Protesters gathered outside the United States embassy in Pretoria and its consulate in Cape Town on Friday to demand the release of the so-called Cuban Five. The protesters — about 200 in Pretoria and what one participant said were about 80 in Cape Town — included representatives of the African National Congress and its alliance partners.
Mittal Steel South Africa has bought two steel mills in Mozambique to grow its sub-Saharan presence, the company said on Friday. The ,45-million purchase was the first Mittal had made out of South Africa. It formed part of a memorandum of cooperation that the company was finalising with the Mozambican government.
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It was still unclear at lunch on Friday whether African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma and President Thabo Mbeki would both attend the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting on the weekend. The NEC will meet behind closed doors for three days at Esselen Park on Gauteng’s East Rand amid questions about a possible rift between Zuma and Mbeki.
Ten cases of the extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) have been reported in North West, the provincial department of health said on Friday. Spokesperson Lesiba Molala said four people have since died from the disease, while six others were being monitored at the Tshepong hospital complex in Klerksdorp.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu received an original Zapiro cartoon as a present for his 75th birthday at the University of South Africa on Friday. Upon receiving the gift, Tutu said: ”I am always intrigued because, if you will notice, Zapiro always draws my nose peeping into my mouth. A very big thank you … I am deeply touched and lack words to express my appreciation.”
The Pension Funds Adjudicator (PFA) has ruled that pension funds must pay minimum withdrawal benefits, even if a fund’s rules do not require this, the PFA said on Friday. The PFA said this ”landmark” ruling on Thursday was important for calculating benefits paid on resignation.
Cape Town mayor Helen Zille on Friday assured the city’s residents that disadvantaged people would continue to receive services. ”This month I would like to invite all residents who owe council money for rates and services, but who are unable to pay their debts, to come forward and take advantage of our indigent policy,” she said in a statement.
Fifty two percent of South African employees who were booked off sick this winter had respiratory illnesses, which included influenza, a survey released on Friday revealed. An analysis made of 60 South African companies with a total of 7Â 000 employees revealed that out of 2Â 877 people who took time off between May and August this year, 1Â 489 had flu.
Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has been admitted to hospital with a lung infection, her spokesperson said on Friday. Sibani Mngadi said the minister had been admitted to Johannesburg Hospital on Thursday. ”She was not feeling well and was taken to hospital. They decided to admit her to do further tests and see if she is reacting to treatment,” he said.
For the African National Congress to remain a national movement it must ensure that both socialists and nationalists have a place in the party, President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday. He was speaking at the launch at the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria of the second of five volumes of The Road to Democracy in South Africa.
A 78-year-old woman managed to identify the men who raped her and then set fire to her body before she died, Eastern Cape police said on Thursday. The brutal rape and murder of the woman and her niece on Tuesday last week have left the Grahamstown community shocked and angry, according to police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender.
From gleaming shopping malls in downtown Nairobi to gold mines buried deep in the Congolese jungle, South Africa is flexing its corporate muscle on the world’s poorest continent. South African shopping chains Shoprite and Pick ‘n Pay bring choice and price stability to African market places, while millions have made their first phone call thanks to cellular operators MTN and Vodacom.
Mounting anger in the ANC parliamentary caucus over the political management of the Travelgate scandal is focused on chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe, who has been accused by some of those facing charges of sacrificing them to protect more powerful party figures.
South Africa has a long way to go in having indigenous languages recognised as a medium of instruction, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said in Pretoria on Thursday. ”The ministerial committee reported a startling but not surprising finding that the future of African languages as a medium of instruction is bleak if nothing is done immediately,” she said.
A plague of rats that is haunting the east of Johannesburg is being combated by the Ekurhuleni department of health and environment. Between April 2004 and September 2005 more than 75 000 rats, some weighing up to half a kilogram, have been captured and killed. Director Jerry Chaka on Thursday said this was part of their holistic approach to dealing with the problem.
South Africans will have to pay more for electricity as Eskom plans to increase prices in the next three years to pay for infrastructure, said company chief executive Thulani Gcabashe. He was addressing the Johannesburg Press Club on Thursday. ”We expect prices to go up as investments are made in infrastructure,” he said.
Corruption will remain a problem in South Africa, Special Investigation Unit (SIU) head Willie Hofmeyr said on Thursday. Giving an overview of the growth of the SIU over the past few years, Hofmeyr said it was difficult to determine just how much corruption there was in government. ”There are some areas which are just naturally vulnerable to corruption,” he said.
The Young Communist League has urged South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief executive Dali Mpofu to make public a report on the SABC’s ”censorship of political journalist[s]”. The public had a right to know the findings of the report so they could make up their own minds on its merits and demerits, a statement said on Thursday.
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Jacob Zuma was mum on Thursday on whether he would attend the weekend meeting of the national executive committee of the African National Congress (ANC). Speaking from his home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, a jovial Zuma said: ”I am not answering that question.” The ANC deputy president said he did not want the media to ”be speculating”.
Something is rotten in the Gauteng department of housing, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday following the revelation of R100-million in tender irregularities in the department. The Star revealed on Thursday the contents of a report by the forensic unit of the Gauteng Shared Services Centre detailing allegations of tender irregularities.
A nurse from Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga has been found guilty of infecting her stepson with HIV after giving him an injection with contaminated blood, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Thursday. Pinky Mabuza (33) stood trial in the magistrate’s court at Mkuhlu near Hazyview.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has proposed far-reaching measures to improve the management of public finances, including an emergency task team and legislative amendments. ”The management of public money by government in our country is unacceptably poor, and in some cases abysmal,” DA CEO Ryan Coetzee told a media briefing at Parliament on Thursday.
Senior African National Congress (ANC) official Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele has rejected assertions that President Thabo has become like an ”absent father”. Speaking on SAfm’s After Eight Debate on Thursday, she also defended his silence on an apparent rift between him and ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma. Some callers to the show complained of Mbeki’s absence.
The value of fraudulent claims submitted to the life insurance industry during the first half of this year dropped by almost 76-million rand compared with the first half of last year, from R175,2-million rand to R99,5-million. Lerato Mametse, communications manager at the Life Offices Association, says the reduction in claims fraud from January to June this year was a welcome respite.
About 11 white students painted their faces black in a bid to be classified as Africans at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday. The group, led by AfriForum CEO Callie Kriel, handed a memorandum to a representative of the President’s office, Elisa Ndlovu. Kriel said the students’ tongue-in-cheek action carried a very serious message.
The Airports Company South Africa says work on all its projects at Johannesburg International airport is in full swing and it is confident that by 2009 all the construction work will have been completed to ensure that there is no construction activity during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. As part of its R5,2-billion infrastructure development programme, Acsa is spending about R3,5-billion rand at the airport.
South Africa’s business confidence dipped in September, on high crime and expectations interest rate hikes may subdue business activity, the South Africa Chamber of Business (Sacob) said on Thursday. Sacob’s Business Confidence Index slipped to 97,7 in September from 99 in August — falling to its lowest level in 2006 and off a peak of 103,1 reached in April.
A fire ravaged a home owned by Teazers strip club boss Lolly Jackson in Johannesburg on Thursday, he told media. The damage to the home was estimated to be about R3-million, excluding damage to the personal belongings of the Romanian women living on the property.
There appeared to be little relief in sight for the rain-sodden Eastern Cape, with the whole province on high alert as heavy rains continued, disaster management said on Thursday. Disaster Management’s Captain John Fobian said warnings had been issued all over the province from the Fish River to Port Elizabeth.
Four street children stole a cellphone and a pair of shoes after stabbing and killing 52-year-old Quintin Boutel in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape police said on Thursday. Spokesperson Superintendent Johann van Greunen said Boutel and his girlfriend were walking home from the Pub & Grub restaurant in Newton Park at about 10.30pm on Wednesday when they were confronted by the youths.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s voice of conscience during apartheid, is once more at odds with authority over the moral direction of the country as he approaches his 75th birthday. Ten years on from his retirement as archbishop of Cape Town, the indefatigable cleric has lost none of his ability to make those in power squirm as he points out their shortcomings.
South Africa’s chances of qualifying for the 2008 African Nations Cup finals will take a serious nosedive if they lose in Zambia on Sunday. Defeat would leave the 2010 World Cup hosts five points behind Group 11 leaders Zambia with four matches to play.