FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel on Thursday asked that state institutions dealing with national security issues be exempted from a proposed law seeking to boost black businesses through preferential tenders. Manuel told a parliamentary committee drafting the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Bill there could be instances where certain key government departments were forced not to award […]

THE rate of consumer inflation averaged 5,2% in 1999, its lowest level since 1969 when it stood at 3%, slowing from 6,9% in 1998, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. Stats SA said in a statement that the average rate for core inflation over 1999 was 7,9%, which was slightly higher than 1998’s 7,5% average. […]

THE United Nations has dispatched a delegation to the Ivory Coast in an effort to persuade the country’s military rulers of an early return to constitutional rule following last month’s coup.

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN and NIKI MOORE, Durban | Tuesday 6.10pm THE Inkatha Freedom Party has appointed disgraced former Home Affairs director-general Albert Mokoena as a special consultant. President Thabo Mbeki personally fired Mokoena from government last year following media revelations that he abused his position for personal gain. Mbeki’s intervention came after home affair minister and […]

SWAZILAND’S embattled media won the first round in the kingdom’s latest attempt to dilute press freedom on Friday, by getting temporary High Court protection for not revealing its sources. Judge Tom Masuku ruled on Friday the State-owned Swazi Observer was not obliged to hand over leaked government documentation it based news reports on. Swaziland Attorney-General […]

AT least 200 suspected members of a militant ethnic Yoruba group have been arrested during the past week for a spate of violence in Nigeria’s capital, Lagos. Lagos State Police Commissioner Mike Okiro said some of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) suspects would be charged with murder and arson for ethnic violence, lynching of criminals […]

ENGLAND’s Graeme Swann has been fined for oversleeping on his team’s tour of South Africa. Having played just two first-class games so far, the Northamptonshire all-rounder overslept on the first day of the fifth test against South Africa at Centurion Park on Friday. “Swann has been fined 250 for missing the team bus on the […]

ANDY Flower will captain Zimbabwe in next month’s limited overs tournament involving South Africa and England. Squad: Andy Flower (captain), Neil Johnson, Alistair Campbell, Grant Flower, Murray Goodwin, Guy Whittall, Andy Whittall, Craig Wishart, Gary Brent, Heath Streak, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Everton Matambanadzo, Henry Olonga, John Rennie, Stuart Carlisle.

RESULTS of the SuperSport Series matches which ended on Monday. In Durban: Match drawn. Northern Titans 139-2 vs KwaZulu-Natal. In Port Elizabeth: Free State beat Eastern Province by 185 runs. Free State 296 and 226-6 declared (Nicky Boje 58 not out; Shafiek Abrahams 4-67). Eastern Province 227-8 declared and 110 (Mark Rushmere 52 not out; […]

SARAH BULLEN and Reuters, Cape Town | Tuesday 8.45pm EXHAUSTED firefighters are taking their first breather after three days of battling raging fires in the Western Cape as a lull in the punishing south-easter on Tuesday has allowed them to break the back of the flames engulfing the penninsula. However, firefighters warn that the flames […]