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/ 26 November 2007

Yengeni arrested for drunken driving

The possible breach of the parole conditions of former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni was under investigation after he was arrested for drunken driving, the Correctional Services Ministry said on Monday. Yengeni was arrested in Cape Town on Sunday evening on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, police said.

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/ 26 November 2007

Absa injects money to cut housing backlog

Absa and the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to speed up the provision of housing in several provinces. Absa has committed R2,6-billion for the building of 100 000 units by 2010. The bank has also committed an additional R150-million for project preparations.

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/ 26 November 2007

Najwa back in court for bail application

Exchanges on Monday between Najwa Petersen’s senior counsel and Najwa’s sister-in-law, Tagmieda Johnson, during cross-examination in Najwa’s bail application provided lively scenes in the Wynberg Regional Court. Najwa is in custody, awaiting trial, for the alleged murder of her entertainer husband, Taliep.

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/ 26 November 2007

Women’s League to ‘speak for itself’

The African National Congress Women’s League is to finalise its nominations for the party’s leadership on Monday. Earlier, it was reported that the women’s league favoured Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. The league, however, refuted this saying it would ”speak for itself” once it had consolidated the provincial nominations.

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/ 26 November 2007

SA floods kill two, cause millions in damage

Severe floods along South Africa’s southern coast killed two people and caused millions of rand in damage near one of the country’s top tourist attractions, officials said on Monday. Police said a 62-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy drowned as rivers burst their banks and roads were washed away in Eden District municipality.

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/ 24 November 2007

Cape mops up after rain disaster

Western Cape Premier Ibrahim Rasool on Saturday met emergency personnel after a killer storm left two dead and damage estimated at around R600-million. An official of the devastated Eden district municipality said storms that ravaged the Cape have caused damage estimated between R500-million and R600-million to the Poort area.

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/ 23 November 2007

Student faces high-court trial for murder of parents

A gay psychology student who in July allegedly shot dead both his parents to spare them the grief of his own suicide, is to go on trial in the Cape High Court next year on two charges of murder. Grant Harris (23) on Friday made his seventh appearance in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court, before magistrate Hafeeza Mohamed, since his arrest in August for the double murder.

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/ 20 November 2007

Rasool concerned at ‘overeager’ ANC members

Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool has blamed ”overeager” members of his own party for a report that President Thabo Mbeki has intervened to defuse a row over Rasool himself. Rasool, a member of the African National Congress (ANC), was accused in an official report last week of knowingly making incorrect statements to the legislature.

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/ 17 November 2007

UCT professor killed for his bag in Rondebosch

A University of Cape Town (UCT) commercial law professor was stabbed to death during a robbery in Rondebosch on Friday, Western Cape police said. Police spokesperson Captain Elliot Sinyangana said the professor was walking down Roslyn Road between 6pm and 6.30pm on Friday evening. He was then approached by two men who tried to grab his bag.

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/ 16 November 2007

Farmworkers to stage mass protest marches

Thousands of farmworkers will hold marches in various rural towns across the country on Saturday, the Food and Allied Workers’ Union said on Friday. The marches are in protest against poor working and living conditions, concerns for workers’ safety, and the negative effects of the huge hike in food prices, the union said.

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/ 15 November 2007

Premier misled legislature, inquiry finds

An official inquiry has concluded that Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool misled his legislature, a source in the legislature said on Thursday. The multiparty inquiry was set up to investigate contradictory statements last year on spending on security upgrades to the home of community safety minister Leonard Ramatlakane.

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/ 15 November 2007

Dissent causes chaos at Kapdi drug trial

The Nazier Kapdi drug case in the Wynberg Regional Court in Cape Town deteriorated into acrimonious exchanges on Thursday, with a defence lawyer saying the trial was ”disgustingly unfair”. The chaos erupted over a technicality involving documents that prosecutor Greg Wolmarans should have handed to the defence team.

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/ 14 November 2007

Yesterday and today, but what of tomorrow?

The 2007 Community ­Survey conducted by Statistics South Africa gives an impressive account of our developmental progress, concluding that ”today is better than yesterday”. The survey also makes it clear that our society is undergoing massive changes. From the most intimate relations to the most abstract levels of social interaction, communities are in flux.

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/ 12 November 2007

Western Cape ‘winning war against drugs’

The Western Cape government is winning the war against drugs, Premier Ebrahim Rasool said on Monday. ”Considering that this financial year is only halfway through, police have already arrested 374 high flyers … confiscated 37 558 grams of mandrax, 6 499 grams of methamphetamine [tik] and 4 447 grams of heroin,” he said.

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/ 12 November 2007

Tiger Brands slapped with R98m cartel fine

Tiger Brands has been ordered to pay a R98,7-million penalty by the Competition Commission after admitting to participating in bread and milling cartels, the commission announced on Monday. Tiger Brands also agreed to assist the commission in prosecuting remaining cartel members who have not cooperated with the commission.

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/ 12 November 2007

SA poverty levels double in a decade

Severe poverty levels in South Africa have doubled in the last 10 years, the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Monday. A survey released by the SAIRR this month showed that poverty in the country increased ”dramatically” between 1996 and 2005, said researcher Marius Roodt.

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/ 12 November 2007

Home is where the health is

Erecting 200 houses in a week might sound improbable. Erecting 200 houses, a community centre and creating a communal garden in just seven days sounds downright impossible. But 1 380 international volunteers from the Niall Mellon Township Trust aim to do just that. The ”building blitz”, taking place in Mitchells Plain in the Western Cape this week, follows three similar campaigns the charity has undertaken.

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/ 3 November 2007

Zille: ANC clamping down on dissent

The African National Congress (ANC) is prepared to use the police, the National Prosecuting Authority and the Public Protector to silence dissent in the media and the opposition, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Saturday. Zille said state institutions were not fulfilling their mandate and being manipulated by the ANC in pursuit of its own political agenda.

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/ 2 November 2007

Coega gets anchor tenant

More than R7-billion later the Coega Development Corporation appears to be close to securing its first anchor tenant. The Mail & Guardian has learned that PetroSA chief executive Sipho Mkhize and department of minerals and energy director general Sandile Nogxina were set to visit the CDC late this week to discuss housing PetroSA’s mooted R39-billion crude-oil refinery.

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/ 1 November 2007

A whale of a time

I recently had the pleasure of spending a mid-week getaway at one of the Western Cape’s finest hotel/spa complexes. The Arabela Hotel and Spa, about an hour from Cape Town near Gansbaai, boasts fynbos-fringed fairways leading to a golf-course clubhouse with views of the Bot River lagoon and the Kogelberg mountains, writes Zodidi Mhlana.

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/ 1 November 2007

Court urged to release Najwa Petersen on bail

The release on bail of Najwa Petersen, accused of the murder of her entertainer husband, Taliep, was essential to save her young daughter from long-term emotional damage, Cape Town psychologist Rosa Bredenkamp told the Wynberg Regional Court on Thursday. Petersen has launched a second bail application after her first was rejected.