Yearly Archives: 1999

THE cost of Botswana’s peacekeeping operation in Lesotho was 4,2-million pula (R5,5-million) by the end of November, a Botswana Defence Force spokesperson said on Monday. Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Molefe said Botswana would foot the bill. There was still no date for the withdrawal of the country’s troops, sent to Lesotho in September last year as part […]

ENGEN Petroleum will establish a petrol retail network and lubricants supply facility in Ghana. Making the announcement in Cape Town on Monday, Engen’s CEO Rob Angel said the company felt confident about moving into Ghana as they already operate in 21 African countries. They will be in partnership with a local Ghanaian company and have […]

THE Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has taken over management and operations of the Zambia Electricity and Allied Workers Union (ZEAWU) with immediate effect. According to ZCTU secretary general, Silvester Tembo, a new management team has been put in place to run ZEAWU. The new team includes: ZCTU trustee, Norah Zulu; Zambia National Union […]

COMMUTER rail operator Metrorail is planning service reductions and job retrenchments as a result of a R300-million budget shortfall. This came after the transport ministry axed the parastatal’s request for R1,55-billion for its 1999 budget amid increasing demands for ministry resources. Government and the commuter operator is negotiating budget cuts, retrenchments and station closings. Metrorail […]

MPUMALANGA Premier Mathews Phosa has backtracked on public promises to launch an independent commission of inquiry into the province’s embattled parks board. Phosa promised repeatedly in October last year that he would stage an open inquiry into the litany of secret deals engineered by the Mpumalanga Parks Board (MPB) over the past four years. Phosa […]

SUMMIT-level talks aimed at ending the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo will be held in Lusaka next weekend, Zambian President Fredrick Chiluba said in the Zimbabwean capital Harare on Sunday. Preliminary meetings of officials and ministers will begin on Thursday and end “maybe on the 16th [January] and the summit will follow the […]

NEWBORN South African Siamese twins joined at the abdomen were in a critical but stable condition on Monday after being separated at the weekend. The girls underwent emergency surgery at Pretoria’s Ga-Rankuwa Hospital on Saturday night, hours after they were born, to separate their shared bowels. “Their vital signs are OK; there is nothing alarming […]

LOCAL cellphone manufacturers Alcatel and Malaysian company Telekom Cellular (TCSB) have signed a new three-year contract valued at R760-million for a major extension of their GSM 1800 network in Malaysia. TCSB is one of Malaysia’s leading cellphone operators, which markets its services under the name TM TOUCH. The orders come in addition to the 2500 […]

THE EMBATTLED Leandra town council in Mpumalanga has lost its telephones to suspension after failing to pay a R24000 phone bill. The town got a reprieve from Rand Water, which reinstated previously suspended water service, but the town’s lack of funds is catching up with it. The council has until January 31 to pay the […]

KYNOCHEM, a subsidiary of chemical and fertiliser giant AECI, has agreed in principle to sell its transport arm, Industrial Chemical Carriers (ICC), to Tanker Services for R23-million. AECI announced on Friday that the sale of the company had been put out to tender. Industrial Chemical Carriers specialises in the transport of hazardous chemicals for AECI […]