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/ 3 October 2007

Judge reserves LeisureNet ruling

A Cape High Court judge on Wednesday reserved his ruling on a forfeiture application against former LeisureNet joint chief executives Peter Gardener and Rod Mitchell. The two men have already paid over R29,5-million to liquidators, the state says there is a shortfall of at least half a million rands each.

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/ 3 October 2007

Threat of court action over Potch name change

Any attempt by the South African National Geographical Names Council to consider the name-change request to change Potchefstroom to Tlokwe will result in court action, Action Potchefstroom said on Wednesday. Spokesperson for the civic organisation Theo Venter said the request for the name change was fundamentally flawed.

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/ 3 October 2007

Fidentia accused back in court

Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown and financial director Graham Maddock appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. The case was postponed to December 7 for a regional court date and for the state to give the defence teams a charge sheet. The appearance follows their rearrest in August on fresh fraud and theft charges.

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/ 3 October 2007

Zimbabwe ‘to join SA domestic line-up’

The struggling Zimbabwean national cricket side is set to be invited to play in South Africa’s domestic competitions this season. The proposal has been endorsed by Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola and has the backing of the International Cricket Council and the African Cricket Association.

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/ 3 October 2007

Banks and financials lift JSE

The JSE was firm at midday on Wednesday, driven higher by sharply stronger banks and financial stocks. By noon, the all-share index had collected 0,49% as banks and financials advanced 3,07% and 2,30% respectively. The platinum mining index recovered 0,94% and resources edged up 0,12%.

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/ 3 October 2007

Samwu heads for Labour Court

South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) members are expected to converge on the Labour Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday to hear a final ruling on a secondary strike. Union spokesperson Dumisani Langa said if the court ruled in their favour, they would rope in other Gauteng municipalities to join the strike.

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/ 3 October 2007

PSL says no commission paid (yet)

Premier Soccer League (PSL) executive members have not been paid commission for their part in the R1,6-billion television rights deal or the R500-million Absa sponsorship deal. The PSL had not even formally decided yet whether it would pay its negotiators any commission at all, said chairperson Irvin Khoza.

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/ 2 October 2007

No commissions paid, says Khoza

Premier Soccer League (PSL) members have not been paid any commission from the television broadcasting and Absa sponsorship deals, PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza said on Tuesday. Indeed, the issue of the payment of commissions had not even been finalised yet, he told reporters in Johannesburg.

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/ 2 October 2007

Advocate withdraws from Boeremag trial

The judge in the Boeremag treason trial on Tuesday urged one of the accused and his legal representative to come to some sort of arrangement after the advocate withdrew from the trial, causing yet a further delay. Advocate Barry van der Merwe, who represented alleged former Boeremag military commander Tom Vorster, withdrew without giving any reasons.

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/ 2 October 2007

Actors, journalist arrested over Zim play

A journalist and two actors were arrested in Zimbabwe during a satirical play making fun of the country’s political situation, press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières said on Tuesday. It said plainclothes police stormed a theatre in central Harare on Friday night during a performance of The Final Push.

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/ 2 October 2007

Mbeki caught off guard by questions on Selebi

President Thabo Mbeki was caught off guard on Tuesday when asked questions at a media photo opportunity at the Union Buildings in Pretoria about the possible arrest of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi. Responding to questions from journalists by asking more questions, Mbeki queried whether it was a president’s job to issue warrants of arrest.

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/ 2 October 2007

Surprise move in Lotz murder trial

Murder accused Fred van der Vyver’s legal team has told the Cape High Court it wants him to testify in his own defence. The surprise move came on Tuesday afternoon after the state had already delivered its closing arguments, and Van der Vyver’s advocate Dup de Bruyn had begun his.

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/ 2 October 2007

MK veterans wait on voting-rights status

There was still no word on whether Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) veterans would get voting rights at the upcoming African National Congress (ANC) national conference, the MK Military Veterans’ Association (MKVA) said on Tuesday. ”We are trying to get representation at the conference,” said newly elected MKVA president Kebby Maphatsoe.

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/ 2 October 2007

‘Advocate Barbie’ trial delayed again

The trial of Cezanne Visser, also known as ”Advocate Barbie”, has once again been delayed because no judge was available to preside in the case. The defence and the state were only informed this week that no judge had been assigned to the case. Judge Khami Makhafola provisionally postponed Visser’s trial to October 12 to allow the state to arrange for the appointment of a judge.

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/ 2 October 2007

Decline in sales of new vehicles

Sales of new vehicles plunged over the past month, says the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa. Association members reported 50 084 new vehicles sold during September this year, compared with 57 599 sold during the same month the year before. The 13% drop was a ”significant decline”, the association said in a statement on Tuesday.