The African National Congress MPs who had pleaded guilty to Travelgate crimes should be dismissed, not demoted, says Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary leader Sandra Botha. ”They should not be allowed to remain in those positions of responsibility and trust at all,” she said on Friday.
The Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area is grappling with an increasing number of tuberculosis (TB) cases, with about 250 new patients being admitted to the Livingstone and Dora Nginza hospitals each month. In addition to this, over 200 new multidrug-resistant TB patients are transported from throughout the province to the Jose Pearson Hospital in Bethelsdorp each month.
The retail price of all grades of petrol will fall by 10 cents per litre from Wednesday September 1, the Department of Minerals and Energy announced on Friday. This follows a 15 cents fall on August 1 and an eight cents decrease on July 4.
With a script as strange and uncanny as that penned by a fiction writer, Orlando Pirates secured a frenzied 2-1 extra-time victory over SuperSport United in the SAA Supa8 semifinal at Durban’s King’s Park Stadium on Thursday night, with much-maligned coach Bibey Mutombo emerging the unlikely hero.
A villager from Songeni near Thulamahashe in Mpumalanga is recovering in hospital after he was kicked and dragged by a cow he was tied to, losing most of his teeth in the process. A media report said on Friday that the man had been accused by his employer of spreading a rumour about him.
"This year’s fashion week will be different," says Luke Radlott, an assistant designer for Black Coffee, talking about the 11th annual Sanlam South African Fashion Week that started on Wednesday. The yearly fashion spectacular runs until Saturday at Johannesburg’s Sandton Convention Centre.
Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya hailed the Johannesburg High Court ruling in the newspaper’s case against Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as ”an important victory for press freedom”. He said the newspaper had already voluntarily handed over a copy of Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical files pertaining to her 2005 stay in Cape Town Medi-Clinic to the hospital.
Crispin Mutamba fled exhausting bread and fuel queues in Zimbabwe for wealthy South Africa, only to find himself stuck in another one for three months outside Home Affairs in Pretoria hoping to get permission to stay. The chances are slim. Mutamba can’t find a job or a home, and, like many Zimbabweans, he feels like a pariah.
After meting out a severe tongue-lashing over the behaviour of the state attorney and director general of justice’s offices on Thursday, the Constitutional Court said it wanted to issue an order making them accountable for their work. ”I have a deep intolerance for state officials who are paid to do their work and don’t do it,” said Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke.
Johannesburg Hospital closed seven theatres in July but is treating the same number of cases with a focus on complex medical care, the hospital’s CEO said on Thursday. ”The allegations that cases are being cancelled are not true for the tertiary cases. What is true is that those cases which are inappropriate are being referred elsewhere,” said Sagie Pillay.
The Chamber of Mines signed an agreement on Thursday with three unions over wages in the coal-mining sector. The chamber’s negotiator in the coal sector, Eric Nwedo, said the agreement would increase wages of higher-paid workers by between 7,5% and 8,5%. Lower-paid employees would get a 10% increase.
The Independent Democrats (ID) won another round in the floor-crossing battle on Thursday when the Cape High Court refused to overturn the expulsion from the party of Cape Town city councillor Achmat Williams. Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso also rejected Williams’s bid to delay his appeal hearing against the expulsion.
Despite persistent incredulous questioning by opposition parties, President Thabo Mbeki insisted on Thursday that the Zimbabwean government, the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change and representatives of civil society are engaged in talks that will produce conditions for holding free and fair elections next March in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity.
Claims of huge bribes, fevered meetings between leaders of political parties, angry letters to newspapers: yes, it’s floor-crossing season once more.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical records, obtained unlawfully from the Cape Town Medi-Clinic, must be returned to the institution ”forthwith”, the Johannesburg High Court ordered on Thursday. Delivering the order in the case between the minister and the Sunday Times, the judge also said that all the minister’s medical records on journalists’ laptops be deleted.
A Western Cape headmaster, charged with three counts of indecently assaulting young girls, was found not guilty in the Parow Sexual Offences Court on Thursday. Christiaan Abrahams (56), principal of The Hague Primary School in Delft on the Cape Flats, was also acquitted on three charges of possession of child pornography.
Vlakplaas and the first church of the Nama people in the country are to be declared heritage sites, the South African Heritage Resources Agency said on Thursday. Chief executive Phakamani Buthelezi said the declaration of these sites formed part of the agency’s five-year strategic plan. He was addressing the media at the Johannesburg Press Club.
South Africa fears tourists could fall prey to armed robbers, many from neighbouring states, at the 2010 Soccer World Cup, a government minister said on Thursday. Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula told reporters the region’s police chiefs are trying to tackle cross-border crime.
The African National Congress (ANC) declined to comment on Thursday’s media reports that national membership officer Alex Sithole had been suspended for inflating membership figures. Business Day reported on Thursday that Sithole had issued ANC membership cards to branches from head office, despite instructions that these be issued locally only.
An alleged hit man in the murder of Govan Mbeki municipality deputy mayor Thandi Mtsweni confessed to the killing in the Evander Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga on Thursday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. The alleged assassin is Sikhosiphe Gwala (42).
Two senior University of Fort Hare academics have been suspended after an apparent examination bungle, Dispatch Online reported on Thursday. They are Professor John Hendricks, dean of social sciences and humanities, and school of social sciences director Fhulu Nekhwevha.
South Africa faces the challenge of how to use its 5% economic growth in ways that everyone, especially the poor, will benefit, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Thursday. He was speaking at the launch of the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s annual report.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has withdrawn its request to the Public Protector to investigate whether President Thabo Mbeki intervened to assure a liver transplant for Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Party leader Helen Zille said on Thursday she made the decision after meeting Mbeki earlier in the week.
South Africa is facing the possibility of state Aids patients developing ”major resistance” to currently prescribed antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, Health Director General Thami Mseleku said on Thursday. ”The challenge is going to be huge,” he told a parliamentary media briefing.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula will appeal an order by the Pretoria High Court that he must rebuild the shacks of a group of Pretoria squatters — or face arrest. His spokesperson, Trevor Bloem, said on Thursday Nqakula would appeal against the decision of Judge Bill Prinsloo.
The JSE remained firm at midday on Thursday, with platinum miners a feature following strong results from Impala Platinum earlier in the day. A 2% gain on Wall Street overnight and generally firm global bourses were also helping. By noon, the all-share index was 0,82% higher. Resources were 0,75% better and the gold-mining index advanced 0,90%.
Growth in demand for credit from South Africa’s private sector slowed to 23,13% year-on-year in July, but money supply rose above forecasts, official data showed on Thursday. The Reserve Bank said credit expansion slowed from a revised 24,99% in June, but the broadly defined M3 measure of money supply grew 24,46%.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) is set to entrench its political dominance with a 15-day window period opening this week to allow elected officials to swap party allegiance without losing their seats. The opposition is likely to be further fragmented as representatives at the national, provincial and municipal government levels are free to cross the floor.
A reduction of crime since 2006 was the result of a clamp-down conducted by the Johannesburg metro police and the South African Police Service, metro police said on Wednesday. Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said more than 1 000 illegal firearms had been confiscated and armed robbery in the inner-city had been reduced by 63%.
Implats, the world’s second-biggest platinum producer, posted a 75% rise in annual headline earnings per share on Thursday, at the top end of expectations, lifted by higher output and strong metals prices. South Africa’s Impala Platinum Holdings said headline EPS jumped to R13,12 for the 12 months to end-June from R7,50 the previous year.
A steaming, bubbling toilet which caused a paraplegic prisoner to suffer burns to his buttocks and private parts will cost the ministers of Public Works and Correctional Services R35 000 in damages. Prisoner Augustino Banze (36) said in papers before the Pretoria High court he went to the toilet at 8.30am on October 16 2004.
Over 700 financial misconduct cases were reported to the Public Service Commission over the 2005/2006 financial year, with 81% of implicated employees being found guilty, the National Anti-Corruption Forum (NACF) said on Thursday.