Police escorted schoolchildren and teachers home on the Cape Flats this week after gang violence that left three people dead, the Cape Times reported on Thursday. Its website said residents in Hanover Park were also afraid to leave their homes.
A severe tropical cyclone packing winds of up to 235kph battered a major oil and mining region of Western Australia on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents and the lock-down of key industries. Emergency officials said torrential rains and a storm sea surge of up to 10m driven by Cyclone Glenda would bring widespread flooding to the region.
Angola became the top source of crude imports to oil-hungry China last month, replacing Saudi Arabia, a Swiss-based analyst said. The former Portuguese colony shipped 2,12-million tonnes of crude to China in February, ahead of Saudi Arabia’s 1,98-million tonnes, Petromatrix Gmbh, a trade advisory and risk management company, said in a statement received on Thursday.
Africa’s largest steel group, Mittal Steel South Africa, on Wednesday expressed disappointment at the decision by Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa to scrap the 5% import tariff on steel. Mpahlwa announced the removal of the 5% import tariff on certain primary carbon and stainless steel products with immediate effect.
Australia will aim to maintain their supremacy over South Africa when they play a ”dead rubber” third Test starting at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday. Australian captain Ricky Ponting said there would be no let-up from the world champions despite the series having already been won after the first two Tests.
Defending champion Annika Sorenstam tries to match friendly rival Tiger Woods with a 10th career major title when the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship tees off on Thursday. The Swedish superstar seeks her fourth victory in the event, the first major tournament of the season, and a 68th career title, which would put her 20 shy of matching Kathy Whitworth’s LPGA record career title total.
Equatorial Guinea’s President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has arrived in Zimbabwe for a three-day state visit to a rousing welcome, Harare’s Herald newspaper reported on Thursday. ”He is warmly welcomed as our guest. I am sure we will benefit very much from this visit by strengthening our relationship,” said Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday issued a formal demand for Iran to drop its uranium enrichment efforts, which the West suspects is a cover for a nuclear weapons programme. The statement, passed unanimously, called on the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to report back in 30 days on Tehran’s compliance.
United Nations peacekeepers escorted the captured former Liberian president Charles Taylor into jail on Wednesday at the Sierra Leone tribunal where he is wanted for trial on war-crimes charges. Taylor, handcuffed and looking dejected, was led behind a razor-wired gate into the holding penitentiary where nine other defendants in Sierra Leone’s brutal 1989-2002 civil war are held.
Living and playing in the city, as he puts it, was such an appealing idea that two years ago Khabo Baloyi decided to buy an apartment in downtown Johannesburg.
Labelling this a high-risk investment, the bank would not approve his mortgage application, however. Authorities are now trying to change perceptions that the central business district of South Africa’s financial hub is, at best, neglected.