OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Thursday INVESTIGATORS in the case of apartheid chemical warfare expert Wouter Basson had no idea of the murders of hundreds of Swapo detainees and SADF members until apartheid assassin Johan Theron made a full confession “out of the blue”. Senior Superintendent Dawid Venter, who was at one stage one of the […]

ADE OBISESAN, Lagos | Thursday LATE Nigerian military ruler Sani Abacha attempted to assassinate his then number two with a bomb blast at Abuja airport in 1997, a packed human rights hearing has heard. Former lieutenant-general Oladipo Diya told the Nigerian human rights panel Abacha’s agents had planted the car bomb that blew up outside […]

GENBEL Securities say its shareholders had approved a proposal by life assurer Sanlam Ltd to buy out Gensec’s minorities at R37 per share. Genbel said the proposal had been approved at a shareholder meeting in Johannesburg, and the scheme was now subject to sanction by the High Court of South Africa. Sanlam currently holds 63% […]

FLORIDA’S Legislature will hold a special session on Friday to begin picking a slate of electors expected to choose Republican George W Bush as the state’s US presidential winner if the results of its disputed election are still tied up in court. Senate President John McKay said he believed the lawmakers in the Republican-dominated Legislature […]

AMNESTY International said this week it was concerned that South Africa’s Anti-Terrorism Bill, designed to attack crime, would ”lead to human rights violations,” the human rights watchdog said in a statement – particularly provisions in the draft law allowing for detention without charge or trial. The bill was introduced this year to help the battle […]

DEFENCE chiefs from six African countries as well as rebel groups fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed an agreement to begin withdrawing troops from front-line positions later this month. But Namibia’s high commissioner to Zimbabwe expressed concern that the accord could fail for lack of a formal signature from one of the […]

AN uneasy calm is hanging over Ivory Coast’s main city Abidjan after two days of pre-election political and ethnic violence during which at least 20 people have died. Muslim former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara’s Rally of the Republicans (RDR) called street protests in defiance of a government ban after the Supreme Court excluded him from […]

SOUTH African media and telecoms group Johnnic Holdings has reported higher interim headline earnings per share (eps) and said it expected continued growth in telecommunications revenues to boost its earnings. Johnnic reported a 138% increase in headline EPS to 191 cents for the six months ended September 30, 2000, compared to a previous 91 cents. […]

MOZAMBIQUE has banned cloven-hoofed livestock and meat product exports from South Africa and Swaziland due to concern over foot-and-mouth disease. The ban excludes poultry, poultry products, eggs, butter and ultra-pasteurised milk. South Africa has reported foot-and-mouth outbreaks caused by different viruses in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga since mid-September, which has led to the slaughter of thousands […]

ALLAN SECCOMBE, Johannesburg | Thursday IN a rare show of unity, three South African Nobel peace laureates have urged the government to step up the fight against Aids, which afflicts one in 10 South Africans. Former presidents Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk joined Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu in calling on South Africans to accept […]