There was a welcome air of confidence at the Bulls camp on Tuesday when scrumhalf Fourie du Preez showed marked signs of recovery from his shoulder injuries and his name was thrown into the selection hat ahead of the Bulls’ Super 14 final clash against the Sharks.
A former pupil of Ithuteng Trust school principal Jackie Maarohanye, who turned state witness against her and one of her co-accused, was arrested in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Police spokesperson Constable Sefako Xaba said Simphiwe Ncoguthu (24) was arrested in connection with a theft case levelled against him by Maarohanye in 2005.
Police arrested 31 people on Tuesday afternoon after a protest in the Petsana township near Reitz in the Free State. Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said the people arrested faced charges of public violence, damage to state property, vandalism and being in possession of stolen goods.
In what may be a first for South Africa, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Tuesday announced that it had launched a beauty pageant in KwaZulu-Natal. And the search for Miss IFP KwaZulu-Natal has already received overwhelming interest, according to the IFP’s Sipho Mbatha, the organiser behind the event.
Despite African National Congress (ANC) comments to the contrary, businessman Tokyo Sexwale has confirmed that he is being lobbied for the post of party president, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Tuesday. Lobbying would be followed by nominations and Sexwale said he would want to know why he was wanted.
African leaders will meet in Ghana in July to discuss the idea of creating a united government for the continent. This would be a legacy of the dreams of pioneering post-colonial leaders, such as Kwame Nkrumah, and would see current states surrender certain powers to the superior entity.
South Africa’s targeted inflation should remain within its range, but the target could be threatened by adverse developments and a poor response to past monetary tightening, the central bank said on Tuesday. In its latest monetary policy review, the Reserve Bank said it remained focused on keeping inflation within a 3% to 6% band.
An ”indefinite” full-blown strike has been set to start on May 28 for public-sector unions affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the federation said on Tuesday. ”We are talking about indefinite action — not a symbolic strike for a day or two,” South African Democratic Teachers’ Union general secretary Thulas Nxesi said.
Good progress is being made in establishing a ”special-purpose vehicle” to speed up and ensure effective land reform, Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana said on Tuesday. She said the matter was still under discussion, but would hopefully go to the Cabinet for approval in a month’s time.
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Claims of a plot to assassinate African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma should be treated seriously, the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) said on Wednesday. ”We call on the police and other relevant law-enforcement agencies to do everything in their power to get to the source of this matter,” ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula said.
The Gauteng African National Congress (ANC) on Tuesday said it had not yet started discussing names of candidates for ANC national leadership positions. ANC provincial spokesperson Ignatius Jacobs said provincial leadership had decided earlier this year to ”focus on the principles of leadership and not on any names”.
South Africa’s credit providers are racing to sign up clients before a new law makes it illegal for them to extend credit to consumers deemed unlikely to pay back the money. Lenders are resorting to mailing credit cards to prospective clients and offering them pre-approved loans high-pressure phone calls ahead of the June 1 introduction of the National Credit Act.
The legislative framework underpinning South Africa’s labour market "is sound" and shall not be altered, South African Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said on Tuesday. He was speaking in his budget vote in an extended public committee in the National Assembly.
South Africa’s 18th Gay and Lesbian Pride celebrations will be held in the streets of Rosebank, Johannesburg, it was announced on Tuesday. The Johannesburg Pride is the largest gay and lesbian event on the continent, and celebrates South Africa’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities.
Pessimists who doubt South Africa’s ability to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup will have to ”eat their own words” in 2009 when all preparations for the event will be completed, Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi said on Tuesday. He said some people had ”targeted 2010” to reflect their negativity about South Africa and Africa.
Reducing the number of provinces from nine to four lines up with the African National Congress’s attempts to centralise the government and is therefore no surprise, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) said on Tuesday. ”Efforts to make democracy easier or cheaper are ridiculous and defeat the object,” it said.
The government has vowed to banish the bucket system by year-end, but on January 1 there will remain many South Africans who have no choice but to use this system of sewage disposal. Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Lindiwe Hendricks said on Tuesday that there are still 15,3 million people without access to basic sanitation services.
The case against Jackie Maarohanye and three other people accused of kidnapping and assaulting a Sowetan reporter and driver was postponed by the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. The case was postponed to May 16 because witnesses and lawyers were not present during the proceedings.
”I have to do what is right for the club, our supporters and Sundowns as a brand, but at the same time I’m not going to risk any of our key players for this game.” That’s the view held by Mamelodi Sundowns’ five-time league-winning coach Gordon Igesund of his team’s purposeless clash against Jomo Cosmos on Wednesday.
The Angolan government has evicted thousands of people from their homes in poor parts of the capital, Luanda, over the past few years, two human rights groups said on Tuesday. New York-based Human Rights Watch and Angola’s SOS Habitat said about 20 000 people had been affected by 18 mass evictions carried out between 2002 and 2006.
Johannesburg metro police were deployed to the Langlaagte testing station on Tuesday morning after irate members of the public threatened to break down the doors. ”People become impatient and threatened to breakdown the glass doors. Metro police were deployed to ensure …,” said spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.
South Africa is on the right track in its efforts to set up a profitable biofuels industry, said Ernst Janosky, head of agriculture at First National Bank, on Tuesday. Speaking on the sidelines of the 41st annual Nampo harvest week, Janosky said that for a biofuels industry to be profitable, local fuel prices need to be above R10 a litre.
Athletics South Africa confirmed on Tuesday that Hezekiel Sepeng has been reinstated for all athletics competitions with immediate effect. Sepeng tested positive for the prohibited substance, Norandrosterone, in an out-of-competition test in February 2005.
A court case opening on Tuesday is expected to expose the conflict within the South African government as it battles to balance the demands of mining expansion and environmental protection. Billions of rands are at stake as the government awards huge mining licences while it is accused of putting several animal species and ecosystems under threat.
Increasing numbers of South Africans are taking sick leave because of psychological illness, costing companies over R1-billion a year, management consultants said on Tuesday. ”R1,2-billion … was lost by companies who had to pay the direct costs of sick leave due to psychological reasons,” said Johnny Johnson of Corporate Absenteeism Management Solutions.
Residents of Pepsana at Reitz in the eastern Free State blocked roads with burning tyres and stones on Tuesday in a protest over municipal service delivery, police said. Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said the protesters had stopped all traffic in and out of the township since 4am on Tuesday.
Stormers captain Luke Watson has been ”treated unfairly” for too long because of the anti-apartheid stance of his father, Cheeky, and his controversial inclusion in the Springbok squad is justified, says South African Rugby Union deputy president Mike Stofile. ”Luke especially has been treated unfairly,” he told a newspaper on Monday.
A number of the Sharks rugby front-runners took a sabbatical from the first training session on Monday ahead of Saturday’s final against the Bulls in Durban. The major concern, though, for coach Dick Muir and the Sharks management was the state of health of two key players.
It might seem like a haul up the slopes of Mount Everest before reclaiming a prized position in the elite World Group of the Davis Cup, but South Africa have started their ascent in style by winning all five matches in the Euro-Africa Group III play-off in Tunisia by a 3-0 margin.
Benni McCarthy could be to Bafana Bafana what Didier Drogba is to Côte d’Ivoire or what Michael Essien is to Ghana if he puts his mind to it — but once he makes himself available to play for South Africa again, he won’t be granted any special privileges, says Bafana and former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.
Zero pupil attendance was reported at some Khutsong schools on Tuesday, hours after two people were arrested for attacks on three spaza shops. Police spokesperson Superintendent Louis Jacobs said two people were arrested for housebreaking and theft in the early hours of Tuesday.
An American magician and his associates were robbed at gunpoint while visiting a student in Khayelitsha, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. New York magician Steve Cuiffo, an associate of celebrity magician David Blaine, and his colleagues spent Mother’s Day at the family home of a 15-year-old student in the Cape Town township.