No image available
/ 26 November 2004
National government is rejecting calls to bail out delinquent provinces brought to the fiscal brink by chaotic accounting, social grant fraud and inadequate budget controls. And with even well-off provinces squeezed for cash, the debate over provincial taxation is gaining a sharp new edge as some provinces plan to impose their own fuel tax.
No image available
/ 26 November 2004
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono is probing the disbursement of $800-million (about R821Â 800 ) to a Zanu-PF shelf company by the bank last year. In an interview this week, Gono said he was not aware of the transaction until the <i>Zimbabwe Independent</i> brought it to his attention. The transaction did not take place during his tenure as governor.
No image available
/ 26 November 2004
British-born author Arthur Hailey whose books such as Airport, Hotel and Wheels inspired disaster movies of the 1970s has died
at his home in the Bahamas aged 84, his family said on Thursday. Hailey’s books were published in 40 countries and sold more than 170-million copies.
No image available
/ 26 November 2004
It’s exactly a month to Christmas. But credit card provider Mastercard says there is hope for those who want to avoid the crowds. Based on the analysis of its transaction data from previous years, Mastercard predicted the busiest day of the year will most likely occur on December 23 and the busiest hour most likely will be from 2pm to 3pm on Christmas Eve.
No image available
/ 26 November 2004
Every day at dusk, Inkosi Mbuyiseni Ntuli (74) locks his modest home in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal and heads into dense bush to find a place to sleep. The chief joins more than 100 families too afraid to sleep in their beds in the Mbongolwane district, near Eshowe. They are part of a remote community being terrorised by a group of heavily armed gunmen whose attacks have left more than 10 people dead.
No image available
/ 26 November 2004
President Robert Mugabe is expected to read the riot act to Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial leaders on Friday over simmering dissent within his party. Mugabe is due to meet senior Zanu-PF Bulawayo politicians to tackle the infighting which intensified after Sunday’s controversial nomination of new party leaders.
No image available
/ 26 November 2004
Hollywood continued its long tradition of serving up turkeys for the Thanksgiving holiday with the release on Thursday of Oliver Stone’s sword-and-sandal epic Alexander. The film was well and truly roasted by critics, who were clearly irritated at having to spend nearly three hours sitting through the -million epic.
No image available
/ 26 November 2004
Two more of America’s top spies were reported on Thursday to be leaving the CIA, as an attempt to fix the troubled agency appeared increasingly to be dividing its ranks and driving out its most experienced officials. The latest departures were undercover operatives, and so were not named in Thursday’s press reports, which described them as ”barons” in the top level of the CIA’s clandestine service.
No image available
/ 26 November 2004
The case against a man charged with the murder of a Lord of the Dance production member was postponed on Thursday for a week. Jubulani Moyo (23) was arrested earlier this week for the murder of Darryl Kempster. Kempster, a British citizen, was robbed of his laptop and shot and killed on June 27 this year as he walked from the Nelson Mandela theatre to the Parktonian Hotel in the city.
No image available
/ 26 November 2004
There are not too many ex-prisoners whose arrival in a room brings 250 journalists to their feet in a standing ovation. And there are not too many 86-year-olds who can summon a supergroup of some of the world’s best-known musicians to help them launch a book.