As fuel shortages continued countrywide and panic buying set in, the Department of Minerals and Energy insisted on Friday it would not intervene in the strike by fuel workers. ”It is a huge problem and we are not happy with it, but our hands are tied. It is a very tough one … it is an in-house issue,” said spokesperson Sputnik Rantau.
The tens of thousands of Zimbabwean refugees streaming south are a threat to South Africa’s stability, says Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Their numbers had increased from 4Â 000 a month in 2004 to 20Â 000 a month, he said in his weekly newsletter on Friday.
Taxpayers will be able to file their tax returns online by Monday, the South African Revenue Service said on Friday. Commissioner Pravin Gordhan told reporters in Johannesburg that the new electronic filing system would enable taxpayers to have their assessments done easier and faster.
President Thabo Mbeki should be commended for promoting the appointment of women to senior posts in his government, Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary leader Sandra Botha said on Friday. ”As we look forward to celebrating Women’s Day next Thursday, it is heartening to track the progress we have made in advancing gender rights in the last few years,” she said.
Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira named 23 players — including six strikers — for a mini-camp that will give fringe players a chance to show that they have what it takes to represent the national team in 2010. Parreira is hoping he and his staff will be surprised when they put members of the mini-camp squad through their paces on Monday and Tuesday.
South Africa’s leading rugby players have been dealt a heavy blow after the country’s rugby bosses decided that players basing themselves abroad would no longer be eligible for the national rugby team. The decision on Thursday means some of the Springbok superstars will play their last matches for their country at this year’s World Cup in France.
The Wits medical student who was raped at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital has laid a charge against her alleged assailant, police said on Friday. uperintendent Thembi Nkwashu said the student gave a statement to the police late on Thursday afternoon and laid a charge of rape.
The case against one of the men accused of being behind the African National Congress hoax email saga was postponed in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday. Muziwendoda Kunene, wearing a white suit, appeared briefly in court where his new lawyer asked for another postponement.
More than 200 HIV/Aids lay counsellors marched on the Gauteng health department offices in Johannesburg on Friday complaining that they had not been paid since April. The community-based counsellors also said they were unhappy with the amount of the monthly R1Â 000 stipend they were supposed to get from the department.
South African central bank chief Tito Mboweni warned on Friday inflationary pressures were ”more worrying”, hinting interest rates may have to rise again in Africa’s biggest economy. The Reserve Bank governor told Parliament’s finance committee that rates were the only way to rein in inflation.
Veteran journalist Joe Thloloe has been appointed the new press ombudsman. The announcement was made in Johannesburg on Friday at the first meeting of the Press Council, set up to administer the office of the ombudsman and appeal panel. Thloloe is a former editor-in-chief of the South African Broadcasting Corporation television news.
The once secret organisation that led South Africa’s white Afrikaner minority out of the political and economic doldrums into decades of oppressive rule is battling to find a niche for itself. Following its pursuit of exclusive white interests, the Afrikanerbond is finding it hard to justify its past or find a foothold in the present.
Underlying inflation pressures in South Africa’s economy, even after stripping out higher food and fuel costs, are strongly on the upside, central bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Thursday. He also warned that if proposals for a sharp increase in electricity tariffs are approved, inflation could be pushed even higher.
The Fuel Retailers Association questioned why oil companies had not made alternate fuel delivery plans ahead of a nationwide chemical workers strike, as pumps continued to run dry on Friday. ”Why didn’t they arrange by Monday [the start of the strike] to have these drivers ready?” said association CEO Peter Morgan.
There is little that is new in government’s newly released industrial policy framework, says the Democratic Alliance (DA). ”The policy is low on measurable outcomes, and nowhere speaks to the important Millennium Development Goals of halving unemployment by 2014,” DA trade and industry spokesperson Pierre Rabie said in a statement on Friday.
Government’s bid to speedily provide affordable broadband services which could be drawn into a possible legal battle suggests its conceptualisation may have been bungled from the start. At the root of the legal mess is Public Enterprise minister Alec Erwin’s decision to from a state owned broadband company, Infraco.
One of three women raped last year in KwaZulu-Natal was so traumatised she had to be led away from an identification parade without identifying anyone, the Scottburgh High Court heard on Thursday. The report from the identification parade was submitted to the court after one of the three accused expressed dissatisfaction with the parade.
An investigation into the rape of a Wits medical student at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg continued on Thursday, Gauteng police said. Superintendent Thembi Nkwashu said police were still waiting for the girl to make a statement.
Medical experts who declared child murderer Theunis Olivier fit to stand trial should reappear in court to answer allegations that they did not follow proper procedures, the Cape High Court ruled on Thursday. ”Serious allegations have been made against these professional people and they should be given an opportunity to answer,” the judge said.
The influx of Zimbabwean refugees into South Africa is a ”serious problem” and should be dealt with, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Thursday. ”Clearly we must do more to see what we can do to deal with this large influx of refugees,” he told reporters in Pretoria.
The latest HIV-infection figures of 29% among pregnant women suggest a first-time decline may be starting for the pandemic, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Thursday. ”The overall picture suggests that HIV-prevalence in South Africa may be at a point where we should begin to witness a downward trend,” Tshabalala-Msimang said.
More than 700 complaints about behaviour, competency and attitude were lodged against public servants via the National Anti-Corruption Hotline (NACH) in 2005/06. The Public Service Commission said on Thursday that 389 complaints were lodged against staff at national departments and 353 at provincial departments.
A 27-year-old man who admits he cannot control his sexual urges will spend 12 years behind bars for raping his 10-year-old cousin. The man from Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg, told the Vereeniging Circuit Court he committed the crime because of too much pornography.
New car sales rose to 32Â 199 units last month from 30Â 825 in June, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa said on Thursday. It said in a statement this represented an improvement of 4,5%. Year-on-year sales were, however, down by 13,8%. In July last year, 37Â 366 new cars were sold.
The African National Congress’s (ANC) version of affirmative action was based on ”racial categorising”, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said in Parliament on Thursday. DA safety and security spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard criticised the ruling party’s ”refusal to define how exactly it would determine someone’s race”.
The trial of Andrew Jordaan, the man accused of murdering seven-year-old Sheldean Human, will commence in the Pretoria High Court in March next year. Jordaan appeared briefly in court on Thursday, but was not asked to plead to charges of murder, abduction, rape and the illegal possession of dagga.
It would be dangerous for the government to stay out of the South African economy, taking into account the country’s history, Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said on Thursday. Speaking at the launch of the National Industrial Policy Framework, Mpahlwa said the plan would help the government address some of the legacies in the economy.
BP said on Thursday petrol pumps had started running dry at some of its outlets on the fourth day of a multi-industry strike, as South Africa’s largest oil refinery faced a possible shutdown. BP spokesperson Zipporah Mothoa said delivery of stocks to petrol outlets had been ”gravely impacted” because workers in the distribution chain were on strike.
A woman who was crying as a rapist removed her bikini pants was told by the man to ”shut up” or he would ”blow” her head off, the Scottburgh High Court heard on Thursday. The woman was the third of three rape victims to give testimony before the court in a trial in which three men are accused of rape.
Task teams have been established to investigate bomb attacks on ATMs in every province where they have taken place, police said on Thursday. National police spokesperson Superintendent Ronnie Naidoo said each province had its own task team to investigate the ATM bombings. The task teams were coordinated at national level, he said.
The Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs would not intervene in the strike by fuel production workers, but would monitor developments and supply levels, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. ”Although we have a concern, this is basically an employer issue and we do not really have a mandate [to intervene], said Sputnik Ratau.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on Wednesday denied assertions that it had blacklisted commentators on the Middle East. This was after the South African Jewish Board of Deputies met the broadcaster to discuss their concerns of a perceived anti-Semitic bias on the part of SABC.