AFTER another storming performance for the Natal Sharks, this time at flyhalf, Andre Joubert’s class and experience could be the decisive element a stagnant Springbok backline needs. With incumbent Percy Montgomery playing well below his potential, , the “Rolls Royce of fullbacks” is fit and raring to go, and producing outstanding rugby.

NIGERIAN President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed a 49-member government on Wednesday, in a key step to launching his political programme a month after taking office. As widely predicted, Obasanjo named former chief of defence staff retired general Theophilus Danjuma as defence minister and former central bank governor and agriculture minister Adamu Ciroma as finance minister. Northerner […]

PORTS and rail networks are next in line for partial privatisation, after the successful sell-off of 20%of South African Airways to Swissair, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin said on Tuesday. Erwin told a Cape Town press briefing that ports and rail had been targetted by the government because much new investment in the country […]

ZIMBABWE on Tuesday appealed to the International Monetary Fund to speedily approve the release of the standby balance of payments support for Zimbabwe, saying Harare urgently needs donor support to revitalize its economy. The Zimbabwean National Economic Consultative Forum said it is also crucial that other multilateral and bilateral donors open their doors for Zimbabwe […]

SIX people died when a helicopter crashed a week ago in Angola including the Deputy Interior Minister Jeronimo Marcolino Ngongo and the deputy chief of police intelligence Baltazar Gourgel Ndombolo, the interior ministry said Wednesday. Their bodies, found on Monday in southwestern coastal province of Namibe, have been sent to Luanda. An unsuccessful search was […]

NORTHERN PROVINCE premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi on Wednesday rejected calls by the opposition for a referendum in Bushbuckridge on whether the region’s provincial borders should be redrawn. Dismissing the United Democratic Movement call for a referendum as a “non starter”, Ramatlhodi told the legislature that overwhelming support for the African National Congress by voters during the […]

MOZAMBIQUE’S former island capital and once-thriving Arabic trade city, Ilha da Mozambique, may soon be revived to its former glory as part of a multi-million dollar project to rehabilitate the archipelago off the coast of Nampula province. It was the country’s capital for nearly 400 years until the seat moved to Maputo in 1898 and […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Washington | Wednesday 8.30pm. THE World Bank on Wednesday announced an agreement to grant Mozambique $3,7-billion in debt relief from its external creditors. In terms of net present value, which reflects current interest and exchange rates, the relief is worth $1,7 billion dollars against present value of future debt obligations. The assistance is […]

MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Wednesday 7.00pm. PRODUCER prices jumped sharply in May, rising by 6,0% on an annual basis in figures released by Statistics South Africa on Wednesday. The increase represented an increase of 1,1% over April’s figures. The figures showed imported crude oil as a major factor in driving producer prices upwards. Average prices […]

MANCHESTER United confirmed on Wednesday they have pulled out of the 1999/2000 FA Cup. The decision means they will now participate in FIFA’s inaugural World Club Championship in Brazil next January without fixture congestion. In a statement the club said: “We realise that many of our supporters will be as disappointed as we are with […]