Visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel was expected to urge South African President Thabo Mbeki in talks in Pretoria on Friday to increase pressure for a resolution to the crisis in neighbouring Zimbabwe. German sources said Merkel was determined to press Mbeki to do more to ensure an end to alleged human rights abuses in the country.
Congress of South African Trade Unions president Willie Madisha has offered to step aside for a month while an independent commission of inquiry probes the R500 000 donation controversy. The commission of inquiry would consist of independent labour experts and was expected to report back in November.
The last miner among about 3Â 200 trapped two kilometres underground for over 30 hours at Harmony Gold’s Elandsrand mine near Carletonville was rescued on Thursday night. He was welcomed by Harmony chairperson Patrice Motsepe and by Minerals and Energy Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica.
Boeremag accused Mike du Toit on Thursday told the Pretoria High Court he did not trust the state or police because he believed they were controlled by former terrorists. Du Toit, a Herstigte Nasionale Party supporter, said not only did he and many others distrust the police, he also believed the African National Congress government was behind farm attacks and murders.
The outcome of a Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) central executive committee meeting held to discuss the fate of its beleaguered president, Willie Madisha, will be announced on Friday. Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said a statement would be issued but he would not be drawn out on the meeting held at Cosatu House on Thursday.
Whether it costs the Makana municipality two cents or R100-million to change the name of Grahamstown and the names of other places and landmarks, the names will change, said Grahamstown mayor Phumelelo Kate on Thursday. ”You cannot equate the transformation of our country to costs. Change must happen and nothing is going to stop it,” Kate was reported as saying.
A former boyfriend of murdered teenager Samantha Uys on Thursday told the Pretoria High Court that one of her alleged killers had confessed his role in the gruesome murder to him. Joshua Bebington testified in the trial of his two friends, Kabelo ”KB” Mokwena and Ricky ”Slash” Godfrey.
The Competition Commission has recommended the prohibition of a merger between Arcelor Mittal and Duferco Steel Processing. The merger would ”substantially prevent or lessen competition”, the commission said in a statement on Thursday.
No impeachment proceedings will be instituted against Cape Judge President John Hlophe, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) said on Thursday. Chief Justice Pius Langa said although the JSC members were divided on whether there was sufficient evidence to justify proceedings that could lead to impeachment, it was generally agreed the proceedings should not be pursued.
The government has ten days to submit its reports to an official inquiry on why National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli is not fit to hold office, former speaker of the National Assembly Frene Ginwala said on Thursday. These reports would be examined at an official hearing into Pikoli’s fitness to hold office.
Mining is and always will be a dangerous business. But every time there is a seismic event, a rockfall, or, as happened this week, a broken lift, a new round of muttering begins.
Talks between protesting students at the University of the Witwatersrand and management will continue, vice-chancellor and principle Loyiso Nongxa said at a media briefing on Thursday. ”Negotiations between students and management will continue on Friday until a compromise is reached,” he said.
Convicted paedophile Gordon Joubert was given a collective jail sentence of 192 years in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday, the Star newspaper reported. After his conviction earlier, Joubert suggested to the court the appropriate sentence for him was to be castrated, but the judge ruled otherwise.
Telephone bills and furniture were prioritised over hospital equipment at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the national and provincial health departments said on Thursday. In a joint statement, the departments cited ”deficiencies on the management side” as the reason the hospital did not have required equipment.
Former National Lottery operator Uthingo has no intention of contesting the awarding of the lottery licence to Gidani, company chairperson Barney Pityana said on Thursday. ”We do not agree, but we do not intend to subject the licensing process to further scrutiny by the courts,” Pityana told reporters at Midrand.
A swoop by environmental inspectors on the giant Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation’s Vanchem plant outside Witbank in Mpumalanga has uncovered shocking levels of air, ground and water pollution. Environmental management inspectors, better known as the Green Scorpions, carried out a compliance inspection at the plant at the end of August this year.
African National Congress (ANC) succession battles are unlikely to be a feature of President Thabo Mbeki’s imbizo (meeting) in the Ladysmith this weekend, according to local party bosses and analysts. Mbeki’s visit will be the first presidential imbizo in the province since allegations that certain ANC members were trying to make the province a no-go area for Mbeki.
As the Democratic Alliance (DA) took steps to obtain copies of the alleged warrants of arrest for police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi on Thursday, the Freedom Front Plus renewed its call for the police chief’s suspension. The DA has lodged an application to obtain copies of the warrants allegedly issued for Selebi, DA parliamentary leader Sandra Botha said.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has tabled a private member’s Bill seeking to expunge from the record crimes committed during the apartheid era that would not be crimes today. The inspiration for the measure came to him from two constituents, DA correctional services spokesperson James Selfe said in a statement on Thursday.
A Border schoolboy rugby player has allegedly tested positive for a banned substance, Dispatch Online reported on Thursday. The 17-year-old Stirling High matric pupil allegedly failed the test that was taken at the Under-18 Craven Week in Stellenbosch in July.
Harmony Gold’s Elandsrand mine near Carletonville has been shut down for up to six weeks after the mine’s main exit was blocked, trapping 3 200 miners underground, the Minerals and Energy Department said on Thursday. About 800 miners remained trapped more than 2,2km underground by 4pm on Thursday.
A man accused of holding several staff members of the Pretoria News hostage was on Thursday declared fit to stand trial. A report by the Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital was handed up at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, stating 33-year-old Lionel George from Danville would understand the court proceedings and was able to contribute meaningfully to his defence.
Police were not patrolling the Wits campus on Thursday, a student said after his lectures were disrupted by protesters. Suyash Maharaj was forced out of his class when hundreds of protesting students barged into his Actuarial Science lecture. ”We looked for police protection, because these protesters looked like they could have easily hurt us,” Maharaj said.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) says it stands by its statement on South African Broadcasting Corporation board deputy chairperson Christine Qunta and on Thursday laid complaints against her and the company Comforters Healing Gift. On Wednesday, Qunta’s legal representatives demanded the TAC stop publishing defamatory material about her.
About 1Â 250 miners remained trapped more than 2,2km underground in Harmony Gold’s Elandsrand mine near Carletonville on Thursday after an all-night rescue mission. The mine’s general manager, Stan Bierschenk, said the morale of workers still stuck below ground was ”fairly brittle”.
South Africa’s business confidence inched up slightly in September on firmer equities and precious metals but a lull in exports and subdued manafacturing output were a concern, the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) said on Thursday. The Sacob Business Confidence Index was at 98,7 after dipping to 98,1 in August.
All Johannesburg municipal workers who participated in a strike earlier this week are to return to work by Friday, city officials said. The Johannesburg Labour Court on Thursday ruled in favour of the city and prevented a secondary strike by the South African Municipal Workers’ Union.
The South African Human Rights Commission has spoken out against children’s rights violations at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, where newborn babies were put in a cardboard box. ”The commission reiterates that section 10 of the Bill of Rights provides that everyone has inherent dignity,” spokesperson Vincent Moaga said in a statement on Thursday.
Even with a new man at the helm in acclaimed former Platinum Stars coach Owen de Gama, the Orlando Pirates ship continued to flounder at Ellis Park on Wednesday night as the Buccaneers slumped to a 5-4 penalty shoot-out defeat against Benoni Premier United after a dramatic Telkom Knockout game finished 1-1 after extra-time.
Limpopo’s environmental affairs and tourism department has given the go-ahead for rangers to kill lions that have escaped from the Kruger National Park, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Wednesday. Five more cattle were killed by lions at Gawula village outside Giyani on Wednesday.
Khartoum club Al-Hilal are on the brink of completing a fairytale year for football in Sudan as they head to Tunisia for the second leg of their African Champions League semifinal on Saturday. A place in the Champions League final would come just months after Sudan’s national side ended a three-decades drought.
Media group Naspers is to make a public tender offer to acquire up to 100% of Gadu Gadu, a Warsaw-listed Polish internet company for a total investment of about $155-million, it said on Thursday. Naspers will extend an offer to acquire 100% of the shares of Gadu Gadu SA at a tender price of 23,50 z³oty per share.