Das neue Südafrika

Chaos und Depression in Kapstadt.
Bekommen wir jemals durchgehend wieder eine Stromzufuhr oder bringt man den Reaktor zum kochen und dann zum platzen bei diesen neuen unprofihaften Management ?

Diese Frage stellen sich viele hier, es lebe das Ende der Apartheid.

Ein Amerikanischer Reporter im Radio sagte bei seinen Besuch das dies der Anfang ist des Zusammenbruchs.
So werden die Weissen rausgeekelt, sie haben ihren Zweck dann erfuellt.
IMO ist das ganze gesteuert und wird mit Absicht gemacht.
Das muesste den Rand doch Aufschwung geben.

Fuel shortage hits Jhb

2006-03-02

Cape Town - There have been reports of shortages of unleaded petrol on Thursday at some service stations in the Johannesburg area - including Johannesburg International Airport, Sandton and Rosebank - which have likely been sparked by higher demand than usual in the region, according to the South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia).

Sapia director Colin McClelland told I-Net Bridge that the spike in demand for petrol on Thursday had probably arisen from Wednesday's 11-cent cut in the price of petrol as drivers delayed their purchases until the price fell, as well as suppliers being unable to keep the inland market "comfortably supplied" with unleaded petrol in the face of higher demand arising from the switch from leaded to unleaded petrol at the beginning of the year.

The fuel companies had been coping with increased inland demand in various ways over the past two months, including increasing fuel shipments from the coast via road.

All of South Africa's inland refineries were working up to speed, McClelland confirmed.

However, he reported, at the coast Cape Town's Chevron refinery was slowly starting back up after Sunday's power outage in the region that caused it to shut down for the second time in two weeks.

This could potentially have led to a shortage of petrol at the coast, given that most stocks had been depleted to compensate for the first outage, but according to McClelland, ongoing imports of refined fuel meant that no shortages should be experienced along the coast.

News24/I-Net Bridge

Außer den täglichen Meldungen über Stromausfälle (... gähn ...) aufgrund eines Schaden im Koeberg-AKW mal was vielleicht wirklich Interessantes.

Am 1.3. waren die Kommunalwahlen in Südafrika, bei denen der (schwarze) ANC seine Mehrheit in Kapstadt an die DA verloren hat. Kapstadt ist ja nicht wirklich „schwarz“(da 1,5 Mio Caloured, 0,8 Mio Schwarze und 0,7 Mio Weiße), wurde aber von der ANC regiert. Das Wahlergebnis ist insoweit bemerkenswert, als es möglicherweise einen Stimmungswandel nicht nur am Kap markiert.

Dazu folgender Zeitungsartikel von heute:

Posted to the web on: 03 March 2006

DA, ANC in scramble to lead divided Cape Town

Linda Ensor, Karima Brown and Vukani Mde

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CAPE TOWN — The Democratic Alliance (DA) was last night hanging on to its lead in the fiercely contested Cape Town metro, setting up a battle with the African National Congress (ANC) over who would form a governing coalition to lead the divided city.

The neck-and-neck race in the Mother City was in stark contrast to results in the rest of the country, with the ANC well ahead on 67,1% of the overall vote, winning outright 140 of SA’s 283 councils.

Trailing it was the DA with 14,8%, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on 7,3% and the Independent Democrats (ID) with 2%, with 94% of votes counted. Overall turnout was put at about 49%.

But it was in Cape Town that the most interesting battle of the 2006 local government elections was shaping up, and where analysts predicted increased political instability as the city headed for a coalition government.

With 95% of votes in the metro counted, the DA had 43%, the ANC 37%, the ID 10,5% and the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) 3,3%, leaving the ID and ACDP as kingmakers.

Negotiations to form alliances are now under way, with the focus on ID leader Patricia de Lille, who has said her party would not form part of any coalition government in Cape Town. But DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille yesterday made another offer to form a coalition with the ID.

Analysts said the results had put De Lille in a “difficult strategic position”. The party promised voters it would be an alternative opposition voice that remained untainted by DA-ANC power games. Co-operating with either of the two big parties would undermine the ID’s message.

“A cost-benefit analysis for the ID might mean remaining independent of any government and holding its veto mandate, but voting strategically on issues that come before the council. This will be very difficult in practice though,” said Jonathan Faull of the Institute for Democracy in SA.

The ID would also have to negotiate two floor-crossing window periods with both the DA and ANC likely to target its councillors for poaching. Faull said this would require “astute political management” of the party caucus in the city council.

De Lille’s stance against a coalition is not universally accepted in the party and some ID councillors will be attracted by the prospect of a place on the mayoral committee.

The ANC and the ID would not by themselves have enough votes to govern the city and would need the support of the ACDP and other smaller parties or independent councillors.

The other possibility for the DA would be to form an alliance with the ACDP and independents, if the ID rejects Zille’s overtures.

Faull said this week’s results would have serious implications for political stability in the city over the next five years. If an incoming government continued with the trend of “decapitating” the city’s senior management, this would lower morale among municipal workers and negatively affect governance, he said.

The ANC’s share of the vote represented a marginal decline from the 39% it won in 2000 and the 45% it obtained in Cape Town in the 2004 general election.

;(.... Der Strom ist wohl wichtiger, Kuddel.
Mal schaun ob die DA einen liefern kann, du redest leicht als ""RSA Experte"" der Stromausfaelle in der Art noch nie miterlebt hat und bequem vorm Fernseher oder PC sitzt bei augedrehter Heizung zu Hause in D.
Ich wuerde dir gerne mal den Strom abdrehen damit du weisst ob das langweilig ist oder nicht.
Die knappe Mehrheit der DA, obwohl ein Lichtblick, aendert auch nicht viel an der gesamten Lage in RSA.IMO
Du kannst jetzt beruhig wieder hier deine liberalen Kommentare schreiben und den Lesern vormachen das Schwarze eigentlich weiss sind und die Sache ganz anders siehst als die Menschen hier.
Mir ist das nun auch Wurst, ich bin naemlich im Urlaub wo es Strom gibt.
Viel Spass mit deinen RSA Aktien, die DA wird den Kurs jetzt stimmungsvoll steigern und uns hoffentlich Strom wieder laenger als 4 Stunden liefern.

220 Volt Gruss, nix fuer ungut.

XEX

Hauptsache lustig ist es hier !

Hijacker caught in tree

2006-03-03

Johannesburg - Ekurhuleni metro police on Thursday apprehended an alleged hijacker who had climbed a tree in a bid to escape arrest.
Spokesperson Inspector Jimmy Maboko said on Friday that a female metro police officer had spotted an attempted car hijacking in progress in Birchleigh North where she had been on patrol.

"She shouted 'hey' and the two men threw their pistol into the car they tried to hijack and ran away."

She called for backup and later one of the men was discovered hiding up a tree, Maboko said.

The man was arrested and would appear in court on Monday.

Man lockte ihn runter mit Bananen schaetze ich mal.

Zitat Kuddel:

mal was vielleicht wirklich Interessantes

""Das Wahlergebnis ist insoweit bemerkenswert, als es möglicherweise einen Stimmungswandel nicht nur am Kap markiert."" (...gaehn..)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kapstadt ist nicht ""Suedafrika"", ein 3m Fischerdorf im Vergleich zu Johannesburg, was zaehlt ist was unter dem Strich steht :

South Africa ANC strengthened nationwide

http://www.mweb.co.za/news/?p=sa_article&i=86288

2006-03-03

The ANC has polled over 70.3% in the local government election in the latest results provided by the Independent Electoral Commission.

The official opposition :D, Democratic Alliance (DA) polled 13.6% - only slightly more than it garnered in the national election in 2004 - with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in third place with 4.2%.

Ja da kommt Stimmung auf Kuddel, oder ist das auch langweilig

In 5 Jahren kann man wieder hoffen und waehlen, super !

Hey, Eldorado,

du wolltest doch keine Zeilen mehr mit mir wechseln !! Vergessen ??

Es gilt wohl nur deine Meinung, andere ist unverwünscht !?

Kuddel

Hey Kuddel ich bin fuer dich auch unsichtbar wenn du hier schreibst,behalte deine Meinung, ich behalte meine, Comprende ?
Ich sehe das eben anders als du, schliesslich lebe ich hier seit 21 Jahren im Vergleich zu Dir als Besserwisser der meine Meinung belaechelt oder langweilt.
Im uebrigen hast du hier wieder gestoechelt mit deinen.

Cops shoot 'invisible' man

2006-03-03

Johannesburg - A man wearing muti to make him invisible to police, was shot dead in Kempton Park, on the East Rand on Friday while trying to outrun police in a stolen bakkie.
Police spokesperson Cynthia Kleinhans said the flying squad gave chase after being alerted by a tracking system that the bakkie had been stolen in Limpopo.

"After a short chase, the suspect drove into an open veld, got out of the vehicle and pointed a gun at police officers," she said.

The officers opened fire on the man, fatally shooting him in the neck and head.

"Muti was found on his body," Kleinhans said.

Hijackers and robbers often used muti because they believed it made them invisible to the police, she said, hoping they would learn it would not work in that area.

[Blockierte Grafik: http://www.gold-gallery.com/Gold-Gallery/Europa/Westeuropa/Rem/Drache-Fafner-Drachentoeter-Siegfried-Nibelungen.gif]


Zitat aus Bloomberg vom 03.03.06

South African Rand Drops on Power Supply Concerns:
==========================================
World's Biggest Mover

March 3 (Bloomberg) --

South Africa's rand fell, the biggest fluctuation of any currency today,

amid concern power shortages in the country may hurt Africa's biggest

economy and its exports.

Cape Town, the nation's second largest city, has suffered blackouts the

last two weeks, causing some businesses to halt production.

Manufacturing shrunk for a second month in February, a survey showed

yesterday. The rand has fallen this week versus all 16 major currencies

tracked by Bloomberg on concern declining exports will rob the country of foreign exchange.

``We've got a big manufacturing sector down here and the power cuts

are eroding the competitiveness of our exports further,'' said Natheem

Alexander, part of a team that manages about $8 billion at Cape Town-

based Abvest Associates Ltd. ``This could be a factor for the rand.''

Against the dollar, the rand fell 1.2 percent to 6.20 by 6 p.m. in

Johannesburg. The currency has declined 1.4 percent since late on Feb.

24, extending its drop in the past two weeks to 2.8 percent.

..................gekuerzt...............

hier mit Original_Tarnkappe

[Blockierte Grafik: http://www.usm.edu/hsa/valkyrie.jpg]

RSA must cut power

Cape Town - Eskom will launch a campaign next week to convince South Africans to consume less electricity because the margin between peak demand and supply will be the smallest in decades this coming winter.

Ich sehe es schon noch mehr dark nights in the city.
Kaptstadt bei Kerzenlicht, das wird wieder romantisch.
Hoffentlich stuerzt der Rand bald, mir waere es Recht als Ausgleich.

Johannesburg - The African National Congress says it is grateful and humbled by the confidence the people of South Africa have shown in it.
"The ANC will do everything possible to ensure that the confidence of the people translates into a meaningful and lasting improvement in the living conditions of all, especially the poor," the party said in a statement on Saturday.

Zim wants 51% of all plat mines

The Zimbabwe minister of mines has proposed that the country's Mines and Minerals Act be amended to provide for the Zimbabwe government to hold 51% of all platinum operations in the country, Zimplats said in a statement on Monday.
World number two platinum miner Impala Platinum (IMP) has an 86.7% stake in Zimplats.

Zimbabwe ask the IMF for more money

Harare is a 'cholera time bomb

'2006-03-06

Residents in Harare say they live on a "cholera time bomb" as the Zimbabwean city struggles to clean up garbage and maintain sewers in an outbreak that has already cost 27 lives.
An unusually wet rainy season compounds the problem, especially in slum areas like Dzivarasekwa, about 10km north of the city, and the sprawling semi-urban area of Epworth, to the east.

In Dzivarasekwa township, home to an estimated 200 000 people according to a rate-payers' association, raw sewage flows out of open sewers.

Residents who every day face stinking brooks have sardonically named the township "Victoria Falls" after the waterfall, the country's main tourist attraction, first discovered by explorer David Livingstone.

Pius Makowa, who lost his shelter in Zimbabwe's infamous Operation Murambatsvina (Drive out Filth), sleeps on the streets every night about 10m from the putrid stream.

"This place is a cholera time bomb," he told AFP, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"We are afraid we'll get cholera but there is nowhere else to go. Living here makes breathing difficult," added Makowa.

Funsai Takawira, who lives with his two children in the semi-urban area of Epworth to the east, said many residents had problems with upset stomachs.

"We are not able to distinguish between diarrhoea and cholera. We just know that it can spread very fast," the 38-year-old told AFP at the Epworth Polyclinic where four white tents bearing the World Health Organisation logo were erected inside a restricted and fenced-off area.

A group of about 90 residents were sitting outside the red-brick clinic where a health worker was giving a lecture on the deadly water-borne disease.

"How many of you know about cholera," he asked in the local language Shona, with only person indicating that he knew about the disease.

But despite concerns, the government said the cholera outbreak was under control.

"We didn't have any new cases," said deputy health minister Edwin Muguti.

"The outbreak is under control and we will continue to react quickly should there be more cases," Muguti told AFP.

But some doctors disagreed.

"We are far from seeing the end of the outbreak," said Douglas Gwatihdzo, chairman of the Zimbabwean Association for Doctors for Human Rights.

"The city has numerous heaps of garbage which get washed into the water when it rains," he said.

Harare's cholera scare tells the story of broader problems within the capital, hard hit by fuel shortages, a lack of foreign currency and outdated equipment.

The city council has been battling to collect heaps of garbage and provide clean drinking water, forcing some residents to dig wells and get water from open streams, exposing them to water-borne diseases.

The city currently has 14 refuse collection trucks as opposed to the 90 required, the United Nations news agency IRIN reported.

News24

So kann man auch an Steuereinnahmen kommen, in dem man Windfallprofite versteuert. Macht hoffentlich keine Schule anderenorts.
Kuddel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted to the web on: 04 April 2006

Timeframes set for fuel and mine royalty taxes

Hilary Joffe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel has set tight timeframes for two long-awaited tax measures, committing the national treasury to release a new draft of the controversial mining royalty bill by mid-May and promising that a task team to probe a possible windfall tax on synthetic fuels will be announced this week.

This came as Manuel released year-end figures showing the South African Revenue Services had collected R418,1bn by midnight on 31 March — R1bn more than February’s revised estimate and R45bn above the original estimate in last February’s budget.

The revenue overrun is expected to reduce the fiscal deficit for 2005-06 to a mere 0,3% of gross domestic product.

The market has been waiting for new mining royalty proposals for three years, since the original draft of the Minerals and Petroleum Royalty Bill was released for public comment in March 2003. That followed the enactment of SA’s new Mining Act, which required mines to convert from old-order to new-order mining rights. The mining legislation is based on the principle that SA’s mineral rights belong to the nation and can only be leased by private companies, which must pay royalties for the right to exploit the resources.

The royalty bill proposed levying royalty taxes ranging from 1%-8% of sales revenue, depending on what was being mined. The proposals drew intense criticism from mining companies and investors on the grounds that they would cut profit margins and reduce investment in the industry, particularly in new projects.

The proposal that the royalties would be levied on mines’ gross sales revenue, rather than on their profits, generated far more controversy than the rates themselves, because this could cut the life of mines by reducing the amount of ore that is profitable to mine. Though there have been indications that government might well cut the royalty rates, it is not clear whether it is open to changing the basis from sales to profits — which is what the mining industry called for.

Manuel gave no hint yesterday of what changes might appear in the new draft of the bill. But he apologised for government’s failure to come up with a new draft so far, conceding it had created uncertainty in the market.

However, he expressed exasperation at the way the market had gone “berserk” in February, when Sasol’s share price fell sharply on news of a proposal to investigate a windfall tax on the synthetic fuel industry.

Manuel emphasised yesterday that he had mentioned the possi-bility in his October medium-term budget speech. In that speech, Manuel said the fiscal regime that applied to the synthetic fuel industry was “under review”.

He said yesterday that a task team would be announced this week. “That will allow us to take the whole process forward,” he said. The same trends were being followed by many countries around the world, Manuel said.

The budget review said the synthetic fuel industry, which accounts for about 35% of SA’s domestic liquid petroleum sales, was in a position to reap substantial “economic rents” when crude oil prices were high.

“Such windfall gains should be shared with the public,” the review said, pointing out that the synthetic fuel industry had developed with extensive government support. The industry includes Sasol and Mossgas, now called PetroSA.

But a leading economist has questioned whether government is not simply using the windfall tax threat as a bargaining chip to get Sasol to up its investment in SA.

Merrill Lynch economist Nazmeera Moolla wrote in a recent report that “with government not needing extra revenues, we think they would be quite happy to take the windfall tax issue off the table, if Sasol increased its SA investment plans”.

Of the R16bn Sasol plans to invest over the next five years, only R2bn is in SA.

The Rand rand's failure to pierce the R6/$ level despite the dollar falling to a new one-year low against the euro on Monday and continued dollar weakness raises a number of questions writes Greta Steyn.

Is it the shadowy hand of the Reserve Bank keeping the rand in check? Or is there a reversal in capital outflows coupled with growing concern over the current account deficit? Is it the spectre of Jacob Zuma as the next President of SA?

It's interesting to note the reasons the news agencies are giving for the rand's shyness.

Reuters has repeatedly stated that capital outflows from SA are to blame.

This is a reference to MTN's $5.53bn deal to buy Dubai-based Investcom, as well as Netcare's £217m purchase of a stake in leading UK private hospital group General Healthcare Group.

2 300 held for murder in 3mths

viele rennen noch rum, zu viele

2006-05-11

More than 2 300 suspects were arrested for murder and 1 619 for attempted murder between January and March this year, the government has reported. Cape Town - More than 2 300 suspects were arrested for murder and 1 619 for attempted murder between January and March this year, the government's justice, crime prevention and security cluster of ministries reported on Thursday.
A further 3 967 arrests were made for rape, 423 for indecent assault, 11 445 for common assault, 3 614 for aggravated robbery and 4 010 for common robbery, Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour told reporters.

More than 5 500 law-enforcement operations were held during the period, focusing on contact crimes.

Nearly 300 repeat offenders have been identified, of whom 77 were arrested, said the minister.

More than 55.5ha of dagga plantations were sprayed and 38.8 tons of the drug worth R38.85m destroyed.

A total of 12 883 people were arrested for drug-related crimes and 16 illegal laboratories dismantled.

Eradicating duplications

Eighteen suspects in 11 corruption cases were arrested, as well as 45 syndicate leaders and 52 syndicate runners.

Balfour said the police had been allocated 11 000 posts for the 2006/'07 financial year, bringing the total staff complement to 162 000.

"In order to improve service delivery to communities, the SA Police Service has re-engineered all its present processes and is in the process of eradicating unnecessary and duplicated functions and activities."

Steps were also underway to flatten the police hierarchy and boost capacity at police-station level. Staff at station level was to be boosted by almost 35 000.

Balfour said R60m had been set aside in this financial year to call up 8 000 police reservists, growing to R80m for 15 000 next year, and R120m for 25 000 reservists in 2008.

The minister announced a declining trend in the prison population, dropping from 187 000 in 2003 to 156 000 last year.

The number of awaiting-trial detainees dropped from 52 313 in January last year to 46 327 in December.

"The department is considering introducing parole conditions for certain categories of offenders who display clear conduct or effective rehabilitation," he said.

Cases arising from TRC

"This will exclude those that have committed serious crimes such as murder and armed robbery."

The national prosecuting authority was conducting an audit of all criminal cases arising from the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Balfour said: "Sixteen cases are being further investigated and interaction with the victims and their families has been established.

"The NPA is preparing possible charges and conducting research on anticipated defences in these cases."

Top stories:

Rand plunges despite gold, euro

2006-05-12

The rand has dived to a 6-week low vs the dollar, defying a dramatic rally in gold and platinum prices as the euro surged to fresh one-year peaks near $1.30. Johannesburg - The rand slid more than 2% to a six-week low of 6.24/$ on Friday after a wave of offshore selling pushed it through a key support level, traders said.

A senior dealer said: "We've seen relentless buying of dollars offshore all morning, it broke through R6.15/$ and that triggered stop losses. Everyone is asking everyone else what is going on. US investment houses have been prominent."

He predicted serious further losses in the currency were unlikely unless it broke through R6.25/$, seen as the next key support level. If that happened, the rand would target R6.35/$.

The currency's slide to its weakest level since March 30 defied a dramatic rally this week in prices for gold and platinum - metals which South Africa leads the world in producing.

It took place as the euro, the unit of South Africa's main trade partner, surged to fresh one-year peaks near $1.30.

Earlier in the session, dealers said there was speculation the rand's weaker tone could be the result of another offshore acquisition by a local company, after a string of deals put pressure on the currency in the past few weeks.

South Africa's MTN - the continent's biggest cellphone operator - was the latest firm to announce a major offshore deal with the planned $5.53bn acquisition of Dubai-based Investcom.

Some dealers are speculating that the impact of that purchase could still be filtering through the system.

However, Finweek economist Greta Steyn writes capital outflows from SA cannot be blamed for the rand's weakness.

Steyn said: "The MTN and Netcare deals can't affect the rand and it's silly to say they will. Both companies have stated that they have raised bank credit for the cash portions of their deals.

"That means they don't have to buy forex in the market. MTN said it had secured a credit facility from Deutsche Bank worth $3.85bn and would fund the equity portion of the deal by issuing new shares." - Reuters/Fin24

Konvertible in was Lucky ?