President Nelson Mandela arrived in Moscow.

THE net profit of the motor trade sector last year was 20,6% lower than the previous year, Statistics South Africa announced on Monday. Dividends paid in the sector were down 75,1% while interest paid increased by 8,5% over the same period. Capital spending on new assets in 1998 was 16,8% lower than in the previous […]

THE national strike by national bus workers looks set to enter its second week after talks with the South African Bus Employers’ Association remained deadlocked on Friday. Spokesman for the four unions supporting the strike — — the Transport and General Workers’ Union, the Transport and Allied Workers’ Union, the Western Cape Omnibus Staff Union […]

WAYNE Ferreira, the sixth seed, faces Boris Becker in the tennis legend’s home town of Munich in the German Open on Tuesday. Becker leads 9-1 in matches against the South African.

ANGLOGOLD said on Friday that an earthquake has halted operations at its Matjhabeng mine in the Free State province but most of the workforce had been accounted for. The earthquake, measuring 4,2 on the Richter scale, hit the South African gold mining town of Welkom in the early hours on Friday causing damage to buildings […]

AT least 11 people, including nine crack police officers, were killed in an ambush blamed on Unita rebels in southern Angola at the weekend, the private radio Ecclesia reported Monday. Several people were missing following the attack near Canjala in Benguela province on Sunday. The victims were travelling in a 16-truck convoy escorted by rapid […]

GLAXO WELLCOME, the pharmaceutical company which produces AZT and MTC, announced on Monday it will donate “starter packs” containing the drugs to healthcare workers exposed to possible HIV infection. Company spokeswoman Vicki Ehrich said the 5000 packs, worth R1-million, are designed for healthcare workers who may have been exposed to HIV through needle-pricking or other […]

CEMENT giant Lafarge (SA) and Blue Circle Industries said on Friday they have acquired Ugandan cement maker Hima Cement through their joint ventures Bamburi Cement and Cemholding. Hima Cement has a factory 300km southwest of Kampala with “a potential annual capacity of 250000 tons a year,” Lafarge said in a statement. It said the Ugandan […]

FUGITIVE German businessman Jurgen Harksen was released from Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison on Monday after he paid R1-million bail, a Cape Town newspaper reported on Tuesday. Harksen, who is being sought in Germany in connection with fraud and other charges, said he would remain in South Africa and fight for his rights. Harksen’s luxurious Constantia […]

AN organised gang drove a truck through Fourways Mall in Johannesburg on Sunday morning before smashing it through a glass window of a shop and driving off with R750000 worth of clothing. Superintendent Chris Wilken said on Monday that 12 gunmen in three vehicles reversed a truck through a glass entrance to the mall and […]