Pretoria News (South Africa) back issues from January 2008:
Tshwane roars into New Year with rocking partiesChurch Square bash should become an annual event - mayor.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Barry Bateman, Patrick Hlahla and Lesego Masemola Tshwane saw in the New Year with two big parties and numerous smaller ones on Monday night. Thousands of people, young and old, enjoyed music while they waited to welcome in the New Year on Church Square. On ...
Dog rescued after hot tar attack.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Barry Bateman An abused city pet nearly didn't make it into the New Year after it was covered in hot tar and left for dead. Tessa, a seven-month-old Dachshund-cross, is currently recovering, albeit minus some hair, in the Valley Farm Animal Hospital. ...
Tshwane starts 2008 in peace.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Barry Bateman City authorities have described this new year's celebrations as the quietest in years with virtually no serious incidents reported. Tshwane Metro Police spokesperson, Superintendent Alta Fourie, said: "Our officers only dealt with one accident." ...
Heed the warning: our water is at risk.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... Alarm bells should be ringing among officialdom, but so far they appear to be falling on deaf ears in the relevant provincial department. We refer to the deep concern voiced by environmentalists over the existence of a chromium-processing plant they believe is operating secretly ...
Africa's slums are dens of disease and death.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... A billion people now live in slums. The explosion of city populations threatens the poor of the world - none more so than those in sub-Saharan Africa, where the flood of people away from rural areas is unsustainable and unsupportable. Tragedy stuck Nairobi three times in ...
Left in the dark.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... Cable thieves almost pulled the plug on Groenkloof and Sunnyside residents' New Year celebrations. Power cables were stolen on the corner of Skinner Street and Nelson Mandela Drive. This affected the power supply to the Skinner substation, which supplies the two suburbs with ...
Spidey will now spin for the United Nations.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Simon Usborne Spider-Man's challenges have so far been pretty small beer. Since he first spun his web in the 1960s, he has squared up to a gallery of rogues, from the multi-limbed Doctor Octopus to the shape-shifting Sandman. Yet so far he has only been tasked with ...
World celebrates the arrival of 2008 with a bang.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Sapa-AP A million revellers in Sydney cheered as fireworks exploded in the night sky. Summer Olympics organisers helped Beijing welcome in the new year through song and dance. Even war-torn Baghdad celebrated the advent of the new year, hoping for a peaceful and ...
City zoo joins world bid to save the frog.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Staff Reporter Children visiting the Pretoria Zoo literally hopped into the New Year with the launch of the International Year of the Frog 2008. In a bid to create awareness of the worldwide amphibian crisis, the children participated in a leap frog activity ...
'Let's use this year to build on 2007's example'.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Thabo Mbeki Fellow South Africans: As we bid farewell to the year 2007 and welcome the year 2008, I would like, on behalf of our government, to wish you all a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year. At this time of the year many of us adopt New Year ...
SA troops in Darfur force.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Hans Pienaar A full battalion of South African troops was among the African Union troops to join the AU-United Nations force in Darfur, Sudan yesterday. But critics fear the new force will be as unsuccessful as the old one. Officially titled the United ...
Old Firm derby postponed after player dies.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Sapa-AFP Today's Old Firm clash between Celtic and Rangers has been postponed as a mark of respect following the death last weekend of Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, the Scottish Premier League (SPL) announced yesterday. "These are never easy decisions ....
No rackets in women's game.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Sapa-AFP Tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic insist the women's game is clean as the world's elite players gear up for the first Grand Slam of the year in Australia. Rumours of match-fixing and concerns over unusual betting patterns and betting by ...
Kallis props up Proteas batting.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Sport Reporter As South Africa go into the second of three Tests against the West Indies in Cape Town today on the back of a shock defeat to the Windies in Port Elizabeth, Jacques Kallis stands out as a shinning beacon as the the in-form batsman in the Proteas line-up. ...
Little to lift the spirits of Joey in English game's material world.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Sue Mott London - Happy New Year Joey Barton, sitting in your prison cell on remand for an alleged charge of assault and affray at a McDonald's in Liverpool. What a peculiarly Dickensian start to the year it is for a man blessed with a rough and ready ...
Cops still searching for envoy's attackers.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... Police are still searching for three of the four robbers who attacked Tanzanian High Commissioner Emmanuel Mwambulukutu and other guests at a farewell party in his honour in Garsfontein at the weekend. National police spokesperson Captain Dennis Adriao said yesterday there have ...
Cops arrest private investigator linked to Lotz case.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... Private detective Niel van Heerden, whose firm was involved in the City of Cape Town's "spy" drama earlier this year, has been arrested, police said on Monday. Superintendent Billy Jones said Van Heerden, a former police deputy area commissioner, was arrested in Mossel Bay just ...
Crime fight call.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... Communities should heed ANC president Jacob Zuma's call to use 2008 as the year to intensify the fight against crime, the South African Communist Party (SACP) said on Monday. "It is only united action at street and community level that will free us from the scourge of ...
Ambulance stops collision.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... The actions of an ambulance driver prevented a head-on collision when a motorist drove 20km into oncoming traffic on the M13. The driver of the Mercedes Benz, who got on to the M13 at Fields Hill, continued on the wrong side of the M13 before joining the N3 at Shongweni. ...
Plane crashes into mountains.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... A light aircraft crashed yesterday into the Swartberg mountains near Oudtshoorn, killing all four occupants. Police spokesperson Superintendent Ntobeko Mangqwengqwe said three women and a man died in the crash. They have not yet been identified. Mangqwengqwe said it ...
Ten suspects nabbed in sim-swop scam.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... The Western Cape's commercial crimes unit has arrested 10 people, including bank officials and cellphone company employees, in connection with a sim-swop scam involving a syndicate. Police spokesperson Billy Jones said the net was closing in on more alleged fraudsters after a ...
Selection quandary for Proteas.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: TELFORD VICE Neil McKenzie is an easygoing sort of bloke, which is just as well considering the conspiracy theories that are swirling around him like the winds that buffet Table Mountain. McKenzie has been drafted into the South African squad, ostensibly as a ...
Gatlin cops four-year testosterone ban.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Reuters Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin has been banned for four years for a 2006 positive test for the male sex hormone testosterone. The Washington Post reported on its Web site yesterday that two out of the three American Arbitration Association ...
First babies start new year on a high note.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: LESEGO MASEMOLA As the clock struck midnight and fireworks lit up the sky, the Kuhn family of Garsfontein welcomed George Philluppus into the world. Only due next week, George made a grand entrance as the capital's first baby of 2008. Tipping the ...
No fridges fall from sky in Hillbrow this time.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Laura Lopez Gonzalez Six floors up, the hallway linoleum ends in Hillbrow skyline and the New Year begins with a rifle at their back. The police's grunts and curses precede them, wafting up the partially lit blood-stained staircase, mixing with the smell of ...
Kenyans hiding in church massacred.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: Andrew Cawthorne and Wangui Kanina A mob yesterday torched a Kenyan church, killing villagers cowering inside, as the death toll from ethnic riots triggered by President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election soared to at least 180. The opposition put the toll at ...
standings.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... ENGLAND Premiership: Fulham 1, Chelsea 2; Arsenal 2, West Ham 0; Manchester United 1, Birmingham 0; Middlesbrough 0, Everton 2; Reading 0, Portsmouth 2, Aston Villa 2, Spurs 1 PWDLFAPts Arsenal211551421650 Man Utd211533381148 ...
Mothers delighted by Mbeki visit.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... BYLINE: LESEGO MASEMOLA Mothers of seven new year babies at Dr George Mukhari Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa got a surprise visit from President Thabo Mbeki and the Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang yesterday. Staff and patients were delighted at the president's ...
Benazir had dossier on poll rigging.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... Islamabad - On the day she was killed, Benazir Bhutto was planning to give two US lawmakers a 160-page dossier accusing the government of rigging upcoming elections. This was stated yesterday by one of the former Pakistan leader's aides as calls for an international probe into ...
Pressure to share Jerusalem.(News)
Jan 02, 2008 ... Jerusalem - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday signalled that Israel might have no choice but to share Jerusalem with the Palestinians in a peace deal, citing international pressure for compromise over the holy city. Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and annexed it in a ...
Pakistan play down concerns over Australian tour.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... Pakistan's cricket chief said on Monday that Australia's planned tour starting in March is still on despite the turmoil unleashed by the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Nasim Ashraf, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), said he believed the country would be back to ...
SA bowls teams named.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... South Africa's men and women's bowls teams travel to Christchurch, New Zealand on Sunday, to take part in the World Bowls Championships, from January 12 to 27have been named. Teams: Men: Gerry Baker (Central Gauteng), Brian Dixon (Eastern Gauteng), Wayne Perry ...
In-form Villa send Spurs packing.(Sports)
Jan 02, 2008 ... Aston Villa defender Martin Laursen punished sloppy Tottenham Hotspur as Martin O'Neill's side snatched a dramatic 2-1 win last night. Jermain Defoe looked to have rescued a point for Spurs late on when he cancelled out Olof Mellberg's opener. But Juande Ramos's team ...
Doreen's miraculous day.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... "(You) will be safe by God's will. I'm praying." Pretoria News advertising supervisor Doreen Grobler keeps this sms on her cellphone. It was sent to her by her boyfriend on April 25 last year while she was hiding under a desk as a man with a gun walked up and down ...
'We stared death in the eye'.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Hanti Otto Estie Dwyer will never forget her first week at the Pretoria News - after just three days on the job, she was held hostage by a gunman. An advertising representative, Dwyer said: "I never expected something like that. I was new in Pretoria, and ...
'It was so unreal ...'.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Hanti Otto The man knelt behind Salome van der Merwe. He put his arm around her neck and a pistol to her head. "I saw Marla covering her face with her hands. I prayed. And then I shouted hysterically at the police outside to back off," said Van der Merwe, ...
'News hostages still traumatised.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Hanti Otto It's eight months since a man stormed into the Pretoria News building, threatened a security guard with a gun, and held eight advertising personnel hostage while three others hid under their desks and prayed for their lives. The alleged ...
Cop 'doing just fine' after being shot.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Hanti Otto It's all part of a policeman's job - being shot. Constable David Bapela, who was wounded in the hostage drama, could not speak to the Pretoria News himself, but Pretoria police spokesperson Captain Paul Ramaloko provided answers as far as he could. ...
You made a kid 'pay' for your bill.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... My 16-year-old daughter decided she was going to work these holidays. She wanted to save up some money for our holiday. So she worked while her friends spent their time next to a swimming pool, at the malls or with other friends. She wanted her own money ...
'Daughter's prayers help me cope'.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Hanti Otto Innocent Maleka's little girl prays for her family every night before going to bed, but she still can't sleep if she doesn't know where her daddy is. "Her sincere prayers also help me cope," said Maleka, who can still clearly remember having a gun ...
Tutu to head Kenya peace bid.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Barry Bateman, ANEL POWELL SAPA and REUTERS Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is expected to arrive in Nairobi, Kenya today to "assist" in ending the conflict following the re-election of President Mwai Kibaki. Violence has racked parts of the country since ...
Pretoria home to SA's dreamiest hunks.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... Pretoria has links to three of the country's sexiest men. National swimmers Ryk Neethling and Roland Schoeman - who at some point have been based in the capital - and Springbok and Blue Bulls rugby captain Victor Matfield, are among the five sexiest male celebrities in the ...
Airport sees 2 emergency landings.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Barry Bateman A city pilot has praised his experienced instructor and the rigid construction of his aircraft after a "belly landing" at Wonderboom Airport yesterday. Hours after that incident, a second aircraft had to make an emergency landing when one of its ...
The time to withdraw Zuma charges has come and gone.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... Jacob Zuma's election as ANC president has had no impact on investor confidence, the worth of the rand or on the racial and ethnic equilibrium in the country. But this could change drastically if the newly elected ANC leadership makes the wrong move next week. The new National ...
A tragedy for all of Africa.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... Five years ago, close to 1 million people watched as Mwai Kibaki was inaugurated as president of Kenya in Nairobi's Uhuru Park. Daniel arap Moi, the authoritarian strongman who had ruled for a quarter of a century, was gone, his hand-picked successor roundly defeated. A nation ...
Envoy still in ICU.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... Tanzanian High Commissioner Emmanuel Mwambulukutu is still in intensive care after an attack at a party. Doctors at Pretoria East Hospital said he had suffered severe head injuries, but that they would only know the full extent of the injuries in about ...
In court after protest.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... Five men appeared in the Pretoria magistrate's court yesterday on charges of malicious damage to property. All five are residents of Mahube Valley in Mamelodi East and were arrested on Saturday morning while digging a trench in SS Mokone Drive. Their protest action stemmed from ...
DSTV a rip-off with many repeats.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... We have to pay just under R500 a month for a service that consists of regular repeats on all channels. Currently DSTV is screening movies that have been played several times before; all they do is juggle the channel selection. The children's holiday channel sucks. My ...
Baboon's big adventure cut short at sea.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: JOHN YELD Like many South Africans, "John Wayne" had exciting travel plans for the New Year, including an exotic overseas cruise departing from Cape Town harbour. But even the best laid plans go awry and the frustrated traveller ended up back at home ...
City man piloted fatal flight.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: CARYN DOLLEY |and PATRICK HLAHLA A Pretoria man, his girlfriend and her two teenage daughters died in the light aircraft crash near Oudtshoorn on New Year's Day. Police have confirmed that the pilot was Phillip Ginsburg (50), of Pretoria. His passengers were ...
Few accidents, despite increase in traffic.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... Traffic on major roads into Gauteng was increasing, the Department of Transport said yesterday. "This is the beginning of the increase in traffic," spokesperson Thandi Moya said. Moya said traffic volumes were beginning to increase on the N1 from Limpopo to Pretoria, ...
Fake DVDs worth R200m seized.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... Counterfeit DVDs worth R200 million were discovered at OR Tambo Airport yesterday. The consignment - the largest of its kind to be trafficked through a South African port of entry - was discovered during a routine inspection of the airport's cargo area, said police spokesperson ...
Mom confesses to shoplifting for the love of her daughter.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... A mother whose daughter has just passed matric was convicted yesterday for stealing groceries for when her child goes to college. Gugulethu Ngomane (44) of Newscom near KaBokweni, pleaded guilty to theft when she appeared in the Nelspruit magistrate's court. She ...
Speedster Steyn back in the fast lane.(Sports)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: TELFORD VICE Dale Steyn's week in the wilderness ended in emphatic style at Newlands in Cape Town yesterday when he took four wickets on the first day of the second Castle Lager Test against the West Indies. Steyn claimed four for 60 as the Windies wobbled to ...
Pikitup peas off Friend.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... A rotting pile of peas has killed at least 100 birds, and Johannesburg's municipal waste management company, Pikitup, is refusing to, er, pick it up. Pea-ed off resident Debbie Friend said the yucky veggies - which looked like once-frozen peas now dried - were deposited on an ...
Cops let hijackers drive off with man in boot.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Solly Maphumulo Johannesburg Flying squad members attended to a woman who fell out of a speeding car on Tuesday night but failed to chase after the car when she told them a man was locked in the boot. Police began the search for the missing man only 40 hours ...
Fire threatens patients.(News)
Jan 03, 2008 ... London - A London cancer hospital was evacuated yesterday after a major blaze broke out. The entire top floor of the Royal Marsden Hospital was gutted as patients were taken to nearby areas. A firefighter described the blaze as "a very big fire" with 15 fire engines and 75 firefighters on ...
Springbok skipper Smit injured.(Sports)
Jan 03, 2008 ... BYLINE: Reuters South Africa's World Cup winning captain John Smit could be out for up to two months after injuring his right knee in training with his French club Clermont, it was reported yesterday. The good news, however, was that Smit did not suffer ligament ...
Dassies rescued from BMW home.(News)
Jan 04, 2008 ... Rats in kitchens, cats in trees or maybe a snake or two. That is the usual call pet rescuers get in Gauteng. But recently the Johannesburg Zoo were called to an animal rescue with a difference. Frightened mechanics and valets of a BMW dealership phoned the city zoo when they ...
Skyguide a must for the ardent stargazer.(News)
Jan 04, 2008 ... BYLINE: TONY CARNIE A very detailed guide to the stars of 2008 (the real blinking ones in the sky - not the horoscopes) has just been published by the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa. While there seems to be little danger of stray comets or meteors smacking ...
SAPS alone can't stop cops from killing selves, families.(News)
Jan 04, 2008 ... Police suicides and family killings will continue so long as society expects ordinary cops to be superhuman. Society must stop expecting police officers to be immune to the horrors that they face. The notion that "cowboys don`t cry" is a falsehood. It must be put on ...
Dead pilot's fatal crash mystifies his family.(News)
Jan 04, 2008 ... BYLINE: Barry Bateman Mystery surrounds the downing of an aircraft manned by city pilot Phillip Ginsberg (51), who was described by family and friends as one of the safest men to take to the air. The four-seater Piper 180 crashed in bad weather on New Year's Day in ...
Dog superhero is fun for the littlies.(Tonight Broadsheet)
Jan 04, 2008 ... BYLINE: Geraldine Frohling Underdog Director: Frederik Du Chau Cast: Alex Neuberger, Jason Lee, Amy Adams Running time: 84 minutes Classification: PG Rating: HHHII Underdog was evidently based on a famous ...
Baddy aliens battle it out in a blood fest of gurgles and goreAl.(Tonight Broadsheet)
Jan 04, 2008 ... BYLINE: Kirk Honeycutt Aliens vs Predator: Requiem Director: Greg Strause and Colin Strause Cast: John Ortiz, Steven Pasquale, Johnny Lewis, Kristen Hager, Ariel Gade Running time: 95 min Classification: 16 VL Rating: ...
Polokwane sowed the seeds of destruction.(News)
Jan 04, 2008 ... Rather naively, I assumed that the ANC leadership contest would be settled at Polokwane and that the newly elected leadership could focus on getting South Africa working. I was wrong. Far from focusing on campaign promises of "A Better Life for All," the Mbeki and ...