Severely injured South African Press Association sports journalist Larry Lombaard’s condition was described on Wednesday as ”unchanged, still serious but stable”, five days after he was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital. A passer-by found Lombaard semi-conscious on an Observatory street early last Friday.
The Inkatha Freedom Party says it is ”shocked” by the government’s call on universities to reduce student numbers, and refuse readmission to those who fail their first year. Earlier this week, the government identified the high drop-out rate among first-year students as a big financial drain on universities and other higher-learning institutions.
The owners of the hake trawler that collided with a container vessel killing 14 people near Port Elizabeth on Sunday are still investigating ways to reach the trawler with the aim of recovering bodies that might be trapped in the wreckage. This is according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Mossel Bay municipality.
Tanzania’s next government will continue to support the private sector’s role as the engine of growth in the country’s economy, outgoing President Benjamin Mkapa said. Mkapa made the pledge during a meeting with international investors, apparently seeking to reassure them as he prepares to retire.
The 62 South African alleged mercenaries in Zimbabwe are only expected to arrive in the country on Thursday, their lawyer Alwyn Griebenow said on Wednesday. ”If everything goes according to plan we will leave [Zimbabwe] at 9am tomorrow [Thursday] morning,” he said from Harare.
Six members of a family have been found dead in their sprawling ranch home in southern California by sheriff’s deputies responding to an emergency call from the house on Tuesday. The bodies of three adults and three children were found by police who had gone to the ranch after the early morning call to a 911 operator.
South African consumer confidence has increased by almost 30% in a year according to the results of a survey released on Wednesday. The SA index rose from 64,4 in February 2004 to 83,5 in February this year. The survey looks at consumers’ perception of economic conditions for the next six months.
Bombings at two locations in northern Iraq killed at least 30 people on Wednesday at an army recruiting centre in Hawijah and 28 near a police station in Tikrit, officials said. A remote-controlled car bomb was used in Tikrit, while the attack in Hawijah was believed to be the work of a suicide bomber with an explosives belt.
Industrial brand management company Barloworld on Wednesday reported headline earnings per share of 372 cents for the six months ended March 31, from 374 cents for the same period a year ago. The headline earnings per share were affected by a number of non-operational factors.
After opening weaker in line with world markets, the JSE Securities Exchange had crept into positive territory just after noon on Wednesday. Dealers said that positive local sentiment stemming from the Barclays-Absa deal and the rand coming off its best levels were helping the local bourse.