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/ 12 October 2007
Prominent human rights lawyer George Bizos (79) is in a stable condition at the Wits University Donald Gordon Medical Centre, the facility said on Friday. Client services manager Vernon Kinnear said Bizos was admitted on Monday with a gastrointestinal complaint. ”He is doing very well; he is even managing his diary from his hospital bed,” he said.
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/ 12 October 2007
Clinton Nassif, the former security chief of murdered mining magnate Brett Kebble, has turned state witness against Glenn Agliotti in a drug-dealing case. Nassif, who appeared in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges relating to drug dealing, entered into a plea bargain with the Scorpions.
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/ 12 October 2007
Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s refusal to resign is a typical example of persons holding high office refusing to face the consequences of their actions, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille. ”By refusing to step down, contrary to the dictates of good governance, such senior office-bearers undermine our young democracy,” she said on Friday.
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/ 12 October 2007
Three doors down from the old home of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, make-up artists apply the finishing touches to the presenters of Soweto TV as they prepare to host a daily debate. ”Welcome to Dlala Ngeringas [Fun Debate],” says Zuko Xabanisa as the cameras start rolling in the classroom-turned-studio.
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/ 12 October 2007
Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi has pledged his full cooperation with a panel of experts named on Friday to review a criminal probe against him. ”As an individual, I will fully cooperate with the members of the panel as announced … by the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority],” Selebi said in a statement.
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/ 12 October 2007
Energy levels were stabilising and no more load shedding was expected to be performed over the weekend, Eskom said on Friday. Eskom spokesperson Fani Zulu said there had been no load shedding so far on Friday as the demand for power had been reduced.
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/ 12 October 2007
Nine South African soldiers were killed on Friday in a shooting accident involving an anti-aircraft gun during a training exercise at a base in the central Bloemfontein region, the army said. "I can confirm that nine of our people have died and another 15 were injured and taken to various," a South African National Defence Force spokesperson said.
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/ 12 October 2007
President Thabo Mbeki on Friday paid tribute to Argentina-born revolutionary Che Guevara, who died at the age of 39 in Bolivia forty years ago. More than anything else, Guevara’s was a life dedicated to the genuine independence of all countries, Mbeki said in his weekly online newsletter, ANC Today.
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/ 12 October 2007
Disgruntled University of Johannesburg (UJ) students on Friday decided not to attend a scheduled meeting with management to resolve campus issues. The university’s spokesperson, Sonia Cronjé, said the meeting between student representatives and management had been scheduled for 2pm.
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/ 12 October 2007
The names of the panel expected to review the case against police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi were released on Friday. The Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Moktedi Mpshe, said the panel would be made up of Frank Dutton, advocate Mbuyiseli Madlanga, Peter Goss and advocate Shamila Batohi.
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/ 12 October 2007
Media reports of parents incurring R300 fines for smacking their children are inaccurate, a senior African National Congress (ANC) member of Parliament’s social development portfolio committee said on Friday. Statements to that effect were ”quoted out of context”, MP Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu said in a statement.
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/ 12 October 2007
Gold Fields, the world’s fourth-largest gold producer, will bring in close on R5-billion following the disposal of two of its international assets. The company said on Friday it was selling its assets in Venezuela for a total consideration of $532-million (R3,6-billion).
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/ 12 October 2007
Airline passengers will from next year be able to check-in using cellphone technology, a media report said on Friday. The International Air Transport Association said on Thursday that paper tickets, which use magnetic-strip technology instead of barcodes, would no longer be accepted from June.
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/ 12 October 2007
Clinton Nassif, the former security chief of the late Brett Kebble, has entered into a plea bargain with the Scorpions, the Germiston Magistrate’s Court heard on Friday. Scorpions prosecutor Gerrie Nel told magistrate James Van Wyk that Nassif had entered into the plea bargain relating to the drug dealing charges against him.
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/ 12 October 2007
A meeting between disgruntled University of Johannesburg students and management is expected to be convened on Friday, university officials said. The students has complained that the Doornfontein, Soweto and Bunting Road campuses were being sidelined when compared with the Kingsway campus.
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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.