President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party is splintering under the impact of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis and may seek to ease him out of office to stop a bloody political meltdown, an influential think tank said. ”The situation is reminiscent of the last stages of Mobutu’s reign in the Congo,” the Brussels-based International Crisis Group said.
Funding for subsidised housing in the Western Cape increases dramatically in the coming financial year, according to the provincial budget tabled on Tuesday. The funds the province gives to municipalities to build subsidised housing will climb by 58,4%, from R599-million in the 2006/07 budget to R949-million in 2007/08.
Hosting a memorable Soccer World Cup might just banish Afro-pessimism, Sport Minister Makhenkesi Stofile said on Tuesday. He said the improvement of football management would go a long way in improving Africa’s image. ”For as long as we are perceived as this corrupt people who cannot manage anything … this Afro-pessimism will not go away,” he said.
The 50th British soldier to die in Afghanistan was a South African who grew up in the Western Cape. Ross Clark (25) was also a former head boy of Somerset West Private School. Lance Bombardier Clark was with the 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.
South African stocks gained as much as 1,9% on Tuesday after Japan’s Nikkei rebounded from five days of heavy selling and the gold price bounced off a six-week low. The Johannesburg top-40 index of blue-chip stocks gained 1,65% to 22 787,30 points by 7.27am GMT.
Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) needs a proactive networked response particularly when it appears together with HIV infection, an international discussion on MDR-TB heard in Johannesburg on Monday. ”It is one disease where there are more questions than answers,” said Dr Norbert Ndjeka from Limpopo.
The body of a seven-year-old girl abducted from her Pretoria home last month was found on Monday with the help from a police investigator who broke the Leigh Matthews kidnap and murder case, said police. The body believed to be that of Sheldean Human was found in a small river in Pretoria West.
Township areas outside Klerksdorp will be without power on Monday night following the weekend’s freak storm that damaged about 1Â 900 homes. They will also be without water, except for what authorities were scheduled to provide in tankers. And many houses will remain without roofs.
Disgruntled residents of Khutsong township in Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, were locked in a meeting with government officials in a bid to resolve their problems on Monday afternoon, the Merafong municipality said. The meeting follows last week’s violent protest by residents, during which some houses belonging to ward councillors were petrol-bombed.
A new initiative to tackle crimes such as house robberies and hijackings was unveiled by police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi on Monday. He told an Interpol conference in Johannesburg the move included the deployment of hundreds more police officers in areas where these crimes were common.
Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa will study a judgement handed down by the Pretoria High Court setting aside his decision to award the national lottery licence to Gidani. Earlier in the day, Pretoria High Court Judge Willie Seriti ruled that the process followed by the National Lotteries Board had been flawed.
The African Union’s top diplomat took aim at the continent’s long-time rulers on Monday by saying that the time had passed when leaders could expect to cling on to power for decades. ”Everybody knows that the era of ‘presidents for life’ is over,” Alpha Oumar Konare told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on democracy in Africa.
Ernst Middendorp, the amiable, German-born coach of Kaizer Chiefs, was dismissed from his post on Monday. He was clearly stunned and disappointed at the turn of events that emerged after a fateful meeting convened by club chairperson Kaizer Motaung at noon.
The family of convicted Durban businessman Schabir Shaik has been ”lobbying” Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour in an attempt to ”negotiate a deal” reducing his imprisonment term, the Daily News reported on Monday. The newspaper reported that the family had made repeated requests to meet with the minister.
A rapist who intimidated his 14-year-old victim into submission with a punch to the face and then raped her three times the same night was jailed for 17 years by the Cape High Court on Monday. Lungile Deya, now 23 but 19 at the time of the offence, was seemingly shocked at the sentence and covered his face with his hands.
A Limpopo man has fought off a crocodile with a flick knife after the reptile grabbed his leg, media reports said on Monday. Michael Sithole (37) of Sasekani village near Tzaneen was fishing from a rock when the crocodile attacked. ”It wanted to turn me into mincemeat,” he said. The attack came last Tuesday afternoon.
Authorities will assess the damage inflicted by freak weather that hit the Klerksdorp area at the weekend and provide water to affected residents. About 1 900 people have registered damage to their homes due to Sunday’s storm, which killed one person and injured about 300 others. The injured were being treated in local hospitals.
Controversial South African police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi received praise in glowing terms on Monday for his role in international policing. As Interpol president, Selebi has ”ensured that Interpol and its member countries remain at the cutting edge” in several respects, said Interpol secretary general Ronald K Noble.
The public gallery of court number one at the Cape High Court was on Monday packed to capacity for the start of the trial of two men charged with the murder in April last year of actor Brett Goldin and fashion designer Richard Bloom. On the night of April 16 2006 Goldin and Bloom were shot dead execution style, each with a single gun shot to the back of their head.
Two girls, aged 14 and four, have been rescued after being held in a tiny underground burrow by an alleged serial rapist, South African police said on Monday. A 31-year-old man arrested near the coastal town of Hermanus in the Western Cape province on Sunday claimed the younger girl was his daughter, police said on Monday.
About 2 000 workers employed by Blue Ribbon bakery, mostly members of the Food and Allied Workers’ Union (Fawu), embarked on a national strike on Monday, the union said. ”We are unhappy about the company’s refusal to accede to our demand of a centralised bargaining forum …,” Fawu general secretary Katishi Masemola said.
The state filed papers in the in the Durban High Court on Monday morning in its attempt to obtain documents from Mauritius relating to accusations of corruption against Jacob Zuma. The papers had already been served on Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thint on Friday.
A father told on Monday how he ran eight kilometres to hospital with his two-year-old child in his arms, after his shack fell down during a freak storm near Klerksdorp. Daniel Maputle said his shack in Jouberton township collapsed during the storm on Sunday, and his son, Bithatelo Maputle, was struck on the head.
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South Africa’s Jacob Zuma is gearing up his undeclared run for the presidency, using careful ”campaign appearances” to reach out to the public on crime, Aids and racial divisions, analysts say. On Saturday, Zuma met the family of a murdered white florist and said it was time the government got serious about crime.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) on Monday denied accusations of violence and intimidation during a bus drivers’ strike at Autopax Passenger Services. Autopax spokesperson Carl Newman accused striking Satawu members of violence and intimidation during pickets on Thursday and Friday.
It was business as usual for national lottery operator Uthingo after the Pretoria High Court on Monday set aside Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mphahlwa’s decision to award the lottery licence to Gidani. Judge Willie Seriti ruled that the process followed by the national lotteries board was flawed.
Conservationists may take legal action if environmental laws are broken in the building of 2010 Soccer World Cup stadiums, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday. Should the groups go forward with their legal action, the construction of the stadiums could face further delays.
The number of Gauteng schoolgirls who fell pregnant in 2006 was double that of the previous year, the Star newspaper reported on Monday. The newspaper said 2Â 336 schoolgirls were pregnant last year — up from 2004 when 1Â 373, and 2005 when 1Â 169 schoolgirls were reported pregnant.
A major spice manufacturer on Sunday said it was taking allegations of product contamination seriously but that the presence of an illegal banned chemical was ”highly unlikely”. ”We are very surprised at the results of this test. Unilever has not had a single incident of Sudan contamination from March 2005 to date,” said spokesperson Christine Broadhurst.
The bad news is that Moroka Swallows’ Namibian international defender George Hummel is recovering from surgery incurred on a fractured tibia in December and will be out of soccer until mid-April. Hummel, making an unexpected appearance in the game against Golden Arrows on Saturday afternoon, scored the solitary goal of the match.
Amazulu’s Lucky Mzizi — a former Kaizer Chiefs player — scored a brace to help his team beat the Amakhosi 2-1 in a fast-flowing Castle Premiership game played at Olympia Park on Saturday evening. Amazulu led 1-0 at the break. It was sweet revenge for Amazulu, after Chiefs beat them 2-0 at home in the first round.
”Corruption is everywhere — in the villages, wherever”, Zambia’s Lands Minister Gladys Nyirango acknowledged at a major conference on graft in Africa last week. Hours later she was sacked. Africa has long had a reputation as the most corrupt continent, with only two countries, Botswana and Mauritius, making it into the top 50 of the latest annual Transparency International index on clean governance.