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/ 18 November 2006

NPA: We know where Kebble suspects are

The witnesses and suspects in the Brett Kebble murder case have not disappeared, said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Saturday. ”Our investigators, who have been working on this investigation for several months already, are aware of the whereabouts of all the suspects and potential witnesses in this matter,” said NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi.

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/ 18 November 2006

ANC has lost the plot, says DA

The African National Congress (ANC) has lost the plot for the future, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Saturday. ”The ANC is so busy tearing itself apart and plundering the public purse and pursuing narrow racist agendas that they have forgotten the people who put them in power,” said DA leader Tony Leon during a Western Cape DA congress.

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/ 18 November 2006

Shaik in bid to clear his name

Jailed businessman Schabir Shaik is desperately trying to find grounds to challenge his corruption conviction and sentence through the Constitutional Court (Concourt), reported the Weekender on Saturday. Shaik has until November 27 to file a challenge with the Concourt.

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/ 18 November 2006

FXI: Jewish Report treated Kasrils unfairly

The Jewish Report treated Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils unfairly by refusing him the right to reply to a critical article and instead misrepresenting his response, said the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) on Saturday. ”No publication worth its salt would refuse somebody the right to reply to an article that mentions that person by name,” said FXI executive director Jane Duncan.

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/ 18 November 2006

Cape Cobras outclass Warriors

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. None of the 16 159 spectators at Newlands on Friday night would have disagreed with that sentiment as Alan Dawson bowled Brent Kops to clinch victory for the Cape Cobras in the final of the MTN Domestic Championship.

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/ 18 November 2006

Kebble murder: Cops silent on arrest

Police would not comment on reports on Friday that a Johannesburg police commissioner had been arrested in connection the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble. National police spokesperson Sally de Beer would also not comment on a report, in the <i>Star</i> newspaper, that the former Hell’s Angels biker suspected of killing Kebble had vanished.

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/ 17 November 2006

Wanderers to take firm action against racial abuse

The Gauteng Cricket Board announced on Friday that it would take firm action against any spectator guilty of racial abuse during the tours by India and Pakistan. Chief executive Alan Kourie said that following incidents of racial abuse reported from Australia, the board had decided to pay careful attention to the situation at matches at the Wanderers.

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/ 17 November 2006

Odds stacked against India

The odds seem stacked against India when a five-match one-day international series against South Africa starts at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. India have won just three times in 16 one-day internationals against the host nation in South Africa and suffered a 37-run defeat in their only warm-up match against a Rest of South Africa team in Benoni on Thursday.

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/ 17 November 2006

SAA ‘hijack’ case postponed

A Zimbabwean student’s application to be sent for psychiatric evaluation following his alleged attempt to hijack a South African Airways (SAA) flight was on Friday postponed in the Bellville Regional Court. Lawyer Reuben Liddell will now, on Tuesday, launch the application to have Tinashe Rioga sent to the Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital to assess whether he is fit to stand trial.

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/ 17 November 2006

Manto calls for unity in Aids fight

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has urged South Africans to rise above their sectarian interests and unite in the fight against HIV and Aids. In an article on the African National Congress’s website on Friday, she called for the country’s citizens to use World Aids Day on December 1 to join hands against the pandemic.

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/ 17 November 2006

School violence rears its ugly head

A grade eight pupil is to appear in the Frankfort Magistrate’s Court on Friday for allegedly stabbing a classmate, Free State police said. Following the incident on Tuesday at 8am, police arrested an 18-year-old pupil at the Reseng Thabo High School in Tweeling, said Captain Hennie Labuschagne. The victim was in the classroom together with his classmates.

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/ 17 November 2006

Mbeki: Face the future with confidence

Although there is a long way to go in creating a fully non-discriminatory and prosperous society, progress is being made and South Africans must embrace the challenges ahead with confidence, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. Expecting to eradicate a deeply entrenched 350-year-old legacy of poverty, inequality and underdevelopment in a very short time was entirely unrealistic.

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/ 17 November 2006

Steyn gives SA selectors timely reminder

Dale Steyn gave the national selectors a timely reminder of his abilities with a five-wicket haul in the opening match of the Indian tour at Willowmoore Park on Thursday. The Rest of South Africa beat India by 37 runs in their friendly match, after setting the visitors a target of 256 to win.

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/ 17 November 2006

NUM says De Beers should halt retrenchments

Diamond giant De Beers should halt plans to retrench more than 800 workers and come to the table for more consultation, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Thursday. The union and De Beers management met on Thursday to discuss the planned retrenchments and establish the reasons why the company did not inform the union of its intentions during a meeting four weeks ago.

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/ 17 November 2006

Diamond exploration of Bushmen land

A drilling company has started operations for diamond exploration in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, an area that Bushmen believe they were evicted from, Survival International said on Thursday. TH Drilling confirmed to two members of the First People of the Kalahari organisation that it had started operations in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

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/ 16 November 2006

Mbeki congratulates DRC on elections

President Thabo Mbeki congratulated the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Independent Electoral Commission on Thursday for organising the first and second round of presidential elections in that country. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said Mbeki was aware of the announcement of the provisional results, which make President Joseph Kabila the winner.

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/ 16 November 2006

Law Review Project slates asset seizures

The Law Review Project on Thursday expressed deep concerns about the constitutionality of core aspects of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and the actions of the Asset Forfeiture Unit. ”The Prevention of Organised Crime Act and its implementation subject innocent South Africans … to arbitrary penalties …,” the law body said in a statement.

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/ 16 November 2006

Govt considers pardons for ‘political prisoners’

The government is considering applications for the pardoning over 1 000 prisoners who claim their crimes were politically motivated, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla said on Thursday. Briefing the media at Parliament, she referred to repeated appeals by the Inkatha Freedom Party and Pan Africanist Congress for the release of what they called ”political prisoners”.

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/ 16 November 2006

R2bn in gold stolen from SA mines

Gold theft from mines was estimated at R2-billion rand annually, the Chamber of Mines said on Thursday. Chamber of Mines deputy legal adviser Anton van Achterbergh said that a report, compiled by the Institute of Security Studies, ”confirmed … that about R1,8-billion- to R2-billion-worth of gold is stolen every year”.

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/ 16 November 2006

Mango denies flying on taxpayers’ money

The new lost-cost airline Mango on Thursday denied claims by competitor kulula.com that it was using taxpayers’ money from South African Airways (SAA), the airline’s spokesperson said. ”The beginning and the end of the relationship between SAA and Mango was the R100-million loan,” said Hein Kaiser.

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/ 16 November 2006

Shaik also eats cooked cabbage

Fraud convict Schabir Shaik’s move to Empangeni’s Qalakabusha prison was due to his chronic medical condition, the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons announced in Durban on Thursday. Judge Nathan Erasmus said he personally investigated the transfer following continued media speculation over ”preferential treatment”.