THE charges against the six men accused of raping nine-month-old baby ”Tshepang” in Upington in the Northern Cape in October, will be withdrawn on Thursday afternoon. The Director of Public Prosecutions in the Northern Cape, Advocate Lungi Mahlati said he had decided to withdraw the charges on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence against […]

A CHOLERA epidemic in eight of Mozambique’s 11 provinces had infected 11 527 people and killed 159, health officials said. The epidemic began in August in the central Zambezia province, where more than half the deaths had been recorded, Avertino Barreto, the deputy national director of health, told state radio on Wednesday. In the town […]

Cape Town | Saturday SPRINGBOK coach Harry Viljoen has resigned from his position, citing ”off-the field media pressures” as the primary reason for the decision. The announcement was made at a press conference in Cape Town on Saturday morning after Viljoen had informed SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd managing director Rian Oberholzer of his intentions late […]

A MOTHER and her child were killed in central Ethiopia when a bomb the child was playing with exploded, the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported on Tuesday. A teenage boy was injured and hospitalised in the blast, which occurred on Sunday in Wenchi district, in the western region of Choa. ”The bomb went off as […]

POLICE in northern Nigeria arrested a man in possession of two recently-severed human heads, apparently to be used for witchcraft, radio reported on Tuesday. Ali Garuba Ngurore was arrested on Friday by police in Mayo-Belwa, in Adamawa State, after being found with a sack containing two ”fresh” human heads, state-run FRCN Kaduna radio said. The […]

A FRENCH adventurer and his Mauritanian guide set out on Tuesday on a 1 150-kilometer trek across the Sahara, the longest distance between water holes that has ever been attempted on camel, one of his sponsors said. The trip by Regis Belleville et N’Taha Ould Bouessif will take them from Chinguetti in Mauritania to Timbuktu […]

ALL South African children should have access to a special grant to protect them against absolute poverty, the SA Law Commission proposed on Thursday. This money should be available along with additional grants to address special needs and circumstances, it recommended in a review of the Child Care Act. The report suggests that tax concessions […]

Johannesburg | Sunday SUSPENDED arms acquisition chief Shamin Shaik was found guilty by the department of defence of illegally disclosing confidential information contained in the auditor-general’s draft report on the controversial arms deal late last year. The Sunday Independent reported that the Department of Defence representative Sam Mkhwanazi said the inquiry into Shaik’s alleged misconduct […]

A SENIOR National Treasury official was expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Thursday after two false identity documents with false numbers were allegedly found in his possession, the Home Affairs Department said. Interpol was apparently also looking for the man regarding alleged irregular activities in his home country of Zimbabwe, departmental spokesman […]

THE bodies of two women who had been stabbed to death with a bread knife were found in Rosettenville, southern Johannesburg, on Wednesday afternoon, police reported. Superintendent Chris Wilken said on Thursday 66-year-old Ethal Joan Jenkins and her friend Dawn Attwood (55) were attacked by someone who entered the Daisy Road house through the garage […]