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/ 20 January 2004
Remember ”Heineken — the beer that refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach”? It was a great marketing slogan. But now, if you search the Heineken website, it is conspicuous by its absence. Advertising and marketing strategists like to move on; staleness is to be avoided at all costs, which is why it is a bit surprising considering the ANC’s old slogan …
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/ 20 January 2004
The legitimacy of previous polls in South Africa’s democratic process has been placed in the spotlight by Inkatha Freedom Party leader and Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who has spoken of boxes of IFP votes being ”emptied all over the valleys and forests of [KwaZulu-Natal]” during the 1994 elections.
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/ 20 January 2004
South Africa is not yet facing critical water shortages — but will be "in trouble" if inadequate rain falls over the next three months. The country was hit by severe dry spells in 1992/93 and 1983/84. The Weather Bureau has already declared this season’s drought the worst in 88 years.
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/ 19 January 2004
Political minnow the Moderate Independent Party kicked off its 2004 election campaign on Monday, aiming to capture five to 10 seats in the Western Cape provincial parliament. Party leader Malcolm Taylor said the decision on whether to contest the elections nationally will be decided within the next two weeks.
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/ 19 January 2004
An African National Congress statement on Monday addressed the party’s relationship of cooperation between itself and the New National Party. In the wake of media reports that the ANC has "turned" on its coalition partner in the Western Cape provincial government, the ANC said it is "committed to working with the NNP".
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/ 19 January 2004
Comedian Marc Lottering admitted at the scene of a car crash in Sea Point, Cape Town, that he had had ”too much to drink”, a Cape Town magistrate heard on Monday. Lottering was arrested then for alleged drunken driving and reckless or negligent driving.
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/ 17 January 2004
There is a strong suspicion that a decomposed body police found on the Tradouw Pass, near Barrydale in the Western Cape, is that of missing Dutch exchange student Marleen Konings, police said on Friday. A 46-year-old man has been taken into custody, but not formally charged with Konings’ murder.
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/ 17 January 2004
It was recently ranked one of the top places to see before you die, but Cape Town now risks acquiring a new label as the capital of rip-off. Restaurants were accused on Friday of inflating prices by more than 1Â 000% in a frenzy of greed damaging South Africa’s tourism industry.
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/ 16 January 2004
The bulk of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress’ supporters are unemployed while 94% of them are black, according to the results of a Markinor poll. Similarly, nearly 80% of Inkatha Freedom Party supporters are jobless. The poll was conducted among 3 500 respondents nationwide late last year and was commissioned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
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/ 14 January 2004
The African National Congress leadership in the Western Cape said on Wednesday it is aiming for a 51% majority in the forthcoming election, irrespective of a coalition agreement between itself and the New National Party. ANC provincial chairperson Ebrahim Rasool said his party has no ”election pact” with the NNP.
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/ 14 January 2004
The issue of identity documents is a cause of concern for election authorities in the Western Cape, with many prisoners eligible to vote lacking them, and thousands of documents remaining uncollected at the home affairs department. The Independent Electoral Commission on Wednesday started registering inmates in the region.
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/ 12 January 2004
The Democratic Alliance should be in control of KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape following this year’s elections, its leader said on Monday. DA leader Tony Leon said: "We are extremely competitive there and we are going to go for a win with our coalition partners."
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/ 12 January 2004
South Africa’s largest opposition party, the Inkatha Freedom Party, will launch its national election campaign in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, on Sunday January 18. The pro-free-enterprise party is expected to underscore the importance of fast-tracking privatisation of state-owned enterprises.
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/ 12 January 2004
The African National Congress (ANC) launched what promises to be a bitter election campaign on Sunday by promising to tackle the poverty and unemployment that plague South Africa 10 years after apartheid. Unveiling a sweeping election manifesto, President Thabo Mbeki declared his party’s intention to loosen its conservative economic policies by ramping up public spending.
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The man at the centre of a Western Cape shark-baiting controversy on Wednesday explained his motives and actions in a letter to a local newspaper, saying they were misunderstood by the public. ”My motive and intention was to attract the large white shark out to the open sea away from the beach area,” he said.
There were scenes of jubilation and tears of joy on the steps of the Cape High Court on Wednesday when a group of Seven-11 franchisees celebrated a judgement effectively holding the mother corporation liable for about R50-million in claims. The case was described as a ”landmark” for the South African franchise industry.
South Africa’s Department of Transport has reiterated its appeal to motorists to reduce their speed on national roads in anticipation of traffic exodus at the end of the holidays, government news agency BuaNews reported on Monday.
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/ 30 December 2003
South Africa’s 2003 national matriculation pass rate has improved by 4,4% to a total of 73,3%, Education Minister Kader Asmal announced on Tuesday, up from 68,9% in 2002, 61,7% in 2001 and only 48,9% in 1999. Asmal said the results ”clearly show that the tide has turned” for South Africa’s education system.
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/ 24 December 2003
As the government announced additional drought relief measures on Tuesday, hopes remained dim for substantial rains in the near future. A comprehensive drought mitigation programme has been put in place following an urgent meeting called on Monday, the Ministry of Provincial and Local Government said.
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/ 23 December 2003
Frogs. Most of us have caught them, some of us even reared them from their infant tadpole stage in glass containers, only to crudely dissect them on tables. A comprehensive frog atlas compiled by the University of Cape Town’s avian unit is currently at the printers and sounds a warning to all frog lovers of the dire straits these amphibians are in.
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/ 22 December 2003
The list of celebrity visitors has been growing ever since the Western Cape became a favourite location for filmmakers and commercials directors, and it comes as no surprise to learn that Cape Town is a regular body double for Los Angeles, Monterey and San Francisco.
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/ 18 December 2003
The Scorpions have arrested 11 members of another major perlemoen syndicate in the southern Cape town of Gansbaai. They were released on bail ranging from R5 000 to R50 000 for the alleged leader of the syndicate, Daniel Otto. They will appear again on February 16.
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/ 18 December 2003
"Computer training for the unemployed and workers" read the adverts for the Resource Action Group (RAG) courses in three of Cape Town’s community papers distributed on the Cape Flats and in townships. But anyone who thinks the eight-week courses are simply about getting a paper qualification is mistaken.
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/ 17 December 2003
Representatives of the fruit and vegetable canning industry meet organised labour for talks on Thursday as the threat of layoffs looms large in the Western Cape. This follows an announcement that a task team has been set up to find ways of dealing with the growing crisis in the deciduous fruit industry in the province.
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/ 10 December 2003
The Jockey Club of Southern Africa confirmed on Wednesday that the highly contagious equine influenza has broken out in the Western Cape. Cub chief executive Tony Barnes said the last time there was an outbreak of equine influenza, in 1986, horse racing was affected for up to three months.
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/ 9 December 2003
Senior police management should take notice of some disquieting perceptions among police reservists contained in newly compiled research, as the South African Police Service (SAPS) considers making more use of reservists. The research delves into the impressions of active police reservists and their role in the SAPS.
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/ 9 December 2003
More than eight percent of 10 699 pupils in grade 8 to 11 who participated in a nationwide survey reported having forced someone to have sex with them. There was no significant difference in the prevalence among boys and girls, according to the first Youth Risk Behaviour Survey, which was released in Pretoria on Tuesday.
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/ 4 December 2003
The battle for the heart of the official opposition Democratic Alliance has begun with old National Party adherents, old Democratic Party followers, and former coloured Labour Party interests fighting it out for key positions on the Western Cape provincial lists for the legislature and Parliament.
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/ 3 December 2003
In South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, a train wound its way through the undulating hills. On board, six young people with HIV or Aids, along with celebrities from local soap operas, television and radio were doing their bit to raise Aids awareness.
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/ 1 December 2003
U2 lead singer Bono made a surprise appearance at a sparsely attended Aids Day rally organised by the Treatment Action Campaign and Cosatu in the Cape Town city hall, and told HIV-positive people they were "the real heroes".
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/ 1 December 2003
The African National Congress is to meet a delegation from the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Monday. The delegation will be led by the LTTE Peace Secretariat Secretary General S Puleedevan, the ANC said in a statement.