THURSDAY, 10.30AM INDEPENDENT Harmony gold mines, formerly in the Randgold stable, posted an R800 000 profit in the final quarter of 1997 from a third-quarter loss of R37,2-million. The company achieved the profit despite large-scale restructuring, retrenchments, strikes and a devastating fire. MD Bernard Swanepoel said the worst is behind the company and that its […]

WEDNESDAY, 12.15PM: JOHANNESBURG Consolidated Investments’ embattled gold division on Tuesday announced a surprise increase in profits in the final quarter of last year. Gold division head Brett Kebble said the gold team “will not lie down and die”, and added that JCI and its gold division will remain intact. The gold division increased profits last […]

WEDNESDAY, 8.30AM SUSPENDED Transnet executive director Joe Ndhlela was sacked on Tuesday at a board meeting which described him as guilty of acts of “gross misconduct” — including bugging his secretary’s phone. Ndhlela was suspended on full pay in September last year amid allegations that he hired a security firm to spy on other executives, […]

WEDNESDAY, 5.15PM: WAYNE FERREIRA’s hopes of making it to the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne were dashed on Wednesday when he lost to men’s fourth seed Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in the second round. Bjorkman was two sets and a break down to Ferreira, but performed a courageous comeback to pull through to […]

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, 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, 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. […]