THURSDAY, 3.30PM AN African National Congress security guard on Thursday told the Shell House inquest that he heard one of his colleagues firing an AK-47 rifle at a crowd of advancing marchers after their commander gave an order to open fire. The Johannesburg High Court inquest, presided over by Judge Robert Nugent, is probing the […]
THURSDAY, 5.00PM NORTH-WEST provincial auditor general Bryant Madliwa on Thursday released a report detailing hundreds of millions of rands in unauthorised spending, irregularities in expenses claims, missing vouchers and large-scale theft. The report on the auditor general’s investigation shows that the provincial premier’s office alone was unable to produce documentation to support R3,5-million in spending. […]
THURSDAY, 5.30PM FORMER Zimbabwe president Canaan Banana has been fired from his voluntary, part-time teaching post at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare. University authorities on Thursday confirmed that Banana, 61, a methodist priest and professor of religious studies, classics, and philosophy, was discharged and had already vacated his office in the arts faculty, where […]
THURSDAY, 3.00PM LAURENT KABILA, self-proclaimed president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), was due to be officially inaugurated as head of state on Thursday. In terms of a 15-point constitutional decree signed by Kabila on Wednesday, he will assume full executive, legislative and military powers until a new constitution is adopted. None […]
WEDNESDAY, 9.00AM PARLIAMENT’S finance committee has thrown out Trevor Manuel’s proposed changes to the tax on housing benefits — because it could hurt low and middle income earners who would lose an estimated 20% of their net income. The amendment was proposed to close a widely abused loophole, but critics have warned that it imposes […]
WEDNESDAY, 5.30PM HOUSING Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, in a parliamentary interpellation on Wednesday, said she had encouraged her director-general Billy Cobbett to approach the auditor-general with any concerns he had about the Mpumalanga Rural Housing Project. The minister’s statement was in sharp contrast to remarks she made in a press conference last week called to explain […]
WEDNESDAY, 3.00PM IN continuing testimony before the inquest into the deaths of 19 people during an Inkatha march in March 1994, the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday heard that the number of staff guarding the African National Congress’s Shell House headquarters was doubled and additional firearms issued after promised police reinforcements failed to arrive. Shell […]
WEDNESDAY, 1.00PM THE Democratic Republic of the Congo’s national radio station has announced a ban on meetings by political parties, public protests and any public meetings. The ban, similar to those Laurent Kabila imposed in areas under his control during the civil war, is for an indefinite period. Opposition political parties, which have planned marches […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.00AM TRADE and Industry Minister Alec Erwin has given Hyundai Motor Company’s Botswana assembly plant 48 months to comply with local content regulations or face tough action. Erwin said action would be taken, even though it would likely cause “a major clash between the SA and Botswana governments”. “In the short term, certain actions […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.30AM LONRHO considered Johannesburg Consolidated Investments’ merger proposals at a board meeting on Tuesday, but said no statement will be issued. “We have nothing to add to last week’s statement which confirmed we are in preliminary talks about the financial benefits of a possible combination,” a company representative said. London newspapers reported that Lonrho […]