ZIMBABWE’S president Robert Mugabe has won first prize in the first monthly draw organised by Zimbank, which is partly owned by the government. The bank did not reveal how many names were in the draw, but said in a statement that they could “hardly believe their eyes” when Mugabe’s name was the first one drawn […]

DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | Thursday 1.30pm. NAMIBIA’S World Boxing Organisation (WBO) junior middleweight world champion Harry Simon finds himself in an enviable position. American television giant HBO and British television channel ShowTime are involved in a tug of war over where Simon’s next defence will take place. Simon is scheduled to meet former world champion […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Thursday 1.50pm. CONGO coach David Memy has an unexpected problem ahead of the African Nations Cup Group of Death clash with title favourites Nigeria at Surulere Stadium in Lagos on Friday. He is battling to raise spirits in the Red Devils camp after they came within six minutes of holding star-studded […]

THE SABC has axed the award-winning consumer series Fair Deal. According to SABC spokeswoman Marge Murray, the series, presented by Isabel Jones, has been axed due to sponsorship problems with Absa bank. The show’s producers, Paul Zwick Productions, said however that the SABC decided that the programme does not fit into the new SABC 3 […]

POLICE investigating license fraud at three Mpumalanga vehicle testing stations were forced to abandon their probes in 1998 after systematic intimidation of witnesses destroyed their court case. Nelspruit fraud investigator Sergeant Jan Ngwenya confirmed on Wednesday that police managed to arrest five senior traffic officials in 1998 during a sting operation at the Elukwatini test […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 2.00pm. PACE bowler David Terbrugge will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture of the left ankle. Opening batsman Gary Kirsten has asked to stand down from the one-day series against England and Zimbabwe because ”he is not on top of his game at the moment”, […]

HUMAN rights activist Fatima Meer has been admitted to hospital in Durban after suffering a stroke. SABC radio news quoted physician Dr Eustace Brauns as saying Meer’s condition is satisfactory.

SENEGAL has jurisdiction to try Chad’s former president Hissene Habre, who has been accused of crimes against humanity. Local and international human rights groups on Tuesday filed a complaint with a Dakar court on Tuesday against Habre, whom they described as the “Pinochet of Africa.” Under international conventions ratified by Senegal, “when a complaint is […]

FORCES backing the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government have retaken the central city of Lodja, which has been held by rebels and their Rwandan allies for a year. The daily La Reference Plus reported on Wednesday that indiscipline within rebel troops stationed at Lodja had increased, mainly because they had not been paid. The […]

ZAMBIA has sold off 234 state-owned companies out of the 280 earmarked for privatisation in just under eight years, President Frederick Chiluba announced on Friday. The number represent almost 84% of the total number of parastatals that were intended to be sold off to private enterprises when the Chiluba admininstration embarked on a massive privatisation […]