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/ 27 January 2007

Modikwa: Talks with miners deadlock

Attempts by the Modikwa Platinum Mine in Limpopo to resolve a racism dispute with miners deadlocked on Friday evening, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said. ”The issue of racism has partly been addressed by suspending the two mine managers who wrote racist e-mails, which were circulated around the company,” said NUM spokesperson Humbulani Tshikalange.

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/ 27 January 2007

Battlefields legend David Rattray killed

Legendary tourism personality and Anglo-Zulu War expert David Rattray was attacked and killed at his lodge at Rorke’s Drift on Juanuray 26, KwaZulu-Natal police said. His killer entered his house and fired a single shot before being ordered to re-enter the building to fire another two rounds, according to a source close to the scene.

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/ 27 January 2007

Santos do Ajax a favour

Santos did neighbours Ajax Cape Town a favour on Friday evening at the Athlone Stadium when they beat Silver Stars 2-0 after leading 1-0 at the interval in their Premier Soccer League encounter. The win keeps Ajax at the top of the log, one point ahead of Stars.

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/ 27 January 2007

Selebi grilled over missing firearms

Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi came under fire in Parliament on Friday for inadequate control of firearms and problems over police vehicles, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported. An Auditor General’s report showed the number of stolen and lost firearms had tripled.

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/ 26 January 2007

Pakistan battle back against SA

Pakistan fought back after a first-innings collapse on the first day of the series-deciding third and final Test against South Africa at Newlands on Friday. South Africa were 131-5 at the close of play in reply to Pakistan’s 157 all out. Mohammad Yousuf saved Pakistan from total embarrassment, hitting more than half his team’s runs before being last man out.

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/ 26 January 2007

‘Tradition is no excuse for cruelty’

Tradition should not be used as an excuse for cruelty, the author of Animal Rights in South Africa said on Friday of the controversial slaughter of a bull by fraud convict Tony Yengeni following his release from prison. She was responding to Yengeni’s spearing of a bull before slaughtering it during a cleansing ritual.

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/ 26 January 2007

Farmer unions walk out of meeting with minister

The two unions representing most of the country’s commercial farmers said they hope President Thabo Mbeki will intervene in a dispute between them and Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana. AgriSA and TAU SA walked out of a meeting with Xingwana on Friday where they wanted to discuss tensions between them and her.

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/ 26 January 2007

Leon: SA avoids human rights issues

South Africa’s United Nations vote on Burma earlier this month is not an anomaly in its human rights record under the Mbeki presidency, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon said on Friday. ”It is consistent with a larger pattern in which South Africa, through its deeds, if not words, eschews human rights issues,” he said.

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/ 26 January 2007

SA won’t send troops to Somalia

South Africa will not contribute troops to an African peacekeeping force in Somalia, but will study other ways to help stabilise the war-ravaged country. Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota made the decision after reviewing South Africa’s overseas peacekeeping commitments, which include forces in Burundi, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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/ 26 January 2007

Mbeki attends World Economic Forum

President Thabo Mbeki arrived in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday to attend the annual World Economic Forum, the Department of Foreign Affairs said. Department spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said Mbeki and a delegation will participate in the forum ”within the context of South Africa’s priority to promote North-South cooperation in support of the African agenda.

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/ 26 January 2007

Parreira jets in to relaunch Bafana

South Africa’s new football coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, arrived in Johannesburg on Friday to launch what is hoped will be a successful bid to become world beaters when they host the Soccer World Cup in 2010. The Brazilian was welcomed by South African Football Association chief executive Raymond Hack when he touched down at OR Tambo International Airport.

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/ 26 January 2007

Thousands on strike at ‘racist’ mine

More than 2 000 members of the National Union of Mineworkers at the Modikwa Platinum mine in Limpopo started striking at 6am on Friday to demand an end to racism at the mine. ”Working conditions for whites here are made to be much better than their black counterparts,” said spokesperson Onis Serothwane.

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/ 26 January 2007

Gibbs: ‘I am not racist’

Embattled South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs voiced disappointment on Thursday at missing the next Test with Pakistan and the first two one-day-internationals because of an International Cricket Council (ICC) ban. ICC appeals commissioner Richie Benaud imposed the ban in upholding a finding that Gibbs used abusive language in the Test match between South Africa and Pakistan.

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/ 26 January 2007

SA pair to join 325 000 on US ‘terror list’

The United States is expected to place two South Africans on its list of terrorism suspects on Friday — a massive list of 325 000 names which has been criticised by rights groups as possibly including innocents. Diplomatic sources said that Junaid Ismail Dockrat and his cousin Farhad Ahmed Dockrat, have been named as terror suspects to al-Qaeda.

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/ 25 January 2007

Afrikaans musician robbed at gunpoint

Popular Afrikaans musician Anton Goosen was robbed of R584 000-worth of personal belongings by four armed men at his house in Hennopsrivier Valley near Hartbeespoort Dam, Gauteng police said on Thursday. The men made off with Goosen’s pistol, a DVD player, a TV set, a laptop computer, CDs and an undisclosed amount of money, spokesperson Captain Julia Klaasen said.

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/ 25 January 2007

Cosatu takes issue with media leaks

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has written to the African National Congress to complain about the ”leaking and twisting” of discussions at its lekgotla (meeting) over the weekend. Cosatu disapproved of the use of the media, by some, to fight internal battles, spokesperson Patrick Craven said on Thursday.

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/ 25 January 2007

NUM, De Beers to meet over retrenchments

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will meet diamond giant De Beers in Kimberley on Friday to discuss planned retrenchments, the NUM said. ”The discussions are a continuation of earlier talks on [the] De Beers plan to retrench workers in the province,” said Rivonia Morwakgosi, the NUM’s Kimberley regional chairperson.

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/ 25 January 2007

Cosatu criticises SA vote on Burma

South Africa should have condemned Burma’s military regime and supported a call for sanctions against it, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Thursday. It joined others who have criticised the country using its inaugural vote at the United Nations Security Council earlier in January to vote against a resolution demanding an end to human rights abuses in Burma.