Unlisted black-owned Calulo Investments has — for an undisclosed amount — snatched a 15% shareholding in Chlor-Alkali Holdings-held NCP Chlorchem, the company announced on Wednesday. Calulo chairperson Mkhuseli Faku and MD Mpho Diale have, as a result, joined the NCP board.
At least 10 people were killed and several others trapped when a building collapsed in Nigeria’s southern oil city of Port Harcourt, police said on Wednesday. The four-storey building under construction on Sani Abacha Road in the city centre suddenly caved in on Tuesday, killing at least 10 construction workers.
Former Guinea-Bissau president Kumba Yala and a number of soldiers moved into the presidential palace in the capital Bissau for a few hours early on Wednesday as tension simmered in the small West African state. Yala was ousted in a bloodless military coup in September 2003 but declared on May 15 that he is still president.
More than one million Mozambicans are reeling from a drought that has hit the south of the country and only little more than a tenth are getting food aid. Silvano Langa, head of the National Disaster Management Institute, said he hoped the shortage would not be as ”acute as in past years when we had to ward off the combined effects of drought and war”.
Separatist rebels in Angola’s oil-rich enclave of Cabinda say they have shot down a military helicopter, killing its crew, contradicting government reports that a police helicopter crashed into a mountain as a result of bad weather. Despite intensive searches by the army, police and locals, the helicopter has not been found.
The JSE Securities Exchange was flat at noon on Wednesday, with no drivers to give it direction. Dealers said that the market had been fairly quiet and the majority of moves stock specific. By 12.02pm, the all share (-0,03%) and all share industrial indices were flat, while the financial and banks indices firmed 0,67% and 0,84% respectively.
Triple champion Gustavo Kuerten, still recovering from the effects of two hip operations, slumped to his worst defeat in 10 years at Roland Garros on Tuesday when he was dumped out of the first round of the French Open. The 28-year-old Brazilian was the champion in Paris in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
While the rugby bosses have put the game in a state of turmoil, Springbok coach Jake White and his squad went about business as usual. The Bok squad had their first two field training sessions at Shimla Park at the University of Free State on Tuesday, and White said he was satisfied with what he saw.
Ernie Els still talks of being ranked number one. Vijay Singh holds that spot, with Masters champion Tiger Woods just behind. Els is number three, but he could make up ground if he wins the BMW Championship on Sunday on the West Course at Wentworth. ”If I can play to my form, maybe I can get my head in there,” Els said.
A 1-0 victory for Supersport United over Silver Stars at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday evening saw them end their Castle Premier Soccer League campaign in fourth place. Their victory saw United leapfrog Moroka Swallows on the table to end off in fourth position behind Kaizer Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns.