The State yesterday urged the Wynberg Regional Court to refuse bail for slain entertainer Taliep Petersen's widow, Najwa, as well as for one of the three co-accused in the murder, Abdoer Emjedi.

According to the Financial Mail, SA land affairs officials are studying a World Bank report that recommends scrapping many of the laws regulating low-cost housing and township development.

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) yesterday dismissed claims that it had reached an agreement to end a strike by metal and engineering workers and said the strike would continue until employers had made a substantial offer.

The Johannesburg High Court yesterday handed down an interim order barring Ekurhuleni Metro Police Chief Robert McBride from intimidating, harassing or threatening three metro policemen.

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has called for a deepening of corporate governance and accountability. His comments coincided with more details being released on SA’s African Peer Review Mechanism report, which also emphasised a need to improve corporate governance, writes E-Brief News.

Women and children's rights groups have criticised the police crime statistics showing a decrease in rapes and indecent assaults and have called for an overhaul of the country's Safety and Security and Justice departments.

Most unions have signed government’s multi-term salary agreement and this is binding on all parties who have not yet signed, Public Service Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said yesterday, according to a report in The Witness.

Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has admitted he is concerned about the increase in murder, bank robberies and aggravated robbery that has plagued SA in the past year, writes E-Brief News.

A 32-year-old HIV-positive AIDS activist who filed rape charges against Jacob Zuma has been granted asylum in the Netherlands.

Psychiatrist Dr Barry Fortuin told the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court yesterday that Najwa Petersen, accused of murdering her husband Taliep, was a suicide risk and Pollsmoor Prison would be a totally unsuitable environment for her.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said yesterday that an investigative unit had been appointed to finalise the drunk-driving probe against Ekhurleni Metro police chief Robert McBride, which had been delayed by new evidence.

Child Welfare South Africa has welcomed the implementation of some sections of the Children's Act, but expressed concern about giving young children access to contraceptives, notes a Mail & Guardian Online report.

Although the Department of Safety and Security’s budget is to rise to R43bn in the next three years as police numbers increase to 190 000 by 2010, Minister Charles Nqakula says this won’t be sufficient to reduce the rate of crime.

The African National Congress is set to confront the growing disquiet about the gap between rich and poor at a policy conference this week.

Gale-force winds of up to 60km/h have hit the Cape Peninsula causing damage to houses and shacks. The winds ripped the roofs off almost a dozen shacks in Groot Brak River, according to a report on the Mail & Guardian site.

At least 70 people were airlifted off the roof of a burning building in Durban on Monday night as flames ripped through the 10th and 11th floor, according to an SABC News report.

The Democratic Alliance has called for a thorough public debate on the issue of nuclear power, before the government takes a final decision about building a second conventional nuclear power station.

Plans are in the pipeline for tougher measures in the state’s land restitution programme, according to indications by Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana in Business Report.

Four members of the Premier Soccer League executive committee stand to earn more than R30m each in commission, after awarding pay-television channel SuperSport the lucrative broadcast rights deal, says a Sunday Times report.

The developers of an exclusive apartment block along Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard (sold at R25m a unit) have illegally blasted and excavated a strip of coastline to create better views for wealthy residents – and now they face legal action and a demand to rehabilitate the land.

Public service unions say they are not yet ready to sign the government’s final wage proposal, which includes a 7.5% increase.

A new survey shows that three out of five ANC supporters would stick with the party should its alliance with the Cosatu and the SA Communist Party break up.

The good news under the ANC government is that South Africans have become wealthier, and there are fewer very poor people, even though there is strong evidence that the gap between the poor and the rich is widening.

The Proudly South African campaign has dismissed reports it has been 'disowned' by government.

The Elimination and Prevention of the Re-Emergence of Slums Bill was passed unopposed yesterday (Thursday) in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, notes a report in The Witness.