South Africa’s rand eased slightly against the dollar on Friday, and could weaken further on the day as investors took profit after its strong gains the previous day. At about 0730 GMT the rand was at 7,2150 versus the dollar, 0,2% weaker than its New York close on Thursday.
President Thabo Mbeki has ”race myopia” and his short-sightedness is costing South Africa and the subcontinent dearly, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon. ”On the three overriding crises that have occurred on his presidential watch — HIV/Aids, crime and Zimbabwe — the president’s steadfast refusal to take necessary action is traceable to a blinkered attitude towards race.”
![]()
”Zimbabwe won the toss and will field,” announced Ramiz Raja. A day later, Michael Holding: ”Ireland won the toss and decided to bowl”. Even the broadcast feed: ”Australia won the toss and chose to bat,” an on-screen flash told viewers. Whatever happened to ”so and so won the toss and elected to bat/bowl” — that pompous idiocy so beloved of cricket commentators?
If you believe the official statistics emanating from the refereeing department of Sanzar, then the number of scrums per game is marginally down on years 2005 and 2006, but the number of free kicks and penalties emanating from rugby union’s trademark has significantly increased.
East Africa rivals Kenya and Ethiopia carry the strongest hope for Africa to maintain its supremacy at the 35th International Association of Athletics Federations World Cross-Country Championships in the coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya, this weekend.
Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has talked tough ever since fielding his first media conference as the national coach. He shot from the lip, saying that he would quit on the first occasion he thought the bigwigs at the South African Football Association were not playing ball.
The JSE was marginally higher in noon trade on Friday, lifted by resources stocks. The market was quiet, however, and lacked clear drivers. By 11.58am, the all-share index added 0,21%. Resources rose 0,77%, although the gold- and platinum-mining indices were off a modest 0,04% and 0,08% respectively.
A French judge has placed the chief executive of the Total oil group under formal investigation on suspicion of paying bribes to secure a major gas-field deal in Iran. Christophe de Margerie, who is already under investigation over the Iraq "oil-for-food" bribes scandal, was officially warned of the new accusations on Thursday night after he had spent more than a day in detention.
The government of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe on Friday issued a chilling threat against Western journalists working in the Southern African country. The information ministry warned journalists, including Jan Raath of the Times and Peta Thornycroft of the Daily Telegraph that the government might be forced to act against them.
Defeated Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba was sheltering in the South African embassy in Kinshasa on Friday after a day of clashes between his guards and DRC troops. At least two civilians were killed and a dozen wounded on Thursday in the violence in the capital Kinshasa.