A suggestion by a bungling Premier Soccer League (PSL) to league champions Mamelodi Sundowns to withdraw from the Telkom Charity Cup extravaganza at Mmabatho Stadium next Saturday has been rejected with the appropriate contempt. It was indeed the PSL who created the current embarrassing mish-mash in South African soccer.
It is part of a series of friendly fixtures masquerading as a make-believe competition. But if there is a touch of the Mad Hatter’s illogic attached to the format of the Vodacom Challenge, it will not prevent what should be another near-capacity crowd from cramming into the Eastern Province Rugby Stadium on Thursday night.
Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, the 26-year-old world number one 800m runner, returned to his brilliant best at the Herculis Monaco Super Grand Prix on Wednesday when he won his event in a blistering one minute 43,74 seconds. It was the fastest time of the year and the first below 1:44. The gritty South African ran an outstanding race and issued a stern warning to the world elite.
Eskom says it cannot guarantee residents in the Cape Peninsula that there will be no blackouts when Koeberg’s Unit One is refuelled early next month, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday. Eskom presented its short to medium term plans to officials from the city of Cape Town on Wednesday.
Soweto’s Dube hostel — plagued in recent weeks by violent protests against poor service delivery — resembles a ghost town. Washing swaying in the wind is the only sign of life, along with the dank smell of urine mingled with that of burnt rubbish.
Former national cricketer Garth le Roux and companies under his control never paid a cent of tax on property-sale commissions totalling just over R1,9-million, Cape Town’s Wynberg Regional Court heard on Wednesday. Le Roux and his accountant, Deon van Heerden, have pleaded not guilty to 48 counts of income-tax and VAT fraud.
The consistently high death toll of workers in South Africa’s mines is of great concern, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said on a visit to AngloGold Ashanti’s Moab Khotsong mine near Orkney on Wednesday. The two deaths there over the weekend brought to four the toll at the mine, said chief inspector of mines Thabo Gazi.
The Citizen portrayed Robert McBride as a criminal, his lawyer said during McBride’s R3,6-million defamation suit against the newspaper on Wednesday. Advocate Daniel Berger said acting editor Martin Williams had ignored the fact that McBride was granted amnesty, thus clearing his criminal record of acts that were politically motivated.
A plan to reduce the effects of commercial fishing fleets within Southern Africa’s so-called Benguela-current large marine ecosystem was released in Cape Town on Wednesday. Experts have hailed it as a clear and practical way of implementing an ”ecosystem approach to fisheries” policy in the region.
The violence that has marred recent service-delivery protests cannot be justified, the South African Human Rights Commission said on Wednesday. While the commission recognises the right of any person to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions, ”inherent in this right is the respect for the rule of law”, the commission said in a statement.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) has warned taxpayers against applying for deductions for private household security as a form of protesting against crime. Honest, non-suspecting taxpayers could, as a result, end up committing a crime themselves, Sars warned in a statement on Wednesday.
Hospital group Netcare has denied allegations that private hospitals are presenting inflated invoices to medical-aid schemes. It was responding to a report in the Star newspaper that alleged that private hospitals inflate device and materials invoices when presenting them to medical-aid schemes.
Chilling details on how Pretoria teenager Samantha Uys possibly met her death emerged on Wednesday in the trial of her two alleged killers. Pretoria High Court Judge Tholi Vilakazi ruled that a pointing-out statement by Ricky Godfrey (19) of Meyerspark — one of the accused — was admissible as evidence against him.
The decision by the Cabinet to approve the setting up of structures to ensure that government departments’ documents are available in all the official languages was welcomed by several organisations on Wednesday. ”The decision … is a first, yet far-reaching, intervention to ensure a commitment to multilingualism,” the Afrikanerbond said.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) Youth Brigade hopes to pull the country’s youth out of its voting slumber through a ”Miss IFP” beauty pageant, launched on Wednesday. The contest is a bid to get young and first-time voters interested in the electoral process ahead of the 2009 elections.
Sascoc (South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) president Moss Mashishi is pleased with Team South Africa’s performance at the ninth All Africa Games, which took place in Algeria earlier this month. Team SA came third in the event with 180 medals, of which 61 were gold.
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.