GN 23/GG 30676/21-01-2008 *

Electronic Communications Amendment Act 37 of 2007

Commencement date : 2 February 2008
Proc 3/GG 30711/30-01-2008 *

Published for comment
GenN 137/GG 30688/25-01-2008 **

Date of commencement : 1 February 2008
Proc 4/GG 30719/0102-2008 *

Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act 33 of 2004

Entities identified by the United Nations Security Council
Proc 2/GG 30705/01-02-2008 **

Notification by President in respect of entities identified by the United Nations Security Council : Section 25 of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act, 2004
Proc 1/GG 30704/30-01-2008 *

South African Express Act 34 of 2007

Commencement : 1 February 2008
Proc 5/GG 30719/01-02-2008 *

Determination : earnings threshold
GNR 100/GG 30720/01-02-2008 *

Dental Technicians Act 19 of 1979

South African Dental Technicians Council Regulations
GNR 87/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

Fertilizer, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act 36 of 1947

Regulations relating to the registration of fertilizers, farmfeeds, agricultural remedies, stock remedies, sterilising plants and pest control operators, appeals and imports : proposed amendment
GNR 95/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act 95 of 1998

National Home Builders Registration Council : Code of Conduct for Home Builders
GN 71/GG 30697/01-02-2008 *

Identification Act, 1997

Ninth amendment of the regulations
GNR 65/GG 30702/28-01-2008 *

Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

Notice of public hearings : Draft Regulations in respect of the prescribed annual contributions by the licencees to the Universal Service and Access Fund
GenN 159/GG 30726/01-02-2008 *

Labour Relations Act

Motor Industry Bargaining Council (MIBCO)

Extension to non-parties of Auto Workers' Provident Fund collective amending agreement
GNR 98/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

Extension to non-parties of Motor Industry Provident Fund collective amending agreement
GNR 97/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

Marine Living Resources Act 18 of 1998

Regulations for the protection of Wild abalone (haliotis)
GNR 62/GG 30716/01-02-2008 *

Marriage Act, 1961

Twelfth amendment of the Regulations
GNR 66/GG 30702/28-01-2008 *

Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996

Amendment to the regulations
GNR 88/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

Notice of repeal
GNR 91/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

Regulations : correction notice
GNR 89/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *
GNR 90/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

Regulations amended
GN 86/GG 30697/01-02-2008 **

Regulations published under GNR 1304/GG 26963/12-11-2004 corrected
GNR 89/GG 30698/01-02-2008 **

Regulations relating to explosives
GNR 94/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

Regulations relating to machinery and equipment
GNR 93/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

Schedule : Chapter 5 : Fires and explosions
GNR 92/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

National Environmental Management : Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004

Notice of repeal of Threatened or Protected Species Amendment Regulations, 2007 published under GNR 1188/GG 30568/14-12-2007
GNR 70/GG 30703/28-01-2008 **

Threated or Protected Species Amendment Regulations, 2008
GNR 69/GG 30703/28-01-2008 **

National Liquor Regulations, 2004

Amendments
GNR 82/GG 30718/01-02-2008 *

Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000

Description submitted in terms of Section 15(1)
GNR 96/GG 30698/01-02-2008 *

South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995

Twelfth amendment of the regulations
GNR 67/GG 30702/28-01-2008 *

South African Passports and Travel Documents Act4 of 1994

Fourteenth amendment of the regulations
GNR 68/GG 30702/28-01-2008 *

Standards and requirements regarding control of the export of citrus fruits : amendment
GenN 153/GG 30697/01-02-2008 *

Companies Act 61 of 1973 and Close Corporations Act 69 of 1984

Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO)
Practice Note 1 of 2008 : Registrar's directive on reservation of names of companies and close corporations and defensive names published
Practice Noet 2 of 1995 published under GenN 978/GG 16665/15-09-1995 repealed
GN 54/GG 30687/25-01-2008 **

Construction Industry Development Board Act 38 of 2000

Amendments to the standard for uniformity in construction procurement
BN 9/GG 30692/01-02-2008 *

Standard for uniformity in construction procurement amended
BN 8/GG 30692/01-02-2008 **

Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs

Protocol Policy Framework on Forging Sustainable Synergistic Partnerships between Local Municipalities and Traditional Councils in KwaZulu-Natal
PN 3/PG 71/28-01-2008 *

*	Source : LexisNexis
**	Source : OSALL (Marina)

Bisho

Community or individual rights : which are more important? - 8 February
The pending court case of a young King William's Town man, Bonani Yamani, is expected to throw some light on the tension between an individual's rights and community rights. Yamani is seeking an apology from Nkosi Ngangomhlaba Matanzima, the Chairperson of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, and Nkosi Mwelo Nonkonyana, Chairperson of Contralesa in the Eastern Cape, for violating his constitutional rights. This after he was allegedly forced to undergo the initiation rite against his will by a group of traditional leaders led by his father. - Dispatch Online website

Cape Town

Prostitute takes on CCMA - 8 February
A Cape Town prostitute sought to make legal history yesterday by asking a court to recognise her occupation as being protected by the labour rights enshrined in the constitution. The 40-year-old prostitute, known only as "Kylie", asked the Labour Court to order the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to hear the unlawful dismissal case she has brought against the brothel where she once worked. The commission has refused to hear her case on the grounds that she was engaged in an illegal occupation. Kylie has accused her former employer of firing her unlawfully because she refused to perform oral sex and did not work hard enough. - The Times website

Real transformation requires protection of sex workers - 5 February
I wonder what ANC MP George Lekgetho made of weekend reports that a sex worker was challenging the fairness of her dismissal by her employer in the Labour Court. Lekgetho rightly got into serious trouble for his sexist statement last week that prostitution should be legalised for the 2010 World Cup because "that would make it [the tournament] a success, because we hear of many rapes because people don't have access to them, women". - Thought Leader blog
Keyphrase :
2010 FIFA World Cup

Pollsmoor doctor wins job battle - 5 February
The law can work for whistleblowers, but institutions must embrace their positive role, says the Open Democracy Advice Centre (Odac). This follows the case of a medical practitioner who exposed the poor healthcare facilities at Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town last year and was suspended from his position. - allAfrica website
Keyphrase :
Paul Theron

5 February 2008
77/2006
State v O Genever and Others
This matter came before me by way of committal of the accused to the High Court for consideration of appropriate sentences after conviction in the Regional Court. The alleged offences referred to fell under Part I of Schedule 2 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997. All three accused were charged in the Regional Court, Wynberg, for kidnapping, three counts of rape, indecent assault and robbery. The allegations against the three accused were that on 8 January 2000 at or near Grassy Park, within the regional division of the Western Cape, the accused, all three adult males, wrongfully and intentionally kidnapped, had sexual intercourse with the complainant, one Natalie Marsha Potts, an 18 year old female person, without her consent and also robbed her of her goods

31 January 2008
A564/2007
KM Frans v State
The appellant appeals against his sentence after he was found guilty of two counts of rape and housebreaking. The case was referred to the high court in terms of section 52(1)(a) of Act 105 of 1997

Surfing legend sues wealthy widow for half her millions - 8 February
An ageing ex-surfer is suing the wealthy widow of an apartheid-era homeland minister for half her estate – said to be worth at least R30million – after their seven-year romance fell apart. In documents filed with the Cape Town High Court, former Gunston 500 surf competition founder Ian McDonald, 67, is claiming half the estate of Knysna socialite Lesley Young, 62, with whom he had a "universal partnership" for seven years. The bitter high court battle will be preceded by two civil actions this month in the Knysna Magistrate's Court. In the first, McDonald is claiming R200 000 from his erstwhile partner for defamation. In the second matter, McDonald is claiming R80 000 from Young as a result of an alleged assault on him. - Dispatch Online website

Delft Eviction Case

Court chaos over Delft eviction order - 6 February
Pandemonium broke out in the Cape High Court on Wednesday after Judge Deon van Zyl granted an order for the eviction of people illegally occupying houses still under construction in Delft on the Cape Flats. The homes, some still under construction, are intended for residents at the Joe Slovo informal settlement, who are to be relocated to Delft. The eviction order stated that those illegally occupying the houses had to vacate the properties by midnight on Sunday February 17. Van Zyl said he could not consider the request by counsel Andre Coetzee that they be given a month to find other accommodation. The judge said it was always agony to grant an eviction order, and that judges hated doing so. However, he said the court could never allow people to take the law into their own hands as the unlawful Delft occupiers had done. He also said the only way that the country could succeed in achieving a stable community was for people to exercise patience and give their full cooperation concerning the provision of housing for the poor. - Mail & Guardian website

6 February 2008
N2 Gateway is for all in Cape Town
SA Government Information website

6 February 2008
Time for united action to tackle Cape housing crisis
SA Government Information website

Fidentia Case

Convicted Fidentia man turns on JAW Brown, others - 1 February
Graham Maddock is to spend only seven of the 49 years in jail to which he was sentenced in Cape Town - and he has agreed to testify honestly against others in the Fidentia saga, including chairman J Arthur W Brown, to help secure convictions. Chartered Accountant Maddock pleaded guilty to about 103 charges in connection with the theft of about R215m, including from the transport sector education training authority (Teta) as well as about 50 counts of money laundering. The guilty plea was in terms of an agreement reached with prosecutors attached to the soon-to-be-disbanded Scorpions investigative unit. - moneyweb website

Nuclear smuggler sentence in SA - 5 February
A South African court has given a Swiss engineer accused of being part of a global nuclear weapons smuggling ring a 13-year suspended jail sentence. Daniel Geiges who is ill with cancer, pleaded guilty to involvement in the import and export of equipment. His sentence was suspended for five years as part of a state plea bargain. - BBC News website

Saambou Case

The men accused of sinking Saambou - 6 February
The case against the men is so intricate that prosecutor Danie Dorfling, of the National Prosecuting Authority's Directorate of Special Operations, told the presiding judge that the court would fully comprehend the charges only once the state had led all its evidence. Judge Willem van der Merwe, who presided over the Jacob Zuma rape trial, has the huge task of analysing all the evidence. The trial could last at least six months, with an array of financial experts expected to take the stand. - IOL website

Auditor testifies in complex Saambou corruption case - 30 January
The Pretoria High Court has begun to hear details of how senior managers at Saambou Bank are said to have used corrupt loans from the bank to buy shares at Saambou Holdings while recklessly exposing their employer to the risk of bad debt. Charles Edwards, Saambou's former director for personal banking, and Gerhardus De Clercq, who was general manager of group finance and later of strategic alliances at the bank, face 10 charges of fraud, one of theft and two of contravening the Companies Act, involving a total of about R640 million. - Consulting Web website

Mcbride wins defamation claim - 7 February
The Citizen newspaper and three of its journalists were ordered to pay Ekurhuleni metropolitan police chief Robert McBride R200 000 for defaming him in a series of articles published in September and October 2003, when he was shortlisted for the post. The articles questioned McBride's suitability for the post, and referred to him as a cold-blooded killer in relation to his conviction for the bomb murder at a Durban bar where three women were killed in 1986. The articles also claimed McBride flirted with alleged gun dealers in Mozambique. - allAfrica website

Gold miner's R2.7m suit could rewrite labour laws - 6 February
A former mine worker's bid to sue his former employer, AngloGold Ashanti, for R2.7 million after he became ill following exposure to dust and gas in a gold mine was one of the most important occupational health cases inSouth African legal history, Willem le Roux, the lawyer for the gold mining company, said yesterday. Success in the court action could result in the launching of class actions by other sick former mine workers against their former employers, making the companies vulnerable to contingent liabilities running into billions of rands. - Business Report website
Keyphrase :
Thembekile Mankayi

Kebble murder accused plays dodgem - 4 February
The alleged mastermind behind Brett Kebble's killing, Australian businessman John Stratton, will be extradited to stand trial for the magnate's murder - if prosecutors have their way. However, while National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the state was still intent on seeking the 74-year-old's presence in the dock, prosecutors face a major hurdle : an outstanding Pretoria High Court judgment that has effectively stalled extraditions to and from South Africa for the past year. Despite Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe's order that the extradition agreement challenge, brought by alleged stem-cell scam couple Stephen van Rooyen and Laura Brown, be heard as urgent, Judge Fanie Preller has yet to give his ruling on the case, which he heard nine months ago. Their argument could, if successful, result in every single extradition treaty concluded by South Africa since 1996 being declared illegal. - IOL website

Equity loses bid to have its licence extended - 4 February
Airports logistics operator Equity Aviation Services lost its bid in the Johannesburg High Court on Friday to compel Airports Company SA (Acsa) to extend its licence until a third baggage handling licence had been awarded. Judge Thami Makhanya rejected the Equity application, and said he would furnish reasons at a later date if they were requested. Equity had been working month to month since April 2006 after it lost in an arbitration process. - allAfrica website

Court battle over Gap trademark continues - 4 February
The continuing legal saga over who owns the Gap trademark is set to continue in court, after US group Gap and Stuttafords won the right to appeal a prior decision. In May, KwaZulu-Natal clothing company Kingsgate won an interim interdict against Stuttafords and US Gap International to stop the upmarket retailer from selling the branded items. The company claims it has sole rights to the name in SA, and is also pursuing a determination with the registrar of trademarks. The case is set to drag on, after Gap and Stuttafords won the right last week to appeal Judge Basson's decision not to recuse himself from the case. - allAfrica website

Kempton Park

South African court decides not to extradite Czech Krejcir - 1 February
A Johannesburg court today decided that South Africa would not extradite businessman Radovan Krejcir for criminal prosecution to his homeland, the Czech Republic, the public Czech Television (CT) reported. Krejcir, who is prosecuted for property and violent crimes, arrived in South Africa last April from the Seychelles where he had been based after his escape from the Czech Republic. CT reporter Dalibor Bartek, who watched the court proceedings, said the judge argued that many of the crimes for which Krejcir was being prosecuted in the Czech Republic were not punishable in South Africa. - Ceske Noviny website

Strand

Dane's widow breaks down in court - 4 February
A distraught Ugandan woman broke down hysterically in the Strand magistrate's court today (Monday) as she appeared with two siblings in connection with the murder of her Danish husband. Benyamin Maria Povlsen, 30, appeared with her sister, Stella Ssengendo, 39, for a formal bail hearing. Their brother, Zakayo Francis Kimeze, 35, who had earlier indicated that he would plead guilty, declined to apply for bail and was remanded until March 10. The siblings are accused of murdering Danish pensioner Preben Povlsen, 71, by stabbing him with a knife or similarly sharp object, and of hitting him with a bottle. - IOL website

Witness links wife to Dane's death - 5 February
The wife of a slain Danish millionaire, as well as her two siblings, have been accused of torturing him and turning their Gordon's Bay home into a bloodbath, in an alleged bid for 75 percent of his R14-million estate. - IOL website

Producers deny milk price-fixing - 6 February
Milk producers have blamed retailers for the high price of milk - and have told the Competition Tribunal that they formed "mutually beneficial relations" with each other to prevent milk from being "poured down the drain". These are some of the replies the tribunal received after the commission charged eight with price-fixing. They could face fines of up to 10 percent of their operating profit. - IOL website

Statements and Speeches

8 February 2008
State of the Nation Address : President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki
Keyphrases :
2010 FIFA World Cup
African Peer Review Mechanism
Anti-poverty strategy
Department of Home Affairs
Industrial Policy Action Plan
Khampepe Judicial Commission
Land Use Management Bill
Local Government Strategic Agenda
National Human Resource Development Strategy
Power conservation programme
Rural development programme

Priorities :
Speeding up land and agrarian reform
Increase in the social grant systemscale up assistance to co-operatives and small enterprises especially those involving women
Scaling up the National Youth Service programme
Intensifying the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)
Introducing the system of products for preferential procurement by government from small, medium and micro-enterprises

7 February 2008
Minister Lulu Xingwana unveils settlement support strategy for land reform beneficiaries

6 February 2008
Statement on Cabinet meeting

1 February 2008
Speech by Honourable Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi on World Wetlands Day 2008 celebration, Walter Sisulu Square, Soweto

Consumer Protection Bill

Consumer bill before parliament - 7 February
A brand new consumer protection bill has been drafted and the draft submitted to Parliament, where it is to be considered by committees of both houses. Under the draft bill a national consumer council is to be set up, along with a national consumer tribunal, which will administer the new law. The commission will have the power to issue a compliance notice to anyone who has engaged in prohibited conduct. It may refer offences under the law to the National Prosecuting Authority. According to a memorandum published with the bill and circulated in Parliament on Thursday, the bill will apply to most transactions in the ordinary course of business in South Africa, to the promotion of goods and services that could lead to such transactions, and to the goods and services themselves after the transaction is competed. - The Times website

Customs and Excise Act

Customs Act rewrite this year? - 8 February
Can you recall when the first official mention was made of the commencement of the rewrite of the Customs and Excise Act? It might seem like yesterday, but was it, really? This question was posed by one of our readers. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Divorce Act

Sunday Times was gagged by mistake, judge rules - 2 February
Former property mogul Claire Difford has lost the battle to hide details of how she had her ex-husband pay maintenance for a child he never fathered. On Thursday the Sunday Times won the right to publish a story it was forced to pull following a late night gagging order Difford obtained last year. Acting Judge Cassim also found that Section 12 of the Divorce Act was unconstitutional, adding that the scrapping thereof would not unduly impact the right to privacy and the rights of children, which could be enforced in court where warranted. This ruling paves the way for a Constitutional Court challenge of Section 12, which bars the media from publishing certain details in divorce cases. Sunday Times attorney Eric van den Berg said the paperwork for the Constitutional Court challenge would be filed within 15 days. - The Times website
Keyphrase :
Paternity fraud
South African Law Reform Commission

Education Laws Amendment Act 31 of 2007

New Education Act has far-reaching effects - 7 February
The Education Laws Amendment Act (Act 31 of 2007) was passed by parliament and signed into law in December 2007. Despite its innocuous sounding name, the new law has far reaching consequences for the continued transformation of education, which affect everybody who has a stake in this national enterprise. - allAfrica website

Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Bill

New bill on the cards to ease courts' backlog  - 6 February
A law significantly changing the functioning of the country's courts is on the cards. Parliament is processing the Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Bill. It seeks to give powers to regional courts to preside over civil matters for divorce and lawsuit cases not over R1 million. - SABC News website

Company Law

Restraints of trade remain a hot issue - 5 February
Restraints of trade are always a hot issue for both employees and business and debates rage about their enforceability. Verlie Oosthuizen of Shepstone & Wylie Attorney's employment law department looks at the current law on restraints of trade and how it works, in the firm's latest commercial review. - Cape Business News website

Defense

SA 'spy-satellite' programme accidently exposed? - 7 February
The head of Roskosmos, Russia's civilian space agency, seems to have accidentally exposed a hitherto unknown South African military space project. Responding to a question from a correspondent for Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency regarding Russia's failure to launch South Africa's civilian Sumbandila satellite, Anatoly Perminov stated that "unfortunately, the Russian Defence Ministry refused to launch this satellite, as the South African Defence Ministry for its turn refused to use our satellite. The two countries' defence ministries decided to go their own way, and we did not interfere in these affairs". - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Environment

Environmental legality of torbanite prospecting permits questioned - 8 February
Farmers in Wakkerstroom, Mpumalanga, and several heavyweight environmental nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) are questioning the legality of Delta Mining Corporation's (DMC's) prospecting permits in the area. DMC Coal Mining is the largest holder of torbanite mineral rights in South Africa and is prospecting in the Pixley ka Seme municipal area, about 25 km east of Wakkerstroom. - Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website

Ritchie Morris : environmental hydrogeologist, Morris Environmental and Groundwater Alliances interviewed by Alec Hogg - 6 February
Water pollution and sewage issues. 'The situation with regard to the sewage is dire, it's absolutely dire'. - Moneyweb website

Murky truth about the Dusi - 3 February
Pietermaritzburg's municipal authorities and the department of water affairs and forestry (DWAF) are not coming clean on the city's sewer system failures that have resulted in vast amounts of raw sewage spilling into the Msunduzi River. This is revealed in documents leaked to the Sunday Tribune, including results of water quality monitoring by Umgeni Water and associated correspondence in the wake of the Hansa Powerade Dusi Canoe Marathon. Serious health risks from sewage spills are also being downplayed, with possible dire consequences for many people. - IOL website

Freedom of Speech

Zuma drops some charges - 1 February
African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma has dropped the largest portion of his multiple defamation suits against South African newspapers and radio stations who he accused of tarnishing his image in the run-up to Polokwane. To this effect, he was claiming about R64-million. However, Zuma maintains that his dignity was impaired and has instructed his lawyers to continue with civil action to extract about R12-million from individuals and media groups. In a statement released on Thursday by Liesl Gattert, his spokesperson for his legal battle against the media, Zuma claims that "it has never been about money". - IOL website

Human Rights

Bishops condemn police raid on South African church housing refugees - 4 February
The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference condemned a police raid on a Johannesburg Methodist church that houses more than 1 300 refugees, mostly from Zimbabwe. "We join Bishop Paul Verryn of the Methodist Church in decrying the violation of the status of the church as a place of sanctuary," the bishops said in a Feb 1 statement after police were said to have assaulted refugees and destroyed their property in the early hours of Jan 31. The bishops said Zimbabweans should be regarded as prima-facie refugees because, under the terms of the Organization of African Unity Refugee Convention, "they have left their home because of 'events seriously disturbing public order.'" - Catholic News Service website

ARVs behind bars - 4 February
South African police are denying detained undocumented HIV-positive migrants access to the crucial food needed to continue antiretroviral therapy, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).  - Plus News website

Bishop condemns raid on refugees - 31 January
Captain Bheki Mavundla, spokesperson for Johannesburg police services, said the raid on the church started at 10pm on Wednesday night and finished at 8am on Thursday morning. He said it was part of sustainable crime combat operations, which were "legally authorised to eradicate criminal elements from the district and building". - Mail & Guardian website

Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property : part 1 - 6 February
Summit TV takes a look at intellectual property in a 13 part series with leading specialists on the topic. The first in the series features intellectual property practitioner Don McRobert from Adams & Adams Attorneys. This week we will give you insight on the business implication and impact of intellectual property. Next week Summit TV takes a look at the different forms of intellectual property, and how businesses can use them to their own advantage. - Business Day website

Judiciary

Holding court in the dream palace of justice - 8  February
Judge Albie Sachs holds court on an ample red couch in an office where aesthetics prevail along with an abundance of books, research papers, photographs and a set of panels upon which is painted an abstract version of the city he can see from way up here on Constitution Hill. - The Times website

Land Affairs and Property

CTICC expansion 'may not happen' - 29 January
Time is not on the side of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in its plans to start its R500-million expansion for completion by 2010. If its request to obtain the Customs House site on the Foreshore from the department of public works is not agreed to by March 1, it will lose out on the associated business boom expected as a result of the 2010 World Cup. Andrew Boraine, chairperson of the centre's holding company Convenco, said the centre was turning away prospective clients for conferences and events in 2010, because of the uncertainty. The City of Cape Town, as major shareholder in Convenco, has now stepped in, in the hope of speeding a decision. - allAfrica website
Keyphrase :
2010 FIFA World Cup

R430m 'dream' project realised - 7 February
December 2007 saw the finalisation of agreements and contracts to conclude the Cape Town Film Studios (formally known as Dreamworld) deal by shareholders Videovision, Sabido Investments Pty Ltd, the Rico Trust, the Helderberg African Chamber of Commerce and Wesgro, the Western Cape Investment and Trade Promotion Agency. With all the legal documents signed, Anant Singh, chairperson of Cape Town Film Studios  says that critical mid-year dates in 2008 can now be met in terms of the Environmental Management Plan and funding agreements relating to the upgrading of the R301 highway, bulk infrastructure and the studio buildings themselves. - Cape Business News website

Mthatha property boom lures new estate agents - 7 February
Growing interest in property has attracted at least three new estate agencies to Mthatha – although some of them have still to put a sale behind their names. And barely one month into the new year, these property players all agreed that although there was a high demand for homes in Mthatha they were restricted by limited supply. - Dispatch Online website

Landlords need an order of court to evict tenants - 1 February
Landlords need to get to grips with the process of evicting a tenant as the high confusion surrounding the PIE Act can make an already frustrating process even more expensive and onerous. "The general impression is that the PIE Act is weighted in favour of tenants, however, landlords should remain confident in the knowledge that they retain all rights over their property as the lawful owner", says Heather Briggs of Shepstone & Wylie Attorneys. - Rodney Hayter website

Rural body stops legal service work - 4 February
Land rights movement, the Association for Rural Advancement (Afra) in KwaZulu-Natal, says the ministers of Justice and Land Affairs must be charged for failing to deliver basic legal services to farm dwellers. In a shock move, Afra and its partners announced they were shutting down their legal service cluster partnership with immediate effect. This means that all new land rights cases will now be the sole responsibility of the relevant state departments. Afra, in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu-Natal's campus law clinic and the community law and rural development centre, have provided support for more than 1600 cases in the past six years. - Sowetan website

Land Claims

Give us back our Wild Coast land, minister is told - 6 February
But other villagers would rather keep R75m payout. A multi-million rand land claim is splitting a small Transkei community down the middle. Last week, the national government gave the community of Caguba, in Port St Johns, R75 million in compensation to settle the 2362 hectare claim. The land’s market value is estimated at around R33.9m. The return of the land came more than a decade after the Caguba community first submitted its claim. That claim included the central town of Port St Johns, the old Transkei military base, Mount Thesiger Forest, the Airstrip, Silaka Nature Reserve, agricultural farms along the banks of Mzimvubu River and properties along the coast and entire commonage, including the naval base, Lilly Lodge, Lighthouse, the golf course, Cape Hermes and the Mthumbane township. - Dispatch Online website

Minerals and Energy

Mining laws hurt SA mining - 5 February
By the end of August last year, 94 judicial review applications had been instituted against South Africa’s Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) for refusing to grant either a prospecting or mining right. The increasing reliance on the courts, said Webber Wentzel Bowen partner Peter Leon, is the "inevitable consequence" of the uncertainty surrounding South Africa’s four-year old Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA). - The Times website

Backdoor REDS - 5 February
It is deeply ironic that in the midst of an electricity supply crisis, submissions by the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) and state-owned Electricity Distribution Industry Holdings (EDI) to have local authorities stripped of their rights to reticulate electricity have been made public in Parliament's constitutional review committee. According to the schedules of the constitution, the reticulation of electricity and gas is a local government competence and for Nersa and EDI to get their way our constitution would have to be changed. - allAfrica website

KZN peaking-power plant gets environmental green light - 5 February
Authorisation to construct a 750 MW peaking power plant at Avon, in KwaZulu-Natal, has been given by Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk, and the appeals lodged against the initial decision to construct the plants, in what was historically an agricultural zone, have been dismissed. The appeals were lodged after construction approvals for the plant were given in September 2007, and have delayed the start-up of the project by some two months. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

5 February 2008
Statement by the office of Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
SA Government Information website
Keyphrase :
Avon site

Canadian firm in talks with govt for land to build wave-power project - 5 February
Vancouver-based renewable energy company Finavera Renewables has identified two, yet undisclosed, sites in the Western Cape for a proposed 20-MW wave-power project, and is waiting for the South African government to provide terms under which it is prepared to lease the space. "We've announced our intent to proceed with the environmental-assessment process, so in that sense we have secured up the sites," Finavera policy and public relations VP Myke Clark told Engineering News Online. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Govt may face 'claims worth billions' from foreign firms - 6 February
Foreign companies operating in South Africa that have lost production and ultimately profit as a result of the power supply crisis might be able to claim back their losses from the government, according to corporate law firm Werksmans. - Creamer Media's Engineering News website

Govt sells power to other countries amid shortage - 5 February
Government is still offering cheap electricity to foreign investors as an incentive to do business, while residents and local businesses battle with rolling power cuts. Government says it may change, but the country also relies on foreign investment. - SABC News website

Eskom is shredding the clothing sector - 4 February
The load-shedding measures implemented by Eskom described as a national emergency by Cabinet members constitute a severe impediment for growth in South Africa's apparel sector. In a survey of clothing manufacturers, fashion designers and fashion boutiques undertaken by The ReDress Consultancy-SA, the power cuts are impeding an industry already under pressure from cheaper imports, low profit margins and a decrease in retail turnover. - moneyweb website

Municipal Management and Procedure

Cape Town

No fines for wasting electricity, for now - 3 February
Those who fail to comply with the city's planned 10 percent energy-saving strategy could only face penalties in a year. This comes as energy specialists predict that failure to save power now will result in a catastrophe later. This week Cape Town mayor Helen Zille announced wide-ranging proposals the city was considering as a first step to reduce power usage by 10 percent. - IOL website

Msunduzi

Another KZN city to clamp down on use of fireworks - 4 February
Pietermaritzburg is set to follow the example of Durban by tightening its legislation on the use of fireworks during Diwali and other festivities. This week the Msunduzi Municipality unanimously approved a motion by DA councillor Mark Steele that the capital adopt a fire- works policy similar to that approved by Durban. "There will be widespread consultation with residents, religious and cultural groups, with the emphasis on regulating rather than banning fireworks," city manager Rob Haswell said. He said that the municipality would like to see the issue dealt with over the next three months. - The Times website

uMgungundlovu

Negligent handling of public funds exposed - 6 February
A R28 900 cheque for flowers was paid over by the uMgungundlovu District Municipality a week before the official payment request was even made by the florist. That is just one of many questionable transactions and financial irregularities uncovered in a KwaZulu-Natal treasury audit report into affairs at the troubled district municipality - into which fall Pietermaritzburg/Msunduzi and six other Midlands municipal areas. - IOL website

IFP 'vindicated' after official quits - 6 February
The IFP has welcomed the intervention of acting MEC for local government Lydia Johnson in the cash-strapped uMgungundlovu District Municipality. The move follows the abrupt departure of its controversial municipal manager, Monica Mngadi. But the IFP was also quick to point out that Johnson's intervention nevertheless pointed to "double-standards". Mnga di and the chief financial officer, Bongani Ndlovu, resigned a fortnight ago. - The Sowetan website

'One-day MBA' manager gets job - 3 October 2007
Monica Mngadi was officially appointed the new municipal manager of the uMgungundlovu district, on Tuesday despite her MBA degree being awarded by a Bible college. - The Star website

National Prosecuting Authority

Departments discuss plans for Scorpions - 6 February
The justice and safety and security departments have already began preparing the integration of the Scorpions into the South African Police Service (SAPS). This is despite the fact that the legislative process to move the unit from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has not begun. - allAfrica website

Country to lose its best crime-fighters - 5 February
Why has the NEC placed such a high priority on disbanding the Scorpions? The NEC's official explanation is that it wishes to bring law enforcement in line with the constitution, which specifies that South Africa should have "a single police force." This requirement dates back to the immediate post-apartheid era, when the police services of the various "homelands" were dismantled and folded into the SAPS. However, the constitution does permit the establishment of other armed services, and the Constitutional Court deemed the legislation that created the DSO legitimate.  - IOL website

Pension Funds

'Fraud scandal' hits municipal pension fund - 5 February
The Scorpions, Financial Services Board and the National Finance Minister are investigating allegations of financial mismanagement in the Municipal Council Pension Fund. News of the alleged financial scandal - believed to involve millions of rands - broke during an urgent meeting of the West Rand District Council today. It could jeopardise the pension funds of local councillors across the country. - SABC News website

Traditional Leaders

Chief concerns - 5 February
The ripple effects of Polokwane continue to reach far and wide. Now Limpopo Premier (and Mbeki supporter) Sello Moloto is coming under fire for attempting to buy influence with his province's traditional leaders by buying them four-by-four vehicles. But whatever the turgid internal ANC politics involved, the move raises questions about how SA's traditional leaders should be resourced and rewarded and what should be expected of them in return. Limpopo, which has 183 traditional leaders, has delivered the first batch of 84 vehicles, worth R11m, to these chiefs and will supply the rest over the next four months. Limpopo recently absorbed all staff of the 183 traditional authority offices into its public service. - allAfrica website

Miscellaneous

Parents cut their son off over refusal to abort baby - 4 January
In an usual development, a Port Elizabeth family has engaged lawyers to help cut financial support to their son, after he and his fiancée refused to abort a complicated pregnancy. Cheryl-Lynn Hattingh's unborn baby has health complications, and her future in-laws feel strongly that the pregnancy should have been terminated. They have approached an attorney to draft a letter stipulating their demands, making it clear that they do not want to be held responsible for any financial support once the child was born. - The Herald Online website

Chad

Chad to pardon French kidnappers - 7 February
Chadian President Idriss Deby has said he is ready to pardon six French aid workers convicted of trying to fly 103 children out of the country. The six were sentenced to eight years' hard labour in Chad last year, but were flown home in December to serve equivalent jail terms in France. Responding to Mr Deby's statement, the French government said it was sending a pardon request. The development comes as France is helping Chad fight a rebel offensive. - BBC News website

Mozambique

Providing the information - 7 February
Mozambique is doing everything it can to attract mining investment, and it is succeeding. As Deputy Director of Geology Adriano Servano told delegates at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, rapidly progressing geophysical and geochemical surveys have added significantly to the publicly available information on the country. - Resource Indicator website

5 February 2008
Keynote speech by the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Ms Buyelwa Sonjica, at the Mining Indaba Conference in Cape Town
SA Government Information website

Namibia

Namibia's seal culling 'shameful' - 17 January
A European report on Animal Welfare Aspects of Seal Hunting has found unacceptable cruelty in the Namibian seal culling system. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)'s submission to the European Commission reveals that methods used in seal hunting in the country are ruthless and have rendered these animals in a very poor welfare. - allAfrica website

On culling and poaching - 25 January
Letter to The Namibian. - The Namibian website

SPCA to seek MCM's help to save seal colony - 8 January
Beefing up security, erecting signs and possibly fencing off the entire area is what the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) plans to ask Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) to help prevent possible extinction of the Elands Bay seal colony. This was prompted by the discovery of at least 100 Cape fur seal carcasses there last week. A Canadian tourist found the dead seals and said they may have been killed, but on Sunday after investigations, the SPCA said it believed the seals died of natural causes. - IOL website

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe accused as Briton sent to Equatorial Guinea jail - 5 February
The Zimbabwean authorities were yesterday accused of a criminal conspiracy to kidnap and deport the British mercenary Simon Mann after it emerged he was held incommunicado for a day and then secretly flown out of the country before his appeal process was finished. Contrary to claims by Zimbabwean officials, the Guardian has established that the ex-SAS officer was bundled out of Harare on Friday in a military plane and arrived in Equatorial Guinea on Saturday. He was taken to the notorious Black Beach prison to await trial for an attempted coup plot in the west African state four years ago. - Guardian Unlimited website

Lords hear damages claim over failed Equatorial Guinea coup - 4 February
In a dramatic opening to a case before Britain’s highest court today, Philip Shepherd, QC, told the House of Lords that Mr Mann was being held in the notorious Black Beach prison in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. Mr Mann, an Old Etonian and son of a former England cricket captain, is one of five defendants being pursued by the president and government of Equatorial Guinea through the British courts for damages after the plot plunged the tiny country into "mayhem". The other defendants include Eli Calil, a Lebanese businessman who is alleged to have masterminded the plot, and holding companies in the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas. If the appeal succeeds, it could open the door for Equatorial Guinea to gain access to bank accounts in the Channel Islands that would prove who financed the attempted coup. It would also overturn a longstanding precedent of British judges refusing to interfere in the political affairs of another state.The question of "justiciability" is considered so important that the case will be heard by nine law lords instead of five - the first time so many have sat together since the challenge to the Hunting Act in 2005. - The Times Online website

UK's Mann 'fine' in E Guinea jail - 8 February
Briton Simon Mann, accused of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea, has been shown on television, apparently in good health despite fears of torture. - BBC News website

Royal Navy finds sunken wreck of MS Explorer - 29 January
The Royal Navy ice patrol ship HMS Endurance has located the wreck of the cruise liner M/S Explorer, which sank in Antarctic waters last year. HMS Endurance is undertaking hydrographic survey and mapping work ; providing support to the scientific work of the British Antarctic Survey and carrying out other tasking to deliver the UK's responsibilities under the Antarctic Treaty. The charting work contributes to the safety of shipping in the Antarctic region - work of particular significance with the increasing number of cruise liners visiting in the Antarctic. - Shipping Times website

Australia

Restoring Australian biodiversity - 31 January
The Gondwana Link project is an attempt to restore the ecology of a more than 25-million hectare swathe of land in Western Australia running from the arid interior of the continent to the wet forests of the southwest coast, by converting the farmland that fragments it back to bush. - New Scientist website

Economic partnership agreements - 14 January
The EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) have been working to put in place new Economic Partnership Agreements by the start of 2008. These agreements aim at progressively removing barriers to trade and enhancing cooperation in all areas related to trade. They are also aimed at providing an open, transparent and predictable framework for goods and services to circulate freely, thus increasing competitiveness of the ACP. The whole process will be backed up by a considerable package of development assistance. The ACP countries will receive €23billion in development assistance over the next seven years. African, Caribbean and Pacific countries will also be major beneficiaries of the decision to increase Europe's spending on aid for trade to €2billion a year, with a priority given to measures that help implement Economic Partnership Agreements. The money will be available to help countries prepare new structural reforms and trade policies, adjust to the changes they bring and enhance infrastructure and competitiveness to seize trade opportunities. - eGov monitor website

Iraq

Iraqi Baath law comes into effect - 3 February
A measure allowing former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to return to public life in Iraq has become law. The legislation was passed by the Iraqi parliament last month, but needed final approval by the country's presidency council before coming into effect. The council approved the law despite objections by one of its three members, Sunni Vice-President Tariq Hashemi. He said the law would result in people being forced out of their jobs to make way for returning former Baathists. - BBC News website

Courts

26-year term for £350m drugs baron - 2 February
A businessman who police believe imported drugs with a street value of more than £350 million has been jailed for 26 years. Robert Daniel Flook was sentenced at London's Blackfriars Crown Court for conspiracy to supply 330lb (150kg) of Class A drugs (cocaine) and conspiracy to supply eight tonnes of Class C drugs (cannabis). The Metropolitan Police said the cannabis seizure is the largest the force has ever made and the cocaine haul is the second largest ever made in South Africa. - The Press Association website

Durban 'a low risk gateway for drug trade' - 24 December 2007
The port of Durban is a low risk gateway for the huge international drug trade. This is what the court that sentenced Britons John Tutton and Tony Mackinnon to 30-year jail terms was told by South Africa's leading anti-drug fighter on Friday. At the end of South Africa's biggest drug trial, regional magistrate Fred Heuer, sitting in Camperdown, imposed 20-year sentences for dealing in 8,1 tons of dagga, and 20-year terms for dealing in 150kg of cocaine. - IOL website

Health

NHS closes its doors to foreign doctors - 5 February
Doctors from India, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries are to be barred from the NHS in an attempt to preserve health service jobs for British graduates. - The Times Online website

Human Rights

Call for male forced wedding help - 2 February
The government has agreed to look into funding the UK's first male-only refuge for victims of forced marriage. It has emerged that 15% of the people who seek help about being forced into wedlock are men or boys. A man taken to Pakistan as a child and forcibly engaged to his five-year-old cousin has called for a men's refuge. - BBC News website

Cyberlaw

California court bars unmasking of Web critic - 6 February
A California appeals court on Wednesday said an anonymous Internet poster does not have to reveal his identity after being sued for making "scathing verbal attacks" against executives at a Florida company on a Yahoo message board. The Sixth Appellate District in Santa Clara County reversed a trial court ruling that would have allowed a former executive at SFBC International to subpoena Yahoo for the names of her critics. - CNet News website

Environment

US judge reinstates sonar curbs - 5 February
A judge has ruled that the US Navy must adhere to a curb on the use of strong sonar in waters off California, amid concerns about its effect on whales. Judge Florence-Marie Cooper overturned an exemption granted last month by President George W Bush. - BBC News website

Land Affairs and Property

High court rules state cannot sell ceded lands - 2 February
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is hailing a decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court Thursday that prevents the state from selling 1.4 million acres of ceded lands ; land that was once controlled by the Hawaiian Kingdom. The ruling comes more than ten years after the state attempted to sell 1 500 acres of ceded lands on Maui and the Big Island to housing developers. In its decision justices relied heavily on a 1993 resolution passed by Congress and signed by then President Bill Clinton. The resolution apologized for the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, calling it "illegal". Bill Meheula, the attorney who represented the four native Hawaiians in the lawsuit, cautioned the ruling does not mean ceded lands will be handed over to native Hawaiians. Despite the high court ruling the state is still allowed to transfer ceded lands between different government agencies. - Khon2 website
Keyphrase :
Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act (Akaka Bill)

Environment

Farms are eating up the world's wildernesses - 9 February
More than a third of Earth's ice-free land area is now being used for farming. Europe, south Asia and the eastern US have the greatest proportion of arable land, while South America, China, the western US and tropical Africa have the largest proportion of pasture. - New Scientist website

Overhaul of net addresses begins - 4 February
The first big steps on the road to overhauling the net's core addressing system have been taken. On Monday the master address books for the net are being updated to include records prepared in a new format known as IP version 6. Widespread use of this format will end the shortage of addresses that sites can be given. The net's current addressing scheme is expected to exhaust the pool of unallocated addresses by 2011. - BBC News website

This book is essential for those who may not have been trained as accountants but have a need to make sense of the conventions and tools employed by accountants. It is targeted at those who need a basic understanding of the accounting process and who interpret company financial statements.

It is up to date in terms of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) ; contains updated examples from the financial statements of listed companies ; the Must Know boxes that follow most sections in the book provide a valuable quick-reference to and oversight of the contents of the topic. They also provide an alternative means of access to the content.

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