THE Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, presented peace awards on Wednesday to British defence advisers who are helping integrate former South African freedom fighters into the post-apartheid armed forces. Prince Philip, accompanying the queen on a state visit to South Africa, presented the Wilkinson Sword for Peace to the British Military […]

THE Road Accident Fund has made an urgent request to Government to increase the levy on the price of petrol and diesel to save the fund from running into serious cash flow problems. Sake reports that fund says a 10% increase in the levy will be necessary for the payment of road accident claims. This […]

THE public service commission has warned government to end its system of allowing public servants to accumulate leave over years after public servants accrued vacation leave payment of R11,6-billion in the 1998/99 year. They were paid nearly R1-billion for over-time work during the 1997/98 financial year, Business Day reports that the commission warned that costs […]

AUSTRALIAN gold miner Acacia Resources has formally recommended that its shareholders accept a takeover bid from the world’s largest gold producer, AngloGold. AngloGold has offered 3,5 of its shares for every 100 Acacia shares, a 24% premium to the share price before the bid and a 41% premium on the price before fellow Australian gold […]

AVID hikers can explore six new hiking trails that will be opened to celebrate the festive season in the Kruger National Park. Called the Millenium Trails, the six routes will operate only over Christmas, from December 23 to 26, and over New Year, from December 30 to January 2. Head of the Kruger Park Trails […]

A CONTINGENT of 10 Malawian soldiers left for the Zambian capital of Lusaka on Wednesday to begin training for peace-keeping duties in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Malawian contingent is part of an Organisation of African Unity peace-keeping initiative. Army spokesmen stressed that the Malawian soldiers are merely monitors and will not […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 11.00am. JUDGE Willem Heath was named Newsmaker of the Year by the Johannesburg Press Club on Wednesday. Heath’s Special Investigating Uni has recovered over R1,5 billion in state assets and money since it was launched last year by former president Nelson Mandela last year, himself a former recipients of the […]

PHILLIP NKOSI, Nelspruit | 5.20pm. SUSPENDED Mpumalanga Parks Board chief executive Alan Gray threatened to interdict the provincial government on Thursday after accusing it of denying him access to information. Gray’s attorney, Pieter Swanepoel, said the MPB had consistently refused to supply his client with “vital” documents required to disprove 20 misconduct charges. The charges […]

BLACK empowerment Worldwide African Investment Holdings has acquired 20% of South African oil group Engen from Malaysian national oil company Petroliam Nasional Berhad. Business Day reports that the deal follows the related acquisition of Worldwide subsidiary Zenex by Engen last month. Petronas bought an initial 30% stake in Engen for R1,7bn in 1996 and increased […]