The Western Cape treasury is disputing an amount apparently owed to the city of Cape Town, which by noon on Thursday had cut off the water and electricity supply to the provincial department of local government and housing. ”There was agreement in the last month between senior officials from the province and city,” Lynn Brown, provincial minister for finance, said on Thursday.
The Western Cape department of local government office in Cape Town had its water and electricity cut off on Thursday over an unpaid bill of almost R750Â 000. City of Cape Town workers cut off the water to the department’s city centre building at 1.12pm and the electricity shortly after that.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) emerged victorious when residents of Tafelsig in Mitchell’s Plain voted for their candidate Sheval Arendse in Wednesday’s by-election in Cape Town. The by-election was the focus of Wednesday’s 14 by-elections around the country as it increases the majority of the DA-led multiparty coalition in Cape Town to two seats in the 210 seat council.
South Africa should consider the introduction of two time zones in order to alleviate Eskom’s electricity peak-demand woes, said Professor Christo Viljoen, a professional electrical engineer and former member of the then-Eskom council, this week. "If South Africa is … divided into two time zones … the peak demand of the two zones will not coincide.
The dribble of voters casting their ballots for the Western Cape’s only by-election being contested in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain, was expected to increase when people returned home from work on Wednesday. The by-election is seen as a two-horse race between Democratic Alliance candidate Sheval Arendse and the Independent Democrats’ June Frans.
The Council of Education Ministers has approved measures to beef up security at public schools, and the department will identify ”problem schools” needing immediate attention, Minister of Education Naledi Pandor announced on Monday. These are aimed at schools around the country.
Eskom reports that electricity demand in the Western Cape continues to grow as winter settles in, but that the measures put in place in terms of its recovery plan are proving successful in maintaining stable supply of power to the region. "Koeberg unit one is currently operating at 80% of its capacity," the power utility said.
Three men, including two Chinese nationals, are expected to appear in court in June after the Scorpions arrested them and confiscated more than three tonnes of perlemoen (abalone) and R263Â 000 in cash, the elite unit said on Thursday. In a statement, the Directorate of Special Operations said it acted on a tip-off.
An African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) city councillor was threatened with firearms by a drunken Western Cape police officer and his brother on Monday night. The ACDP allege that the drunken police officer threatened ACDP councillor Sipho Xasana with a firearm after the vehicle he [the police officer] was in hit a parked car outside Xasana’s house on Monday night.
Cape Town mayor Helen Zille joined an anti-crime cavalcade through the streets of Mitchell’s Plain on Sunday and urged people to take back the streets. Zille said she felt privileged to join the symbolic stance against what she called a ”terrible” and ”brutal” wave of violence sweeping the country, particularly the Western Cape.
Eskom’s ”power alert” messages will be broadcast on South African Broadcasting Corporation television from Thursday night, the electricity utility said in a statement. Meanwhile, the situation at Koeberg nuclear power station will ”return to normal” by August, Minister of Minerals and Energy Lindiwe Hendricks said on Thursday.
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille has come out firing against the Democratic Alliance over what she describes as its "hypocrisy", by entering into coalitions with its arch-rival African National Congress in towns "all over the Western Cape". De Lille has been sparring with the DA after it accused her of lying.
South African retailer Mr Price on Thursday reported a 48% rise in diluted headline earnings per share to 154,7 cents for the year ended March from 104,7 cents a year ago. A total distribution of 81 cents per share — based on a cover of two times — was declared, up from 60 cents last year.
It was a dark and stormy night in the Visdorp when the devil appeared to Joseph. ”Do you know who I am?” he asked. ”Gimme a hint,” said Joseph. The devil twirled his moustache and cried: ”I am the dark lord!” ”Just as I thought,” said Joseph. ”The bladdy CEO of Eskom.”
The horror stories have become platitudes — a nine-month-old baby allegedly gang-raped, a pensioner raped by her grandson — to make the interminable list lend weight to perceptions of South Africa as a world rape capital. In the Western Cape, police statistics show that rape was the only contact-crime category to increase, by 8,2%, from 2003/04 to 2004/05.
Blackouts hit parts of the Western Cape on Monday night as Eskom was unable to provide sufficient electricity to meet demand, the Cape Times reported. Its website said on Tuesday the blackouts came after Koeberg’s Unit Two generator was shut down to be refueled and for standard safety upgrades.
Dagga worth an estimated R3-million was seized at a house at Cape Town’s Mfuleni area, Western Cape police said on Monday. Detectives visited the house, situated at Ngogoshe Street at Mfuleni Extension 4, at about 8pm on Sunday after a tip-off by a member of the public, Inspector Bernadine Steyn said.
Winter will not be exceptionally cold, it will just be normal, Weather South Africa said on Monday. ”According to our models the temperatures will be normal for this time of year,” meteorologist Selebaleng Gaebee said. Last winter was exceptionally warm, which may explain why people feel the current cold weather more intensely.
South African power utility Eskom on Monday announced that unit one at the Koeberg nuclear power station in the Western Cape had started delivering electricity to the national network again. The unit, which had been out of service since November 2005, returned to service last Wednesday, Eskom said.
Official opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon took to the streets of Mitchells Plain on Monday, where his party is fighting a key by-election against Patricia de Lille’s Independent Democrats in the coloured working-class district of Tafelsig. He argued that voters were being given a chance to vote against De Lille’s flirtation with the African National Congress ”reign of ruin”.
The icy weather experienced over the country was set to continue until about Thursday when the days will become slightly warmer, the South African Weather Service said on Sunday. Forecaster Ezekiel Sebego said another cold front would move in over the Western Cape on Monday night, bringing with it rain for that area, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Bitterly cold weather around the country is likely to result in snow on higher ground, hail and sleet in the interior and rough seas in the Cape, meteorologists said on Friday. The National Forecasting Centre said the central and eastern parts of the country are being invaded by very cold weather.
Metrorail has called on the South African Police Service to intensify police security on its trains, in response to continuing security strike-linked violence.
As many as 18 people have been killed on Metrorail trains since the strike began, said Metrorail spokesperson Thandi Mlangeni.
Thousands of workers heeded a call by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to down tools on Thursday in protest against South Africa’s high levels of unemployment and poverty. The mining and car-manufacturing industries appeared to be hardest hit.
Two buses were set on fire by a mob and about eight others damaged by stone throwing in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha before dawn on Thursday as the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ national strike got under way. Golden Arrow Bus Services spokesperson Vuyisile Mdoda said the incidents were reported to the company at 6am.
Most sectors of the economy are expected to be hit by a stayaway on Thursday in support of the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ jobs and poverty campaign. The one-day strike will take place countrywide, the union federation said on Wednesday.
The security guard strike is likely to carry on for ”a helluva long time” if employers are not willing to talk, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) said on Wednesday. ”We urge all employer associations in the strongest terms to commence negotiating with immediate effect by responding with counter-proposals,” said Satawu general secretary Randall Howard.
Unit one at Koeberg power station in the Western Cape was successfully returned to service on Wednesday after being out of commission for the past five months for repairs. The generator was damaged in December 2005, resulting in both the rotor and stator requiring repair.
The chairperson of the South African Trade and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) in the Western Cape has apologised for the violent rampage through Cape Town by striking guards on Tuesday. Jerome Fortune said Satawu members would probably lay charges of assault against police.
Talks aimed at resolving the violent strike by security guards deadlocked again on Tuesday, when employers and the guards’ negotiators could not agree on certain terms. Meanwhile, police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse striking guards who went on the rampage in central Cape Town.
A driver of a minibus taxi was killed in Cape Town on Tuesday morning, the city’s fourth taxi-related shooting this week, Western Cape police said. This incident followed three other shootings in Cape Town between Monday and Tuesday afternoon, which left four people wounded.
Police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse striking security guards who went on the rampage in central Cape Town and outside Parliament on Tuesday. Several injuries were reported and dozens of shop windows were broken, goods looted and cars trashed as about 5 000 strikers made their way to Parliament.