CO-OPERATION between the Mpumalanga taxi industry and Trans Africa Concession, the company building the toll road between Witbank and Maputo, paid off during the festive season, said Trac chief executive officer, Trevor Jackson, on Monday. He said 360 minibus taxis stopped at rest areas along the N4 Toll Route after pamphlets were distributed at taxi […]

THE three-day cricket match between Boland and West Indies ended in a draw on the final day on Tuesday. Scores: West Indies 220 and 307, Boland 135 and 123-5. Scoreboard at the close of play. West Indies first innings 220 (S.Williams 55) Boland first innings 135 (R.Lewis 4-45) West Indies second innings 307 (overnight 94-4) […]

THE International Monetary Fund has approved a $14-million loan for the tiny West African country of Benin which borders Nigeria. The IMF expects average real growth of 5,5% of gross domestic product over the coming years. The IMF says the Benin government plans new efforts to restructure its economy, privatising firms and reforming the the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Dakar | Tuesday 8.30pm. In a desperate bid to prop up the ailing Congolese franc, embattled President Laurent Kabila has banned all foreign currency transactions outside the banking sector. Reports from the capital Kinshasa said Kabilla issued a decree over the weekend which says all transactions on DRC territory mustnow be conducted in […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 11.30am. GAUTENG’S Education MEC Mary Metcalfe denied on Tuesday morning that jobs would be lost as the result of downsizing initiatives in the department. Colette Clark, acting director of labour relations for the department, said on Monday that Gauteng’s education department plans to cut 2800 posts, resulting in 1500 teachers […]

MALIAN former president Moussa Traore and his wife Mariam were condemned to death on Tuesday after they were convicted of economic crimes. Traore’s brother-in-law and former head of customs Abraham Douah Cissoko was given the same sentence. The accused had been charged with “embezzling public funds, illicit enrichment and complicity in illicit enrichment.” Traore, who […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 7.00pm. THE rand weakened dramatically on Tuesday, rising above the R6 to the dollar mark for the first time in months and causing anxiety in local bond markets where the yield on the R150 shot up to 15,95%. However, the rand’s weakness pushed up the gold index 13 points to […]

GAVIN RELLY, former chairman of Anglo American, has died aged 72 after a short illness. Relly was chairman of Anglo American from 1983 to 1990, succeeding Harry Oppenheimer. Among his notable accomplishments was his decision in 1985 to lead a delegation of business leaders to Lusaka to meet with the ANC, in defiance of the […]

THE diplomatic missions of Britain and the United States in the Ugandan capital were closed to the public Monday after anonymous callers made bomb threats. Workers, mainly guards, at the building housing both missions on the main street leading to the Ugandan parliament said they had only been told that the offices would remain closed […]

PEOPLE living near the R488-million Driekoppies Dam in Mpumalanga fear for their lives and have urged both the government and the dam’s developers to move them from the area. Concerned Driekoppies residents said at a recent community meeting in Schoemansdal that many local houses were cracking and subsiding. ”We feel unsafe and the village feels […]