THE aviation wing of South African arms manufacturer Denel has delivered the first locally built tail section of the Hawk lead-in fighter trainer plane to Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF). Denel said it was also on schedule to deliver the second Hawk tail before the end of November 2000, which would be fitted to one […]

BRENDAN BOYLE, Johannesburg | Thursday PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki said this week that the fight against inflation should not be pursued to the extent that the economy was driven into recession. Asked at a news conference whether the pursuit of economic growth or the fight against inflation was more important, Mbeki said growth and inflation were […]

PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Parks Mankahlana has died after a long illness at his parent’s home in the Eastern Cape, the African National Congress has announced. Mankahlana, a former president of the ANC’s Youth League, served as President Nelson Mandela’s media spokesman for his entire term between 1994 and 1999. He worked with Mbeki until earlier this […]

RWANDAN forces fighting with Congolese rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have lost control of Pepa in the south of Katanga province, Rwanda’s foreign minister said. The Rwandan army is backing rebels opposed to the regime of DRC President Laurent Kabila in the civil war which has raged for two years. The RCD […]

ANGOLAN security forces have arrested two South Africans accused of bringing cocaine worth an estimated $2m into the country. Customs officials found 60kg of the drug hidden in containers on a flight from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil by the Angolan national carrier TAAG. The South Africans, who were not named, are accused of organising […]

OWN CORRESPONDENTS, Johannesburg | Thursday CORRUPTION in South Africa has reached “epidemic” proportions, demanding hard-hitting laws and a more ethical environment, say business and political leaders. Addressing a two-day Anti-Corruption Conference for national and provincial Public Works Department officials, National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka said the urgency of addressing the problem and creating […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Thursday THE growing economic meltdown and attendant food shortages in Zimbabwe have eroded public support for President Robert Mugabe and his campaign to confiscate prime agricultural land from white commercial farmers, a hard-hitting international opinion poll has found. The poll, based on a sample of 2 000 Zimbabwean adults in both […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday THE South African Revenue Services (Sars) has proposed substantive amendments to its proposals to shift this country to a worldwide tax system, including concessions for headquarter companies and contract workers. Briefing Parliament’s finance portfolio committee, SARS law administration general manager Kosie Louw defended the government’s reasons for changing the […]

THE Mozambican government has predicted weaker than expected economic growth this year as a result of the catastrophic floods that hit the southern and central parts of the country in February. The government initially hoped for growth of between five and six percent, but the current projection is for 3.8%. Total losses due to the […]