Zimbabwe’s accelerating economic collapse is putting pressure on its neighbours to end their long resistance to doing something about the crisis. Analysts say Zimbabwe, once one of the strongest countries in Africa, is now a real threat to regional economic stability and has raised the spectre of frightening bloodshed.
The Bloemfontein High Court on Thursday postponed an urgent court interdict sought by four African National Congress (ANC) members to suspend the election of new office bearers at a northern Free State ANC regional conference. The matter was suspended to March 29 for consideration by the court.
An elderly man who shot dead his teenage lover after receiving a suspended sentence for assaulting her was on Thursday jailed for an effective 15 years. Moegamat Saiat Patrick (66) was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment on charges of murder, statutory rape and the illegal possession of a gun and ammunition.
The decision to recall Roberton’s Peri-Peri Spice from supermarket shelves has been withdrawn, the Department of Health said on Thursday. This was after the department’s forensic chemical laboratories in Cape Town and Pretoria determined that samples of the spice contained no traces of Sudan Red dye, department spokesperson Sibani Mngadi said.
Miners at the Sonop diamond mine in the Northern Cape will picket outside company headquarters in Wolmaransstad, North West, on Friday, the National Union of Mineworkers said. The union claims some workers have not been paid since January 24, and that retrenched workers have not been fully paid.
The levels of physical and sexual abuse experienced by South African women and children are unacceptably high and unfortunately still growing, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Thursday. She was speaking at the Union Buildings in Pretoria at the launch of the 365 Days national action plan to fight and eradicate gender-based violence.
There will be no overspending on the R8,4-billion budgeted for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Deputy Sport Minister Gert Oosthuizen said on Thursday. ”We’ll be in on R8,4-billion,” he said at a media briefing following a two-day workshop on the 2010 World Cup African Legacy programmes.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday accused the government of stubbornly refusing to admit that the affirmative action policy is at the core of South Africa’s skills crisis, and proposed ways to address the crisis. DA spokesperson Mark Lowe emphasised, however, that the DA is not opposed to affirmative action to redress the imbalances of the past.
The United Nations World Food Programme on Thursday expressed deep concern over erratic weather patterns in Southern Africa, which have devastated harvest prospects for millions of people and could spell yet another year of widespread food shortages. Many parts of the region have been struck by devastating floods, which have destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of crops.
Vodacom workers — members of the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) — will embark on a strike from March 12, the union said on Thursday. Spokesperson Mfanafuthi Sithebe said the industrial action followed an unresolved dispute on the recognition of CWU by Vodacom. Sithebe said the union had given Vodacom a 48-hour notice on Wednesday on the planned industrial action.
Accountants and IT experts will assist the Department of Home Affairs to address problems threatening to bring the department to its knees, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said on Thursday. Briefing the media in Cape Town, she said a support-intervention team found that the department had serious management problems.
South Africa is to pay a portion of Liberia’s debt to the African Development Bank (ADB), an amount exceeding R26-million, government communications head Themba Maseko said on Thursday. Briefing the media after the Cabinet’s fortnightly meeting on Wednesday, he said the meeting had approved a request from the ADB”.
South African maize prices have surged by up to 18% in the past week alone, and traders say the rally may still have some way to go after one of the driest seasons in years. An industry group has drawn comparisons with events five years ago, when soaring prices forced the government to provide aid to millions of poor South Africans for whom maize is a staple.
Johnnic Communications, the JSE-listed media and entertainment group, has increased its stake in online recruitment-services company CareerJunction. The acquisition of a further 25% of CareerJunction from permanent recruitment services and flexible staffing sector company Adcorp Holdings will raise Johncom’s shareholding to 85%.
South Africa’s Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa consulted a legal team on Wednesday evening about the decision of the Pretoria High Court to set aside the awarding of the national lottery licence to Gidani, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday.
Wits came from behind to share the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Silver Stars in their Castle Premiership game at the Bidvest stadium on Wednesday night. Stars led 1-0 at halftime. The game started at a blistering pace with both strikers testing the goalkeepers with shots.
The rampant Brazilians demolished the Black Leopards 4-0 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Wednesday night. The defending champions now head second-placed Ajax Cape Town by 10 points with a game in hand. As for Chiefs, they are wallowing in eighth place, 13 points behind the log leaders after playing one extra match.
About 2 800 vehicles a month are being repossessed nationally by WesBank and Absa Vehicle and Asset Finance, Business Report reported on Thursday. However, both indicated that the current level of vehicle repossessions was off peak levels.
<i>Sunday Times</i> journalist and columnist David Bullard was shot and wounded when four men broke into his Johannesburg house, police said on Thursday. Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said Bullard (55) had been shot once on Wednesday, with the bullet going through his arm and into his abdomen.
To celebrate International Women’s Day on Thursday, Ipas, an NGO promoting women’s health around the world, is holding a seminar in Rosebank, Johannesburg, where leaders in the field will analyse progress made in the promotion of women’s health — especially regarding unsafe abortions. Ipas country director Mosotho Gabriel spoke to the Mail & Guardian Online.
The African National Congress (ANC)-led government has failed the nation by not providing free education in all public schools, the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) said on Wednesday. ”Cosas demands that all private schools be nationalised and further demands the provision of free education in all public schools,” Cosas president Kenny Motshegoa said in a statement.
A shortage of raw materials and procurement issues may delay the construction of stadiums for the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, a government official said on Wednesday. Malcolm Simpson, deputy director general at the Treasury’s World Cup unit, said a shortage of skills, a lack of materials and rising costs could jeopardise the increasingly tight schedule.
Victims in the Republic of South Africa (Virsa) will lead a march on Saturday to government offices around the country to demand a crime-free and corruption-free country. ”We are giving ordinary people an opportunity to voice out their opinions about the government’s negative attitude towards crime,” Virsa spokesperson Steph Hartung said on Wednesday.
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South Africa’s cricket team was ”safe and calm” after a gas blast in their hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Wednesday, Cricket South Africa spokesperson Gordon Templeton said. ”Shortly after the blast, which occurred on the eighth floor of the hotel at about 8am [local time], all guests were evacuated,” Templeton said in a statement.
South Africa should not see itself as the ”criminal skunk” of the world, because many other countries in transition had the same high crime prevalence, a criminologist said on Wednesday. Dap Louw, a psychology professor at the University of the Free State, said South Africans should also not develop a ”learned helplessness syndrome”.
Shocked workers at a furniture factory desperately battled a fire in a four-storey building in central Johannesburg on Wednesday before they were forced to flee the building. Emergency services rushed to the scene and firefighters spent about 45 minutes getting the fire under control. Nobody was reported injured.
A proposed fuel levy in the Western Cape of 10 cents a litre will not have the Inkatha Freedom Party’s (IFP) support, unless there is clarity on where the money will go, party spokesperson Eric Lucas said on Wednesday. ”For the IFP there are a lot of questions surrounding this proposed fuel increase,” he said.
A Potchefstroom councillor has opened a case of harassment after receiving a barrage of insulting and derogatory text messages following a radio interview on renaming the city. Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Piet Du Plessis on Wednesday confirmed that a case of harassment had been opened by African National Congress councillor Ina Stoltz.
The government’s proposed elephant-management regulations could hobble South Africa’s ”notorious” elephant-back tourism industry, the International Fund for Animal Welfare said on Wednesday. The draft rules propose stopping the capture from the wild of anything other than genuine orphan elephant calves.
Fifty out of 85 construction employers were found to be violating workplace safety regulations during an on-site crackdown by labour inspectors in the Eastern Cape, the Labour Department said on Wednesday. Department spokesperson Zolisa Sigabi said seven construction sites had been shut down and an additional 48 contravention notices were served.
Investment management firm Allan Gray has sold off just under 19% of its shareholding in a black economic empowerment (BEE) deal, the company announced on Wednesday. It also said the firm’s founder, Allan Gray, had donated R1,1-billion from the sale to support initiatives that include comprehensive funding for university students wanting to become entrepreneurs.
The crime most feared in South Africa is housebreaking, according to a survey recently conducted for the National Prosecuting Authority. ”The reason is the fear that the burglary will take place while the residents are on the premises,” said Andre du Toit, acting director for public prosecutions in the Free State.