Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) chairperson Zackie Achmat on Wednesday appealed directly to his African National Congress (ANC) ”comrades” to support the TAC’s call for the minister of health to be sacked. Achmat made the call during a special address to the Cape Town city council.
Business against Crime South Africa on Wednesday announced the appointment of Siphiwe Nzimande to replace Kenny Fihla as the organisation’s CEO. Fihla has stepped down as CEO at the conclusion of his three-year contract. Nzimande held the post of commercial director at Murray and Roberts Construction before joining Business against Crime.
Grade 11 pupils will write a nationally set end-of-year examination in 2007 to prepare them for the new National Senior Certificate (matric) exams to be introduced in 2008, the Department of Education said on Tuesday. Schools have already received a national examination for Grade 10 pupils this year, but it will only be used as example for teachers to set exams.
Only 45% of workers support the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) remaining part of the tripartite alliance, a survey has shown. Most workers surveyed felt that the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and Cosatu should work harder to overcome their disagreements, Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said on Wednesday.
The Department of Correctional Services on Wednesday rejected a Durban High Court judge’s assertion that it is responsible for a potentially ”grave constitutional crisis”. ”The department does not agree that the decision to appeal against the orders of the Durban High Court was intended to create a constitutional crisis,” the department said in a statement.
Support for Jacob Zuma was support ”for the revolution” and not just an individual, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Wednesday. Vavi said the country’s leadership had claimed great progress while ignoring the principal economic challenges that faced working people.
The Moerane commission, which investigated South Africa’s fuel-supply crisis suffered late last year, has reported that another supply crisis could emerge in the second half of this year because of scheduled refinery shutdowns. But Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica says she has a task team in place with the industry.
Springbok coach Jake White named a formidable team with five changes for his team’s Tri-Nations clash against the All Blacks on Saturday. Sharks loose forward AJ Venter makes a return to international rugby at number eight after having last played for the Springboks in 2004 at Twickenham.
A large segment of South Africa’s black middle class believes marketers and advertisers are making stereotyped efforts to connect with them, according to a study released on Tuesday. The study says 49% of the group feel that they are misrepresented in the media by local marketers and advertisers.
National police chief Jackie Selebi has taken a Free State judge’s criticism on delays in DNA testing to the head of forensics, his office said on Wednesday. ”The national commissioner did speak to the divisional commissioner in charge of forensics today [Wednesday],” said Selebi’s spokesperson, Director Sally de Beer.
National Assembly questions to South African President Thabo Mbeki have been postponed because the head of state has influenza and has been told by a military doctor ”to rest”, the Director General in the Presidency, Frank Chikane, reported to members of the media at Parliament. The questions were to have been put to the president on Wednesday afternoon.
The National Treasury has asked the city of Cape Town to slash the estimated R3,3-billion cost of the Green Point stadium for the Soccer World Cup by 40%, city mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday. ”This is obviously a tall order, because we are convinced that the costings of the conceptual design are accurate,” she told a meeting of the city council.
A full bench of the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday dismissed an application by the Muckleneuk/Lukasrand property owners and residents association to stop the Gautrain from running through their area. Residents said they were not against the Gautrain, but said they would prefer a tunnel or another route.
Five games and four players down and the Springboks believe more than ever that victory is 80 minutes away. On Tuesday the Springboks went through their paces without fullback Percy Montgomery, who was suffering from a stomach bug, scrumhalf Fourie du Preez with an ear infection, hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle not feeling well and CJ van der Linde, who is suffering from a neck injury.
Some parts are used as decorative bangles in certain countries and, at times, it is derisively referred to as a ”fish bag”, but usage of the female condom seems to be rising in South Africa, its second-largest market in the world. The female condom has been around for nearly a decade, and in South Africa it is a focal point of the government’s HIV/Aids programme.
A Free State judge has sharply condemned delays in DNA testing in a murder case in the province, media reports said on Wednesday. ”Must we close the courts, sit and twiddle our thumbs and do everything in Africa time to accommodate a national police commissioner who doesn’t do his job?” asked judge Arrie Hattingh in a circuit court sitting in Harrismith.
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Pierre Moynot, the executive of the French arms manufacturer charged alongside Jacob Zuma for corruption, may have incriminated himself when he testified in the Schabir Shaik trial. The defence team for French arms dealer Thint said that when Moynot testified in the Shaik trial ”he [was] not warned by the state that the questions he will be asked may incriminate him”.
Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is breaking the law by making unproven claims about the effectiveness of alternative ”treatments” for Aids, according to the South African Medical Association. She has been dubbed ”Dr Beetroot” because of her advocacy of a beetroot, garlic and lemon diet for people with Aids.
The tobacco industry is ”on top of things” when it comes to the government’s proposed tougher anti-smoking legislation, according to the Democratic Alliance’s former health spokesperson, Dianne Kohler-Barnard. She also said she will ”fight to the death” for smokers’ rights. She made these statements last month in a series of e-mails.
Turffontein Racecourse is to be transformed into a premier night-racing venue. ”The money will see Turffontein become a luxurious racing venue with about 70 weekend and night race meetings being held there annually. Additional race meetings may also be held at Randjesfontein,” a statement said.
Two men and a woman appeared briefly in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of fraud involving about R25-million, the National Prosecuting Authority said. Anton de Bruyn, his wife Debra and Mynderd Jacobus Hendrickz were arrested in the Randfontein area earlier on Tuesday, NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said in a statement.
Police helicopters are to be fitted with airborne surveillance systems from Denel, the state-owned arms company said on Tuesday. ”This virtual ‘eye in the sky’ system will allow the South African Police Service to deploy their helicopters for all-weather and day and night crime prevention,” said Sam Basch, Denel’s spokesperson.
Popular band Live will return to South Africa for the third time during their upcoming Black Mountain — White Light tour in October, Big Concerts said on Tuesday. The tour will begin in Johannesburg on October 27 before moving on to Durban on October 28, Port Elizabeth on October 30 and Cape Town on October 31.
A Durban hijacker who shot dead a Pietermaritzburg teacher and wounded his girlfriend was sentenced to life plus 45 years in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday. Mlandeli Madlala (22) was given a life sentence for the February 2005 murder of Irshad Jogiat, a teacher who was to obtain a law degree at the end of that year.
Mail & Guardian journalists Stefaans Brümmer and Sam Sole, together with former staffer Wisani wa ka Ngobeni, have jointly won the Media Institute of Southern Africa’s John Manyarara Investigative Journalism Award for 2006 for their reports on the Oilgate scandal. The team also won the category for print news at the regional Vodacom Journalist of the Year 2006 awards.
A man was injured at an explosion at an electricity substation in Westdene in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, the electricity distributor Centlec said. ”We are still investigating the cause of the explosion,” said Zolile Lobe, chief executive of Centlec. The injured man was a Centlec employee.
Former Cape Town City manager Wallace Mgoqi could face a bill of almost R9-million over alleged irregular spending he authorised on a jewellery city project. He could also face criminal charges, mayoral committee member for finance Ian Nielson told a media briefing on Tuesday.
Marches and demonstrations will be held across the country on Friday as striking cleaners attempt to have their pay demands met, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) said on Tuesday. ”The wages in the cleaning industry are pathetic. It is completely unacceptable,” said Satawu general secretary Randall Howard.
South Africa’s Department of Agricultural and Land Affairs has no legislation or policy providing for the settlement of black farmers at the expense of others, Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Lulu Xingwana said on Tuesday. ”Where black farmers are settled on land previously owned by white … farmers, due processes within the constitutional framework … will continue to be followed.”
Terrorist activities in Africa are increasing, a counterterrorism conference in Kyalami, north of Johannesburg, heard on Tuesday. The threat is mainly from global terrorist groups seeking refuge, recruits and funds, said David Radcliffe, regional director for Africa in the office of the United States Secretary of Defence.
South Africans had nothing to do with the alleged coup plot in Burundi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. Speaking a day after the Burundian Supreme Court refused an application by the alleged plotters to be released, Pahad denied any South African involvement in the plot.
The South African Hockey Association on Tuesday announced the Spar South African women’s hockey squad to participate in the 2006 Samsung Hockey World Cup, which takes place in Madrid, Spain, from September 27 to October 8. Marsha Marescia takes over the captain’s armband from recently retired Lindsey Carlisle.