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/ 12 September 2007
South African pay-TV consumers will soon have a choice between many new broadcast channels — this after the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa awarded pay-TV licences to four new players during a press briefing in Johannesburg on Wednesday. The companies granted licences were Telkom Media, E-Sat, On Digital Media and Walking on Water.
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/ 12 September 2007
South African business confidence fell to a three-and-a-half-year low in the third quarter as vehicle dealers and manufacturers became less optimistic about their prospects. The First National Bank/Bureau for Economic Research business confidence index fell by eight points to 72 compared with the previous quarter.
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/ 12 September 2007
The JSE continued to move sideways at noon on Wednesday as investors preferred the sidelines prior to the United States opening. One trader said that with the possibility of an interest-rate cut in US markets next week, markets are busy consolidating. "Although the Dow was up last night, US futures are down," he said.
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/ 12 September 2007
Thirty years after dying in prison in apartheid South Africa, Steve Biko remains a historical icon, even if his black consciousness movement no longer carries political weight. A fervent anti-apartheid and freedom activist, Biko’s popularity in the new South Africa is rooted in culture, providing ideas for the shaping of the identity of young black South Africans.
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/ 12 September 2007
Petrochemical giant Sasol’s announcement that it plans to transfer 10% of its issued share capital, worth close on R18-billion, into black hands has inspired mixed messages from trade unions. The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union on Tuesday "cautiously welcomed" the news.
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/ 12 September 2007
Mpumalanga and North West have spent R166-million on strike recovery measures, Education Minister Naledi Pandor told the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday. Replying to oral questions, Pandor said Mpumalanga had spent R96-million on teacher remuneration for Saturday and holiday classes.
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/ 12 September 2007
Samson Mashaba struggles to retain his sense of humour as he waits to see his doctor. ”If you’re unlucky, you’ll die standing here,” says the 69-year-old as he surveys the queue ahead of him at a rural hospital in Mpumalanga. While South Africa may boast some of the finest hospitals on the continent in cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town, rural healthcare is dogged by a lack of cash, personnel and facilities.
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/ 11 September 2007
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A magnificent unbroken third-wicket stand of 120 by Herschelle Gibbs and Justin Kemp took South Africa to a thrilling eight-wicket victory over the West Indies in the opening match of the Twenty20 World Championship at the Wanderers on Tuesday night.
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/ 11 September 2007
The working-class movement in South Africa is eating itself alive because of its leadership squabbles, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha said on Tuesday. ”The way many are conducting themselves is not proper,” he told a Food and Allied Workers’ Union conference in Randburg.
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/ 11 September 2007
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s statement concerning dual-therapy HIV treatment was a ”gross distortion of the truth”, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said on Tuesday. According to Tshabalala-Msimang, a 2001 court judgement limited her department to implementing only monotherapy nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant mothers.
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/ 11 September 2007
The arrest of Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille was an attempt to settle political battles with state resources, the Western Cape office of the Congress of South African Trade Unions said on Tuesday. The Cosatu statement coincided with a brief appearance by Zille and 10 other people in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court.
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/ 11 September 2007
Africans are susceptible to believing the worst about themselves and the continent, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Tuesday. She was delivering the keynote address to members of the African diaspora who have gathered in Paris, France, for a two-day regional conference.
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/ 11 September 2007
The United Independent Front (UIF) lost both its representatives in the National Assembly on Tuesday when they crossed the floor to the African National Congress. Its single proportional seat in the National Council of Provinces could also be in danger after one of its two Western Cape MPLs also defected to the ANC.
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/ 11 September 2007
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu on Tuesday threatened forced removals in the wake of this week’s housing protests in Cape Town. ”Until now, no attempts have been made to force residents of the informal settlement at Joe Slovo to move,” she said in a statement.
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/ 11 September 2007
Angolan police still violate human rights ranging from brutal slum clearance to torture, with no investigation or disciplinary action, Amnesty International said in a report released on Wednesday. The report finds that the abuse of power and failure to bring perpetrators of these violations to justice goes on unhindered.
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/ 11 September 2007
Magistrate Dreyer van der Merwe on Tuesday denied an application from former spy boss Billy Masetlha’s defence team for his recusal from the case at the Hatfield Community Court in Pretoria. ”The facts presented by the defence are not substantiated to merit a recusal,” the magistrate said after deliberating over the application for about two hours.
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/ 11 September 2007
Three people were injured and 22 striking refuse workers were arrested for intimidation and public disturbance in Pretoria on Tuesday, the City of Tshwane said. Member of the mayoral committee Gabriel Thwala said the workers were throwing rubbish into the streets and were intimidating non-striking workers, of whom three were injured.
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/ 11 September 2007
State-owned broadcast signal distributor Sentech is protesting that it simply does not have enough money to do its job properly. Writing in the company’s annual report, chairperson Colin Hickling points out that it has been proved impossible to roll out a national broadband radio network until extra funds are received from the government.
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/ 11 September 2007
Demand for skilled South Africans is soaring in the United Kingdom, which is experiencing a major skills shortage, a UK recruitment agency said on Tuesday. "Demand for South African professionals is soaring in the UK because London’s top financial-services industry experiences a massive skills shortage," said Nabila Sadiq of the Joslin Rowe Temporaries agency.
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/ 11 September 2007
An elephant cow in the Pilanesberg nature reserve first chased a game warden for 100m, tore his pants open with her tusk, then ”played a bit of soccer with him”, a media report said on Wednesday. When he landed on his back next to her she stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then shook her head and ambled away.
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/ 11 September 2007
The Social Assistance Act unfairly discriminates against a group of men who are among the poorest of the poor in South Africa, the Pretoria High Court heard on Tuesday. The Act entitled men to apply for state old-age pensions, based on a needs test, when they reached the age of 65, but entitled women to start receiving the pension at the of 60.
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/ 11 September 2007
The policy of affirmative action in South Africa will remain, despite calls from some labour unions to end it, the chief executive of Business Unity South Africa told Parliament on Tuesday. Since the end of apartheid, the government has targeted black South Africans, women and the disabled for preferential treatment when it comes to jobs which they previously had no access to.
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/ 11 September 2007
The African National Congress leadership contest can make or break the tripartite alliance, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday. The warning comes in draft policy documents to be discussed at the trade-union federation’s central committee meeting, which takes place in Esselen Park next week.
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/ 11 September 2007
Taxi violence is disturbing and must be curbed in order to build confidence in the taxi industry, the Gauteng registrar for public transport said on Tuesday. ”We all come to the point of saying enough is enough and let us stop the carnage. Let us all bring back confidence in the taxi industry,” Sam Ledwaba told a media conference in Johannesburg.
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/ 11 September 2007
The National Assembly’s communications committee on Tuesday recommended 12 names for the new South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board, including six current board members. The six are Alison Gilwald, Andile Mbeki, Fadila Lagadien, Khanyisile Mkhonza, Christine Qunta and Ashwin Trikamjee.
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/ 11 September 2007
What do you when you are offered the chance to have a hot date on a Tuesday afternoon, even though you are married? You invite your husband to share the experience with you, of course. Yolandi Groenewald had an amazing afternoon with an Aston Martin Vantage Roadster and her hubby (in that order).
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/ 11 September 2007
In a startling admission, many of the Bafana Bafana players have confirmed they were ”in the dark” over the Confederation of African Football rules that resulted in Zambia catapulting past South Africa to become Group 11 winners after their stunning 3-1 win in an African Nations Cup qualifier in Cape Town on Sunday.
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/ 11 September 2007
The fraud case against Brett Kebble’s former security chief, Clinton Nassif, was again postponed for further investigation at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. National Prosecuting Authority advocate Andrea Kasiram requested that the case be postponed to November 19 and for Nassif’s R300 000 bail to be extended.
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/ 11 September 2007
Australia captain Ricky Ponting capped another excellent year by picking up the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) cricketer of the year award for the second successive year on Monday. ”I am the first player to win this award twice in a row and it’s a great thrill for me and something I am very proud of,” said Ponting.
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/ 11 September 2007
South African batsman Ashwell Prince has resigned as president of the South African Cricketers’ Association after alleged details of a meeting were published. Rapport claimed on Sunday that Prince was among 30 players who signed a memorandum calling for an end to South Africa’s racially influenced selection policies.
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/ 11 September 2007
With just a day to go before the start of the inaugural International Cricket Council (ICC) Twenty20 World Championship, President Ray Mali expressed his excitement at the prospect of the world’s top cricketing nations going head-to-head in the shortest form of the game.
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/ 11 September 2007
The Department of Home Affairs has suspended two of its senior officials, including a former acting director general. Chief financial officer Pat Nkambule and the deputy director general of civic services, Joel Chavalala — who once acted as director general — were suspended with immediate effect on Monday.