Burundi’s new President Pierre Nkurunziza on Tuesday formed the country’s first government resulting from a political transition that ended last week aimed at reconciling majority Hutus and minority Tutsis. The naming of the new government caps a five-year peace process to end the tiny central African nation’s bloody 12-year civil war.
The role of South Africa as a mediator in the lead-up to the planned October 30 elections in the Côte d’Ivoire has been successful so far, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said on Tuesday. Pahad said Defence Minister Mosioua Lekota would report to the United Nations on Wednesday on the current state of mediation.
Momentum has declared a special double-digit bonus for smoothed bonus investors for 2005. The above-average final bonus declaration comprises a basic and a special bonus. The final bonus declaration on retirement annuities invested in the Momentum traditional investment range and new-generation Investo product was 17%.
South African financial services group Investec announced on Wednesday that Investec USA Holdings Corporation, a subsidiary of Investec plc, has entered into a stock-purchase agreement to sell Investec (US) Incorporated, its registered broker in the United States to Israeli banking group Bank Hapoalim BM.
Helen Zille speaks to the <i>Mail & Guardian Online</i> about perils of floor-crossing and changes to South Africa’s education laws.
Police on Wednesday confirmed reports of a housebreaking at Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s home in Morningside, Johannesburg, earlier in August. Three people were arrested and two have appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s court and were not granted bail.
”Draco’s breath is warm against his neck, his body gradually relaxing as Harry holds him, refusing to let go, and Harry discovers this is the most comfortable he’s ever been in his entire life.” Welcome to fan fiction — stories, millions of them, that people write about their favourite characters from literature, television and film.
The South African government is on track to achieve its first ever fiscal year surplus, if the trends established in the first four months remain intact. In the first four months, revenue rose by 21,2% year-on-year (y/y), while expenditure increased by 12,2% y/y.
A North West game farmer has applied for a permit to breed ”zonkeys” — zebra-donkey hybrids — as an exotic attraction for canned animal hunters. This was revealed by Minister of Environment Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk at a press conference on hunting policy recently. The idea was to make zebras slower by cross-breeding, creating easier targets for hunters.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Affairs recently handed down tough new bio-security guidelines to commercial chicken and ostrich farming operations in a bid to head off an outbreak of bird flu in South Africa. Farmers have been advised to install electric fencing in chicken coops to prevent other birds, animals or humans from introducing the virus.