DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Man Arrested on 77 Counts of Murder in Johannesburg Building Fire
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Lynsey Chutel | John Eligon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The South African police have arrested a man who confessed to having caused a fire that killed 77 people in a derelict building in downtown Johannesburg last year after a drug dispute led him to strangle a man and set the body alight, a police spokeswoman and a victims’ advocate said on Wednesday. The man, a 29-year-old whose name has not been released, was arrested on Tuesday on 77 counts of murder and 120 counts of attempted murder, said Col. Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, a spokeswoman for the police in Gauteng Province, which includes Johannesburg. Colonel Nevhuhulwi initially gave the figure as 76 counts, but then clarified that it was 77. The man made his confession during a hearing of a special commission investigating the fire, which tore through an overcrowded four-story building in the early hours of Aug. 31. The commission was later told that the exact death toll was unclear because of how badly some of the bodies were burned.

Persons: Dimakatso, Nevhuhulwi, incriminated, ”, Andy Chinnah, Norton Rose Fulbright Organizations: South, Norton Rose Locations: Johannesburg, Gauteng Province

☆ Oscar Pistorius granted parole, to be released from prison nearly 11 years after murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Oscar Pistorius, the disgraced South African Paralympian who murdered his girlfriend on Valentine's Day 10 years ago, was granted parole at a hearing on Friday and will be released. Pistorius was told at a hearing in Pretoria, the administrative capital where he has been held, that he will be released on Jan. 5, 2024. Tania Koen, a lawyer who has represented the Steenkamps throughout the parole process and Pistorius' appeals, confirmed to NBC News that parole was granted. As a condition of the parole process, Pistorius met with Steenkamp's father, Barry, in June 2022. When he shot Steenkamp he had assumed it was a burglar, he said.

Persons: Oscar Pistorius, Reeva Steenkamp, Pistorius, Steenkamp, Tania Koen, wouldn't, Steenkamp's, Barry Organizations: South, Valentine's, NBC News, Olympics Locations: Pretoria, Gauteng Province, Johannesburg

☆ Johannesburg fire: what are 'hijacked buildings' and why are they dangerous?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A firefighter works at the scene of a deadly fire which occurred in the early hours of the morning in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Shiraaz Mohamed Acquire Licensing RightsJOHANNESBURG, Aug 31 (Reuters) - More than 70 people were killed overnight when fire raged through a five-storey Johannesburg apartment block that may have been rented out illegally, known as a "hijacked building":WHAT ARE HIJACKED BUILDINGS AND WHEN DID THE ISSUE BEGIN? In some instances, the syndicates occupied buildings with fraudulent title deeds, said Angela Rivers, general manager at Johannesburg Property Owners and Managers Association. Rivers said she was aware of 57 known hijacked buildings in the Central Business District alone, mostly owned by the city or the provincial government. Lebogang Isaac Maile, the head of the Human Settlements department for Gauteng province, said 23 hijacked buildings had been identified in Johannesburg as in need of development.

Persons: Shiraaz Mohamed, Angela Rivers, Rivers, Kabelo Gwamanda, Edward Molopi, Lebogang Isaac Maile, Bhargav Acharya, Catherine Schenck, Tim Cocks, Nick Macfie Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Association, Central Business District, Economic Rights Institute, Thomson Locations: Johannesburg, South Africa, Rights JOHANNESBURG, South Africa's, Gauteng

The government, rights activists say, has prioritized building private apartments and student accommodations, which are more profitable than public housing. “People are occupying these buildings because there’s nowhere else where they can access the inner city,” said Khululiwe Bhengu, a senior attorney with the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, a nonprofit. The government, rights activists say, has prioritized the building of private rental units and student accommodations, which are more profitable than the public housing for which poor residents fill long waiting lists. These buildings have slowly filled up with those who could not afford to live elsewhere, she said, as poorer residents found makeshift solutions the government was not providing. “There’s a lack of political will to keep poor people in the inner city,” she said.

Persons: ”, Khululiwe Bhengu, Thami Hukwe, Bhengu Organizations: Economic Rights Institute of Locations: Johannesburg, Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, “, Africa, ”, Gauteng Province

☆ Johannesburg residents stunned by once-in-a-decade snowfall
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Children play in the snow at Laerskool Orion, a school located in Brackenhurst, a suburb south of Johannesburg in South Africa, July 10, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe SibekoJOHANNESBURG, July 10 (Reuters) - Residents of South Africa's biggest city Johannesburg were stunned by the first snowfall in over a decade on Monday, with some children seeing snow for the first time. While parts of South Africa regularly receive snowfall over the southern hemisphere winter months around June to August, Johannesburg last saw snow in August 2012. South of the city in Brackenhurst, a Reuters photographer saw children making snowballs and snow angels in a school's grounds. But for others, like delivery driver Chenjerai Murape whose motorbike would not start, the snow made life difficult.

Persons: Jennifer Banda, Chenjerai, Snow, Tannur Anders, Thando Hlophe, Catherine Schenck, Shafiek, Alexander Winning Organizations: REUTERS, Nelson, Reuters, African Weather Service, Thomson Locations: Brackenhurst, Johannesburg, South Africa, Siphiwe, JOHANNESBURG, South Africa's, Gauteng, Pretoria, Mpumalanga province

☆ At Least 16 Are Killed in Suspected Gas Leak in South Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

JOHANNESBURG — At least 16 people were killed in a gas leak at an informal housing encampment on the outskirts of Johannesburg, the police said on Wednesday. An emergency official said the deaths resulted from a leak in a cylinder of gas at the encampment, called the Angelo informal settlement, near the district of Boksburg in Gauteng Province. The South African Police Service said two other people were taken to the hospital for treatment, according to The Associated Press. Emergency services officials initially said that as many as 24 people had died, but later revised the death toll. A spokesman for the emergency services, William Ntladi, told local news outlets that officials had received a call about an explosion about 8 p.m. local time, but found instead that there had been a leak.

Persons: Angelo, William Ntladi Organizations: South African Police Service, Associated Press Locations: JOHANNESBURG, Johannesburg, Boksburg, Gauteng Province

☆ Suspected gas leak kills at least 16 in South African informal settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Onlookers gather at the scene following a suspected gas leak thought to be linked to illegal mining, in the Angelo shack settlement, near Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, South Africa July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe SibekoJOHANNESBURG, July 5 (Reuters) - At least 16 people died in an informal settlement near Boksburg east of Johannesburg following a suspected gas leak, the head of the provincial government said on Wednesday after a recount of fatalities. The team has assured me that they have done a recount," Lesufi said. The previously reported number of deaths was 24. South African media reported that the gas leak could have been linked to suspected illegal mining activities.

Persons: Premier Panyaza Lesufi, Lesufi, it's, Anait Miridzhanian, Olivia Kumwenda, Bill Berkrot, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, South Africa's Gauteng, Premier, SABC, Thomson Locations: Angelo, Boksburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, Siphiwe, JOHANNESBURG, South Africa's

☆ South Africa to investigate US allegation of arms shipment to Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said on May 11 that he was confident that a Russian ship, which docked at a naval base in Simonstown in the Western Cape in December last year, took aboard weapons from South Africa. An allegation South Africa has since denied. The allegations have caused a diplomatic row between the U.S., South Africa and Russia and called into question South Africa's non-aligned position on the Ukraine conflict. South Africa says it is impartial and has abstained from voting on U.N. resolutions on the war. "The President decided to establish the enquiry because of the seriousness of the allegations, the extent of public interest and the impact of this matter on South Africa's international relations," said the statement.

Search resuls for: "Gauteng Province"

8 mentions found