A compensation fund for workers injured or killed in Sasol’s September 2004 blast was launched in Johannesburg on Monday. Qualifying victims of the accident and the dependants of those who died can submit applications for compensation to the September 2004 Accident Trust.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Monday would not comment on possible arrests in the case surrounding National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi. NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said he could not comment on this or anything else contained in a Mail & Guardian report on Friday.
Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea signed an agreement that will see the two countries trading energy resources, Zimbabwean radio reported on Monday. But the authorities stressed it was a ”purely commercial agreement” and there was no indication that the deal might involve the extradition of Simon Mann.
Ridding the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea of pirates is likely to top the agenda at a three-day conference on African maritime security starting on Monday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. Two hundred delegates representing 47 countries and 13 international organisations are expected at the second Sea Power for Africa Symposium.
Iran on Monday spurned the prospect of European Union incentives to end its nuclear programme, saying the bloc must acknowledge its right to nuclear technology. "The main incentive for Iran is to recognise the essential right of Iran to have nuclear technology," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said when asked about the incentive plan.
Hundreds of thousands of VIP ticket-holders for the World Cup could be barred from stadia for not having their names on the tickets, media reports said on Monday. The German organising committee of the World Cup and Swiss agent ISE, hired by football’s world governing body Fifa to oversee commercial sales of tickets have insisted they are not responsible for the blunder.
George Gregan, just two appearances away from becoming rugby’s most capped international player, on Monday restated his commitment to lead the Wallabies at next year’s World Cup in France. The 33-year-old scrum-half general goes into the domestic international season next month on 118 Test caps — just one behind England prop forward Jason Leonard’s record of 119 Tests.
The Wallabies under new coach John Connolly are working on expunging the bitter memories of the demolition of the Australian scrum by England at Twickenham last November. England’s domination at the scrum, where loosehead prop Andrew Sheridan was particularly impressive, was so complete that Australia tighthead Al Baxter was eventually sin-binned for repeat offences.
Argentina’s buzzing Buenos Aires has turned into a top Latin American destination for homosexual tourists, as the capital gets its gay-friendly message out to lure fresh revenue. The recent designation of the city as Latin America’s first host of a homosexual football World Cup and an opening of a wine bar catering to gays are some of the latest effects of Buenos Aires’s rising star.
Education’s stormy petrel Jonathan Jansen almost left South Africa this year. In an interview with the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> recently, he explained his motives and articulated his deep concerns about the country’s education system.