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/ 30 October 2006
The African National Congress (ANC) on Monday urged retailers to reconsider court action against the restriction of textile imports from China. ”The ANC urges these retailers to reconsider their court action, and to instead work together with government and manufacturers to address their concerns in the interest of all South Africans,” said ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama.
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/ 30 October 2006
Well-off schools could soon get subsidies for enrolling pupils who can’t afford to pay fees, the Department of Education said on Monday. ”The minister of education recognises that the number of fee exemptions granted at certain schools is becoming a burden on their school finances,” said Naledi Pandor’s spokesperson, Lunga Ngqengelele, in a statement.
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/ 30 October 2006
Two pathologists gave evidence in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court in the case against Riaz Kadwa, accused of shooting his parents, police said on Monday. Superintendent Chris Wilken said the two were giving evidence in the case against Kadwa, his wife and his sister. ”One of the pathologists has yet to be questioned by the defence advocate, Michael Hellens,” said Wilken.
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/ 30 October 2006
A woman accused of witchcraft died in the Mount Ayliff hospital on Monday after being stoned by an angry mob from a local community, Eastern Cape police said. ”The community kept assaulting her when police arrived but they managed to get her away eventually,” said spokesperson Superintendent Nondumiso Jafta.
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/ 30 October 2006
Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola announced officially on Monday that Proteas wicketkeeper Mark Boucher had been rewarded for recent good performances by being reinstated as an A+ contract player. ”Mark has regained his A+ contract following some outstanding performances and for his overall contribution …,” Majola said.
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/ 30 October 2006
The Department of Health will announce new medicine-price regulations on Tuesday, a departmental official said on Monday. ”We are on for tomorrow [Tuesday],” said Dr Anban Pillay, the national department’s director for pharmaceutical pricing. He said the Cabinet approved the proposal last week.
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/ 30 October 2006
Crime levels on commuter trains are still unacceptable, but the dedicated rail-police unit is making a difference, government and commuter-rail officials said on Monday. They were speaking in Cape Town at the national launch of the South African Police Service Railway Unit, which began operating in the Western Cape in 2004.
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/ 30 October 2006
President Thabo Mbeki has conveyed South Africa’s condolences to the families of the dozens of people who died in the Nigerian airliner crash. Presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said Mbeki assured Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo of South Africa’s ”thoughts and prayers during Nigeria’s period of grief”.
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/ 30 October 2006
Flights between Johannesburg and Cape Town will cost about R200 until the end of December on board South Africa’s new domestic airline, Mango, it was announced in Johannesburg on Monday. ”We are getting South Africans to travel,” said Mango’s newly appointed CEO Nico Bezuidenhout.
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/ 30 October 2006
The case against a Scorpions advocate accused of corruption was postponed in the Randburg Regional Court on Monday until November 30. State prosecutor Herman Broodryk said the case against Portia Kgantsi was postponed for further investigation. Kgantsi (39) was arrested earlier this month.
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/ 30 October 2006
Ministers in the social services and governance cluster face questions in the second chamber of Parliament, the National Council of Provinces, on Tuesday afternoon — including one to the Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri about the progress made in setting up a second national operator (SNO).
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/ 30 October 2006
The peace and security cluster of ministers face questions from MPs in the National Assembly this week — including one to the minister of safety and security on whether he had set his own targets for crime reduction. The questions take place on Wednesday afternoon, following a series of questions to the Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Question time starts at 3pm.
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/ 30 October 2006
Santos advanced to the quarterfinals of the Telkom Knockout competition when they beat Jomo Cosmos 1-0 at the Huntersfield Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The teams were locked 0-0 all at half-time. As early as the third minute, Santos striker Jonathan Armogam tested Cosmos goalkeeper Walter Khumalo with a shot that hit the cross bar and back into play.
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/ 30 October 2006
Over 200 people were arrested during an anti-crime operation in Johannesburg, police said on Monday. Inspector Kriban Naidoo said 238 people were arrested in Saturday’s crime sweep that started at 4am, for crimes including rape, armed robbery, housebreaking, shoplifting and assault.
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/ 30 October 2006
President Thabo Mbeki’s International Investment Council (IIC) endorsed the medium-term budget policy delivered by the Department of Finance in Parliament this week, the Presidency said on Sunday. It said the government’s goals for a higher gross domestic product and employment growth rates by 2014 were a step forward for South Africa
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/ 30 October 2006
Rescue teams recovered the bodies of the two remaining miners trapped underground at AngloGold Ashanti’s Tau Tona mine near Carletonville at the weekend. The recovery of all five missing miners was completed five days after the fall of ground at the mine, following two seismic events on Monday afternoon.
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/ 29 October 2006
The ”visionary attitude” of prominent South African businessman Humphrey Khoza would be missed, a long-time friend said on Saturday after his death in a car crash on Friday night. So too would his kindness and open-mindedness, said Zanele Nhlayisi, who was appointed spokesperson for the Khoza family.
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/ 29 October 2006
Landing in Johannesburg from anywhere else in Africa can be a deeply disorienting experience, no matter how many times you do it. In fact the contrasts are so great, you can end up wondering if you are still in Africa at all. Confusion sets in as soon as you head into town along a network of fine roads that would put London to shame.
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/ 28 October 2006
The beating of a South African Broadcasting Corporation TV journalist by Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) police undermines the corporation’s ability to report on the election there, said the SABC on Saturday. SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago condemned the beating of Njanji Chauke on Friday ”in the strongest possible terms”.
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/ 28 October 2006
Seamer Yusuf Abdullah turned in an impressive bowling performance for the Nashua Dolphins in their MTN Domestic League cricket match against the Cape Cobras at Kingsmead on Friday night to put the home side on the path to victory by 22 runs.
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/ 28 October 2006
South African businessman Humphrey Khoza died in a car accident on the East Rand, Ekurhuleni Metro police said on Saturday. Inspector Johnny Nhlapo said the accident occurred on the N12, heading east, near the Comaro Street offramp around 9pm on Friday.
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/ 28 October 2006
The Eagles won a hanger against the Highveld Lions by two wickets on Friday night in Bloemfontein after the home team nearly lost the match in the second last over. The defending champions nearly lost their grip on the match when Jacques Rudolp (111), Roger Telemachus (0) and Cliff Deacon (0) all walked back to the pavilion within the space of three runs over the last two overs.
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/ 28 October 2006
Caddies at the world Amateur Team Golf Championships, being played at Stellenbosch, went on strike on Saturday morning over a pay dispute. Chairperson of the Caddy Institute of South Africa Barry Stemmet said that play had got under way, but that the players — of which there were just over 200 from 45 countries — were being given golf carts instead of caddies.
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/ 28 October 2006
A senior KwaZulu-Natal official was stabbed to death in Pietermaritzburg, police said on Saturday. Police spokesperson Superintendent Joshua Gwala said Thulas Mngomezulu was stabbed to death on Friday night in Pietermaritzburg’s Boschoff Street.
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/ 28 October 2006
The South African government on Friday announced a dramatic reversal of its approach to the country’s HIV/Aids crisis, promising increased availability of drugs and endorsing the efforts of civic groups battling the disease. ”We must take our fight against Aids to a much higher level,” Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told a conference of Aids activists.
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/ 27 October 2006
Regional integration is rightly being pursued in the Southern African Development Community as it is a critical instrument to boost economic growth and raise living standards — but it has to be sustainable, says South African President Thabo Mbeki. In his regular Friday internet column, <i><a href="http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/" target="_blank" class="standardtext">ANC Today</a></i>, the president said regional integration in the developing world "has all too often been a graveyard of failed expectations".
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/ 27 October 2006
Companies trying to meet the requirements Employment Equity Act need not dismiss white staff, Business Day reported on Friday. Earlier this week the Johannesburg Labour Court ruled that the Act did not impose an obligation on an employee embarking on retrenchments to dismiss white, rather than African, employees.
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/ 27 October 2006
The 20-year-old man who was driving for singer Lebo Mathosa when she was in a fatal accident has given an affidavit about the event, East Rand police said on Friday. Superintendent Andy Pieke confirmed that the man gave his statement to police but did not divulge further information. ”We cannot release his name until he appears in court,” said Pieke.
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/ 27 October 2006
Those involved in the fight against HIV and Aids have to work together, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on Friday. ”We have to make sure that our energy is dedicated to the fight against HIV and Aids and not against each other,” she told a Civil Society Coalition HIV-Aids congress in Johannesburg.
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/ 27 October 2006
The Cape Town city council has given mayor Helen Zille a mandate to declare an intergovernmental dispute if necessary in her battle with Western Cape local government minister Richard Dyantyi. The mandate takes the council a step closer to a court challenge to Dyantyi’s plan to strip Zille of her executive powers.
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/ 27 October 2006
The government’s taxi-recapitalisation programme in its current form should be scrapped, taxi owners and drivers demanded in Pretoria on Friday, where thousands marched to the Union Buildings. Traffic was also disrupted in Johannesburg and Cape Town, with reports of roads blocked off and stonings of vehicles.
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/ 27 October 2006
South Africa’s opposition parties, which kowtow to the ruling party, have only themselves to blame ”if the deadening hand of a de facto one-party state threatens” to encircle the country, says official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon. In his regular Friday online column, SA Today, the DA leader Leon slammed Patricia de Lille’s Independent Democrats.