Glenanda Primary School in Glenvista, south of Johannesburg, was evacuated after a bomb threat on Tuesday morning, principal Graham King said. He said 1 200 pupils were sent home after a telephone call by an anonymous man at 9am.
The case of the father of notorious prison escapee Annanias Mathe was postponed in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Although Zaphanias Mathe (80), a Mozambican, was granted R500 bail, he has yet to renew his permit to stay in South Africa, which has expired. For this reason he will be remanded in custody as he is still an illegal immigrant.
The multiparty committee that will inquire into whether Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool misled the legislature will hold open hearings next Monday, its chairperson said. Since its April 20 appointment, the committee has held closed meetings to finalise procedure and fine-tune the timetable.
The prospect of playing in next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals now looms as a fait accompli for South Africa — but not without Bafana Bafana coming back to earth with a rude bump in Sunday’s 1-1 qualifying draw against Congo in Pointe Noire.
Chris Harmse, Africa’s leading hammer thrower, recorded a good win at the Folksam Grand Prix in Karlskrona, Sweden, on Monday. His winning distance of 75,05m was his best of 2007 and better than the B qualifying distance for this year’s World Championships in Osaka.
Durban-born lock Greg Rawlinson returns to his former hometown charged with trying to give the All Blacks a winning start against South Africa in defence of their Tri-Nations rugby crown. Rawlinson received his second Test start — his first since New Zealand was last in South Africa 10 months ago — for this Saturday’s Test at King’s Park Stadium.
Two people were arrested on Monday in connection with the murder of Cape theatre personality Taliep Petersen, said police spokesperson Superintendent Billy Jones. A 45-year-old woman was arrested at about 7.40pm at her house in Athlone and a 41-year-old man was arrested at 8.30pm in the Strandfontein area.
Top detective Piet Byleveld says a bouncer has pledged a bounty of R500 000 to have him killed, media reports said on Tuesday. Superintendent Byleveld said the plot to have him assassinated before he could testify against the bouncer was hatched in the Johannesburg prison.
Cooking and cleaning are to become more expensive, the South African Oil Processors’ Association said on Monday. It said this was because of global shortages of raw materials for cooking oil, margarine and soap. The world palm-oil price had risen by 50% and that of Soya-bean and sunflower oil prices by 35% in the past four months.
Luthuli Dlamini, who has played the character of Stan Nyati in e.tv’s soap opera Scandal and who has been presumed missing for two weeks, is recuperating at his Johannesburg home after he fell ill, an e.tv journalist said on Monday.
The absence of regulations controlling the manufacture and distribution of medical products was endangering the lives of South Africans, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. Briefing the media in Cape Town, DA spokesperson on health Gareth Morgan blamed Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang for holding back legislation to protect consumers.
The state has finally closed its case in the Boeremag treason trial after more than four years, but it could take several months, if not years, for the defence to conclude its case. Some of the defence advocates this week indicated that they intended launching an application for their clients’ discharge on some of the charges.
Police forensic-science laboratories have a backlog of 6Â 086 samples, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Monday. Crime investigating officers have to wait an average of 54 days for results of samples sent in. He said the largest backlog was in the Western Cape’s chemistry laboratory.
The youngest of the five killers facing sentence for the murder of baby Jordan-Leigh Norton on Monday asked the Norton family to forgive him. Bonginkosi Sigenu (18) was the only one of the five to testify in the Cape High Court in mitigation of sentence. The others’ lawyers will instead address the court on their behalf.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter says only God can stop South Africa from hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Blatter is in the country to assess the progress made by South Africa in reconstructing stadiums or building new ones to host the world’s biggest sporting event.
There is no sign that public servants are getting tired as their pay strike enters its third week, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Monday.”The strike continues … there is no sign that workers are getting tired; instead they are more angry,” he told a Cosatu conference in Boksburg.
Potchefstroom’s city council is to make an announcement on the city’s name on Wednesday. In a media invitation, the city council said the mayor, Maphetle Maphetle, will make an announcement ”about the decision that has been taken in relation to the name change of Potchefstroom”.
Free primary-school education, curbing spiralling housing costs and accelerating land reform are some of the issues to be thrashed out at the upcoming African National Congress (ANC) policy conference. The ANC will also debate how foreign land ownership can be regulated without affecting investment.
The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has denied claims that a jet-fuel leak at the Blaauwpan dam, a protected wetland near OR Tambo International Airport, had not been cleaned up. This follows media reports that contamination at the dam had not been cleared nine months after oil spilled into a storm-water drain at the airport.
In the first substantive meeting between the media and the government since 2001, President Thabo Mbeki and senior Cabinet ministers met a delegation of editors in Pretoria on Sunday and agreed to meet yearly from now on. Sunday’s meeting tackled key legislative issues affecting media freedom, among other issues.
The murder case of baby Jordan resumed in its usual start-stop fashion on Monday with the court having to adjourn until noon to obtain two missing pre-sentencing reports. The Cape High Court also heard that an unnamed, privately engaged probation officer had shown no interest in interviewing Dina Rodrigues at Pollsmoor Prison.
Heroic 12-year-old Neil Brenkman managed to sneak his father’s 9mm pistol to him during an armed robbery at their Pretoria home on Saturday night, reported News24 on Monday. One of the gang of robbers was killed in the ensuing gunfight. The others fled.
A South African National Defence Force clerk accused of defrauding her employer of R1,1-million will go on trial in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on June 28. The case against Zelda Wolmarans and co-accused Shona Heydenrych was postponed on Monday as Heydenrych’s lawyer was not available.
Police used a water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse street traders protesting in Durban’s Warwick Triangle area on Monday against the arrest of four of their fellows. The traders, angry over the arrest of four vendors who apparently did not have licences to trade, stoned police officers, passing traffic and police vehicles.
A man who has been on Sandton police’s ”wanted list” since 1999 has been found — in jail, serving a 12-year sentence. Police spokesperson Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said on Monday that Lawrence Mncube has been in Modderbee Prison in Ekurhuleni since 2005, for robbery.
Uncapped Bismarck du Plessis will join the South African squad as cover for injured captain John Smit ahead of the Tri-Nations match against New Zealand in Durban on Saturday. Hooker Du Plessis becomes the 31st member of a squad that was hit by injuries in the Springboks’ 22-19 win over Australia in the opening match of the tournament.
After spending Sunday night in Johannesburg, the All Blacks arrived in Durban on Monday and the management sprung a surprise by naming their side to play South Africa in the Tri-Nations Test at the Absa Stadium on Saturday well ahead of time. Coach Graham Henry said there had been a number of difficult decisions.
A man on Sandton police’s ”wanted list”, whom police have been looking for since 1999, has been found — in jail serving a 12-year sentence. Police spokesperson Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said on Monday that Lawrence Mncube, who has been in Modderbee Prison in Ekurhuleni since 2005 for robbery, was also wanted for four other crimes.
Internet usage in South Africa is skyrocketing. The number of active South African browsers on the web has grown by 121% from 1,8-million in May 2005 to 3,9-million in May this year. In the same period, the number of page impressions grew by 129% from 91-million to 207-million.
Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili was due in South Africa on Monday afternoon, a day before his scheduled talks with President Thabo Mbeki, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He would be welcomed at Cape Town International Airport by Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
Further power cuts maybe on the cards as Eskom workers prepare to down tools. Three unions representing two-thirds of Eskom employees will take action against the parastatal from July 4 if their wage demands are not met, they announced at a joint press briefing in Johannesburg on Monday.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter arrived in South Africa on Monday for talks with organisers of the 2010 Soccer World Cup and for his first on-site inspection of work to build and upgrade the stadiums. This is the Swiss’s first visit to the 2010 World Cup hosts since work began to build and upgrade stadiums.