Tackling the future of Freedom Park, on Thursday its CEO, Dr Mongane Wally Serote, denied that there is an inherent contradiction in the park’s mandate. ”The contradiction exists in the nation,” he said in response to recent criticisms from some organisations and individuals that the park is not as all-inclusive as it claims to be.
A trust fund in memory of murdered Pakistan and former South African coach Bob Woolmer has been established in South Africa, it was announced on Friday. The Bob Woolmer Trust Fund will raise money for a number of projects, including a coaching academy that the former England cricketer was involved in at the time of his death.
Most municipalities are underspending and not delivering services because of a lack of capacity, Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi said on Friday. ”For municipalities to increase the pace to redress the infrastructure backlog, quicker decision-making processes and more institutional capacity are needed,” he said.
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Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thint are now waiting for Judge Phillip Levensohn to decide whether to sign a letter asking Mauritius to release documents relating to Zuma’s role in the arms deal. The documents include the 2000 diary of Alain Thetard, former chief executive of Thales International’s South African subsidiary, Thint.
Documents discovered in the possession of Boeremag treason-trial escapees Herman van Rooyen and Rudi Gouws describe a plot to kill ”treacherous whites”, the Pretoria High Court heard on Friday. Captain Sietze Albertse testified that the documents were found in a townhouse in Centurion where Van Rooyen and Gouws were recaptured in January.
The Freedom Park Trust handed over the remains of four former freedom fighters to their families in Pretoria on Friday, 20 years after their deaths. Harold Sefolo, Andrew Makupe, Jackson Maake and Justice Mbizana, who were suspected of being internal Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) members, were tortured and killed by apartheid-era police in 1987.
Only fellow Africans, not the West, have the moral authority to speak out on Zimbabwe, a leader of a faction of Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change said in Johannesburg on Friday. ”We appreciate the support from Western powers but the double standards of the West undermine our struggle … ,” said Arthur Mutambara.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has expressed its shock at an incident in which a Free State farmer chained two girls to a tree. ”Cosatu is shocked to learn that a farmer in the eastern Free State chained two young girls from Lesotho … to a tree,” Free State and Northern Cape provincial spokesperson Sam Mashinini said on Friday.
The South African media are covering the events in Zimbabwe with ”too much sensationalism”, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Friday. ”There has been a tendency on many of these occasions to make generalised statements without checking the facts,” Pahad said.
South Africa’s proposed amendments to a draft United Nations resolution on Iran sanctions were designed to open discussion not scuttle an agreement forged by major powers, a senior official said on Friday. ”It is not written in stone. It is a negotiating position,” Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said in a briefing.
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The state would only need documents held in Mauritius if the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decides to prosecute former deputy president Jacob Zuma, the Pietermaritzburg High Court heard on Friday. Zuma’s advocate, Kemp J Kemp, told the court: ”It is not necessary for them to have these documents at this time.”
South Africa, a key contributor to the peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), expressed deep concern on Friday about renewed violence in that country and called for a ceasefire. ”The South African government appeals to all forces in the DRC to immediately stop fighting” and take part in negotiations, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said.
South Africa’s rand eased slightly against the dollar on Friday, and could weaken further on the day as investors took profit after its strong gains the previous day. At about 0730 GMT the rand was at 7,2150 versus the dollar, 0,2% weaker than its New York close on Thursday.
President Thabo Mbeki has ”race myopia” and his short-sightedness is costing South Africa and the subcontinent dearly, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon. ”On the three overriding crises that have occurred on his presidential watch — HIV/Aids, crime and Zimbabwe — the president’s steadfast refusal to take necessary action is traceable to a blinkered attitude towards race.”
A complete meltdown in troubled Zimbabwe appears inevitable, neighbouring South Africa said on Friday while rejecting rising international calls to condemn President Robert Mugabe’s regime. "It is difficult to see how a total meltdown won’t take place," South African Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad told reporters in Pretoria.
About 250Â 000ha of bush have been razed by fires that have been burning in the Pilanesberg area of the North West for the past six days, Working on Fire (WOF) said on Thursday. More than 120 local farmers, farm workers and residents and eight fire engines from nearby towns were fighting the fire, said WOF’s Evelyn John Holtzhausen.
How South Africa’s vast army of unemployed, untrained youth can be fitted quickly into the country’s economy is of great concern, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Thursday while briefing the media in Cape Town on progress made in implementing the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa.
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Jacob Zuma’s advocate was rebuked by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday for submitting an unexpected and lengthy written argument in the state’s tussle to obtain documents from Mauritius. The documents include the 2000 diary of Alain Thetard — the former chief executive of Thales International’s South African subsidiary, Thint.
A R370-million asset-seizure order — one of the largest ever — against a tobacco mogul and his co-accused was confirmed in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday. Judge Willie van der Merwe confirmed a provisional restraining order against the assets of tobacco millionaire Hendrik Delport and his 12 co-accused.
South African fixed-line operator Telkom has bought 75% of Nigeria’s Multi-links for -million to expand further outside its home base, the firm said on Thursday. Multi-links provides fixed, mobile, data, long-distance and international telecommunications services throughout Nigeria.
Fifteen unidentified bodies, badly decomposed and with only shreds of clothing, have been found at a mortuary in Umzimkulu, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Thursday. Superintendent Zandra Hechter said the grisly find was made by two officials of the health department on Monday.
Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown was released from custody on Thursday after his R1-million bail was unexpectedly paid on his behalf. His advocate Klaus von Lieres handed the cheque to Scorpions prosecutors moments after a Cape Town magistrate ruled that property belonging to a third party was acceptable as surety for bail.
South Africa still has to achieve a total economic transformation in the country, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) said on Thursday. This statement was contained in the party’s policy discussion documents released in Johannesburg. The aim is to stimulate debate in the party’s branches ahead of its national policy conference in June.
Senior Cape Town advocate Johan van der Berg lost his bid in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Thursday to stay on as a practising advocate at the Cape Bar. The SCA dismissed Van der Berg’s appeal against a decision by two Cape High Court judges to strike his name from the roll of advocates.
Half of South African women who responded to an online survey said they never use a condom, News24 reported on Thursday. About two-thirds of women polled believed it was highly unlikely they would contract HIV/Aids. The Female Nation Survey was conducted online and more than 7 500 women participated.
Consumers should brace themselves for milk shortages throughout the winter season, the Milk Producers’ Organisation said on Thursday. MPO spokesperson Bertus de Jongh said the shortage results from price signals relayed to producers two years ago.
Fidentia boss J Arthur Brown was back in court on Thursday morning as his battle to be released on bail continued. A Cape Town magistrate granted him R1-million bail on Monday, but ordered that any surety he offered had to be approved by the Scorpions.
Community involvement is essential in the fight against crime, Britain’s metropolitan police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair said on Thursday as he wound his way though the streets of Alexandra to assess the outcome of a partnership programme geared to promote community responsibility in the Johannesburg township.
South Africa’s current-account deficit swelled to 7,8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2006 on a surge of oil imports and higher service payments, the central bank said on Thursday. The shortfall widened from a revised 5,7% in the third quarter and 6,1% in the second quarter, bringing the deficit for the year to 6,4% of GDP, the highest yearly gap since 1981.
Household debt relative to disposable income reached a new high of 73,75% in the fourth quarter of 2006, the South African Reserve Bank said in its quarterly bulletin released on Thursday. The gross savings ratio as percentage of gross domestic product declined to 1,5% in 2006 from 1,75% percent in 2005.
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Former deputy president Jacob Zuma made a surprise appearance as the battle over the release of documents from Mauritius got under way in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday. A small group of Zuma supporters was outside the court and a media scramble ensued as Zuma entered the court room.
A passenger on a Mango airline flight was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Thursday for allegedly telling a flight attendant he was in possession of an explosive device, the company said. The incident caused the flight to Durban to be delayed by 18 minutes on Thursday morning.