Leading alcoholic beverages groups Diageo, Heineken and Namibia Breweries have finally unveiled details surrounding their new South African joint venture company, which will trade under the name of brandhouse. The new company will be a formidable competitor in the local market, boasting sales of about R3-billion annually.
There was both bad and good news for delegates preparing for the International Aids Conference in Bangkok. The bad news took the form of yet another warning of the potential threat of the disease to developing countries, and of the dangers of complacency. The good news came from two papers in the scientific literature, both indicating that the costs of treating Aids patients need not be as high as widely feared.
For Zambia’s urban poor, accessing clean drinking water is a wearisome daily grind that takes up time and saps energy. For thousands of residents in Kaloko, a shanty township on the southern outskirts of Ndola, in the central Copperbelt region, fetching water had meant waking up by 5am, a six kilometre roundtrip to the neighbouring township of Mushili, and a struggle to keep one’s place in the queue at a rowdy communal tap.
With a gas heater to ward off the winter chill, a group of grandmothers knits and sews in a room plastered with old newspapers. Around the corner in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha, more grandmothers squeeze into a tiny lounge to do patchwork.
They are part of Grandmothers against Poverty and Aids (Gapa), a support- and income-generating self-help group based in the poverty-stricken township.
Last week saw the definitive end to the cheap money that refuelled the United States and world economies in the dark days of the dotcom bust, September 11 and the war in Iraq. The US Federal Reserve, the world’s most powerful central bank, increased the federal funds rate to 1,25%. It is the first rate increase in four years. Now the bank’s chief needs to negotiate this rise in rates without triggering a market meltdown.
South African junior bantamweight champion Simon ”Dancing Shoes” Ramoni has dismissed weekend reports that he is avoiding Silence ”Real Deal” Mabuza. Instead the champion, who dethroned Mabuza’s stablemate Theo Modise on an 11th-round stoppage in May, has reiterated his desire to challenge the Springs-based IBO champion.
Tens of thousands of frenetic fans streamed to Athens airport and the Greek capital’s centre on Monday to welcome surprise European champions Greece home from their victorious Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal. About 35 000 people filled the Panathinaikon stadium in the centre of Athens.
Two of Soweto’s big three clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Moroka Swallows, will enjoy home-ground advantage against Black Leopards and Ajax Cape Town when the journey to the final of the SAA Supa 8 Cup begins on August 14. The Pretoria-based Supersport United and Wits University of Gauteng also won home-ground games.
The sky could be the limit for Mamelodi Sundowns in the new season following their signing of seven new players. Goalkeeper Brian Baloyi, Josta Dladla, Neil Winstanely, Surprise Moriri, Raymond Seneo, Vuyo Mere and Thabiso Rammile all wore big smiles when they were introduced to the media at a briefing on Monday.
Mamelodi Sundowns have proven wrong the notion that Kaizer Chiefs attract more fans than any other local club. Downs have left South Africans gaping in disbelief with 35 532 votes for participation in the annual Telkom Charity Cup, which is scheduled for the FNB Stadium on July 31.