SAUDI Arabia has lifted a ban imposed on imports of live animals and birds from South Africa, traders in the kingdom said on Tuesday. “The sanction has been lifted nearly two weeks ago,” one trader said in Dammam. A copy of the memorandum said: “We have received a letter…regarding the lifting of a temporary ban […]

A SHARE swap announced last night between Johnnic and its 58%-held Omni Media subsidiary will result in MIH Investments becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Nasionale Pers. MIH Investments holds only shares in MIH (Multichoice Industrial Holdings) and M-Web. The swap means Omni Media is giving up 61,7-million shares in MIH Investments for 90,9-million M-Cell […]

ELLIS Ferreira and Chris Haggard, with their respective partners, won through to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles draw at the Australian Open tennis championships on Monday. Ferreira and his American partner, Debbie Graham, downed fifth seeds Rick Leach of the US and Larisa Neiland of Latvia 6-4 2-6 6-4 while Haggard and Belgian Els […]

SOUTH Africa’s first homegrown satellite, Stellenbosch University’s Sunsat, remains earthbound after the 11th postponement of the launch since the new year. Officials at the Vandenburg Air Force Base in California said the launch of a Nasa Delta II rocket carrying Sunsat and a Boeing Argos spacecraft was delayed due to unfavourable weather conditions, and will […]

HEAT ON THE BUREAUCRATS SENIOR public service managers will have to work for pay rises in future, according to Public Service and Administration Minister Zola Skweyiya. Signing a performance agreement with his director general, Paseka Ncholo, on Tuesday, Skweyiya said he believes the new regime will improve relations between directors general and ministers and reduce […]

BEER giant South African Breweries Ltd said on Friday it plans to merge its interests in two Polish breweries, Lech Browary and Browary Tyskie, into one company with a single distribution system. SAB said the move follows the thumbs-up from the supervisory boards of Browary Tyskie Gorny Slask SA and Lech Browary Wielkopolski SA to […]

A BAN on the export of raw timber by Cameroon’s parliament came into force last week. However, export licenses issued until 19 January, the day before ban, remain valid until 30 June. Passed in 1994, the new bill aims at promoting local timber processing. Apart from some 20 species explicitly barred from export, 600 others […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 8.00pm. SOUTH Africa’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Sam Ramsamy said on Tuesday he is ashamed that four Africans were among the six IOC members suspended in the votes-for-favours scandal. “I view the IOC membership as a total entity – not a continental grouping,” Ramsamy said. “On the other hand, […]

WESTERN Areas gold firm sustained its steady performance improvement for the fourth successive quarter in the three months to December, boosting production, curbing costs and posting a further profit increase. Gold production for the quarter rose by 115kg or 3,8% to 3134kg. Gold revenue increased from R336,1-million to R336,7-million, helped by the higher production and […]

ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba on Friday apologised to the Zambian people for the mistakes that his government has made over the years. In an uncharacteristic address at the opening of parliament, Chiluba admitted that the quality of life for most Zambians has deteriorated further last year despite the government’s commitment to reverse the trends. “Along […]