Pretoria: South African President Jacob Zuma was not involved in a wedding scandal in which a private plane of the affluent and well-connected Indian Gupta family landed at a sensitive military airbase, an investigation revealed on Sunday, reported Xinhua.
"In any event, the president is not involved in authorizing the landing or not landing of aircraft at airports," Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Jeff Radebe told reporters in Pretoria.
There had been speculation that the Gupta family which allegedly maintains good relations with Zuma and the ruling African National Congress might have got permission from Zuma to land its plane at the Waterkloof military airbase near Pretoria on April 30.
The Gupta family landed a chartered plane at the airbase, carrying about 200 family members and friends while on way to Sun City, the North West Province to attend a wedding of Vega Gupta, a niece of the powerful Gupta businessmen who own several companies including Sahara Computers and the pro-government New Age newspaper....
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04:16 AM, May 20, 2013
Mumbai: Dale Steyn, the world's most feared pacer, on Tuesday backed his country South Africa to come out trumps in the three-Test series against India to be held at the end of this year, but was also wary of the quality of the opposing batting line-up. "We have got a pretty good Test side at the moment, to be fair, and we play quite well at home. I would like...
05:08 PM, May 14, 2013
Johannesburg: Alviro Petersen has replaced fellow opening batsman Graeme Smith in South Africa's squad for next month's Champions Trophy. Head selector Andrew Hudson says Petersen is "the obvious choice" to come in for former limited-overs captain Smith, who was ruled out of the ODI tournament to have surgery on his injured left ankle. Petersen is currently playing for Somerset in English county cricket and is familiar with local conditions ahead...
02:58 PM, May 14, 2013
Cape Town: Less than a year after climbing to the top of the Test rankings, South African cricket is suddenly faced with an uncertain future with respected coach Gary Kirsten set to depart and two top players at a crossroads in their careers. Kirsten's decision not to extend his contract when it expires in August comes as captain Graeme Smith battles recurring ankle problems and all-rounder Jacques Kallis admits his...
03:05 PM, May 13, 2013
Johannesburg: Russell Domingo has been handed the huge task of taking over from World Cup winner Gary Kirsten as the new coach of South Africa's cricket team. Domingo was promoted from his position as assistant less than 24 hours after Kirsten announced he would not be taking up an offer to renew his contract when it ends in August, sending shockwaves through South African sport. Domingo, 38, will be given...
03:23 PM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: South Africa will tour Sri Lanka for a limited-overs series in July-August of this year, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed on Friday. Sri Lanka will host South Africa for five ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals between July 20 and August 6. The five ODIs will be played between July 20 and 31 in Colombo and Kandy followed by three T20Is on August 2, 4 and 6 in Colombo...
06:57 PM, May 10, 2013
Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa says national coach Gary Kirsten has decided not to renew his contract and will leave his role this year. CSA made the announcement on Friday. The former batsman led South Africa to the top of the Test rankings after his appointment on a two-year contract in August 2011. CSA says Kirsten informed the board he'll be leaving and cited "family reasons" for his decision. Kirsten has...
04:01 PM, May 10, 2013
Johannesburg: Graeme Smith has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy in order to have surgery on a chronic left ankle problem, leaving South Africa without two senior batsmen at next month's tournament after Jacques Kallis made himself unavailable for personal reasons. Smith needs surgery after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his ankle and will also have to rest for four to six months, South Africa team manager...
02:37 PM, May 09, 2013
Johannesburg: Five South African officials, including police and military commanders, have been suspended after a chartered plane carrying about 200 guests from India to a lavish family wedding was allowed to land at a South African air force base, the government said on Friday. The scandal, in which the passengers allegedly bypassed customs procedures on their way to a gaudy entertainment complex, has angered many South Africans who see the...
10:38 AM, May 04, 2013
Cape Town: Jacques Kallis was left out of South Africa's squad for the Champions Trophy on Thursday after making himself unavailable for personal reasons, and for the first time in years the veteran all-rounder won't play at a major one-day tournament for his country. Head selector Andrew Hudson said South Africa's management respected Kallis' wish to be left out of the 15-man group for what are so far undisclosed reasons....
03:05 PM, May 02, 2013
New Delhi: India will begin their campaign in the the last edition of the ICC Champions Trophy with their Group B match against South Africa at Cardiff on June 6. The biennial tournament is being wound up as the ICC is unable to slot it in the crowded cricketing calendar. India play their second group game against the West Indies at the Oval on June 11 before running into neighbours...
12:28 PM, May 01, 2013
Johannesburg: The public broadcast of a video showing South African President and African National Congress (ANC) President Jacob Zuma and other officials visiting ailing anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela at his home in Johannesburg has drawn severe criticism from public. Social media and talk radio shows have been buzzed with angry comments that the party had been disrespectful by showing footage of Mandela, who is looking vacant, grey-skinned and unsmiling. The...
11:03 AM, May 01, 2013
Durban: An Indian-origin schoolboy was stabbed to death and his brother injured in a gang attack after a spat over a girl. Dareshan Moodley, 16, was stabbed to death and his brother Revarsheen, 18, is recovering in a hospital here after they were stabbed, beaten and left for dead in a street in the mainly-Indian suburb of Chatsworth. It was the second attack on Dareshan. He survived in the first...
05:43 PM, Apr 30, 2013
Johannesburg: Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has appeared on television for the first time in almost a year, with South African President Jacob Zuma saying the ailing leader was in "good shape." Led by Zuma, an African National Congress delegation met the 94-year-old statesman at his residence on Monday. Local television networks later broadcast footage of the meeting that took place at Mandela's home here. "He's looking very good, he's in...
02:53 PM, Apr 30, 2013
Mumbai: The final Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in June in England and Wales, is to be picked by the national selectors here on May 4, the Cricket Board announced on Monday. The five-man selection panel headed by Sandeep Patil will prune the list of 30 probables already selected to half its size for the June 6-23 tournament. The selectors had dropped senior players Virender...
04:54 PM, Apr 29, 2013
Kingston: South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs, the first man in history to hit six sixes in a single over in international cricket, has become the latest player to sign up for this year's Caribbean Premier league. Gibbs achieved the feat in the Caribbean, in St Kitts during the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, when he dispatched Netherlands leg-spinner Daan van Bunge over the ropes six times in a row. And...
03:11 PM, Apr 27, 2013
Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa says JP Duminy is on course to be fit for the Champions Trophy after his six-month rehabilitation for a ruptured left Achilles tendon he sustained during a warm-down session last year. CSA says allrounder Duminy should return to full fitness by the end of May, just in time for the June 6-23 limited overs tournament in England and Wales. Duminy was injured on South Africa's test...
12:49 AM, Apr 25, 2013
Chennai: Former South Africa pacer Allan Donald is in awe of Dale Steyn and says had he bowled alongside the current world number one pace merchant from his country, the two would have formed the most lethal attack. Donald is presently employed as coach with IPL franchise Pune Warriors. "I wish I did. If I were to bowl with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, we would have formed the most...
02:48 PM, Apr 16, 2013
New Delhi: The six Indian nationals injured in a shooting in the Central African Republic in March have been brought here this morning and are receiving treatment in AIIMS. The injured were brought in a special French military flights from Chad, where they had been receiving medical treatment earlier, sources in External Affairs Ministry said. The Indians, transferred straight from the airforce station to AIIMS where arrangements were made to...
10:00 AM, Apr 15, 2013
Washington: The International Monetary Fund has announced that it is recognising Somalia's new government after a 22-year break in relations with the once-chaotic country, part of a general push by the United States, United Nations and the West toward encouraging rehabilitation there. The US formally recognised the African nation's new government in January the first time the US had recognised a Somali government since 1991, when warlords overthrew longtime dictator...
10:30 AM, Apr 13, 2013
