Official records at the South African Department of Labour show that many unions and employer organisations are not "in good standing" in as far as registration procedures and legal requirements expected from bona fide organisations are concerned, the department said on Tuesday in a statement.
Econet’s decision to release 10 000 new payphones into the Zimbabwean market before the end of the year is part of a deliberate strategy to create and stimulate employment creation, the company said in a statement on Monday. Econet estimates that over 500 jobs will be created in downstream industries.
South African IT group Datatec announced on Tuesday that its South African operations will merge with African Legend Technologies (ALT) to form an R800-million-a-year IT company. Datatec will have a 55% shareholding and African Legend Technologies will hold the remaining 45% in the newly merged entity.
Britons, famous the world over for queuing, waste four days, or 96 hours, each year waiting in line, according to results of a study released on Monday. But far from being polite in the process, more than 40% admit to having lost their cool, with the airport check-in queue cited as the most hated by 65% of the respondents, the ICM poll for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines suggested.
Zimbabweans will have to contend with rising prices of goods and services in the foreseeable future amid warnings by analysts that the June slowdown in the rate of inflation is only on paper and not supported by major improvements in economic conditions. The country’s annualised rate of inflation slowed to 1 184,6% in June.
Nine Palestinians were killed on Monday as Israel pounded Gaza with deadly air strikes and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defended the massive military offensive in the face of international criticism. Despite the mounting toll, Hamas’s exiled political chief insisted the captured soldier would not be freed without a swap for Palestinian prisoners.
Zimbabwe’s annual inflation slowed down by a marginal 8,9 percentage points to 1 184,6% in June, the government’s Central Statistical Office said on Monday. Inflation was pegged at 1 193,5% in May and remains the highest such rate in the world.
Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev, the most-wanted man in Russia, who claimed responsibility for the Beslan school hostage massacre and was blamed for many other attacks, has been killed, Russian news agencies said on Monday, quoting the FSB security service. Basayev was killed in an overnight operation by Russian special forces.
European aircraft maker Airbus announced a sharp fall in its orders on Monday, a setback for the company in its battle with Chicago-based Boeing and a sign that the United States group is in the ascendancy. Airbus said it had booked 117 firm orders for passenger jets in the first half of 2006, fewer than half the number in the same period of 2005 and far behind Boeing.
Defence Secretary Des Browne was expected to announce details on Monday of promised reinforcements for the 3Â 300 British troops in Afghanistan whom he admits are facing an "energised" Taliban. Browne revealed last week that commanders in the restive southern province of Helmand had asked for more troops.
The latest Ernst & Young investment management index shows that all investment managers who responded to the survey are satisfied with current business conditions. On the back of this continued confidence, they have increased their spending levels considerably in the second quarter of 2006.
The leader of Somalia’s Islamic militia said on Monday that his group will "fight to the finish" against supporters of a secular warlord in the war-torn capital, one day after fierce fighting killed at least 20 people. The Islamic fighters fired mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades on Sunday at supporters of Adbi Awale Qaybdiid.
The Scorpions have in the past several hours arrested five people suspected of being part of an international drug syndicate and also seized drugs with a street value of over R250-million. The five people — aged between 35 and 70 — were arrested following an undercover operation that led investigators to a self-storage facility in Alberton, south-east of Johannesburg.
The Socceroos may have been eliminated from the World Cup by Italy but an Adelaide brewer says fans can console themselves with the fact that an Aussie ale has won a "beer world cup". Coopers Brewery said it won a drink-off organised by British industry magazine <i>Off Licence News</i> involving, where possible, a representative beer from each of the 32 World Cup nations.
Department of Health Director General Thami Mseleku ordered the release of a shipment of tablets, imported by controversial Aids quack Matthias Rath, after Port Health officials in Cape Town had impounded it about five weeks ago. Mseleku’s intervention raises new questions about the Department of Health’s close relationship with Rath, whose claim that his vitamin supplements can "reverse Aids" has earned him national and international condemnation.
After a string of legal setbacks, the National Prosecuting Authority is facing the opening salvo of the Jacob Zuma corruption trial on July 31 with a success under its belt. The Pretoria High Court upheld the legality of the search and seizure operations carried out at the premises of Thint (formerly Thompson CSF), the French defence company that is a co-accused with Zuma.
Drawing on models in London and New York, Pallo Jordan advises that local artists form unions to deal with working conidtions, regulation and a number of other issues frequently raised by the arts community. Brent Meersman reports.
<i>The Time of the Writer</i> festival kicks off in Durban this week, attended by over 25 writers from South Africa and abroad. One of the key themes to be explored is negotiating identities.
‘In support of Fifa’s campaign to stamp out racism in football, I, the representative of my national team, hereby pledge myself and my teammates to the eradication of all forms of discrimination in the beautiful game, a game that is almost as beautiful as my girlfriend’s new knockers, but not quite, because there is nothing quite like a pair of 36Fs, even though my mates say they make her look matronly.
The suspension of Connie Molusi as the chief executive of the media group Johncom this week is being treated as a standard boardroom drama, pitting the CE against the board chairman Mashudu Ramano. The word is that Ramano is in alliance with Caxton’s majority shareholder, Terry Moolman, the enigmatic media baron who reportedly wants to step into Molusi’s shoes.
Aids-ravaged Zimbabwe is hoping to double the number of people on antiretrovirals (ARV) in order to reach 70Â 000 sufferers by the end of 2006, a top official said on Thursday. "We are certainly going to increase the number of people on ARVs," said Raymond Yekeye, operations manager of the National Aids Council.
An elderly South African woman has laid claim to be the world’s oldest person — 132 years — and an organisation representing the old is adamant the accomplishment be officially recognised, a report said Thursday. Moloko Temo of Bochum in the country’s northern Limpopo province was reportedly born on July 4 1874.
Several thousand people demonstrated peacefully in Niger’s capital on Thursday in a new protest called by a coalition of civic rights groups against the cost of key services in the country. After a rally outside the Parliament, the protestors marched to Nelson Mandela Square, near the presidency, where they handed a petition to two aides of President Mamadou Tandja.
Israeli tanks and troops ploughed deeper into Gaza on Thursday, killing six Palestinians and occupying three former Jewish settlements in their biggest offensive since leaving the territory last year. Helicopter gunships and artillery pounded the territory, as troops moved further into northern and southern Gaza Strip, coming under heavy fire after a ninth consecutive night of air strikes.
A Polish priest with a penchant for a bet has slipped out of his parish in the central Polish town of Lowicz, taking with him the collection box, local press reports said on Thursday. The faithful at the Holy Spirit parish in Lowicz were a bit bemused at not seeing Father Franciszek Augustynski since mid-May.
The final round of talks in the petroleum sector on Wednesday failed to resolve differences between the parties, and mediation in the chemical bargaining council did not result in an agreement, trade union Solidarity said on Thursday. "Employers offer a 5,5% increase, while our members are demanding 10%," said spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans.
There’s something batty going on inside the Palace of Westminster, home of Britain’s Parliament, and it’s got nothing to do with political shenanigans.
In a first, the Bat Conservation Trust will deploy inside the gothic-style premises in central London next Monday to determine exactly how many bats live beneath its rafters, towers and gargoyles.
A United States jury has sentenced an Oklahoma judge to one year in prison for using a penis pump on the bench during three murder trials and a civil case in 2002 and 2003. Donald D Thompson (59) was convicted on Thursday and fined $10 000 for each count.
Portuguese police on Tuesday captured a kangaroo that had been on the loose in suburban Lisbon for three days after escaping from a farm where it was being held illegally as a pet. Police received the first report that a kangaroo had been spotted on the streets of Sintra, about 30km north-west of Lisbon, on Sunday morning.
The undisputed king of the world competitive-eating circuit, Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi, retained his title on Tuesday, wolfing down a world-record 53-and-three-quarters hot dogs in just 12 minutes. The 28-year-old "gurgitator" from Nagano, Japan, won the coveted Mustard Yellow Belt for the sixth successive year.
Israel on Wednesday authorised the army to forge deeper into Gaza and to step up attacks on the Hamas-led government after Islamist militants launched an unprecedented rocket strike on the Jewish state. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s security Cabinet ordered the military to intensify air raids against Hamas.
Credit providers and credit bureaux have until July 28 2006 to register with the newly created National Credit Regulator (NCR), the body said in a statement on Wednesday. "It will therefore be an offence for credit providers and credit bureaux to conduct any business after the closing date if they are not registered with the NCR," said Nomsa Motshegare, the registration manager.