OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday A TOP official at South Africas Road Accident Fund, which has a deficit of R9.2bn, has launched a stinging attack on the politicians, unscrupulous lawyers and excessive administration expenditure he says are responsible for driving the fund to the brink of bankruptcy. The funds Duif de Waal, a re-appointed […]

MUSIC piracy and the illegal importation of audio and video music cassettes is costing Tanzania an average of US$9,4m every year, industry authorities claim. Tanzania’s Music Copyright Association (TMCA) secretary general Francis Kaswahili said more than six million audio music cassettes and 2,5m video cassettes were illegally duplicated and sold on the country’s streets during […]

UGANDAN President Yoweri Museveni has been officially nominated as a candidate for presidential elections to be held in the next two months, before a large cheering crowd in central Kampala. The crowd was peaceful, in contrast to Monday, when angry supporters of presidential hopeful Nasser Sebaggala clashed with police after their candidate was disqualified by […]

THE Nigerian subsidiary of South Africa’s mobile phones group MTN is among five companies qualified to bid for three phone licences to be auctioned here next week. The other four successful bidders are Econet Wireless Nigeria Ltd; United Networks Mobile Ltd; Communication Investments Ltd; (CIL) and MSI-Celtel Nigeria Ltd. Three new licences to operate mobile […]

A YOUNG man whose love interest resisted his charms shot himself in the thigh to spite her, but bled to death. Mpumalanga police said Bongani Mthombothi, 26, of Kabokweni, near White River, was devastated when a woman known only as Precious was unmoved by his ardent affections. He could not take it anymore and drew […]

BRIAN LIGOMEKA, Blantyre | Wednesday INTERNATIONAL human rights watchdog Amnesty International has slammed Malawi’s inability to prevent massive rape and sexual abuse of juvenile prisoners in the country’s penal system. Amnesty International’s German chapter lodged formal written complaints with Malawi authorities condemning the systematic abuse of juvenile prisoners at Malawi’s largest penitentiary, the Zomba Maximum […]

JAPANESE Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori visited the grave of Hector Pietersen, the first victim of the anti-apartheid uprisings in Johannesburg’s Soweto township, on Monday, his first day in South Africa. South Africa expects Mori’s visit to build both political and trade relations with Japan, its most important trading partner in Asia. The prime minister is […]

SOUTH African diamonds group De Beers is considering selling its brand name to a large luxury goods group, as part of a strategic review to unlock the value of the prestigious name, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The report said the company, which controls about 60% of the sales of uncut diamonds, is in […]

BURUNDIS President Pierre Buyoya and Hutu rebel leader Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye have met for the first time since civil war broke out in 1993. Buyoya and Ndayikengurukiye, who heads Burundi’s main rebel movement, the Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), met for more than three hours in talks hosted by Gabon’s President Omar Bongo. The […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday THE rand took a fresh beating on Tuesday, hitting its lowest level in weeks against the dollar and a new record low against the pound as speculators entered the fray on rumours about a delay in the much awaited Telkom initial public offering (IPO). The government denied the rumour, saying […]