OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Wednesday THE South African National Defence Force has been called in to help cope with an antibiotic-resistant outbreak of cholera in KwaZulu-Natal that has killed 13 people and infected more than 1_ 000 others. Authorities say the disease appears to be spreading after new cases were reported in Eshowe last week. […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Wednesday A MAN found by a commission to have tried to derail internal probes into licence fraud irregularities in 1997, being unable to control his staff, attempting to cover up for their inadequacies by doing their work, and not having managerial ability has been appointed to the most powerful administrative position […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kimberley | Wednesday SPECIAL agents have smashed a massive arms smuggling ring operating at a South African National Defence Force ammunition depot at Jankempdorp in the Northern Cape, arresting seven people and seizing weapons, nearly 200kg of explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Chris Louw, deputy director of public prosecutions in the […]

THE Sandton woman who drugged her two sons before setting their home alight has walked free after a court found she was psychotic when the crime was committed and could not appreciate the wrongfulness of her act. Dr Manuela Costa was found “not guilty due to mental illness” after she set alight her Morningside Manor […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT and AFP, Pretoria | Wednesday THE Reserve Bank has described South Africa’s loss of 39 213 formal jobs in the second quarter of this year after widespread restructuring and government retrenchments as “alarming and concerning”. Statistics SA said in its Survey of Total Employment and Earnings (STEE) that at the end of June […]

AFP, New York | Wednesday THE UN refugee agency has been slated for failing to do enough for victims in refugee camps after investigations by a human rights organisation revealed rampant sexual and domestic brutality against Burundian women in camps in Tanzania. “Widespread sexual and domestic abuse have left many of these women physically battered, […]

THE government may raise the legal age for gun owners from 16 to 25 in a move it hopes will ensure better control of firearms. A number of stringent new controls are to be discussed this week in the National Assembly when the new draft of the Firearms Control Bill is debated. Expected amendments include […]

A 20-YEAR-old man has been was arrested for murdering his mother, their gardener and the family’s poodles with a garden fork. Johannesburg police said the dogs appeared to have been killed first and left in the garden. The 60-year-old gardener was then killed in the garage, and neighbours watched helplessly as the mother was attacked […]

AT least 36 people have died, and 44 are missing, after a Greek ferry with 511 people aboard ran aground and sank off the Aegean island of Paros. A port official also suffered a heart attack and died after hearing news of the sinking, the coast guard said. CNN reported that rescue teams are heading […]

SA HEALTH and fitness group LeisureNet says it has signed a letter of intent to dispose of all of the assets of its offshore operations to US-based Fitness Holdings Worldwide. The announcement signals a sudden reversal of strategy for LeisureNet, which last month said it was thinking of seeking an overseas listing to help consolidate […]