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Fracking will pollute water, causing cancer

KwaZulu-Natal – SA’s top water research body has warned the government to think carefully about the serious risk of water pollution from cancer-causing chemicals and radioactive compounds from future underground “fracking” operations across huge swathes of the country. A new report by the state-funded Water Research Commission says shale gas rock-fracturing (fracking) will not only

Marikana is a dangerous precedent, says Vavi

by Genevieve Quintal and Gillian Jones The Marikana wage deal set a dangerous precedent, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Wednesday. “If those workers forced the hand of the company in that fashion through an unprotected strike, what stops Driefontein in doing the same,” Vavi asked delegates at

HTC unveils two new Windows phones

(Reuters) – HTC Corp on Wednesday unveiled two smartphones running Microsoft Corp’s Windows Phone 8 software and said the devices would be available in November with several operators around the world. The two brightly colored devices — the Windows Phone 8X and the Windows Phone 8S — will pitch HTC directly against Microsoft’s main partner

‘Occupy white land,’ urges Contralesa president

Contralesa president Chief Phathekile Holomisa has called on South Africans to stand up and reclaim land from the white minority by next year, reports the SABC. Chief Holomisa says the ANC-led government has failed people by adopting the land redistribution policy. He says land was not bought from the blacks it was forcibly taken by

French magazine risks Muslim ire with cartoons of Prophet Mohammed

French magazine is set to increase Muslim ire by printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed Wednesday a day after 12 died in an Afghan suicide bombing, the deadliest attack linked to an anti-Islamic film. A female suicide bomber killed 12 people in Afghanistan on Tuesday in the deadliest single attack attributed to the controversial film

South African rugby ‘too white’, says former Springbok coach

By making the Springbok team too white, black South Africans were being alienated from the sport and the team, which was divisive for the country, former Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said in an internet radio interview. “We have to know what country we’re living in, and at the moment we’re turning a lot of

South Africa detaining refugees and migrants ‘unlawfully’

The department of home affairs (DHA) is unlawfully detaining refugees and migrants and forcing costly court actions to fight for their release, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said on Wednesday. “The detention of refugees and migrants is carried out in an unlawful manner,” said LHR refugee and migrant rights programme head Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh. “Despite repeated

Education, not race determines employment in South Africa – SAIRR

Educational achievement is a more important indicator of why people are employed rather than race, the SA Institute of Race Relations (Sairr) said on Wednesday. “The proportion of people by race in professional positions closely mirrors the proportion of people by race with professional qualifications,” said research manager Lucy Holborn in a statement. The data

Malema renews call for nationalisation

Expelled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has likened critics of the nationalisation of mines to those who opposed the end of apartheid. Malema was asked by Talk Radio 702 host John Robbie on Wednesday how the nationalisation of mines could take place and whether it was plausible. “You sound like people who opposed our

Police fire rubber bullets at Amplats miners

Police used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse a group of people gathered near Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) in Rustenburg on Wednesday, said a spokesman. “Police dispersed people trying to gather illegally. As we have said, we are not tolerating any illegal gatherings,” said Captain Dennis Adriao. “Police utilised teargas and stun grenades, and rubber

Kabul bomber kills 12 people, including 8 South Africans

A female bomber killed 12 people in Kabul on Tuesday in the deadliest single attack over an anti-Islam US film that again sparked furious protests across the Muslim world. The Kabul bombing brings to more than 30 the number of people who have been killed in a violent backlash over a YouTube trailer for the

School gang threatens Free State teacher

A teacher at the Louw Wepener High School, in the Free State, fears for her life and that of her family after threats by a school gang, the Volksblad newspaper reported on Tuesday. According to the newspaper, the 666-gang threatened the teacher with death in a letter smeared with blood which was handed to her

92-year old woman raped, killed in South African province

A 92-year-old woman has been raped and killed in her home at Zingonyameni, Mount Fletcher, Eastern Cape police said on Tuesday. Lieutenant Raphael Motloung said the woman’s body was found on Friday night by a neighbour who went to visit her, as she lived by herself. She had been stabbed several times in the head

Eight South Africans killed in Kabul during Islamic film blast

Eight South Africans died in a suicide bomb attack which killed 12 in Kabul in Afghanistan on Tuesday morning, the foreign ministry said. “Our mission in Islamabad in Pakistan, which is also accredited in Afghanistan, has informed us that eight South Africans were among the dead in the explosion which occurred in Kabul early this