THE United Democratic Movement at Bushbuckridge on Thursday claims an Independent Electoral Commission official crooked the voting at nearby Cunningmoore polling station. United Democratic Movement spokesman Jerry Nkuna said the two-thirds majority achieved by the African National Congress at Cunningmoore on Wednesday was obtained fraudulently, and blamed IEC presiding officer Harries Maile. Nkuna said in […]
Chris Gordon The Angolan government published its accounts for the first time in April, revealing that it has no foreign exchange reserves. While the short-term financial position has been improved by an oil-backed loan and signing fees from new deep-water exploration areas, the longer-term position depends now on Angola’s relations to the major international financial […]
THURSDAY, 6.00PM: WITH the panic of a market crash abating, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange dragged itself through a very lacklustre Thursday. All key indices ended at the low-end of the trading range, with Andre Crawford-Brunt of Deutsche Morgen Grenfell describing the day as “soggy”. There was praise all round, however, for Reserve Bank governor Chris […]
The Sibikwa Players have shattered many of the stereotypes suffocating community theatre to bring a dazzlingly epic retelling of South African history to mainstream audiences, writes Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Silence and darkness. A single African drumbeat fills the huge space of the Civic Theatre auditorium and, as the sound grows in intensity, light bursts […]
Luvuyo Kakaza Even under the best circumstances the chances of becoming an international music star in rural Transkei are slim. But for a woman to launch a musical career from the poverty- stricken village of Mqekezweni, the odds against success are astronomical. Madosini Manquina (60) has taken on those odds and beaten them. After years […]
THE International Committee of the Red Cross will repatriate six Chadian prisoners of war held by the Ugandan army in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Ugandan commander said on Thursday in Kisangani. Chadian troops who had been fighting alongside the army of President Laurent Kabila withdrew from the north of the country last month. […]
`Historic” is not the way most observers have described this week’s general election. The black majority, with the exception of the inhabitants of rural KwaZulu-Natal, voted overwhelmingly and predictably for the African National Congress, while the opposition parties squabbled over the crumbs of “minority” voters. But any event that at once signals the exit from […]
THURSDAY, 6.00PM: ZIMBABWE’S Millers Association announced on Thursday that it will raise the price of mealiemeal (a porridge made from maize), Zimbabwe’s national staple, by between 15% and 18% as soon as current stocks run out. This flies in the face of a promise made by President Robert Mugabe’s government in the wake of the […]
David le Page Free cellphones are subsidised by the cost of the contract – that’s why you generally need to take out a 24-month contract, and why cellphones are often locked so they can only be used on one network. Which raises some obvious questions. How much do contracts cost if you’re not buying a […]
Robyn Hofmeyr Jeremy’s friend and neighbour Sunday, a typical highveld winter evening. Temperature inversion, the smell of thousands of coal-smoke fires. It’s early evening, not a great time if you’re the parents of young children. My youngest kid is fractious, he wants his bottle and clings to my trouser leg while my older kid whines […]