Sameehg Doutie, the 18-year-old winger sensation, was the hero of Ajax Cape Town’s 1-0 victory over Black Leopards in the Castle Premiership game at Cape Town’s Athlone Stadium on Saturday evening. There was drama late in the second half when the referee red-carded an Ajax substitute striker and a Leopards defender.
A man believed to have been the last person to see a boy before he was badly mutilated two weeks ago was found dead in Phela village in North West province on Friday, police said. The man’s body was found about 500m from the cattle post where he worked and where he last saw the boy.
A man was rescued on Saturday after he fell down a gorge on Table Mountain, shortly after an American tourist was rescued in the same spot, ER24 said on Saturday. ”In an action replay of today’s ‘slip and fall’, a second person fell in almost exactly the same spot,” said ER24 spokesperson Mark Stokoe.
Griquas recovered from a lethargic first half where they were trailing 22-24 against the Griffons to win their compulsory Currie Cup friendly rugby match in Welkom on Saturday 64-34. Spearheaded by Tobie Botes who first shined at flyhalf and then at scrumhalf, the Kimberley side simply overran their opponents.
Four tries by wing Giscard Pieters helped the Free State Cheetahs to a 52-19 win over the hapless Pumas in a compulsory friendly rugby match played at Nelspruit on Saturday. After leading only 19-7 at half-time, the Cheetahs opened the flood gates in the second with Pieters the obvious hero of the day.
Free State Stars’ Dio Sibisi scored a brace to help his team beat Lamontville Golden Arrows 2-0 in front of a sizeable crowd in their first Premier Soccer League game played at home at the Gobel Park Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Stars led 1-0 at the break. Striker Sibisi received a back pass in the 35th minute and struck a lightning shot.
Orlando Pirates coach Bibey Mutombo was whisked away in a police vehicle when his team lost 1-0 to Bidvest Wits FC in a Castle Premiership game at the Bidvest Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Marawaan Bantam scored in the 61st minute to seal victory for Wits and condemn Pirates to their second loss of the season.
Gauteng police raided a counterfeit DVD syndicate and found approximately R10-million-worth of DVDs and equipment in a flat in Winchester Hills, south of Johannesburg, on Saturday. Three South African women and a man from Pakistan were arrested in the flat after an anonymous tip-off was sent to a media company’s crime line.
The only clue from South African Football Association communications director Morio Sanyane as to why coach Carlos Albert Parreira did not return to South Africa on Friday with the locally based Bafana Bafana players after the 1-0 defeat against Scotland was that he was ”remaining in England for a couple of days to keep tabs on some of the South African players”.
SuperSport United recorded a 1-0 victory against a hapless Benoni Premier United in a Castle Premier Soccer League clash at the Germiston Stadium on Friday night. Katlego Mphela netted from the penalty spot in the 65th minute after Fikru Tefera was brought down by Nkosinathi Ngema outside the 18-yard area, but the referee adjudged the foul to have taken place inside the box.
Mafika Sihlali, head of legal services for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), was suspended on Friday, the national broadcaster said. Sihlali was suspended with full pay, pending a disciplinary inquiry after allegations of corruption and abuse of power were levelled against him.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, said Zimbabweans fleeing from the economic crisis into South Africa were not entitled to refugee status, and border camps should not be set up to accommodate them, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday.
The Gauteng branch of the South African National Civic Organisation’s (Sanco) request for an investigation into the Sunday Times editor was ”legitimate”, the national leadership said on Friday. This conflicted with an earlier statement by a Sanco national executive committee member who rejected the provincial body’s call for a probe.
The Johannesburg High Court on Friday reserved judgement in the dispute between Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and the Sunday Times over her confidential hospital records. Judge Mahomed Jajbhay said he would make his decision in seven days. ”I will reflect most of the weekend on the matter,” he told both parties.
Zimbabweans fleeing into South Africa are not entitled to refugee status and border camps should not be set up to accommodate them, a senior Department of Home Affairs official said on Friday. South Africa has received the largest number of people escaping food and fuel shortages in Zimbabwe.
The National Treasury has agreed to make a R1,5-billion loan guarantee and a cash injection of R700-million for the Land Bank to make the state agricultural financier more effective, an official said on Friday. The National Treasury has been working on the turnaround strategy of the Land Bank.
Gauteng education minister Angie Motshekga said on Friday she had no knowledge of any investigation of her by the Auditor General. She was reacting to reports that she was being investigated by the Auditor General for possible tender irregularities. ”I do not know of any investigation by the AG against me,” she said.
The Scorpions are investigating the Durban University of Technology, but the National Prosecuting Authority on Friday would not release any details about the investigation. Professor Jonathan Jansen, administrator of the troubled institution, first mentioned the Scorpions investigation last November.
The national office of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) on Friday rejected a request by the organisation’s Gauteng branch to investigate Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya. It said the call came from a group that exists parallel to the official provincial Sanco structure in Gauteng
Writing in his weekly newsletter, President Thabo Mbeki has accused Business Day newspaper of publishing a ”wholly fabricated story” alleging Southern African Development Community leaders were divided over Zimbabwe, and describing a discussion at last week’s SADC summit ”that never took place”.
Two bogus police officers arrested on Friday have been linked to a gang that follows travellers home from OR Tambo International Airport and robs them, police said. Captain Jethro Mtshali said crime-prevention officers on patrol in Kempton Park arrested two men aged 19 and 21 at about 2am, near Kemstar Mall.
It is disturbing that public servants who blow the whistle on corruption, maladministration and other abuses risk being fired and sued, the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) said on Friday. Further evidence of this trend is provided by a defamation suit filed recently by the correctional services minister, it said.
Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher will lose 60% of his match fees at the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup after criticising the move to drop star batsman Jacques Kallis, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Friday. A disciplinary panel found Boucher guilty of three breaches of CSA’s code of conduct.
The General Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCB) has questioned the purpose of a Bill that, if enacted, would require retired judges to obtain permission from the justice minister to undertake paid work. The GCB has expressed its concerns to Parliament about the proposal.
Cheslyn Williams, the former boyfriend of Idols winner Karin Kortje, appeared again in the Bellville Regional Court on Friday, charged with the murder of a Durbanville guest-house owner. Prosecutor Herculene Swart told magistrate Johan Vermaak that the trial was expected to start before him on September 26.
The Sunday Times was overstepping ”in every direction the bounds of propriety and decency” in publishing of the health minister’s hospital records, the Johannesburg High Court heard on Friday. The minister’s lawyers were asking for an interdict to prevent the Times further commenting on or publishing details of the records.
Botswana has repeated its criticism of the unhealthy trade balance with South Africa, saying it is heavily skewed in favour of its economically stronger neighbour. Speaking on Friday, Botswana’s newly appointed High Commissioner, Motlhagodi Molomo, said Botswana President Festus Mogae was concerned about the trade inequality between the two countries.
The African National Congress (ANC) secretary for the Tlokwe sub-region died on Thursday, the municipality said. Mpho Badirwang (36) also served in the North West provincial government. ”The office of the executive mayor of Tlokwe municipality, Maphetle Maphetle, wishes to send his deep felt condolences to the family,” mayoral spokesperson Kaizer Mohau said on Friday.
More than half the construction sites visited by inspections from the Labour Department in the past week failed to comply with safety regulations. A statement from the Department of Labour said that inspectors visited 115 construction sites and of these, only 55 contractors (47,8%) were found to be fully compliant.
Whistle-blowers who break the silence around sexual abuse at schools are not safe, the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union said on Friday. After a meeting in Johannesburg this week to discuss the issue, union general secretary Thulas Nxesi said that police often did not follow up cases.
The new number-plate system proposed for Gauteng was given a thumbs-up by the Committee for Active Road Safety on Friday. Provincial minister for public transport, roads and works Ignatius Jacobs announced in his budget speech this year that all vehicle owners would have to change their number plates from January 1 2008.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has responded to President Thabo Mbeki’s call for those with evidence of a Cabinet member neglecting their duties to send him the proof. In an open letter published on the DA’s SA Today website on Friday, it has offered the president a list of reasons why he should sack controversial Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.