Unless Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang releases a full report on the deaths of babies in Eastern Cape’s Frere Hospital within the next 24 hours, the Democratic Alliance (DA) will take constitutional steps against her, the party warned on Wednesday. The DA’s health spokesperson, Mike Waters, said the party’s previous attempts to get the minister to release the report drew a blank.
Ratings agency Fitch raised its outlook on South Africa’s ”BBB+” sovereign credit rating to positive from stable on Wednesday, citing the country’s rapid economic growth and improved prospects. ”The change in outlook reflects South Africa’s improved growth performance and prospects,” Veronica Kalema, a director in Fitch’s sovereign team, said in a statement.
A 25-year-old woman was arrested after she threw her new-born baby into a toilet pit near the southern KwaZulu-Natal town of Harding, police said on Wednesday. Police spokesperson Captain Zandra Hechter said the woman was arrested on Tuesday night after police received a report from neighbours.
Facebook addicts can now not only catch up with their long-lost friends, but also stay informed of the latest news from South Africa and the world, thanks to a South African news application launched by the Mail & Guardian Online. It gives users the ability to get updates on breaking news, sport and business.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has turned down an invitation for a question-and-answer session with the murderers of their secretary general Chris Hani, saying on Wednesday the two should rather hand their information to law enforcement authorities. Last week Janusz Walus and Clive Derby-Lewis sent the invitation to the SACP via their lawyers from prison.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has not yet introduced all the recommendations arising from a probe into its commentator blacklist, the broadcaster said on Wednesday. Earlier, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa postponed a hearing into the blacklist issue at the SABC’s request.
The case in which Robert McBride is suing the Citizen newspaper for R3,6-million for defamation resumed in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Testifying in court, acting editor of the Citizen Martin Williams said the published articles stating that McBride was not suitable for the position of chief of metro police in Ekurhuleni were because of his criminal record.
The Foreign Affairs Department on Wednesday condemned the criminal attack in Johannesburg on South Africa’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York. Spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the criminal attack over the weekend on Dumisani Kumalo and his family should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
Rain continued to fall in the Western Cape on Wednesday following the occurrence of a cold front in the area this week. Spokesperson for the South African Weather Service Mnikeli Ndabambi said rainy conditions would continue until the end of the week. ”Cold and rainy conditions will persist until the end of the week,” said Ndabambi.
A 28-year-old man is expected to appear in court in connection with the hijacking of Judy Sexwale outside a school last week, Gauteng police said on Wednesday. Police spokesperson Sergeant Sanku Tsunke said the man would appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. He faces charges of armed robbery and hijacking.
Thirteen hostages were rescued from a supermarket in Mthatha on Tuesday night after being held hostage by a gang of gunmen. Eastern Cape police said the hostage takers had escaped. Guards were collecting money inside the Boxer supermarket on Callaway Street when the gang stormed into the shop.
Two rugby players were killed, another may be paralysed and three other people were injured in a road accident in the Free State on Tuesday. Captain Magda Muller said six people were en route from Soutpan heading in the direction of Welkom when their vehicle overturned after a tyre burst.
New club record signing Darren Bent opened his account for Tottenham Hotspur as the English club won a second match on their South Africa tour, beating Orlando Pirates 2-1 in Cape Town on Tuesday. Bent, who joined Spurs for £16,5-million from Charlton, opened the scoring with a 12th minute strike.
Zaphanias Mathe, the father of prison escapee Annanias Mathe, was released from jail after the state withdrew all charges against him on Tuesday. An attorney at the Oliveira Serrao law firm, Nereyde Namitete, said the toxicology report found that the substance that the older Mathe tried to smuggle inside the C-Max prison in Pretoria contained nothing illegal.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) will be asked to explain last year’s blacklisting of political commentators and analysts to an Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) hearing on Wednesday. The Freedom of Expression Institute has complained that the blacklistings constituted a violation of the SABC’s licence conditions.
A number of people were being held hostage at a supermarket in Mthatha on Tuesday afternoon, Eastern Cape police said. Superintendent Mzukisi Fatyela said police believed two armed men, part of a gang that robbed the store at about 1pm, were holding staff at gunpoint by 4pm.
Two trade unions in a drawn-out wage dispute with Eskom stood back on Tuesday as a third union announced it had signed a deal with the national power utility. Earlier this month, the electricity supplier declared a dispute with the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, the National Union of Mineworkers and Solidarity.
Snowfall and thunderstorms are expected in the southern and western parts of the country, said the South African Weather Service on Tuesday. A cold front over the Western Cape on Tuesday night is expected to result in heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms in the extreme south-western parts of the province.
It will be the last flight for the South African Airways (SAA) Supa8 competition after the national airline announced at the launch of the coming season’s competition it would not be renewing a five-year sponsorship. Symbolically, perhaps, holders Chiefs were absentees from the seeded draw by virtue of not finishing among the top eight teams in last season’s Premier Soccer League.
Eddie Jones is enjoying his present ”consultation period” with Jake White’s Springboks — but the former Wallaby coach has stressed that he is not in South Africa to coach the national team, he is simply here to ”exchange ideas”. Jones — who coached the Queensland Reds during the 2007 Super 14 — raised a few eyebrows when he turned up at training in full Bok kit.
Johannesburg beat rival bids from Cape Town and Durban to host the international broadcast centre for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said the tournament’s organising committee recommended Johannesburg, which is part of South Africa’s industrial and business heartland.
South Africa’s rand has firmed to levels that may add to central bank concerns about the current account deficit and raise doubts about the wisdom of pushing through more interest rate hikes. Raising rates further could enhance South Africa’s carry trade credentials among investors hunting for higher yields, and so bolster the rand.
A 35-year old policeman who was severely burnt in a fire at a Durban police residence died in the early hours of Tuesday morning, police said. The policeman, Sergeant Craig Roach, suffered burns to 65% of his body in a blaze in his 13th floor flat in the South African Police Service’s Natalia building on Monday morning.
The National Civilian Safety and Security Action (Nacissa) lobby group on Tuesday urged South Africans to deduct expenditure on private security from their taxable income this year. Spokesperson Conrad Beyers said a substantial portion of South Africans’ income tax should be used by the government for safeguarding its citizens.
Protests in Soweto against poor service delivery should be a warning to the government that people were losing patience, the Independent Democrats said on Tuesday. Party leader Patricia de Lille said that while people understood the history and the backlog of service delivery, they were no longer willing to accept that there was not enough money.
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A beaming Nelson Mandela cut birthday cake, gave hugs and received gifts at his annual children’s party in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The children sang Happy Birthday to the 89-year-old shortly after his arrival at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund offices.
South Africa’s ambassador to the United Nations was robbed at gunpoint at his son’s home in Johannesburg on weekend, the latest in a string of attacks on prominent South Africans, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Dumisani Kumalo was ambushed by three armed men in the driveway of his son’s house on Saturday night, it was reported.
OR Tambo International Airport should be expanded and not closed down to make way for a new airport in order to cope with the huge expected increases in air-passenger flows in the province, the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) said on Tuesday.
It would be no exaggeration to suggest that Orlando Pirates went through the turbulent process of navigating a succession of troubled and tempestuous waters for much of the past season. Now, having lost the services of five of their most cultured players, the Buccaneers give every impression of attempting to guide a rudderless ship as they prepare to take on Tottenham Hotspur.
The Johannesburg High Court has granted the African National Congress (ANC) leave to defend itself against efforts to force the party to return Brett Kebble’s donations. Trustees of the slain mining magnate’s estate have been trying to force the party to return R3,5-million as well as R875 000 given to the party’s Youth League.
A decision to appoint a mediator to facilitate a resolution to the impasse between Vodacom and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has been agreed to by both parties. The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union has threatened to call for a boycott of Vodacom unless it extended organisational rights to the CWU.
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Nelson Mandela once took out his wallet at his annual childrens’ party so that a child could buy his grandmother some cake. The story goes that at his 85th birthday celebrations Mandela met a 12-year-old boy who looked after his sick and elderly grandmother, and asked the boy what he would do with 20 shillings.