/ 28 November 2008

A harbinger of doom?

Is there a looming water crisis in South Africa? According to a researcher from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), poor water quality threatens our health and may also derail economic growth.

The researcher, Dr Anthony Turton, was to have delivered a
Former justice minister Penuell Maduna has asked the ANC to await the outcome of the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) appeal against Judge Chris Nicholson’s judgement in the Jacob Zuma matter before making further pronouncements on the ruling.

2. US Treasury blacklists four Mugabe cronies
The US government blacklisted four allies of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday, increasing pressure on the country’s leadership which is condemned by Washington as undemocratic.

3. Mashatile’s mystery fund
Quietly and with the blessing of his predecessor, Mbhazima Shilowa, Gauteng Premier Paul Mashatile has created a controversial equity fund in the provincial fiscus that could see contracts worth millions of rands being outsourced without public tenders.

4. ANC lashes out at Cope ‘hate speech’
The African National Congress on Saturday said it was dismayed and deeply concerned about allegedly “inflammatory and defamatory” remarks made by Congress of the People (Cope).

5. Growing fears of Zim collapse
Zimbabwe could soon collapse due to a political and economic crisis, African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma said on Monday, setting out the opinion of prominent figures including former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

6. Love me, love my testicles
Have you seen Keira Knightley in The Duchess? What about Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood? Do you agree that one is beautiful and the other pretty? I’m not talking about the beauty that emanates from a person’s soul.

7. Davis likens ANC to Nats
The political climate, where “influential members of the ruling party” have labelled senior judges “counter-revolutionary”, resembles that of the nationalist government of 50 years ago, says senior Judge Dennis Davis.

8. Cope apologises to Zuma
The Congress of the People on Tuesday apologised unconditionally to ANC president Jacob Zuma for remarks made by two of its leaders at a public meeting in Mthatha on Friday.

9. Zille accuses ANC of ‘telling lies’
Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille on Sunday compared the African National Congress to a broken door.

10. Annan to visit Zim despite Harare’s objection
Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan will travel to Zimbabwe, a spokesperson said on Thursday, despite objections by President Robert Mugabe’s government which branded the trip a “partisan mission”.