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 […]

AN 11-year-old boy pointed a gun at an armed security guard on Tuesday — and was promptly shot dead. An Eskom guard at a village in the Northern Province found himself confronted by a realistic-looking gun, and fired back, instantly killing young Elias Matlamela. Police, investigating a murder charge against the unnmaded security guard, have […]

THREE men were shot during gang related violence in Belhar, Cape Town, SABC radio news reported on Thursday. The men, from the Twenty Eights gang, were attacked by members of another gang, the Sexy Boys. They were shot in the head and taken to Tygerberg Hospital. In another incident, a petrol bomb was thrown at […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Thursday 2.00pm. ZIMBABWE’s government called an emergency meeting with civil servants on Thursday after they threatened to strike if demands for a 150% pay hike are not met. Sources in the various unions among the 155000 civil servants said the government — which last month awarded cabinet ministers and parliamentarians up […]

FEMALE mountaineer Deshun Deysel (28) is to become the first black South African woman to lead an expedition to the peak of an African mountain, organisers said on Tuesday. Three Peaks 2000 said in a statement on Tuesday that the six-member team is expected to reach the summit of Mount Kenya early on Friday morning […]

FOREIGN investment in Mozambique in 1998 totalled $770-million, with most of the money going to the industrial, agro-industrial and tourism sectors, state radio said on Wednesday. The Investment Promotion Centre received 300 project applications, of which 190 have been implemented. South Africa and Portugal lead foreign investment in Mozambique, Radio Mozambique said. HIGH AND DRY […]

THURSDAY, the last day of 1998, is the cut-off date for land restitution claims. The Commission on Restitution of Land Claims reports a sudden flurry of claims, and says the office is fielding over a thousand phone calls a day. About 40 000 claims are expected, which will take five years to process.

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 […]