LOCAL retailers, damaged by the country’s recent economic woes, will get a boost from interest rate cuts, subdued inflation and upbeat consumer spending ahead of the millennium, analysts said on Friday. They said the retail sector’s pre-Christmas rebound is expected to take root despite the Reserve Bank’s move this week to put breaks on easing […]

FOUR people were killed early on Friday when a private plane crashed shortly after take-off from Nairobi’s international airport, state radio reported. Three people died instantly when the plane, operated by Aircraft Leasing Company, crashed shortly after taking off from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for Dar es Salaam at 0245 GMT. The pilot, reportedly Danish, […]

ARCHBISHOP Desmond Tutu said on Thursday he is disappointed President Thabo Mbeki has decided against a one-on-one meeting with the Dalai Lama when he visits South Africa early next month. Mbeki won’t be meeting Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader because of pressure from the Chinese government. Former Chinese premier Li Peng and his delegation had raised […]

MICHAEL FINCH, Wanderers | Friday 6.15pm. DARYLL Cullinan equalled his country’s record for the most Test centuries as South Africa rubbed salt in England’s wounds on the second day of the first Test at the Wanderers on Friday. Cullinan’s 108, the ninth 100 of his career, helped South Africa reach 386 for six in their […]

THE summit of Kilimanjaro is, at 5891,77 metres, some three metres lower than previously supposed, Eberhard Messner, member of a German-Tanzanian geological expedition, said on Thursday. The highest mountain on the African continent, in northern Tanzania, it had previously been put at 5985 metres. A 21-member team of researchers from Germany and Tanzania measured the […]

VIRGIN Atlantic airlines boss Richard Branson blew into Cape Town on Thursday to launch his first flights to the tourist mecca. ”It has taken us 15 years to get permission to fly to Cape Town,” he told a media conference before a launch party on the city’s Camps Bay beach. ”Once a week means we […]

TELFORD VICE, Harare | Friday 6.15pm. ZIMBABWE crawled to a painstaking 163 for nine after Sri Lankan left-arm paceman Nuwan Zoysa rocked them with a hat-trick off his first three deliveries on the opening day of the second test on Friday. Zoysa shattered Zimbabwe’s top order when he removed Trevor Gripper, Murray Goodwin and Neil […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 2.15pm. THE disciplinary hearing against Land Bank Managing Director Helena Dolny for improper conduct will go ahead as planned on Thursday, Agriculture and Land Affairs spokesman Gay Khaile said in Pretoria. “There are no last-minute deals being struck. The hearing will proceed,” Khaile said. Earlier reports spoke of behind-the-scenes moves […]

SWEDISH Prime Minister Goran Persson faced a barrage of criticism over an assortment of gaffes and blunders made during his visit to South Africa. The six-day trip, dubbed the “South Africa Fiasco” by the Swedish press, was dogged by rows before it began. Persson introduced Sweden’s new ambassador to South Africa before the host country […]

MICHAEL FINCH, Wanderers | Thursday 8.30pm. By Michael Finch ALLAN Donald wrecked England with one of his finest fast bowling performances to put South Africa on top on the opening day of the first test at the Wanderers on Thursday. Donald captured six for 53, the third best figures of his test career, and fellow […]