South Africa

South Africa’s slow land-reform programme is forcing commercial farmers out of the agricultural sector, according to the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU). In a memorandum the TAU said that the agricultural industry in most African states has slumped because governments are conducting their agricultural policy on ”a political-ideological basis rather than [on] sound economic principles”.

Animal rights activists held a protest in Johannesburg on Monday, demanding heavier sentences for animal abusers and that animal abuse be taken seriously. ”Punishment for the most horrendous acts of violence against animals rarely exceeds a miniscule fine,” read their press statement.

South Africa, which has the world’s second-heaviest caseload of HIV/Aids, has seen average life expectancy fall by 13 years since 1990 to 51, a new study has revealed. A survey by the Medical Research Council and Actuarial Society of South Africa said life expectancy this year was ”estimated to be 49 years for males and 53 years for females”, or an average of 51.

The Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust has lambasted former University of South Africa principal Barney Pityana over remarks he made about Zuma’s supporters, dismissing his comments as ”reckless and lies”. During an address at King College in London recently, Pityana is said to have told his audience that Zuma supporters are mainly criminals.

A number of officials have been deployed at border posts across the country to ensure efficient cross-border operations during the festive season, the government said in a statement on Monday. Among them are police officers and additional immigration and customs personnel to help with extended hours of operation.

A 10% participation interest in Namibia’s Northern and Southern offshore blocks has been acquired by the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA). ”This is consistent with our philosophy of expanding our gas and petroleum interests internationally,” PetroSA chief executive Sipho Mkhize said on Monday in a statement.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says it is angered by President Thabo Mbeki’s use of the race card against the labour federation. Cosatu said in a statement on Sunday that Mbeki had written about it and the South African Communist Party in his weekly newsletter on ANC Today.

Going from bad to worse, a shambolic Mamelodi Sundowns conceded two goals in the final 10 minutes and crashed to their second defeat against Ajax Cape Town within the space of a week on Saturday night. Looking disjointed and dispirited throughout, the Brazilians gained a fortuitous lead in the 73rd minute through the enigmatic Lerato Chabangu.

South Africa has failed to provide its children with a way out of poverty, damning them to a life of violence and deprivation, a new report cited by a Sunday newspaper said. The report by the African Union’s (AU) Peer Review panel found that children in the country were facing an uphill struggle as families and schools disintegrate, leaving them without social support structures.

South Africa’s most dangerous criminal, Annanias Mathe, did not use vaseline to slip out of his cell window in the high security C-Max prison but walked out after paying warders an R80 000 bribe, reported the Sunday Times. Mathe escaped on November 18 and was shot and recaptured by a vehicle tracking company on Monday when he stole a car.

Flying Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to the United Kingdom cost taxpayers an estimated R4,55-million, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday. This was ”irregular and way out of proportion with reasonable standards”, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said in a statement.

The Pretoria High Court has ordered government officials who illegally deported three Chinese nationals to share in paying for the cost of flying them back to South Africa. Judge Essop Patel ruled this week that the deportations on December 2 of Fang Yan, Miexiang Gao and Wenyu Gao were unlawful and ”in breach and disobedience” of an earlier interim interdict preventing their deportation.

The South African Academy Award nominated film Yesterday was well received at a film festival in Iran this week, the film’s producers said on Friday. Yesterday opened the inaugural SA Film Festival in Tehran at a gala screening hosted by SA ambassador in Iran Yusuf Saloojee, said Videovision Entertainment’s Nilesh Singh.

Cape Judge President John Hlophe has been cleared of wrongdoing over his receipt of a R10 000 monthly retainer for work done for the asset management group Oasis, media reports said on Friday. The Judicial Service Commission announced his exoneration in a statement released after a meeting on Friday afternoon.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) criticised the Tshwane metro police chief on Friday for supporting police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, saying it is unprofessional. DA councillor Karen Meyer said in a statement that it was ”with utmost dismay” that the DA had noted metro police chief Hlula Msimang’s public support of Selebi. Meyer was responding to a statement issued by the municipal police chiefs on Thursday.