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/ 8 September 2006
The man believed to be the kingpin of the notorious ”Sandton knife gang” has claimed he burgled the home of Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, media reports said on Friday. According to the report, William Lehasa told two women that he had grown tired of petty crime and wanted to a ”high-profile job”.
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/ 7 September 2006
President Thabo Mbeki has not yet reacted to a letter from 81 scientists calling for the immediate removal of Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, his office confirmed on Thursday. It was not even certain whether he had seen the letter yet, according to presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga. ”I can’t speak definitively about it,” he said.
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/ 7 September 2006
The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) has accused the police of trying to murder one of its Gauteng officials by shooting him — possibly with rubber bullets — at close range in Johannesburg on Tuesday. Oupa Mbhele was wounded four times in his knees and lower legs and underwent surgery at the Garden City Clinic, where he was in a serious condition.
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/ 7 September 2006
South Africa’s central bank warned on Thursday that interest rates may have to rise again to curb soaring consumption in the continent’s biggest economy and said the rand is adjusting to a widening current account gap. The Reserve Bank has already raised its key repo rate by a full percentage point to 8% in two moves since June.
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/ 7 September 2006
The general secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), Eddie Makue, has called for a single law governing all forms of marriage, including same-sex unions, rather than the dual legislation proposed by the government. He made the call in an open letter to Parliament’s home affairs and justice portfolio committees.
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/ 7 September 2006
Haroon Lorgat, Cricket South Africa’s national convenor of selectors, on Thursday announced the 14-man Standard Bank one-day international (ODI) squad to compete at the ICC Champions Trophy in India next month. He also announced four additional members who will make up an 18-man ODI squad to play a three-match one-day series against Zimbabwe.
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/ 7 September 2006
The commission of inquiry into allegations that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is blacklisting political commentators announced on Thursday that it had finished hearing evidence and hoped to present a report next month. Former SABC boss Zwelakhe Sisulu and advocate Gilbert Marcus said in a statement that they heard ”a final round of submissions” this week.
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/ 7 September 2006
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Jacob Zuma and the other major players in his corruption trial will have to wait until September 20 to hear whether or not the matter will be postponed. Judge Herbert Msimang on Thursday reserved judgement on the state’s request for a postponement of the trial of the former deputy president and his co-accused, French arms company Thint.
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/ 7 September 2006
South Africa has taken a ”huge slide” down the rankings of an international assessment of economic freedom, although the figures it contains, released on Thursday, are for 2004. According to the latest Economic Freedom of the World Annual Report, South Africa now ranks 53 of 130 countries measured.
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/ 7 September 2006
The Supreme Court of Appeal on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the Free State’s minister of public works, with costs, against a finding that his department had been negligent by not maintaining a road. The Bloemfontein High Court had found that the department’s negligence had caused a vehicle accident in 2001.
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/ 7 September 2006
The team that investigated last December’s fuel shortages has urged that immediate steps be taken to prevent another supply crisis towards the end of this year. This emerged after Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica met the governors of the South African Petroleum Industry Association on Thursday.
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/ 7 September 2006
The extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis in KwaZulu-Natal must be dealt with urgently, international health experts said in Johannesburg on Thursday. ”There is no time to wait before we embark on decisive action,” said the World Health Organisation’s Dr Ernesto Jaramillo.
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/ 7 September 2006
A mansion that once belonged to slain mining magnate Brett Kebble was auctioned for R14,5-million in Inanda, Johannesburg on Thursday. The bid for the 0,8ha property, known as ”Hoëveld House”, was won by Johannesburg businessman Terry McKlintock and his wife Merle. ”We were looking for a house in the area. We used to live up the road,” McKlintock said.
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/ 7 September 2006
The Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs has formed a national steering committee (NSC) to consider the recommendations of last year’s land summit, Minister Lulu Xingwana said on Thursday. ”The NSC has to date developed and adopted terms of reference to guide its operations,” the minister said at a press briefing in Pretoria on her first 100 days in office.
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/ 7 September 2006
The South African government programme in fighting HIV/Aids ”is based on the belief that HIV does cause Aids”, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said at a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday. His statement follows years of what he described as ”political bickering” over the Aids issue.
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/ 7 September 2006
The Blue Bulls Rugby Union will start a rugby college with the goal being to broaden the basis of underage amateur and professional rugby and to strengthen club rugby in the province. Students will enrol for one or two years with their base being at Loftus Versfeld and will be exposed to the professional coaching and conditioning structures.
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/ 7 September 2006
The South African Observer Mission (SAOM) to the July 30 elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo has declared the elections free and fair. ”The SAOM concludes that the DRC’s presidential and legislative elections were democratic, peaceful, credible and remarkably transparent,” Deputy Defence Minister Mluleki George told a media briefing in Cape Town.
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/ 7 September 2006
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Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Herbert Msimang reserved judgement until September 20 in the state’s application for a postponement of the corruption trial of Jacob Zuma and his co-accused Thint. Meanwhile, the state should be allowed to use documents seized from Zuma and his attorney in raids by the Scorpions last year, its legal team argued on Thursday.
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/ 7 September 2006
Driefontein and Kloof Gold Mines in South Africa have been marked to receive a large cash injection of R4,7-billion, Gold Fields Limited said on Thursday. The investment is pegged for the deepening of Gold Field’s flagship operations and will access an additional 10,8-million ounces of gold below the current infrastructure.
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/ 7 September 2006
A particularly drug-resistant tuberculosis discovered in eastern South Africa is likely to have spread beyond the rural area where 52 of the 53 people first diagnosed with the new strain have died, the doctor who discovered the super bug said.
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/ 7 September 2006
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Legal sparring continued in Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial on Wednesday, with his supporters thinking their side was winning. ”It is clear to anyone inside that court that the ship is sinking,” Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told the crowd outside the court.
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/ 6 September 2006
South Africa’s smaller cities are growing rapidly while the population growth of the nine major cities is slowing down. These trends were shown in the State of Cities Report 2006 released in Pretoria on Wednesday. Over the last five years the entire urban population has increased faster than the national population.
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/ 6 September 2006
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Jacob Zuma’s lawyer on Wednesday rejected the state’s invitation to allow the Pietermaritzburg High Court to decide whether documents taken in search-and-seizure raids were admissible as evidence. Advocate Kemp J Kemp told Judge Herbert Msimang that he would not be ”accepting my learned friend’s offer”.
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/ 6 September 2006
A move by the Department of Health to gag its top provincial officials from commenting on HIV/Aids is an unreasonable limitation on their right to freedom of expression, two rights-monitoring groups said on Wednesday. ”If allowed to go unchallenged, the move will set an extremely negative precedent,” the Freedom of Expression Institute and Open Democracy Advice Centre said.
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/ 6 September 2006
Retailers and South Africa’s largest union federations on Wednesday took directly opposing views on moves to limit Chinese clothing and textile imports. Edcon, Truworths, Foschini, Pepkor, Mr Price and Woolworths said the agreement will impact badly on consumers and lead to corruption and loss of income for retailers.
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/ 6 September 2006
The Boeremag treason trial may, after more than three years and millions of rands of taxpayers’ money, have to start afresh if two of the accused have their way. Two of the 22 accused, brothers Wilhelm and Johan Pretorius, on Wednesday gave notice that they intended applying for trial Judge Eben Jordaan’s recusal because of alleged bias.
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/ 6 September 2006
Prop Benn Robinson will make his debut and wing Cameron Shepherd his first start in two changes Australian coach John Connolly has made to his team for Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test against South Africa. Shepherd replaces Lote Tuqiri, who was suspended for a dangerous tackle in Australia’s 34-27 defeat by New Zealand in Auckland on August 19.
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/ 6 September 2006
The black economic empowerment (BEE) partner in a R65-million deal with clothing and retail giant Woolworths said on Wednesday the company will seek to use local suppliers ahead of controversial Chinese imports. ”Our standpoint is that we are a South African company,” said chairperson of the Makhubu Group and former secretary to Parliament Zingile Dingani.
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/ 6 September 2006
A group of students handed over a memorandum to the University of the Free State on Wednesday in protest against ”corrupt” student representative council [SRC] elections. ”The process in which the SRC elections were conducted was corrupt,” read the memorandum by the South African Students’ Congress.
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/ 6 September 2006
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has urged the government to use the opportunity wisely when South Africa joins the United Nations Security Council next year. ”The DA welcomes President [Thabo] Mbeki’s announcement that South Africa will take up a two-year non-permanent seat on the Security Council in January 2007,” DA spokesperson Douglas Gibson said on Wednesday.
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/ 6 September 2006
The east coast of South Africa is experiencing a severe blood shortage, the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) said on Wednesday. Blood stocks in the region, which includes KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, are ”way down”, especially of type O blood, said SANBS spokesperson Ianthe Exall.
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/ 6 September 2006
An invitation to Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to address a full council meeting of the Cape Town city council has been turned down, according to Mayor Helen Zille. In a statement on Wednesday, the mayor’s office noted that on August 31 the council adopted a motion to invite the minister to address a full council on the government’s plans to combat HIV/Aids.