The creditworthiness of the South African banking system as a whole remains stable despite the socio-economic pressures it faces, global rating agency Standard & Poors (S&P) has concluded in its latest report on the country. At the end of 2004, South Africa had 21 registered banks, two mutual banks and 15 local branches of foreign banks.
Shares in global resources group BHP Billiton on Wednesday afternoon fell to a six-week low after the group announced that it has given in to Chinese steel makers demands that it settle at 71,5% for its iron-ore contract price increase, the same level at which its two major iron-ore mining competitors have settled, analysts said.
The total number of foreign travellers who visited South Africa from mainland Africa, overseas and unspecified countries, rose by 2,6% y/y in 2004 to 6 815 202 compared with a 1,4% rise in 2003 to 6 640 095, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday.
President Robert Mugabe’s government has acquired six fighter jets ”to deal with any challenges”, state radio reported on Wednesday. It did not disclose the supplier or the price tag, but the report first named them as the ”K-8” and then the ”K-fighter”. Egypt bought K-8 trainers from China at a price tag of -million each, according to a former editor of Africa Defence Journal.
A drastic funding crisis could affect three million Ethiopians who need food aid, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a press release issued on Tuesday. WFP said it urgently needs $33-million to cover half the country’s emergency food needs for the next two and a half months.
Cambodian police have been ordered to capture dozens of buffaloes and cows roaming in the Angkor Wat heritage zone because of the dung they are leaving among the ruins, an officer said on Wednesday. Half a dozen police officers had spent about six hours on Wednesday trying to catch buffaloes bathing.
A middle-aged couple walked into a casino near the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, over the weekend and left minutes later with €641 215 (R5,08-million) after putting just 60 cents into a slot machine, a casino spokesperson said Wednesday. The couple inserted three 20-cent coins into the machine.
Teachers at a Pretoria high school were on strike over a staff shortage and unfavourable working conditions, a member of the school’s governing body said on Wednesday. ”There are 15 teachers to 1 050 pupils at Lotus Gardens Secondary school and the working conditions there are unacceptable,” said governing body member Marti Benolio.
Solar, wind and wave power can generate up to 90% of South Africa’s electricity by 2050, according to a study under discussion by business, government and civil society. However, to achieve such a great change in the long term the country had to start laying the foundations soon, the study noted.
Three musicians are recording a song about the killer Marburg virus in Angola — just one example of actions taken by ordinary citizens who want to stamp out the virus now claiming up to 10 lives a day. ”Marburg, leave our people in peace. We are going to kick you out of this country,” goes the song in Portuguese.