Draft codes of good practice on empowerment soon to be released, and other brief reports ...

* A private arbitration hearing on the non-implementation by Denel of a wage increase agreed to last year at the Metal Engineering Industries Bargaining Council has failed to resolve the dispute between the defence parastatal and unions. [red]- Business Report[/red] * Four people appeared briefly in the Wynberg Regional Court yesterday on counts including fraud and money laundering connected to the liquidated LeisureNet group. Former joint LeisureNet CEs, Peter Gardener and Rodney Mitchell, were joined in the dock for the first time by Austrian citizen Hans Moser, and Susan Mitchell. They were released on bail and the case was provisionally postponed to January 28 for trial. [red]- Business Day[/red] * The Port Elizabeth Magistrates\' Court has sentenced unemployed teenager Libokazi Qwemeshe to 12 years in prison for killing her 11-month-old son by suffocation. Qwemeshe was also given 20 months suspended for defrauding her mother. [red]- The Herald [/red] * A former SA peacekeeper will appear before a SA Military Court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on charges of sexual misconduct. [red]- Cape Times[/red] * The mother of a mentally handicapped girl who was allegedly gang-raped has cried foul after hearing that the case was withdrawn in court without her knowledge. The mother claims that no-one kept her up to date on the case\'s progress. [red]- The Herald[/red] * George Marr, whose common law wife and unborn baby died during an emergency crisis at the Dora Nginza Hospital, is suing the Eastern Cape Health Department for R350 000. Crucial time delays allegedly on the part of the ambulance services and the non-availability of a doctor, are believed to have contributed to the deaths. [red]- The Herald[/red] * Prison warder Mlungisi Ishmael Msibi (34) has been granted bail of R5 000 in a Pretoria District Court yesterday in connection with the deaths of two prison officials and two inmates in a foiled escape bid from the city\'s C-Max jail last month. His co-accused, warder Herman Makongela Makhubela (32), was refused bail. [red]- News24[/red] * Jabulani Moyo (22) appeared briefly in the Johannesburg Magistrates\' Court yesterday where he is facing provisional charges of murder, aggravated robbery and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition in connection with the killing of Lord of the Dance production member Darryl Kempster in June. Moyo will return to court on December 13 for a bail application. [red]- News24[/red] * A three-month amnesty period to hand in any illegal firearms and ammunition begins on January 1, the Safety and Security Department has announced. [red]- The Herald[/red] * The Democratic Alliance at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature handed a Bill to the Acting Premier, Nomvula Mokonyane, yesterday titled the Red Tape Reduction Bill. It aims to reduce the effect cost of regulatory compliance for small business in SA. [red]- Moneyweb[/red]