THE Dutch lower house of parliament voted this week to legalise euthanasia, the first country to do so, after decades of unofficially tolerating mercy killings. A series of Dutch court rulings and government guidelines since the 1970s has given more leeway to doctors to help a patient die, but the criminal code was never amended. […]

ALLAN SECCOMBE, Johannesburg | Wednesday SOUTH Africa’s black cane farmers plan to make an offer for sugar firm Transvaal Suiker Beperk (TSB) following a failed bid by Tongaat-Hulett, a representative body said this week. The KwaZulu-Natal Sugarcane Growers Association, representing some 45000 small-scale black growers, had indicated previously that it was interested in TSB, but […]

SA telecoms and media group Johnnic plans to sell its 3.8% stake in MIH Limited, but is waiting for a higher MIH share price, says Johnnic finance director Jacob Modise. MIH Limited is a television, Internet and interactive technology group with listing on the Nasdaq and in Amsterdam. MIH’s share in Amsterdam has fallen from […]

MARK BENDEICH, London | Wednesday SOUTH Africa’s third largest platinum miner, Lonmin Plc, has tripled its annual pre-tax profit, almost doubled its dividend and said the good times should continue to roll. Lonmin raised its seven-year platinum production target by seven percent to 870000 ounces and said the accelerated expansion would bring it close to […]

CLOTHING and household goods retailer Mr Price reported an 18% drop in interim headline earnings, blaming tough economic conditions and start-up costs for its Chilean operation. Mr Price, which primed the market in a profit warning last week, unveiled headline earnings per share at 11.7c versus 14.2c in the 27 weeks to September 1999. The […]

MARIAM ISA, Pretoria | Wednesday GROWTH in South Africa’s main measure of money supply slowed in October while a pickup in demand for private sector credit was below forecasts, backing the case for steady interest rates, according to data released this week. In the year to October the rate of expansion in M3 – which […]

SOUTH Africa’s largest transport and logistics group, Unitrans, says its motor and financial services unit has bought a 40% stake in Southern African operation of Hertz Rent a Car for R4m. Unitrans Motors Managing Director Steve Keys said the deal marked the group’s first foray into the car rental industry. Hertz Southern Africa is a […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday THE rightwing assassins of South African Communist Party leader and liberation hero Chris Hani have launched a court bid to have their life sentences scrapped. Lawyers for Janusz Walus and Clive Derby Lewis have asked the Cape Town High Court to reverse a decision by the country’s Truth and […]

MOROCCAN police have arrested a Spanish truck driver trying to smuggle 5.35 tonnes of cannabis resin into Spain over the weekend. The 28-year-old driver allegedly loaded the drug into crates marked to be holding octopuses in the southwestern Moroccan town of Agadir. A police investigation is underway. – AFP