South Africa’s rand fell to a four-and-a-half month low to the dollar on Wednesday, and some traders said the rand could weaken even further as investors unload risky assets. At 06h40 GMT the rand stood at 7,39 to the dollar, 0,6% weaker than its previous New York Close. It touched a low of 7,4120 earlier, a level last hit on March 21, according to Reuters data.
Four years of meticulous planning and building a squad of 30 versatile players is what South Africa coach Jake White will be banking on when the Springboks launch their challenge for World Cup honours on September 9. Since his first day in charge of the national side in 2004, White said he would spend his time building a team that could seriously stake a claim for the trophy.
Proteas coach Mickey Arthur’s first reaction to the news of Jacques Kallis’s resignation as vice-captain of the Proteas national squad, prompted by his non-inclusion in the South African Twenty20 squad for the upcoming World Cup, was to implore Kallis not to do anything hasty, which could have a negative impact on his career.
Your cellphone is vibrating in your pocket while you’re trapped in an endless business meeting. Surreptitiously bringing the device into view under the mahogany table you see the caller ID — it’s your boss and she wants to know if the company has sealed the deal.
About 5Â 000 high school pupils from across Gauteng brought traffic to a standstill in central Johannesburg on Tuesday, demanding the implementation of recovery plans after the public-service strike, metro police said. The pupils were led by the Congress of South African Students.
Human Rights Watch on Tuesday urged Southern African leaders to send monitors to Zimbabwe to investigate the clampdown on the pro-democracy movement. On the eve of a key Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit , leading Zimbabwean human rights groups said they held a four-hour meeting with South African mediators.
Three more Boeremag treason triallists on Tuesday applied for their discharge on all of the charges against them, claiming the state had not managed to link them to any conspiracy to overthrow the government. Counsel for accused Adriaan van Wyk, Pieter van Deventer and Frederik Boltman applied for their clients’ discharge because of a lack of evidence against them.
Veteran Springbok prop Os Du Randt hopes to make his final Test on South African soil a memorable one. ”This is my last season and I want to go out on a high,” the big front-ranker told the media on the eve of the Boks’ Rugby World Cup warm-up Test against Namibia at Newlands on Wednesday evening.
The Sunday Times on Tuesday refused to return documents detailing Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s alleged drinking in hospital. The minister must ”explain on what basis” the documents should be returned, Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya said after a deadline set by the minister for the return of the documents had passed.
South Africa risks becoming a magnet for paedophiles when it hosts the 2010 Soccer World Cup as rising child-sex tourism blights Africa’s top travel spots, activists said on Tuesday. Every year thousands of children in mostly poor countries fall prey to sex tourists. Activists say South Africa must take steps to guard against child-sex tourism ahead of the Cup.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will undertake a major policy review before the 2009 general election, party leader Helen Zille said on Tuesday. Speaking at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for International Political Studies, she said the DA and its predecessors’ major contribution till now had been to keep the idea of opposition alive over decades.
Police have made more arrests in connection with violent organised crime in Gauteng in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, provincial minister of community safety Firoz Cachalia said on Tuesday. He said arrests for residential and business robberies and vehicle hijackings had increased compared with last year.
The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) is considering temporarily closing its doors after police broke up student protests at its main campus in Pretoria on Tuesday. Captain Lucas Sithole said 16 students were arrested at a march to protest the suspension of lectures outside the university’s main campus at 11.30am.
Bulls and Springbok number eight Pierre Spies was on Tuesday officially ruled out of this year’s World Cup in France. The 22-year-old was given the bad news on Tuesday after learning last week he may still have an outside chance of making it to France, where the tournament kicks off on September 7.
As senior apartheid-era security officials go to court on Friday, South Africans are divided over whether it will help reveal the truth and reconcile the nation, or reopen the wounds of the nation’s racial divide.
The name change of the Potchefstroom local municipality to Tlokwe local municipality is effective immediately, the North West department of local government and housing said on Tuesday. ”[Provincial minister] Howard Yawa approved the changing of the municipality to Tlokwe last week,” said the provincial minister’s spokesperson.
As another 30 people were arrested in a protest on Tuesday, this time in Sebokeng in the Vaal triangle, political parties urged the government to speed up service delivery to angry communities. ”Is the [provincial minister] going to finally do something about service delivery or are more communities going to have to riot?” asked Paul Willemburg of the DA.
The prospects of having a little medicinal dram to settle pre-flight butterflies have narrowed with South African Airways’ (SAA) decision to keep their on-flight bar closed until noon. SAA spokesperson Robyn Chalmers said the decision was in line with local and regional trends.
More than R45,6-million was lost by national and provincial government departments due to financial misconduct in the 2005/06 financial year, the Public Service Commission (PSC) said on Tuesday. Releasing the commission’s report on financial misconduct in government departments, PSC chairperson Stan Sangweni said there were 771 reported cases.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi’s comments on Cabinet ministers who died on duty were never intended to show disrespect to them, it said on Tuesday. ”These comments were in no way intended to show disrespect to those ministers who passed away,” Cosatu said in a statement.
South Africa’s economic outlook has improved despite rising inflation and a spate of strikes, the Bureau for Economic Research said on Tuesday, and raised its growth forecasts for 2007. Africa’s economic powerhouse has seen a series of strikes for higher pay in recent months and inflation-beating settlements could add to price pressures.
A doctor who supported former deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge’s view that the health situation at Frere Hospital constituted a crisis has been suspended. Dr Nokuzola Ntshona on Tuesday said that Luvuyo Mosana, the CEO of the East London Hospital Complex which includes Frere and Cecilia Makiwane hospitals, had suspended her on Monday.
Legal action will be taken if the Sunday Times does not return medical documents belonging to the health Minister, her spokesperson said on Tuesday. Sibani Mngadi said the Sunday Times had until about 5.30pm on Tuesday to return Health Minister Manto Tshabala-Msimang’s medical documents.
President Thabo Mbeki’s dismissal of his respected deputy health minister has handed political ammunition to critics who accuse him of purging opponents as he tries to hold on to political power. Mbeki, facing a fierce battle to maintain leadership of his ruling party, sacked Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge for insubordination, sparking a public outcry.
Police have made more arrests in connection with violent organised crime in Gauteng in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year, provincial community safety minister Firoz Cachalia said on Tuesday. Cachalia said arrests for residential and business robberies, and vehicle hijackings had increased compared to last year.
On what was deemed a ”champagne occasion”, Bidvest Wits University on Monday launched a new team emblem as well as the arrival of five new players for the coming Premier Soccer League season. ”All five have been training with the squad for some time,” said coach Roger de Sa.
Springbok coach Jake White will get his first opportunity to see his World Cup side in action when South Africa face lowly Namibia in a warm-up match in Cape Town on Wednesday. It will also be the first match the Springboks play after former Australia coach Eddie Jones joined the squad a few weeks ago.
Six people were injured and 30 were arrested during a protest over housing delivery in Sebokeng on Tuesday morning, Vaal Rand police said. Captain William Mcera said about 800 protesters burned tyres and stoned vehicles from about 4am, opposite the Sebokeng Hospital in Zone 14.
Twenty-three Vodacom employees were suspended on Monday in a sequel to a month-long strike, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said. The employees were a part of a strike in July and August, in which the CWU demanded recognition from Vodacom.
The Mpumalanga man who decapitated his Siberian Husky puppy with a chainsaw earlier this year has died in a car accident, according to newspaper reports. Phillip Matthysen (31) was thrown from his black Toyota Land Cruiser when it rolled several times on the R50 to Delmas in the early hours on Sunday.
Jacques Kallis has resigned as South Africa’s vice-captain following his omission from the country’s Twenty20 world championship squad. He also said on Monday he was considering his playing future in the wake of his non-selection. Selection convenor Joubert Strydom said Kallis was being rested for the tournament, which will be played in South Africa in September.
Mzamo Xala disavows the term ”black diamond” — conferred on members of South Africa’s booming black middle class who now hold nearly a third of the country’s buying power. The expression implies superiority, he protested, which offends the collective-mindedness of his cultural background.