Metal and engineering industry strike action could be over on Tuesday if talks succeed, both unions and employers said on Tuesday morning. Talks between unions and the Steel and Engineering Industry Federation of South Africa resumed at 10am in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The owners of the Assmang manganese processing plant at Cato Ridge, where at least 50 workers are suspected to be suffering from manganese poisoning, were warned as early as 1995 about the dangers of high levels of dust at the plant. In 1999 the owners were advised to use international measurements of acceptable dust levels because the local legislation was outdated.
A Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations (Codeta) driver has been shot dead in Khayelitsha in the sixth taxi-related killing in less than a month. The murder of a 24-year-old Codeta-affiliated driver, who may not be named as his next of kin have not been informed, follows the murders of five Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association drivers in the past three weeks.
Western Cape police are investigating charges of rape and abduction after a five-year-old girl, who had been reported missing in the Karoo, was found alive, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Tuesday. Police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Potje said that he was relieved that the girl had been found.
A meeting to resolve a dispute about moving ambulance services and clinics in Gauteng from municipal to provincial administration ”achieved nothing” on Monday, a trade union said. The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), which opposes the move, met provincial health minister Brian Hlongwa in Johannesburg.
South African companies affected by a clampdown on business on Zimbabwe have not made complaints to Pretoria’s mission in Harare, the Foreign Affairs Department said on Monday. ”If indeed they are faced with this critical situation, they need to get in touch with the embassy in Harare and inform them of their plight,” said spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.
The Italian experience of small and medium businesses will help South Africa in the 2010 Soccer World Cup and beyond, Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa said on Monday. ”Italy’s experience and culture of small, medium and family-owned businesses will help in the long term,” the minister said on the first day of the SA-Italy Business Forum.
The importance of the Proudly South African campaign is undisputed, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said about the troubled organisation on Monday. Last month the Proudly South African campaign denied media reports that the DTI had withdrawn its support.
Big manufacturing and construction companies were the hardest hit on Monday as a national strike by metal and engineering workers got under way. Smaller firms appeared to have been the least affected, said the Steel and Engineering Industry Federation of South Africa.
South Africa’s transport system is becoming increasingly inadequate in responding to export-led growth, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Monday. Speaking at the South African Transport Conference in Pretoria, Radebe said road networks were congested and ”bursting at the seams”. A resource not fully used was sea transport.
Striking metal and engineering workers handed over a memorandum to an employer representative in Johannesburg on Monday. The trade unions, led by the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa, demanded a 10% wage increase for the lowest grade and 9% for the highest grade workers for the next three years.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula will look into Democratic Alliance (DA) allegations about problems in the restructured specialised family violence, child abuse and sexual offences (FCS) units and take corrective steps if necessary. Nqakula’s spokesperson, Hangwani Mulaudzi, said on Monday that, previously, the FCS units were based in area offices.
The efforts of Gauteng’s environment management inspectors (EMI) were highlighted at the department of agriculture, conservation and environment in Johannesburg on Monday. Provincial minister Khabisi Mosunkutu said the quest of the specialised unit was to build a safe, secure and environmentally sustainable community.
South Africans have taken the bait for the FishMS line that can tell you whether the fish you are about to eat is in plentiful supply or illegal, a spokesperson for the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative said on Monday. The instant access to accurate information and an informed choice has ”struck a chord with South Africa’s seafood lovers”, Timony Siebert said.
An identification system linked to a website and more publicity on indigent burial is needed for the hundreds of unclaimed bodies in Gauteng state mortuaries, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday. DA health spokesperson Jack Bloom said there were now 607 unclaimed bodies in mortuaries.
A ”huge contingent” of Johannesburg metro police will direct traffic in the central city on Monday for a march by metal and engineering workers. ”We are preparing for 22 000 demonstrators,” said chief superintendent Wayne Minnaar on Monday morning.
Holders Al-Ahly of Egypt won a second successive African Champions League group match to open up a three point lead at the top of their standings with a 1-0 win over Asec Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire on Sunday. Midfielder Mohamed Aboutrika scored from close range five minutes before half-time to give Al-Ahly six points from their two Group B matches.
The third round of the Currie Cup played over the weekend has left many teams with more questions than answers. Western Province and the Valke will reflect on their results and wonder what they have to do to resurrect their Currie Cup campaigns.
A plan to rescue Zimbabwe’s flailing economy by pegging the Zimbabwe dollar to the South African rand is being put together by the Southern African Development Community (SADC). SADC’s Zimbabwe rescue package would see the Reserve Banks of South Africa and Botswana pump money into the Reserve Bank in Harare.
Western Stormers utility forward Gerrie Britz has been called up to the South Africa squad in place of injured skipper Bob Skinstad. The veteran number eight, who led the Springboks against Australia in a Tri-Nations Test in Sydney on Saturday, has a broken rib and is on his way home facing a fight to be fully fit in time for the World Cup in September..
The 15-month-old daughter of South African Airways (SAA) chief executive officer Khanya Ngqula drowned in a Durban North swimming pool, the Sunday Times reported. It was not clear who was supposed to be looking after the child.
Thousands of music lovers roared on Saturday in northern Johannesburg as international music stars set fire to the African leg of the round-the-clock Live Earth music concerts to highlight global warming. The event, backed by former United States vice-president Al Gore, rocked nine major cities on all continents.
The Free State Cheetahs moved clear at the top of the Absa Currie Cup standings when they outclassed Griquas 51-10 in Bloemfontein on Saturday. After holding a narrow 14-7 (two tries to one) lead at halftime, the Cheetahs simply moved up a gear after the break and scored another five tries for their third success full-house of log points.
The Independent Democrats (ID) will campaign to take over the provincial Western Cape government in the 2009 elections, party leader Patricia de Lille said on Saturday. ”The signs are there; written in the results of most of the by-elections we have fought this year,” she said at the party’s national conference in Cape Town.
Francois Botha made a winning return to the ring after a five year absence when he outpointed the giant Australian Bob Mirovic in a 12-round bout for the WBF interim heavyweight title at the Carousel Casino on Friday night. The scoring in favour of Botha was 119-109, 120-108, and 120-107.
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) left no doubt on Friday about its opposition to the notion of ”two centres of power”. ”We remained steadfast that there cannot be two centres of power, because that would be disastrous for our country,” president Fikile Mbalula said in a statement.
Two youths were killed in Limpopo on Friday after they were circumcised — bringing the number of circumcision deaths to at least 17 in four provinces in the last five weeks. At least 12 deaths were reported in the Eastern Cape, three in Limpopo and one each in Gauteng and North West since the winter ”circumcision season” started.
South African Airways (SAA) could face a class action lawsuit for flights cancelled during a 2005 strike after a passenger succeeded in a suit for compensation. Michiel Spaapen said on Friday he had launched a campaign to mobilise other passengers who were also affected by flight cancellations.
The Ekurhuleni metro said on Friday it did not understand the basis of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) call for the suspension of its police chief, Robert McBride, and believed any allegations against him should be tested first. ”We don’t understand the basis of that call and how they came to that conclusion,” said mayoral spokesperson Prince Hamnca.
The Potchefstroom city council expressed sadness on Friday over the destruction by fire of a historical Afrikaans church in the town. Mayor Maphetle Maphetle said the council extended its sympathy to the congregation of the NG (Moedergemeente) Church after the building was gutted by fire on Wednesday night.
The N1 to Beaufort West in the Western Cape has been reopened to traffic after a collision involving two trucks and three buses outside Laingsburg earlier on Friday. Seven people were killed and 17 seriously injured, among them a seven-year-old girl. The accident started when a bus heading toward Cape Town collided with a truck.
About 100 Vodacom employees picketed at the company’s head office in Midrand on Friday, demanding recognition for the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU). ”For the past five or six years, we have been trying organise ourselves a mouthpiece. However, this is not happening because Vodacom has used tactics against us,” said Frith Selelo, a senior accountant at Vodacom.