OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 6.30pm A FAST-falling rand wore down market on Friday afternoon as the currency fell to its lowest level in 17-months. Markets looked to the falling currency, paying little attention to a stellar gold price that rose $6 overnight. The all gold index ended the day one point lower at 1258, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Saturday 6.00pm. THE stage is set for Nigeria to reclaim their place as the leading football power on the continent by defeating Cameroon in the African Nations Cup final on Sunday. Home advantage gives the Super Eagles a huge psychological advantage with the national team unbeaten at the 60000-seat Surulere Stadium […]

SUSAN NJANJI, Harare | Saturday 7.00pm ECONOMIC hardships and grievances turned out to be the driving force behind most Zimbabweans turning out to cast their ballots on Saturday, the first day of a referendum to accept or reject a new constitution. It would allow the government to seize land from white commercial farmers for redistribution […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Saturday 3.30pm. AJ VENTER has been cleared to play for the Natal Sharks by the Pretoria High Court, which dismissed claims that the star number eight was contractually bound to Ellis Park. “I’m in heaven, I’m just so happy that I can get on with playing rugby now,” said Venter, who […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Saturday 6.00pm THE government is to destroy some 260000 surplus state-owned firearms this year with the help of funding from Norway, defence secretary January Masilela said on Saturday. This follows a decision last year by the country’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) not to sell firearms that were acquired by […]

Deon Potgieter Boxing There is a two out of three chance that Lennox Lewis will be defending his “Universal” heavyweight world title against a South African later this year. Corrie Sanders, Francois Botha and David Tua have been named as three possible opponents for Lewis, if he successfully defends his title against Michael Grant in […]

Tangeni Amupadhi Pressure is mounting on the Namibian government to reverse a decision that has plunged the country into the middle of the Angolan civil war. Namibian churches have joined organisations and individuals who criticised the authorities for allowing the Angolan armed forces (FAA) to use Namibia as a launch pad for its offensive on […]

A travelling exhibition focuses on history’s silent witnesses, writes Alex Sudheim The crowd: that swollen, seething animal, comes to life when human beings swarm together in a single unity of desire. As an organism the crowd works its seduction by promising the surrender of individual will to the mass. Individuals, no longer responsible for their […]

There was a good deal to commend in President Thabo Mbeki’s speech opening Parliament this month. But in one particular at least he fell woefully short of giving South Africans the reasoned leadership and guidance that the State of the Nation address is meant to embody. This is the issue of the HIV/Aids pandemic, identified […]