October 2004
Up one levelOctober 2004 news items are stored here.
De Lille to testify in Shaik trial
2004-10-03. Patricia de Lille, the woman who first made public allegations of corruption in the arms deal, will be a state witness in the trial of Durban businessman Schabir Shaik, but the jury is still out on whether Deputy President Jacob Zuma will be subpoenaed.
IEC electoral units 'would open door for rigged polls'
2004-10-07. The Independent Electoral Commission wants to abdicate its mandate to deliver free and fair elections and compromise South Africa's democracy, the Independent Democrats has alleged.
Mbeki warned of double standard in pay hike offer
2004-10-08. "But presidency is adamant that mooted 7% increase for public office bearers is not cast in stone"
Shaik show-down begins
2004-10-10. Durban - The corruption and fraud trial of deputy president Jacob Zuma's financial adviser and bosom friend, Schabir Shaik, gets under way in the Durban on Monday.
Minister to tackle department's financial woes
2004-10-10. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has called an urgent meeting with her nine provincial ministers and other senior officials in an attempt to resolve the financial woes in her department.
Mbeki in hot water over rape claims, HIV/Aids
2004-10-11. CAPE TOWN - President Thabo Mbeki will be called to account for his statements on rape and his failure to lead the national response against HIV/Aids when he faces questions in the National Assembly this month.
Mbete warns Scorpions of MPs' rights - (NPA has subpoenaed Woods, De Lille)
2004-10-13. CAPE TOWN National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has intervened in attempts by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to force MPs to testify in the fraud and corruption trial of businessman Schabir Shaik .
No live Shaik TV but highlights may get e.tv coverage
2004-10-13. DURBAN - Judge Hillary Squires yesterday threw out free-to-air broadcaster e.tv's application to broadcast live the trial of Schabir Shaik, but in a precedent- setting judgment he left the door open for live coverage of closing arguments and the judgment.
Woods, De Lille eager to testify in Shaik trial
2004-10-13. Woods, De Lille eager to testify in Shaik trial.
Sono knew little of Shaik's companies
2004-10-14. Durban - A former business associate of Schabir Shaik confessed on Thursday he had little or no idea about the activities of most of the companies listed at the time on his business card.
'Great South Africans' dumped
2004-10-15. The SABC has bowed to public pressure and cancelled its Great South Africans show.
MPs allowed to testify in Shaik trial
2004-10-15. National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete on Thursday granted two MPs permission to testify as State witnesses in the Schabir Shaik trial, currently underway in Durban.
Shaik kept business to himself, court told
2004-10-15. DURBAN - A former associate of businessman Schabir Shaik admitted in the high court here yesterday that he had little idea of the nature of the companies in the Nkobi Holdings group, of which Shaik had appointed him an executive director.
I'll go to jail to protect sources, says De Lille
2004-10-15. ID leader Patricia de Lille says she will go to jail if necessary to protect her sources when she testifies in the corruption trial of Schabir Shaik.
SHAIK COMPANY 'WAS FOR ENRICHMENT, NOT EMPOWERMENT'
2004-10-15. Schabir Shaik's Nkobi Holdings was not an empowerment company, merely an enrichment vehicle for Shaik himself, the Durban High Court heard on Friday. This was the opinion of the state's first witness, Professor Themba Sono, at the end of week one of Shaik's fraud and corruption trial.
Sono: Shaik was the king of the hill
2004-10-15. 'My politics and my skin colour are not for rent," Themba Sono has said at the trial of Schabir Shaik. By Estelle Ellis and Jeremy Gordin.
Airline to be sued over extra fee for the disabled
2004-10-20. Nationwide Airlines has rejected claims that it discriminates unfairly against disabled people by charging them an extra fee.
HANDICAPPED SOUTH AFRICANS THREATEN LEGAL ACTION AGAINST AIRLINE
2004-10-21. Cape Town - A group of handicapped South Africans has threatened legal action against a local airline for charging extra fees to passengers who need assistance boarding, a member of parliament said Wednesday.
Gallic temper, fawning, fear and faxes at arms bidder
2004-10-21. Shaik secretaries tell of office tantrums. DURBAN Two secretaries told harrowing stories yesterday at the corruption trial of businessman Schabir Shaik about working in the office of French arms company Thomson CSF a place of tantrums, fawning over politicians, encrypted fax machines and more document shredders than computers.
Question time part of the oversight role of House
2004-10-21. President and parliament have a date today for the first time in almost a year. It is a testing moment for both the head of state and the legislators, and so it should be.
Heath listed as witness in Shaik trial
2004-10-28. Heath listed as witness in Shaik trial. DURBAN - The former head of the Heath investigative unit, Willem Heath, is one of the people the state is expected to call to the stand in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial here.
