The African National Congress clarified the absence of President Thabo Mbeki and a close ally, Joel Netshitenze, from Monday’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting, saying both men had excused themselves a week ago, citing prior engagements.
The Ginwala inquiry into suspended prosecutions head Vusi Pikoli on Monday announced a timeline for key submissions to it, it was reported. Lawson Naidoo, spokesperson for Frene Ginwala, said they were expecting Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla’s submission on January 15 and Pikoli’s on January 31.
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African National Congress president Jacob Zuma married his fourth wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli of KwaMaphumulo, at his homestead at Nkandla in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday. Between 400 and 500 guests — mainly family — attended the ceremony, which lasted about three hours.
Strict security measures will remain in force as South Africans celebrate New Year’s Day on Tuesday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. Police and traffic officials were out in force on Monday night as people saw in 2008 with carnivals, concerts and private parties.
Levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality remained the biggest problems in 2007, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said in its New Year message on Monday. ”The number, and quality, of new jobs being created are nowhere near enough to meet the Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa,” said Cosatu.
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/ 31 December 2007
Rescue services were on Monday still searching for the missing Cessna 210 light aircraft, six days after it disappeared in the Baviaanskloof area of the Eastern Cape, authorities said. ”There is still no success but we are following up new leads and will continue searching again today [Monday],” said South African Search and Rescue Organisation head Charles Norval.
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/ 30 December 2007
South African actor Antonio Summerton was killed in a motorcycle accident in Roodepoort on Saturday night, metro police said on Sunday. Chief Superintendent Wayne Minaar said Summerton, who played a role in popular Afrikaans soap opera 7de Laan, was killed in an accident in Constantia Road in Roodepoort.
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/ 28 December 2007
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Jacob Zuma, the new leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, was on Friday served with papers to appear in court to face corruption charges, his lawyer said. ”Today, December 28 2007, the Directorate of Special Operations [Scorpions] served on Mr Jacob Zuma an indictment to stand trial in the high court.”
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/ 25 December 2007
The Buffels River at Laingsburg has burst its banks after heavy thunderstorms in parts of the Western Cape Karoo on Monday night, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday. The report said floodwaters rose over the N1 bridge, which had to be closed for short periods during the night.
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/ 24 December 2007
Reports that South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief executive Dali Mpofu was going to resign were dismissed by the broadcaster on Monday. According to a report in the Sunday Times, Mpofu was heard saying at the African National Congress’s 52nd national conference in Polokwane that he would resign.
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/ 24 December 2007
The conduct of some African National Congress delegates at its conference in Polokwane last week showed they did not understand what the party stood for, President Thabo Mbeki has told the South African Broadcasting Corporation. He was disappointed at how little some people understood of the ANC’s political workings and policy implementation.
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/ 23 December 2007
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The battle between President Thabo Mbeki and new African National Congress president Jacob Zuma is far from over, if perceptions conveyed in the Sunday newspapers are anything to go by. An unnamed Mbeki ally was quoted as saying ”all is not lost”.
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/ 23 December 2007
The new chairperson of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Khanyisiwe Mkhonza, paid tribute to the outgoing board in a statement to the media on Sunday. Mkhonza, who is the current chairperson of the public broadcasting services board sub-committee, also acknowledged challenges facing the new board.
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/ 21 December 2007
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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has not contacted new African National Congress president Jacob Zuma about corruption charges against him, he said on Friday. ”I have not been contacted, my advisers have not been contacted, but the media have been contacted,” Zuma said in an interview.
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/ 19 December 2007
5FM radio station DJ Gareth Cliff did not make ”petty” remarks about God, said the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA). On Wednesday the BCCSA released the findings of some of its recent tribunals, including a judgement handed down about remarks the morning DJ had made about God.
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/ 15 December 2007
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=zuma_report"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/243078/zuma.jpg" align=left border=0></a>New allegations against African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma have been included in an affidavit before the Constitutional Court, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Friday. Johan du Plooy, a senior special investigator for the Scorpions, said investigations had uncovered substantial new evidence against Zuma.
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/ 14 December 2007
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African National Cngress veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela held meetings with both the party’s deputy president Jacob Zuma and its president Thabo Mbeki on
Friday afternoon. Madikizela-Mandela has suggested Mbeki and Zuma retain their current party positions for the next five years, but that Zuma assume the country’s presidency in 2009.
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/ 14 December 2007
Television channel e.tv has called on the regulator to include it in any must-carry policy if it forces new pay-television providers to air SABC3 on their platforms. The South African Broadcasting Corporation is pushing for the regulation, which will force all pay television providers to carry its the SABC’s channels for a fee.
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/ 13 December 2007
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A three-hour meeting between African National Congress (ANC) veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and the party’s secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe on Wednesday has been described as ”positive”, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported.
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/ 7 December 2007
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The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on Friday rejected allegations that it was favouring President Thabo Mbeki over his rival, African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma, in the battle for succession in the ruling party. The SABC has come under fire from commentators following its decision to broadcast a two-hour interview with Mbeki.
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/ 7 December 2007
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Aides of Jacob Zuma have drawn up contingency plans to try to force his rival President Thabo Mbeki out of office early, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Friday. If Zuma was elected party leader at the African National Congress’s five-yearly conference, he would insist on being privy to big government decisions.
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/ 6 December 2007
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President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday he hoped the African National Congress (ANC) would discuss floor-crossing at its national conference in Polokwane this month. Speaking in a South African Broadcasting Corporation radio interview, he said the ANC had been opposed to floor-crossing when the issue was first raised by opposition parties.
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/ 5 December 2007
…Two areas of new interest are in the fields of business magazines and technology. Business Today, Business World, the Economic Times, and Technocrat, launched fairly recently, are doing well … Bhutan, with less than 1 million population, can now boast of publishing its own national newspaper.
Authors: Anju Chaudhary and Anne Chen, in the book Global Journalism.
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/ 5 December 2007
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The outcome of the African National Congress’s (ANC) leadership contest is up to its membership and the contest should not be seen in a negative light, President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday. The people nominated were ”not nominated because they are enemies”, and should not treat one another as such.
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/ 5 December 2007
What does President Thabo Mbeki like to do in his spare time? Ballroom dancing? Playing the piano? No, the man likes to work during leisure hours, says his spokesperson. As the ruling party’s national conference in Polokwane approaches members of the South African Cabinet certainly need ways to unwind.
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/ 3 December 2007
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South African President Thabo Mbeki and his arch-rival, Jacob Zuma, have both officially confirmed they are candidates for party chief of the African National Congress (ANC), their offices said Monday. ”Mr Jacob Zuma signed the ANC nomination form over the weekend in London,” Zuma’s spokesperson, Ranjeni Munusamy, said.
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/ 3 December 2007
South African Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica on Monday blamed official ”negligence” for the high level of deaths in mines, on the eve of a historic strike to press for better safety. ”I think there is an element of negligence on the part of the employers which all of us need to fight,” she said.
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/ 3 December 2007
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African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma has officially accepted the nomination to run for the leadership of the ruling party. Zuma has taken the lead in the leadership race against President Thabo Mbeki, who said at the weekend he did not rule out an early parliamentary election.
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/ 2 December 2007
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=ancconference_home"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/321750/Icon_ANCconference.gif" align=left border=0></a>President Thabo Mbeki said on Sunday that he would not rule out calling early general elections if he failed to win the leadership of the governing African National Congress (ANC) party. "I have not thought about that one [early poll]. We haven’t got there yet. I don’t know. It’s possible, it’s possible, yes indeed," he said in an interview.
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/ 2 December 2007
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Acting National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Mokotedi Mpshe on Saturday said the decision whether or not to prosecute African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma and police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi will be made soon, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported.
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/ 1 December 2007
President Thabo Mbeki has stressed that the government’s call on South Africans to be faithful and condomise is not being heeded, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday. Speaking on World Aids Day, Mbeki said these were important aspects of the government’s Khomanani campaign, considering that there was no cure for Aids.
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/ 1 December 2007
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Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has expressed disappointment that a quota system, which she says is a principle of the African National Congress (ANC), had been compromised by the party’s women’s league, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday.