ANGRY at what it sees as an unfair allocation of seats in some local councils, the African National Congress says it wants the new Municipal Structures Act amended because it “dilutes majority rule” and ?entrenches arbitrariness?. KwaZulu-Natal ANC representative S’bu Ndebele told reporters in Durban the party was particularly concerned over the formula used to […]

A UNITED States-based mini-submarine shipped to South Africa this week to film a shipwreck may be used to survey the rare coelacanth fish, once thought to be extinct. The JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology?s marine fishes curator, Phil Heemstra, said the institute hoped to conduct a survey of the 400-million-year old species of fish. Visuals […]

Former South African President Nelson Mandela said this week he was prepared to help Middle East peace efforts if possible.

Shock waves from the Middle-East have now spread to South Africa with violent protests in Pretoria that left two policemen injured – and former president Nelson Mandela has offered to mediate in the crisis.

LAST week’s coup in the Côte d’Ivoire is unacceptable even though the new military leader has promised democratic elections “as soon as possible,” Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma said on Friday. However, there was little point in calling for the reinstatement of exiled president Henri Konan Bedie, ousted on December 24, Zuma told reporters after a […]

A MILITARY mutiny in Côte d’Ivoire’s main city Abidjan continued early Friday with troops shooting into the air and overrunning Abidjan international airport. The mutiny erupted on Thursday in the economic capital with rampaging soldiers firing shots and looting in a protest blamed on unpaid wages and complaints about their standard of living. Their representatives […]

Detention-related deaths have increased dramatically despite assurances to the contrary by the Minister of Law and Order, Louis Le Grange.