TOKYO Sexwale, former ANC premier of Gauteng turned businessman, has been named chairman of platinum producer Northam Platinum Ltd following the retirement of Alan Wright. The move was widely expected after Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda Platinum (Pty) Ltd (Mvela) took a controlling 22.5% stake in Northam on August 29 in an empowerment deal worth around R530m involving […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Monday SOUTH African scientists believe the source of William Shakespeare’s powerful imagery was drug-induced – and they plan to check the bard’s pipes in the hope of finding traces of cannabis. Researchers are now investigating whether the secret of the Bard’s creativity was his dope smoking, according to the Independent on […]

MALAWIAN President Bakili Muluzi has axed three key ministers in a cabinet reshuffle in a bid to improve the government’s image following damaging allegations of top-level corruption. Those dropped were former education minister Cassim Chilumpha, whose ministry is at the centre of a $2m corruption scandal, former transport minister Brown Mpinganjira and former labour minister […]

PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak’s party has secured more than 80% of the seats contested so far in Egypt’s legislative elections, a day after three people were shot dead in clashes at the polls. Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP) has won 233 of the 282 seats contested in the first two rounds of voting, despite inroads by […]

A NORTHERN Province man who chopped up his girlfriend and threw her body parts down a pit toilet last Christmas Day has been jailed for 18 years. Samuel Chuma, 30, of Nkhavhele village in Giyani, Northern Province, butchered Grace Mabaso in his parent’s bedroom and told his mother to keep out of “men’s business” when […]

THE World Bank has lodged complaints with authorities in Chad over the country’s diversion of oil revenues to the defense ministry. Under pressure from the bank and the International Monetary Fund, Chadian authorities revealed on November 25 that nearly $4.1m in oil revenues had been allocated to the defense ministry. This could jeopardise Chad’s efforts […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Pietersburg | Monday NORTHERN Province’s director general has launched an investigation into the abuse of State resources for electioneering by the African National Congress (ANC) following alleged abuses in the Office of the Premier. The probe follows media questions about the use of tax funds and government officials to organise a rally in […]

AT least 200 people were killed when a petrol tanker lost control and rammed into vehicles before bursting into flames in southwest Nigeria at the weekend. The victims, including a newly wed couple, were burnt beyond recognition. The accident, which involved more than 10 vehicles, occurred on Saturday and cut into heavy traffic on the […]

DEFENCE and veterinary personnel say every animal in the KwaZulu-Natal province might have to be put down to contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. Veterinarians slaughtered more than 4000 animals in September and October, but the disease, believed to have been imported in swill bought from a ship in Durban harbour, has spread from the […]

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) said this week it had approved Tanzania’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) as ”providing a credible basis for sustainable improvements in the lives of the poor.” Earlier this year the IMF approved a three-year $181.5m loan under its Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) to support Tanzania’s 2000-2002 economic programme. Targets […]