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/ 13 January 2004
A day after a Zimbabwean editor and two reporters were released from jail, they found themselves threatened by the government again, this time for alleged racism. The government’s press control body accused the privately owned Zimbabwe Independent weekly of racism, after the newspaper published a letter saying Zimbabweans were as docile as ”a herd of wild beasts”.
‘The press is being trampled’
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/ 13 January 2004
The South African rand broke above the R7 per dollar level just before 2pm on Tuesday as geopolitical concerns continued to dampen sentiment towards the local unit. While market analysts said it was too soon to call an end to the rand’s firming trend, the local unit could be in for further weakness in coming days.
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/ 13 January 2004
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille has called on President Thabo Mbeki to make an announcement on the national and provincial election date. But a spokesperson for the presidency, Bheki Khumalo, said it was the president’s ”prerogative” to call the election.
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/ 13 January 2004
Describing his first undercover visit to The Ranch, police Inspector Stewart Griffiths said a lap dancer removed her clothing and ”waved her pelvic region in your face actually so close sometimes you could smell it”. On the second visit he had to rescue a recently married colleague who had reluctantly agreed to elicit sex from a prostitute as part of his police duties.
‘They are just after my assets’
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/ 13 January 2004
An innovative multimanaged alternative investment strategies fund, designed to protect investors from some of the underlying risks of hedge funds, has been launched in South Africa. The Investment Solutions Multi-Manager Alternative Investment Strategies Fund is the first local fund of its kind.
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/ 13 January 2004
Iden Wetherell, editor of the privately owned Zimbabwe Independent, says he stands by the story that landed him and two reporters in jail for the weekend. The men were arrested after printing a report that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe had ”commandeered” an Air Zimbabwe plane to go on holiday.
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/ 13 January 2004
The Israeli government has said it expects to begin withdrawing from parts of the occupied territories and redefining their borders to create an emasculated Palestinian state if there is no progress towards a negotiated peace settlement.
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/ 13 January 2004
A Belgian cardinal who is among the leading candidates to succeed Pope John Paul on Monday broke the Roman Catholic church’s taboo on the use of condoms, declaring that, in certain circumstances, they should be used to prevent the spread of Aids.
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/ 13 January 2004
A bigamist from South Africa who admitted infecting a woman with HIV was jailed for six years on Monday for recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm on his victim. Kouassi Michel Adaye (40) who pleaded guilty on Friday, came to Britain five years ago, claiming asylum.
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/ 13 January 2004
He did not get a private jet, but King Mswati III has found another way to drain Swaziland’s treasury: a palace for each of his 11 wives. Sub-saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch has reportedly asked his government for R102-million to redecorate three royal palaces and build 11 new ones — a big sum for a tiny country reeling from drought, food shortages and HIV/Aids.