NIGERIA’S state-run radio has banned its stations nationwide from broadcasting rap music, considered immoral by Muslim and Christian conservatives. A directive from the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) asked all broadcasters to note that “rap music is banned in all FRCN stations”. The directive, which was issued in October, violates the rights of young […]

A PROMINENT Nigerian Aids activist received death threats on Tuesday hours after appearing on television and criticising a controversial doctor’s claim to have found a cure for the disease. Former military intelligence officer Mohammed Farouk, leader of the Nigerian Aids Alliance, said the threats came after he criticised the controversial doctor Jeremiah Abalaka during an […]

CLAIRE KEETON, Cape Town | Thursday A MAN has been detained in Cape Town for questioning in connection with murder of former First Lady Marike de Klerk (64) police said on Thursday morning. Representative for the national commissioner’s office, Sally de Beer, said police believed they had enough reason to detain the man. She did […]

Pretoria | Thursday A SOUTH African farmer and a member of a local vigilante group were jailed for nine and seven years respectively on Wednesday for beating a suspected tomato thief to death and seriously injuring another. The Pretoria High Court sentenced Ockert Werner (35) and Marius van Antwerp (31) for beating two men with […]

Queenstown | Thursday A YOUNG initiate died at the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital (CMH) in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday following a botched circumcision. Two other initiates, who are being treated at the Butterworth Hospital, lost their penises this week after developing gangrene. At least 29 initiates are receiving treatment at various hospitals around […]

A man appeared in the Upington Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of attempting to rape a 101-year-old woman, Northern Cape police said on Wednesday. Inspector Chantel Manuel said the incident occurred in the town around 5.30pm on Saturday. The woman’s granddaughter arrived at home and found the man, who visits her grandmother regularly in […]

A nine-year-old girl was raped at her home in Mshenguville in Munsieville, Krugersdorp earlier this week, police said on Wednesday. The attack happened when the girl’s 33-year-old mother left her alone and asleep at the house when she went to visit her friend at 7pm on Monday, Inspector Yolande Bouwer said. The child woke up […]

QUANTITY Surveyor Professor Raymond Nnaemeka Nkado is the first black dean at the University of the Witwatersrand with his appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. Nkando said the post ”affords me an opportunity to positively influence the lives of a substantial number of people through effective leadership.” Nkado, who […]

Johannesburg| Thursday THE South African fiscal authorities’ bid to clamp down on forex speculators has backfired, sending the rand to a record low of R11 to the dollar on Wednesday, traders said. A trader said the currency hit R10,992/$ – when some dealers would have paid more than R11 – before improving to R10,82 by […]