The case of the father of notorious prison escapee Annanias Mathe was postponed in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Although Zaphanias Mathe (80), a Mozambican, was granted R500 bail, he has yet to renew his permit to stay in South Africa, which has expired. For this reason he will be remanded in custody as he is still an illegal immigrant.
An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Lesotho’s capital, Maseru, following a series of attacks by gunmen targeting senior political figures and their bodyguards, police said on Tuesday. ”The announcement follows a series of attacks made on ministers and their bodyguards since June 11,” police spokesperson Inspector Pheello Mphana said.
Israeli tanks crossed into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday near a key crossing point where about 150 Palestinians have been trapped while trying to flee from the territory since Hamas Islamists took it over. An Israeli army spokesperson said the tanks entered Gaza to protect the Erez crossing.
A United Nations-backed war-crimes tribunal for Sierra Leone will on Wednesday hand down its first verdict over atrocities during the African nation’s decade civil war in which 120Â 000 people died. The case involves three renegade soldiers-turned-rebels, allegedly supported by former Liberian president Charles Taylor.
Chris Harmse, Africa’s leading hammer thrower, recorded a good win at the Folksam Grand Prix in Karlskrona, Sweden, on Monday. His winning distance of 75,05m was his best of 2007 and better than the B qualifying distance for this year’s World Championships in Osaka.
The prospect of playing in next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals now looms as a fait accompli for South Africa — but not without Bafana Bafana coming back to earth with a rude bump in Sunday’s 1-1 qualifying draw against Congo in Pointe Noire.
Paul Collingwood’s hundred on his Durham home ground left England with the advantage in the fourth and final Test against the West Indies on Monday. At stumps on the fourth day, the West Indies — after Matthew Hoggard had reduced them to 15-2 — were 83-3 in their second innings, a deficit of 30 runs.
Michael Vaughan resigned as England’s one-day captain with immediate effect on Monday. But Vaughan, in a statement issued by the England and Wales Cricket Board after close of play on the fourth day of the fourth Test against the West Indies, said he would continue as a one-day international cricketer.
Australia lock Nathan Sharpe threw down the gauntlet to the in-form Springboks on Tuesday, saying South Africa were over-confident and the Wallabies would relish playing them on home turf. Sharpe said he was pleased with Australia’s performance during a 22-19 loss to South Africa in the Tri-Nations series opener in Cape Town on Saturday.
Lloyd Gedye catches up with the crazy rollercoaster ride that is Lark