The World Cup News is getting a bit boring! So here's a more general view of what you would be reading here in the newspapers:
A traffic policeman accused of beating up a Durban woman for failing to move out of the fast lane of the motorway two months ago is being charged with assault.
SA roads are among the most dangerous in the world, and it's not just the bad drivers, it's also the potholes and poor maintenance.
A reporter was alledgedly roughed up by one of President Zuma's bodyguards for taking photos of his motorcade.
The budget for President Zuma's 3 wives, a fiancee and 20 children has increased from R4million to R15.5million since 2006.
Two men, one of them a well-known local hip-hop star named "Jub Jub" have been charged with murder for killing 4 teenagers when they crashed while racing each other in Mini Coopers in Johannesburg recently.
A man bitten three times by a green mamba near Durban ran 3 kilometres for help. This about the third attack by green mambas in the last couple of months.
Government inspectors are checking the "sky-car" at Durban's new Moses Mabhida soccer stadium following several incidents in which visitors were left stranded at the top of the arch.
The Queen Mary 2 is having a one day visit to Durban harbour tomorrow.
Today is Human Rights Day, a public holiday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1960 massacre in Sharpville when police opened fire on protesters including women and children, which became a turning point in the anti-apartheid struggle.
While demonstrating a new safety clip on his gun's holster, a Cape Town police officer inadvertently shot and critically wounded a student constable.
A group of KwaZulu-Natal shack-dwellers failed in a court bid yesterday to force the Durban municipality to allow them to march through the central business district to express dissatisfaction with service delivery and housing.
What a strange country we live in!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
World Cup News - More
Just less than 100 days to go and World Cup fever is growing here in SA. In the papers, on the TV, everything has a World Cup slant. Even King Goodwill Zwelithini (King of the Zulus) is getting in on the act and is pressing for his palaces to be revamped and for his portraits to be mounted at airports, football stadia and other public places in KwaZulu-Natal.
The South African Police have said that brothels posing as massage parlours have been told to "clean up their act" before the World Cup. "Tough undercover teams" will be "swooping" on homes and parlours to catch prostitutes and their clients. And "intense" patrols and raids will continue during the tournament. "Foreigners should be fully aware that soliciting is a crime and if caught they will be charged!" But hey, welcome to SA, come and have a good time!
Apparently Victoria Beckham isn't going to stay with all the WAGs. She's rented a luxury apartment at upmarket Camps Bay on Cape Town's Atlantic coast for her and the kids (Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz) and is going to spend her time visiting underprivileged children. Fabio Capello, meanwhile, is trying to stop the WAGs coming near the England training camp at Rustenburg, some 1500 kilometres northeast of Cape Town, but some of them are booking in at Sun City's Palace Hotel, just down the road. Fabio doesn't want a repeat of their drunken antics in Baden-Baden during the last World Cup.
It's hard to know who to believe when it comes to World Cup readiness in SA. Fifa and the SA Government have been playing up the preparations, but a press visit to Nelspruit's Mbombela Stadium revealed a dust bowl instead of a lush green pitch. The pitch has been pulled up for failing to meet intenational standards for the second time. It's also reported that the precinct around the R3.3 billion Soccer City in Johannesburg still looks like a building site. At Rustenburg, tender battles have stalled the construction of a 30km stretch of road, the only access from Sun City to the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. However, Polokwane's stadium is complete and Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium is 90% complete.
But 85% of South Africans believe the country will be ready to host the World Cup, according to the latest survey, although only 55% believe the country's soccer team, Bafana Bafana, will be ready.
After all the furore of over-priced air fares and accommodation, budget airline Mango has released 40 000 low-cost fares and other airlines are adjusting their prices downwards. However, this seems to be more in response to poor demand than an attempt to retract on their early greed. Latest estimates of international visitors for the World Cup have fallen to 300 000, down from some really inflated figures of 2 million a couple of years ago, although Fifa's original estimate was a more credible 450 000.
That's it for today - more news soon.
The South African Police have said that brothels posing as massage parlours have been told to "clean up their act" before the World Cup. "Tough undercover teams" will be "swooping" on homes and parlours to catch prostitutes and their clients. And "intense" patrols and raids will continue during the tournament. "Foreigners should be fully aware that soliciting is a crime and if caught they will be charged!" But hey, welcome to SA, come and have a good time!
Apparently Victoria Beckham isn't going to stay with all the WAGs. She's rented a luxury apartment at upmarket Camps Bay on Cape Town's Atlantic coast for her and the kids (Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz) and is going to spend her time visiting underprivileged children. Fabio Capello, meanwhile, is trying to stop the WAGs coming near the England training camp at Rustenburg, some 1500 kilometres northeast of Cape Town, but some of them are booking in at Sun City's Palace Hotel, just down the road. Fabio doesn't want a repeat of their drunken antics in Baden-Baden during the last World Cup.
It's hard to know who to believe when it comes to World Cup readiness in SA. Fifa and the SA Government have been playing up the preparations, but a press visit to Nelspruit's Mbombela Stadium revealed a dust bowl instead of a lush green pitch. The pitch has been pulled up for failing to meet intenational standards for the second time. It's also reported that the precinct around the R3.3 billion Soccer City in Johannesburg still looks like a building site. At Rustenburg, tender battles have stalled the construction of a 30km stretch of road, the only access from Sun City to the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. However, Polokwane's stadium is complete and Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium is 90% complete.
But 85% of South Africans believe the country will be ready to host the World Cup, according to the latest survey, although only 55% believe the country's soccer team, Bafana Bafana, will be ready.
After all the furore of over-priced air fares and accommodation, budget airline Mango has released 40 000 low-cost fares and other airlines are adjusting their prices downwards. However, this seems to be more in response to poor demand than an attempt to retract on their early greed. Latest estimates of international visitors for the World Cup have fallen to 300 000, down from some really inflated figures of 2 million a couple of years ago, although Fifa's original estimate was a more credible 450 000.
That's it for today - more news soon.
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