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/ 8 December 2006
An official of a European swimming team attending the International Paralympic Committee’s Swimming World Championships in Durban was gang-raped on the city’s beachfront, the Daily News reported on Friday. Sources said the woman had decided to go for a walk with a swimming official from another country on Tuesday night.
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/ 8 December 2006
A recent judgement on the pricing of antiretroviral drugs will not affect an agreement between the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and two major drug companies, the Aids Law Project said on Friday. The judgement is limited to an agreement between the commission and GlaxoSmithKline, the project said.
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/ 8 December 2006
Former spy boss Billy Masetlha is to be added as an accused in the so-called hoax e-mail court case in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria. Software salesperson Muziwendoda Kunene and National Intelligence Agency manager for electronic surveillance Funokwakhe Madladla have already been charged with fraud.
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/ 8 December 2006
Up-market coastal resorts and developments may soon be compelled to provide public access to the coastline they encompass should draft legislation become law. One of the main aims of the new Integrated Coastal Management Bill is to make South Africa’s seashores public property, Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk said in a statement on Friday.
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/ 8 December 2006
”Always Cary a gun, apply for one or do your thing, for any small mistake from a white terrorist handle him with full aggressiveness and brutal force if necessary,” writes an anonymous user, verbatim, on a South African online discussion forum, referring to himself as ”a regular brother with war credential”.
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/ 8 December 2006
The ascendancy of Jacob Zuma to the leadership of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) would be "to the massive political advantage" of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the party’s leader, Tony Leon, said on Friday. Writing in his weekly newsletter on the DA website, the DA leader said that Zuma as ANC leader "would not be in the national interest as we have explicitly stated on many occasions".
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/ 8 December 2006
All six of the municipal police chiefs say they support embattled police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi. The chiefs said they commended Selebi ”for remaining unfazed in the face of the scurrilous statements which have been bandied around in the recent weeks”.
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/ 8 December 2006
The involvement of Cabinet ministers in the Gautrain rapid-rail project shareholding has been defended by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has argued that there has been a determination to cast them in a bad light — motivated by the stereotype that black people are corrupt.
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/ 8 December 2006
South Africa’s current-account deficit continued to shrink in the third quarter of 2006 from 5,7% of the gross domestic product in the second quarter to 5,2%, the South African Reserve Bank said in its quarterly bulletin released on Friday. In value terms, the balance shrank to R90,4-billion in the third quarter compared with R95,3-billion in the second quarter.
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/ 8 December 2006
The bail application of Kebble murder accused Glenn Agliotti was postponed until Wednesday in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday. Scorpions prosecutor Gerrie Nel said that ”due to unforeseen circumstances” the state would not be able to proceed with the bail hearing on Friday.
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/ 8 December 2006
In a bid to develop the quality and quantity of milk production by black dairy farmers, Nestlé has joined forces with the Independent Development Trust. The two-year partnership will involve 40 dairy farmers in the Thabo Mofutsanyane district, which includes Harrismith and other areas in the Free State.
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/ 8 December 2006
South Africa has no plans to limit the sale of coastal land to foreigners, a government spokesperson said on Friday, reversing an earlier statement. President Thabo Mbeki has ordered a probe into rising land prices, fearing that the entrance of wealthy foreigners on to the local property market has fuelled soaring property prices and put land out of reach of millions of South Africans.
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/ 8 December 2006
There were moments in the past when the Soweto derby brought the entire nation to a standstill; clashes where the league championship was decided. But this Saturday’s match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates stands out for one reason only: it is the last game to be played at FNB before the stadium is closed and extensively renovated for the 2010 World Cup.
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/ 8 December 2006
City Press editor Mathatha Tsedu’s son was found murdered in the boot of his car, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Friday. Avhatakali Netshisaulu’s body was found burnt beyond recognition in the boot of his car in a field in Nooitgedacht near Muldersdrift, west of Johannesburg.
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/ 7 December 2006
The South African government has promised to intensity the fight against diabetes, one of the world’s foremost experts on the disease, Professor George Alberti, said on Thursday. Alberti, a past president of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), is also chairperson of the organising committee of the IDF’s World Diabetes Congress, being held in Cape Town.
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/ 7 December 2006
A century by Irfan Pathan helped India to a respectable total of 316-7 at close of play on the first day of their four-day warm-up match against the Rest of South Africa at Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom on Thursday. Pathan was not out on 111 and Zaheer Khan had nine. India, sent in to bat first, were all at sea in the morning session as Morne Morkel mowed down the top order.
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/ 7 December 2006
The South African Police Service, the National Religious Leaders’ Forum (NRLF) and the Minister of Safety and Security, Charles Nqakula, met in Pretoria on Thursday to strengthen ties between the organisations in the fight against crime. The religious leaders were represented by Bishop Ivan Abrahams and Ashwin Trikamjee.
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/ 7 December 2006
The Department of Education must give teachers detailed salary advice so they know what money is owed to them and what the money is for, the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa said on Thursday. However, the department slammed unions for ”misinformed and inflammatory” remarks.
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/ 7 December 2006
Hundreds of mineworkers at the Centurion Gold Mine in Primrose, Germiston, have downed tools in protest against their working conditions. The National Union of Mineworkers said on Thursday that about 600 workers had gone on strike since Wednesday.
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/ 7 December 2006
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) was the big winner in the last round of by-elections to take place this year, claiming all but one of the 12 wards contested in results. The municipal by-elections on Wednesday were marked by low voter turnouts, with an 11% turnout at ward three in Mbolela (Nelspruit).
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/ 7 December 2006
Haute cuisine may seem a contradiction in terms on a continent where millions go hungry. But Coco Fathi Reinharz, a half-Belgian, half-Burundian chef, is at the vanguard of a new African fine dining movement that is ditching stodgy, tasteless peasant food for sophisticated dishes with an exotic twist.
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/ 7 December 2006
Seventeen prisoners escaped from police cells in KwaMhlanga and Dennilton in Mpumalanga, police said on Thursday. In Dennilton, nine men cut their way out of their cell in the early hours of Wednesday, spokesperson Superintendent Malcolm Mokomene said in a statement.
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/ 7 December 2006
The Cabinet has denied having influenced the Gautrain consortium selection and defended the right of all citizens, including members of the government, to participate in the economy. At its final fortnightly meeting of the year on Wednesday, the Cabinet noted media reports alleging a conflict of interest when it discussed the Gautrain project.
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/ 7 December 2006
South Africa’s Cabinet appears to have poured cold water on a basic income grant — called for recently by Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya — turning instead to ways to find ”exit strategies” to reduce reliance on social grants. Spokesperson Themba Maseko said the Cabinet had noted a proposal for linking social grants to poverty alleviation initiatives and other economic activities.
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/ 7 December 2006
Legislation to ensure greater cooperation between the Scorpions and the police will be tabled early next year, government communications head Themba Maseko said on Thursday. The Cabinet had reviewed progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Khampepe Commission regarding the location of the Scorpions, he told a media briefing.
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/ 7 December 2006
The South African Cabinet has condemned the unruly behaviour by a section of the crowd who interrupted President Thabo Mbeki’s speech at the weekend re-burial of struggle veteran Moses Mabhida in Pietermaritzburg. Government communications head Themba Maseko said the meeting took note of the Pietermaritzburg incident.
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/ 7 December 2006
The South African Cabinet has dismissed opposition parties’ end-of-year report cards on its performance, saying it will not be judged by the wish lists of opposition parties. ”The ‘silly’ season is upon us and with it comes the publication of the so-called ‘score cards’,” government communications chief Themba Maseko told journalists.
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/ 7 December 2006
Kaizer Chiefs added to AmaZulu’s relegation woes when they beat them 2-0 in their Premier Soccer League (PSL) encounter at Chatsworth Stadium on Wednesday. The game started on a high note with Chiefs putting pressure on their hosts, but they failed to penetrate a stubborn-looking AmaZulu defence.
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/ 7 December 2006
Natalie du Toit continued her relentless form at the IPC World Swimming Championships on Wednesday evening, winning her fourth gold medal at the King’s Park Aquatic Centre. Swimming in the women’s S9 400m freestyle, the 22-year-old beat rival Stephanie Dixon for the fourth time this week, missing out on her own world record by just four seconds.
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/ 7 December 2006
South Africa will be looking to win on home soil for the first time this week, having won the Dubai leg of the World Sevens circuit last weekend. The hosts have never won in George, where the competition heads this weekend, but after winning all their matches last week, including downing the mighty All Blacks in the final, confidence will be soaring in coach Paul Treu’s camp.
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/ 7 December 2006
Draft legislation aimed at regulating the sale of coastal land has been approved by the Cabinet, and is now set to be published for public comment. Briefing the media on Thursday, government communications head Themba Maseko said the Cabinet was worried about the proliferation of housing estates along South Africa’s coast that limited public access to the sea.
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/ 7 December 2006
South Africa’s economic confidence rebounded in November on forecasts of a firmer rand currency and faster economic growth. A survey of 14 economists released on Thursday showed the Reuters econometer, a confidence measure of six weighted indicators, rose to 249,9 in November from 245,99 in October.