A woman was extracted from her car with the Jaws of Life after an accident involving five cars, a truck and a fuel tanker on the N3 highway in Bedfordview on Tuesday afternoon. The road was closed in both directions after the accident, leading to major traffic disruptions in the area.
The Constitutional Court on Tuesday reserved judgement in an application by residents of derelict inner-city buildings in Johannesburg against a Supreme Court of Appeal order in favour of their eviction. Deputy Chief Justice Moseneke urged the residents and the Johannesburg municipality to reach a settlement.
The government needs to adopt a new approach to deal with Zimbabwean citizens flocking into South Africa, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Tuesday. The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported her as saying one solution could be to provide them with temporary residence permits.
South African supermarket group Shoprite Holdings on Wednesday reported a 33,3% increase in diluted headline earnings per share from continuing operations to 194,3 cents for the year ended June from 145,8 cents a year ago. The group’s total dividend is envisaged to increase by 38,4% to 101 cents per share.
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The Supreme Court of Appeal reserved judgement on Tuesday in the dispute between Jacob Zuma and the National Prosecuting Authority over warrants used to seize documents from the former deputy president. Zuma’s lawyer, Kemp J Kemp, said the search warrants were ”overbroad”.
President Thabo Mbeki and Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille met in Cape Town on Tuesday to discuss a range of current issues. These included crime, skills shortages, floor-crossing and the dismissal of former deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.
Cape Town mayor Helen Zille and Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille put up a united front on Tuesday against the floor-crossing onslaught of controversial city councillor Badhi Chaaban. Chaaban is facing a disciplinary inquiry over claims that he offered ID and Democratic Alliance councillors cash and positions to join his yet-to-be-formed party.
The NPA is appointing 18 dedicated advocates and prosecutors to focus exclusively on organised crime in the Western Cape.
South Africa’s demand for fresh water will exceed its supply by 2025, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned on Tuesday. Urgent and immediate action must be taken to stave off massive social, economic and environmental damage, the conservation organisation said in a statement, released at the launch of the WWF Sanlam Living Water Partnership in Cape Town.
Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi has rejected suggestions the government is seeking to create one public-service administration for all tiers of government. ”What the initiative seeks to do is to harmonise the conditions of service across government, so that government is able to work better,” she said on Tuesday.
Small businesses that have applied for tax amnesty must submit the required documents by Friday, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) said on Tuesday. ”After the deadline Sars will commence with enforcement actions against taxpayers who have either not applied for amnesty or submitted an incomplete application,” a Sars spokesperson said on Tuesday.
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The trial of Schabir Shaik had not yielded enough evidence to prosecute Jacob Zuma, the state contended in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Tuesday. ”A more comprehensive investigation was called for,” said Wim Trengove, counsel for the state. Hence it had been necessary for the Scorpions to raid four of Zuma’s homes and his attorney Michael Hulley’s office.
The South African Constitution allows for the freedom of expression and for ordinary citizens’ participation in government by raising concerns in the form of petitions and protest marches. However, protests are being "censored" by government authorities, says the Freedom of Expression Network.
The Tshwane metro council has been forbidden to replace the name Pretoria with Tshwane on route and guidance signs pending the outcome of an application to stop the name change. Pretoria High Court Judge Bill Prinsloo on Tuesday granted an urgent interim interdict to the Freedom Front Plus and AfriForum.
The Johannesburg municipality’s evictions of people from derelict buildings should be declared in breach of the law, the Constitutional Court was told on Tuesday. The municipality should also be told to fix up its problems, submitted lawyer Geoff Budlender for the Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions, a Swiss-based NGO.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) failed to pose critical questions when reporting on the South African Communist Party ‘s (SACP) R500 000 missing donation saga, MPs heard on Tuesday. SACP member Sizwe Shezi told the National Assembly’s communication committee that the public broadcaster’s current reporting style left much to be desired.
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Search warrants and not subpoenas were necessary to obtain documents from African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma, the state argued in the Supreme Court of Appeal on Tuesday. Wim Trengove argued that the lesser means of a subpoena would cause a ”high risk” of evidence being concealed or destroyed.
South Africa’s Health Department said on Tuesday it has recalled 20-million potentially defective condoms approved by an official accused of taking bribes from a manufacturer. Unsafe sex is especially risky in South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest HIV infection rates with an estimated 12% of its 47-million people infected with the virus.
Fraud, theft and unauthorised spending are on the rise in government departments, according to a Public Service Commission (PSC) report tabled at Parliament on Tuesday. The PSC’s Report on Financial Misconduct for the 2005/06 Financial Year says this cost the taxpayer at least R45-million at the time.
After ending 1,5% higher on Monday, the JSE was back in the red on Tuesday morning following a decline in the Dow overnight. However, the local bourse was being cushioned somewhat by the softer rand and good interest in direct miners. By 12.11pm, the all-share index was off 0,15%.
South Africa’s real gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices on a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted annualised (saa) basis rose by 4,5% in the second quarter of 2007 from 4,7% in the first quarter of 2007, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. This comes after GDP rose as high as 5,6% in the fourth quarter of last year.
Looking at Bibey Mutombo on the soccer sidelines and the resemblance between the Orlando Pirates coach and the sphinx of ancient Egypt is almost uncanny. And even amid the despair and downright indignation among many in the Buccaneers camp over some insipid performances this season, the coach remains inscrutable.
An intensifying drought that is bringing Eastern and Southern Cape farmers to their knees is certain to cause an increase in the price of mutton, lamb and beef, the Herald Online reported on Tuesday. Karoo farmers, who say they have not had good rains for almost a year, have been battling a crippling drought.
There is a serious amount of work to be done before the International Cricket Council Twenty20 World Cup tournament, which starts on September 11, said South African cricket coach Mickey Arthur on Monday, after the Proteas’ return from their 3-0 one-day international series victory over Zimbabwe.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) has become the first multinational to be exempted from selling 30% of its business in South Africa to black investors, the United States computer giant and government said on Monday. The company will instead invest millions of rands in a new business institute to provide training for 1 800 students.
Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi met municipal labour unions in Pretoria on Monday to discuss the government’s initiative for a single public service, the ministry said. The initiative seeks to create one public-service administration for all three tiers of government.
A Cape Town city councillor on Monday lost a high court bid to keep his Independent Democrats seat as floor-crossing fever hotted up in the city. Cape Town mayor and Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille was scheduled to meet her ID counterpart, Patricia de Lille, on Tuesday afternoon to discuss floor-crossing.
A woman and a small child were killed by a fire at a block of flats in Joubert Park in central Johannesburg on Monday, paramedics said. A Netcare 911 spokesperson said the victims were an adult woman and a baby boy of about two years old. Firefighters found the pair in the corner of a room and carried them outside.
Thirteen years after the country shed its pariah status by scrapping apartheid, 96% of South Africans are now proud of their country, a new opinion poll revealed on Monday. Worryingly, among other figures revealed in the survey, nearly 10% of respondents said that domestic violence could be justified.
Former South African Test batsman Roy Mclean (77) has died in Johannesburg after a long illness, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on August 27. McLean played 40 Test matches, and is best remembered for a match-winning unbeaten 76 against Australia in 1955.
The 45-year-old Johannesburg student pilot of a light aircraft was killed when his plane crashed close to Lanseria International Airport in Johannesburg on Monday evening. He was preparing to land the Piper Cherokee at Lanseria at 6.55pm, but hit power lines and went down on a farm.
Nine homesteads were destroyed and four people injured as runaway veld fires swept through the Harrismith and Van Reenen’s Pass area on Monday, the Emnambithi/Ladysmith municipality said. Some residents had to run for their lives, radio news reported. The fires and poor visibility were worst in the Swinburne and Montrose areas near Van Reenen’s Pass.