The African National Congress (ANC) has expressed disquiet at rumours reflected in a documentary on President Thabo Mbeki linking him to the 1993 assassination of South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani. ”The suggestions, made without any reference to any evidence in any form, are deeply hurtful and patently irresponsible,” the ANC said on Thursday.
South Africans will soon say goodbye to cheap electricity, Eskom said in its 2007 annual report released on Thursday. ”The cheap-electricity era is coming to an end, here and in all other markets,” chairperson Valli Moosa warned in his message. South Africa’s electricity is the cheapest in the world.
There was much ado this week over a dress.
A South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) official has claimed that Israeli security strip-searched him at OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park. Samwu first vice-president Xolile Nxu claimed he was detained and interrogated about three weeks ago on his departure for a conference in the West Bank village of Bil’in.
The Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) will continue with its protests outside Vodacom premises, the union said on Thursday. CWU spokesperson Mfanafuthi Sithebe said the union would defy the interim interdict granted to Vodacom to prevent striking workers from entering, interfering with or obstructing access to the company premises.
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Former president Nelson Mandela will share a birthday cake with youngsters in Johannesburg on Tuesday at his annual children’s party. Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund spokesperson Tumi Mdwaba said the cutting of the cake will be the day’s highlight.
The water in the Blaauwpan Dam near OR Tambo International Airport — contaminated when jet fuel was spilled in November — is now clean, the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) said on Thursday. ”The latest tests conducted on water samples taken from the dam have indicated that the water is clear,” general manager at the airport Chris Hlekane said.
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The most important part of former president Nelson Mandela’s legacy is that our common humanity matters more than our differences, former United States president Bill Clinton said on Thursday. ”Our differences are wonderful, they make life more interesting, but our common humanity matters more,” said Clinton.
A woman who allegedly sent rude SMSs to politician Patricia de Lille — and then refused to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court — was sent for psychiatric observation on Thursday. Lara Johnstone (40) is charged with crimen injuria, and prosecuting authorities are yet to decide whether to add intimidation to the charges.
July is the month most South African employees take sick leave due to influenza, a study released on Thursday showed. The study of 7 000 employees by Corporate Absenteeism Management Solutions shows that flu absenteeism hits companies the hardest in the winter months of May, June and July.
The substance that Zaphanias Mathe, father of prisoner Annanias Mathe, tried to smuggle to his son was not lethal, the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court heard on Thursday. The 80-year-old Mathe appeared in court on Thursday only to hear that his case was postponed to July 30.
The tiny Southern African kingdom of Lesotho has declared a state of emergency over worsening food shortages caused by a drought that is threatening the food supplies of hundreds of thousands of citizens. More than 400Â 000 people are predicted to be in need of relief supplies by the end of the year.
Inspectors have found that the Mittal Steel company contravenes environmental laws at their facilties in Vereeniging, the Environment Affairs and Tourism Department said on Thursday. Spokesperson Mava Scott said some of the company’s activities had been taking place without proper environmental authorisation.
The drunk-driving case against Judge Nkola Motata of the Pretoria High Court was postponed in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Motata was arrested on January 5 after crashing his car into a wall in Hurlingham in Johannesburg.
Potchefstroom will pay a reward to anybody positively identifying people who vandalise traffic signs or street-name signs, the municipality said on Thursday. Municipal spokesperson Kaizer Mohau said the reward was 10% of the value of the property, with a minimum of R50 and a maximum of R500.
The South African flag will once again fly high at the next edition of the world’s premier sailing event, the America’s Cup, following the lodging of a second challenge in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Team Shosholoza founder and managing director Captain Salvatore Sarno confirmed by telephone on Wednesday night that he had personally lodged a notice of entry.
The City of Cape Town has to spend millions of rands every year to clean water from the city’s main supply dam, Theewaterskloof, which has become polluted by massive numbers of illegally introduced alien fish. The fish, particularly carp and barbel, are spreading throughout the province’s dams and rivers.
Taxi violence may soon be snuffed out through technology, if a pilot project next month to monitor vehicles by satellite to eradicate pirate operators succeeds, the Cape Times reported on its website on Thursday. The system will first be rolled out on a single route between Pretoria and Johannesburg.
Prospects for the struggling dairy-farming sector are looking better following a decision by milk processors to raise prices this year, according to a farmers’ representative body. Milk Producers’ Organisation MD Etienne Terre’Blanche said the current milk shortage occurred after processors slashed prices from early 2005.
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Nelson Mandela’s 89th birthday was celebrated on Wednesday with a charity match in which an African XI drew 3-3 with a Rest of the World team. Mandela, who has dedicated his life to the promotion of human rights and democracy, was honoured by the ”90 Minutes for Mandela” all-star game.
The confidence of South African consumers has declined over 11% in the last 12 months, the latest MasterIndex survey released on Thursday showed. Out of a possible 100 index points, the South African MasterIndex declined from a record high of 91,1 points for the second half of 2006, to 86,5.
Emerging markets specialist Standard Chartered is in takeover talks with South Africa’s fourth-biggest bank, Nedbank Group, media reports said on Thursday. Nedbank spokesperson Graham Lillie declined to comment on the report. ”We don’t comment on market speculation”.
Judy Sexwale, wife of former Gauteng premier and presidential hopeful Tokyo Sexwale, was hijacked while picking up their son from school on Wednesday. The incident took place outside St David’s Marist School in Sandton where she was threatened by three armed men who pulled her from her BMW.
Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan on Wednesday paid tribute to Bill Flynn after the actor’s death a week ago. ”It is with deep sadness and regret indeed that we have learnt of the passing on of Mr Bill Flynn who was, undoubtedly, one of the most highly gifted performers in South Africa,” said the minister in a statement.
A meeting to avert a possible strike in the industrial-chemical sector was unsuccessful on Wednesday, trade union Solidarity said. Spokesperson Marius Croucamp said a meeting between employees and the union failed to yield results. Employers in this sector were offering a 7,5% wage increase and unions were demanding 10%.
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Football legends past and present gathered on Wednesday at the former South African prison colony that housed Nelson Mandela for 18 years to honour the statesman on his 89th birthday. Current players, along with former maestros, joined administrators and some of Mandela’s fellow former political prisoners on Robben Island off the Cape coast to kick a symbolic 89 goals into a football net.
The decision to prosecute apartheid-era minister law and order Adriaan Vlok is not a departure from reconciliation, the South African Council of Churches said on Wednesday. ”[The decision] seeks to strengthen it [reconciliation] by bringing out the truth,” said the SACC’s newly elected president, Professor Tinyiko Maluleke.
The 26 finalists for the 2007 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year award were announced this week, with nine of them from South Africa, representing the print media, television and radio broadcasting spectrum. The South African finalists include five producers working with M-Net’s news and actuality show Carte Blanche.
A 39-year-old prisoner at the Ncome prison near Vryheid claims to be the hit man in the murder of Free State official Noby Ngombane, media reports said on Wednesday. Ngombane was shot dead at his home in Bloemfontein on March 22 2005. He was a senior official in Free State Premier Beatrice Marshoff’s office.
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Nelson Mandela, the icon of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid, marked his 89th birthday on Wednesday by launching his fellow elder statesmen on a new venture to reduce conflict and despair. The former South African president was the host and star turn at a ceremony to announce the formation of a brains trust of world leaders.
An interim interdict to prevent striking workers from entering, interfering with or obstructing access to Vodacom premises was extended on Wednesday. The Labour Court extended the interdict to Friday, when it will deliver a final decision on whether the interim interdict will be made permanent, said a Vodacom spokesperson.
Cricket South Africa announced a provisional 30-man South African squad on Wednesday, from which the final 15-man Proteas squad to play in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) inaugural World Twenty20 South Africa 2007 tournament will be chosen. The final, 15-man Proteas squad must be submitted to the ICC by August 11.