ZIMBABWE’S main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has avoided arrest upon his return to Harare, despite the arrests of three opposition lawmakers and repeated threats from the government to charge him with treason. Tsvangirai said he was afraid that if police arrested him at the airport, the public outcry could run out of control. He has […]

MAURITIAN-led consortium Sena Holdings is investing more than $100m to rebuild what was once Mozambique’s largest sugar factory in the central province of Sofala. The formerly British-owned Marromeu sugar mill in the Zambezi River valley is expected to resume production by mid-2001 after more than two decades of paralysis. Estimates put the factory’s initial output […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT and AFP, Cape Town | Wednesday SOUTH African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has provided the government’s clearest statement yet on its policy on anti-retroviral drugs during a fiery debate in parliament, saying it “simply cannot afford” the drugs. Government has in the past it has cited toxicity and possible long-term side effects as […]

THE Nigerian government expects an inflow of foreign investment of over $100bn over the next 12 months, says President Olusegun Obasanjo’s office. Since Nigeria returned to civilian rule last year, more than $20bn has been invested in the oil and gas sector, and it is expected that foreign direct investment in the next 12 months […]

THE owner of a Pretoria demolition company is to appear in court in connection with a massive blast at a Villieria house that left three people – including his wife – dead and eight injured. The man is the owner of the house where a stockpile of commercial explosives detonated at about 11.30am on Tuesday. […]

A TROUBLED east African regional airline, Alliance Air, has suspended its operations pending a shareholders meeting. Alliance Air, a joint venturen between Uganda, Tanzania and South African Airways, has in the recent past accumulated a $50m debt. It was established in 1994 under the African Joint Air Services (AJAS) agreement signed in Dar es Salaam. […]

POLICE are continuing their search for a group of Northern Province army commando members who allegedly forced a teenager they suspected of housebreaking, to eat his own faeces. The group are said to be known to the police, and is believed to include a senior policeman. Police said they allegedly apprehended the youth, 17, while […]

ANGLO-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Plc/Ltd says it will not try to match De Beers’ A$745m bid for diamond group Ashton Mining Ltd. ”Rio Tinto notes that the De Beers offer remains conditional on a number of matters, including Foreign Investment Review Board approval, and thus intends to leave its current offer of A$1.85 and/or […]

THE South African Chamber of Business (Sacob)’s business confidence index (BCI) edged up to 101.3 in September from 100.1 in August, but the overall mood remains wary. ”Although more stable than for a long time, there seems to be a cautionary element preventing the BCI from moving forward progressively,” Sacob said. Factors which negatively influenced […]

SOUTH Africa’s manufacturing output rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in August, versus a fall of 4.0% in July, Statistics South Africa reported. On an unadjusted basis, output climbed by 4.1% in the year to August, it added. In the three months to August, the rate climbed by 2.6% versus the previous quarter, with output […]