South Africa’s chances of winning any medals at the 11th IAAF World Junior Athletics Championships in Beijing this weekend reached a glimmer of hope on Friday when three of the stars of the 2005 World Youth meeting in Morocco showed their class. JP Hofmann (shot put), Simoné du Toit (discus) and high-hurdler Louw Smit all progressed.
When it comes to handing out appointments as acting Bafana Bafana coach to Pitso Mosimane, the South African Football Association (Safa) is taking a miserly, scrooge-like approach towards the man who is also at the helm of the Premier Soccer League’s Supersport United.
It was scrappy and unconvincing to say the least, but the Blue Bulls scored an all important fourth try on their way to a 27-13 victory over a plucky Falcons side at Bosman Stadium on Friday night. The bonus point for the Bulls enables them to stay in touch with the log leaders in the Absa Currie Cup competition.
There is no final agreement yet on a Legal Services Charter but finalising it is urgent, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said on Friday. While there is broad agreement on the need for transformation of ownership of traditionally white firms, there is no agreement on black economic empowerment quotas.
Black people and women are just as capable of excelling at mathematics or science as men and whites, said Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel on Friday. Quoting statistics from the directors of the top 100 companies in South Africa, Manuel said there are 2 489 directors, of whom 202 are women — 105 white women and 97 black women.
A broker must repay two pensioners more than R600Â 000 that they lost when investment entity Leaderguard went insolvent, said the Office of the Ombud for Financial Services Providers on Friday. The ombud found that the pensioners, in their 70s, were not properly advised of the volatile nature of the financial product.
Cellphone giant Vodacom has withdrawn a claim that it offers the lowest call rate in South Africa, following a challenge by competitor Cell C. The Advertising Standards Authority said it had been asked to rule on an advertisement for Vodacom’s new monthly packages, which claimed: ”Lowest call rates in South Africa. Calls from 90c per minute or 1,5c per second.”
The National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) has welcomed a landmark United States court finding that the tobacco industry has lied for decades about the harmful effects of smoking in order to protect its profits. NCAS director Dr Yussuf Saloojee said the judgement had exposed the ”rotten core” at the heart of the tobacco industry.
Two police reservists and five other suspects were arrested on Friday on the R101 near Hammanskraal where they were apparently planning to rob a truck, police said. Spokesperson Inspector Katlego Mogale said Hammanskraal police spotted the men next to the road early on Friday and on closer inspection found police equipment and unlicensed firearms in their possession.
The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday ordered two camps within the National Democratic Convention (Nadeco) party to hold an inaugural federal congress to choose the party’s office bearers. Legal representatives of the Assan Mbatha and Ziba Jiyane camps said they hoped the congress will resolve disputes between the camps.
The remaining two of 11 suspects initially implicated in the murders of actor Brett Goldin and fashion developer Richard Bloom were on Friday remanded to November 3 in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town. Clinton Davids (22) and Shavaan Marlie (25) appeared briefly in court and were remanded in custody.
The Gautrain Rapid Rail link will be ready for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe said on Friday. Notwithstanding utterances from some involved that it will not be ready and delays on the project, Radebe said he believed Gautrain will be moving come the Soccer World Cup.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has condemned the ”deplorable behaviour” and what it described as ”abusive utterances” of members of the HIV/Aids lobbyist group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) at the Aids conference in Toronto, Canada.
Forty-four Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) members who occupied provincial government offices in Cape Town on Friday to call for the arrest of Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang were themselves arrested. The protesters, who included TAC chairperson Zackie Achmat, were charged with trespassing and warned to appear in court on Tuesday.
The Department of Home Affairs has come under fire after it deported 16 Burundian asylum seekers early on Wednesday this week, despite attempts by the individuals’ lawyers to obtain an urgent stay of deportation. According to Abeda Bhamjee, of the Wits Law Clinic, the department violated South African law in two ways.
The scrapping of old taxis will start in October, Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe announced on Friday. He said 115Â 000 or 98% of taxi operators have already applied for conversion of their permits into operating licences as part of the taxi recapitalisation programme.
South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki cannot demand a new positive image of Africa while continuing to condone the flagrant abuse of office and squandering of public money that typifies so much of the continent, says official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon.
Kwaito artist Sgonondo released his new album, Amadragon, on Friday. The only problem is that he’s sitting in jail. The rapper, who hails from Zola township in Soweto, is serving a jail term at a Johannesburg prison and awaiting his parole from prison authorities.
South Africa’s Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang will appear in a live television debate with the shadow health minister Gareth Morgan on Sunday August 20 on SABC TV1. The show will debate the fact that the number of cases of tuberculosis (TB) in South Africa has increased by 400% between 1995 and 2004, and the link between HIV/Aids and TB.
Accusations of racism turned a weekend at a Wild Coast resort into an angry tussle between the female manager and a guest, Dispatch Online reported on Friday. Now the guest and her party of 14 friends — all Indians — have been banned from the hotel for life.
Advertisements for toilet paper making claims about ”technology” may mislead the public and should be changed, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said on Friday. ”The ASA found that the claim implies some exclusivity and advantage of this product [over similar products from different manufacturers],” said Gail Schimmel, head of legal and regulatory affairs with the ASA.
The South African Coin Corporation has been ordered to withdraw an advertisement about selling a R5 Mandela coin for R100 000, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said on Friday. In a statement, the ASA said it had received a complaint from a member of the public that the advertisement was misleading.
Shoprite Checkers and the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers’ Union (Saccawu) would begin talks on Friday to end a pay strike by workers, the union said. Saccawu has demanded the greater of a wage increase of R300 or 10%, and improved working conditions. Shoprite has offered R265.
Jabulani Sikhakhane, who has 18 years’ journalistic experience, has been appointed as editor of Business Report, Independent Newspapers said on Thursday. Sikhakhane’s relationship with the Independent Group dates back to 1989 when he was a financial journalist for The Star.
The asset forfeiture unit has seized assets valued at about R3,5-billion from a Chinese national allegedly involved in drug trafficking, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Thursday. NPA spokesperson Lucinda Moonieya said a house in Jukskei Park and five luxury vehicles were seized.
Twenty-one children aged between four and eight were injured when their taxi crashed into a bakkie in Durban on Friday, ER24 said. Spokesperson Neil Noble said the accident happened on Matheren Road in Durban at 7am. ”The bakkie was stopped at a red robot and the taxi literally drove into the back of him,” he said.
A new, luxury R1-million Mercedes-Benz S500 with a special seat for short people is waiting at a Gauteng car dealer for its new owner — Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, Beeld reported on Friday. The car will probably be delivered as soon as the minister returns from the International Aids Conference in Canada, the report said.
The courts and the media should work together so that justice is seen to be done, said Chief Justice Pius Langa on Thursday. Speaking at Constitution Hill at the launch of a handbook on court reporting, he said there is a ”complementary relationship between the work judges do and the work of journalists” in deepening democracy.
A young crocodile was spotted in the Vaal River system on Thursday morning, said the Vaal Rand police water wing. ”It was going from Klip River mouth into the Vaal River, a small one, about 1m,” said Inspector Gerrie Steyn. ”We’re going to look for that one, take it out and take it to the zoo.”
Power utility Eskom on Thursday said that in the case of the recent power outages in the Western Cape it accepted that there were oversights regarding some of its practices and procedures. However, this did not mean that Eskom had been negligent. Every technical fault did not amount to a breach of a licence condition or negligence, it added.
An innovative comic book catering for the deaf community has been developed by the Gay and Lesbian Archives to reach out to the deaf community regarding HIV/Aids, sexuality and rights and empowerment. The comic, aptly titled <i>Are Your Rights Respected?</i>, is part of an independent project of the South African History Archives.
Israel’s action in the Middle East has triggered "unprecedented anti-Americanism" and restiveness on the streets, South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said on Thursday. Noting that the international community now needs to resolve the situation, he said: "I want to warn that the potential for increased terrorism is greater today than it has ever been."