JOHN GROBLER, Windhoek | Saturday THE United States’ new African Growth and Opportunities Act is expected to generate some controversy at a southern African economic summit in Windhoek next week. Many of the countries in the region have been excluded by the terms of the new law, say the organisers of the Southern Africa Trade […]

AMID thinly-veiled threats against South Africa’s judiciary, beleaguered Muslim vigilante group Pagad has vowed to continue to pursue its goals even if it is banned under the government’s proposed anti-terrorism legislation and has to meet “in the dark of night”. Addressing several hundred supporters at a meeting in Lavender Hill, the organisation’s legal co-ordinator Cassiem […]

SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki has attacked the ruling junta in Ivory Coast, saying the world cannot stand by and condone the “fruits of tyranny”. “It … cannot and will not be that, when armed soldiers rob the people of their freedom, the rest of us maintain a treacherous silence,” Mbeki said in an address […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki has launched the African National Congress’ (ANC) local election campaign with a pledge that free basic services will be provided to the poor – but first faces a potential showdown with traditional leaders threatening to derail the elections. Mbeki unveiled his party’s manifesto to a subdued crowd […]

REUTERS, Jerusalem | Monday INTERNATIONAL efforts to end bloodshed in the Middle East have redoubled, but tension remains high as an Israeli deadline nears for Palestinians to halt their wave of protests which has seen at least 84 people – mostly Palestinians – killed in 11 days of bloodshed. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was on […]

AFP, Harare | Monday CONFLICT is simmering in Zimbabwe between the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the government over threats to arrest MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai for allegedly treasonous statements. The MDC said the intended arrest was “legally unjustified and politically unwise and dangerous”, as it is likely to lead to unnecessary […]

PHILLIP NKOSI, Nelspruit | Monday A RISING star in Mpumalanga’s ANC ranks has been banned from the swish Emnotweni Casino in Nelspruit for two years after he was caught having sex in the toilets. Sipho Monareng, a member of the ANC constituency in Hazyview, was caught with his pants down by a security guard in […]

POLICE forced their way into a South African experimental facility to allow animal rights groups to rescue 14 baboons destined for use in nuclear weapons testing by the French military. Policemen used a bolt cutter to force the locks of the French-run Centre Africaine Primatologie Experimentale (CAPE) near Hazyview in eastern Mpumalanga, after an animal […]

NIGERIA’S state-run telecommunications company NITEL will be sold off by the end of 2001, says President Olusegun Obasanjo’s chief economic adviser Phillip Asiodu. Asiodu said privatisation was ”still going ahead” and ”would be completed by the end of 2001.” The break-up and privatisation of the state-run electricity company NEPA would take longer but the government […]

A COMMISSION to investigate human rights abuses in Nigeria dating back to the country’s civil war will start public hearings on October 23. The panel has spent a year sifting through thousands of petitions detailing alleged human rights abuses. Among the cases put to the commission are the extrajudicial killings of prominent opposition leaders under […]