South Africa

NP challenges bar-code ID voting rule
CAPE TOWN -- The National Party yesterday lodged an urgent application in the Cape High Court asking that the bar-coded ID stipulation for next year's general election be declared unconstitutional. The party also wants the court to rule on the va...

Mofokeng denies Heath blocked
JOHANNESBURG -- The acting premier of Gauteng, Dan Mofokeng, yesterday denied that his superior, Mathole Motshekga, tried to block a Heath Special Investigating Unit probe into promissory notes. He demanded a retraction from the Heath unit's spok...

Stop wasting time, and do it right -- DP
CAPE TOWN -- South Africa could be heading for a constitutional crisis, given the nature of a comment by IEC chairman Judge Johann Kriegler that there would be no election next year unless more than half of all eligible voters registered before th...

Court reverses order on 7 baby elephants
PRETORIA -- The Brits Magistrate's Court ruled yesterday that seven of 30 juvenile elephants which were allegedly abused on a plot outside Brits could be exported to zoos in Germany and Switzerland. Magistrate Herman Glas partially revoked an ord...

Graça Machel's daughter gets degree at UCT
CAPE TOWN -- Ms Josina Machel, daughter of late Mozambican president Samora Machel and Mrs Graça Machel, and stepdaughter of President Nelson Mandela, will graduate with a BSocSci degree at the University of Cape Town this week. According ...

NP slates Mandela statement on amnesty
CAPE TOWN -- President Nelson Mandela's statement that general amnesty would never be considered and that amnesty granted to security forces by the previous government might be reconsidered or even withdrawn was highly irresponsible, the National ...

IEC urged to get more youths voting
JOHANNESBURG -- The Independent Electoral Commission should devise a plan to promote the participation of young people and first-time voters in the electoral process, the National Youth Commission said yesterday. Reacting to the poor turnout by y...

39 officials suspended
NELSPRUIT -- A total of 39 officials in the Mpumalanga public works, roads and transport department who were suspected of fraud and corruption were to be suspended, MEC Jackson Mthembu said yesterday. Last week, head of de-partment Josias Mabilo...

NP warns voters to get receipts
DURBAN -- The National Party yesterday warned voters who registered for next year's election to ensure they were given receipts. Pietermaritzburg NP councillor Geritt Meyer said that at a registration point at Pelham in the Midlands about 30 rece...

DP slams Banana's SA welcome
CAPE TOWN -- There was a worrying trend among African National Congress leaders of giving recognition to high-profile persons accused of crimes, the Democratic Party said yesterday. DP spokesman James Selfe was reacting in a statement to the rece...

Boesak cash-strapped again
CAPE TOWN ­ Dr Allan Boesak has again run out of money to fund his defence in his trial on theft and fraud charges involving R9 million, the Cape High Court heard yesterday. Although the team, comprising advocates Mike Maritz SC and Jaap Cil...