Author: newsnote correspondent
He played a key role in enforcing the racist system of apartheid, with police running hit squads that kidnapped, tortured and murdered activists. Vlok confessed to some of his crimes after apartheid ended in 1994 and was granted amnesty. He also washed prominent anti-apartheid cleric Rev Frank Chikane’s feet in 2006 in a gesture of contrition. His critics saw it as a stunt to gain sympathy, and to avoid making a full disclosure of all the crimes committed by the apartheid regime. Rev Chikane had survived an attempt by police to poison him to death in 1989. More than 45 years…
Cyril Ramaphosa praised two teenage brothers for fighting off several middle-aged white men during a racist attack at Maselspoort Resort outside Bloemfontein. Announcing the party’s key priorities for the year at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium in Mangaung on Sunday, Ramaphosa also talked tough about racism. While sitting alongside the newly elected leadership of the ANC, he applauded the Nakedi brothers, aged 15 and 18. “The most shameful act to perpetrate against young boys like these was to see old white men choke these men and drown them in a pool underwater,” Ramaphosa said. Several white men attempted to prevent…
A Mozambican man accused of masterminding kidnappings for ransom has been arrested by the Interpol in South Africa. Esmael Malude Ramos Nangy is suspected of orchestrating kidnappings that netted several million dollars in ransom over the past two decades. The South African police said he was arrested in a raid at an upmarket housing estate in Centurion, near the capital Pretoria. Police in Mozambique also confirmed the arrest of the wanted man over the weekend. The news of the arrest of the 50-year-old Mozambican citizen was first issued by the international police. It followed an international arrest warrant issued in…
Wearing shirts in the bright yellow and green of Brazil’s flag they vandalised the buildings that house its key democratic institutions. Why is this happening? Brazil held a bitter election two months ago The presidential elections in October 2022 pitted the far-right incumbent, Jair Bolsonaro, against his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known known as Lula. Following an acrimonious and bitter campaign, Lula, who was president between January 2003 and December 2010, defeated Mr Bolsonaro by a narrow margin in the run-off on 30 October. Lula said the storming was “without precedent” and labelled those behind it…
Ant Group said that after the change no-one would have overall control. The formerly flamboyant Mr Ma has seldom been seen in public since criticising China’s financial sector in 2020. Following that criticism, Ant Group’s planned stock market flotation was abruptly halted. Ant Group runs Alipay, the main online payment system in China, which has eclipsed cash, cheques and credit cards. Mr Ma, a former English teacher who founded e-commerce giant Alibaba, directly and indirectly controls more than 50% of Ant Group. However, after the changes in governance structure, he will control just over 6%, according to an Ant Group statement.…
The warning comes as low-lying areas in the city experienced flooding and cars were submerged in Benoni and surrounding areas, including Lakefield and Van Dykpark in Boksburg. Forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela told said the heavy rains affected most parts of the East Rand, with Benoni and Boksburg being the hardest hit. He said there would be a 30% chance of rainfall in several parts of the country and Gauteng throughout the weekend. He said although this is lower than the current rainfall, areas already submerged in water would be at risk of further flooding. On Thursday, SAWS issued a yellow level…
Students and parents should be careful of illegal or “fly-by-night’ colleges that do not offer official qualifications, warns the minister of higher education, science and innovation, Blade Nzimande. According to the minister, these colleges are not registered as institutions of learning with the correct Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas), the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) or other relevant bodies. “These institutions lure and mislead future students into believing that these colleges offer qualifications that are recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA),” said Nzimande. “Illegal colleges offer compromised qualifications which are not recognised for employment purposes…
The Department of Human Settlements says that progress is being made on the Mooikloof Mega City development in Gauteng, with the first residential apartments in the project being ready for occupation in 2023. Mooikloof Mega City was announced by president Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020, planned as a massive smart city project east of Pretoria. The development has a total project value of over R84 billion and is one of the 62 Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) gazetted in 2020. It is being developed in phases, with the first phase focused on residential developments with a scope for up to 50,000 sectional title…
What is the new variant called? It’s known as XBB.1.5. It’s one of the latest descendants of Omicron, the highly transmissible version of Covid that caused cases to surge in the UK last winter. Offshoots of Omicron have dominated global Covid infections ever since. XBB.1.5 evolved from the XBB variant of Omicron, itself a fusion of two different BA.2 variants. How fast is it spreading? The variant seems to have arisen in or around New York state in late October. At the end of December, the number of cases in the US more than doubled in a week. It now…
The City of Johannesburg has made it easier for informal traders to get trading permits through an online registration and application platform. The city said that the digital application system would enable a trader or anyone wishing to become a trader in the region to register remotely once fully fledged. It said that this fulfils part of the municipality’s aim to align itself with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Herold Mbowane, the deputy director for informal trading, said that some other advantages include generating reports on the informal trading sector. “The system serves as an information centre to communicate to…