No image available
/ 21 September 2007
A 19-year-old was arrested for child neglect after three of her four children were found in a cage, Limpopo police said on Friday. Spokesperson Superintendent Ronel Otto said the woman, who is seven months pregnant, was arrested on Thursday in Zebediela outside Polokwane.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
South Africa is dogged by a skills mismatch that is like a ticking time bomb, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said on Friday. The economy has been generating about 76% of jobs requiring semi-skilled and skilled labour, with only 26% of generated jobs requiring labour at the low-skilled level, he said.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
The trial of Swiss design engineer Daniel Geiges, who was allegedly part of an international nuclear smuggling ring, was postponed on Friday because he is too ill to stand trial. The court was told that Geiges (69) had been diagnosed with cancer of the rectum and was undergoing ”severe treatment”.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Sport stars, poets and scientists shared the spotlight at a National Orders awards ceremony in Pretoria on Friday. President Thabo Mbeki bestowed South Africa’s highest awards on 20 recipients. Among those receiving awards were Morne du Plessis, Sam Ramsamy, Roland Schoeman, Elisabeth Eybers and Wally Serote.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
The ever-increasing cost of private healthcare undermines the country’s transformation agenda, Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Friday. ”There is inadequate level of diversity of ownership and competition within the sector,” she told a private healthcare conference in Midrand.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
![]()
The state’s premature attempt to gather evidence violates African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma’s right to a fair trial, the Supreme Court of Appeal heard on Friday. The Durban High Court has issued a letter of request for documents from Mauritius the state wants for a possible corruption trial against Zuma.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
The lack of a sense of shared identity among South Africa’s various cultural groups was cited by Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula on Friday as a barrier to fighting high crime levels. Nqakula was speaking to a business audience in Johannesburg about his plans to bring down some of the world’s highest crime levels.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Commodity-rich African countries should act wisely in order to benefit from the prevailing global boom for the sector, because it will not last, South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has warned. Manuel said in a speech at the University of Namibia that the upswing in commodity prices would ”stay in the short-to-medium term”.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
The city of Johannesburg has raised R156,9-million during the initial public offering of its new retail bond, the ”Jozibond”. Johannesburg was the first city in Africa to raise money through a municipal bond issue and this was the first listing to date of a municipality on the JSE.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
![]()
South African captain Graeme Smith dismissed renewed barbs of ”chokers” after his team crashed out of the Twenty20 World Championship, saying it was the tournament format that did them in.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Strong winds damaged a high-tech zeppelin that diamond giant De Beers was using to explore for diamonds in Botswana, the firm said on Friday. Gusting winds detached the airship from its moorings on Thursday near the huge Jwaneng mine and injured a South African crew member inside, a statement said.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Former South African president Nelson Mandela is alive and well after comments on Iraq by United States President George Bush appear to have been misunderstood, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said on Friday. On Thursday Bush was quoted as saying: ”I heard somebody say, ‘Now where’s Mandela?’ Well, Mandela is dead. Because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.”
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
A 13-year-old teenager and a 23-year-old man, described by police as the teenager’s friend, were arrested for armed robbery early on Friday, Captain Manyadza Ralidzhivha of Tembisa police said. The two accosted a 22-year-old woman on her way to work and robbed her of her cellphone at gunpoint.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
A sixth suspect wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of Mfundo Ntshangase, a pupil at King Edward VII School, was arrested on Thursday night, the South African Police Service (SAPS) reported on Friday. The suspect was arrested in Berea, Johannesburg, said SAPS spokesperson Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Lawmakers in crime-ridden South Africa approved a Bill on Thursday making it harder for rapists to argue for reduced sentences. The Criminal Law Sentencing Amendment Bill bars judges and magistrates from considering a rape victim’s sexual history or an apparent lack of physical injury to justify lessening minimum jail terms.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Athletes have become the first casualty of mining company Harmony’s drastic drive to cut its soaring costs. The company has decided to rid itself of about 40 star athletes on its payroll and invest in developing talent. Professional runners at Harmony earn between R500 and R14 000 a month, depending on experience.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
![]()
Hosts South Africa were eliminated from the Twenty20 World Cup after paceman Rudra Pratap Singh led India to a 37-run win in their Group E Super Eights match on Thursday. Singh took four for 13 as South Africa made 116 for nine in reply to India’s 153 for five.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
The African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday called on its members to ”ignore the insulting decision” taken by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to make recommendations for the election of the ruling party’s national leadership.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
A string of senior advocates acting for state institutions opposed an application by Khutsong residents in the Constitutional Court on Thursday. Outside, police fired rubber bullets at residents protesting against their municipality, Merafong, being included in North West province.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
There is an apparent endemic propensity and tendency on the part of all government ministers and other officials either to ignore court orders or treat them with a lack of enthusiasm and respect.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
![]()
Pakistan laboured to a four-wicket win over Bangladesh at Newlands on Thursday to earn themselves a Twenty20 World Championship semifinal date at the same ground this weekend. Pakistan’s win ensured they finished top of group F in the Super Eight stage with three wins in three matches.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
A 34-year-old man convicted of raping a seven-year-old girl should be sent to prison for life, the Grahamstown High Court heard on Thursday. The court heard that he had lured the girl and her 10-year-old friend into the house, threatened the girl with a knife and then raped her as her terrified friend watched.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
Najwa Petersen, widow of slain musician Taliep Petersen, is to launch a fresh bail application next month based on ”new facts”, the Wynberg Regional Court heard on Thursday. She and three men whom she allegedly hired to murder her husband are to go on trial in the Cape High Court on a date still to be fixed.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
The Department of Environment Affairs and Tourism’s new dedicated research vessel, the Ellen Khuzwayo, was launched by Environment Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk in Cape Town on Thursday. The ship will be used mainly for inshore research, including work on crayfish, linefish, seabirds, marine mammals and sharks.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
The Gauteng housing department plans to fast-track housing delivery over the next two years, housing minister Nomvula Mokonyane announced on Thursday. This comes after the special investigating unit confirmed on Wednesday that it is investigating government officials believed to have fraudulently received housing subsidies.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
A group of Richtersveld residents is to challenge a settlement agreement with the government when the document goes before the Land Claims Court in Cape Town next week for ratification. The agreement followed a 10-year court battle by the Richtersvelders for the restoration of land taken by the state for diamonds mining.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
Police fired rubber bullets at Khutsong residents protesting outside the Constitutional Court on Thursday. More than 1 000 protesters scattered into the streets of Braamfontein in Johannesburg but some later regrouped again, protesting outside the court against their municipality being included in North West province.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
Orlando Pirates travel to Durban for their Premier Soccer League (PSL) clash with Golden Arrows this weekend, while SuperSport United host Bidvest Wits in another big match. Pirates, fresh from their first home victory, travel to Chatsworth to face an Arrows side who will not easily succumb.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Thursday rejected the proposed shortlist of candidates to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board. An emergency resolution was brought before the union body’s central committee in Kempton Park, Gauteng, by three member unions.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
Talks to end the motor-components industry strike were to resume at 6pm on Thursday, the Retail Motor Industry’s (RMI) spokesperson Jakkie Olivier said. ”We made good progress on Wednesday and we’re set to begin talking at 6pm this evening. I think an agreement is imminent,” he said.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
South Africa’s central bank will continue to focus on its mandate to bring inflation to within its 3% to 6% target range, and would act decisively against broader price pressures, Governor Tito Mboweni said on Thursday. Forecasts suggested the CPIX inflation measure may return to within the target range in the second half of 2008.
No image available
/ 20 September 2007
A devastating veld fire has destroyed the well known artist’s retreat Rustlers Valley in the eastern Free State, the provincial department for water affairs and forestry said on Thursday. Spokesperson Malcolm Procter said the fire destroyed everything. "There is nothing, nothing." All buildings were destroyed.