Floor-crossing battles kept two Cape High Court judges busy for the better part of the day on Monday. At stake in two cases involving the United Democratic Movement and the Independent Democrats are two seats in the National Assembly, one in the National Council of Provinces and five in various provincial legislatures.
South African cement producer Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) on Tuesday announced details of its Batsweledi cement-capacity expansion project. PPC will invest R1,36-billion to increase the company’s inland cement capacity in South Africa by just more than one million tonnes a year.
Capetonian Hein Wagner has been given the use of a Maserati GranSport Coupe for his attempt next month to become the world’s fastest blind driver. Viglietti Motors in Cape Town agreed to provide the R1,5-million vehicle for Wagner’s land-speed-record attempt, the National Council for the Blind said on Monday.
The Cape High Court was set to be busy on Monday dealing with a wave of legal action ahead of the floor-crossing window that opens on Thursday. The court will hear argument on a bid by United Democratic Movement deputy president Malizole Diko and five other party officials to have their suspension from the party reversed.
The Cape High Court has ordered e.tv to show prosecutors a programme on the murder of baby Jordan Norton before it goes on air. Acting Judge Dumisani Zondi made the ruling on Thursday after an application by the Western Cape directorate of public prosecutions to block the broadcast of the documentary.
A 50-year-old tree tumbled across a road in Newlands, Cape Town, on Friday as gale-force winds, driving rain and bitter cold hit the city in the early hours of the morning. The Elsieskraal River flowing through Pinelands had apparently burst its banks, but there was no major flooding reported so far, said senior traffic officer Lyndon Herbert.
Swashbuckling miner and financier Brett Kebble has lost control of his empire, and the future looks bleak for the network of empowerment companies he has cobbled together. A Western Areas spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that Kebble was forced by his shareholders and bankers to relinquish control of JCI, the citadel at the heart of his family’s beseiged empire, stepping down as CEO.
About R1,2-billion of public hospital fees are still outstanding from the 2004/05 financial year, the Democratic Alliance said on Thursday. ”An astonishing 68% of fees billed for the 2004/05 financial year were not paid,” said DA health spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard. The DA found that only R560-million (32%) was paid.
Former Western Cape leader of the Independent Democrats Lennit Max has blocked the swearing-in of his successor in the provincial legislature. His legal team was granted an interim interdict by a Cape High Court judge late on Monday to prevent the party’s new provincial leader, Neville Hendricks, from taking his place as a member of the provincial legislature on Tuesday morning.
The African Christian Democratic Party says that larger parties — in particular the ruling African National Congress — will benefit from the upcoming floor-crossing period for MPs and the nine provincial legislatures. The ACDP opposes floor-crossing because it undermines the will of the voter as expressed in an election.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says it remains committed to pursue its rolling mass action in support of the jobs and poverty campaign, which runs until February next year and includes periodic national stayaways as well as sectoral action.
The culling of an estimated 20 000 pigs in the Eastern Cape started in Idutywa on Monday, after an outbreak of swine fever hit the province. At least 3 500 emerging farmers’ pigs have been affected by the virus, and strict control measures to stop the spread of the disease have been set in place.
South Africa’s transition to democracy over the past decade has proved a disaster for the country’s poor, Congress of South African Trade Unions Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich said on Monday. Speaking in Cape Town’s City Hall at the launch of a grassroots coalition to tackle poverty in the province, he harshly criticised the government’s failure to stem job losses.
Former Western Cape leader of the Independent Democrats Lennit Max has been expelled from the party after being found guilty of contravening its code of conduct. The expulsion was ordered by labour law expert Sarah Christie, who was appointed by the high court as an independent presiding officer over Max’s disciplinary hearing.
Condemning the Scorpions’ raid on the office of the attorney of former deputy president Jacob Zuma, the General Council of the Bar of South Africa on Friday called on them to return everything they had seized as soon as possible. The raid appeared to violate the principle of attorney-client privilege, the GCB charged.
Molly, the "receptionist" at Klippe Rivier guesthouse, drags herself from the spot where she has been enjoying the early morning sun. Her eyes peruse the breakfast room, where a scrumptious morning meal has just been served, hoping that some scraps remain for the taking.
South Africa is often considered to be in the unfortunate position of having some of the world’s best laws and poli-cies to protect women and children but an inability to implement them. Take the roll-out of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for rape survivors to prevent HIV infection, a lot of dissatisfaction with the programme has been widespread.
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=zuma_report"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/243078/zuma.jpg" align=left border=0></a>There were no sinister motives behind the Scorpions’ swoop on the Johannesburg home of former deputy president Jacob Zuma, that of his financial adviser Schabir Shaik and other residences and offices on Thursday, said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), also denying the raids were conducted in response to Congress of South African Trade Unions statements on Zuma.
A bid by the state to view an e.tv documentary on the murder of baby Jordan Norton before it is broadcast is nothing less than censorship, the station’s advocate told the Cape High Court on Thursday. The Western Cape directorate of public prosecutions is seeking an order that will allow it to preview the documentary.
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille says the Democratic Alliance is a small white boys’ club.
A Capetonian hopes to become the world’s fastest blind driver by setting a land-speed record next month. Accompanied by a navigator, Hein Wagner is to attempt the feat at a Mafikeng airstrip on September 8 — hoping to make his way into the Guinness World Records book.
A torrent of expletives greeted the man accused of being the Station Strangler when he arrived at the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for an inquest into the deaths of three boys. Norman Afzal Simons, then a 27-year-old teacher, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for only one killing.
Five brothers who were struggling to keep their dry, dusty sheep farm going became millionaires overnight after uranium was discovered on their land and they were paid R20-million for the mining rights. Just a few months ago the five Ngondo brothers were hard put to meet the mortgage payments after drought claimed 100 of their sheep.
Police have issued a robbery and plunder warning to businesses in Cape Town ahead of what the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) says will be a massive march through the city centre on Tuesday. The march is to call for improved safety measures for violence-plagued schools on the Cape Flats.
The African National Congress has hailed the development of Afrikaans over the past 130 years as an inspiration for South Africa’s other indigenous languages. It has also pledged its commitment to protecting and promoting Afrikaans as well as South Africa’s other indigenous languages.
About 75 people were left homeless after a fire at the Joe Slovo informal settlement on the Cape Flats destroyed their shacks on Friday night, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported. Firefighters struggled to control the fire as they ran out of water.
Embattled Independent Democrats member of the Western Cape legislature Lennit Max says he ”strongly denies” accusations that he has tried to draw out a disciplinary hearing against him in order for him to be able to defect to a new political home next month. He has merely tried to clear his name of allegations made against him, he said on Friday.
The countrywide strike by members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union is likely to end on Saturday, a KwaZulu-Natal union representative said. Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town has been granted a court order against Samwu strikers, and protests seem to have died down in the Free State and Gauteng.
Blackman Ngoro, who was ousted this week as media adviser to the mayor of Cape Town, has bounced back with a new approach to race relations. He has offered space on his website for ”Khoisan intellectuals” to write about their history, and urged that the term ”coloured” should be buried ”once and for all”.
A whale-watching boat braved rough seas and a strong wind on Thursday to tow back a snoek boat that capsized off Onrus near Hermanus in the Western Cape on Wednesday. ”All four of [the boat’s crew members] were rescued by the fishing craft Rosemary,” a National Sea Rescue Institute spokesperson said.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa has suspended eight of his top elected officials with immediate effect following fears that they were intending to cross the floor next month. Holomisa would not supply details, claiming it is an internal matter, but denied they were asked to leave, as was previously stated.
It’s okay for Marc Lottering, to trade in coloured stereotypes, but, if outsiders make jokes or generalise about that group, they run the risk of being taken to the Human Rights Court, writes Mike van Graan.