The Wynberg Regional Court in Cape Town was packed to capacity on Tuesday during the bail application of Najwa Petersen, who is alleged to have murdered her husband, popular entertainer Taliep Petersen. Magistrate Jackie Redelinghuys postponed the combined bail application of Petersen and her three alleged accomplices.
Gauteng’s development programmes are not only about readiness for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said on Tuesday. ”We must avoid creating the impression that our programmes are driven by the desire to prepare for the 2010 World Cup,” Shilowa said in his budget speech to the provincial legislature.
A fire that destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest in and around the Tsitsikamma National Park in the Eastern Cape has finally been brought under control, South African National Parks (SANParks) said on Tuesday. A SANParks spokesperson said he was not sure about the extent of the damage caused by the raging fire.
No decision has been made yet on whether to prosecute two apartheid-era police bosses for the alleged poisoning of Reverend Frank Chikane, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday. The NPA it was still deliberating the matter with the legal teams of former minister of law and order Adriaan Vlok and ex-police chief Johann van der Merwe.
Severe cold is to hit large parts of the country later on Tuesday and Wednesday, the South African Weather Service has warned. It said temperatures would drop as low as minus nine degrees Celsius in places such as Sutherland in the Northern Cape. The town was blanketed in snow on Monday.
The Cape High Court has ordered the Western Cape government to ensure that health services in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha area are fully reinstated with immediate effect. Handing down judgement in an application for the reinstatement of 41 sacked Khayelitsha health workers on Tuesday, Judge Siraj Desai said the court was not the right forum to rule on their dismissal.
Confusion reigned at a press conference of the Western Cape branch of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Cape Town on Tuesday. After calling a media briefing on the ”suspension” of the public-service strike, Cosatu organiser in the province Mike Louw told journalists: ”We’re not suspending the strike.”
Unruly taxi drivers who think they are immune to road rules and terrorise passengers by forcing them to commute in their vehicles should be dealt with, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. Ann Barnes, the party’s spokesperson for traffic in Johannesburg, said authorities had to start ”confiscating taxis and charging drivers”.
The proposed monorail link between Soweto and Johannesburg was ”not logical” and needed a concrete submission, the Transport Department’s director general said on Tuesday. ”What has been in the press doesn’t present itself as logical. We are not adverse to any innovative proposal but it needs to be dealt with properly,” Mpumi Mpofu said.
South Africa under-23 coach Steve Komphela is still not clear as to who will start for his team when they kick off their Sasol eight-nation tournament against China on Wednesday at the Johannesburg Stadium. Komphela has to choose 11 players from a squad of 26 players, who are also fighting for a place in the team to compete at the All Africa Games next month.
The South African Rugby Union (Saru) said it had no choice but to back Springbok coach Jake White’s decision to send a second-string squad for Tri-Nations matches in Australia and New Zealand. Saru said in a statement on Monday that it had ”to intervene in such a drastic manner based on medical, conditioning and scientific reports”.
Gale-force winds caused damage to houses and shacks on the Cape Peninsula, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday. Winds of up to 60km/h ripped the roofs off almost a dozen shacks in Groot Brak River. Local authorities were arranging alternative accommodation for the affected people.
After a four-hour battle, Durban firefighters on Monday night brought under control a blaze that had ripped through a 32-storey building in the city centre. Three helicopters — from the police, national Ports Authority and the army — airlifted at least 70 people from the roof of the Seaboard Hotel, which caught fire at about 7pm.
Cracks emerged in a crippling public-sector strike on Monday after two unions representing about 160 000 members withdrew from one of the largest mass actions in post-apartheid South Africa. The Health and Other Services Personnel Union accused the Congress of South African Trade Unions of pursuing a political agenda in the strike over pay.
Racist anarchists in Potchefstroom are removing new street-name signs to dump them in the Vaal River, the city council said on Monday. Spokesperson Kaizer Mohau said a street sign for Nelson Mandela Rylaan (Avenue) had also been defaced to read ”Dela Rylaan” — an apparent reference to Boer War General Koos de la Rey.
The Springbok rugby team to tour Australasia for the away leg in this year’s Tri-Nations series suffered a blow on Monday when utility forward AJ Venter announced his retirement from international rugby. His retirement also means he will also miss out on a possible World Cup place with the Springboks.
Two apartheid-era police bosses will know on Tuesday when they will stand trial for the alleged poisoning of Reverend Frank Chikane. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it was ready to prosecute former minister of police Adriaan Vlok and ex-police chief Johann van der Merwe.
The petrol price may drop by 10 cents a litre in July, economists said on Monday. Absa Capital economic strategist Chris Hart said the drop could be attributed to a more stable rand and an easier international oil price. ”The petrol price is likely to drop by roughly ten cents a litre,” he said. However, the possible drop in oil prices should not be celebrated too soon.
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) and the Young Communist League (YCL) have expressed their support for the television-rights deal between the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and SuperSport. ”It is a reasonable deal that will benefit soccer, the players and clubs for the improvement of the game,” ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula said on Monday.
A national antenatal survey for 2006 has shown a decrease in the prevalence of HIV among pregnant women visiting public health facilities, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Monday.
A national warning was issued by the South African Weather Service on Monday morning with regards to a strong cold front affecting the country this week. Already prevalent in the south-western Cape, the cold, windy conditions are expected to sweep across the central interior of the country on Tuesday.
A committee of the Western Cape legislature has cleared former provincial transport and public works minister Mcebisi Skwatsha of claims that he failed to disclose an interest in two companies. Skwatsha is the African National Congress’s Western Cape provincial secretary.
The African National Congress (ANC) is set to confront growing disquiet about the gap between rich and poor at a policy conference this week amid the biggest bout of worker unrest since apartheid. With the ANC due to elect a new leader at the end of the year, the four-day meeting will be partly seen as a test of strength between left-wing and pro-business elements.
All permits are in order at the Heilbron game farm in the Free State where a Bengal tiger attacked a child and her father over the weekend, environmental officials said on Monday. ”There is no problem with the camps, fences or permits,” said Werner Boing, spokesperson on biodiversity compliance at the local department of environmental affairs.
Lawyers for Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool on Monday called for the recusal of most of the members of a special committee probing whether he misled his legislature. The committee, which was to have begun formal hearings on Monday morning, was postponed indefinitely following the application.
Twelve years ago, Hulamin was valued at R600-million within the Tongaat-Hulett Group, as it was known then. On Monday, the specialised aluminium manufacturer listed as a standalone entity on the JSE with a market capitalisation of more than R8-billion. The listing also signals a new beginning for Tongaat Hulett
Amazulu beat Pretoria University 3-1 in the second-leg Mvela Platinum play-off final at a packed Princess Magogo Stadium on Sunday and celebrated their return to the Premiership with their fanatical supporters. Veteran Amazulu striker Dennis Lota scored in the 34th minute and John ”Shoes” Moshoeu doubled Usuthu’s lead in the 53rd minute.
Jannie du Plessis says he is delighted to be included in the Springbok touring party of 28 players for the away fixtures of the Tri-Nations series against the All Blacks and Wallabies. Jake White has opted to rest his big guns for the tour to Australasia, saying it would be ”a ludicrous risk” to take all his players on tour in this World Cup year.
Expect a considerable number of South Africans to follow the route to court 18 to witness Rik de Voest play Russia’s grumpy and growling but almost grotesquely talented 26th-seeded Marat Safin in the first round of the Wimbledon tennis extravaganza, which gets under way on Monday afternoon.
The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has decided to downgrade the city’s Soccer World Cup stadium because the Eastern Cape government has not paid the R212-million it previously committed to the project, a media report said on Monday. However, the provincial government said it remains committed to the development.
An initiation-school surgeon was arrested following the death of two initiates in Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape, the health department said on Sunday. Meanwhile, in Gauteng, a 15-year-old boy was found dead by fellow circumcision initiates at a mountain between De Deur and Orange Farm on Sunday morning.
It is pure coincidence that a postponed labour meeting to decide on the public-service dispute will coincide with the start of the African National Congress policy conference on Wednesday, said the Congress of South African Trade Unions on Sunday. Meanwhile, a large teachers’ union has announced its withdrawal from the strike.