TUESDAY 8.30AM: THE Western Cape finally won its stalled attempt to become the first South African province with its own constitution after the Constitutional Court on Monday unanimously approved the province’s latest draft. The province, ruled by the National Party, submitted a request for a constitution of its own in September, but it was only […]

WEDNESDAY, 8.55AM: PERCY Montgomery will again play at fullback for the Springboks in the second test against France this week. First choice, No 15 Justin Swart, who injured himself at training prior to the first test against France, has fully recovered but is not well enough to play in Saturday’s game. Coach Nick Mallett said: […]

TUESDAY, 5:30PM: INDONESIA’S President Suharto arrives in South Africa on Thursday for a three day visit — but a demonstration by senior Cosatu officials outside the Indonesian embassy made it clear that not everyone will make him welcome. Cosatu has departed from the cautious stance of its alliance partner, the ANC, by making a blunt […]

EMPLOYMENT BILL FINALLY PASSED The Basic Conditions of Employment Bill finally passed through the National Council of Provinces on Wednesday, despite National Party attempts to block it with 20 last-minute amendments. Debates on the amdendments delayed the bill by just 24 hours. The defeated amendments aimed to limit the labour minister’s powers and slow a […]

TUESDAY, 5:00PM: The government which has continued to insist that it will make its budget deficit target of 4% in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, has finally hinted that it may miss by a small amount. Deputy finance minister Gill Marcus told an investment conference arranged by stockbrokers on Monday that “even […]

WEDNESDAY, 9.40AM: HANSIE Cronje and his charges are set to receive more than they received in Pakistan for the tour of Australia. The squad leaves on Thursday for a 10 week tour of Australia. “If the players get to the finals they will get R150 000 to share between them,” said the United Cricket Board […]

WEDNESDAY, 11:00AM: WHITE farmers gathered at local meetings yesterday to learn from the farming union which farms will be redistributed to black farmers. The farmers say that the list goes further than derelict land or farmers who own more than one property, and includes some of the finest land in the country. The country’s land […]

WEDNESDAY, 5:00PM: THE Goldstone Commision into the mysterious ‘framing’ of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s chief investigator began on Wednesday with the man who started the controversy, Gugulethu gardener Bennett Sibaya. Given a group of 24 pictures, Sibiya picked out two policemen he said had ‘tortured’ him and told him to give evidence linking Truth […]

TUESDAY, 5:00PM: Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano told an investment summit on Tuesday that Southern African countries should guard against competing among themselves to attract investment. Presenting the keynote speech at the International Herald Tribune Southern African trade and investment summit in Gaborone, Botswana, he said such competition would be counter-productive, whereas the emergence of Southern […]

TUESDAY, 10.00AM: ZIMBABWE’S Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa says a programme to find Z$5 billion to pay war pensions to former guerrillas has been put to an International Monetary Fund team visiting the country. A high-powered IMF delegation to Zimbabwe wants the Mugabe government to provide a plan for paying off the guerrillas — whose militancy […]