No image available
/ 23 October 2007
Under no circumstances should a patient’s medical records be disclosed unless he or she gives personal consent, a seminar hosted by the South African Human Rights Commission was told on Tuesday. Chairperson of the South African Medical Association Dr Kgosi Letlape said medical records should not be disclosed without consent.
No image available
/ 23 October 2007
The docket on the theft of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical records was returned to the police on Monday, said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). ”It became necessary for us to do so because there are certain areas of investigation which still need to receive attention,” said NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali.
No image available
/ 22 October 2007
They may be the world champions, but the Springboks have few illusions that their new status will stave off a new push by the government to overhaul the team’s racial composition. Meanwhile, Springbok wing Bryan Habana was on Sunday named the International Rugby Board player of the year.
No image available
/ 21 October 2007
Pride and politics mixed on Sunday as South Africans celebrated their Rugby World Cup final win over England. Festivities continued through the night as South Africans packed fan parks and restaurants and filled the streets with honking cars draped with the national flag.
No image available
/ 21 October 2007
Britain’s newspapers on Sunday hailed the bravery and spirit of England’s defeated World Cup side, praising South Africa for their win but mulling over a controversial refereeing decision. For those who managed to squeeze match reports into their first editions, newspapers said South Africa were worthy winners in the game’s showpiece.
No image available
/ 20 October 2007
Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya was accused of lying about his ”imminent arrest” by South African Broadcasting Corporation group chief executive Dali Mpofu and writer Ronald Suresh Roberts at a conference in Sandton on Friday.
No image available
/ 19 October 2007
A Nobel Prize-winning scientist who reportedly claimed black people are less intelligent than white people has pulled out of a British book tour and gone home, his publicist said on Friday. James Watson won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1962 for his part in discovering the structure of DNA.
No image available
/ 19 October 2007
There is no huge threat to the media in South Africa, but some planned laws are worrying, South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) chairperson Jovial Rantao said on Friday. Addressing a joint South African Broadcasting Corporation and Sanef conference, Rantao said: ”There is no huge threat against the media in this country.”
No image available
/ 18 October 2007
An American scientist who won the Nobel Prize for co-discovering the molecular structure of DNA has caused an uproar in Britain by reportedly saying tests have indicated that Africans are not as intelligent as whites. A government minister, scientists and a human rights activist condemned James Watson’s comments as racist.
No image available
/ 18 October 2007
Freedom of expression is a right South Africans should not have to ask for, businessman Tokyo Sexwale told a gathering at the Star’s 120th anniversary celebrations in Johannesburg on Wednesday. ”You have the right, you don’t have to ask for that right … you have won that right by being citizens of this country,” said Sexwale.
No image available
/ 16 October 2007
Western Cape police and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Tuesday scoffed at claims that police are about to arrest Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker. ”We wish to state that there is no truth in reports that [they] will be arrested and/or be brought before court this week,” NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said.
No image available
/ 16 October 2007
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang plans to speak out about media allegations that she is an alcoholic and a kleptomaniac. ”When the time comes this minister will speak out,” Tshabalala-Msimang said at a press conference at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto on Tuesday.
No image available
/ 15 October 2007
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has expressed outrage at alleged political and police action regarding Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker, likening it to apartheid-era conduct.
No image available
/ 15 October 2007
A lawyer for Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker has said they would hand themselves over to police in Cape Town this week, instead of waiting to be arrested for the alleged possession of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical records.
No image available
/ 14 October 2007
Opposition parties and the South African National Editors’ Forum have expressed concern at reports of police plans to arrest Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and journalist Jocelyn Maker over the theft of Health Minister Manto-Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical records.
No image available
/ 13 October 2007
The editor of the <i>Sunday Times</i> and one of its journalists will be arrested this week to face charges of being illegally in possession of the health minister’s medical records. Editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker will be hauled to Cape Town in connection with charges of theft and contravention of the National Health Act.
African countries should make use of intellectual provisions to protect their innovations when it comes to African traditional medicines, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Monday. ”Africa should make use of intellectual-property provisions to protect its innovation with regard to indigenous knowledge and African traditional medicine,” she said Johannesburg.
Cape Town lawyer Christine Qunta on Monday welcomed the Sunday Times‘s retraction of defamatory statements made by the newspaper against her, saying the apology was proof that the principle of media accountability was being upheld.
South African President Thabo Mbeki came under mounting pressure over the weekend to explain his suspension of the country’s top prosecutor, a controversial move weeks before a crunch vote on his leadership of the African National Congress (ANC).
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown ruled out an early election on Saturday in what the opposition Conservatives called a humiliating retreat after polls showed his lead over them had evaporated. Brown, who took over from Tony Blair three months ago, had allowed his Labour Party to fan speculation in recent weeks that he would hold an early election.
African National Congress (ANC) succession battles are unlikely to be a feature of President Thabo Mbeki’s imbizo (meeting) in the Ladysmith this weekend, according to local party bosses and analysts. Mbeki’s visit will be the first presidential imbizo in the province since allegations that certain ANC members were trying to make the province a no-go area for Mbeki.
South African Broadcasting Corporation board deputy chairperson Christine Qunta has demanded the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) stop publishing defamatory material about her. Qunta’s legal representatives sent a letter in this regard to the TAC on Wednesday, her lawyer, Athol Gordon, said.
The Constitutional Court ruling on Tuesday dismissing Schabir Shaik’s application to appeal his conviction and sentence for corruption and fraud may have cleared the way for presidential hopeful Jacob Zuma to face corruption charges again, the latest twist in a political drama gripping the country.
South Africa’s acting chief prosecutor said on Tuesday he would investigate police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi amid reports a warrant had been issued for his arrest for links to organised crime. Mokotedi Mpshe, acting director of the National Prosecuting Authority, said he could confirm an investigation of Selebi was under way.
There were a number of instances where a breakdown in the working relationship with Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla was discussed with suspended National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli. This is according to government spokesperson Themba Maseko, who was speaking at a press conference in Pretoria on Monday.
It has been described by one newspaper as ”splitting the Premier Soccer League [PSL] down the middle.” But what Finance Minister Trevor Manuel described as ”morally reprehensible” commission payments amounting to hundreds of millions of rands to PSL officials has seemingly united 45-million South Africans in outraged opposition to the professional soccer organisation.
The Democratic Alliance is to ask President Thabo Mbeki questions in Parliament relating to National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli’s suspension and the reported warrant of arrest issued for police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi. The party’s parliamentary leader Sandra Botha said it was "imperative that the president informs the nation".
No image available
/ 30 September 2007
The suspension of South Africa’s National Director of Public Prosecutions amid silence by President Thabo Mbeki has led to concerns of government meddling in the country’s justice system. Mbeki’s integrity came under fire as his suspension of National Prosecuting Authority chief Vusi Pikoli was linked to the alleged pending arrest of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
No image available
/ 27 September 2007
African National Congress funder Sandi Majali — known for his role in the Oilgate scandal — is to sue the Sunday Times for defamation following its story implicating him in the disappearance of money meant for an Eastern Cape school feeding scheme.
No image available
/ 25 September 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Public Protector to complain about the Health Department’s advertisements placed in various newspapers last week to protest against a judge’s failure to interdict the Sunday Times over its reports on the medical records of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
No image available
/ 23 September 2007
The controversial Sandi Majali — known for his central role in the Oilgate and Iraq oil-for-food scandals — has been named in a forensic audit into the disappearance of more than R100-million meant for starving children in the Eastern Cape, the Sunday Times reported.
No image available
/ 21 September 2007
Full-colour advertisements placed in a number of national newspapers on Friday by the Health Department defending its Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, were a waste of taxpayers’ money, the Democratic Alliance said. The United Democratic Movement also criticised the advertisements.