Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Cabinet agreed yesterday to extend the deployment of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers in various peacekeeping missions on the continent. The deployment of 22 SANDF members helping with integration and training in the DRC will also be extended by a year, government communications head Themba Maseko told a media briefing at parliament after the cabinet’s fortnightly meeting.

Mozambique soccer team, Desportivo de Maputo, will lodge a formal complaint with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for allegedly being humiliated during a recent visit to South Africa, Vista News reported yesterday. The chairman of the team, Michel Grispos, said the team was booked into a hotel which “did not have good conditions and it was not possible for journalists to cover the event”.

Ban on elephant safaris

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hopes that government’s proposed elephant management regulations will lead to elephant-back safaris being abolished. The draft rules, released for comment last week, propose stopping the capture from the wild of anything other than orphan elephant calves. “The NSPCA opposes elephant-back safaris and would like to see these practices abolished,” said NSPCA executive director Marcelle Meredith in a statement yesterday.

Tax amnesty deadline

The tax amnesty for businesses with a turnover of less than R10 million per annum expires on May 31 this year, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) warned on Monday. To date SARS had received close to 18 000 applications for amnesty, said spokesman Adrian Lackay.

Twenty people were injured when a petrol tanker went out of control and crashed into five vehicles on the N4 east of Pretoria yesterday morning. Tshwane Metro Police spokeswoman Louise Brits said none of the motorists and passengers sustained serious injuries. They were taken to various hospitals in Pretoria. The accident happened on the N4 heading west between Rossouw and Watermeyer offramps.

Restore old SA schools

Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane is leading a project to revitalise South Africa’s historic schools. “We want to restore and preserve these schools for future generations,” said Ndungane yesterday. “We want them to be centres of cultural and educational excellence, rooted in their communities, feeding into the universities, a source of pride and leadership for our children and our children’s children.”