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.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday welcomed the dismissal of Central Karoo district municipality manager Truman Prince, saying it had lost confidence in the controversial politician. DA Western Cape chairperson Theuns Botha said the party was glad Prince has been ousted.
Two Labour Department inspectors were arrested after allegedly receiving a bribe from a construction-site employer on Monday, the Department of Labour said. ”The suspects were extorting R3 000 from a construction employer whom they had found to be unlawfully employing illegal immigrants,” said a spokesperson.
The withdrawal of charges against retired mining mogul Roger Kebble is provisional and does not indicate the matter has been abandoned, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Monday. Five charges of tax fraud against Kebble were withdrawn in court.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union has called off its planned strike in Cape Town following a Labour Court ruling on Monday that the action would be unlawful. The strike, in protest against what the union claimed was unilateral staff restructuring by the city, was to have started at midnight.
Confusion and a lack of communication among prison officials on Monday led to a delay in the start of former Hard Livings gang leader Rashied Staggie’s murder trial in the Cape High Court. The chaos also caused a frustrated Judge Nathan Erasmus to warn all involved that he would not tolerate unnecessary delays.
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) launched a fund on Monday to provide short-term financial assistance to axed deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, who was sacked earlier in August, partly because she travelled to Spain to an HIV/Aids conference without authorisation from President Thabo Mbeki.
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The Supreme Court of Appeal reserved judgement on Monday in an appeal about the validity of search-and-seizure warrants served on a former attorney of African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma. The counsel for the state conceded that the warrants against attorney Julie Mahomed were not justified.
Former South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) director general and sports commentator Steve de Villiers died in Johannesburg on Monday after a lengthy illness, his family said. He was 84. De Villiers’s career in broadcasting spanned more than 40 years.
An internal investigation has been completed into the conduct of South African Police Service officers at an accident scene near King William’s Town earlier this month where a truck carrying 211 pigs had overturned. Onlookers apparently stormed the truck and killed the pigs — of which some were still alive — for meat.
The South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC) Johannesburg offices were burgled for the seventh time on Sunday, the commission said. ”The commission is concerned that the same gang of armed robbers could be responsible for these criminal activities,” a spokesperson said.
Narend Singh, the former KwaZulu-Natal arts, culture and tourism minister who resigned amid a sex scandal, is back, representing his party in the National Assembly, media reports said on Monday. Singh was sworn in on Friday to serve on the finance, agriculture and land affairs portfolio committees.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has received expressions of interest for its soccer radio broadcasting rights after cancelling its temporary radio agreement with the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The latest development follows the sale of television broadcasting rights to SuperSport for more than R1-billion.
Large veld fires forced the closure of the N3 highway near Harrismith and left hundreds of cattle dead on Monday. The fires and poor visibility were worst in the Swinburne and Montrose areas near Van Reenen’s Pass. At least one vehicle in the Van Reenen’s Pass area had caught alight and its occupants had to be rescued.
The national office of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has once again called its Western Cape region to order, this time over a call to boycott all Chinese imports. Last week, the region called on its members and working-class communities ”to not purchase Chinese-made products”.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Monday accused police of brutality by using excessive force during workers’ protests, saying they had fired tear gas and rubber bullets without warning. It said in a statement that rubber bullets were fired at striking mineworkers in the North West last week.
The preferred bidder to build and operate South Africa’s first private sector-owned power generation plants was announced by Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica on Monday. The AES Consortium — led by AES Pacific Ocean Holdings and several local companies — has been selected to build and operate the gas-turbine plants in Durban and Port Elizabeth.
Five months after the suspension of the Lotto, Trade and Industry minister Mpahlwa is yet to announce the date when it is to resume. Mpahlwa’s spokesperson, Vukani Mde, on Monday said the minister still had not made any announcement.