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.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha has made public affadavits telling his side of the story relating to the missing R500Â 000 donation to the South African Communist Party (SACP). Madisha and a witness say they delivered the money to SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande in 2002.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula was on Wednesday given two weeks to comply with a court order that the shacks of a group of Pretoria squatters be rebuilt — or face arrest. Pretoria High Court Judge Bill Prinsloo condemned the failure of Nqakula’s department to comply with an urgent court order, granted more than a week ago.
The Supreme Court of Appeal on Wednesday reserved judgement in the dispute between Thint and the national director of public prosecutions over the seizure of documents from the French arms company. State counsel Wim Trengove argued before the Bloemfontein court for the necessity of the search warrants.
The African National Congress (ANC) said on Wednesday it knew about Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s dismissal on theft charges from a Botswana hospital in 1976, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio news reported. The Sunday Times reported two weeks ago that Tshabalala-Msimang had been convicted of theft.
A draft post-forensic review has cleared the current acting chief executive of the South African Post Office and its financial director of any wrongdoing, the board of the parastatal said on Wednesday. Acting chief executive officer Motshoanetsi Lefoka and chief financial director Nick Buick were implicated in an initial investigation.
The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) on Wednesday submitted a formal complaint about alleged fraud, theft and corruption at Parliament to the Public Protector and the National Prosecuting Authority. The complaint deals with contracts awarded to African Strategic Asset Protection for revamping and maintaining Parliament’s access and security system.
Opposition political parties on Wednesday expressed shocked at the reaction of local African National Congress (ANC) leaders on the ruling of the Pretoria High Court preventing the name Pretoria being replaced with Tshwane on road signs. On Tuesday the court granted an urgent interim interdict to the Freedom Front Plus and AfriForum.
Verification of the large ”diamond” claimed to have been found in the North West this week could take few weeks, a shareholder of the company laying claim to it was reported as saying on Wednesday. Brett Jolly told the Associated Press: ”It’s totally unbelievable. You just don’t expect this kind of thing to happen.”
Want to know when you can play the Lotto again? Don’t ask Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa — apparently you are not allowed to. A senior government communications official on Wednesday told reporters they could not ask any questions about the suspended National Lottery when Mpahlwa appeared at a briefing.
Piracy and lack of airtime for his records on radio and television are some of the reasons the ‘people’s poet’, Mzwakhe Mbuli, has decided to stop recording in South Africa. On Wednesday he announced his ”retirement” from the local industry, saying he was forced to look for other avenues for his talent.
Controversial Cape Town councillor Badih Chaaban offered the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Western Cape leader Theuns Botha R200 000 in cash and a woman in a floor-crossing bribe, Botha said on Wednesday. However, Chaaban has denied the claim, saying it was in fact Botha who proposed the payment.
Some of Johannesburg’s metro police ”don’t know how to do the job properly” and need the training they are getting from United States experts, says the city’s police chief. Some officers in the Johannesburg Metro Police Department were lazy and corrupt, Chief Superintendent Chris Ngcobo said on Wednesday.
South Africa star striker Benni McCarthy will end a 19-month international exile when he plays against Zambia in Cape Town next weekend. The Blackburn Rovers striker, second highest English Premiership scorer last year, was included on Wednesday in a 22-man squad for an African Nations Cup Group 11 qualifier on September 9 at Newlands Stadium.
Keeping the environment clean and green is everyone’s responsibility, but for the residents of Alexandra extension 7, north of Johannesburg, it comes with a reward: a government initiative is not only bringing trees and flowers to the dusty streets, but also offering monthly prizes for residents who try out their gardening skills.
A director of French arms company Thint always cooperated with investigators probing alleged corruption and fraud in South Africa’s multibillion-rand arms deal, the Supreme Court of Appeal heard on Wednesday. ”Mr [Pierre] Moynot has at all times offered the investigating team his kind and affable cooperation,” said Thint lawyer Peter Hodes.
The United States Africa Command (Africom) should stay out of the African continent, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday. Africom was not really a new development, as the US has always had some kind of focus on the African continent, he told a media briefing in Cape Town.
Embattled Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was accused by Aids activists on Wednesday of fuelling the country’s HIV crisis by obstructing efforts to combat the disease. A raft of NGOs, including the leading Aids lobby, said the recent sacking of the deputy health minister had raised fears that a widely praised Aids programme was being undermined.
The South African Council of Churches (SACC) expressed its ”grave concern” on Wednesday at the tendency of politicians to shame and humiliate colleagues with whom they disagree. ”An increasing number of our political leaders and political parties appear to be going about their business by publicly disgracing one another,” it said.
The Johannesburg High Court granted an interdict to the Gauteng education department on Wednesday forbidding the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) from intimidating pupils, the department confirmed. Spokesperson Kate Bapela said that under the interdict the organisation may not threaten, disrupt or frustrate teaching or learning.
South Africa is at the forefront of research into so-called clean-coal technology, aimed at reducing the huge volumes of greenhouse gases emitted by its power stations, MPs heard on Wednesday. The country’s high-quality coal was mined out, leaving more environmentally harmful, lower-grade coal for use in the country’s power plants, MPs were told.
While core inflation moderated a tad in July, indicating a slight softening in broader-based inflation, headline numbers remain the key bugbears driving CPIX (consumer inflation less mortgage costs) to its highest level in close to four years and sealing the fate for another increase in interest rates in October.
A man was wounded and a woman and two good Samaritans robbed of their vehicles amid a high-speed chase on the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) North Coast, police said on Wednesday. Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said a woman was hijacked and robbed of her Nissan Almera in Mandini, near the Tugela River, on Tuesday night.
The inflation rate targeted by South Africa’s central bank quickened to 6,5% year-on-year in July, coming in above market expectations due to higher food prices. Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday that CPIX (consumer inflation less mortgage costs) accelerated from 6,4% in June, beating the consensus forecast of a 6,1% rate.
The JSE was off its earlier lows by midday on Wednesday as investors looked for value after the recent sharp sell-off. After starting weaker on the back of a sharp fall on Wall Street overnight, the JSE was looking a little better late morning. The Dow shed 2% on Tuesday and Tokyo shares ended down 1,7%, but London shares have turned around.
A group Johannesburg metro police and South African Police Service officers were receiving specialised training from the United States’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Johannesburg on Wednesday. The course on detecting and preventing money laundering forms part of a continuing skills transfer from the US law enforcement authorities.
Durban Premier Soccer League club Amazulu have been fined R125 000 by the league’s disciplinary committee after arriving at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria for their recent game against Mamelodi Sundowns with socks that clashed with those of the home-based champions.
Former South African World Cup-winning flyhalf Joel Stransky is backing the three southern-hemisphere powers as well as hosts France to have the biggest impact at this year’s Rugby World Cup, which kicks off on September 7. ”If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on South Africa,” he said.
South African transportation and mobility group Imperial Holdings on Wednesday reported a 17% rise in headline earnings per share to 1 434 cents for the year ended June from 1 222 cents a year ago. Diluted headline earnings per share were up 16% to 1 330 cents from a previous 1 148 cents.
A Uitenhage school is losing the fight against teenage pregnancy, with 11 pupils pregnant and 15 already having given birth this year, the Herald Online reported on Wednesday. The baby boom has resulted in high absenteeism and failure rates at Nkululeko High School.
The Boland Cavaliers suffered a major setback on Tuesday when seasoned flanker Henley du Plessis was ruled out of Saturday’s Currie Cup match against Western Province at Newlands with a neck injury. Du Plessis is one of the stars of the team so far, and his absence will be sorely missed.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is in possession of information that could lead to a swoop on organised dog-fighting rings across the country. The Cape Times reported on Wednesday that the people being targeted in the SPCA’s crackdown are professionals.