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/ 27 January 2008

Oil peak: A crude ruse?

‘We’re running out of oil!” We’ve been hearing this warning at least since the 1970s oil shocks, but recently it has been proclaimed with increasing insistence. The idea goes back to 1956, when Shell geologist M King Hubbert declared that the world had enough oil for only about 50 more years, writes Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero.

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/ 13 January 2008

US automakers face onslaught in 2008

After years of crisis, the big three United States automakers face another brutal year with demand expected to dip again due to an economic downturn threatening to snuff out 2007’s timid recovery. The world’s major automakers will exhibit upcoming models and the concept cars of the future from Sunday as media previews kick off for the Detroit motor show.

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/ 25 December 2007

Only death deters

Had I been two shades lighter, I would have turned red with embarrassment when strangers inquired if I was ”Ronnie Pillay’s daughter. You’re that reporter at the Natal Witness newspaper. How was your scholarship to America?” they asked. It was the late 1990s and my father had been telling his friends about his eldest daughter’s exploits.

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/ 24 December 2007

Cops on the lookout for hit-and-run driver

Heidelberg police are searching for the driver of a yellow Toyota Cressida that was involved in an accident in which one person died, Ekurhuleni police said on Sunday. The Toyota Cressida — bearing the number plate CJM 710 GP — collided with a white Hyundai three-tonne truck, leaving the driver of the truck dead.

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/ 28 November 2007

Oil dips below $94 as stocks struggle

Oil fell below a barrel on Wednesday, pinching some of Asia’s top resource stocks, while nagging fears that a credit market squeeze will sap global growth weighed on the dollar and the region’s exporters. News that top United States bank, Citigroup, got a ,5-billion capital injection from Abu Dhabi’s investment arm on Tuesday buoyed US stocks.

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/ 24 November 2007

Seven die in horror head-on collision

Seven people were killed and seven others seriously injured in a head-on collision on the N12 near Fochville on Friday, North West police said. Meanwhile, 22 passengers were injured when their bus crashed over the side of a bridge in Pretoria North on Friday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported.

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/ 8 November 2007

KwaZulu-Natal mayor found dead in car wreck

The 37-year-old mayor of a KwaZulu-Natal South Coast municipality was killed in a car crash, police said on Thursday. Police spokesperson Zandra Hechter said Mfundo Lushaba, the mayor of Umzumbe, was found dead in his Toyota Hilux double-cab about 10m from the Ifafa offramp on the N2 near the resort town of Hibberdene.

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/ 5 November 2007

Former Tshwane mayor in head-on collision

Former Tshwane mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa was admitted to hospital on Monday after the vehicle in which he was travelling collided head-on with a Toyota Tazz in Pretoria, Tshwane metro police said. Spokesperson William Baloyi said the accident occurred at about 9am at the corner of Pretorius and Church streets.

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/ 5 November 2007

Five arrested after robbery at Bryanston supermarket

Five robbers were arrested — four of them with gunshot wounds — after a shoot-out with the police after a robbery at the Checkers supermarket in Bryanston, north of Johannesburg, on Sunday. Johannesburg police spokesperson Captain Julia Claassen said the five-man gang robbed staff and customers of an undisclosed amount of money and cellphones.

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/ 21 October 2007

Raikkonen storms to F1 title

Kimi Raikkonen seized his first Formula One title by a single point after a stirring victory in Brazil that shattered Lewis Hamilton’s dreams. The Finn’s unexpected title triumph, leading Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa in a one-two finish, ended Briton Hamilton’s bid to become the youngest champion in his debut season.

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/ 2 October 2007

Toyota’s new Corolla

The new Toyota Corolla appeals at a more primal level than pure logic dictates. It’s better looking by far than its predecessor, having lost that chunky styling, and it’s fun to drive. The car feels like a quality European offering, and even the base model is pretty well specced. Gavin Foster reports.

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/ 25 September 2007

New Captiva: More Hugh Grant than Bruce Willis

Last week, at the Gauteng launch of its reborn Uno, Fiat kicked off proceedings by setting us loose on a section of the Carnival City casino off-road route. This seemed a little strange until we heard that the Italian company now includes a raised-body version of the Brazilian-built hatch in its line-up, intended to make it more suitable for those pesky African and South American dirt roads.

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/ 19 September 2007

Strike brings Volkswagen SA to its knees

Volkswagen South Africa is ”on the brink of disaster” because of the motor-industry components strike, MD David Powels said on Wednesday. The six-day-old work stoppage has so far cost the company a production loss of 500 cars per day. Volkswagen’s Uitenhage plant has been brought to a standstill.

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/ 17 September 2007

Motor-strike talks to resume

Negotiations in a bid to resolve a crippling motor-industry strike will resume on Monday night, the Retail Motor Industry said on Monday. The four-day strike has seen several motoring-manufacturing plants temporarily closing their doors as parts became unavailable.

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/ 10 September 2007

SA auto-parts workers to strike, says union

More than 50 000 South African vehicle-component workers are set to go on indefinite strike on Wednesday after a breakdown in wage talks, the main metalworkers’ union said on Monday. Mziwakhe Hlangani, spokesperson for the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, said in a statement the strike would affect automotive-component suppliers.