CIVIL servants in north-east Nigeria have abandoned their cars and taken to cycling to work because of the scarcity of fuel in the region. In Borno State, a semi-desert region on the border with Chad, fuel scarcity is so bad that pedal power has replaced motorised transport for all but the most senior of officials, […]

THE South African Revenue Service announced on Friday that it is to outsource its entire dispatch function to Paragon Business Forms in an initial contract worth approximately R60-million over two years. The contract, which also includes warehousing and distribution, will see the SARS phase out its inhouse computerised forms operations early this year. Paragon’s major […]

NIGERIA’S second largest political group, the centre-right All Peoples Party (APP), is split over plans for an electoral pact in next month’s presidential elections. The leaders of the APP, which took nine of Nigeria’s 36 states in state-level elections on January 9, agreed earlier this month to team up for the poll, presenting a joint […]

MILO, the six-month-old Jack Russell puppy who underwent open heart surgery on Thursday, is showing an improvement, the University of Cape Town’s medical school said on Friday. Milo, who has a rare congenital condition which causes defects in all four chambers of his heart, was in a critical condition on Friday morning. University spokesperson Paddy […]

PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela is to make a state visit to the Netherlands.

GARBA Lawal and Finidi George scored to give Nigeria a 2-0 victory over Burundi on Saturday and moved the 1996 champions to the top of Group 5 in African Cup qualifying. The 1994 champions, who withdrew the week before the 1996 tournament and were banned from the 1998 finals because of it, improved to 1-1-0 […]

SOFTWARE development firm Ixchange plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange within two years, according to CEO Derek Kreunen. The company will be following Anglo American, SAB and a number of technology firms hoping to raise foreign capital. Dimension Data, Comparex (formerly PQ Holdings) and Datatec have all listed overseas. Because of the […]

THE Pretoria Regional Court on Friday ruled that people’s poet Mzwakhe Mbuli will remain in Pretoria Central Prison following an application by Mbuli that he be moved because his fans will not leave him alone. Mbuli’s lawyer, Wessie Wessels, requested that his client be moved to a police station to isolate him from the attention […]

DETAINED managing director of the Zimbabwean Standard, Clive Wilson is to appear in the Harare high court on Monday. Wilson was arrested on Friday. Commonwealth human rights lawyers were denied access to Wilson at the weekend. “A 10-member delegation of human rights advocates from across the Commonwealth failed to gain access to Clive Wilson,” the […]

THE blockbuster restructuring of Anglo American Corporation faces another key test on Thursday when shareholders in Anglo’s industrial subsidiary consider a share swap offer. The scheme meeting for Anglo American Industrial Corp (Amic) is one of Anglo American’s last major hurdles as it tries to consolidate its operations and move its domicile to London. Shareholders […]