Voters in Lesotho were casting their ballots on Saturday in their first local elections since the tiny southern African kingdom gained independence from Britain in 1966. However uncertainty over the role and powers of the new office bearers has taken some of the gloss off what should have been landmark polls.
Supersport United moved up to fourth position on the PSL log when they punished Jomo Cosmos 4-1 at the Rand Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The result has kept Cosmos in the relegation zone with only two matches to play. The match turned out to be one-sided as United made their intentions clear from the beginning.
Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince hit contrasting hundreds in a record-breaking fifth-wicket stand that put South Africa in an impregnable position. Kallis continued his love affair with West Indies’ bowling in an undefeated 127 and Prince gave him admirable support with an unbeaten 114.
A falling unemployment rate is making it easier to market South Africa to foreign investors, the head of International Marketing Council (IMC) said on Saturday. The latest labour force survey released by Statistics South Africa shows a gain of more than 250 000 jobs in the six months to September 2004.
”Annan: the SA connection”, the Mail & Guardian‘s headline declared dramatically a few weeks ago. The story dealt with the conflict-of-interest allegations against United Nations chief Kofi Annan.The claims centred on the fact that his son, Kojo, received payments from a Swiss company that was granted a lucrative monitoring contract under the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq.
Steve Biko’s famous maxim ”Black man you are on your own!” has found expression in South Africa’s only organisation specifically for black lesbians who are going it alone. On Freedom Day, the Forum for the Empowerment of Women marked the second anniversary of its ”Rose has Thorns Anti-Hate Crimes Campaign”.
The Bulls kept South Africa’s flame firmly flying in the Super 12 Friday night as they demolished the Auckland Blues 38-24 at Loftus Versfeld. With the game a win-at-all-costs affair, the Bulls came out snorting and scored five tries to three to take the full compliment of points from the game.
An American Muslim army sergeant has been sentenced to death by a military court for killing two fellow soldiers and wounding 14 others in the first days of the Iraq invasion. Akbar becomes the eighth man awaiting execution on the US military death row.
Relations between the Bush administration and one of its closest European allies came under renewed strain last night when US and Italian investigators said they had failed to agree on the verdict of an inquiry into the shooting of an Italian intelligence agent by American soldiers in Iraq.
Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers piled on the agony for the West Indies as both openers completed hundreds that helped South Africa reach 214-0 on a rain-affected opening day of the fourth and final Test on Friday. Smith was undefeated on 106 and de Villiers was unbeaten on 103.