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/ 20 September 2007

Australia thump Sri Lanka

Openers Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist continued their prolific form to take Australia into the Twenty20 World Cup semifinals after a 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka at Newlands on Thursday. Hayden lashed 58 from 38 deliveries with seven fours and two sixes while Gilchrist remained unbeaten on 31 from just 25 balls.

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/ 20 September 2007

Burn the past on National Braai Day

Monday September 24 is Heritage Day, a public holiday in South Africa. But this year it may just become more famous as National Braai Day. The day, supported by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, ”will allow us to get together, burn the past and cook up a succulent future”, says Jan Scannell, CEO of National Braai Day.

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/ 20 September 2007

JSE flat for futures close-out

The JSE was flat at midday on Thursday, as players sat on the sidelines awaiting the result of the futures close-out, which was due to start at midday. By 11.59am, the all-share index edged up 0,26%. The gold mining index climbed 2,19% and banks were 1,09% higher. Resources perked up 0,28% and the platinum mining index rose 0,68%.

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/ 20 September 2007

FirstRand loses court bid to gag noseweek

FirstRand Bank has lost a court bid to prevent noseweek magazine publishing the names of clients involved in allegedly shady offshore tax dodging schemes. Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso on Thursday dismissed the bank’s application with costs, saying she would give her reasons later.

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/ 20 September 2007

SA Cabinet welcomes Zim ‘breakthrough’

The South African Cabinet has welcomed the recent breakthrough by the collective leadership of Zimbabwe on draft constitutional amendments. Zimbabwe’s main political parties have reportedly agreed that President Robert Mugabe should no longer be allowed to handpick members of the lower house of assembly.

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/ 20 September 2007

Downs leave Wits singing the blues

Providing an encore performance after their success in the Supa8 Final against Orlando Pirates on Saturday, Mamelodi Sundowns left Wits University singing the blues while securing a 3-1 Premier League victory at a vibrant, pulsating Bidvest Stadium on Wednesday night.

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/ 20 September 2007

Najwa Petersen relative in court

A man facing three charges of possession of stolen property believes the media have turned his case into a high profile one due to his family connection to Najwa Petersen, the woman accused of murdering her husband, Taliep Petersen. Achmat Rylands was on Wednesday released on R10 000 bail.

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/ 19 September 2007

Fireworks sparkle as India beat England

On a night of high excitement and fireworks both on and off the field, India beat England by 18 runs in their Twenty20 World Championship Super Eight match at Kingsmead, Durban, on Wednesday evening. Helped by a dazzling innings from Yuvraj Singh, India, who won the toss, made 218 for four in their 20 overs.

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/ 19 September 2007

Zuma back in court this week

Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thint will be back in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Friday. They will appeal against a high court decision on documents in Mauritius, which South African prosecutors are seeking in an investigation.

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/ 19 September 2007

Vavi predicts union backing for Zuma

The head of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Wednesday the union federation is likely to name controversial politician Jacob Zuma as its candidate to head the ruling African National Congress. ”I must say that he has become a very important symbol among workers,” Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said.

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/ 19 September 2007

Kemp, Morkel lead SA to comfortable win

Justin Kemp blasted 89 not out off 56 balls after Morne Morkel claimed 4-17 as South Africa thrashed New Zealand by six wickets in the Twenty20 World Championship on Wednesday. Graeme Smith’s home team restricted the Kiwis to 153-8 after giving them first strike at Kingsmead and then knocked off the modest target with five balls to spare.

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/ 19 September 2007

Sexual harassment on farms increasing, SAHRC hears

Sexual harassment on farms is on the increase and the victims are getting younger, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) heard on Wednesday. This was according to Claudia Lopes from Rural Education Awareness and Community Health (Reach), presenting at public hearings on the effectiveness of legislative and policy changes in farming communities.

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/ 19 September 2007

Jo’burg taxi operators blame registrar for violence

Taxi operators on Wednesday blamed the registrar for public transport in Gauteng for violence that erupted between two taxi groups vying for the Clearwater Mall route west of Johannesburg. The Faraday Taxi Association and the Dobsonville, Roodepoort, Leratong, Johannesburg Taxi Association said the registrar had failed to decide who could use the route.

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/ 19 September 2007

Strike brings Volkswagen SA to its knees

Volkswagen South Africa is ”on the brink of disaster” because of the motor-industry components strike, MD David Powels said on Wednesday. The six-day-old work stoppage has so far cost the company a production loss of 500 cars per day. Volkswagen’s Uitenhage plant has been brought to a standstill.

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/ 19 September 2007

SA govt upbeat over Zimbabwe progress

A day after Archbishop Desmond Tutu called on Britain to toughen its stance on Zimbabwe and press its neighbours, including South Africa, to intervene, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said ”quiet diplomacy” was showing results. Speaking on Wednesday, Pahad hailed the constitutional changes agreed to by all the parties in Zimbabwe as a positive development.

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/ 19 September 2007

More construction woes for Green Point

Construction of Cape Town’s 2010 stadium at Green point has ground to a halt again over a labour dispute. The city council said in a statement that some workers downed tools on Tuesday and were still not working on Wednesday. The construction site had been ”closed down temporarily”.

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/ 19 September 2007

AG to probe SAPS station-level performance

Auditor General (AG) Terence Nombembe will conduct an audit next year to assess station-level performance within the South African Police Service (SAPS). The special audit will examine, among others, uneven service delivery at station-level across the country, which affects the way that are opened and recorded, and crime statistics compiled.

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/ 19 September 2007

Advertising authority spits out complaint

South Africa’s advertising watchdog rejected complaints on Wednesday over a commercial showing a secretary spitting into her boss’s coffee, saying she cleared her throat too loudly for it to be taken seriously. The advert by a chain of florists for Secretaries Day earlier this month showed a woman noisily clearing phlegm from her throat before spitting it into a cup of coffee.

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/ 19 September 2007

Fifth teenager arrested for schoolboy stabbing

Another teenager has been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a King Edward VII high school pupil, Johannesburg police said on Wednesday. Mfundo Ntshangase, a grade 11 pupil, was stabbed seven times at a party in Randburg on Sunday. He died in hospital while his friend, who was also stabbed, survived the incident.

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/ 19 September 2007

Confidence levels of retailers decline

The confidence levels of retailers declined during the third quarter of 2007, according to the latest Bureau for Economic Research (BER) Retail Survey. The BER’s retailer confidence index dipped from a record high of 91 index points in the second quarter of 2007 to a level of 84 during the third quarter.

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/ 19 September 2007

Call to stop ‘meaningless journalism’

"Let’s stop meaningless journalism." That was the cry from new South African press ombudsman Joe Nong Thloloe at a forum, themed Leading Conversations, held on Tuesday. Thloloe, a former South African Broadcasting Corporation and e.tv news editor-in-chief, was appointed to the position at the launch of the new Press Council of South Africa on Friday August 3.