ALMOST 4_000 municipal workers in Mpumalanga on Wednesday marched on the South African Local Government Association (Salga) to demand a 10% wage increase. SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) demonstrators also briefly picketed Salgas regional headquarters in Nelspruit to demand a minimum wage of R2_000 for all municipal workers countrywide, in addition to an across-the-board 10% […]

AIDS activists in Kenya on Thursday urged MPs to include “life-saving safeguards” when reviewing legislation concerning drug patents. Kenyan legislators are currently reviewing the Industrial Property Bill which, as it stands, conforms with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules on countries’ rights to, in certain circumstances, overcome patent restrictions. Paralllel imports are re-purchased drugs from countries […]

UGANDAN-BACKED rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have accused government troops and their Zimbabwean allies of attacking a rebel position in the northwest of the country. The attack took place Tuesday on “our defensive position in Lusombo,” Jean-Pierre Bemba, the leader of the Congo Liberation Front (FLC) said late on Thursday. “Our forces […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday THE South African Competition Tribunal has approved a multi-billion dollar bid for diamond giant De Beers, the company announced Thursday. “That clears the last regulatory hurdle for the takeover to go ahead,” said a spokesman. Investors were meanwhile positive but careful after an announcement by a major American shareholder that […]

US oil company Chevron on Thursday reported a minor oil spill off the Nigerian coast after reports from local community leaders of a major spillage. Chevron Nigeria Limited said around 140 barrels of low-sulphur crude oil had leaked from an underwater pipeline about six nautical miles off the southern coast in its Delta Oil Field. […]

A SOUTH African magistrate ordered an art restorer to pay out R20_000 on Thursday after an oil painting of a tavern scene by 17th century Dutch master Adriaen Van Ostade was returned to its owner with a beard added to a face. The painting had also gained a traditional South African touch – a black […]

Forty-four people, including two policemen, were arrested for possession and dealing in stolen gold in Welkom on Wednesday, the Diamond and Gold Unit said on Thursday. Superintendent Ernie van Rensburg said the unit had launched a covert operation six months ago targeting two mines in the Welkom and Virginia areas in the Free State. Van […]

ELEVEN people were killed when two ferries sank in Benin’s Lake Nokoue early on Wednesday, state radio reported. It said four people were rescued and were hospitalised, but it gave no indication of how many people were on board the ferries. The radio attributed the accidents to heavy rains that had lashed the region since […]

Time was when REM, and the band_s singer Michael Stipe in particular, were the last people you_d think of as shiny or happy. Today, after a period of regrouping, they_re more content with life and music than ever Sean O_Hagan There was a time when Michael Stipe would get offended if you called him a […]

Jaspreet Kindra The ruling African National Congress’s alliance partners the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party are unlikely to field a candidate against President Thabo Mbeki next year. “Unless the current leadership continues down the self-destructive path,” adds a senior alliance leader referring to Minister of Safety and […]