MORE than 200_000 doses of antibiotics, donated by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer for use in fighting trachoma – an eye disease affecting 142 million people worldwide – are to be sent soon to Mali. The announcement was made by the International Trachoma Initiative jointly with the Malian Minister of Health. One third of all children […]

SOUTH African-owned MTN Nigeria is one of five consortiums bidding for three operating licences in one of the world’s few remaining virgin mobile phone markets in an auction expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the Nigerian government. The auction also includes Communications Investment Ltd (CIL), backed by German giants Deutsche Telekom; Econet […]

TWO members of the feared vigilante organisation Mapogo-A-Mathamaga have been charged with killing a man whose body was allegedly fed to crocodiles in the Kruger National Park to destroy evidence. Leader of Mapogo in Mpumalanga’s Nkomazi area, Pierre Maritz, 32, and Namibian Sedelis Sewiya, 37, were charged with the murder of Enock Morune Mokgane, 33, […]

MALI has beefed up security in the north to crack down on an armed gang holding six soldiers hostage and threatening the local population, a security ministry official said. The group is allegedly headed by Ibrahim Bahanga, a former rebel who integrated into Mali’s army but has since deserted. Bahanga’s base in Tin Essako, some […]

FELIX MPONDA, Blantyre | Wednesday A COURT in Malawi has acquitted former cabinet minister Brown Mpinganjira on what he says were trumped-up charges of corruption relating to a $2m contract scheme. After the acquittal, the courtroom burst into chants from jubilant suporters of the former education minister, who was sacked last year by President Bakili […]

LESOTHO’s youthful Queen Karabo Mohato Seeiso has assumed her duties as royal consort to constitutional monarch King Letsie III at a ceremony in the capital Maseru. Queen Karabo, who married 38-year old King Letsie in a fairy-tale wedding 11 months ago, was crowned Queen Regent at Lesotho’s Royal Palace by Chief Justice Lebona Kheola. Letsie’s […]

THE African National Congress is considering launching its own newspaper over its frustration with the political stance of existing newspapers, Business Day reports. An ANC insider told the newspaper there was a strong feeling at the partys recent planning meeting that a study should be undertaken to test the viability of a publication. The ANC […]

HEAVY fighting between the army and insurgents in southern Guinea has claimed 93 lives since the weekend and forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes, the security services said. Relief agencies warned that more than 200_000 refugees and displaced local people were exposed to starvation, disease and assault and again cut off from assistance […]

SOUTH African IT company Computer Configurations Holdings (CCH) has sold its infrastructure management division Infracom to the unit’s management for up to R210m. The disposal is part of a deal by data management firm MGX to buy out all other CCH assets. Absa Corporate Bank is providing most of the funding for the buyout of […]

BRITISH Airways has begun lining the fuel tanks of its Concorde jets with the same type of rubber used in bullet-proof vests in a move aimed at making the supersonic jet safe enough to fly again this spring. Chief BA Concorde pilot Mike Bannister said changes to the plane’s delta-shaped wings were intended to prevent […]