A project to establish an initiation village for urban Xhosa was launched by the Western Cape provincial government on the Cape Flats on Tuesday. The initiative, the first in the country, seeks to provide space for what is essentially a rural custom in a city setting.
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People are growing weary of violence and do not wish to die for someone else seeking a seat in Parliament, Independent Electoral Commission chairperson Brigalia Bam said on Monday. She added that in the past three weeks there had been 18 political rallies and only three incidents of violence, all in KwaZulu-Natal.
Special Report: Elections 2004
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/ 28 February 2004
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The name of former African National Congress Women’s League president Winnie Madikizela-Mandela does not appear on the party’s list of candidates for Parliament, released on Friday. Former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni, convicted of fraud last year, is also not on the list.
Elections 2004 special report
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/ 27 February 2004
The Scorpions conducted raids at 11 residents and business premises of employees of South African Airways (SAA) Technical in a bid to root out alleged corruption at the unit on Friday, the airline said. Some of the raids were conducted at the purchasing department of SAA Technical at the request of SAA, the airliner said.
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/ 27 February 2004
The Scorpions conducted raids at 11 residences and business premises of employees of South African Airways technical services in a bid to root out alleged corruption at the unit on Friday, the airline said. Some of the raids were conducted at the purchasing department of SAA technical services at the request of the SAA, the airline said.
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/ 26 February 2004
A pause for rest during a traverse in the Hex River Mountains led to the serendipitous discovery of a new species of Disa flower, a nursery manager at the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens said on Thursday. The new flower is related to the red Disa, which is unique to the Western Cape.
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/ 26 February 2004
At first glance, Israel’s planned 700km wall and fence on its Eastern flank seems defensible, as it will undoubtedly reduce suicide bombings on Israeli territory. Under closer scrutiny, it emerges as a gross injustice that is justifiably condemned in much of the world, and even by some Israelis.
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/ 26 February 2004
They say the wheels of Parliament turn slowly. Obviously no one told anyone in the hallowed halls of the resignation of Andrew Feinstein, the African National Congress MP who resigned as co-chairperson of Scopa as political pressure came to bear in the arms deal scandal way back in 2001. He is still listed as the member for the Sea Point constituency office.
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/ 24 February 2004
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More than 20-million people have registered for the April election, an increase of 14,7% in the number of registrations since 1999, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced on Tuesday. The voters’ roll shows that 17% of all eligible voters are between the ages of 18 and 25, and 44% are younger than 35.
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/ 24 February 2004
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The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape on Tuesday challenged the New National Party/African National Congress alliance to say who it would nominate as the individual parties’ premier candidates. The DA unveiled its provincial election manifesto and named its candidates for provincial and national legislatures.
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/ 24 February 2004
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The Freedom Front Plus and Cape People’s Congress have agreed on a cooperation strategy for the April 14 general election, the two parties announced on Tuesday. The leaders of the two parties said their aim is to prevent the African National Congress gaining a two-thirds majority in the election.
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/ 20 February 2004
The government will be hard pressed to meet its land restitution deadline of 2005 with the Cinderella budget Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel awarded to the Department of Land Affairs, a land reform expert told the <i>Mail & Guardian</i>.
Ruth Hall, from the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape, called the allocation disappointing.
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/ 19 February 2004
The next Cabinet should include many new faces, despite President Thabo Mbeki’s often conservative approach to reshuffles, political analysts predicted this week. They forecast a big migration from the provinces, with Limpopo Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi leading the way.
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/ 19 February 2004
Department of Labour inspectors on Thursday recommended the prosecution of managers of listed retail group Mr Price’s store at the Boulders in Midrand after they denied inspectors access to documentation and prevented them from interviewing staff.
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/ 17 February 2004
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The New National Party in the Western Cape on Tuesday became the first of the party’s provincial structures to release its candidates lists for the coming elections. Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk tops both the national and provincial lists by virtue of his position as provincial leader.
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/ 16 February 2004
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Two political minnows announced on Monday their coming together to contest the general elections, united in their ”fight against moral decay and godless government”. The New Labour Party and the Christian Democratic Party signed their cooperation agreement on Sunday evening, following months of negotiations.
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/ 16 February 2004
Environment Minister Mohammed Valli Moosa has announced his intention to designate five new marine protected areas, according to his department staff at Parliament on Monday. The areas will be designated in the government gazette on Tuesday.
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/ 16 February 2004
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The New National Party has committed itself to building almost a quarter of a million houses by 2010 as part of a blueprint for eliminating the Western Cape’s housing backlog. The plan is contained in the party’s 92-page manifesto for the province, released on Monday by NNP leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
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/ 16 February 2004
The People’s Budget Campaign, representing NGOs, church groups and trade unions, has motivated for a modest increase in taxes relative to gross domestic product and an increase in state borrowing and a cancellation of the third tranche of fighter jets for the South African National Defence Force.
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/ 16 February 2004
An off-duty policeman was shot and killed while he was visiting his family in Khayelitsha in Cape Town on Saturday, Western Cape police said on Sunday. Inspector Elliot Sinyangana said Constable Siyabulela Leon Mcengwa (27) was killed when several shots were fired at him around 7.15pm. He was hit in the head and died at the scene.
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/ 15 February 2004
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The Democratic Alliance list of candidates for the 2004 election, to be contested on April 14, holds some surprises and a few predictable placements. DA leader Tony Leon predictably heads the Gauteng national list, followed by sitting MPs Ian Davidson, Richard Ntuli, Janet Semple and Chief Whip Douglas Gibson.
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/ 12 February 2004
In a windswept but joyous ceremony, former South African president Nelson Mandela on Wednesday handed over symbolic keys to the first two homeowners to resettle in Cape Town’s District Six. Ebrahim Murat (87) and Dan Ndzabela (82) will be the first of an estimated 4 000 homeowners to resettle in the area over the next 36 months.
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/ 12 February 2004
The African National Congress in the Western Cape has won Wednesday’s ward 42 by-election in Guguletu with an 86% majority. The Independent Electoral Commission spokesperson, Courtney Sampson, confirmed the result on Thursday morning. The only other party that contested the poll was the Pan Africanist Congress.
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/ 9 February 2004
Former Western Cape premier Peter Marais had been a temperamental and often melodramatic witness, and his evidence was contrived and self serving, the Cape High Court heard on Monday. Judge Anton Veldhuizen was hearing closing arguments in the case in which former MEC Freda Adams is suing Marais for R2,3-million for defamation and sexual harassment.
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/ 9 February 2004
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) on Sunday accused the authorities of preventing vital information from reaching the public and vowed to fight for the right of journalists to protect their sources. Sanef said the organisation was concerned over the flow of information from the police to the media.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=30864">The death of Zimbabwean journalism</a>
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/ 6 February 2004
Aids campaigners in South Africa are worried about the apparent lack of progress in implementing a plan to distribute anti-retroviral drugs to millions of people living with the disease. More than 600 people die every day from Aids-related illnesses in South Africa, according to HIV/Aids support groups.
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/ 5 February 2004
Anant Singh’s DreamWorld consortium has been confirmed as the successful bidder to establish a multimillion-rand film city outside Cape Town. Construction is expected to start in the first quarter of next year, and finish early in 2006. Singh told a media briefing the consortium planned an investment of R400-million.
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/ 5 February 2004
Although South Africa has scaled up social spending over the past decade, considerable additional funding is needed to improve delivery to the country’s rural poor, a new study has found. One of the key challenges is beefing up service delivery in rural communities such as providing water and electricity.
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/ 3 February 2004
One of the United Kingdom’s fastest-growing insurance companies, the Budget Group, has announced its decision to set up a call centre in Cape Town, in an investment valued at R100-million. The call-centre industry in Cape Town already comprises more than 70 companies.
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/ 3 February 2004
Former president FW de Klerk has lent his support to the cooperation agreement between the African National Congress and the New National Party, warning that the country’s transition has become a one-sided affair. South Africa requires a special political model based on genuine cooperation, he said.
FW de Klerk’s ‘kiss of death’
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/ 2 February 2004
With a nervous eye on land invasions in Zimbabwe to the north, South African farmers have taken fright at legal changes to boost their government’s land expropriation powers. But legal experts say the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill pose little reason for real concern.
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/ 2 February 2004
Former South African president FW de Klerk’s expected endorsement of the pact between his former apartheid party, the New National Party, and the ruling black majority African National Congress has sparked a volley of arguments between opposition leader Tony Leon and the NNP.