VIOLENT clashes over the weekend between Guinean soldiers and armed groups operating from across the country’s southern borders have left 77 people dead in the latest round of fighting that continues to bring misery to civilians and hundreds of thousands of refugees in the area. In the first incursion by armed groups an “alarming number” […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday SOUTH Africa’s mediocre performance in two authoritative reports on risk and economic performance in emerging markets could cost it dearly, as large international portfolio managers channel investments elsewhere in preference to the South African market. In the first report, international brokering giant Merrill Lynch says South Africa’s recent macro-momentum was […]

THE opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has lashed the government’s decision to release another 7_ 000 prisoners as either a misguided crime-prevention strategy or no strategy at all by government to reduce crime. The DA said the additional release was in effect eroding the independent judicial decision of magistrates and judges. Their reaction follows the Department […]

REUTERS AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday SOUTH African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni has cautioned against over dependence on the government to increase the participation of the majority black population in the mainstream economy. “If we think that the state is going to drive this process we are making a mistake,” Mboweni told delegates […]

Former South African president Nelson Mandela is among the first winners of the new Pan-African Broadcast Heritage.

AFP AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Monday ZIMBABWE’S ruling party has warned that it will respond to any attempt to forcibly oust President Robert Mugabe from power with “violence” following opposition calls to remove him. Nathan Shamuyarira of the governing Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) told state television that his party and government […]

AFP AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Windhoek | Monday NAMIBIA’S controversial home affairs minister Jerry Ekandjo has launched an astonishing attack on gays and lesbians in his country, urging a group of new police constables to “eliminate them from the face of Namibia.” Ekandjo told 700 newly graduated policemen and women at the police training college at […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Monday OUTSPOKEN Mpumalanga safety and security MEC Steve Mabona has launched a fresh attack on the magistrate who implicated him in a damning 1997 commission report into drivers’ licence fraud, branding him a racist in an emotional public tirade. Mabona told a specially convened press conference he had no respect for […]

AFTER its recent announcement to dispose of its retail investments and focus on providing technological services, retail group Wooltru, together with Woolworths, is to launch inthebag, an online shopping business. Customers will be able to order a range of products, including fresh fruits and vegetables, pre-prepared meals and groceries from Woolworths using a warehousing model […]

A REBEL faction fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was forced to call off celebrations marking its second anniversary on Saturday after government-allied forces bombarded the north-eastern town of Gemena. Jean-Pierre Bemba, who heads the Ugandan-backed Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), was to give a speech to residents traumatised by the war, but had […]