OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Tuesday 4.30pm. APARTHEID state assassin Eugene de Kock on Tuesday again fingered former president PW Botha as having sanctioned a bloody cross-border raid by police into neighbouring Lesotho in December 1985. De Kock, who led the raid which left 11 people dead, told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that the attack […]

MARIAM ISA, Johannesburg | Tuesday 12.00pm. LIFE assurer Liberty Group says it will not be able to dip into its R3,5-billion cashpile until the outcome of a hostile bid for its controlling shareholder is clear. ”The so-called war chest is now R3,5-billion,” Liberty Chief Executive Roy Andersen said. He was speaking after the company announced […]

THREE men have been convicted by the Port Elizabeth High Court for raping two Belgian tourists in April this year. John Tee, 35, Benjamin Dirk, 29, and Donovan van Rooyen, 32, will be sentenced on Wednesday. Judge Frank Schoon said although only Tee had committed the rapes, Van Rooyen and Dirk were found guilty of […]

THE most senior correctional services official in the Western Cape has threatened to stop accepting new inmates from the end of June, saying the province’s prisons are already packed to capacity and nothing is being done to alleviate the situation. Stephen Korabie, the Western Cape provincial commissioner, says the problem is largely due to a […]

LUCIA MUTIKANI, Johannesburg | Tuesday 12.00pm. NEW vehicle sales accelerated nearly 19% in May as fixed investment levels improved, but manufacturers warn that an ailing rand and political turmoil in Zimbabwe could erode confidence. The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa said in a statement on Monday that vehicle sales rose to 29292 […]

ROSALIND RUSSELL, Asmara | Tuesday 11.30am. ERITREA claims it has recaptured its western town of Tesseney from Ethiopian forces after a day-long battle which sent hundreds of refugees scurrying across the Sudanese border. The Foreign Ministry said one Ethiopian division and two brigades had been ”totally routed” in Monday’s fighting, which continued well past nightfall. […]

SENEGALESE living in Mauritania have been given 15 days to leave the country. The secretary general of the Senegalese Association in Nouakchott, Ibou Badiane, said on Monday that he had been advised by police of the decision to kick Senegalese citizens out of Mauritania. However, had pledged that Senegalese citizens could leave “in all safety […]

FEAR is growing in the lush green hills around the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown, earlier the scene of fighting, as preparations gather pace for the withdrawal of British troops in 10 days’ time. Britain last month flew 800 soldiers into its former colony as rebels of the Revolutionary United Fronts (RUF) advanced on the city. […]

IMPERIAL group’s aviation wing Safair has acquired and leased back South African Airways’ entire fleet of 13 Boeing 737-200-Advanced aircraft. The deal is worth more than R500-million. It also makes Safair, with more than 40 aeroplanes under its wing, the largest aircraft leasing and charter company in Africa.

POLICE chiefs in East Africa have endorsed a plan for aerial spraying to destroy cannabis plantations in a bid to combat drug-use and trafficking. Speaking at the end of a three day meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s director for criminal investigations Adadi Rajabu said police chiefs from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania had recommended aerial […]