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/ 10 January 2005
Hundreds of people have been left homeless after a fire destroyed at least 100 shacks in the Kaya Mandi informal settlement near Stellenbosch on Sunday, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Monday. The blaze started when a paraffin stove toppled over in the evening. The fire was fanned by the strong wind and it took firefighters about three hours to bring it under control.
The Cape Town minstrels have a special place in the hearts of Capetonians. I think it is somewhere in the aorta. The doctors say it is too dangerous to operate, so there they stay. They were once called coons, but mercifully the vast lies that are racial stereotyping are a thing of the past. After 10 years of democracy we are free to call the Cape minstrels what they are: tone-deaf sequinned horrors of sartorial ghastliness.
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/ 29 December 2004
The 2004 matric class has achieved a pass rate of more than 70% for the third year in a row, says Education Minister Naledi Pandor. The official results in eight provinces were released during a media briefing at Parliament, but the results in Mpumalanga have been withheld because some are under investigation.
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/ 24 December 2004
Suspended Western Cape leader of the Independent Democrats (ID), Lennit Max, on Thursday afternoon said he had not done anything to deserve the suspension. In a statement Max said he became aware of his ”alleged suspension” on Wednesday when members of the media contacted him for comment. ”To date I have only received a very vague formal notification about it [the suspension] and I still don’t know what it really means,” he said.
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/ 23 December 2004
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille opened her personal bank account records to members of the media on Thursday to refute claims by former ID Western Cape leader Lennit Max that she pocketed about R400 000 meant for party coffers. De Lille has rejected Max’s allegations, saying the ID is very open and transparent.
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/ 16 December 2004
The safety of single-dose nevirapine is not in question, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) reiterated on Wednesday, following comments by the Department of Health. The Aids action group was concerned that ”misleading” comments by the department could result in people discontinuing their treatment, and suffering harm.
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/ 15 December 2004
The number of road deaths so far this December appears about the same as last year, the Department of Transport said in Pretoria on Wednesday. ”This is incredibly disappointing for us,” said the department’s chief director of land transportation regulation, Wendy Watson.
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/ 12 December 2004
Three people burnt to death in a shack fire that broke out in Nyanga, Cape Town, shortly after midnight on Saturday. Western Cape police spokesperson Inspector Elliot Sinyangana said 68 shacks burnt down before emergency services workers put out the fire.
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/ 9 December 2004
If the power station at Koeberg in the Western Cape were coal-fired and not nuclear, it would have needed to burn more than 105-million tonnes of the black stuff over the past two decades to equal the power it has produced from just 621 tonnes of uranium, says Minister of Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
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/ 8 December 2004
Disciplinary action will be taken against school principals who withhold end-of-year reports, the Western Cape education minister vowed on Wednesday. He said his office has been receiving calls from anxious parents saying some principals are refusing to hand out reports because the parents have not paid some or all of their school fees.
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/ 8 December 2004
The wine industry in the Western Cape has been stunned by the illegal-flavourant scandal at KWV, the province’s agriculture minister, Cobus Dowry, said on Tuesday. "A scandal such as this has the potential to fundamentally damage this industry and if not addressed properly, take years to mend."
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=176153">Silver lining to SA’s wine scandal
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<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=176088">KWV names, shames winemakers</a>
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/ 6 December 2004
The Constitutional Court has given rail commuters a reason to celebrate and reaffirmed their right to be safe from crime. Two weeks ago, the Constitutional Court ruled that Metrorail and the South African Rail Commuter Corporation were responsible for the safety of train passengers, effectively overturning the findings of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
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/ 3 December 2004
The Cape High Court’s rejection of the medicines appeal bid would not affect the Supreme Court of Appeal hearing, the Pharmaceutical Society of SA said on Friday. ”We note the judgement, also again that it’s a split decision,” said PSSA executive director Ivan Kotze.
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/ 1 December 2004
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Former Heath investigating unit head Willem Heath will take the stand in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial in the Durban High Court on Thursday.
This follows two days of testimony relating to Heath’s exclusion from investigations into alleged arms deal irregularities.
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/ 30 November 2004
<img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/142915/aids_icon.gif" align=left>A year ago the government approved a national plan for the management, care and treatment of HIV/Aids. Its aim was to provide free anti-retroviral drugs in the public health sector. The HIV prevalence rates range from an estimated 13,1% in the Western Cape to a very high 37,5% of adults in KwaZulu-Natal. A <i>M&G</i> assessment as World Aids Day approaches reveals the leaders and laggards.
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/ 30 November 2004
The numbers for effective land restitution and redistribution are astronomical, the time short and sometimes it seems that only a miracle can ensure the success of the programme. Although most land stakeholders agree that land reform is too slow and that finances present a major obstacle to reform, different people have different ideas of how to overcome the department’s money blues. We take a closer look at these options.
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/ 25 November 2004
The real value of recorded building plans passed by municipalities (at constant 2000 prices) during the first nine months of 2004 increased by 29,5% or R5,167-billion from R17,507-billion to R22,674-billion compared with the first nine months of 2003, according to figures released on Thursday by Statistics South Africa.
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/ 15 November 2004
Our inter-governmental system is not yet fully geared to deliver on nationally set policy in a coherent and effective manner. The recently debated Inter-Governmental Relations Bill provides a giant leap forward in resolving some of the key problems. A strong national centre is important because it can define policy direction with the benefit of a macro perspective, especially in a context of intensifying processes of globalisation, writes Ebrahim Rasool.
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/ 11 November 2004
In a precedent-setting decision, the Cape High Court on Thursday ordered the attachment of the car of a Western Cape man arrested for drunken driving. ”This is the first, and we expect to do a lot more, particularly over the festive season,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Sipho Ngwema.
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/ 11 November 2004
Democratic Alliance Western Cape chairperson Kent Morkel says a claim that he took a bribe is "utter nonsense". Micro-loan provider Gilt Edged Management Services on Wednesday agreed to pay R65-million in fines and compensation on two counts of corruption, one of which involved an alleged R10 000 bribe to Morkel.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=125339">DA man linked to loan scam</a>
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/ 10 November 2004
Senior Democratic Alliance politician Kent Morkel has been accused of taking a bribe in a multimillion-rand corruption case that came before the Cape High Court on Wednesday. In a plea-bargain agreement, micro-loan provider Gilt Edged Management Services consented to fines totalling R5-million on two counts of corruption.
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/ 10 November 2004
Cape Town has taken its next step in improving tourist services in the region with the launch of Cape Town Tourism’s new united corporate identity. Cape Town Tourism was previously the bureau responsible for the CBD, Waterfront and Atlantic Seaboard areas only.
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/ 8 November 2004
An Italian prosecutor on Monday sought to probe the link between alleged Mafioso Vito Palazzolo and Count Riccardo Agusta, who achieved notoriety in the Roodefontein saga. The Cape Town Magistrate’s Court is hearing evidence for Palazzolo’s trial in absentia in Italy.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=125163">Failed bid to charge Palazzolo</a>
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=125147">Stressed policeman unfit to testify</a>
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/ 8 November 2004
Sun International has consolidated its leading position in South Africa’s R7,34-billion casino industry over the past year, and is now ready to pursue regional and international opportunities in the gaming, hotel and resort sectors, according to CEO Peter Bacon.
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/ 8 November 2004
A veteran South African detective on Monday told how his bid to have Vito Palazzolo charged with corruption was turned down by the Western Cape’s director of prosecutions. "I thought I had a case," said Leonard Knipe, who was national head of serious and violent crime before he retired from the police.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=125147">Stressed policeman unfit to testify</a>
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/ 5 November 2004
There is no need to panic about drought — unless the rain stays away for another two months, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said in Pretoria on Friday. The department is reviewing the state of the Vaal River system to see if water restrictions in Gauteng — now South Africa’s driest province — will be necessary.
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/ 5 November 2004
The South African government’s refusal to disclose the number of children receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in KwaZulu-Natal province has raised fears among Aids activists that children’s rights to health care and life are being violated.
The national treatment plan, unveiled last November, initially targeted the treatment of 53Â 000 people by March 2004, which has since been extended to March 2005.
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/ 4 November 2004
The South African government’s refusal to disclose the number of children receiving anti-retroviral drugs in KwaZulu-Natal has raised fears among Aids activists that children’s rights to health care and life are being violated. A survey at 13 of KwaZulu-Natal’s public hospitals found only 39 children were receiving anti-Aids medication.
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/ 3 November 2004
A top police officer said on Wednesday he stands by a document in which he listed Cape Town attorney Harry Snitcher as part of the Mafia’s organisation in the Western Cape. Captain Piet Viljoen was testifying in proceedings in which Italian prosecutors are questioning witnesses on the affairs of alleged Mafioso Vito Palazzolo.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/pd.asp?cg=BreakingNews-National&ao=124881">Palazzolo linked to Staggie</a>
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/ 3 November 2004
Alleged Mafia boss Vito Palazzolo had links to Western Cape drug lord Rashied Staggie, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court heard on Wednesday. This was testimony from crack police investigator Captain Piet Viljoen, one of a series of witnesses who have been subpoenaed to answer Italian prosecutors’ questions on Palazzolo.
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/ 2 November 2004
Just months after Tata launched its range of vehicles on to the South African market, rival Indian auto maker, Mahindra, has arrived in South Africa. Launched to the media recently, the Bolero and Scorpio will no doubt find themselves competing head on against the more established brands in the market, although at a slightly different level and price too.