POLICE have arrested six people in southern Tanzania on suspicion of cannibalism after they reportedly dug up the body of a child buried last week, a newspaper and radio have reported. The suspects were found with large chunks of human flesh, two pairs of shoes made of human skin, four sets of human skins and […]

DEVASTATING fires have claimed the lives of seven people and caused damage estimated at hundreds of thousands of rand in the eastern Free State and Johannesburg. Another fire which started in the southern Free State and spread to the northern areas of the Eastern Cape was brought under control without any reported injuries or fatalities. […]

SOUTH Africa lost another bid to host a world event when Slovakia was awarded the 2004 world gold panning championships. South African bid committee member Graham Dominy phoned from Zlotorya in Poland to say Slovakia won the bid by 33 votes to 22. The committee is now pinning its hopes on the five South Africans […]

AUTHORITIES in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, have set up a scheme to clear the streets of the city of corpses in a bid to spruce up its image. Fresh and decomposing corpses litter Lagos streets daily, posing health hazards to more than 10 million residents in Nigeria’s most populous city. Most of the corpses are […]

CHUENE HAMESE and JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Pietersburg | Monday SOUTHERN Africa’s tribe of black Jews, which is believed to have fled its Middle Eastern homeland and settled in Venda roughly 1000 years ago, has gathered in Venda to plan the revival of its unique culture. Lemba Cultural Association president Professor Matshaya Razwimaisani Mathivha Seremane confirmed that […]

THE United States has imposed trade sanctions against Swaziland after months of haggling about industrial relations concerns, say the small southern African kingdom’s two main business organisations. The Federation of Swaziland Employers and the Swaziland Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned in a joint statement that the country’s strategic industries would be the worst hit […]

REUTERS, London | Monday MINING giant Anglo American Plc is expected to report a 62% leap in half-year profit, driven by soaring platinum and diamond earnings with the good times forecast to roll on, for now. Mining analysts have forecast Anglo’s headline profit (net profit before exceptionals and goodwill amortisation) to leap to around US$87m […]

STONE-THROWING crowds have demanded that police surrender to them a white farmer accused of dragging a black man to death behind his truck. Farmer Pieter Odendaal, 44, appeared briefly in a Sasolburg court on a charge of murder in connection with the killing of Mosoko Rampuru, 37, who was found dead on his farm late […]

LIBYA has invited international oil companies to take part in joint ventures to upgrade and expand its refining and petrochemical industries, the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reported. The authoritative industry newsletter said Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) is seeking bidding from a selected number of companies on joint ventures to build a new refinery […]

AN ExxonMobil unit has confirmed reserves of at least 600 million barrels of crude in its Nigerian OPL 209 deepwater block. A company official said Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd completed exploratory drilling in the block, off southeastern Nigeria, at the end of last year. ”We drilled two wells, Era 1 and Era 2. […]