Sarah Bullen in Pretoria | Wednesday 6.30PM. FORMER Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock on Wednesday told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s amnesty committee that he was ordered to “just shoot” any regular police who might stumble upon the clandestine operation to bomb Khotso house in 1988. De Kock testified that during a briefing before the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday 9.30PM. IMPOTENCE drug Viagra will soon be available on prescription in South Africa, the Medicines Control Council announced on Wednesday. The drug, chemically called sildenafil citrate, treats erectile dysfunction. The MCC says the risk of death for those using the drug is unknown. “In some cases the reported clinical […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 9.45PM. CABINET on Wednesday approved a judicial commission of inquiry that will investigate the possibility of launching a viable system of compensation for victims of road crashes. Announcing the results of a fortnightly Cabinet meeting, Transport Minister Mac Maharaj said a new system will be the most efficient way of […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nairobi | Wednesday 6.00PM. THE boss of Kenya’s anti-corruption unit has been suspended by President Daniel arap Moi. Kenya Anti-Corruption Authority director John Harun Mwau was suspended after he tried to pursue senior treasury and tax department officials for alleged corruption. Moi’s office has established a tribunal to investigate “the proper performance” of […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 3.30PM. APARTHEID chemical and biological weapons supremo Dr Wouter Basson, ordered by a high court to testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Wednesday, has obtained a postponement of his hearing to Thursday as his legal representatives were unable to appear for him at short notice. After granting Basson […]

LEONARD NDZUKULA, East London | Monday 8.00PM. THE Heath special investigation unit has given East London businessman Neil Stuart Kerr until Friday to explain how he spent more than R4,3-million he allegedly received from a justice department cheque theft syndicate. Judge Willem Heath’s unit initially threatened to haul Kerr, a regional manager for Tedelex, before […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 7.00PM. THE mastermind behind the apartheid government’s chemical and biological weapons programme, Dr Wouter Basson, must testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Cape High court ruled on Monday. South Africa was shocked by revelations in the commission in June of the activities of the programme, which included […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 6.30PM. LOCAL shares dropped some of their earlier gains in afternoon trade as investors started to buy futures and sell equities, thereby pressurising the stock market again. According to dealers the JSE closed nervously as traders wated to see whether the US markets will weaken overnight. The all share index […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 12.45PM. THE four youths who murdered American exhange student Amy Biehl in 1993 have been granted amnesty in a unanimous decision by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s amnesty committee. Pan Africanist Congress supporters Vusumzi Ntamo, Ntobeko Peni, Easy Mzikhona Nofemela and Mongezi Manqina, who were all aged between 18 and […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 7.30PM. THE South African Rugby Football Union on Tuesday amended its constitution, despite fervent appeals to the contrary by former Sarfu president Louis Luyt. Luyt called the changes unconstitutional, and said that some of the executive mebers do not have the right to vote. In spite of Luyt’s protestations […]