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Mbeki gives reasons for stepping down in 2008
Thabo Mbeki says the only reason he agreed to leave office in 2008 was because the ANC asked him to. Jacob Zuma Thabo Mbeki Unisa JOHANNESBURG – Former president Thabo Mbeki says the only reason he agreed to leave office in 2008 was because the African National Congress (ANC) asked him to. He's was speaking at Unisa this afternoon in an event broadcast on Unisa radio. Mbeki stepped down in 2008, after the ANC's national executive committee voted to recall him, following a judicial finding that he had interfered with the investigation into now President Jacob Zuma. That finding was then overturned on appeal. Mbeki was taking questions from students. “[I left office] because the ANC said so. We
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British publication labels Rakhale's showboating skills a 'pointless display of nonsense'
Orlando Pirates midfielder Thabo Rakhale's fancy footwork against Kaizer Chiefs has drawn the attention of the English newspaper the Daily Mirror. In a report that has angered many South African football fans; the publication described the 25-year-old dribbling wizard’s showboating skills as a "pointless display of nonsense". Some even took to Twitter to express their views on the matter: @gator_alli - An England based publication labelled Rakhale's skills as; "wonderfully pointless display of nonsense",they'll never understand SA football @krugersoul - @Orlando_Pirates @DailyMirror we love Rakhale he keeps us entertained.stick to yo borring EPL whch is one dimation wthout flair @noluthando_ban
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Vavi told me, 'you are killing me'
The metro police officer who caught former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi for alleged speeding told the Edenvale Magistrate's Court on Wednesday that he had to measure the speed twice. Officer Lawrence Smears told the court that that they measured the speed of a silver-grey Audi Q7 on the R24 road in October last year. "I measured the speed twice. The first test, the car was traveling at 178km/h in a 120km/h zone," he said. Smears said that when he did the second test, the car was traveling at 182km/h. "I saw the car picking up speed and then I communicated with the stopper car about 900 metres away from me to stop the right car traveling towards," he said. Smears said that after showing
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While you were sleeping: 9 March 2016
Trump wins more states, ISIL leader bombed, and Sharapova-criticism continues.
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State capture: Did the Guptas offer Treasury's top job to Deputy Minister Jonas? | South Africa
A report on Wednesday in the globally influential the Financial Times makes the startling allegation that two weeks before President Zuma fired Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene in December, the Gupta family met with Deputy Finance Minister, Mcebisi Jonas, at the family's home in Saxonwold, to ask whether he was interested in the job. If true, it presents another piece in a disturbing puzzle of an attempt at state capture. By MARIANNE THAMM. The story, by Andrew England, makes the startling claim that two weeks before President Jacob Zuma fired Finance Minister Nhlanla Nene, replacing him with backbencher David van Rooyen, the family had themselves met with Deputy Minister of Finance, Mcebisi Jonas,
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SABC's Hlaudi Motsoeneng fires Pearl Thusi for joining rival channel
Thusi has recently resigned from SABC's flagship music show Live AMP and signed up as a presenter on an international show to be aired on rival channels MTV, MTV Base and e.tv. An irate Motsoeneng told Thusi that new rules prohibited SABC talent from working for rival media houses and that she would be in breach of her contract if she joined the e.tv show, according to a Sunday World report. On Saturday, Thusi was absent from the station's popular The Real Phat Joe show with Phat Joe that she co-hosts. Thusi was also allegedly banned from her Metro FM Sunday show The Blackout and Motsoeneng is apparently pulling the strings to get the model to lose her job on SABC3’s soapie Isidingo. According
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Tycoon sues Vodacom over airtime credit
A businessman is demanding five cents of every rand cellphone giant Vodacom has made from its money-spinning airtime advance product. The five-year-old product was launched by Vodacom in May 2011 but Katlehong, Ekurhuleni, businessman John Khaba is demanding compensation from the company, accusing it of misappropriating his idea and launching it as its own in 2011. Khaba allegedly approached Vodacom with the airtime advance idea a year before it launched the product to alleviate problems experienced by operators. The 57-year-old offered to buy additional prepaid airtime in bulk for operators of Vodacom's cellphone containers in townships on credit, which they would later repay with Khaba getting five cents for every rand advanced to operators by Vodacom.
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Zimbabwe to compensate mainly white farmers who lost land in 2000
ZIMBABWE is planning to start compensating mainly white farmers who lost their land and livelihoods during state-backed farm invasions that began in 2000, which triggered a near decade-long recession, the finance ministry said in a circular distributed to legislators. If approved by the government, it would mark a major shift in policy. President Robert Mugabe previously said payments would be made only for investments in infrastructure such as dams, roads and buildings on seized farms. "This may be the result of pressure, not only locally but also internationally," said Willie Spies, the legal representative for South African lobby group AfriForum, which won a lawsuit last year to expropriate Zimbabwean government property in SA to compensate farmers whose land was seized.
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Rand shivers after notice from Moody’s - Currencies
Johannesburg - South Africa's rand and bonds retreated early on Wednesday as sentiment was rocked by Moody's decision late last night to place the country's credit rating on review for a downgrade over its worsening growth prospects. Stocks opened slightly firmer, with the JSE Top-40 blue-chip index inching up 0.12 percent. Read: Moody's warns of ratings cut At 07h00 GMT the rand had weakened 0.2 percent to 15.4650 per dollar, gaining back some ground after slipping to 15.4700 overnight. Government bonds weakened as well, with the benchmark issue due in 2026 adding 3 basis points to 9.315 percent. “Comments from Moody's overnight have spiked the risk-off trade with bonds and currencies taking
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#UFS: Latest video to form part of greater probe
A video has reportedly emerged of a female UFS student being attacked by a protester. University of the Free State UFS University of the Free State UFS brawl JOHANNESBURG – The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) says a new video, which reportedly shows a female student at the University of the Free State (UFS) being attacked by a protester, will form part of its probe into an apparently racially fuelled rugby brawl. The commission says it’s investigating the matter and will report back to campus management. Two weeks ago, outsourcing protesters disrupted a rugby game in Bloemfontein, resulting in students, rugby players and parents fighting on the field. WATCH: At least 21 students
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‘It’s wrong for a president to try to change a Constitution while in office’
The former president, answering questions at Unisa, says leaders on the continent need to be democratic. Thabo Mbeki United Nations Security Council Unisa JOHANNESBURG - Former President Thabo Mbeki says it’s wrong for presidents to try and change the constitutions of their countries while they’re in office, just so they can stay in power. Earlier today, he answered questions from an audience at the University of South Africa (Unisa), which was broadcast on Unisa radio. Mbeki also said it was useless for African countries to argue who among them should represent the continent as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council when the current members haven’t yet agreed to change the
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Serena will break my record - Graf
Steffi Graf believes Serena Williams will race past her Open-era record of 22 major singles titles, and insists she will be happy for the American when it happens. Williams, who has won 21 Grand Slam singles events, was halted in her bid to tie the long-standing mark at the Australian Open in January when she was upset in the final by Graf's fellow German Angelique Kerber. But Graf expects Williams to come roaring back this year. “I'm very sure that she will (break the record),” Graf told AFP in an interview. “To be honest I think we all believe that she can, and that she will soon.” The 46-year-old, who dominated women's tennis from the late 1980s until the end of the 1990s, insisted that there
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Nene saga: DA pushes Jonas to break silence - Business News
Cape Town - Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas should confirm or deny a report in the Financial Times that he was asked, through the influential Gupta family, whether he would be interested in replacing Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister, a few weeks before the latter was fired, the Democratic Alliance said on Thursday. DA finance spokesman David Maynier, in a statement, put pressure on Jonas to make a public statement on the reported meeting in late November with the Gupta family, whose members have close ties to President Jacob Zuma. Read: Nene's quiet exit from Parliament “It is imperative that the deputy minister breaks his silence and makes an urgent public statement clarifying: whether
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South Africa: My Law Student Daughter Told Me Why Judge Masipa Got It Wrong
The first person to tell Public Protector Thuli Madonsela that Judge Thokozile Masipa had made a mistake in the Oscar Pistorius judgement was her daughter, Wenzile. Madonsela, an advocate, revealed this during an address at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's School of Law Professions Day cocktail function in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday. "I can recall that when Judge Thokozile Masipa issued her gracefully delivered judgement on the Oscar Pistorius matter, the person who immediately called me to give me a summary of the judgement and offer a strong opinion regarding why the judgement wrongly applied the principal of dolus eventualis, was my daughter," Madonsela said. "She was doing her second
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White 10-year-old boy dreams of being a Zulu sangoma
Ten-year-old Keegan Baker is so passionate about the Zulu culture that he wears his traditional attire as often as he can, his mother says. A video of Keegan has gone viral on Facebook. In it he is seen dancing and singing to two Zulu songs for his mother and her friends at their home in Nottingham Road in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands earlier this year. When asked what it is about the isiZulu culture that attracted him to it, Baker said simply, "I just like the language and how they do things". He said he had been speaking the language since he was 2 and that he was taught by the family's domestic worker. She even gave him the name Sandile, he said. "I know it has a meaning but I don't know the
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Uproar as Ramaphosa fails to answer Marikana questions
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says because he has been summonsed in his personal capacity over the killing of striking mineworkers at Marikana in 2012, he has recused himself from any involvement in implementing the recommendations, of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the tragedy. Ramaphosa faced a fresh question about Marikana from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the National Council of Provinces this afternoon. His response and a ruling by house chair Raseriti Tau that follow up questions could not be put to Ramaphosa, sparked a furore.
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Nigeria: Buhari Breaks Silence On U.S.$5.2 Billion MTN Fine
President Muhammadu Buhari has broken his silence on the $5.2 billion fine slammed on the MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Buhari said the real concern of his government was the security implication of the telecommunication company's failure to register subscribers appropriately. President Buhari was speaking on Tuesday at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja at a joint press conference with the visiting South African President Jacob Zuma. "This is the first time I am making public comment on it (the MTN fine). Our concern is the security, not the fine", Buhari stated, noting that Boko Haram insurgents had so far killed over 10,000 Nigerians". The fine was originally
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Lira named first SA influencer for global beauty brand
As one of the highest selling vocalists in South Africa and most recently a coach on the local rendition of The Voice, she says: “I’m thrilled to be the first African to formally collaborate with this global brand. I love Bobbi’s makeup and I admire how her products bring out the individual beauty in every woman and how easy she makes it for all women to look and feel their best.” Lira's campaign (shot in the heart of Joburg wearing local designers like Anisa Mpungwe’s, Loin Cloth & Ashes) will appear in print editorials, online and all over Bobbi Brown Cosmetics South Africa and her own social media platforms. Brown says: “I’m excited and incredibly proud to have Lira as an influencer for our
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Gordhan charms, but investors are wary - Business News
London - South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan won applause for an impromptu London road show this week but left many global investors sceptical he could defend his country's investment grade rating - or even stay in office. Appointed after a predecessor's sudden sacking, Gordhan is trying to woo back UK and US-based investors and repair the damage from “9-12”, the December day when President Jacob Zuma suddenly switched finance minister. It took the subsequent appointment of Gordhan, respected for a previous stint at the ministry, to calm the markets. Read: Gordhan leads Team SA push overseas But “9-12” was seen to have seriously dented South Africa's institutional credibility, adding
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ANC in KZN distances itself from secret Senzo Mchunu meeting
Last week provincial leaders dismissed rumours that Mchunu was going to be recalled and that a cabinet reshuffle in the province was looming. Provincial secretary Super Zuma last week Wednesday told reporters that he did not know the origins of the rumours. On Tuesday Zuma said the provincial working committee had noted media reports regarding a meeting said to have taken place in Ballito, North of Durban, on the eve of an ANC press briefing convened to communicate decisions arising from the provincial executive committee (PEC) meeting. "This meeting is purported to have been a gathering of a faction claiming to represent the interests of comrade Senzo Mchunu. "This faction, which has absolutely
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