THURSDAY, 2.40PM: IT took 163 minutes for South Africa to dismiss Australia for 133 in 38 overs in their opening World Series limited overs cricket match at the SCG on Thursday. After being bowled out at 200 in exactly 50 overs, it looked as if the South Africans were goners, but veteran offspinner Pat Symcox […]

THURSDAY, 3.30PM CONSERVATIVE PARTY leader Ferdi Hartzenberg, asked whether his party had approved of the murder of Chris Hani by one of its senior officials, replied with an anecdote about an unwelcome Christmas present: “My child gives me a Christmas present which I don’t like. I do not return it, but express my appreciation for […]

THURSDAY, 10.00AM: SANLAM MD Desmond Smith on Wednesday made the shock announcement of his immediate early retirement, apparently over “differences of emphasis” over the group’s strategic direction. When he was appointed to head the operations of the country’s second biggest life assurer four years ago, Smith was the group’s youngest-ever MD, and the first non-Afrikaner. […]

WEDNESDAY, 11.00PM ZIMBABWE’s Stock market continued its downward trend on Wednesday when it recorded yet another sharp loss, shedding 281 points to close at 8 384. Although the market remained active, it was weak, with declines in the share prices of most counters. The Harare bourse has been on a free fall for the past […]

THURSDAY, 10.00AM: WINNIE Madikizela-Mandela finally took the stand at the truth commission on Thursday, arriving surrounded by bodyguards after a bomb threat against her on Wednesday night. Read our full report on today’s hearings, updated throughout the day. Madikizela-Mandela told the hearing that she first heard about the death of teenage activist Stompie Seipei when […]

WEDNESDAY, 10.30PM THOUSANDS of Malawians converged on the capital, Lilongwe on Wednesday to bury the country’s founding father and former dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who died last week aged 99. The five-hour funeral started in the grounds of State House with a speech by President Bakili Maluzi, followed by a religious ceremony attended by African […]

WEDNESDAY, 10.00AM The aggressive new Internet services company M-Web has bought out the service provider PiX Internet, giving it the country’s second largest dial-up customer base less than six months after its launch. M-Web’s chief executive officer Antonie Roux says that the deal, for an undisclosed price, reflects a growing trend towards consolidation in the […]

ROBBERS ATTACK AIRPORT ABOUT 15 robbers armed with AK47 automatic rifles and revolvers broke into a security company’s control room at Johannesburg International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning, assaulted the guards — injuring three of them — and stole 37 firearms. BOESAK MUST PAY HIS OWN WAY ALAN BOESAK has lost his […]

WEDNESDAY, 3.30PM A SOUTH African Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Nzo formally signed an international convention banning anti-personnel mines in Ottawa, Canada, on Wednesday. Nzo, who came under criticism last year for hedging over the landmine ban, has since become a convert, praising those who lobbied to make the landmine convention a reality. South Africa was […]