South Africa

The future of the Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn is in jeopardy because of uncertainty over who should run the tourist attraction, it was reported on Monday. Last week, caves manager Hein Gerstner told reporters the municipality is not interested in the caves and that the world-famous attraction is in danger of falling into disrepair.

The South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) on Monday said it welcomes ”constructive efforts” to reduce crime. Sacob president Deidre Penfold would, however, not take sides in the debate following First National Bank’s (FNB) decision to drop an anti-crime advertising campaign.

In a Premier League game of strange twists even Black Leopards coach Hans-Dieter Schmidt admitted his team could have been trailing by five goals after the opening half against Benoni Premier United at Mehlareng Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Instead, after leading 1-0 through a freak gift goal scored by Bernard Parker in the 40th minute, the Rabbits proceeded to complete an act of self-destruction.

First National Bank (FNB) will go ahead with its anti-crime campaign but at a later date, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday. The bank withdrew its multimillion-rand initiative meant to pressurise President Thabo Mbeki into making crime prevention his first priority, apparently after meeting with security cluster leaders on Friday.

The Democratic Alliance has asked the Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula for a report on how the six-month reformation of the department’s administration has progressed. A task team was given six months to address problems identified in the department and this time has elapsed, DA spokesperson on Home Affairs Sandy Kalyan said on Sunday.

Gwendolyn O’Neil said at the pre-fight medical examination before taking on Laila Ali in the world super-middleweight title bout at Emperors Palace on Saturday night that ”Jesus will look after me in the ring”. And it seemed that divine providence indeed came to the rescue of the ageing 35 year-old O’Neil in what was truly a farcical mismatch lasting only 56 seconds.

The New South Wales Waratahs outmuscled the Lions 25-16 in their Super 14 match on Friday after their gamble of arriving in South Africa only 53 hours before kick-off paid off. Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie chose to arrive late in Johannesburg rather than risk jet lag after an 11-hour flight from Sydney.

First National Bank has cancelled its anti-crime initiative which was designed to encourage President Thabo Mbeki to make crime his priority, the early edition of the Sunday Times reported on Saturday evening. According to the newspaper First Rand bank chief executive Paul Harris and his executive team pulled out of the R20-million campaign at 3.30pm on Friday.

The Waratahs, who have excelled in recent years in the Super 12, now Super 14 competition, went on to beat the Lions 25-16 at Ellis Park on Friday night. The Waratahs’ Daniel Halangahu went over for a try in the 24th minute, which was converted by Peter Hewat, who also added a penalty.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has denied that it intends reducing the number of white police officers. It was responding to reports of police plans to change the white-to-black ratio from one-to-five to one-to-10 in the next three years. ”Police top management outright rejects [the] rumours,” said Director Sally de Beer.