The Comrades Marathon will go ahead peacefully on Sunday. This is the commitment from Athletics South Africa (ASA) president Leonard Chuene and president of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Willie Madisha. The two leaders have had discussions around the matter, and they have both agreed that there will be no disruption to the ”ultimate race”.
The revised Film and Publications Bill — adopted by the National Assembly — was unconstitutional and deeply flawed, the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said on Friday. The contentious piece of legislation originally sparked an outcry from the media industry, which resulted in a revised version appearing before Parliament on Thursday.
A gala on Friday marks the official opening of a book fair hailed as Africa’s largest by organisers. With the theme of ”More than Black on White”, the fair opens to the public on Saturday, starting four days of authors’ readings, book launches, panel discussions and seminars. Those attending include African, German, Indian, Swiss and Dutch authors and publishers.
The Comrades Marathon is still on track despite threats by KwaZulu-Natal members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to disrupt the event, Athletics South Africa (ASA) said on Friday. ”I spoke to Cosatu president Willie Madisha on Thursday and there will be no disruptions at,” ASA president Leonard Chuene said.
Africa’s four biggest economic powers could become an engine for regional growth in the same way that emerging market giants Brazil, Russia, India and China are trendsetters in the rest of the developing world, a senior researcher at the African Development Bank said.
As South Africa prepares to open its Vodacom Tri-Nations campaign against Australia this weekend, former Springboks Andre Joubert and Wayne Fyvie have declared the team capable of making it all the way to the World Cup final. ”I think we definitely have the players now,” said 1995 Rugby World Cup winner Joubert.
Headlines as intimidating as ”A return to hell” and ”Mind-games torment for Bafana” have preceded South Africa’s African Nations Cup qualifying game against Congo in the one-time scenic, but now mainly archaic, former French colonial jewel of Pointe Noire on Sunday.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila wooed South African businesses on Friday, portraying his war-ravaged country as a risk-free environment that is ripe for investment. Kabila conceded security remained a concern in the east of the country but sought to assure a business audience in Cape Town that the situation was being dealt with.
Pupils should not have sex but if they fall pregnant, they should be treated with respect and encouraged to finish their education. The Education Department’s Measures for the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy focuses on prevention and emphasises the importance of sex education.
The trial of former spy boss Billy Masetlha will proceed, the Hatfield Community Court in Pretoria ruled on Thursday. The court dismissed Masetlha’s application for discharge at the close of the state’s case. Magistrate Dreyer van der Merwe said after considering all evidence presented so far, Masetlha had a case to answer.
Springbok coach Jake White’s meeting with President Thabo Mbeki has been postponed, the Presidency announced on Thursday. It was postponed at White’s request, presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said in a statement. ”The Presidency will schedule another meeting if or when Mr White makes another request in future,” he said.
While it can hardly be denied that striking public-service workers are struggling to make ends meet, is the government justified in stonewalling their demands?
President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday dismissed reports he has ”rejected” the recommendations of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers chaired by Justice Dikgang Moseneke. The Presidency appealed to all South Africans to familiarise themselves with the commission’s processes as laid down in legislation.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has concluded a deal worth well in excess of R1-billion over five years with SuperSport, giving the pay channel exclusive TV rights on all their fixtures. The bombshell announcement was made by PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza at the league’s Parktown offices on Thursday.
A suspected dagga dealer, fearing arrest, tried to get rid of a bag of dagga by throwing it over his fence — where it landed on the bonnet of a police car, Grocott’s Mail reported on Thursday. The Port Alfred man then ran away, but was arrested after a brief chase.
Deaths in South Africa are on the increase, with 590Â 000 in 2005 — 3,3% up on the previous year, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) figures on mortality and causes of death. ”The overall number of deaths shows a continuous increase from 1997 to 2005,” Stats SA said in a statement on Thursday.
South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could become an engine of growth for Africa, visiting DRC President Joseph Kabila said on Thursday. ”The opportunities for growth that present themselves to us are huge,” he told a joint sitting of the South African Parliament.
South Africans were willing to pay for subscription television services, research by Telkom Media revealed on Thursday. Spokesperson Chris Van Zyl said the market potential for satellite subscriptions could be as high as 2,3-million by 2012. This would be more than double the current number of households with access to pay television.
Police have arrested 80 people for Road Accident Fund (RAF) fraud involving R3,7-million. Director Phuti Setati said they were accused of colluding with touts to fabricate information about vehicle accidents in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in May. ”False claims were allegedly submitted to the RAF for payment of fictitious injuries sustained in accidents that never occurred,” he said.
Key government departments are doing nothing to stop drug addiction, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. DA spokesperson on social development Mike Waters said a reply to a DA question showed that 10 government departments had not yet submitted reports on drug-addiction strategies.
South Africa’s two-week-old public-sector strike should have been avoided and is damaging the country’s image abroad, the deputy leader of the governing African National Congress said on Thursday. ”I don’t think it’s doing any good for the country,” Zuma told the media, one day after thousands of extra workers joined the stoppage.
President Thabo Mbeki and South African editors will meet to discuss ”mutual concerns”, the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) said on Thursday. ”Sanef values good relations with the government and other stakeholders. This meeting will allow us to discuss issues of mutual concern and benefit,” said Sanef chairperson Jovial Rantao.
Locally made Colgate products are ”100% safe”, the company said on Thursday. This followed a toothpaste-recall scare in the United States. Director Russell Pallard assured consumers that locally made Colgate products were ”100% safe, guaranteed”.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila arrived at Tuynhuys in Cape Town on Thursday for talks with President Thabo Mbeki. Kabila, who jetted into the city on Wednesday afternoon, is on an official visit to discuss, among other things, political and economic relations between South Africa and his mineral-rich country.
Australia have not won in South Africa since the turn of the millennium and going into Saturday’s Tri-Nations rugby opener at Newlands in Cape Town it doesn’t seem as if the trend will change. Former Springbok coach and player Carel Du Plessis believes the Boks are mentally and physically too strong to succumb to the Wallabies.
South Africa trails Western Europe and the United States when it comes to energy consciousness and the importance of saving power, the National Energy Efficiency Agency said on Thursday. The agency’s acting general operations manager, Barry Bredenkamp, said in a statement that this attitude should change.
South Africa’s public finances and economy have improved sharply but it faces severe challenges such as HIV/Aids and high unemployment which hold back a ratings upgrade, Moody’s Investor Service said. Last week, Moody’s revised the outlook on South Africa’s foreign currency debt ratings to positive from stable.
Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan took the helm on Thursday of an alliance of African government and business leaders seeking to reverse a decline in the continent’s agricultural output. Sub-Saharan African food production was declining year-on-year as a third of the continent’s population suffers from hunger, Annan told reporters.
A toddler suffering from a lung infection died after nurses at a Bloemfontein hospital told his mother to take him home as they were preparing for a strike, Die Volksblad reported on Thursday. After spending the whole of last week by her son’s bedside, Joyce Ditsoane boarded a taxi for a 45km ride home when nurses told her there would be no one to take care of the boy on Wednesday.
Veteran prop Os du Randt was sidelined by South Africa for this weekend’s Tri-Nations rugby opener against Australia so he’ll be ready next week for the All Blacks. Only four starters from last weekend’s 35-8 win over Samoa were named by coach Jake White on Wednesday for Saturday’s Test at Newlands.
After eight days of being ”missing in action”, international ”fugitive” Radovan Krejcir has handed himself over to police, media reports said on Thursday. The Czech Republic tycoon was due to surrender himself at the Kempton Park police station at 11am on Wednesday but was instead taken into custody by Interpol.
Four-times winners Cameroon head a list of at least eight countries who have a chance to qualify this weekend for next year’s African Nations Cup finals. Cameroon, Angola and Morocco are all a point away from a place in January’s tournament, while wins would also send defending champions Egypt and Algeria through.