The events of the past few days regarding Panjo, the tiger, which escaped from an inappropriate vehicle whilst being transported from Groblersdal to Springs, have drawn the public’s attention. The NSPCA is relieved that the animal has been recovered and is unharmed.
The News24 poll has revealed that the public supported the opposition of wild animals [...]

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Catalonia bans bull fights

Editor July 28, 2010 Animals

It was announced on Wednesday 28 July 2010 that Catalonia has become the first part of mainland Spain to ban bullfighting. A 135-member regional parliament voted to approve a ban proposed by animal rights activists.
The message sent out is that bullfights are not an intrinsic or untouchable part of Spanish culture and identity but [...]

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AfriForum prepares to take legal action against Eskom

Alana Bailey July 23, 2010 News & Politics

AfriForum has joined the fight to keep the Mafube municipality’s electricity switched on. According to Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg, AfriForum spokesperson on local government, AfriForum will act on behalf of the Frankfort community. A letter was handed to Eskom yesterday, in which Eskom is requested to give the assurance that it will not suspend [...]

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AfriForum ready to challenge McBride appointment in court

Alana Bailey July 21, 2010 News & Politics

AfriForum has instructed its legal team to prepare to have the possible appointment of Robert McBride as Tshwane’s metro police chief set aside in court, should the Tshwane Metro Council decide to appoint him. This comes after it became known that McBride was included in a short list of five candidates for this position.
AfriForum also [...]

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Black Stars, Black Stars shining bright

Editor July 21, 2010 South Africa

Fellow Africans! My name is Grant, I am from South Africa. The 2010 world cup has been an exciting and joyful time for this country and continent. It has brought a unity that has never been seen in Africa. It has brought brothers and sisters from different, races, cultures, languages and countries together in celebration [...]

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Specialist units demise – increased rhino poaching?

Alana Bailey July 15, 2010 News & Politics

According to AfriForum, the disbanding of specialist police units is partly to blame for the increase in rhino poaching.  The former Endangered Species Protection Unit was disbanded together with the other police special units.  According to media reports, 126 rhinos have already been slaughtered this year.  That is six more than the total number of [...]

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Paul the octopus

Maureen Cram July 14, 2010 Animals

This from the SPCA… Paul, the match-predicting octopus, rose to international fame as a result of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. The National Council of SPCAs hopes his celebrity status will lead to a greater awareness of the Cephalopod family: – which includes chokka and octopus. In addition to being intelligent creatures (with reputed [...]

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Even tax collection needs to respect due process

Editor July 14, 2010 Finance

SARS needs to respect the rule of law before it starts dipping into consumers’ bank accounts, according to the National Consumer Forum.
Thami Bolani, the chairman of the NCF, said that recent threats by SARS had unnerved consumers because it was not clear what processes were in place to protect them against unilateral action by SARS.
SARS [...]

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Mandela Day 2010

Editor July 14, 2010 News & Politics

Mandela Day is an annual celebration of Nelson Mandela’s life and a global call to action for people to recognise their individual power to make an imprint and change the world around them.
A global movement for positive change begins with small actions. As each person acts, they fuel momentum toward positive change, raising awareness and [...]

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Doublethink

FWdeKlerkFoundation July 14, 2010 News & Politics

In George Orwell’s classic, 1984, ‘doublethink’ is the ability to hold two diametrically opposing views on the same topic at the same time.  As Orwell put it “to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy.”  Doublethink appears to have been [...]

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