THE death toll on South African roads reached 735 by Thursday morning, 56 short of last year’s December tally of 791. On Wednesday Transport Minister Dullah Omar said that traffic law enforcement will be stepped up in all provinces with immediate effect in an attempt to curb the mounting toll. After meeting transport MEC’s in […]

THE Zimbabwean government has postponed general elections until at least June next year from the initial date slated for March, a cabinet minister said on Wednesday. Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, told state radio that the general elections will not be held before June next year. “Our desire would have been to […]

THE Congolese army has sent in armoured vehicles to “crush all resistance” by anti-government militia forces near the capital Brazzaville, a military source said on Wednesday amid heavy fighting. Armoured units backing President Denis Sassou Nguesso rolled into the Pool region adjoining Brazzaville on Monday and Tuesday as part of a mounting offensive against Ninja […]

IN what is believed to be the first case of its kind in South Africa, a jet-skier was arrested on Thursday and charged in court for harassing a school of dolphins in Port Elizabeth. The 38-year-old woman was charged under the Marine Living Resource Act which does not allow people to disturb or harass dolphins […]

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Tony Blair will visit South Africa in the New Year, mainly to meet incoming president Thabo Mbeki, and to discuss such issues as the DR-Congo war and South Africa’s failure to reach a trade agreement with the EU. Blair’s visit comes a week before the first South African-British bilateral trade talks to […]

THREE men, including a police sergeant and a police reservist, appeared in the Kuils River Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in connection with an attempted break-in at the police forensic laboratory in Faure, outside Cape Town, on Tuesday. The court has ruled that their names should not be published. The three were not asked to plead […]

ED STODDARD, Johannesburg | Wednesday 12.10pm THE money supply and private credit extension grew a bit faster than expected in November but analysts said the numbers are not too worrying. Economists said the figures are traditionally on the high side in November in the run up to the Christmas shopping season and still look good […]

TRANSPORT Minister Dullah Omar said on Wednesday that traffic law enforcement will be stepped up in all provinces with immediate effect in an attempt to curb the mounting holiday death toll on South African roads. After meeting transport MEC’s in Pretoria, he urged traffic officials to show no mercy for transgressors and to make sure […]

THE strike at Anglo American platinum mines may be over within 24 hours if strikers accept an improved wage offer. According to Amplats spokesperson Steve Calladine, mediation talks went well and Amplats tabled a significantly improved offer to the National Union of Mineworkers, which NUM representatives are taking back to their members, witH a report-back […]

EGYPT’S new soccer coach Gerard Gili has already run into trouble with the country’s vociferous media after he banned journalists from the team’s training sessions. A boycott of the side’s activities was announced by the Sports Journalists Association, whose members walked out of a press conference Gili had just begun and demanded an apology from […]