A POWERFUL earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale has rocked south-western Tanzania, but there have been no reports of casualties. Police said there were three tremors in the space of 10 minutes which opened up cracks in some buildings. ”The first one was very, very big. My bed was shaking. I got out of […]
IVORY Coast’s military ruler General Robert Guei has rejected suggestions that soldiers who attacked his home in an apparent assassination attempt last month had been tortured or killed. Guei also denounced what he called plots to win power in the West African country by creating disorder. Guei, who plans to contest an October 22 presidential […]
MPUMALANGA’S eagerness to beat its classroom backlog has backfired, with scores of its new classrooms crumbling less than three years after they were built. At least one R500 _000 school near Nelspruit is so damaged it has been abandoned altogether and is now being used by gangs of truant youths for smoking and sex parties. […]
SOUTH Africa’s combined gold and foreign exchange reserves rose to R54.7bn in September from August’s R52.1bn, according to Reserve Bank figures. Analysts had predicted combined reserves of R53.5bn, with a range of between R51.5-55.1bn. The bank’s net open foreign exchange position – a measure of its uncovered exposure to its forward foreign exchange commitments – […]
SOUTH Africa’s Western Areas is considering offers for its 50% stake in the South Deep joint venture with Canada’s Placer Dome as one of a couple of alternatives to unlock shareholder value. Western Areas said it would either sell the South Deep interest or using its cash resources to complete the project with a view […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday ANGLO American and De Beers are to start severing their 70-year old cross-shareholding relationship after the rules governing inclusion in Britain’s FTSE 100 index were changed, according to reports. De Beer’s managing director Gary Ralfe said in an interview with the United Kingdom’s Sunday Telegraph that the company would consider […]
REUTERS AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Monday THE World Bank is to formally classify Zimbabwe as one of the world’s worst economic pariahs as its inflation rate nears 120%, with potentially damaging consequences for South Africa and the entire sub-continent. Zimbabwe will be accorded “non-accrual status” for failing to make any payment on its debt […]
UNITED States First Lady Hillary Clinton has donated $1.5m to help resettle and rehabilitate Uganda’s children traumatised by 13 years of war in northern Uganda. Clinton had pledged to help Ugandan children affected by war in northern Uganda when she visited Uganda in 1997, ahead of her husband’s visit a year later. The children are […]
Ilda Jacobs, Washington DC | Monday THE only South African pie shop in America is up for sale to anyone who likes to network and wants to keep a finger on the pulse of South African gossip in the US. Hal Hofmeyr, 70, and his wife, Deirdre, opened “Meal-In-A-Pie” in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1996 […]
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” […]