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/ 29 November 2006
Police must use maximum force when dealing with violent criminals in order to protect themselves and people around them, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula said on Wednesday. He was speaking at the graduation ceremony of senior management officers, who completed the executive development programme in Pretoria.
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/ 29 November 2006
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The Health Department is increasing access to HIV/Aids prevention, care and treatment services, it said ahead of Friday’s World Aids Day. About 11 000 patients are joining the antiretroviral programme every month, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in a statement on Wednesday.
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/ 29 November 2006
Springbok coach Jake White survived a vote of no confidence in the 14-union president’s council on Wednesday. White arrived in Cape Town on Wednesday morning from London to face the council after the Springboks suffered two losses — to Ireland and in the first Test against England — in two successive weeks.
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/ 29 November 2006
The attack on the Highgate Hotel in East London 13 years ago was not carried out by the Azanian People’s Liberation Army, but by a ”third force”, a former police investigator said. Captain Daryl Els, now of the Scorpions, said he was ”99%” sure the apartheid-era security forces were involved in the Highgate attack on May 1 1993.
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/ 29 November 2006
Opposition parties have strongly criticised Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang over her medicine-dispensing fees policy, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) calling for the suspension of the new fees system. ”It may take another protracted … legal battle … to convince the minister,” DA spokesperson Gareth Morgan said on Wednesday.
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/ 29 November 2006
South African President Thabo Mbeki should use the opportunity of the visit by Sudan’s Vice-President Salva Kiir Mayardit to ”impress upon” the Khartoum government that a strong international peacekeeping force must be allowed to be deployed there as soon as possible, says the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).
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/ 29 November 2006
There is nothing irregular or sinister about the use of seized vehicles by the police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, or the South African Police Service (SAPS) headquarters, police said on Wednesday. ”The vehicle in question is being legally used by various SAPS members at head office,” said Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo in a statement.
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/ 29 November 2006
The suspension and ”golden handshake” for former Eastern Cape Treasury superintendent-general Monde Tom cost R4-million, the Public Service Accountability Monitor said on Wednesday. Tom’s 15 month suspension and confidential settlement package were revealed in the Auditor General’s report on the treasury’s 2005/06 annual financial statements.
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/ 29 November 2006
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South Africa will unveil a new plan aimed at fighting its HIV/Aids crisis on Friday, seeking to calm bitter debate. South Africa’s Aids battle has been two-fold, with doctors and community groups struggling to help an estimated five million people infected with the virus and government officials fending off critics.
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/ 29 November 2006
Business confidence in South Africa edged lower in the fourth quarter of 2006 but manufacturers and retailers remained upbeat despite higher interest rates. Africa’s biggest economy has grown strongly and the confidence data pointed to the third quarter’s 4,7% expansion in gross domestic product being sustained in the current quarter, a poll showed on Wednesday.
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/ 29 November 2006
Police were still on the site of an old hotel in the Strand where explosives and ammunition were seized, said Western Cape police on Wednesday. ”They are still on the scene. They are still searching …,” said Inspector Bernadine Steyn. ”Several civil commercial explosives as well as ammunition were found stored in boxes,” said Steyn.
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/ 29 November 2006
Demand for credit by South Africa’s private sector soared by a record 27,48% in the year to October, beating forecasts and rendering another interest rate rise this year virtually certain. Analysts said although the central bank’s rate hike campaign is likely to start dampening growth eventually, current rate levels are still too low to cool mortgage borrowing.
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/ 29 November 2006
The African National Congress could lose control of the Beaufort West municipality because of the resignation of councillor Truman Prince, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday. His departure paved the way for a coalition between the Independent Civic Organisation of SA, the Democratic Alliance and the Independent Democrats.
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/ 29 November 2006
South African airline group Comair estimates that South African Airways’s new low-cost carrier Mango is costing taxpayers over R3-million a week. Comair joint CEO Erik Venter based these calculations on an all inclusive cost of R60 000 per flight between Johannesburg and Cape Town.
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/ 29 November 2006
The increasing emergence of talented, young footballers who have their roots in Africa but have been schooled in Europe is creating friction between the two continents. African and European countries are jostling to persuade several prodigious players to commit their international futures to their respective causes, in most cases causing an emotive pull on the heart strings.
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/ 29 November 2006
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Hip-hop anthems pound, coloured lights flash and hundreds of teenagers scream as two young men stride onto the stage. ”We’ve come all the way to tell you guys how great sex can be,” they yell into the microphone, drawing whoops of delight from the crowd gathered in Eldorado Park.
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/ 29 November 2006
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Most people were not protecting themselves against HIV/Aids even though they knew of the dangers, a Gauteng Aids expert said on Tuesday. ”Now is the time to turn our thinking and talking into joint and practical action to address the challenge of HIV and Aids,” said Dr Liz Floyd, director of the Gauteng health department’s Aids unit.
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/ 28 November 2006
The vice-chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the chairperson of the council have stepped aside from their positions pending investigations into claims of sexual harassment and victimisation. Vice-chancellor Professor Malegapuru Makgoba has taken a leave of absence, while council chairperson Dr Vincent Maphai stood down.
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/ 28 November 2006
More South Africans are voluntarily getting counselled and tested for HIV with figures rising annually, the Department of Health said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Sibani Mngadi said 1Â 715Â 588 people utilised the free voluntary counselling and testing services between April 2005 and March 2006. ”The trend is that it seems to be doubling every year,” he said.
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/ 28 November 2006
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has asked Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula to explain whether his police national commissioner has been driving around in an impounded stolen vehicle. This follows media reports of impounded vehicles allegedly being used by police officials for work and private purposes.
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/ 28 November 2006
Raising consumer safety and maximising crime prevention are the targets of a national rail-safety campaign launched on Tuesday, said Metrorail. The campaign focuses on staff riding, train surfing, cable theft and standing behind the yellow safety line, said CEO Lucky Tshepo Montana.
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/ 28 November 2006
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, PW Botha’s political nemesis, is not prepared to speculate whether the former president is now in heaven or in hell. ”God is the only one who decides,” he told the domestic news agency Sapa in Cape Town on Tuesday.
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/ 28 November 2006
South African fuels firm De Beers Fuel plans to produce 16 to 24-billion litres of biodiesel a year from algae within five years with an initial investment of R3,5-billion. The company has bought licenses for 40Â 000 hectares to be developed into algae farms and within five years the intention is to increase that land area to 320Â 000 hectares.
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/ 28 November 2006
Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday paid warm tribute to the staff of Cape Town’s Tygerberg hospital, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. ”God wants you to know just how proud God is of you,” he said at the annual thanksgiving service for the complex’s children’s hospital, of which he and wife Leah are patrons.
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/ 28 November 2006
President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday congratulated his Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) counterpart Joseph Kabila on his affirmation by the DRC Supreme Court as the democratically elected president of the DRC. ”The government and people of South Africa join the international community in welcoming the DRC’s Supreme Court decision …,” Mbeki said.
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/ 28 November 2006
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Tuesday confirmed that it had received a letter from Schabir Shaik’s legal team giving notice that he intends challenging his conviction in the Constitutional Court. Shaik’s lawyer Reeves Parsee said he was fielding ”50 calls a day from the press and I tell them the same thing. I am not going to comment”.
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/ 28 November 2006
The armed forces in Southern Africa are moving too slowly towards gender transformation, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Tuesday. ”It is still considered a man’s thing, war is considered a man’s thing … where is the basis of this backwards attitude of men?” Lekota asked, citing several examples of woman leaders in South African history.
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/ 28 November 2006
Since day one the only thing that South Africa rugby coach Jake White has been focused on is the 2007 World Cup in France. He again stated so on Saturday when the Springboks beat England 25-14 at Twickenham. ”It’s the World Cup that we’ve been working towards and this victory [over England] has given us a major boost ahead of facing them in France,” said White.
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/ 28 November 2006
Officials in Botswana detained and questioned two Kenyan Okiek hunter-gatherers, Survival International said on Monday. ”They were then questioned for an hour on who they had met, who had invited them, and if they had anything to do with Survival International,” said the organisation’s Miriam Ross in a statement.
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/ 28 November 2006
Police officers have pinned down the whereabouts of C-Max escapee Annanias Mathe using cellphone records, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday. It is believed the 29-year-old Mozambican national has not crossed the border and is still in Gauteng.
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/ 28 November 2006
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had no knowledge of Schabir Shaik’s reported efforts to take his case to the Constitutional Court, a spokesperson said on Monday. ”You’ll have to check with his lawyers, we don’t know anything about it,” said Makhosini Nkosi.
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/ 27 November 2006
Her department has no plans to grant maternity leave to pupils, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said through her spokesperson on Monday. Responding to weekend media reports, Lunga Ngqengelele said in a statement that the department and Pandor never considered proposing a compulsory maternity leave.