Mafeking | Thursday NINE rape cases in a week in the Molopo area have been reported with the victims including girls aged seven and eight, North West police said on Thursday. Inspector Lesego Metsi said one of the victims was a seven-year-old girl, another was aged eight, and three other minors — one a 14-year-old […]

Johannesburg | Thursday THE Constitutional Court will hear argument on Thursday that a section of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act is unconstitutional because it infringes the right to freedom of speech. The Islamic Unity Convention (ICU) is seeking leave to appeal to have clause 2(a) of the IBA Code of Conduct declared unconstitutional. The […]

Harare | Wednesday ZIMBABWE’S Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out charges of terrorism against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, declaring that the law under which he was charged was unconstitutional, his lawyer said. The ruling paves the way for Tsvangirai to contest in next year’s presidential elections, where he is expected to pose the greatest challenge […]

Bujumbura | Wednesday THE head of the UN World Health Organisation’s (WHO) operations in Burundi, Kassi Manlan of the Ivory Coast, was found dead in Bujumbura on Tuesday, police, one of his colleagues and other sources said. “Until proven otherwise, it is very likely that we are dealing with an act of banditry,” state prosecutor […]

Lisbon | Wednesday FANGOLAN rebel movement Unita on Tuesday claimed to have killed 298 government soldiers, police and militia forces in operations between November 8 and 19, according to a statement. The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) said it had taken the town of Gamba in the eastern Moxico province on […]

Abuja | Wednesday NIGERIA will sell off its under-performing electricity company Nepa next year, the head of the government-appointed privatisation agency said on Tuesday. “The president has directed that Nepa must be sold next year and that is what we will do,” the director-general of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Nasiru el-Rufai told reporters here. […]

Algiers | Wednesday A POWERFUL bomb blast wounded 29 people, four seriously, early on Tuesday at a bus station crowded with students in the Algerian capital, medical sources and witnesses said. The attack, using a homemade bomb which was concealed in a briefcase, came on the fourth day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, […]

GERMAN condom maker Condomi said on Tuesday it planned to move into the South African market where it would open a factory to turn out 100 million condoms per year. To this end it was setting up a joint venture, Condomi Africa Ltd, with partners Ferrostaal Investments South Africa and the “Black Empowerment” consortium, which […]

A EUROPEAN Union delegation headed by Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel on Tuesday headed for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a regional tour to promote peace. The team will “sound out the rival parties on the prospects for progress on outstanding issues in the Lusaka process and the Arusha process” — meaning peace […]