2-0 to what was
effectively the Italian B team. While the two headed goals from 32-year-old Ukraine-based Cristiano Lucarelli were a long time in coming, the scoreline, if anything, flattered South Africa.
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/ 18 October 2007
A dormitory parent at Oprah Winfrey’s school has been suspended for misconduct, the school announced on Wednesday. The school said the person had been ”removed” from the campus and immediate action had been taken to ensure the safety and well-being of the pupils.
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/ 18 October 2007
World trade talks appeared to be making progress on Wednesday as the leaders of Brazil, India and South Africa said they were committed to reaching a deal. The leaders said differences with rich countries were still blocking agreement in the Doha round, launched nearly six years ago to help developing countries grow out of poverty and boost the world economy by opening up global trade.
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/ 17 October 2007
A ruling by a full bench of the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday put another nail in the coffin of Afrikaans-only education in state schools. The court dismissed with costs a review application by Hoërskool Ermelo to set aside a decision forcing it to admit English-speaking pupils and become a parallel-medium school.
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/ 17 October 2007
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota’s ”hostility” towards the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) was reflected in his ”ignorance” of its policies, presented as an alternative to those of the government, Cosatu said on Wednesday. Lekota had challenged Cosatu in a radio broadcast to ”present alternative policy positions to those of the ruling party”.
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/ 17 October 2007
The multimillion-rand cost of fighting the Richtersveld land claim was money well spent, the Department of Public Enterprises said on Wednesday. It was responding to a query on the final legal bill for the case, which was settled last week.
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/ 17 October 2007
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula on Wednesday in the National Assembly rebuffed questions on why he would not suspend controversial police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, saying there is a process in place to deal with the matter.
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/ 17 October 2007
Department of Education officials met University of Johannesburg (UJ) students on Wednesday, said the Student Representative Council (SRC). SRC president Mhlobo Hoyi said students met the officials but he would only know the outcome later on Wednesday.
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/ 17 October 2007
The head of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial health department was officially suspended from her post on Wednesday. A statement released by the KwaZulu-Natal premier’s office said the ”cabinet endorsed the decision to suspend” the superintendent general of the department Dr Ruth Nyembezi.
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/ 17 October 2007
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Ross Schutte holds up a large slab of beef biltong and says: ”Rugby is good for business. Biltong and rugby — man, the two go together like brandy and Coke.” Schutte has just sold a bag of sliced biltong for more than R1Â 000 and taken two orders for lamb spit braais.
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/ 17 October 2007
Clinton Nassif’s lawyer has refused to confirm ”dramatic new details” about his role in the September 2005 death of his boss, mining magnate Brett Kebble, supposedly contained in a draft affidavit leaked to the media on Wednesday. Lawyer Marius du Toit said Nassif’s legal team could not ”vouch for its correctness”.
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/ 17 October 2007
Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the state-owned telecommunications giant Telkom has lost R350-million over three years through fraud. She said that Telkom has also experienced significant theft of cables, solar panels and wireless communications equipment.