WEDNESDAY, 4.00PM: DURBAN yachtsman Geoff Hilton-Barber has become the first blind sailor to single-handedlycross an ocean. He arrived in Fremantle on the west coast of Australia yesterday after a 6 000 nautical mile, 50-day voyage on his 33-foot yacht, Abicas. Hilton-Barber was escorted through the shipping lanes on the last few hours of his voyage […]

TUESDAY, 5.00PM: GAUTENG attorney-general Jan D’Oliveira’s office announced on Tuesday that an eight-month investigation into allegations of fraud and corruption against deputy parliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete-Kgositsile by the police commercial crime unit in Nelspruit had failed to produce sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. The investigation followed Mbete-Kgositsile’s receipt of fraudulent learner’s and driver’s licences […]

TUESDAY, 11.30AM CERTAIN key Western Cape administration officials appointed by former African National Congress MECs will “undoubtedly” lose their current jobs, Premier Hernus Kriel said on Monday. The officials will probably be demoted or appointed elsewhere within the administration. Changes are likely within the departments of health, welfare, transport, public works and economic affairs, as […]

TUESDAY, 10.30PM: THE world’s wealthiest creditor nations, the so-called “Paris Club”, will meet on Wednesday to decide the fate of Mozambique’s debt. The south-east African nation, which is beginning to recover after two decades of civil war, is widely regarded as one of the more deserving nations for debt relief. However, in an ironic twist, […]

MONDAY, 11.30AM: SOUTH African tennis star Wayne Ferreira made a convincing start to his Australian Open campaign on Monday. Despite a short second-set lapse, Ferreira beat Slovakian Jan Kroslak 6-4 3-6 6-2 6-3 to carry himself into the second round. Said Ferreira: “I won. That’s about the best I can say about my performance today. […]

MONDAY, 5.30PM: THE Mpumalanga health and welfare department will not build any hospitals or clinics this year because of financial constraints, director Dr Gulam Karim said on Monday. Gulam said the department hopes, however, that there will be a surplus on the budget, which will allow it to build a psychiatric ward at Rob Ferreira […]

MONDAY, 2.30PM: TRUCKLOADS of riot police filled downtown Harare on Monday as police clashed with more than a thousand protesters who barricaded roads in protest at steep increases in prices of basic commodities. The stock exchange, banks and shops closed early, with youths, chanting anti-white and anti-Mugabe slogans, stoning cars. Police on the ground clubbed […]

Ann Eveleth Suspended Transnet executive director Joe Ndhlela’s fate will be decided next Tuesday after an internal probe found he committed several acts of misconduct and impropriety. The transport parastatal’s board of directors is due to meet on Tuesday to consider disciplinary action against Ndhlela after an internal disciplinary inquiry found he committed an act […]

In a post-painting art world, video seems to be the medium du jour, writes Brenda Atkinson If it is possible to distil one widely shared impression from the critical cross- currents of the second Johannesburg Biennale, and in particular of its showcase exhibition, Alternating Currents, it is this: there was a whack of video installation […]

Wally Mbhele and Wonder Hlongwa The Truth and Reconciliation Commission may subpoena Inkatha Freedom Party leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi to cross-examine him on the IFP’s links with the apartheid government. Officials of the commission confirmed that Buthelezi would be questioned on the basis of the “Walter Felgate archives” — documents handed by his former confidant […]