ORGANISATION of African Unity (OAU) leaders have proposed the creation of a “transitional council” for Ivory Coast, including representatives of the ruling junta and the main political parties, to prepare for upcoming elections. Seven African heads of state have held meetings with Ivorian military leader General Robert Guei and leaders of the four main political […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pietermaritzburg | Tuesday FARMERS in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands face financial ruin if government officials go ahead with a plan to slaughter all livestock in a bid to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease which threatens to devastate the South African agricultural industry. The prospect of a pre-emptive slaughtering campaign – and resulting […]

A TEAM of US officials and private advisers has arrived in Abuja to start work on reform of the Nigerian military, the government announced. The assistance is part of a larger, $20m package agreed by Washington earlier this year aimed at boosting civilian control over the military and improving peacekeeping capacity in the country. The […]

PHILLIP NKOSI, Nelspruit | Tuesday SOUTH Africa’s largest and most controversial vigilante group, Mapogo-A-Mathamaga, has been fired from guarding Mpumalanga’s glitzy R600-million legislature complex near Nelspruit. Safety and security MEC Steve Mabona intervened after media reports that the vigilantes had been appointed to guard the complex because conventional security services and police were unable to […]

ELLIS MNYANDU AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday GOVERNMENT is unlikely to overhaul its business blueprint in spite of threats by South Africa’s giant labour union federation Cosatu to strike to force changes to the country’s key policies, say analysts. Cosatu and the SA Communist Party had grumbled this week at Cosatu’s annual congress that […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Tuesday HEALTH workers are fighting two separate outbreaks of cholera in northern Kwazulu Natal, which have killed two people and seen more than 1 000 contract the disease. An outbreak of the disease was reported in the rural Empangeni area in the northern part of the province in late August and […]

CAPE Town’s Cape Grace Hotel has been rated the finest hotel in the world at the Conde Nast Traveller’s 2000 Readers’ Choice Awards. Cape Grace won the award with a score of 95, the highest achieved in any category this year and the highest rating ever accomplished in the 13-year history of the poll of […]

AFP, Luanda | Tuesday ANGOLA’S government is cracking down on domestic diamond traders, giving small-scale miners 60 days to register their informal businesses and start paying taxes, say government officials. Authorities want to eliminate the parallel market in diamonds, which provide a major source of government funding. The latest push is part of a broader […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT AND REUTERS, Algiers | Monday A VISIT to Algeria by South African President Thabo Mbeki and a high-powered delegation – including seven ministers and 30 chief executives of large South African companies – is paying rich dividends with the signing of an economic cooperation agreement to boost investment and trade exchanges between the […]