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/ 28 October 2004
South African producer prices for all commodities rose by 1,4% in the 12 months to the end of September from a 1,1% increase for the 12 months to end August, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday. On the month, the producer price index (PPI) was -0,9% compared with a 0,1% month-on-month (m/m) drop in August.
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/ 28 October 2004
South African global financial and risk services provider Alexander Forbes said on Thursday that it is not involved in an investigation into the business activities of a number of large, United States-based global insurance brokers. The probe has been expanded to an active investigation of improper business practices, specifically bid-rigging.
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/ 28 October 2004
A full-blown emergency is threatening Ethiopia’s Somali region, the United Nations warned on Thursday. Wells are drying up and malnutrition is beginning to set in, according to a joint UN rapid-assessment team sent to monitor the crisis. "The Somali region is declining into a crisis situation with some districts already in a state of emergency," said the UN agencies report.
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/ 28 October 2004
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Thursday he had revised his opinion of President Thabo Mbeki’s attitude to the crisis in that country, calling their recent talks "very productive".
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Africa&ao=124511">Opposition MP arrested at airport</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=124509">SA govt regrets outcome of Cosatu visit</a>
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/ 28 October 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/140248/USA2.GIF" align=left>
Four years ago, the <i>Chicago Sun-Times</i> endorsed George Bush for president. On Sunday, it became one of a growing number of American newspapers to admit they had got it wrong. At least 37 newspapers that backed Bush in 2000 have switched sides to John Kerry.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=124459">’Love thy neighbour'</a>
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/ 28 October 2004
The hard left will tell you it is business as usual, whatever the outcome of next Tuesday’s United States presidential election — that George W Bush and John Kerry are two sides of the identical coin. Left-wing commentator George Monbiot has even urged Americans to vote for professional egotist and martyr Ralph Nader. We disagree.
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/ 27 October 2004
Ethiopia has completed the vaccination of 750 000 children against polio as it seeks to eradicate the last traces of the paralysing disease in the country. The campaign comes amid fears that polio could re-emerge in Ethiopia after new cases were discovered close to the border of neighbouring Sudan.
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/ 27 October 2004
A sum of R2-million that former president Nelson Mandela gave to Deputy President Jacob Zuma in October 2000 was used to pay the debts of Zuma and Schabir Shaik’s Nkobi Holdings, the Durban High Court heard on Wednesday. At that stage, Zuma experienced huge financial problems.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=124444">Company used ‘creative accounting'</a>
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/ 27 October 2004
South African-based gold miner Durban Deep (DRD), which proposes to change its name to DRDGold, is well positioned for the December quarter, having succeeded in reducing costs, the company said on Thursday. "We have done the restructuring. We have gone through the pain and now we have got the costs down," the company said.
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/ 27 October 2004
Shareholders of the ailing <i>ThisDay</I> newspaper are in last-ditch negotiations with potential investors to rescue the daily from closure. There are about 15 possible investors, <i>ThisDay</i> chairperson Nduka Obaigbena told journalists in Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon.
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/ 27 October 2004
Our Red October campaign is grounded in a long history of the South African Communist Party’s involvement in land and agrarian struggles since the 1920s. Our national liberation shall remain incomplete until the land question is fully addressed in favour of the overwhelming majority of our people, principally the workers, the poor and the landless rural masses, writes the South African Communist Party’s Blade Nzimande.
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/ 26 October 2004
Media and entertainment group Johnnic Holdings said on Tuesday that it is still considering certain proposals with regards to eliminating the pyramid structure between it and Johnnic Communications (Johncom) and strengthening its black economic empowerment profile.
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/ 26 October 2004
Armed combatants have brutally raped tens of thousands of women, girls and babies in the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and many are dying "needlessly" because the country’s health care system is incapable of dealing with the crisis, rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
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/ 26 October 2004
Politicians and economists have reacted to Tuesday’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, tabled by Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel in Parliament on Tuesday. George Glynos, market analyst at Econometrix Treasury Management, said: "One has to say that it was a relatively optimistic and fair speech."
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/ 26 October 2004
The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement was tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. It addressed several issues, including South Africa’s financial commitment to continental bodies such as the African Union, and the country’s current account deficit.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Business&ao=124422">’No major surprises'</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za//Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Business&ao=124405">Rand stability is policy goal</a>
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/ 26 October 2004
The South African government, in its Medium Term Budget Policy Statement on Tuesday, said that stability of the rand was its main foreign exchange policy goal. "For many firms it is not the level of the rand, but capacity to absorb risk and adapt market strategies, that is critical. Smaller businesses and the poor generally have limited capacity to hedge against economic risks," the Treasury said.
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/ 26 October 2004
The world’s biggest platinum miner, Anglo Platinum, said on Tuesday that the recent strike at its operations has resulted in a reduction in mining output equal to about 50 000 ounces of refined platinum and a proportionate reduction of associated metals.
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/ 26 October 2004
Fraud and corruption accused Schabir Shaik threatened to withdraw his Nkobi group from Thomson-CSF operations in 1996, the Durban High Court heard on Monday. The court also heard about a tailor who appeared to act as a go-between for parties interested in acquiring a stake in the government’s multibillion-rand arms deal.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=124349">Shaik thought connections would help</a>
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/ 26 October 2004
August brought a breakthrough for conservation in Africa when the governments of Malawi and Zambia concluded an agreement for the creation of new transfrontier conservation areas that will eventually cover 33 000km2.
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/ 25 October 2004
A witness told the Schabir Shaik trial in Durban on Monday that Shaik believed his political connections would enable his company to get a slice of the multibillion-rand arms deal. He said French firm Thomson CSF regarded political connections as important in the adjudication process of the arms deal.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=124329">Shaik trial tracks ‘the tailor'</a>
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/ 25 October 2004
The most important issue that Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel should address in his medium-term Budget policy statement — to be delivered in Parliament on Tuesday afternoon — is economic growth, says South Africa’s opposition leader Tony Leon.
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/ 25 October 2004
Twelve Palestinians were killed and another 50 injured during a major Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian medical and security sources said. The bloodshed came just hours before the Israeli Parliament was to debate a controversial pull-out from the Gaza Strip next year.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-InternationalNews&ao=124286">Israel settlers row at crisis point</a>
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/ 25 October 2004
Monday’s launch of the national Mzansi bank account is the culmination of interaction between civil society, the public sector and banks to deliver a workable banking solution to millions of previously unbanked South Africans. Blade Nzimande, chairperson of the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition, called the launch ‘a real victory’.
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/ 25 October 2004
It’s the biggest automotive exhibition on the continent, and it takes place at Johannesburg’s Nasrec centre this week. Over 300 exhibitors are utilising a record 73Â 000 square metres of exhibition space to show off the latest model cars, bikes and quads, as well as support products and accessories. There will also be a host of outdoor activities for the more energetic visitors to participate in.
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/ 25 October 2004
Budget reform has made the government’s tax and spending plans so predictable that markets now tend to react to the annual Medium Term Budget Policy Statement with a yawn. But the private sector is hoping that Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel will spice up his speech today with an announcement on foreign exchange regulations.
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/ 25 October 2004
The Reserve Bank should have announced another 50 basis point reduction in the repo rate after the meeting of its monetary policy committee recently. After making a strong case for a benign inflation outlook and indicating that inflation was likely to stay within the 3% to 6% boundaries of the target range over the next two years, the committee did an about-face, writes economist Basil Moore.
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/ 22 October 2004
<i>Star Trek</i> star William Shatner and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Dave Navarro are among thousands who want to fly on Virgin’s proposed commercial space flights, company chief Richard Branson said on Friday. Branson said more than 7 000 people have registered their willingness to pay the R1,3-million fare.
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/ 22 October 2004
An impressive number and range of people pitched up at the conference. They were business people; city officials and politicians; informal traders; cultural activists; tourism types and the odd international tourist who was simply following the crowd to see what all the fuss was about. Mike van Graan was there.
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/ 22 October 2004
Studded with great tale tellers like Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Woody Allen, contributing author Nadine Gordimer talks about a remarkable anthology she edited, which will benefit those living with HIV/Aids.
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/ 22 October 2004
Zimbabwe is still in better shape than many African countries, President Robert Mugabe has said. Mugabe was quoted on state television meeting Victor Angelo, the head of the United Nations Development Programme office in Zimbabwe.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Africa&ao=124215">Moyo attacked for abusing public media</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Africa&ao=124211">MDC queries ‘fictitious’ voters’ roll</a>
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/ 22 October 2004
As the government’s plans to increase investment in electricity generation and transport infrastructure dramatically begin to take shape, a monumental capital-raising challenge is developing. And it is becoming clear that the fiscus will have to make a substantial contribution — something Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has so far only hinted at.
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/ 22 October 2004
Looking up the television rugby details the other day, I was reminded how effectively sponsorship has inveigled its way into our activities and enterprises. The electronic programme guide announced: Absa Currie Cup: Investec Western Province Stormers versus Mobil Blue Bulls at Securicor Loftus. 17:00 on DStv SuperSport 2. Six-in-one – not bad.