It seems like a vision of a better world: bus drivers have a friendly greeting for their passengers, salespeople serve customers with a smile, husbands surprise their wives with flowers, children offer their seats to the elderly on public transportation and behave well at school and at the dinner table. This idea could soon become
SA truckers’ strike turning violent
Ekurhuleni emergency services were on high alert on Thursday after violent protests by striking truck drivers resulted in the people being injured and vehicles damaged. “We, together with Ekurhuleni metro police department, are on high alert for any incidents of violence during the truck drivers strike,” said spokesman William Ntladi. He said a truck was
JK Rowling surprises with sleaze in new novel
First reviews of Harry Potter author JK Rowling’s novel for adults on Thursday praised its Dickensian scope and social message, but warned the gritty, even obscene tale was a far cry from Hogwarts. Shortly before the release of the hotly awaited “The Casual Vacancy”, several reviewers said they were taken aback to read grimy scenes
Black area has highest crime rate in Western Cape
The most likely place to be murdered in the Western Cape is the black township of Nyanga, especially over a weekend and after dark, provincial community safety MEC Dan Plato said on Wednesday. The township, situated near the Cape Town International Airport, recorded the highest number of reported murders last year, based on forensic pathology
Read more: Black area has highest crime rate in Western Cape
Zuma’s speech on Somalia at UN mini-summit
I wish at the outset to congratulate my dear brother, H.E. Hassan Sheik Mohamoud on being elected President of Somalia. I look forward to working with you President Hassan, in both bilateral and in multilateral settings as we strengthen the South Africa-Somalia relationship and collaborate within the multilateral fora on matters of mutual interest. I
Zuma blames apartheid
South Africa’s president says the mining unrest that captured international attention following the police killing of 34 striking miners will be resolved through negotiation. President Jacob Zuma told the Associated Press that the Aug. 16 killings at the Lonmin PLC platinum mine in Marikana should not be viewed as “the kind of incident that will
‘1202 police firearms missing’ – South African minister
A total of 1202 police firearms have gone missing since the beginning of last year, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa revealed on Wednesday. Mthethwa said in a written Parliamentary response that 885 firearms were lost or stolen last year and 317 this year. Of those 170 had been recovered. The Democratic Alliance said the large number
Read more: ‘1202 police firearms missing’ – South African minister
‘Don’t apologise for nationalisation’, says Fikile Mbalula
The ANC Youth League must not apologise for calling for economic freedom and the nationalisation of mines, ANC national executive member Fikile Mbalula said on Wednesday. “You are the only ones [ANCYL] who have opened the debate,” Mbalula told students at Wits University in Johannesburg. He was speaking at the ANCYL’s 68th anniversary lecture. “Some
Read more: ‘Don’t apologise for nationalisation’, says Fikile Mbalula
Is South Africa the next Liberia?
by Dan Roodt I ended off my last column with a reference to “the dark eye of Africa”, a term used by Laurens van der Post in his eponymous lecture in 1954. Following in the footsteps of Van der Post, how are we supposed to make sense of the sadistic violence, murders and rapes taking
SA mining trapped in the 19th century – Ramphele
South Africa needs to dig itself out of a 19th-century mining business model, academic Mamphela Ramphele said on Wednesday. Speaking at a media briefing ahead of an international leadership education conference in Cape Town, she said a failure to change the nature of the industry was having devastating repercussions. “We’ve just had this tragic Marikana
Strikes spread as firebrand Malema is charged
As outspoken supporter of striking miners in South Africa, Julius Malema, appeared in court on corruption charges, mining giant AngloGold was forced to stop operations due to work stoppages. Malema was formally charged with money laundering on Wednesday. Supporters of the populist firebrand say the high-profile corruption case is politically motivated and is a means
Government is trying to silence me: Juju
Expelled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema insisted on Wednesday that money-laundering charges against him were part of a plot to silence him. “I am aware that senior government officials… have agitated law enforcement authorities to expedite my arrest and detain me as a means of trying to silence and disrupt the political activities I
Malema ‘intentionally took money’
Expelled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema is accused of making nearly R4 million from corrupt activities, in papers filed in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court. “The accused [Malema] did unlawfully and intentionally acquire ownership… of the amount of money,” according to the charge sheet. Malema did this “well knowing” — or ought to have reasonably
Sanef to SAPS: Leave journos alone!
The SA National Editors Forum (Sanef) on Wednesday expressed concern over journalists being forcibly removed from the court where axed ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema was appearing. “We have asked the SAPS [SA Police Service] for an explanation and for an undertaking that journalists will be guaranteed access to the proceedings without the threat