The South African Revenue Service (Sars) had by Tuesday received an estimated 2,4-million tax returns for the 2004/05 financial year, following the passage of the official tax-return deadline on Friday July 8. The estimate of 2,4-million is a "very conservative" one, Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay said on Tuesday.
Appiah Kabran whipped a shiny 9mm pistol from a holster at his waist and explained why a bespectacled lawmaker like himself might need it in war-divided Côte d’Ivoire. ”To kill rebels,” the cigar-smoking politician said bluntly. ”I don’t trust anything but this.”
A 25-year-old Hout Bay resident was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the rape of a German tourist near Cape Town’s Sandy Bay, police said. The man was arrested at 1.30am after police followed up on information provided by the public, Superintendent Billy Jones said. He will appear in court on Thursday.
A doctor has been arrested for applying a painkiller to help a Japanese gangster chop off a businessman’s little finger, a mob rite meant to prove character by enduring pain, police said on Tuesday. Gangster Kyoji Kakutani (49) had reportedly invested in the businessman’s company and when the firm went bust demanded the 44-year-old’s pinkie.
The JSE continued to press on to record highs on Tuesday despite heavyweight resources stocks being dragged down by a stronger rand. Banking group FirstRand led the upside on a mediareport that it could be the target of a takeover by Citigroup.
Lebanon’s outgoing Defence Minister Elias Murr was wounded on Tuesday morning in an explosion in a Christian suburb just north of the capital Beirut that also caused fatalities, the police said. Murr, the son-in-law of President Emile Lahoud and deputy prime minister, was taken to Serhal hospital, where an employee said his condition was ”good”.
One of the most colourful and legendary Blue Bulls of all time, Fiks van der Merwe, has died in Pretoria at the age of 88, family members confirmed on Monday. He was also the second-oldest living Springbok. Van der Merwe played on the flank in the Springboks’ first post-World War II Test against the All Blacks in 1949.
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni says much can be learned from the European Union as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) attempts to create a single monetary union for the region by 2016, adding that it is necessary to be strict about macroeconomic convergence criteria.
The Netherlands claimed the final qualifying place at the 2007 Cricket World Cup on Monday as they trounced the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 145 runs in the International Cricket Council Trophy fifth-place play-off. Bermuda, Canada, hosts Ireland and Scotland have already qualified from this tournament.
One of Europe’s leading hopes to break a six-year drought in the British Open, Padraig Harrington, has withdrawn from this week’s renewal after the death of his father on Monday. The 33-year-old Irishman had been told in March that his father, Patrick, had contracted cancer of the oesophagus.