PETRUS Balt (37) has been appointed as Absa’s treasurer, responsible for the markets and trading activities of the bank. Absa said in a statement on Thursday that Balt would also be a member of the executive committee of the bank. Balt, formerly group treasurer at Mondi Limited, a full subsidiary of Anglo American plc, joined […]

A 17-year-old boy has been arraigned before an Islamic court in the northern Nigerian city of Sokoto in the murder of his stepmother and faces execution if convicted, local radio reported Tuesday. He would be the second to be executed under Sharia law, the strict Islamic code that has been reintroduced in many northern Nigerian […]

THE case against chemical warfare expert Dr Wouter Basson was postponed to Tuesday in the Pretoria High Court after he suffered a light stroke at the weekend, The Citizen newspaper reported. The final argument would continue in his absence on Tuesday. Basson, who pleaded not guilt on 43 charges ranging from drug dealing, murder, conspiracy […]

Cape Town | Wednesday THE South African province worst afflicted by Aids must immediately make anti-retroviral drugs treatment available to all pregnant women, whatever their HIV status, Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Tuesday. Buthelezi said his Inkatha Freedom Party, which shares power in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal Province with the governing African National Congress, […]

THE JSE banks sector was on the rebound by 1pm Thursday, while the gold sector lost 1,5% with the metal trading at $299,75/oz, up from Wednesday evening’s $299,70. The JSE overall index gained 0,1% to 10697 despite a softer Wall Street. Platinum producers Implats and Angloplat both gained more than 3% as the platinum price […]

Monrovia | Wednesday Police in Liberia, where a state of emergency took effect last week, on Tuesday closed down the independent Analyst newspaper, arresting its managing editor and three staff members, witnesses said. Managing editor Stanley Seakor, a reporter, the paper’s business manager and an office assistant were manhandled and beaten up on their arrest […]

Johannesburg | Wednesday THE Northern Province will in future be known as Limpopo, Gauteng newspapers reported on Wednesday. The name Limpopo was the overall favourite among the short-list of names considered during a provincial legislature meeting on Tuesday. It was also announced that the province’s capital, Pietersburg, would be renamed to Polokwane — meaning place […]

Grahamstown | Wednesday FORT Hare University on Tuesday rejected any possibility of merging with Rhodes University or the University of Transkei’s medical school, but said it intended retaining its independence and institutional character, culture and identity. Rhodes also indicated that it would prefer to see itself and Fort Hare develop as two strong institutions with […]

A MOTORIST who was convicted of shooting down the highway at Park Rynie on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast at 204km/hour was fined R20 000, SABC radio reported on Friday night. Traffic spokesman Phillip Maskell said the driver had to make an immediate payment of R10 000, and the remainder would have to be paid over […]