The Johannesburg High Court on Friday dismissed a procedural application within an urgent application filed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) head of legal services, Mafika Sihlali, against the broadcaster. Sihlali was taking the SABC to court in a desperate effort to save his career.
A disciplinary hearing for 13 warders suspected of helping Annanias Mathe escape from prison — or being negligent in the matter — was rescheduled on Friday. The Manelisi Wolela of the Department of Correctional Services said the officials were scheduled to re-appear before a departmental disciplinary committee from next Monday to Friday.
The mayor of the Govan Mbeki municipality in Mpumalanga, arrested in connection with the murder of his deputy, will make a bail application next Friday, police said. Sipho Nkosi made a brief appearance in the Evander Magistrate’s Court on Friday and his bail application was postponed to August 17, Superintendent Sibongile Nkosi said.
Attempts to ”smear the names” of leaders of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions was a part of ”the struggle”, SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande said on Friday. Nzimande was addressing the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union 10th congress in Durban.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang never told her axed deputy Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge that she would "fix" her, her department said on Friday. "We have confirmed with the minister that no such statement was ever made," the department said in response to an earlier statement by Madlala-Routledge at a media briefing.
South African rape laws still blame the survivor of rape, People Opposing Woman Abuse (Powa) said on Friday at a protest outside the Johannesburg High Court. ”When it comes to sexual violence, and rape particularly, the laws are really archaic and unjust,” said Powa’s training and public awareness manager Carrie Shelver.
About a dozen protesters gathered outside the Johannesburg High Court on Friday to protest against how rape victims are treated by the law. Some protesters held placards and had their mouths taped shut, while others chained themselves to the court fence. ”Reporting rape equals being raped again in court,” read one placard.
Three people were arrested at Cape Town International Airport with cocaine valued at about R3-million in their stomachs, police said on Friday. Police took them for X-rays after they stepped off a flight from South America at 9am on Thursday, said Inspector Bernadine Steyn.
President Thabo Mbeki must convince his counterparts in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that the time has arrived to impose limited sanctions against Zimbabwe, says acting Democratic Alliance leader Joe Seremane. In his party’s weekly online newsletter, he said Mbeki had to admit the talks he brokered had ”gone nowhere”.
A hearing involving murder accused Najwa Petersen was postponed in the Wynberg Regional Court on Friday as psychiatric reports to determine whether she’s mentally fit to stand trial for the murder of Taliep Petersen have not yet been completed. The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that the widow did not appear in court on Friday.
Sacked deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge has confirmed she was dismissed by President Thabo Mbeki for her unannounced visit to East London’s Frere Hospital and her unauthorised trip to Madrid. Addressing a press conference broadcast live on Cape Talk radio on Friday, she said she wanted the facts, ”as I see them”, to receive an airing.
South African markets reeled on Friday, caught up in a global flight from risky assets sparked by credit worries, with stocks falling nearly 4% and bonds sliding. ”Traders must be placed on suicide watch today [Friday], as the [stock] market is expected to bleed heavily during the day,” said Efficient Research in a note.
South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry this week indicated that it was considering building a state-backed, but privately operated, steel mill to compete with ArcelorMittal South Africa and Highveld Steel and Vanadium. According to the National Industrial Policy Framework, the department aims to finalise the feasibility study by March 2008.
A taxi driver was fighting for his life in the Johannesburg hospital on Thursday night after an enraged motorist shot him in the face following a fender bender incident. The minibus taxi was travelling down Louis Botha Avenue towards Johannesburg when it bumped a Volkswagen Citi Golf at the intersection with Arkwright avenue, in Wynberg.
Investigators on Thursday found more human remains on an Eastern Cape farm where the Pebco Three were believed to have been buried, the National Prosecuting Authority said. ”We uncovered further human bones and other material that we are going to subject to analysis,” said a spokesperson.
The South African government will look more closely at crimes against women, President Thabo Mbeki told a national Women’s Day event in the Northern Cape on Thursday. Mbeki said the government and the Presidential Women’s Working Group had agreed to look at the issue in a ”more detailed and specific fashion”.
The inclusion of the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions prevented the African National Congress-led government from ”tilting to the right”, ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma said on Thursday. Speaking in Durban, he said that if workers and communists are not there, ”we are likely to tilt to the right”.
The Young Communist League (YCL) on Thursday called for charges to be brought against Congress of South African Trade Unions president Willie Madisha and a Pretoria businessman over a missing R500 000 donation. There has been an acceptance from Madisha that he received the money, ”so we think the police should open a case”, said YCL spokesperson Castro Ngobese.
President Thabo Mbeki does not have to give reasons for why he dismissed deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, the Presidency said on Thursday. A decision by Mbeki had been taken and it had been implemented, said presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga. ”The president doesn’t have to provide reasons.”
A total of 28 people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed by a series of forest fires that have swept through parts of South Africa and Swaziland since the end of last month, officials said on Thursday. ”Twenty-six deaths have been reported thus far” in South Africa alone, said a statement issued after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Thousands of women gathered in Kimberley on Thursday for national Women’s Day celebrations, some bussed in from as far as Pampierstad. Groups of singing women had been arriving at Galeshewe Stadium throughout the morning. Many were dressed in the green and black colours of the African National Congress Women’s League.
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund says he is not surprised to hear the baying of wolves at his door after the Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions’ 4-0 defeat against SC Sfaxien in Caf’s Confederation Cup encounter in Tunisia last weekend. ”It’s all part of the game,” said the coach with the Midas touch, who holds the record of guiding four different clubs to the PSL title.
A light aircraft nosedived into a Johannesburg house on Wednesday evening, seriously injuring its pilot and co-pilot, said rescue workers. The Piper Seneca took the roof off the patio of the house in Greenacres Street, Birdhaven, near the Wanderers, at 5.50pm, said Johannesburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson Malcolm Midgley.
President Thabo Mbeki’s decision to let Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge go was a ”dreadful error of judgement”, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said on Thursday. The TAC was reacting to Mbeki’s dismissal of Madlala-Routledge, which took immediate effect on Wednesday.
The South African Cabinet has rejected as ”baseless” suggestions the state is waging a witch-hunt against former members of the apartheid-era regime. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko on Wednesday said a Cabinet meeting had noted the process by the National Prosecuting Authority to prosecute members of the apartheid government.
South Africa would not set up camps to deal with Zimbabwean refugees crossing the border into the country, the South African Cabinet decided on Wednesday. Speaking at a press conference following the Cabinet meeting, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said South Africa’s hopes rested on the mediation of President Thabo Mbeki.
An indaba to discuss inflation and lack of transparency in the private healthcare industry will be convened next month, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Wednesday. The planned indaba will come after the Department of Health held a meeting with about 50 private healthcare industry stakeholders in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The South African Cabinet on Wednesday approved the settlement reached with the Richtersveld community on their land claim against Alexkor and the state for land situated in Alexander Bay. The Deed of Settlement, which concludes a protracted court case in which billions of rands were claimed from the state, was signed in April, said government spokesperson Themba Maseko.
The South African Cabinet has effectively vetoed the Soweto monorail project announced by the Gauteng government in May this year. There were major shortcomings in the process leading to the announcement of the project, government spokesperson Themba Maseko told journalists in Pretoria and Cape Town on Wednesday.
One of the Boeremag accused applied on Wednesday for his discharge on 33 of the charges against him, saying there was no evidence linking him to crimes committed while he was in jail. Mike du Toit (47) and 20 co-accused denied guilt four years ago on 42 charges.
The African National Congress (ANC) on Wednesday acknowledged the government for its efforts to emancipate women. The party would continue to advocate for the empowerment of women, particularly those who remained vulnerable to poverty, disease and violence, it said in a statement ahead of Thursday’s 51st anniversary of the 1956 Women’s March.
Charges of stock theft may be brought against those who slaughtered pigs — or stole them — at an accident scene, the King William’s Town Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said on Wednesday. SPCA spokesperson Annette Rademeyer said the police and the Independent Complaints Directorate had taken statements from SPCA staff.