Chris McGreal in Freetown The young black man with a Sierra Leone accent insisted that he was indeed William Edward Floode. It said so on his Welsh birth certificate; born October 1975 in South Glamorgan. Floode pleaded that he has a brother in London and an aunt working for the United Kingdom probation service. There […]

M&G reporter British banks last week launched a scheme to reunite Holocaust victims and their heirs with money frozen in United Kingdom accounts since World War II. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has published names of 10 800 dormant bank accounts holding 2,8-million frozen during the war to prevent the cash reaching enemy hands. The […]

SERGEANT Barnabas “Rogers” Jabila, a hitman for late Nigerian military ruler General Sani Abacha, has admitted killing the wife of late politician Moshood Abiola. Kudirat Abiola was assassinated on a Lagos road in June 1996 by men suspected to be members of a killer squad set up by Abacha, who died in June 1998 after […]

Cameron Duodu LETTER FROM THE NORTH The speed and efficiency with which Britain has deployed forces to evacuate its beleaguered citizens from Sierra Leone has been admirable. But to many Africans the British action raises a very worrying question: why didn’t Britain place its forces at the disposal of the United Nations, so that everyone […]

Paul Kirk Arthur Konigkramer, the treasurer general of the Inkatha Freedom Party and one of its earliest members, has resigned from the party after nearly 30 years’ service. Sources within the office of the KwaZulu- Natal premier, Lionel Mtshali, this week confirmed they had received a letter from Konig-kramer in which he asked to be […]

Robert Kirby CHANNELVISION A good deal of last week’s SABC current affairs output was given over to Mr Thabo Mbeki. In two faintly embarrassing appearances he generously donated us the benefit of his wisdom. First up was the annual State of the Nation speech, which turned out to be more a state of the state […]

Grant Shimmin OLYMPICS When Josia Thugwane won the marathon title at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, it was a victory that came out of the blue, for the world of road running and for South Africans in general. He might have been the national marathon champion and have won several times in and out of […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Friday 1.30pm BUSH Bucks were on the receiving end on Thursday night when they were hammered 3-1 by Kaizer Chiefs who kept up their title drive in a BobSave semi-final clash at Johannesburg Stadium. Chiefs scored two goals in extra-time (one in each half), after Thabang Lebese drew first blood […]

Barry Streek No one can be unfairly discriminated against in the workplace on the basis of HIV status, and an employee may not be dismissed simply because he or she is HIV-positive or has Aids, according to a draft code drawn up by the Department of Labour. The code also lays down that no employer […]

crown Deon Potgieter BOXING On May 24 Baby Jake Matlala will attempt to become the first South African boxer to win four world titles, and that in two weight divisions. He will be challenging the tough and tenacious Peter Culshaw for the World Boxing Union (WBU) flyweight world title. Pushing him on, however, is not […]