Crime is a crisis, not just a problem, and the African National Congress (ANC) should pay attention to it, said the Sunday Times in a front-page editorial. The newspaper said that the ANC leaders, getting together next weekend for their regular national executive committee meeting, needed to put the country’s out-of-control crime situation on their agenda.
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/ 30 September 2006
The Titans confirmed their position as strong MTN Championship contenders when they began their limited overs domestic season with a well constructed four-wicket win over the Cape Cobras at Supersport Park on Friday. The home side made reaching the target of 237, posted by the visitors, seem easy as they cantered to victory.
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/ 30 September 2006
An intended strike by the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) after failed negotiations with Sun International would not affect the daily running of resorts, the company said on Friday. ”As one would expect, we have put in place a comprehensive and thorough contingency plan and operating standards will be maintained.
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/ 30 September 2006
The Lions moved into the second place on the Currie Cup log on Friday night when they demolished the Pumas 89-10, scoring 13 tries in the process. It was the biggest win yet in the competition, but it could all mean nothing to the Lions as they could move down to fifth and out of play-off contention on the last day of the Currie Cup group play on Saturday.
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/ 30 September 2006
President Thabo Mbeki bid farewell on Friday to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and thanked him for his contributions to the organisation. Annan will end his 10-year tenure as UN Secretary General on December 31. ”We thank him for never losing sight of the fact that poverty and underdevelopment remain the biggest threat to the progress that has been achieved … ”
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/ 29 September 2006
South Africa’s poorest municipality, the OR Tambo District Municipality in Transkei, could find itself lagging as much as 10 years behind the national target dates for water and sanitation, President Thabo Mbeki heard on Friday. This was the warning in a report handed to him during a day-long visit to the Mbizana area.
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/ 29 September 2006
Music star Zola, who played a gangster in the Oscar-winning film Tsotsi, has urged South Africa to back a United Nations-driven pact aimed at controlling weapons around the world. Zola said weak gun restrictions fed crime and drug addiction among teens in poverty stricken communities.
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/ 29 September 2006
Area codes will have to be dialled before all Telkom numbers from January 16 next year, the phone company said on Friday. This would apply even if the caller and person being called were in the same area, said Telkom spokesperson Lulu Letlape. The international dialling prefix of 09 would become 00.
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/ 29 September 2006
The Directorate of Special Operations (DSO, Scorpions) of the National Prosecuting Authority on Thursday night arrested a senior state advocate stationed at the DSO’s Gauteng regional office. The state advocate, who may not be named until she appears in court, was arrested on charges of corruption, defeating the ends of justice, extortion and contravention of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act.
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/ 29 September 2006
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) added its voice on Friday to those supporting High Court Judge Gerhardus Hattingh’s call for a referendum on the death penalty. ”The IFP calls on government to set the wheels of democracy in motion, to allow every citizen of this country to decide for themselves whether or not the death penalty should be reinstated,” IFP Chief Whip Koos van der Merwe said.
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/ 29 September 2006
Increasing traffic congestion makes it impossible to sustain the economic growth of cities like Johannesburg on the basis of private car use, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe said on Friday. About 160Â 000 cars a day travel between Tshwane and Johannesburg on the Ben Schoeman highway, Radebe said in launching Transport Month at the Midrand fire department.
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/ 29 September 2006
A Jacob Zuma presidency would be disastrous for South Africa’s economy and yet the business sector remained silent on the issue, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said on Friday. Leon urged business leaders to speak out against the possibility of the African National Congress deputy president taking up the country’s presidency as the ”useful idiot” of the left.
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/ 29 September 2006
Businessman Roger Kebble was fined R1,2-million or 12 months imprisonment for contravening the Stock Exchange Act by the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. Kebble pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud relating to market trading and market manipulation.
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/ 29 September 2006
The government’s R7,7-billion taxi recapitalisation project is back on track, media reports said on Friday. This was clear from comments by Transport Minister Jeff Radebe after he hosted an ”all-inclusive stakeholders meeting” on the project on Thursday. Radebe said all interested parties were at the meeting and ”everything agreed was unanimous”.
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/ 29 September 2006
The retail price of petrol will decline by 50c to 51c per litre from Wednesday October 4, the Department of Minerals and Energy said on Friday. The retail price of Petrol 91 ULP will fall by 51c a litre, while that of 93 and 95 ULP and LRP will fall by 50c a litre. The wholesale price of diesel 0,05% sulphur will decline by 34c a litre (c/l) and that of 0,005% sulphur will fall by 37c/l on the same date.
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/ 29 September 2006
Many of the footballers representing their countries in an international tournament in South Africa this week were remarkably gaunt, sallow-looking and groomed haphazardly. They looked, in fact, as if they had spent the past few years living on the streets. Indeed, that is where these improbable athletes had been spending much of their time before arriving at the Homeless World Cup in Cape Town.
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/ 28 September 2006
Stubbornly high crime statistics show South Africa has a long way to go to fight one of the prime deterrents to much-needed investment, business leaders said on Thursday. The latest crime data, released by the police on Wednesday, showed a slight decline in murders and other crimes but an alarming rise in others, such as armoured-car heists.
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/ 28 September 2006
South African Airways (SAA) flights between Washington DC and Johannesburg will no longer stop in Dakar, reducing flying time by three hours, the national carrier announced on Thursday. The airline also announced that extra flights would be introduced between Johannesburg and Frankfurt, London and Perth for the holiday season from November to January.
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/ 28 September 2006
Land reform, and especially land restitution, were proceeding according to plan, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs said in Pretoria on Thursday. ”There’s this wrong impression that most of these projects, especially restitution, are failing. That is not true, they are working,” Dirk du Toit told a press briefing at the Union Buildings.
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/ 28 September 2006
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A statement issued by Jacob Zuma on Thursday saw him ”apologise unreservedly for the pain and anger” his recent statements about gays and lesbians may have caused. But some in the gay community feel that his was a ”false apology”. ”It’s one of those spin pieces designed to smooth ruffled feathers,” Donna Smith, CEO of the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, said.
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/ 28 September 2006
The Gautrain link between OR Tambo International airport and Sandton will be finished in time for the Soccer World Cup in 2010, Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said at a sod-turning ceremony for the project on Thursday. ”Bombela [International Consortium] has given me their assurance that we will be well in time for the Soccer World Cup,” Shilowa said at Alexandra in Johannesburg.
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/ 28 September 2006
Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe was still angry and bitter about the murder of his granddaughter Makgabo Matlala, he told reporters outside the Vereeniging Circuit Court on Thursday. ”The outcome of this case has confirmed that there is justice in this country,” Ngoepe said. He said the judge imposed a maximum sentence that was suitable.
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/ 28 September 2006
South Africa lacks an effective ”one-stop shop” for enterprise development, which needs to be urgently addressed to help job creation, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. Outlining the DA’s proposals in this regard at a media briefing at Parliament, spokesperson Les Labuschagne said small-business development was not on track.
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/ 28 September 2006
Zimbabwe’s ruling party has denied planning to postpone the country’s 2008 presidential election to 2010, ZimOnline reported on Thursday. It quoted Zanu-PF’s secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa as saying: ”There is nothing like that.”
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/ 28 September 2006
Many schools are urban war zones, with teachers struggling to cope with unruly pupils, some of whom are armed, the South African Human Rights Commission was told in Cape Town on Thursday. Violence at schools varied from blunt assault to human bite wounds and firearm-related injuries, the director of the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Southern Africa said.
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/ 28 September 2006
South Africa’s Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said the poor quality of public education in Africa’s economic powerhouse will threaten future growth if not corrected. ”We have to redouble our efforts in quality of education,” Pandor said on Wednesday. ”It’s not just a budget issue but a quality improvement programme … If we don’t address it there will be problems with growth later.”
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/ 28 September 2006
Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula has apologised for the lack of consultation about the restructuring of the South African Police Service (SAPS). This, after NGOs decried the unilateral decision. ”If indeed … NGOs believe it was wrong for us not to consult, we apologise,” Nqakula told the business community at a Business Against Crime briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday.
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/ 28 September 2006
A drop in unemployment figures was an indication of good labour market policies, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana said on Thursday. ”This is an indication of how well our labour market policies are functioning,” he said. Figures released by Statistics SA on Wednesday showed a decline in unemployment from 26,5% in March 2005 to 25,6% in March this year, the lowest since 2001.
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/ 28 September 2006
Gauteng public servant Crish Naidu has been paid R1,25-million in the past 27 months for doing nothing, media reports said on Thursday. Naidu was suspended after uncovering alleged fraud involving at least six members of staff. He worked as director of management services in the department of finance and economic affairs, with a monthly salary of R46 000.
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/ 28 September 2006
The three men accused of killing Makgabo Matlala, the granddaughter of Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe, were found guilty in the Vereeniging Circuit High Court on Wednesday. The three will be sentenced on Thursday. Judge Gerhardus Hattingh described the murder as barbaric.
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/ 28 September 2006
A partially blind South African engineer received an International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) achievement award on Thursday, said his employer, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. ”Kelvin Legge is the first South African to receive an IGS achievement award in recognition of technology and advancement in the field of civil and environmental engineering,” said the department’s spokesperson.
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/ 27 September 2006
Wednesday’s eventual release of the annual crime statistics raised strident calls for the figures to be made public more regularly. Democratic Alliance spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard said the government’s continued refusal to publish crime statistics on a more regular basis meant the public had to wait another year before finding out just how serious the current crime spike affecting the country was.