MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Thursday 11.30am. THE ANC is on track for a two thirds majority, having breached the 64% level with over half the votes counted in the elections. The ruling party’s figures have been steadily moving upwards on Thursday morning, sharply picking up from 5am until 10am. With rural areas where the ANC […]
THE European Union says it will lift all remaining sanctions against Nigeria and resume development aid from Thursday. In a statement, the 15-member bloc says its decision follows the inauguration of the civilian government whose president, Olusegun Obasanjo, was sworn in on Saturday. The EU imposed the embargo in 1995 to protest the execution of […]
ANGOLA’S communications minister, Hendrik Vaal Neto, says newspapers and radio stations will be closed down if they do not take a more patriotic stance reporting the country’s civil war. Neto says recent news reports insulted the government and discouraged young men from heeding a military conscription campaign. Meanwhile, both the Angolan armed forces and the […]
THE national parks of South Africa and the United States have agreed to work together after the director of the US National Parks Service toured several local reserves, said spokesperson for the National Parks, Adel Smit, on Thursday. She said the director of the US National Parks Service, Robert Stanton, visited the Kruger National Park, […]
THE results for voting on Robben Island were announced by the Independent Electoral Commission at 8pm on Wednesday evening. Of the votes cast, the ANC took 56, the New National Party 13, the Democratic Party 3, the African Christian Democratic Party 2, and the Pan African Congress, United Democratic Movement and Freedom Front one each.The […]
THE United Democratic Movement is calling for an investigation into alleged irregularities in the counting of ballot papers at Qumbu, in the Transkei. UDM spokesperson Mabiza Mfamela says two prominent ANC members in the area compelled the electoral officer at Lwandlwana to divide the polling station in two, thereby creating an unofficial voting station at […]
THE PAC is facing a major leadership overhaul following its dismal performance in the elections. PAC president Stanley Mogoba says the party is going to have to rethink its structure, leadership and organisation if the pattern of the results continues. Mogoba says the PAC hoped to get 10% of the vote, but that seems elusive. […]
PRESIDENT Charles Taylor has said that Liberian authorities will destroy all arms and ammunition surrendered by ex-combatants and now held by the United Nations and African peacekeepers. He made the announcement in a radio broadcast late on Wednesday, saying that the decision was taken following consultations with the National Legislature, but gave no details of […]
IEC officials in certain areas are under enormous pressure. At the Rotary polling station in KwaZulu-Natal, electoral officer Themba Cele said he feared his officials would not be able to cope with the 8000 people who had registered to vote there. “We have one scanner, one voters’ roll. We just can’t cope with the number […]
WEDNESDAY, 1.00P: AMID the instability of South African markets, a positive outlook in South Africa’s macroeconomic indicators has pulled the country up the ranks of the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness report, rising from a low base of 44 to 42. More notable, however, is an assessment of South Africa’s micro indicators, which show dramatic […]