The Mercury (South Africa) back issues from February 2009:
Family shooting.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... A Durban fireman shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself during a domestic dispute yesterday. The man shot his wife once in the chest before shooting himself in the head, in front of his two children, aged 17 months and 4 years. ...
Flashpoint at Nongoma.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: SIPHO KHUMALO, Political Bureau & SAPA AN ANC MP and two other people were shot and wounded in an apparent ambush yesterday after a rally in northern Zululand that saw the army called in after confrontations between supporters of the IFP and the ruling party. ...
17 killed as fire rips through bar.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BEIJING: Seventeen people were killed and 20 injured in a blaze set off by fireworks inside a bar in south-east China. The accident happened on Saturday evening, near the end of the lunar new year festival, in the city of ...
New Russian Orthodox leader enthroned.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... MOSCOW: Patriarch Kirill, the new leader of the world's 160 million Russian Orthodox Church members, pledged at his enthronement yesterday to keep his church united, recruit the young and open up to dialogue with "sister churches". Hundreds of dignitaries and thousands of ...
Is there too much/emphasis on school sport?(Life)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: YUSUF MOOLLA ARE our model C high schools |and parents placing too much emphasis on the performance of teenagers on sports fields rather than in the classroom? While a career in a sport like rugby or cricket can be very lucrative, and bring fame for a skilled ...
Zero tolerance for VIP unit law breakers.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... Zero tolerance: that should be the disciplinary regulations of the SAPS with regard to the VIP unit (The Mercury, January 7 and 8). How disgraceful that 111 officers in the past four years have been charged with crimes ranging from murder to attempted ...
Thank you to the police /for their excellent service.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... I would like to commend two policemen for their committed work. In December 2007 we opened a case of theft at the Durban North police station involving an expensive item. The officers handling the matter were Insp S Mnqayi and Const Z Nene who, using good intelligence, ...
Don't let the taxi owners take over Durban's buses.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... Our once-proud Durban bus service is again in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Ever since the disastrous political takeover by Remant Alton, it has bungled along from one crisis to another and wasted millions of rands of ratepayers' money. These shenanigans ...
We will make SA an African country.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... Chris Watt asks what Swapo and Che Guevara have to do with South Africa (The Mercury, January 27). My question to him is what Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and King George had to do with this country as there were no complaints when streets and towns were named after them. ...
Rolling down the pace.(Life)
Feb 02, 2009 ... GUY Ritchie's aggressively stylised, testosterone-addled movies careen from one steroidal encounter to the next. But in RocknRolla, now showing locally, Ritchie dials down the pace, soaking up the atmosphere of sweat and stale beer around a revolving cast of low-level thugs and underworld ...
Police launch nationwide recruitment drive for officers.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: SIPHO KHUMALO The police force in KwaZulu-Natal is to be beefed up by more than 700 members as part of a nationwide recruitment drive. Police authorities placed advertisements in newspapers nationally last week inviting able-bodied people aged between 18 and ...
Why such neglect of the cemetery?(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... My visiting family and I recently went to the Stamford Hill Cemetery. When we arrived the entrance gate was padlocked, but a section of the fence was down and we were able to |enter. Grass and weeds covered most of the graves, and many |of the headstones had been ...
Prisoners need their IDs to vote.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: SIPHO KHUMALO THE Independent Electoral Commission in KwaZulu-Natal is ready to conduct voter registration at prisons in the province. KZN chief electoral officer Mawethu Mosery said the agency would conduct registration at prisons, which had an estimated ...
Wildlife agency needs board 'as soon as possible'.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: TONY CARNIE FOUR months after the entire board of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife was suspended, the Wildlife and Environment Society has called for a new board to be appointed as soon as possible. Di Dold, the society's KZN environmental co-ordinator, said important ...
What Obama Is . . . And Isn't.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... Imraan Baccus's column (The Mercury, January 28) contains many inaccuracies. He confuses religion with ethnicity. President Barack Obama is not an offspring of slaves. His mother was a middle-class white American and his father was an academic from Kenya. His mother ...
Does govt sponsor anti-Semitism?(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... The alleged anti-Jewish remarks made by |deputy foreign minister, |Fatima Hajaig, are appalling and disheartening |(The Mercury January 28). What has happened to our much-vaunted constitution, which is trotted out for politically correct occasions, and the freedom of religion? ...
Musical soiree.(Life)
Feb 02, 2009 ... RORY Rootenberg, with Jeremy Quickfall on piano, can be seen in a "magnificent musical soiree" at the Sugar Club at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga on Thursday, February 19. Their performance, which is accompanied by a four-course meal, starts at 7pm and promises a ...
Friends of music recital.(Life)
Feb 02, 2009 ... London-based German pianist Florian |Uhlig performs with South African violinist Zoe Beyers at a Friends of Music recital on Tuesday, February 10. Critics have praised Uhlig's work as "astonishing and exciting", an artist who is musically full of ideas and impulses and lauded ...
Hospice fete donations needed.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... Highway Hospice has commenced with preparation for our fete, and we appeal to members of the public and business establishments to donate suitable items for the white elephant stall: crockery, cutlery, materials for sewing and knitting, toys, books, jewellery, brassware, ...
Lacking in/moral fibre? Sexual behaviour does not tell us everything about a leader's character, so we should not be too quick to judge the president for his alleged adultery.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: Jabulani Sikhakhane NEWS of President Kgalema Motlanthe's love life has once more raised the issue of whether one's sexual behaviour is a good proxy for moral character and, more importantly, whether it should be used as a test of one's fitness for public office, ...
That old chestnut 'national security'; The president has latched on to this convenient phrase to get NPA head Vusi Pikoli fired, but exactly whose welfare is at stake? reports Christi van der Westhuizen.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... IF EVER there was a matter with which parliament could shrug off the epithet of "rubber stamp", it is |the consideration of President Kgalema Motlanthe's recommendation that national director of public prosecutions Vusi Pikoli be fired - unprecedented in the life of our nascent democracy. ...
Fuel price down, food prices still up; It's the great hot potato of the /supply side in the food industry.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: Lyse Comins WHILE the fuel price has plummeted to lows last seen a year ago, the price of many basic food items which soared after a hammering of fuel price hikes during 2008 have remained high - a phenomenon which has the government and consumer groups asking just who ...
Thousands of trees to be planted at dump site.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: TONY CARNIE THE eThekwini Municipality is planting more than 62 500 trees to wash away the "climate sins" of 2010 World Cup visitors and to create a new "green lung" in the rapidly growing northern part of the district. The trees will be planted next to the ...
Municipality goes to court over debt.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: MATTHEW SAVIDES THE eThekwini Municipality will go to court to recover more than R200 million owed to it by the Ingonyama Trust in water, electricity and rates arrears. This comes after negotiations between municipal and Ingonyama Trust officials could not ...
Minister slammed for his conduct.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: TANIA BROUGHTON Correctional services minister Ngconde Balfour and his department officials have received a judicial tongue-lashing for their "reprehensible" conduct in refusing to furnish a report about the death of an inmate at Westville Prison to the Treatment Action ...
ANC president's /convoy kills pedestrian.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: GUGU MBONAMBI A HUMMER which was part of ANC president Jacob Zuma's motorcade knocked over and killed a pedestrian in Ulundi, northern KwaZulu-Natal, yesterday. Police Dir Phindile Radebe said, however, that Zuma was not in the vehicle when the accident took ...
Davos forum fails to come up with a solution to financial crisis.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... DAVOS: Mired in indecision and uncertainty, the world's foremost gathering of the best and brightest in government and business failed to come up with any new plan to stem, much less reverse, the global financial meltdown. The five-day World Economic Forum in this Swiss alpine ...
Your chance for a windfall.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... WITH January's salary already a distant memory and February's pay cheque spoken for, East Coast Radio is giving you the chance of receiving an unexpected bonus this month during "Bonus February", brought to you by Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom. The unexpected bonus ...
United wary of the dangers ahead but happy to be top of the table.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... Manchester: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said he expected there to be tricky moments between now and the end of the season after seeing his side collect another three points. United's 1-0 win over Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday lifted them five points clear ...
Come Clean.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... IT'S time for the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government to come totally clean and to tell the public exactly what has been going on at the Ithala Finance Development Corporation. About nine months ago Zwele Mkhize, the KZN MEC for Finance and Economic Development, introduced a new ...
Proteas enter new era, says Amla.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: PATRICK COMPTON HASHIM Amla flew into Durban yesterday, saying he believed the Proteas have entered a new era after their stunning successes against England and Australia. Coming back to a warm welcome, the Proteas' No 3 batsman, who opened the innings in the ...
And here is the . . . naked news.(Life)
Feb 02, 2009 ... I had just finished an interview with Kelly McDonnell and switched on my TV and, lo and behold, there she was in all her fleshy glory gabbing to Jeremy Maggs about the very things I asked her in my interview. Maggs was at the tail-end of his show, Maggs on Media, on the eNews ...
Looking for leaders with astronomical qualities.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: david canning We recently observed astronomy month in the news, an event seemingly designed to make us feel very, very small. The TV channels flighted fascinating but frightening programmes that made our entire universe appear miniscule. They also made our ...
Aussie display cabinet.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... AN ADVERTISEMENT for an Australian-designed display cabinet is doing the rounds: One of the most elegant and functional display cabinets currently on the market. Features: q Fine timber details. q Four lead-light options. q Four ...
Pakistan lose out.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... PERTH: The International Cricket Council has decided to move the 2009 Champions Trophy from Pakistan because of lingering fears over the security situation in the troubled country. After a meeting of the ICC board here, chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the "safety and security ...
Police/shoot dead/two more/robbers.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: Nompumelelo Magwaza The death of two suspected car thieves at the hands of police at Margate last Friday took to 10 the number of suspected criminals killed by police that day. Police Supt Muzi Mngo- |mezulu said officers had been alerted to the theft of a ...
Mother mourns her drowned son (8).(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: SIBUSISO MBOTO PARENTS have been called on to exercise closer supervision of |their children after an 8-year-old Sobantu, Pietermaritzburg, child drowned in the Umsinduzi River at the weekend. Siphesihle Mabaso, a pupil at Russell Primary School, drowned on ...
Pothole Gauntlet.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... The only people not too fussed about a proli-|feration of potholes and open trenches on the roads of KwaZulu-Natal are tyre sellers and wheel repairers, because they're making a fortune. Even though we reportedly had the highest provincial road budget last year, KwaZulu-Natal ...
Zondo's United keep Pirates at Bay.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: Jonty Mark Johannesburg: Orlando Pirates have bolstered their defence by signing Santos's Zimbabwean centre-back, Zvenyika Makonese. Pirates coach Ruud Krol confirmed the deal on Saturday night after the Buccaneers' disappointing Premiership draw with Bay ...
Rafael just too good for Roger.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: Melbourne Rafael Nadal reduced Roger Federer to tears as he won a classic Australian Open final to secure his first hard-court grand slam title and stop the Swiss equalling the all-time grand slam record yesterday. Nadal, the world No 1, recovered from his ...
Hlophe in head-to-head with minister of justice.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: NATASHA JOSEPH CAPE TOWN: Cape Judge President John Hlophe was not allowed to return to work because the conditions under which he had been granted special leave last year had not been met, justice minister Enver Surty said yesterday. However, Judge Hlophe ...
Former spy chief on gun rap.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: MERCURY CORRESPONDENT CAPE TOWN: The former head of the National Intelligence Service, Niel Barnard, has been accused of pointing a firearm at a teenage neighbour who was apparently playing his music too loud. Police also confiscated 13 guns from his ...
McIlroy holds his nerve to claim Dubai Classic.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... DUBAI: Teenager Rory McIlroy held his nerve in an up-and-down final round to win the Dubai Desert Classic by one shot yesterday, sealing his first European Tour victory. The 19-year-old from Northern Ireland closed with a two-under-par 70 for a total of 19-under-par 269, one ...
Fichardt on top at Wild Coast.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: IQBAL KHAN DARREN Fichardt was all smiles as he edged out defending champion Marc Cayeux to be crowned the 2008 Nashua Masters champion here late yesterday. The tall Centurion Country Club professional played a solid yet structured game as he overcame the ...
Reflecting on the glory.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... Norman Arendse, full-time lawyer and sometime sports administrator, has jumped on the Proteas bandwagon, and why not? Well, why not in this case is that the learned senior counsel has made a meal of the racial composition of the team - which at least he thinks is right - while everyone ...
Warriors trounce Dolphins in Pro20.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... EAST LONDON: A half-century from Robin Peterson saw the Warriors to a comfortable eight-wicket win over the Dolphins in their Standard Bank Pro20 match at Buffalo Park in East London yesterday. After winning the toss and choosing to bat, the Dolphins were dismissed for 127. In ...
Kiwis pile on the misery for hapless Aussies.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... Perth: Ross Taylor was New Zealand's hero as Australia slumped to their fourth consecutive ODI defeat in Perth yesterday. New Zealand, chasing 182 for victory, were reduced to 25/3, but Taylor then took charge with a knock of 64, taking New Zealand to 170/7, just 12 short of ...
ANC receives support from all spheres of life.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: SIBUSISO NGALWA Businessmen, sportsmen, academics and traditional leaders came out to endorse the ANC's manifesto and pledge their support at a gala dinner addressed by party boss Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg on Saturday. Speaker after speaker pinned their flags ...
ID unveils plan to boost /jobs, get tougher on crime.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: AZIZ HARTLEY CAPE TOWN: The Independent Democrats would boost police numbers to 200 000, recruit 5 000 social workers to help heal crime-hit communities, position the country as a leader in renewable energy, and introduce a minimum social grant funded by taxing luxury ...
Boesak warns against party infighting.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: Caiphus Kgosana Chants of "Boesak for premier" reverberated inside the Rocklands Civic Centre hall |in Mitchell's Plain as anti-apartheid cleric Allan Boesak returned to the venue where the United Democratic Front was formed 25 years ago, this time to a greatly reduced ...
Strong Champions League start for SuperSport.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... PRETORIA: SuperSport got their African Champions League campaign off to a solid start when they defeated a stubborn and ultra-defensive Starlight Curepipe 3-0 in their preliminary, first-leg showdown at Atteridgeville's Super Stadium yesterday. The Mauritian champions were lucky ...
Zille will not/tolerate cronyism.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: Christelle Terreblanche Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille has put her foot down over party stalwarts squealing about their relatively low ranking on DA candidate lists, saying she won't tolerate crony systems within her own party. Zille told The Mercury ...
Scorpions investigator mum about reasons for resignation.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: Karyn Maughan ONE of the lead Scorpions investigators in Jacob Zuma's corruption case has resigned. National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Tlali Tlali confirmed yesterday that "since the beginning of this year (Scorpions special investigator Isak) du Plooy ...
Worker gets tied up.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... VIENNA: Hanging on with one leg, an Austrian ski-lift worker survived a 250m ride dangling upside down from a chairlift on Saturday. The man had loaded a sledge on to the lift in the Tyrolean ski resort of Imst when his leg caught in the ...
Torres tortures Chelsea.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: Liverpool Fernando Torres scored two late goals to give Liverpool a 2-0 victory over 10-man Chelsea that kept the Reds firmly in the race for the English Premier League title. As a fourth successive league draw loomed, Torres met Fabio Aurelio's cross with a ...
Wenger still keen on Arshavin.(Sports)
Feb 02, 2009 ... LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists he is still confident of signing Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin before today's transfer deadline, even though the deal has hit a series of problems. Arsenal's need for the Zenit St Petersburg and Russian international midfielder ...
Engine fire forces airliner to turn back to Durban.(News)
Feb 02, 2009 ... BYLINE: JEFF WICKS A 1Time airline flight bound for Johannesburg returned to Durban International Airport after one of the aircraft's engines caught fire yesterday. Airports Company of South Africa spokesman Colin Naidoo said that the plane landed without incident. ...
McIlroy is a superstar in the making, says Montgomerie.(Goodlife Golfer Supplement)
Feb 03, 2009 ... LONDON: New Dubai Desert Classic champion Rory McIlroy is destined for golfing greatness, according to European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie. The 19-year-old from Holywood, Northern Ireland, showed he was born for the big stage when he won his first European Tour title at ...
De Voets, Klaasen fly flag for SA.(Sports)
Feb 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Nazli Thomas It was a clean sweep for South Africa in the early session of the SA Open at Montecasino yesterday as both Rik de Voest and Raven Klaasen, surprisingly, got through their first-round matches with relative ease. It may have been a case of ...
French club targets Steyn.(Sports)
Feb 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: MIKE GREENAWAY A hot item of news discussion yesterday was that Sharks centre Francois Steyn is entertaining a massive offer from French club Racing Metro but the good news for Sharks and Springbok supporters is that he is going nowhere until 2010. The ...
Gaddafi hailed 'king of kings' as he is elected AU chairman.(News)
Feb 03, 2009 ... Addis Ababa: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was elected chairman of the African Union yesterday, and he made clear he would pursue his vision of a United States of Africa, despite reluctance from many members. Resplendent in golden robes and cap and hailed as "king of kings" by ...
Fourie du Preez will be ready to take on Queensland Reds.(Sports)
Feb 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: VATA NGOBENI Pretoria: With Rayno Gerber the first to make it on to the notorious casualty list at Loftus Versfeld, the Bulls were saved some more paperwork with news that Springbok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez would be fit to take on the Queensland Reds in the Bulls' ...
Spurs boosted by Keane's return.(Sports)
Feb 03, 2009 ... LONDON: Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane rejoined Tottenham Hotspur from Liverpool yesterday after seven disappointing months. Keane, sold to Liverpool for [pounds sterling]19 million (R275 million) last July after handing in a transfer request, rejoins former teammate ...
Arshavin joins Arsenal.(Sports)
Feb 03, 2009 ... LONDON: Russia international midfielder Andrei Arshavin, of Zenit St Petersburg, had joined Arsenal until June 2012 for [pounds sterling]12 million (R173 million), sources at the Premiership club said yesterday. The Gunners are now merely waiting on the Premier League to sign ...
Train crash shocks for Gauteng commuters.(News)
Feb 03, 2009 ... BYLINE: Bongani Masango|& Poloko Tau JOHANNESBURG: Just 10 hours after two trains collided in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, injuring 160 passengers, another two collided in Springs, Ekurhuleni. In the second crash, at least 141 commuters and a driver were injured ...