Jomo Cosmos recorded a 2-0 win over Amazulu in their opening Premier Soccer League match at the Huntersfield Stadium near Katlehong on Sunday. Cosmos led 1-0 at the break. Cosmos striker Chris Katango was the man with the golden boot — scoring a goal in each half — to ensure his team collected maximum points.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu should provide his sexual history before speaking as an expert on Jacob Zuma’s sexual behaviour, the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) said on Sunday. ”We cannot allow Tutu to undermine decisions that are taken within constitutional structures of the ANC on the support to be given to Zuma,” said Cosas president Kenny Motshegoa in a statement.
When a gang of seabird-killing seals ate the main tourist draw of Lamberts Bay, residents of the small South African town called in a surfer, an artist and a flock of fake gannets to save the day. Cape gannets had been breeding on a tiny island off Lamberts Bay, on the Atlantic coast 250km north of Cape Town, since the early 1900s, becoming a profitable — albeit raucous and smelly — part of the landscape.
The apology by former apartheid minister Adriaan Vlok for atrocities committed under his command, was a watershed moment for South Africa, his former deputy said on Saturday. It was revealed on Saturday that Vlok had asked Reverend Frank Chikane, director general of the presidency, for forgiveness this month.
Scientists in South Africa are exploring whether one of the country’s most precious commodities, gold, could hold the key in the battle against diseases such as HIV/Aids, malaria and cancer. Once developed, the drugs could be considered as a potential choice of therapy for individuals infected with HIV.
Springbok coach Jake White believes that his team can still claw themselves out of one of their worst runs to date after sinking to their fifth successive defeat when the All Blacks beat them 45-26 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. A major concern for White was how his team failed to capitalise after a dominating start over the reigning Tri-Nations champions.
The Cheetahs moved to the top of the Currie Cup log once again with a convincing 78-8 victory over second-from-bottom Falcons in a one-sided game in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The hosts led 29-8 at the break, having already garnered their bonus point.
A Parow couple who allegedly locked their pit bull terrier bitch in a wooden kennel, then set the kennel alight, appeared in the Bellville Regional Court on Friday charged with cruelty to animals. They face two charges — allegedly setting the dog, named Tammy, alight, and the deliberate or negligent failure to take the severely burnt dog to a veterinary surgeon afterwards.
A government decision to appeal a Durban High Court ruling forcing it to provide anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment to prisoners infected with HIV/Aids is ”a matter of principle”, the health department said on Friday. ”It is not about [government] refusing to give people treatment,” said director-general of the health department Thamsanqa Mseleku.
It could have been 1995 all over again … a flashback to the soaking France-South Africa World Cup semifinal as the rain pelted down in buckets ahead of the match between the Sharks and Western Province in Durban on Friday evening. By halftime 32 mm of rain had been measured at the ground.
The All Blacks come to South Africa as the Tri-Nations champions, with their last visit to Loftus Versfeld in 2003 seeing them annihilate the Springboks 52-16. Add to that the fact that the All Blacks are unbeaten so far this year. The Springboks, on the other hand, are struggling and trying to shake off their four-match losing run.
Jailed African National Congress fraudster Tony Yengeni has been transferred to Malmesbury prison, the Cape Argus reported on Friday. The newspaper also said Yengeni was given a big lunch in a prison boardroom before leaving. Quoting an unnamed warder, it said Yengeni was driven to the modern jail, about 60km north of Cape Town.
Cricket South Africa has turned down a request from the England and Wales Cricket Board for the Proteas to replace Pakistan should they withdraw from the one-day series against England following the controversy over the forfeited Test match at the Oval.
Big business and government have vowed to join forces in an intensive campaign to reduce unacceptably high crime levels in South Africa. It is necessary to ”intensify the fight against crime”, Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa told a media briefing on Friday, following a Big Business Working Group meeting with President Thabo Mbeki and members of his Cabinet.
The ongoing spat over South Africa’s response under Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to HIV and Aids undermines the common struggle against the epidemic, the African National Congress said on Friday. ”Whatever criticisms anyone may have … the current climate of heightened discord does not serve the interests of the … struggle against the epidemic,” the party said.
South Africa is making good progress in improving the lives of all its citizens, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. ”[The Reserve Bank’s 2006 annual economic report] says that we are making steady progress towards the achievement of our objectives, based on the healthy economic fundamentals that we need to enable us to move forward,” he said in his weekly newsletter.
South Africans’ dental IQ is very low in comparison with the rest of the world and many people do not replace their toothbrushes as often as they should, according to the South African Dental Association. But what if it were possible to get the same oral hygiene provided by toothpaste and toothbrushes from cheap sticks, stems and roots?
Eastern Cape Police have questioned eight people after discovering an investment scam in Grahamstown which used Oprah Winfrey’s name to target hundreds of people. Captain Mali Govender said on Friday people were told: ”You pay R10 and [US talk-show queen] Oprah Winfrey is going to pay you R1 200 a month for 10 years”.
The Film and Publications Amendment Bill, which this week received the nod from the South African Cabinet, has crucial long-term implications for the future of the free exchange of ideas in South Africa, says official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon. He said the Bill "is a proposed amendment to the Film and Publications Act — always an arena of controversy in a country with a .. history of censorship".
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is focusing on the achievement of an umbrella customs union for the 14-member states by 2010, and the matter of monetary regional integration has received "a high level of attention" at its most recent meeting, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa said on Friday.
A multimillion-rand scam has been uncovered in which expired food products have been sold from the shelves of major supermarkets, Dispatch Online reported on Friday. The scheme has been run for years by an East London food distributor, operating out of a back-street warehouse in Quigney, East London.
Immigration officers belonging to the Public Servants Association (PSA) will go on strike from the beginning of September, the union said on Friday. ”The strike will adversely affect all South African points of entry and international airports, and the department [of home affairs] should accept full responsibility for the situation … ,” PSA deputy general manager Manie de Clercq said.
South Africa suffered yet another injury blow ahead of their Tri-Nations Test against New Zealand in Pretoria on Saturday when loose forward Joe van Niekerk was ruled out. The Springboks have already lost International Rugby Board 2004 Player of the Year Schalk Burger to a career-threatening neck injury and in-form Juan Smith went down in midweek with a thigh strain.
The public protector’s report on the investigation into allegations of unethical and improper conduct by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, which cleared her of any of any improper behaviour regarding her Christmas holiday trip to the United Arab Emirates, said she is free to take leave and travel to any destination in terms of the government’s policy guidelines.
Six opposition parties urged President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday to sack Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, while her ministry said she had no plans to quit. ”The ministry of health reiterates its position that the minister of health will not resign,” read a statement issued in the afternoon by her spokesperson, Sibani Mngadi.
”Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi [Let the women’s name be praised]” — the rallying cry of the African National Congress Women’s League first adopted at the party’s national conference in 1957 — is today the name of a trust that appears, through its proximity to the ruling party’s women’s wing, to have landed a string of lucrative empowerment deals.
Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota on Thursday sacked Brigadier General Ernest Zwane from his position as director of military prosecutions. This comes after it became known that Zwane has previously been convicted on two counts of fraud and was also convicted of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
The Azanian Youth Organisation (Azayo) should pursue its campaign to change South Africa’s name to Azania through Parliament, the Department of Arts and Culture has recommended. The department’s deputy director general, Themba Wakashe, was responding to an Azayo letter to Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan, which said South Africa’s current name reflects the legacy of colonialism.
Heavy rain continued in the southern Cape on Thursday, but without any damage or loss of life reported, police said. However, rescue personnel were anxiously monitoring two large farm dams in the Swellendam area. ”The cracks are showing [in the dam walls],” said Reinard Geldenhuys, disaster manager in the Overberg region.
A Zimbabwean student who allegedly tried to hijack a South African Airways (SAA) flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg may opt for plea-bargain proceedings, the Bellville Regional Court heard on Thursday. The hearing took an unusual turn when University of Cape Town student Tinashe Rioga (21) ended the mandate of attorney Joshua Greeff and appointed attorney Reuben Liddell in his place.
Almost 80% of murders in South Africa are committed by people who know their victim, and most occur in situations where people have been drinking, President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday. ”You have something like … almost 80%, for instance, of murders in the country occur among people who know one another; not among strangers.”
Members of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) staged protests outside government offices around the country on Thursday. The illegal protest was part of a ”global day of action” to pressure the government on its response to HIV/Aids. However, the Department of Health said it will continue to focus on prevention in its fight against HIV/Aids.