The chief executive of South Africa’s Gold Fields said on Wednesday he was aware of a bid rumour that sent its shares surging, but that the firm has not been approached about a takeover. Bloomberg News reported that United States financier Edward Pastorini may lead a bid for Gold Fields, the world’s fourth biggest gold producer.
A jobless Indian devotee was admitted to hospital after he cut off his tongue and offered it to a Hindu goddess, police said on Wednesday. Doctors stitched the wound but said the man, identified as Suresh Kumar (24) may not be able to speak again.
South Africans are most concerned about the effects of climate change, a global opinion survey has found. ”Eighty two percent of [South African] respondents state that they are very concerned or somewhat concerned about the effect of climate change,” market research firm Synovate said in a statement on Wednesday.
Damp ceilings, cracked walls, bad plumbing and shoddy bricklaying are among the structural defects plaguing the owners of about 2Â 500 low-cost houses across the Cape Peninsula. Poor workmanship has been blamed for the defects, the Local Government Research Centre reports, and it will cost about R35-million to repair the damage.
Lazarus Zim has resigned from the board of Telkom with immediate effect, the fixed-line telephone operator announced on Wednesday. This is in light of his commitments to the recently announced Afripalm and Mvelaphanda Resources black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction, which is set to alter South Africa’s BEE landscape.
The offer by South Africa’s second national telecommunications operator, Neotel, to purchase Transtel Telecoms, the commercial telecommunications arm of Transnet, has been accepted in principle by Transnet, the company said on Wednesday. The proposed transaction brings with it revenues of more than R400-million a year for Neotel.
A memorial service for slain South African swimmer Kenneth Smith will be held at the Parktown Boys’ High School hall in Johannesburg at 1pm on Wednesday, said his family. Smith’s body was found in a plastic bag on the outskirts of Peshawar on Sunday. Pakistani police said he had arrived at the Peshawar Airport on January 22.
The JSE was flat at midday Wednesday with further losses capped by a stellar performance by the world’s fourth-largest miner, Gold Fields on media reports that an America financier might bid for it. At noon, the all-share index was flat (+0,02%) although the gold mining index soared 4,32%.
Madonna, Genesis, Bon Jovi and The Police will top the pop megastars rocking the world against climate change in seven concerts across the globe on July 7, organisers say. More than 100 acts will perform in the giant, 24-hour Live Earth concert relay spanning Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and New York.
Search engine Google and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum launched an online mapping project on Tuesday to provide what the museum said was evidence of atrocities committed in Sudan’s western Darfur region. More than 200 000 people have been killed in Darfur since 2003 and some of this carnage has been detailed by Google Earth.