The South African government on Thursday hit out at reports casting doubt on its ability to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said that ”sensationalist headlines” misrepresented Fifa president Sepp Blatter’s remarks that other countries were ready to take over.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Vusi Pikoli has warned against ongoing ”attacks” on the NPA by the African National Congress (ANC) and its affiliates. NPA spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi said in a statement on Thursday that Pikoli had issued his warning during a briefing to the National Assembly’s justice committee on Wednesday.
Flirting with disaster for much of the game, Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns ultimately scraped into the Absa Cup final by the skin of their teeth at Potchefstroom’s murky Olen Park on Wednesday night to keep their hopes of a double alive. The Brazilians edged home 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after finishing level 1-1 with a gallant Silver Stars after extra time.
South Africa’s main opposition party, widely seen as the voice of the white minority, has a rare chance to shake off its conservative image when it elects a new leader this weekend. A black man, a woman and a farmer are all vying for the leadership of the Democratic Alliance (DA) at a party conference near Johannesburg.
A motorist who used his cellphone to film KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele’s speeding motorcade in January has denied accusations that he is a racist, the Witness newspaper reported on Thursday. On Tuesday, provincial transport minister Bheki Cele issued a statement to the media justifying speeding VIP convoys.
Clubs eliminated from the African Champions League last month get a second chance for continental success when they drop down to play in the fourth round of the African Confederation Cup this weekend. Eight losers in third-round Champions League ties a fortnight ago host the eight winners of third-round matches in Africa’s second annual club competition.
South African gold miner Gold Fields said on Thursday its third-quarter adjusted earnings per share fell 23% to 83 cents, citing lower output and higher costs. Adjusted EPS, excluding the effects of financial instruments and foreign debt, was expected to fall 8% to 99 cents, according to the average forecast of 10 analysts.
Zimbabwe marks Thursday’s World Press Freedom Day in the wake of relentless attacks on the media and its citizens’ right to freedom, in contrast with other countries that reflect on the progressive steps they have taken to entrench media freedom and freedom of expression, says the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ).
South Africa’s Sasol, the world’s top coal-to-liquids maker, will hedge 45 000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) or 30% of its synthetic fuels production for its 2008 financial year. Under the hedge, Sasol has a floor price of ,40 per barrel, based on monthly average dated Brent crude oil prices.
Women, especially black women, are still largely absent from the higher ranks of South Africa’s media organisations — and they earn considerably less than their male colleagues do. These are the findings of a new study by the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) that was released on Thursday, World Press Freedom Day.
A gang hijacked a man and forced him to take them to his home where they stuck him to an exercise bicycle with superglue and robbed him on Wednesday, said Johannesburg paramedics. Netcare 911 spokesperson Mark Stokoe said the man, in his 50s, was hijacked in Bryanston and forced at gunpoint to take his attackers to his home in Midrand.
Electricity has finally been restored to Bedfordview, east of Johannesburg, after a three day power failure, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Thursday morning. Residents said the power supply was restored late on Wednesday night.
President Thabo Mbeki is to meet outgoing Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday. The meeting appears to be a first for the two men with Leon, head of South Africa’s main opposition party, reportedly describing their relationship as strained.
South African services group Bidvest has agreed to buy Asia-based Angliss Foodservice for about -million and a local fleet management firm for ,3-million, the company said on Thursday. Bidvest said it had agreed in principle to acquire state-owned rail utility Transnet’s fleet management and leasing business Viamax Holdings for R1-billion.
Bedfordview residents east of Johannesburg were still without electricity by 6pm on Wednesday, the Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality said. ”It’s still not on,” said spokesperson Zweli Dlamini. Eskom spokesperson Fani Zulu could not be reached for comment. The company has repeatedly had to push back its self-imposed deadline for resolving the problem.
The rape case against Orlando Pirates player Jabu Mahlangu was thrown out of the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday. ”The case was thrown out because of insufficient evidence, so he’s a free man,” said Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht.
Judgement was reserved in an application by the state for a blanket media ban on the trial of two foreign businessmen accused of involvement in an international nuclear-smuggling ring in the late 1990s. Judge Joop Labuschagne reserved judgement on the heatedly debated application, which pitted two of South Africa’s foremost senior advocates against each other.
Former KwaZulu-Natal premier Lionel Mtshali on Monday said there had never been an ”unprecedented outcry” over provincial ministers’ speeding vehicles during his tenure. ”During my time as premier, there were no road accidents involving government vehicles with blue lights,” said Mtshali.
Johannesburg metro police on Wednesday appealed to young white, coloured and Indian men and women to join their ranks. ”Over and above beefing up our numbers for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, we don’t have enough metro police from these groups — only 20% is white, coloured and Indian, in total,” said Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.
Judgement gets under way in the Cape High Court on Thursday morning in the trial of alleged baby-murder mastermind Dina Rodrigues and the four men the state claims she hired as hit men. Rodrigues, Sipho Mfazwe, Mongezi Bobotyane, Zanethemba Gwada and Bonginkosi Sigenu stand accused of murdering six-month-old baby Jordan-Leigh Norton.
Conservation fees for South African national parks will rise, the South African National Parks (SANParks) said on Wednesday. SANParks spokesperson Wanda Mkutshulwa said the increase is a result of various factors in the day-to-day management of national parks.
The Independent Democrats (ID) on Wednesday became the first and to date only political party to support the salary increases for MPs proposed by the Moseneke Commission. ”A caucus meeting attended by ID members of Parliament decided to support all the recommendations of the Moseneke Commission regarding MP salary increases,” ID leader Patricia de Lille said.
Orlando Pirates player Jabu Mahlangu was arrested and charged with rape on Wednesday morning, Gauteng police said. Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said the 26-year-old soccer player handed himself over to police. ”He was brought in by his lawyers and arrested at about 10am.”
Eskom has handed in a request to increase electricity tariffs, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa said on Wednesday. ”I can confirm that this morning we received documentation from Eskom,” said Nersa chief executive Smunda Mokoena. He said the regulator would first have to study the report to ”see what it is Eskom is asking for”.
South African manufacturing activity fell in April on slower growth in new-sales orders and output, while price pressures accelerated, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed on Wednesday. The PMI index fell to 57,9 on a seasonally adjusted basis after increasing to 60,5 in March, Investec, which sponsors the index, said in a statement.
No policy has been adopted to detain multi- or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) patients, acting health minister Jeff Radebe said on Wednesday. He was replying to a written question from Democratic Alliance health spokesperson Gareth Morgan.
The Democratic Alliance and the Inkatha Freedom Party will have to account for damage caused during May Day’s march against name changes in Durban. This is according to eThekwini Municipality’s municipal manager, Michael Sutcliffe, who said on Wednesday that the ”thuggery, looting and criminal behaviour” would be dealt with.
An eminent South African historian believes he has stumbled on Jack the Ripper. Charles van Onselen said at first he wasn’t sure he wanted to publicise the conclusions he drew when he noticed parallels in the century-old, unsolved Jack the Ripper case and the background of Joseph Silver, a feared international criminal who terrorised women in Johannesburg.
Zimbabwean police have brutally beaten hundreds of activists and ordinary people in recent months after a crackdown on dissent by President Robert Mugabe’s government, a rights group said on Wednesday. Human Rights Watch said police had been randomly arresting and beating up Zimbabweans they accuse of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
The concept of opposition has yet to take root in South Africa 13 years after the birth of multiracial democracy, says the outgoing leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance. Tony Leon’s main task in eight years as official opposition leader was ”to get the very concept itself accepted on the stony soil of South African ground”.
Having ended their six lean years in triumphant fashion by annexing the Premier Soccer League (PSL) championship for the past two seasons, Mamelodi Sundowns will be pursuing a prized double by adding the PSL’s major knock-out cup to their trophy cabinet when they face Silver Stars in an Absa Cup semifinal on Wednesday night.
Pan Africanist Congress president Letlapa Mphahlele has appealed to the government to reveal the real killers of the Highgate hotel massacre in East London 13 years ago, reported the South African Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday. Mphahlele was speaking at the hotel at the first public commemoration of the May 1 1993 attack.