TENS of thousands of people who fled fighting in the Central African Republic capital Bangui are sheltering from heavy rain in nearby forests, eating wild fruit to survive, witnesses said on Wednesday. Unconfirmed estimates of the exodus, mainly of women, children and elderly people, range up to 50 000 in the wake of a failed […]
BRITISH Royal Engineers have defused a 112.5 kilogram bomb in the northern Sierra Leonean town of Kambia, state radio reported on Thursday. The bomb was discovered by the Sierra Leone army in Kambia, about 80 kilometres north of Freetown, after the town was evacuated by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels following a disarmament pact. The […]
POLICE in Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos have taken into care 16 children aged from one-and-a-half to nine and are questioning a businesswoman suspected of trafficking in children. The children were found by police late on Tuesday packed into a mini-bus in Lagos. Police had taken the children to a juvenile welfare centre in the city. […]
A Namibian policeman is to be charged with murder and attempted murder after shooting two South Africans, killing one and wounding the other. Namibian police representative Chief Inspector Hofni Hamufungu said charges had been laid against the policeman but declined to release his name. The policeman apparently opened fire last Thursday on Bloemfontein shop-fitter Manuel […]
A FORMER project consultant of the controversial Mpumalanga Development Corporation (MDC) appeared for the second time in the Nelspruit District Court on Monday on fraud charges amounting to R1-million. The case against Mafa Obed Maseko, 44, of Kamagugu near Nelspruit was postponed and he is out on R5_000 bail. He has not yet been asked […]
A WHITE farmer whose land came close to being expropriated in March for the resettlement of a black community formally accepted an improved offer for it on Tuesday, government officials said. Chief land claims commissioner Wallace Mgoqi said that cattle farmer Willem Pretorius had agreed to sell his farm in Mpumalanga for R1 285_000 ($160_625). […]
EVIDENCE WA KA NGOBENI, Johannesburg| Friday THE disgraced former chair of the Central Energy Fund (CEF) awarded the head of the state oil company an annual salary of R1,2-million without following proper civil service procedures. Keith Kunene gave Renosi Mokate, CEO of the CEF, the R100_000 a month salary without consulting the parastatal’s board or […]
GLENDA DANIELS, Johannesburg | Friday THE Johannesburg High Court this week found in favour of a handyman who worked at the brothel The Ranch, in a civil case brought against the Ministry of Safety and Security. Matthew Palmer claimed R800_000 in damages for brutal assault and unlawful arrest and detention when the police raided The […]
Paul Kirk When guests at the Penwarn Country Lodge sit down for mid-afternoon tea, they’re joined by the wildlife. A caracal one of Africa’s smallest wild cats can be seen near the hotel door eating his dog pellets, while inside a full-grown otter is fast asleep in a dark spot of the bar. It seems […]
Andy Capostagno rugby The countdown to the first Test match of the season has begun. On Sunday Harry Viljoen will trim his Plettenberg Bay squad of 32 down to 26 and three days later four more players will fall away to leave us with the 22 who will line up against France at Ellis Park […]