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/ 18 December 2006
Negotiations to secure the return of four South Africans abducted in Iraq are continuing, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday. ”Negotiations are continuing, the situation is complex and very delicate … we have to leave it at that … we cannot elaborate,” said spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.
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/ 17 December 2006
Trevor Immelman carded a course-record nine-under-par 63 on his way to a three-stroke lead ahead of the final round of the South African Airways (SAA) Open at Humewood Golf Club on Saturday. Immelman’s spectacular bogey-free round included nine birdies and placed him at 20-under-par, three shots ahead of Ernie Els.
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/ 17 December 2006
A gutless performance by the Cape Cobras saw them crushed by the Lions just after tea on the third day of the Supersport Series match at Newlands on Saturday. Claude Henderson made a triumphant return to his previous home ground to claim the first 10-wicket haul of his first-class career.
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/ 17 December 2006
Paramedics on Friday treated a white man who collapsed at a police roadblock after explaining he had changed his name to ”Dlamini” to benefit from black economic empowerment, Ekurhuleni metro police said on Saturday. A spokesperson said traffic officials stopped the man during a roadblock on the N17.
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/ 17 December 2006
South Africans must work together to redefine their shared common identity, President Thabo Mbeki said at the lighting of the eternal flame in Freedom Park in Pretoria on Saturday. He said South Africans should not allow the interests of selfish individuals to override the hard-won freedoms achieved by all.
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/ 17 December 2006
The Young Communist League (YCL) has expelled its national general secretary, Mazibuko Jara, for bringing the party into disrepute, news reports said on Saturday. The Mail & Guardian reported late last year that the YCL was considering suspending Jara for questioning the league’s support for Jacob Zuma in a paper he wrote.
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/ 17 December 2006
Eight people were killed and 30 were injured, 18 seriously, when a bus overturned on between Indwe and Dordrecht in the Eastern Cape on Saturday, according to Arrive Alive. The bus was transporting 72 passengers from Cape Town to Qumbu, Tsolo, Mount Frere and other areas.
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/ 17 December 2006
Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has refused to defer the date for next year’s implementation of reduced dispensing fees for pharmacists, the Pharmaceutical Stakeholders’ Forum said on Saturday. A new dispensing-fee structure was published in the Government Gazette at the beginning of December.
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/ 17 December 2006
Five-month-old South African conjoined twins Danielle and Danika Lowton on Saturday successfully underwent the first phase of a procedure to separate them. The twins are one of approximately 2,5 million babies worldwide born with conjoined heads, said Dr Henry du Plooy of the Arwyp Hospital, Kempton Park.
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/ 17 December 2006
Taliep Petersen, one of Cape Town’s most popular theatre personalities, was shot and killed during an armed robbery at his Athlone home on Saturday night, police said on Sunday. Petersen was internationally known and awarded for his work with David Kramer on the hit 1990s stage musical Kat and the Kings, among others.
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/ 16 December 2006
India appeared firmly in control of the first Castle Lager Test at the Wanderers on Saturday after bundling South Africa out for their lowest Test score since readmission. At close of play on the second day, India had 146 for five for an overall lead of 311. It was a day of high drama on which Shaun Pollock made history.
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/ 16 December 2006
All good fairy tales have a happy ending, as Cinderella Premier Soccer League club Silver Stars discovered when they beat Ajax Cape Town 3-1 in the Telkom Knockout final at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Saturday afternoon and pocketed the record R4,25-million winners’ prize.
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/ 16 December 2006
Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman head into the weekend of the South African Airways (SAA) Open at Humewood chasing the one-stroke lead of Swede Patrik Sjoland. Sjoland carded a course record 64 for a total of 12 under par and is seeking to become the second Swedish winner of the championship.
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/ 16 December 2006
Hundreds of mineworkers at the Centurion gold mine in Primrose, Germiston, were back at work following protests against working conditions, their union said on Friday after an out-of-court settlement was reached. Members of the National Union of Mineworkers decided to down tools last week.
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/ 16 December 2006
Two more MPs have been fined — under plea agreements with the state — for their role in the Travelgate scam, media reports said on Friday. African National Congress MP Danny Olifant was given the option of paying a R30 000 fine or spending three years in jail. Former Democratic Alliance MP Craig Morkel was fined R25 000 or three years in prison.
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/ 16 December 2006
Global spiritual and humanitarian leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar met South Africa’s top judges on Friday as part of his three-day tour of the country. A founder member of the Art of Living Foundation, Shankar visited South Africa as part of the celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi’s passive-resistance campaign.
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/ 16 December 2006
A ”rubber duck” surf boat, with 12 people on board, exploded offshore near the Fish River Sun on Friday afternoon, the National Sea Rescue Institute said. Spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the boat’s occupants — believed to be divers — were not injured in the accident as they abandoned it minutes before it exploded.
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/ 16 December 2006
South Africa ended the first day of the first Castle Lager Test between South Africa and India at the Wanderers on Friday the happier team, although neither side really seized the initiative. At close of play on a day in which 133 minutes were lost to delays and interruptions, India had struggled to 156 for five in their first innings.
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/ 15 December 2006
Lawyers for Durban businessman Schabir Shaik on Friday failed to lodge papers with the Constitutional Court appealing his corruption and fraud conviction and sentence. Hearing radio reports on the possibility of papers being filed, court officials kept the general office open an extra half-hour, to 4pm.
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/ 15 December 2006
The crew of sinking yacht Felicia have been rescued in high seas 700km off the Namibian coast by a merchant ship. Cape Town’s Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre confirmed shortly after 5pm on Friday that the four crew members of the Felicia had been taken safely aboard the car carrier Don Pasquale.
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/ 15 December 2006
The current political debate in South Africa is about the future character of the democratic movement and not individual personalities, Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told the Young Communist League on Friday. ”… the debate is about the future of the revolution and the character of the movement implementing that revolution.
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/ 15 December 2006
President Thabo Mbeki should indeed go for a public HIV test, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) leader Zackie Achmat said on Friday. ”Every business leader, every political leader, every trade union leader, should test publicly,” Achmat said. ”Every church leader should. And our president. Including our president.”
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/ 15 December 2006
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) was locked in a meeting with members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) in order to avert a protest by workers, the company said on Friday. Spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu said Satawu had decided to embark on a strike following a decision by SACAA to only pay ”bonuses at the end of the financial year.”
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/ 15 December 2006
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) chief whip Koos van der Merwe on Friday laid a complaint — under the Public Protector Act — against Transport Minister Jeff Radebe for disobeying traffic laws and causing danger to other road users as well as setting a bad example.
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/ 15 December 2006
It is time the United Nations stepped in to take charge of the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, President Thabo Mbeki suggested on Friday. A concerted, global effort is required to defuse the ”extremely dangerous situation” currently prevailing in the Middle East and West Asia, he said in his weekly newsletter, published on his party’s ANC Today website.
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/ 15 December 2006
Defending South African Airways (SAA) Open champion Retief Goosen was three strokes clear of the field with two holes of his first round to play before an 11 on the 17th saw him finish two behind the leaders at Humewood Golf Club on Thursday.
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/ 15 December 2006
Convicted robber and ”people’s poet” Mzwakhe Mbuli has appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court for allegedly assaulting his wife, the Daily Sun reported on Friday. Mbuli allegedly grabbed his wife by her shirt and dragged her for a few metres when she refused to give him her car keys on Wednesday.
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/ 15 December 2006
Linda Barron, the former CEO of the Comrades Marathon Association, has been acquitted of culpable homicide and drunken-driving charges in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court, the Mercury reported on Friday. A popular Cape Town-based musician was killed after being struck by Barron’s car.
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/ 15 December 2006
There is method in the seemingly mad decision by Orlando Pirates not to participate in next year’s Confederation of African Football Champions League: each time they do well in the continental competition, they suffer domestically. But will withdrawing from the competition do any favours for Southern African soccer?
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/ 15 December 2006
According to several informants, the Scorpions recently put questions to police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi in connection with the broader investigation surrounding Glenn Agliotti, the alleged crime kingpin charged with Brett Kebble’s murder. The broader investigation is a multinational probe into criminal syndicates and the alleged involvement of senior police officers.
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/ 14 December 2006
The leadership of the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) is experiencing a communication breakdown, Sanco deputy president Ruth Bhengu said on Thursday. ”We have not met since yesterday [Wednesday],” Bhengu said. Sanco’s fourth national conference at the University of the Free State was adjourned on Wednesday, its second day.
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/ 14 December 2006
South Africa captain Graeme Smith has warned India to expect a trial by fire in the first Test on Friday. The South Africans have omitted spinners from their squad, confirming that they will attack the Indians with an all-pace attack on the traditionally fast and bouncy Wanderers pitch.