South Africa’s targeted CPIX (consumer inflation less mortgage costs) rate quickened unexpectedly to a near five-and-a-half year high of 10,4% year-on-year in April from 10,1% in March, official data showed on Wednesday. Mike Schussler, economist at T-Sec, said: ”That seals the case for interest-rate hikes. Inflation continues to shock.”
South Africa’s swim stars are set to gather in Cape Town this weekend for the final national swimming camp in home waters before they take up the challenge in a series of international galas prior to competing at the Beijing Olympic Games in August.
Manchester United have threatened to report Real Madrid to Fifa as the row over the Spanish club’s bid to sign Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo turns ugly. United have been increasingly frustrated by Real’s attempts to lure Ronaldo to the Bernabeu in the last year.
All Black scrumhalf Andy Ellis says the Crusaders don’t need any external motivation to lift their weary bodies for the Super 14 rugby final against the New South Wales Waratahs in Christchurch on Saturday. ”In finals week, there’s no problem in picking it up and getting excited,” Ellis explained.
An ancient gold cup mysteriously acquired by a British scrap metal dealer is to be sold at auction with an estimate of nearly -million, after languishing for years in a shoebox under its current owner’s bed. John Webber’s grandfather gave him the 14cm high mug in 1945 and long assumed that it was made from brass.
Seven refugee camps are to be set up around the country for foreigners who have fled xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the BBC reported on Wednesday. The holding camps will take up to 70Â 000 people from increasingly unsanitary conditions at temporary shelters put up around state and municipal buildings and police stations.
The controversial fuel technology company Firepower, appears on the verge of collapse, with its offices abandoned in Perth and other parts of the world, and the company owing millions of dollars to rugby union players, the Western Force club, basketballers and other creditors.
An unidentified flying object exploded in mid-air over a southern Vietnamese island, state media said on Wednesday, a day after Cambodia’s air force retracted a report of a mysterious plane crash. Residents of Phu Quoc Island found shards of grey metal, including one 1,5m long.
Johannesburg businessman Hugh Glenister’s bid to stop the government from disbanding the Scorpions has failed. The Pretoria High Court on Wednesday struck his application from the roll, saying it was not in its jurisdiction to rule on the matter.
Organisations are working to ensure that Burma cyclone survivors living with HIV are included in relief efforts.