OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.15pm. OPPOSITION-allied Swaziland Solidarity Network on Wednesday asked for South Africa to mediate the rising tension in Swaziland ahead of Friday’s parliamentary vote, amid rumours of human rights violations by Swazi troops and a crackdown on opposition leaders. Earlier on Wednesday the People’s United Democratic Movement (Pudemo), Swazi’s strongest opposition […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Wednesday 10.00pm. NIGERIAN Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka arrived back in Nigeria on Wednesday to a tumultuous welcome, greeted by thousands of friends supporters as he ended almost four years in exile. Soyinka, the most prominent critic of the late dictator General Sani Abacha, flew into Lagos from London. Thousands turned out […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Wednesday 10.00pm. THE mothers of two girls who went missing 10 years ago have requested the son of the alleged murderer be subjected to narco-analysis, a form of deep hypnosis, to try to establish the truth of what happened. Flippie van Rooyen, the son of paedophile Gert van Rooyen, is standing […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Wednesday 12.15pm. THE reformist Nigerian military government of General Abdulsalami Abubakar is searching hard for billions of dollars in public monies stolen by cronies of former ruler General Sani Abacha. Information Minister John Nwodo says the government is busy seeking the assistance of the countries in which the money is being […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Wednesday 9.30pm. ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe, who returned home from the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, has vowed to continue supporting the DRC’s embattled President Laurent Kabila. The meeting between Mugabe and Kabila in Kabila’s southern stronghold, Lubumbashi, took place hours after the Tutsi-led rebels captured the town of Kindu, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.15am. SOUTH Africa’s Amanda Coetzer, ranked 13th in women’s world tennis, adavanced to the second round of the European Championships in Zurich on Tuesday when she beat Natascha Zvereva of Belarus 7-5, 6-4 in the first round. Coetzer and her opponent traded serves twice in the first set before the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.30am. ITCHINESS for a rates cut from Reserve Bank governor Chris Stals is beginning to increase, now that liquidity in the money market has improved and the rand gained in strength. The repo rate has now been stuck at 21,855% since the beginning of September, due to the Bank’s policy […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 8.00pm. THE NSPCA has been given court permission to seize 30 young elephants whose training in captivity at Hartebeespoort near Johannesburg has created controversy around the world. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals won an urgent interdict against African Game Services, the company which owns the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 11.00am. THE Golden Cats may end up using the Riverside Sun resort as their base for the Super-12 season next year, while taking advantage of training facilities in Vanderbijlpark, according to new coach Andre Markgraaff. Soon to be called simply “the Cats”, the team feels the Riverside Sun has the […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Monday 5.30pm. SOUTH African markets continued to climb on Monday as stronger international market continue to provide a firmer base for local stock. International markets perked up on Friday evening when the New York’s Dow Jones Industrial Average kicked its earlier slump to gain 2,15% (167 points) to 7 899. Positive […]