OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday WORKERS at the Anglo American Platinum Corporation (Amplats), the world’s largest producer of the precious metal, are set to strike from this evening after failed wage negotiations. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is to advise employees at the company to strike if their demands for a 10% wage increase […]

KHANYISILE MAEPA, Mbabane | Monday THE shift by SABC television from analogue to digital broadcasting has left thousands of Swazis cut off from their favorite channels – and reinforced calls for media diversity in the tiny kingdom. The South African broadcaster switched off its SABC 3 analogue service on September 11, and will cut off […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT and AFP, Cairo | Monday AFRICAN nations need to push for closer trade links if they want to call the shots at World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations, an international trade official said ahead of a meeting of African trade ministers. Chungu Mwila, an official with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday DEFENCE Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and defence force chief General Siphiwe Nyanda have confirmed that the government is considering reintroducing some form of conscription. Speaking at a briefing for media and diplomats at Parliament, they said current members of the South African National Defence Force were not “getting any younger”, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday AS South Africa’s roads continue to crumble, the National Roads Agency is to investigate the building of 18 new toll routes which could see up to 3500km of roads fall under private management in the next five years. According to a report in the Business Day newspaper, the road network […]

WORK has started on a $10m project to clear earth blocking the flow of the River Nile, using machinery supplied by the Egyptian government. Workers started removing the mass of earth blocking the middle of the river’s main stream, said an Egyptian irrigation mission official. The Nile is the main source of water for agriculture […]

THE release of some 18 000 prisoners from South Africa’s overcrowded jails has run into fresh criticism after weekend reports that one man accused of car theft pointed a pistol at a woman’s head and stole her car less than 24 hours after being released. The release last week, mostly of suspects awaiting trial who […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kampala | Monday A SPECIAL committee appointed to investigate the farms crisis in Mpumalanga has painted a picture of dirt-poor farm workers being beaten up by vigilantes, while farmers live in fear and carry guns on their hips. In its report to the provincial legislature, committee chair Victor Windvoel said farm workers were […]

THE new prime minister of Mauritius, Anerood Jugnauth, and the 23 members of his government have been sworn into office in the presence of President Cassam Uteem. At the head of an alliance with Paul Berenger’s Mauritian Militant Movement, Jugnauth’s Militant Socialist Movement won a sweeping victory in a general election last week, obtaining 54 […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, New York | Monday SOUTH African gold producer Anglogold is to boycott this week’s Bank of England gold auction, which it says is likely to receive an “unenthusiastic” response from the marketplace. Echoing the sentiment of many other gold market industry players, AngloGold marketing executive director Kelvin Williams described the auction format as […]