FIVE thousand miners from ERPM gold mine on the East Rand are to be retrenched with immediate effect, SABC news reported on Monday. This follows government’s refusal to assist the mine with bridging finance of R18-million, the broadcaster said. ERPM has been in serious financial crisis since 1990 but the government has spent R450-million in […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Canberra | Monday 2.00pm. NEW Zealand rugby officials may consider using minders to keep leading players out of trouble following a weekend nightclub incident in the Australian capital Canberra. New Zealand A team management on Monday confirmed three players — All Blacks Craig Innes, Carlos Spencer and Walter Little — were held briefly […]

THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange announced on the weekend that it is extending the deadline for the introduction of the pilot phase of its new electronic settlement system, Strate, to the end of the third quarter of this year. The JSE said the extension will not impact on the Y2K projects of the JSE, or anyone […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Saturday 6.00pm. ARGENTINE-BRED El Picha, under jockey Robbie Hill, swept up on the outside to win Saturday’s Durban July. The 12-1 gelding is owned by former trainer Terrence Millard, six times a July winner, and trained by his son-in-law Jeff Woodruff. This was Woodruff’s first July victory. Favourite to win at […]

THE United States has ruled out the lifting of UN sanctions against Libya, which were suspended in April, because Tripoli has “failed to fully cooperate with Lockerbie trial proceedings,” US ambassador Peter Burleigh said in Washington on Thursday. Burleigh said “there are outstanding requests from the Scottish prosecutors which are very specific requests for Libyan […]

WINGER Jonah Lomu has been dropped by the All Blacks due to fitness concerns, and will take the field for New Zealand A against Australia in Canberra for a two game tour of the country. The A side take on ACT Brumbies, the Super 12 side, in Canberra on Saturday, and a week later will […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 3.15pm. BANGLADESH will choose a new national cricket coach from either South Africa or Australia following the controversial departure of West Indian Gordon Greenidge, reports said on Friday. “We are expecting the new coach either from South Africa or Australia,” Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Saber Hossain Chowdhury was quoted […]

SOUTH African Airways has announced a code-share partnership with Varig (Viacao Aerea Riograndense) and with Aerolineas Argentinas, ensuring that it will double its frequency between South America and South Africa from two flights to four a week. Effective from Thursday, the airline will fly every Sunday and Thursday non-stop between Johannesburg and Sao Paulo. On […]

THE South African Local Government Association on Tuesday suspended its financial manager Carol Mpapele following his arrest on Monday on corruption charges. Mpapele briefly appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Monday afternoon after he allegedly received a bribe from an IT company that was contracted to install network cables at Salga’s new offices in […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Algiers | Sunday 8.00pm. ALGERIAN President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has pardoned thousands of imprisoned Islamic militants as part of a campaign for national reconciliation in Algeria. The pardon, timed to coincide with Algeria’s independence day on Monday, is aimed at people convicted “on charges linked to terrorism and subversion, not implicated in blood crimes […]