Replacement back Francois Steyn knocked over two late drop goals to give South Africa a nail-biting 22-19 win over Australia at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday in the Tri-Nations opener of 2007. Trailing 10-19 after 44 minutes, the Springboks rallied to score 12 unanswered points in the second half.
At Youth Day celebrations in East London on Saturday, President Thabo Mbeki questioned whether this generation is living up to the tradition of past youth leadership. Also, African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma called on the party’s youth to go to its upcoming policy conference and be clear on what they want.
The development and empowerment of South Africa’s youth must form one of the focal points of the country’s reconstruction and development programmes, President Thabo Mbeki said in his weekly online letter. But, he questioned whether the youth is well organised to play the role of drivers of progressive change.
More than 2Â 000 jobs in road construction and maintenance in Gauteng will go to young people, Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa told a Youth Day rally at the Johannesburg Stadium on Saturday. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change said the ”spectacular courage” shown by the youth of South Africa on June 16 1976 inspires Zimbabwe’s youth.
First National Bank (FNB) was granted leave on Friday to appeal a high court decision that outlawed a savings product which has created 27 millionaires. Bank spokesperson Xolisa Vapi said the Supreme Court of Appeal granted the leave to appeal a high court decision against the ”million-a-month account”.
Concern over the elitist nature of pay TV was the gist of reactions on Friday to an exclusive broadcast deal between SuperSport and the Premier Soccer League (PSL). The furore was described by the PSL as ”a mountain manufactured out of a molehill”, as 140 games would be sold to free-to-air broadcasters.
Gauteng is to get about 10 new mixed housing developments in the current financial year, provincial housing minister Nomvula Mokonyane said on Friday. They will be in Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Mogale City and Johannesburg, she told the Gauteng legislature in her 2007/08 budget speech.
Police will not join the public-service strike until at least Wednesday, under an undertaking by the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union that was made an interim order of the Labour Court on Friday night. Meanwhile, public-service unions will consult their members on the government’s revised salary package.
Claims that African National Congress (ANC) Western Cape provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha used his influence to steer a land deal to party cronies were scurrilous and untrue, the party said on Friday. It was reacting to an article in Friday’s Mail and Guardian. Nic Dawes, associate deputy editor of the M&G, said that the newspaper stands by its article.
A security officer was stoned to death on Friday when residents of an informal settlement outside Pretoria resisted an attempt to evict them, Gauteng police said. The residents then set fire to a truck that was to be used to move their belongings, said police spokesperson Inspector Paul Ramaloko. Three Nissan 1400 bakkies were also set on fire, he said.
Public-service unions will consult with their membership before deciding to accept or reject government’s revised salary package, which includes a 7,25% wage-increase offer. The unions also said they were concerned that the salaries of some public servants had been withheld on Friday.
South African electricity tariffs are likely to keep rising steeply as the country tries to fund a massive spending programme to upgrade its power network, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Friday. Africa’s largest economy has suffered a series of power failures over the past couple of years as it struggles to keep up with faster economic growth.
Business and political leaders attending an annual conference meant to focus entrepreneurial attention on Africa hailed China’s and India’s huge appetite for raw materials as a powerful driving force to move the African economy up a gear. But the discussion at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference on Africa was tinged with anxiety.
The Springboks will draw on inspiration from former president Nelson Mandela when they meet Australia at Newlands on Saturday. The sides meet in a Mandela Challenge Plate match which doubles as the first Tri-Nations game of the 2007 season.
The government’s plans to centralise the public service, purportedly in the interests of improving ”delivery”, set alarm bells ringing, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Friday. ”The real aim must be bluntly stated: it is to centralise the African National Congress’s power, to erode the opposition’s chances of setting up alternative models of ‘delivery’,” she said.
The Gauteng transport department is playing double standards with the new number-plate system, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Friday. DA’s transport spokesperson James Swart said it is not clear how much the new number plates will cost motorists.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.