POLLING stations opened late in several parts of Mpumalanga because more than 300000 ballot papers were delivered to the wrong places. IEC provincial media officer Leon Mbangwa said some ballot papers intended for Standerton, White River, Middelburg, and the Lowveld District Council were delivered instead to the IEC offices in Nelspruit. With the help of […]

INDONESIA has invited former Gauteng premier Tokyo Sexwale to monitor Indonesia’s parliamentary elections on June 7, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs announced on Tuesday. The institute said that Sexwale will leave for Indonesia on Wednesday. Forty-eight parties will be contesting what is expected to be Indonesia’s fairest election since 1955.

UP TO 200 people are feared to have been killed in intercommunal fighting in southern Nigeria’s oil-producing Delta region. Reports in most newspapers on Wednesday put the toll of the clashes, which began on Saturday with an attack on the town of Arunton, at around 200, the worst in the area for some time. The […]

EAST LONDON police are investigating four attempted murder counts after four dog unit members were shot at by gunmen while patrolling the Mdantsane area as part of their election duties. Nobody was injured and the policemen managed to arrest a suspect.

THE Independent Electoral Commission officials expect first results of the one-day election soon after midnight Wednesday — with a conclusive outcome possibly known by midday on Thursday. There are no exit polls or computer projections. Final opinion polls have forecast a majority of between 59% and 69% for the ANC, clearing the way for Deputy […]

THE Justice Department has agreed to transfer all its officials out of the former KaNgwane homeland capital of Louisville after they went on strike last week and staged sit-in protests at courts in Nelspruit. The 60 officials went on strike to protest against regular water and power cuts that forced them to drive up to […]

MPUMALANGA health and welfare authorities have set aside R4-million to boost the distribution of female condoms across the province in the battle against Aids, said chief medical officer, Dr Kelvin Billinghurst, on Tuesday. He said the female condom, which is inserted into the vagina and also covers the external genitalia, was initially regarded as a […]

AS the first results come in from the Free State, the African National Congress, predictably has taken a firm lead with 70% of the votes counted thus far. The surprise is in the Democratic Party having around a 1% lead over the New National Party’s 7%. The Freedom Front is running a close third. Extremely […]

IN one of the quickest elections in the country, voting at the tiny Eastern Cape town of Paterson was over by 10.45am. 350 voters had made their crosses by then — the town’s roll only had 210 registered voters. This represents a 100% turnout, although the figure includes voters with ID books showing registration receipts.

THE funeral service for former Democratic Party leader Dr Zach de Beer was held in Cape Town on Monday afternoon. De Beer died of a stroke at his Clifton home last Thursday. De Beer’s son, also a medical doctor named Zach, said he had been scheduled to be in Scotland on Wednesday but is now […]