The death of the New National Party has predictably elicited different interpretations from political parties and bodies of what this development means for South African politics. It is definitely an important issue for both the African National Congress and Democratic Alliance, but indications are that they are somehow seriously downplaying the issue — unwittingly or consciously.
Vending operators have started adjusting the electronic validation mechanisms of their machines to accept the new R5 coin, the Vending Association of South Africa said on Tuesday. The first machines to be upgraded were the pay-on-foot parking machines at Cresta shopping centre in Johannesburg.
The Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs on Friday denied reports that a donation of money made by the South African government was being used to buy Zambian maize for food aid. "The United Nations World Food Programme has always used South African money to buy maize in South Africa," a statement said.
While on the 2004 election campaign trail, President Thabo Mbeki was reportedly stunned to hear from residents about the chaotic practices of the Johannesburg council. He might have known about the problem beforehand had he simply consulted officials within his party. Papers before the Johannesburg High Court reveal that the African National Congress has fallen victim to the council, which it controls.
Ten years into our democracy, in reflecting the state of transformation in the arts and culture sector, the old apartheid-originating term "black on black" has made a mental comeback. Mike van Graan comments.
What you should be listening to this month: The Cure’s latest antidote; Paul Hanmer’s mesmerising eddy of sound; the reloaded hits of Kool & the Gang; Diana Krall crooning the tunes; and Bongo Muffin’s Thandiswa, striking out on her own.
The author Frederick Forsythe observed recently that if a train driver made a grievous error that cost lives, he would not walk away grinning. If an airline pilot did the same he’d probably never fly again. If the driver of a train fell asleep and caused a smash he’d end up in jail. But, considering recent events, it appears that politicians and their manadarins are exempt from all such responsibility.
We must acknowledge that people have sex, that we enjoy sex. Working from that premise we can focus on reducing high risk sexual behaviour as opposed to stopping sexual practices.We also need an international campaign to focus on the demands of poor women, who bear the brunt of debauched policies like those of the Bush administration. So why is George W Bush taking women back to the dark ages?
While most Latin American countries have not yet experienced large-scale HIV/Aids, recent trends suggest the disease could reach pandemic proportions in the region unless its nations step up prevention-promotion measures.
There must be only a few among us who do not know what is meant by the phrase “compassion fatigue”, the condition of near indifference that has come to supplant what should be outrage, grief, revulsion, even the most nominal of human reactions to each fresh horror of the world. The newspapers, the radio or television news bulletins brim with details of yet more bombings, more mass shootings, more rapings and murders.
Much has happened in the world over the past century, but nothing perhaps is as important as the emergence of democracy as the standard form of government to which every country in the world is seen to be entitled. South Africa has an important role to play in upholding the ideals of modern governance while helping to create a just global society.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants have signed a landmark agreement committing both organisations to work together to achieve greater levels of tax compliance and good corporate governance in South Africa.
Nigerian police have recovered 20 human skulls and more than 50 corpses in a raid on two black-magic shrines in an "evil forest" in the south of the country, police Commissioner Felix Ogbaudu said on Thursday. Ogbaudu said that 30 suspected cultists have been arrested in the raid on the shrines in Okija.
<i>Financial Mail</i>, in partnership with Johnnic Communication Media’s <i>Computing SA</i>, will from November this year begin publishing <i>CIO Africa</i>, the two South African publications announced on Thursday. The new magazine will target information technology (IT) decision makers. It is an affiliate of the leading US information systems management title, <i>CIO</i>.
The rooster remains one of the most popular political symbols among African political parties. Maybe this is because the smattering of African women in high office are as rare as hens’ teeth. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is one of the most high-profile women on the continent. But is Africa ready for her excellency?
"Prepare to meet thy Doom. After four years of waiting, iD Software’s big leap forward is here. <i>Doom 3</i> is officially to be released locally on the August 12 and 13. Naturally, given that the United States release date is the August 3 and 4, the game hit online in a big way on August 1." As usual, with the help of the web, Ian Fraser is one step ahead.
The <i>M&G</i> recommends a deeply sceptical response to the rising tide of international hysteria over alleged al-Qaeda terrorists and planned acts of terror, which now seems to have infected South Africa. Al-Qaeda exists, and there is no reason to doubt that its operatives have carried out numerous attacks. But the reality is that levels of international terrorism have declined quite markedly.
The chief of police in Gujrat, the Pakistani city where two South Africans have been arrested along with a senior al-Qaeda terrorist, said on Wednesday maps of South African cities were found among items seized after the raid.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?ao=119832">’No comment’ on terror claims</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=119792">’Terror’ pair under lock and key</a>
The trade union Solidarity on Wednesday said it has requested the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to appoint an independent arbiter to deal with the retrenchment process at dual listed telecommunications giant Telkom.
The African Union plans to transform a small force it was due to send to Sudan’s troubled Darfur region into a 2Â 000-strong peacekeeping mission, an AU official said on Wednesday. The pan-African body was already planning to send about 300 troops to Darfur to protect its observers and monitors in the country.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=119827">Thousands march on UN in Sudan</a>
Deputy President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday announced that South Africa would host a new round of talks on Burundi to finalise an agreement on power sharing and on holding elections. The two days of talks will begin on Wednesday at the presidential state guest house in Pretoria and will continue until Thursday.
During the year to June 2004, Kumba Resources’ Sishen iron ore mine achieved record production and the group also achieved record coal production and sales volumes. There were also higher sales of power station coal (1,3-million tons or 10%) to Eskom’s Matimba and Majuba power stations, while higher demand for coking coal and improved operating efficiencies increased other domestic sales by 4%.
About 1,9-million Eritreans currently in need of food aid could suffer even more because the world has shifted its focus to other crises such as Darfur in western Sudan, the United Nations has warned. Eritrea grew only 20% of the food it needed last year and has asked the international community for $120-million to offset the shortfall.
Children are not obliged to attend school in the year they turn six, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Monday. Children should be taken to school in the year that they turn seven, unless their parents can provide proof that their child was ready for school at an earlier age, the minister told reporters in Pretoria.
South African life assurer and financial services group Liberty announced on Monday that it intends to cancel the company’s secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange. It said the action is being taken due to the small number of shareholders and trades in the company’s shares in the United Kingdom.
The price of all grades of petrol is to decline by 23 cents a litre (c/l) on August 4 after a 17c/l drop was implemented on July 7, the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) said on Monday. In a statement detailing the monthly fuel price changes, the DME said the price of diesel 0,3% sulphur will fall by 12c/l, while that of diesel 0,05% sulphur will decline by 13c/l.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruled on Monday that a news story published by the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> newspaper about former housing minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele was defamatory, but not actionable. The SCA in Bloemfontein dismissed an appeal by Mthembi-Mahanyele against a decision of the Johannesburg High Court in the newspaper’s favour.
Absa’s new group chief executive, Steve Booysen, who officially took over the reins of the banking group on Sunday from Nallie Bosman, has announced his new senior management team, reflecting an experienced and diverse generation of bankers. Said Booysen: "The new executive team … will position Absa for the growth it envisages."
One of the seven travel agents arrested in connection with the parliamentary travel scam appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday. She is one of seven directors and consultants attached to Cape Town travel agencies arrested by the Scorpions in connection with defrauding Parliament of more than R12,5-million.
Overall consumer price inflation (CPI) in Lesotho increased by 5,3% year-on-year (y/y) in May and 5,1% in April, Standard Bank said in its research brief on the country, citing the data released by Lesotho Bureau of Statistics. The Southern African kingdom’s economic developments tend to be largely influenced by the economic situation in neighbouring South Africa.
I have always said that sport is harmful to your health. The state president has clearly finally heeded my warnings, first by moving Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma from the health portfolio (where nobody with any talent can do much good anyway) to the safer terrain of foreign affairs (where the only sporting danger is getting groped by your own ambassador in the Far East).
Africa’s two premier daily business titles, South Africa’s <i>Business Day</i> and Nigeria’s <i>Business Day</i> are now linked through a transcontinental joint venture, Johnnic Communications said in a statement on Sunday.