Johannesburg – The National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (Numsa) announced on Friday the union is willing to accept the offer by the Retail Motor Industry (RMI) and Fuel Retailers Association (FRA) of an 11,6% wage increase in 2013.

According to a Numsa statement released on Friday workers in the fuel retail sector will return to work on Monday.

Workers in the sector have been on strike for more than three weeks. On Monday Labour Minister Mildred Olifant intervened in negotiations between the union and employer bodies to help reach an agreement and bring an end to the strike.

Employers offered the striking workers an increase of 11.6% in 2013, followed by annual increases of 9% for 2014 and 2015.

“This is a victory given the 7.5% offered by motor bosses at the point of deadlock,” said Numsa General Secretary Irvin Jim in the statement.

The strike in other sectors of the motor industry, such as panel beaters, spares shops, car and parts dealerships, is set to continue. Negotiations on wages and employment conditions in other sectors of the motor industry resumed on Friday afternoon.

“Numsa salutes all striking Numsa members in the motor industry for having sacrificed their income for 3 weeks to champion a better life for their families. We are proud of you,” said Jim.

About 70 000 workers are reported to have been on strike.

For more http://www.breakingnews.co.za

Los Angeles – Katie Holmes has joined the cast of The Giver.

The Dawson’s Creek star is the latest name to join Phillip Noyce’s adaptation of Lois Lowry’s 1993 sci-fi novel, which will also star Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Giver is set in a dystopian society which is disturbed when a 12-year-old boy named Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) is selected to learn from an elderly man, The Giver (Bridges), about the pain and strife of the real world. 

Streep’s alter-ego, the Chief Elder, is in charge of keeping order in the society, but that authority is put in danger when the youngster is chosen to be the receiver of memories of life before the ‘sameness movement’, which froze the population and created conformism.

Holmes will play the mother of Thwaites’ teenage character, who is described as being a strict, law abiding citizen. 

It was recently reported that singer Taylor Swift has been cast in the movie, while True Blood actor Alexander Skarsgard is also eyeing a role.

The film will shoot in South Africa and will be produced by The Weinstein Company and Walden Media. 

BangShowBiz

By Obakeng Maje

Klerksdorp-The sewerage crisis in Matlosana continues while council is in denial as usual,says Democratic Alliance.

Sewerage is running from Tigane across and next to a provincial road and runs all the way down into Hartbeesfontein. 

This flow of sewerage originates from different sewer connections next to a secondary school in Tigane and learners are continuously exposed to the health risks involved. 

“Besides the health hazard, it has serious consequences for a chicken abattoir which has HACCP regulations to adhere to.  Delivery trucks cross a stream of sewerage twice before entering the gates of the abattoir and again when leaving” DA Tiaan Kotze said.

The DA said they have reported the problem on a weekly basis for months despite the ANC council’s ignorance.

“In fact, without investigating, council blames the abattoir for the blockage which is not even on their sewerage line” Kotze said. 

Two weeks ago a cow was found lying dead in the sewerage spill. 

“Lies by council about their obvious incompetence will not make the problems disappear.   The public are no fools and the evidence is clear” he said. 

The DA said council must immediately remedy this Human Rights and Environmental violation.-TDN

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Klerksdorp-North West Premier, Mme Thandi Modise has urged the people

of her province to work together in order to succeed in reviving the

domestic tourism potential for their own benefit and the future

generations.

Speaking at the Gala Dinner held n Klerksdorp on Thursday evening ahead of

the 33rd World Tourism Day, Premier Modise highlighted that the North West

has the potential to grow its economy through tourism.

“I can safely say the North West province offers excellent opportunities

and prospects in various industries, particularly within the fabricated metal,

transport equipment, food and beverage industry. As we are joining the rest

of the world in celebrating the 33rd year of the World Tourism Day, people

must know that our province has a rich tourism heritage,” Premier Modise

said.

She further acknowledged that until recently, the travel and tourism

industry were not taken seriously.

“As a country and indeed the North Wes province, we fully embrace the

realization and announcement that tourism is one of the priority sectors

that could positively contribute to the growth and development of our

economy and be in a position to create the much needed job opportunities as

well as alleviate poverty,” cited the Premier.

Through studies it is estimated that by 2030 there will be more than 1, 8

billion tourists in the world.

Premier Modise said through tourism sector there are ample job

opportunities for the people of the province and the country at large.

She further stressed that tourism create jobs at a higher rate than many

other sectors.

“We all know that tourism is one of the most labour intensive sectors, yet

it is one that creates jobs at a competitively higher rate.

It is therefore means that there is a possibility that the annual growth

rate of employment in the tourism sector will always be higher than the

growth rate of the total employment,” she said.

Premier Modise further encourage people around the globe to visit the North

West province.

“I want to urge people to visit the province because I can really tell you,

there is unbelievable tourism potential in the North Wes province.

The province is well positioned as a gateway to Gauteng and the SADC region

and it offers a variety of tourism products, ranging from water activities,

adventure, wildlife viewing, leisure, business and most of all the cultural

and heritage offerings,” she said.

The Gala Dinner which was hosted by Premier Modise was attended amongst

others by the Minister of Tourism Martinus Van SchalkwyK who was marking

the end of Tourism Month and celebrating 33RD World Tourim Day.

Minister Van Schalkwyk said tourism month 2013 would herald a new era for

domestic tourism in South Africa.

“it an era in which the whole nation will get out and experience the fun

and sheer wonder of a South African holiday,” he said.-TDN

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By Obakeng Maje

North West Premier Thandi Modise appeared before a SCOPA public hearing in the Madibeng Local Municipality Council Chambers to report to the Committee on the progress into investigations into the controversial “D Account”.

The D-Account falls under the control of the Premier of the Province in conjunction with the MEC of Local Government & Traditional Affairs and of the MEC of Finance.

The account collects monies in the form of royalties from platinum mines on the tribal lands in the province.

“The purpose of these royalties was to provide for development in these tribal areas for the benefit of the wider communities living on the land” DA John Franzsen said.

DA said over the years this account has seen deposits of over R500 million and monies were withdrawn at their own will with no control. The current balance now is approximately R100m.

“To make matters worse, the account has not been audited for the past 19 years” DA said.

The Premier in her submission to the Committee, which was meant to clarify the management of this account, failed to clarify any meaningful aspects regarding this, according to reports.

“She however admitted that she did not understand the working process of the D-account” Franzsen said.

“The DA can only after listening to the Premier come to the conclusion that

this account is clouded in a major cover-up”.

Modise suggested to the Committee that a closed meeting be held where she would arrange a delegation of “all concerned” to discuss and report on the D-account.

DA said the will monitor the developments into the investigation of the management of the account until the truth about its management is fully

disclosed.-TDN

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Johannesburg – The Currie Cup match between the Blue Bulls and Griquas in Kimberley on Friday may be billed as the battle of the bottom feeders, but both sides still have a mathematical chance of reaching the playoffs.

However, with only three rounds left in the league phase, a defeat for either side could deal a death blow to their chances.

The Blue Bulls, currently in fifth place on the log with 11 points, were one point above the Griquas, languishing in sixth place on 10 points – lying five and six points, respectively, behind the fourth-placed Cheetahs.

The Light Blues would be looking to take maximum points out of the match to stay in the running, and coach Pine Pienaar believed his side had the ability to do just that.

“We’ve shown in a few games, including last weekend against the Lions, we are able to put ourselves in a position to score four tries,” Pienaar said.

“The few games where we struggled, we didn’t have a great start. So we need to focus on getting a good start against Griquas.”

While the Bulls were beaten 35-26 in their match against the Golden Lions in Johannesburg last weekend, they managed to score four tries despite having two players yellow-carded in the first half.

Playing Griquas in the hostile Kimberley conditions would be an entirely different story, with the Northern Cape side desperate to break their six-match losing streak.

While the Peacock Blues had not won a match since their season opener against the Sharks, they could count themselves unlucky with a few matches going down to the wire.

They were fresh off a tight 19-13 defeat to Western Province last weekend after losing by one point against the log-leading Sharks in Kimberley two weeks ago.

Pienaar said while his charges demonstrated that they could score tries, they had to make the step-up in defence.

“I want a better defensive effort from the guys and our set pieces put us under massive pressure against the Lions,” he said.

“We know we are in a position where we have to score four tries. The biggest thing is that we know, it will sort itself out if we play better rugby, keep the ball longer in hand and work harder to recycle it.”

Bulls’ heavyweights Werner Kruger and David Bulbring would likely be used as battering rams against the Kimberley outfit and Pienaar said they had worked hard in training to improve the situation.

“Our biggest concern over the last couple of weeks were our ball carriers who didn’t do their jobs properly, Pienaar said.

“We struggled to get over the advantage line and, in many instances, we lost possession. If you keep the ball in hand it makes it much more difficult for the opposing team’s poachers to get their hands on the ball and, hopefully, it is something we’ve sorted out during the week.”

Griquas coach Pote Human said he believed his team was still in with a chance and they would not lie down and die too easily.

“We will be out to give the Bulls a very hard time,” Human said.

“We are still very much in it, even though the promotion and relegation games have become a hot topic.

“We still believe that we are in with a shot and thus will give everything to make the final four.”

Both sides traditionally try and dominate with their forward pack before giving their back line good front foot ball.

“We favour an approach with our forwards and guys like Marnus Schoeman and Rory Arnold will be key in helping us going forward,” he said.

“If we do manage to get our possession quick and clean our back line will definitely use that to their advantage.”

SAPA

Durban – Several hundred people are protesting in Durban’s southern Isipingo area, police said on Friday.

Captain Thulani Zwane said about 500 people were blocking roads with burning tyres.

Residents from an informal settlement known as Transit Camp were protesting over poor service delivery.

“Police cars were damaged when protesters threw stones at the police,” he said.

Police used teargas to disperse the crowd.

He said police were still in the area monitoring the situation, but it was reported to be calm.

A case of public violence had been opened and no injuries were reported.

SAPA

Johannesburg – The presidency is alarmed by comments that President Jacob Zuma’s weakness is that he reads too little, his spokesperson said on Friday. 

“The statement is incorrect, unfortunate, and misleading. 

It also serves to perpetuate stereotypes,” Mac Maharaj said in a statement.

Political analyst Richard Calland told the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday that Zuma did not read.

“It’s not that he can’t read, it’s that he doesn’t read and he doesn’t read the proper stuff; he doesn’t read Cabinet briefs, he doesn’t read stuff that is the meat and drink of modern, sophisticated government,” he said.

“It is not easy for one to have such disrespect of our president. The truth is we have a leader who encourages that… and who is, in many ways, the embodiment of anti-intellectualism.”

Maharaj said Calland had no knowledge of how Zuma worked, how he prepared for meetings, or what the aspects of his work were.

“It is therefore shocking that Mr Calland has taken gossip and rumours to be fact and has also decided to spread such rumours further,” he said.

Calland said Zuma’s predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, was the opposite and read everything, possibly too much for his own good because he paid too little attention to advisory voices around him.

Mbeki’s knowledge of important documents had, however, inspired confidence in the Cabinet.

“Cabinet ministers were constantly on their toes because they knew that they had a boss, a chairperson of Cabinet, who had read at least as much as they did, if not more, and knew their briefs as best, if not better, and that kept them on their guard.”

Members of Zuma’s Cabinet had more space to do what they wanted and some had consequently taken the opportunity to develop their portfolios.

“The problem, however, is this: that Zuma does not provide the backing that they need. He doesn’t back his ministers. They never know where they’re standing… it makes them jittery,” Calland said.

Calland teaches constitutional law at the University of Cape Town and heads the democratic governance and rights unit.Sapa

Johannesburg – The rand was stable against the dollar on Friday but the start of a strike at Anglo American Platinum’s [JSE:AMS] South African operations is likely to drag it lower.

The rand was at R9.9955/$ at 08:55, in line with its close in New York on Thursday.

Labour unrest in the local economy has hurt investor confidence, pushing the rand to four-year lows earlier this year.

The strike over job cuts at Amplats, the world’s top platinum producer, started this morning, a senior Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) official said .

Negotiations in the United States over the budget and increasing the federal debt ceiling will be closely watched by the market and the impasse could limit gains in the rand and government bonds.

US House of Representatives Republicans on Thursday refused to give in to President Barack Obama’s demand for straightforward bills to run the government beyond September 30 and to increase borrowing authority to avoid a historic default.

Government bonds weakened, with the yields on the 2026 and 2015 issues each up 2 basis points at 6.05% and 7.955% respectively.

“In the interim, the market appears to be in no man’s land until clarity is shed on the adjustment, if any, to the US debt ceiling,” Rand Merchant Bank analysts wrote in a note. 

“There may be scope to test higher levels while the uncertainty around the US debt ceiling lingers and diminishes global risk appetite.” Sapa