South Africa

A taxi drivers’ protest — part of a strike that left commuters in Soweto and Orange Farm without transport on Wednesday — was illegal, Johannesburg metro police said. ”They did not apply for permission to protest,” said Inspector Edna Mamonyane. On Wednesday morning drivers blocked roads in and around Soweto and forced commuters out of the few taxis that were travelling to Johannesburg.

Bovine tuberculosis, an infectious disease mostly confined to cattle but now threatening wildlife around the world, is spreading among buffalo in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, an official said on Wednesday. Tests confirm more of the famed park’s estimated 32 000 buffalo have contracted the chronic wasting disease.

African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday called for the tripartite alliance to be strengthened to ensure that workers’ interests received greater attention. ”If are we are serious about developing the African National Congress and parliamentary oversight then a lot more energy and focus has to go into the tripartite alliance,” he said.

South African authorities have launched an investigation into the 1981 disappearance of President Thabo Mbeki’s son, who is believed to have been killed by agents of the apartheid-era government. ”We will conduct our own investigation,” Makhosini Nkosi, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), said.

A Johannesburg woman accused of reporting a hoax hijacking was granted bail of R3 000 by the Booysens Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Mapitso Lutricia Mekhoe was arrested after claiming robbers took her daughter when they hijacked her Toyota bakkie on Sunday.

Top brass in the military met on Tuesday to discuss reports that apartheid-era chemical weapons expert Wouter Basson was getting a monthly salary, despite being suspended since 1999. ”Management and the legal department are in a meeting.

Axed spy boss Billy Masetlha will be charged later this week with contravening the Intelligence Services Oversight Act, a media report said on Tuesday. Masetlha, the former National Intelligence Agency director, was fired by President Thabo Mbeki in March following a hoax e-mail scandal.

A handful of people in South Africa quietly marked the centennial of the birth of Mohandas Gandhi’s Satyagraha or ”truth force” movement, which made the young Indian lawyer a global icon of peace. Monday was the 100th anniversary of the beginning of a movement that would have profound influence on the struggle against apartheid.

Human resource development practitioners should ensure that public servants have the required skills to deal with service delivery and a growing economy, the Minister of Public Service and Administration said on Monday. Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi was speaking at the 10th Public Service Trainers Conference at the Sandton Convention Centre.

Kaizer Chiefs lost another two points when they played to a goalless draw with rookie team Benoni Premier United in their Premier Soccer League game at the Germiston stadium on Sunday. The game started at a slow pace, with United having the upper hand.

Zimbabwe’s infant mortality rate has declined since 1999, owing to measures to fight HIV, Harare’s Herald newspaper reported on Monday. Its website said the rate dropped from 102 to 82 deaths for every 1 000 births. This comes at a time when the country has reduced its HIV prevalence rate from 20,1% to 18,1% in the age groups of child-bearing women.