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/ 20 February 2008

Dexter’s attack simply a defence of his own interests

Stripped of its polemical verbosity, Philip Dexter’s article (January 25) simply argues that the electoral contest against Thabo Mbeki’s leadership was just about personal power to pursue egoistic interests. The newly elected leadership will use its power to pursue these interests, including purging those who differed with them towards the national congress, writes David Masondo.

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/ 19 February 2008

Top court stops Jo’burg evictions

The City of Johannesburg cannot evict inner-city tenants living in central Johannesburg unless adequate alternative accommodation is provided, the Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday. ”Potential homelessness must be considered by a city when it decides whether to evict people from buildings,” said the court.

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/ 12 February 2008

Nqakula: Scorpions to be dissolved

South Africa’s elite, FBI-style Scorpions anti-crime unit will be dissolved, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Tuesday. ”The Scorpions … will be dissolved and the organised crime unit of the police will be phased out and a new, amalgamated unit will be created,” Nqakula told Parliament in Cape Town.

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/ 12 February 2008

ANCYL: No decision on Zuma reinstatement

There has been no decision by the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) to call for the reinstatement of party president Jacob Zuma as deputy president of the country, the league’s spokesperson said on Monday. ”If there was a decision, it would have been communicated,” said spokesperson Zizi Kodwa.

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/ 11 February 2008

DA backs Cosatu on SABC board challenge

The Democratic Alliance on Monday sided with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on a possible court challenge to the composition of the new South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board. Cosatu confirmed earlier it is considering legal action to have a new board appointed by the National Assembly.

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/ 10 February 2008

ANC media tribunal under scrutiny

The print media was, as usual, overreacting to the African National Congress’s (ANC) intentions to investigate the establishment of a media tribunal in South Africa, ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe said on Sunday. Motlanthe was speaking at the South African National Editors’ Forum question-and-answer session in Cape Town.

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/ 7 February 2008

All eyes on Mbeki ahead of address

There is a greater public sense of anticipation about what President Thabo Mbeki will say in his State of the Nation address on Friday than before any previous such speech he has delivered since assuming office in 1999. This is in part due to the recent dramatic twist in Mbeki’s political fortunes.

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/ 7 February 2008

PSL reveals its true worth

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) brand is worth R200-million. This is according to research conducted by BMI Sport Info, an independent research company. PSL consultant Peter Mancer said on Thursday at a press conference in Johannesburg that the brand has grown from strength to strength over the years.

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/ 5 February 2008

ANC branch meeting ends in blows

A number of African National Congress (ANC) members at Alice in the Eastern Cape have sustained injuries after a branch meeting ended in an exchange of blows, it was reported on Monday. Reports said a group of party supporters arrived at Khayalethu village during the registration process for an AGM and called for its dissolution.

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/ 3 February 2008

Nzimande launches stinging attack on City Press

South African Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande has accused City Press newspaper of adopting an ”extremely hostile attitude” towards African National Congress president Jacob Zuma. Nzimande tears into the paper in an open letter published on Sunday for ”deliberately” writing about the party in a ”provocatively factionalist, divisive and highly subjective manner”.

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/ 31 January 2008

Cops raid Zimbabwean refugee sanctuary

South African police have raided a church that was a sanctuary for Zimbabwean refugees, arresting scores of suspected illegal immigrants, the South African Broadcasting Corporation said on Thursday. The raid occurred at about midnight on Wednesday at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, which has become a virtual refugee camp for those fleeing Zimbabwe.

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/ 23 January 2008

DA rejects allegations of ‘serious rift’

Allegations of a ”serious rift” between Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille and the party’s parliamentary leader, Sandra Botha, have been dismissed by the DA. ”As far as we are concerned, the story … has absolutely no facts or grounds,” DA national media officer Aimee Franklin said on Wednesday.

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/ 21 January 2008

Richter murder accused was to inherit R1m, court hears

The Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court heard on Monday that one of the six people accused of murdering and robbing Muldersdrift conservationist Frans Richter stood to inherit R1-million from him, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. Celiwe Mbokazi was Richter’s housekeeper and, according to the police, she was promised R1-million in his will.

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/ 17 January 2008

Outrage mounts over power cuts

Outrage over the country’s ongoing power cuts spread among business, agricultural and political sectors on Thursday as Eskom announced that the risk for continued cuts over the weekend remained high. ”Load shedding will continue today [Thursday] until after evening peak and the possibility of load shedding remains high,” said Eskom.

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/ 15 January 2008

Lekota nabbed for speeding

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota has reportedly been arrested for speeding. The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that Lekota was charged, at the Mondeor police station just before midnight on Sunday, with reckless and negligent driving.