THE Southern African Development Community (SADC) has appointed an interim executive secretary following a rift between member ministers and outgoing secretary Kaire Mbuende of Namibia. Mauritian economist Preg Ramsamy was appointed interim chief executive of the 14-nation regional bloc late Monday, the Gaborone-based organisation said. SADC declared that it will appoint a permanent executive secretary […]

THE South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said on Tuesday that it will only announce the winner of the country’s third network licence in July. The delay means the winner might only be operational by early next year and could make it more difficult for the newcomer to break into the MTN, Vodacom duopoly. Consortiums have […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 2.00pm. SIX crew members aboard the South African yacht La Bamba are reported to be safe, but exhausted, after their 40-foot boat sank in the South Atlantic while taking part in the Cape to Rio yacht race. The crew were rescued by a fellow competitor early on Thursday morning. […]

VEHICLE sales last year fell 5,9% from 1998 to their lowest level since 1992, a manufacturers’ association said on Wednesday. Last year 295,785 new vehicles were sold, compared with 314,410 in 1998, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa said in a statement. Nearly 36% of these were passenger cars, the association said. […]

A NORTHERN Province shop assistant allegedly beat an armed robber to death with the man’s shotgun on Wednesday. Police spokesman Captain Ailwei Mushavhanamadi said on Thursday Tshiphiwa Netshikulwe, 30, of Shayandima village near Thohoyandou, was killed in a shop he tried to rob at nearby Itsani at about 4pm on Wednesday. Netshikulwe bought a cigarette […]

Leading handicap positions in the MTN Cape to Rio yacht race on Tuesday: IMS CLASS: 1 – Sagamore (skipper Jim Dolan) 2649 nautical miles to finish; 2 – Zephyrus IV (Robert Mc Neil) 2658; 3 – Greenwich Warrior (Phil Gutsche) 2825; 4 – Maxtec Wizard (Andrew Louw) 2935; 5 – BP Umoya Omusha (Hanno Teuteberg) […]

THE referees and assistant referees for the African Nations Cup in Ghana and Nigeria between January 22 and February 13 have been announced. Group A Referees – Abderrahim al-Arjoune (Morocco), Mourad Daami (Tunisia), Hailemalack Tessema (Ethiopia), Ali Bujsaim (United Arab Emirates) Assistants – Taoufik Adjengui (Tunisia), Ali Tomusange (Uganda), Farag Wagih (Egypt), Claro Palomo (Philippines) […]

TWENTY-FIVE people were injured when the bus they were travelling in overturned on the Henley Dam road in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands on Thursday morning. Provincial traffic spokesman Colin Govender said the bus driver apparently lost control of the vehicle when he suffered an epileptic fit. The bus rolled several times before it landed on its […]

FORMER president Nelson Mandela launches his mediation bid in Burundi’s fragile peace process on Sunday when he meets rival Burundian leaders in Tanzania, officials said on Thursday. It will be Mandela’s first meeting with the leaders of Burundi’s government and opposition negotiating teams since he took over as mediator from Tanzania’s founding president Julius Nyerere, […]

A MEETING of African experts on firearms trafficking in Africa ended in Kampala, Uganda on Wednesday with a resolution to set up firearms control centre in the region. The proposed centre will also promote co-ordination of international efforts at regional level to combat the illicit manufacturing and trafficking in firearms. The experts’ group meeting, which […]