A fourth-quarter recovery lifted junior miner Western Areas’ year-end results into the black for the 12 months ended December. The group said on Tuesday that substantial revaluation gains of R307-million on dollar liabilities (in accordance with AC133) boosted the results of Western Areas for the fourth quarter.
Shares in media and entertainment group Johnnic Communications and Naspers fell on Tuesday on the back of different factors, a trader said. "I’d say the fall was unbundling-related for Johncom shares, whereas with Naspers we are seeing a continuation of profit-taking," a trader said.
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South African civil society groups came back from Zimbabwe disillusioned about the state of democracy in the country, they said on Tuesday. The six-member delegation said that ”only the most optimistic MDC [Movement for Democratic Change] politicians” could hope for political change through free and fair elections.
A group of lawmakers in Malawi plan to launch a bid to impeach President Bingu wa Mutharika later this month, alleging that he violated the Constitution, a party spokesperson said on Tuesday. Discussions to impeach the president were held last weekend at the residence of former president and United Democratic Front leader Bakili Muluzi, who is engaged in an open feud with Mutharika.
Somalia’s transitional government-in-exile met in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday in a bid to bridge deep divisions over plans to relocate to the war-shattered nation that are now in chaos, officials said. But with inter-clan tensions still running high, there was no indication that Tuesday’s meeting would yield any immediate consensus, the officials said.
Thailand on Tuesday began a cloud-seeding campaign overseen by the king to alleviate a severe drought that has dried up reservoirs and baked rice paddies across the world’s number-one rice exporter, senior officials said. The rain-making operation is to focus first on the country’s impoverished north-east.
Almost R700 000 was given to the South African Red Cross towards the tsunami relief fund by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies in Pretoria on Tuesday. ”We are proud as Jewish people to be part of South Africa where people care about those in suffering halfway around the world,” said Zev Krengel on behalf of the board.
An outbreak of an unidentified haemorrhagic fever has claimed the lives of 93 people in northern Angola, Deputy Minister of Health Jose van Dunem said late on Monday. Angolan health officials have asked the Centers for Disease Control in the United States to conduct tests to determine whether the fever is caused by the Ebola virus.
Corruption is a scourge of development in Africa, Business Unity South Africa’s Cas Coovadia told the second national anti-corruption conference in Pretoria on Tuesday. President Thabo Mbeki earlier told the conference that South Africa has to remain vigilant against new manifestations of corruption.
A giant, puma-like cat is feared to be on the loose in one of London’s leafiest suburbs after a man was attacked in his own garden, police said on Tuesday. Police were called to a house in Sydenham Park in the early hours of Tuesday morning after the man saw a cat-like creature about the size of a Labrador dog roaming in his garden.