No image available
/ 26 October 2007

Zille faces call to quit over spy row

The African National Congress (ANC) called on Thursday for the head of opposition leader Helen Zille over claims that taxpayers were made to foot the bill for an investigation into a political opponent. In its latest attempt to unseat Zille as Cape Town mayor, the ANC tabled a statement in Parliament urging her to resign.

No image available
/ 25 October 2007

The 2007 Investing in the Future judging panel

<b>Reg Rumney(Chairperson of the panel)</b>
Reg Rumney is an independent consultant, researcher and analyst, concentrating on investment issues, especially those relating to the role of business in society. He was executive director of the BusinessMap Foundation, an organisation focusing on economic transformation, specifically BEE and foreign direct investment, for five years.

No image available
/ 25 October 2007

Crafty solutions

How do you give corporate gift buyers access to local hand-made products and provide the country’s many talented crafters with an entrée to this major niche market? This is the question the Old Mutual Foundation’s Gift project tried to answer. Gift is an initiative of the Cape Craft & Design Institute (CCDI) and the Old Mutual Foundation.

No image available
/ 24 October 2007

Zille stands by Chaaban ‘spy’ probe

A city-commissioned probe into the activities of controversial councillor Badhi Chaaban was completely legitimate, Cape Town mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday. However, she promised she would ask an outsider with ”impeccable credentials”, such as a retired judge or senior advocate, to establish whether council funds were misused.

No image available
/ 24 October 2007

Alleged drug dealer ‘well-known to police’

Alleged drug dealer Nazier Kapdi is well-known at the Western Cape directorate for public prosecutions (DPP), the Wynberg Regional Court heard on Wednesday. ”I’ve been a prosecutor for 30 years and I know Kapdi; I know he does not operate his network alone,” DPP senior deputy director Nollie Nieuhaus told the court.

No image available
/ 24 October 2007

Survey: Life improving for South Africans

Life is improving steadily — at least in the area of housing and basic service delivery — for the 48-million people living in South Africa, according to Statistics South Africa. The organisation on Wednesday released the first results of its 2007 Community Survey, based on responses from about 255 000 households.

No image available
/ 23 October 2007

All charges against Zille dropped

All charges brought against Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille for her participation in protest marches have been dropped, the Western Cape director of public prosecutions said on Tuesday. Zille, who is also mayor of Cape Town, was charged in terms of the Regulation of Gatherings Act.

No image available
/ 23 October 2007

Manto’s records under the spotlight

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

Caution against quotas in sport

The South African Institute of Race Relations has cautioned against calls to apply quotas and similar measures in order to rapidly transform the Springbok rugby team. The institute said that it was ”encouraging” to see black and white South Africans being united around a common cause.

No image available
/ 23 October 2007

Manto docket returned to the police

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
/ 18 October 2007

SA’s poor lose out on solar water heating

Earlier this year, Cape Town was debating a by-law that would make solar water heating compulsory for relatively costly new buildings, and certain renovations. But what of solar water heating for less expensive structures — especially homes being built under the country’s extensive low-cost housing programme?

No image available
/ 17 October 2007

Marrying science to business

Academics in the sciences must realise that they are also entrepreneurs, according to a range of speakers at the annual Bio2Biz SA conference in Cape Town last month. But researchers must be prepared to fall and pick themselves up again in a real-life experiment, said Dr Joe Molete, conference organiser and CE of the BioPAD innovation funder in Gauteng.

No image available
/ 16 October 2007

NPA: No imminent arrest of Makhanya

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
/ 15 October 2007

Faith, funding and the poor

I recently had the opportunity of being part of two interesting discussions that have a bearing on the debate about whether faith-based organisations have the capacity to influence policy and, more generally, the religion-state relationship in South Africa. The feeling in the room was that victims of trafficking, who, as a certainty, would be sexually and physically abused, writes Cassiem Khan.

No image available
/ 14 October 2007

Concern over govt vs Sunday Times

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
/ 12 October 2007

Hlophe in opposition’s crosshairs

Cape Judge President John Hlophe’s refusal to resign is a typical example of persons holding high office refusing to face the consequences of their actions, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille. ”By refusing to step down, contrary to the dictates of good governance, such senior office-bearers undermine our young democracy,” she said on Friday.

No image available
/ 11 October 2007

Hijackers drag man behind car for 2km

A South African man was seriously injured when hijackers dragged him along a tarred road for 2km after his feet got stuck in the seatbelt of his car, police said on Thursday. The 44-year-old was forced out of his car in a suburban street on Wednesday by four fleeing men who had just robbed a house in Bellville in Cape Town, said a statement by police in the Western Cape.

No image available
/ 11 October 2007

ANC meet: No room at the inn

Polokwane will be a busy town come December with an expected 4 500 delegates, both voting and non-voting, attending the African National Congress’s (ANC) 52nd national conference. Smuts Ngonyama, head of the presidency of the ANC, on Thursday updated the media in Johannesburg on preparations for the conference.

No image available
/ 10 October 2007

Smacking a child may cost R300

Parents will have to cough up at least R300 for giving children a clip on the ear if they are prosecuted under the proposed Children’s Act, a media report said on Tuesday. The new law stipulates that no form of corporal punishment is legal and a child may not be punished in a way that is ”cruel, inhuman or degrading”.

No image available
/ 9 October 2007

Heavy rains in Gauteng set to continue

Heavy rains are set to continue over Gauteng for the next two days, clearing up on Friday and continuing at the weekend, the South African Weather Service said on Tuesday. ”There will be showers over the weekend, and I can’t rule out the possibility of heavy rains,” said forecaster Evert Scholtz.