Yearly Archives: 2001

SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki flew into Kinshasa on Tuesday evening and held talks on ending the war engulfing the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with new president Joseph Kabila. Mbeki appeared cheerful as they emerged from their hour-long talks at Kinshasa’s airport, but the 29-year-old DRC president appeared sombre, as he has since the […]

FOURTEEN people were killed and 10 injured when lightning struck a hut in a remote rural area of KwaZulu-Natal. A two-month old baby, two toddlers and a 70-year-old woman were among those killed when lighting struck the dwelling in the hamlet of Mogadi, southwest of Durban. Police said the deceased and injured were taking shelter […]

JOHNNIC e-Ventures, the Johnnic group’s online division, and SAIL, South Africa’s largest sports brand investor, have snapped up troubled Internet-based ticketing and box office services provider TicketWeb. The deal, which is subject to Competitions Commission approval, will see JeV and SAIL each acquire 42.5% of TicketWeb from African Media Entertainment Limited (AME), the listed media […]

FORMER Zimbabwean President Canaan Banana, 64, jailed for a year on gay sex charges, has been freed four months early after receiving time off for good behaviour. Banana was convicted on 11 counts of sodomy and abusing his power to rape, assault and carry out “unnatural acts” with men, most of whom were on his […]

MALAWI police have intensified the country’s campaign against small-scale marijuana growers, warning that both growers and smugglers would be charged. Small-scale subsistence growers have traditionally been ignored by Malawi police, who arrested 1 364 traffickers and confiscated roughly 288 tonnes of the narcotic during 2000. Malawi marijuana is reputed to be amongst the best in […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday THE Department of Correctional Services may release jailed cleric Allan Boesak on parole in two weeks, three months earlier than they initially indicated, the Cape Argus reports. If this happens, the former apartheid activist would have spent eight months of his 36-month sentence in prison, the newspaper said. This […]

A SWISS pharmacologist has told the trial of chemical warfare expert Dr Wouter Basson in the Pretoria High Court that he undertook a feasibility study for Basson aimed at determining the marketability of a SA Defence Force front company, the Roodeplaat Research Laboratories at Irene near Pretoria. Basson has pleaded not guilty to 61 charges […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday OPPOSITION parties and political analysts across the board have slammed South Africas ruling ANC for trying to control a probe into alleged corruption in the governments massive arms buying programme, saying parliament’s oversight role over government had been placed under threat. Democratic Alliance deputy leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk said […]

JEFFREY Ericsson, the new chief of Air Afrique, has pledged to carry out the “stabilisation and restructuring”, and the privatisation, of the African airline company within 14 months. Since 1993, Air Afrique has been facing a grave financial crisis, with debts amounting to 506m euros. Creditors seized four of its Airbuses in 1999. Created in […]

TWENTY-TWO passengers drowned when their minibus plunged into the River Nile after colliding with a truck on a bridge between the two parts of the Sudanese capital. Police said nine men, nine women and four children drowned, while six people, including a woman, survived. Only five people, including the two-man bus crew, had been identified […]