Municipal workers will embark on an indefinite strike in Cape Town next week, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) said on Tuesday. Samwu said the strike was a protest against the city’s unilateral implementation of new conditions of service. The city had also relocated staff without any agreement with the union. However, the city rejected the union’s allegations.
Railway safety in South Africa requires urgent and sustained intervention, the Railway Safety Regulator said on Tuesday. The Regulator released its State of Railway Safety in South Africa report, which showed a high number of incidents including collisions, derailments and security-related issues.
South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Tuesday that 26Â 000 of its members at Lonmin Platinum mines were on strike over a pay dispute. Union spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said the strike began on Sunday night over a new pay system that he said cheated workers.
South Africa will become the first World Cup hosts in more than 70 years to participate in their own qualifying competition, although they will play in the finals regardless of their performance, officials confirmed on Tuesday. The African qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup are to be combined with the preliminaries for the African Nations Cup finals earlier the same year.
Claims by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that President Thabo Mbeki intervened in Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s liver-transplant process are intended to injure Mbeki’s reputation, the Presidency said on Tuesday. ”The Presidency would like to inform the nation that the allegations made by the DA are without foundation,” a statement read.
The number of foreign tourists visiting South Africa has grown by 10% ahead of Tourism Month in September, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Tuesday. ”South Africa is following the global trend with a rise in travel and tourism to our country. Overall foreign arrivals grew by 10% from January to May 2007,” he said.
In a little more than two weeks’ time, the Springboks will set out to win back the World Cup they won in 1995. It was a wonderful day for the new South African rainbow nation, just a year after the country’s first democratic elections and just three years after the mighty Springbok rugby team was allowed back into international sport.
Reigning champions Western Province (WP) and co-favourites Southern Gauteng both won their opening games at the Spar Women’s Interprovincial Tournament being played at the Hartleyvale Astro in Cape Town on Monday. WP showed their pedigree with a 3-1 win over Northerns, while Southerns beat KwaZulu-Natal 3-0.
It was indeed a surprise when Bafana Bafana arrived in Aberdeen on Monday for their friendly international against Scotland without crafty Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Surprise Moriri, who had reported to the team camp in Johannesburg shortly before the squad’s departure with an injury.
Two of the three apartheid police officers convicted last week of an attempt on Frank Chikane’s life 18 years ago visited him on Monday to ask him personally for forgiveness. Apartheid-era police head Johan van der Merwe, who with Adriaan Vlok received a suspended sentence of 10 years in jail, confirmed the meeting.
Four national government departments owe the Gauteng health department more than R43-million for patients treated at hospitals, the department said on Monday. Spokesperson Zanele Mngadi said the provincial department is in talks with the affected national departments for payment.
Congress of South African Trade Unions president Willie Madisha has agreed to meet the South African Communist Party (SACP) to discuss issues around missing donations. This was confirmed by SACP treasurer Phumulo Masualle, who will lead the investigation into the R500 000 donation saga.
The South African National Editors’ Forum on Monday issued a statement on the reporting by the Sunday Times of allegations against Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, saying it believes that the newspaper would have taken sufficient steps to ensure that the information was true and in the public interest.
Taxpayers have coughed up about R2,6-million for security at the private residences of four Free State ministers, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday. The party’s Free State leader, Roy Jankielsohn, said the African National Congress provincial ministers must explain who they were afraid of.
Political parties and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) have called for a probe into new claims against Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, but the Presidency says it will not act unless evidence is produced.
Suspected sex blogger Juan Duval Uys of Kroonstad on Monday made his second appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court, where he faces a charge of crimen injuria reportedly relating to an allegation that he had stated on a blog that a City of Cape Town mayoral committee member had used Uys’s services as a male prostitute.
Drug laws considered outdated are being reviewed in order to improve the state’s response to drug and substance abuse, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya said on Monday. The Prevention of and Treatment of Substance Abuse Bill will replace the Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependency Act of 1992.
South Africa is an over-advantaged partner in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Monday. He was speaking in Sandton at a conference of business leaders from the SADC region, where a survey was also released on obstacles when doing business in the region.
Previously known as Silver Stars, Platinum Stars officially announced their new identity at a press conference at the Sandton Convention Centre on Monday. The management of the team, led by Larry Brookstone, sold 51% of the club to Royal Bafokeng Sports Holdings and this prompted a name change for the Stars.
Justice was not served during the 2005 murder trial of Mark Scott-Crossley, who is serving a life sentence for killing a farmworker he threw to lions, the Supreme Court of Appeal heard on Monday. Scott-Crossley’s counsel submitted that the court had entered the ”arena of guiding the state when examining witnesses in chief” during the trial.
The United States hopes to increase the money it spends to tackle HIV and Aids in South Africa, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt said on Monday. He met Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya at the Union Buildings in Pretoria as part of an official visit to South Africa.
Almost two years after arriving in Cape Town, nine containers of clothes donated by Taiwan are finally ready to be given to the needy, mayor Helen Zille said on Monday. The containers of new clothes arrived in Cape Town harbour in November 2005 and were held up by unfinished paperwork and customs processes.
The state was stalling on details of the travel-voucher fraud charges faced by a current and a former MP, their defence teams claimed in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday. Lawyers acting for the two said they wanted the court to rule that prosecutors must provide full answers to their requests for further particulars.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday asked the Public Protector to investigate whether Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang benefited from the inappropriate influence of President Thabo Mbeki. It has been alleged that Mbeki called up surgeons at a medical centre to insist they approve a liver transplant for Tshabalala-Msimang, DA leader Helen Zille said.
Jazz guitarist Johnny Fourie (70) was a ”rare and dedicated” musician, friends said in a tribute following his death in Johannesburg on Sunday, just months after releasing his debut album, Once upon a Time. ”His family, students and fans will sorely miss him,” they said in a statement.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was on Monday trying to verify a weekend media report claiming that files on African National Congress (ANC) leaders who had been denied amnesty were languishing in a police safe. ”We’re still following up to check the source of the story,” said Scorpions spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi.
South Africa car manufacturers and trade unions have agreed a deal to avert a strike over wages, the country’s metalworkers’ union said on Sunday. ”We have withdrawn the notice to go on strike,” said Mziwakhe Hlangani, national spokesperson at the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa.
Sometimes referred to as the Sea Robbers, a discordant Orlando Pirates dutifully stole away with a 2-0 victory at Athlone Stadium on Sunday afternoon after being outplayed for most of the SAA Supa8 game by Ajax Cape Town. Late second-half goals against the run of play earned the Buccaneers a place in the semifinals alongside Mamelodi Sundowns, Jomo Cosmos and SuperSport United.
Jazz guitarist Johnny Fourie (70) was a ”rare and dedicated” musician, friends said in a tribute following his death in Johannesburg on August 19, just months after releasing his debut album, Once upon a Time. ”His family, students and fans will sorely miss him,” they said in a statement.
South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande on Sunday said he never received an alleged R500 000 cash donation for the party, which is said to be missing. ”I wish to place it on record that I have never received the alleged R500 000 from any person, as is alleged,” Nzimande said in a statement.
Armed with pistols and hair-trigger tempers, South Africa’s minibus taxi drivers are the undisputed kings of road rage, swerving through traffic and ignoring red lights as nervous motorists get out of the way. In a country struggling to prove its crime-ridden streets are safe before the 2010 Soccer World Cup, drivers often get caught up in gangland-style turf battles.
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African National Congress (ANC) members should not be misled into believing that the media would assist and find solutions for the many challenges facing the organisation, party deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Sunday. He said the media’s only objective was to sensationalise ANC problems.