A FIRE has raged through a squatter camp on the outskirts of Cape Town, destroying up to 1200 shacks and leaving thousands of people homeless, South African rescue service officials said. One person suffered slight burn wounds and two others were treated for smoke inhalation after the fire swept through the crammed Joe Slove informal […]

OWN CORRESPONDENTS, Cape Town | Monday IN A bittersweet moment, the South African government gave the people of Cape Town’s District Six, who were evicted under apartheid, back their land at the foot of Table Mountain – but only a handful will return. The deal gives the evicted, now mostly elderly, the right to a […]

PRESIDENT Abdelaziz Bouteflika has agreed to a 33% rise in Algeria’s minimum wage and a 15% increase in civil service salaries from January 1, officials said. The increases, however, fell short of levels agreed in talks among the government, trade unions and employers last week – a 66% hike in the minimum wage, and a […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) chief whip Tony Yengeni has pushed for a halt in the corruption probe into South Africa’s multi-billion rand arms purchase deal, government sources have claimed in a news report. In response, spokesmen for the ruling ANC denied there had been any attempt to stop the “super” […]

FOUR Angolan soldiers went on a shooting spree, killing six people and seriously wounding two others in Kuito, 580km southeast of Angola’s capital, Luanda. The troops opened fire while trying to force their way into people’s homes, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said. The soldiers then shot at an ambulance and killed an emergency worker […]

THE European Union has donated 2.4 million Comoros francs to improve Comoros agriculture and related trade, says the EU office in Moroni. The donation will help maintain the production of the Islands’ main sources or revenue; vanilla, cloves, ylang-ylang (a perfumed oil) and other essential items. The money will also enable the Comoros to promote […]

A FATHER and son collapsed and died on the way to hospital after eating a fish they had just caught in Indian Ocean waters off of Zanzibar, relatives said. A hospital attendant said the post mortem certificate showed the two had died from eating poisoned food. The fish has since been taken to the hospital’s […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday AFRICAN leaders will present a programme to rescue their continent from poverty to the governments of developed countries by the end of the year, says President Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki said at the weekend that the plan supported by the US, the European Union and Japan would be issued in draft […]

SOUTH African-based AngloGold, the world’s number one gold producer, and Harmony have said in cautionary announcements they were in talks about AngloGold’s Deelkraal and Elandsrand mines. AngloGold said it was in talks with ”a number of parties regarding their offers to purchase Elandsrand, Deelkraal and some of Anglogold’s assets in the Free State (province).” Business […]