President Nelson Mandela was welcomed by his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin in Beijing on Wednesday.

THE Heath Special Investigating Unit will be proceeding with the investigation of “irregularities” in the Gauteng Department of Housing and the Gauteng Gambling Board, following the necessary proclamations. Both Judge Willem Heath of the unit and Gauteng Premier Mathole Motshekga feel that the matters are urgent, according to a unit statement. The investigations will begin […]

FRIDAY, 12.30PM: INJURIES and inclement weather have forced the Western Stormers to change the squad that will play the Otago Highlanders in a Super-12 rugby match at Newlands on Saturday. South Africa’s World Cup hero, winger Chester Williams, returns to Super-12 action after being sidelined with an injured knee. Williams will replace Justin Swart on […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Saturday 8.00pm. SIXTEEN political parties will contest South Africa’s second democratic election on June 2, three fewer than during the first all-race poll in 1994, election officials announced on Saturday. Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chief electoral officer Mandla Mchunu told a press conference that, in all, 26 parties will contest national […]

THE body of one of two Matjhabeng miners trapped underground after an earthquake in the Goldfields area on April 23 was found on Wednesday. Anglovaal spokesman Andries van Zyl said the body was found in the working area near the Eland Shaft where rescue teams had been searching since the earthquake. The miner’s body was […]

THE South African government on Saturday condemned the accidental bombing by NATO forces of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, and called for intensified diplomatic efforts to resolve the Kosovo crisis. The foreign affairs department said in a statement that Pretoria had “consistently expressed concern about the NATO bombing raids of Yugoslavia.” “It has also predicted […]

THE oldest known human tools, half-a-million older years older than those previously held to be the most ancient, have been found in northern Kenya, Nature reported on Thursday. French scientists put the age of the stone tools at 2,34 million years, when man’s ancestors were previously not thought to have the mental and physical ability […]

A COALITION of 133 developing countries wants the United Nations to keep radio, and other traditional media outlets, as A means of disseminating information rather than relying only on the internet. Switching to the ‘net would give an unfair advantage to rich nations over the poor, say the developing nations. Ambassador Samuel Insanally of Guyana, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Djibouti | Saturday 8.00pm. NEW President Ismael Omar Guelleh was sworn in as head of state of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa on Saturday at a ceremony attended by leaders from Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia. Omar Guelleh, 52, was elected on April 9 and had already been seen as an heir-designate to […]

POLICE in Bulawayo said on Wednesday they were intensifying efforts to track the remaining four members of a syndicate which facilitated Zimbabwean illegals entering South Africa. Assistant commissioner George Muwadzuri said that police had stepped up intelligence gathering on the four who are now believed to be in hiding in South Africa. Muwadzuri said that […]