The global mining industry has never had it so good. Soaring commodity prices — nickel hit a record of R209 a tonne recently — driven by a shortage of supply and increasing demand have led to bumper profits for big and small mining groups. The huge amount of cash generated has led to increasingly audacious mergers and acquisitions.
Whether they were dipping, sipping, watching alone or at one of the thousands of “viewer parties” taking place across the country, last week millions of Americans tuned in to the final episode of Friends. Dan Glaister in Los Angeles and Gary Younge in New York report on the passing of the famous TV series.
‘Now that I’m in it, it’s not nearly so daunting,” says Cape Town mayor Helen Zille of the job she accepted with trepidation six months ago. Zille is perched on a couch in the lounge adjoining her sixth-floor Civic Centre office in the central city.
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Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota on Thursday sacked Brigadier General Ernest Zwane from his position as director of military prosecutions. This comes after it became known that Zwane has previously been convicted on two counts of fraud and was also convicted of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
Police in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kinshasa, fired shots into the air on Thursday to disperse an angry crowd, days after clashes between forces loyal to two rival presidential candidates killed at least 16 people.The incident occurred as a joint European Union and United Nations force patrolled the streets of Kinshasa.
The Azanian Youth Organisation (Azayo) should pursue its campaign to change South Africa’s name to Azania through Parliament, the Department of Arts and Culture has recommended. The department’s deputy director general, Themba Wakashe, was responding to an Azayo letter to Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan, which said South Africa’s current name reflects the legacy of colonialism.
Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army on Thursday demanded radical changes to the country’s power structure, calling for complete autonomy for their northern region under a new federal Constitution. In addition, the rebels said poverty stricken northern Uganda should get at least 22% of all government revenue under a new wealth-sharing formula.