TWO men appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday in connection with the theft of a motorcycle that was destroyed by a bomb planted outside the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on January 12. Faizel Felix and Ashraf Saban will appear in the court again on January 26. The motorcycle was destroyed by the […]

FIVE miners were injured in an underground blast at the Premier Diamond Mine in Cullinan, east of Pretoria on Tuesday. The blast apparently occured when a miner detonated a routine blast an hour earlier than expected. Three of the miners were in a critical condition on Wednesday morning, while the other two sustained slight injuries.

A SENIOR European Union official arrived in South Africa on Tuesday for talks aimed at rescuing a free trade accord that was due to come into effect on January 1, but has been held up by Italian and Greek objections. A spokesman for Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin said that EU development commissioner Poul […]

THE Congress of South African Trade Unions is considering mass action in protest against Johannesburg’s iGoli 2002 project, which aims to rejuvenate the city by privatising some of its assets. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Wednesday said in Johannesburg that the trade union federation will also “explore political solutions” to solve labour’s problems with […]

MPUMALANGA education department head Faith Sithole was fired on Tuesday for her role in the province’s 1998 matric exam scandal. Education MEC Craig Padayachee said in a statement he decided to terminate Sithole’s services with immediate effect after months of detailed analysis of her performance both before and during the scandal. Sithole was initially suspended […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 3.00pm SHARES in gold mining firm JCI Gold extended their recent steep losses on Wednesday in the wake of a share buying scandal involving its executive deputy chairman Brett Kebble. By mid-morning the stock was down 7,14% to 390 cents on volume of 43000 shares. JCI’s share price has fallen […]

DAKAR-CAIRO Rally placings after the 13th stage from Waha to Khofra in Libya including a 610km timed special section on Wednesday: Cars: 1. Stephane Peterhansel (France) Mega Desert four hours 25 minutes 13 seconds 2. Jean-Louis Schlesser (France) Buggy (4:26:18) 3. Jose Maria Servia (Spain) Buggy (4:28:32) 4. Jean-Pierre Fontenay (France) Mitsubishi (4:28:34) 5. Jutta […]

TELFORD VICE, Centurion | Wednesday 5.00pm. HANSIE Cronje may have lost the final Test of the series and seen his 14-match unbeaten run come to an end, but South Africa’s captain was unrepentant at the contrived finish yesterday and threatened to quit if the International Cricket Council intervenes. ”If the ICC are unhappy then I […]

POLICE are offering a reward for information leading to the conviction of a white man who last week shot dead three black people and wounded four others on a crowded Pretoria bus on January 12. Police spokesman Gideon Thessner would not disclose the amount of the reward on offer. A 24-hour police telephone hotline had […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 5.00pm DAIMLERCHRYSLER South Africa is set to halt production of Honda vehicles from mid-year to make room for increased output of its Mercedes-Benz C-class models, the Business Day reported on Wednesday. The company, a subsidiary of US-German automaker DaimlerChrysler, said it would issue a statement shortly and declined further comment. […]