Nigerian journalist kidnapped

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WEB_PHOTO_VANGUARD_KIDNAP_31082015

LAGOS – Gunmen in Nigeria’s southern oil city Port Harcourt have kidnapped a senior journalist working for a private national newspaper, police and the daily announced on Monday.

Donu Kogbara, a renowned columnist for Vanguard newspaper, was abducted Sunday morning from outside her residence in the southern city, which is capital of Rivers State, the daily said.

Ahmad Muhammad, police spokesman for Rivers State, said efforts were under way to rescue her.

“We are making serious efforts to rescue her alive. We have our strategies to achieve this but I am not at liberty to disclose them to the public,” he told AFP.

For more http://www.enca.com

Khuli Chana’s legal bills increase as police refuse to pay

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JOHANNESBURG – Nearly two years on, and rapper Khuli Chana’s battle with the SAPS over his wrongful shooting by an officer is far from over.

Police have refused to pay out the approximately R2-million settlement sought by Chana’s lawyers, despite agreeing to a deal last year.

Chana’s civil claim – which includes damages linked to the police wrongly accusing him of attempted murder – will now be heard in court next year.

Chana survived the shooting, but his troubles were far from over.

The police then claimed to have video footage, which has never been produced, of Chana trying to run officers over with his car.

* For more on this story, watch the video gallery above.

(Credit- eNCA)

Zuma a brainless bonus – Malema

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President Jacob Zuma was a brainless bonus voters gave to the story of exile and Robben Island, but that time is over now, EFF leader Julius Malema said.

http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/Zuma-a-brainless-bonus-Malema-20150830

Boko Haram is trying to hit Lagos – Nigerian official

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A Nigerian security official says the Islamic extremist rebels of Boko Haram are trying to spread their violent campaign across Nigeria including Lagos, the country’s largest city.

http://m.news24.com/news24/Africa/News/Boko-Haram-is-trying-to-hit-Lagos-Nigerian-official-20150831

First African woman banished in apartheid honoured

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The unveiling of the burial and commemoration site of Makwena Matlala, the first African woman banished by the apartheid regime, is set to take place in Limpopo to culminate Women’s Month.

http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/First-African-woman-banished-in-apartheid-honoured-20150831

DA has ‘Big Five’ at it’s sight

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Tlokwe – The Democratic Alliance has “the big five” in its sights for next year’s local government elections, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said on Saturday.


File photo: Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane. Picture: Giordano Stolley. 
(Credit: ANA)

“We have identified five local governments where we have a real chance to either increase our lead or to take over from the ANC,” he told a gathering in Tlokwe, North West, as part of his national Vision 2029 tour.

Most of the talk until now had been about Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane, and Johannesburg. “But the fifth big municipality that we’re aiming for is this very municipality here in Tlokwe,” Maimane said.

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

Who dares to judge the judges?

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The space occupied by the executive and judiciary is a delicate balance that needs to be jealously guarded, writes Sipho Seepe.

The Constitutional Court in session after the DA appealed against the Electoral Court judgment on SMSs sent to potential voters stating that President Jacob Zuma stole public money to build his Nkandla home was based on false information. File picture: Boxer Ngwenya. 
(Credit: INDEPENDENT MEDIA)

Johannesburg – Stripped of all the hype and the predictable hysteria, there is nothing remarkable about the meeting between the judiciary and the executive. What is remarkable is that it has taken so long to happen. Tensions between these branches of government are not unusual in a democracy.

It is not uncommon for the judiciary to be accused of straying into the executive space.

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

Poaching: SA must turn the tide

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Pretoria – The latest figures on rhinos poached in South Africa are a cause for concern, South African National Parks (SANParks) chief executive Fundisile Mketeni said on Sunday.


At least 749 rhino have been killed in South Africa this year, compared to the same period last year. Picture: Adrian Steirn. 
(Credit: AP)

“Of course we are worried; that is why all the (Cabinet) ministers are here. It is because of that worry and also to articulate all the interventions to stop the tide,” he told reporters at a briefing in Pretoria at which Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa presented the latest figures on rhinos killed by poachers.

Those attending included Police Minister Nathi Nhleko and Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

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

Migrants truck meets dead end

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Vienna – The 71 people found dead in an abandoned refrigeration lorry in Austria had been crammed in, five to a square metre, police said on Sunday, as initial forensic tests indicated they had suffocated.

Forensic police officers inspect a parked truck in which dozens of migrants were found dead, on a motorway near Parndorf, Austria, on August 27, 2015. Picture: Heinz-Peter Bader. 
(Credit: REUTERS)

A baby girl and three other children were among the dead in truck discovered on Thursday on a highway from the Hungarian border to Vienna, where it had been left 24 hours earlier.

The victims are thought to be refugees from Syria or possibly Afghanistan, part of an huge wave of migrants pushing through Europe that is sorely testing the European Union’s ability to cope.

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

Medupi: Eskom’s R105bn project

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Lephalale – President Jacob Zuma opened South Africa’s first new power plant in 20 years on Sunday with a warning that the country’s perennial energy shortages were hampering economic growth.


President Jacob Zuma (right) shakes hands with Eskom’s acting chief, Brian Molefe, as Lynne Brown (extreme left) looks on during the official opening of the Medupi power plant on August 30, 2015. Picture: Elmond Jiyane. 
(Credit: GCIS)

Construction on the six-unit, 4 764 MW Medupi plant near Lephalale, about 350km north of Johannesburg, was started in 2007 but the first 794 megawatts (MW) only came online this week after delays due to strikes, technical issues and cost overruns.

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