ZENZELE KUHLASE, Nelspruit | Wednesday THREE former Security Force members who operated under notorious Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock have applied for amnesty for several crimes, including burning houses in search of alleged activists. Police officers Izak Bosch and Willie Nortjie and former soldier Eugene Fourie applied for amnesty for political crimes committed between 1986 […]

STELLA MAPENZAUSWA and OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Wednesday ZIMBABWE President Robert Mugabe has been slammed by Britain and opposition party leaders for granting a blanket amnesty to anyone guilty of crimes in the run-up to the country’s elections earlier this year. Speaking after being questioned and released by police for allegedly treasonous statements, Movement for […]

A MALAWI newspaper editor has been demoted for not using a story about President Bakili Muluzi opening a plastic factory as his newspaper’s front page lead. The editor used a story headlined ”Malawi Police to Serve in Kosovo” as its main article instead of an account of Muluzi’s visit to the plastic factory. The Media […]

NORTHERN province police are investigating a Seshego police sergeant who allegedly inserted his fingers into the private parts of a teenage girl who had just been raped. The policeman, a member of the crime prevention unit, has not been arrested or suspended. The teenage girl said The policeman lured her into his room at the […]

JEREMY LOVELL, Cape Town | Wednesday SOUTH African legislators have approved a controversial new gun law which imposes strict limits on firearm ownership and gives police sweeping powers of search and seizure, in spite of vociferous opposition to the bill. The Firearms Control Bill 2000, which has sparked street protests by the mainly white pro-gun […]

KENYANS have celebrated 22 years of President Daniel arap Moi’s rule with a close eye on the country’s worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1963. ”The new century has not brought the blessings that Kenyans had expected,” the 76-year-old president said at celebrations to mark Moi Day, a public holiday dedicated to the […]

ANGLO-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Plc/Ltd says it will not try to match De Beers’ A$745m bid for diamond group Ashton Mining Ltd. ”Rio Tinto notes that the De Beers offer remains conditional on a number of matters, including Foreign Investment Review Board approval, and thus intends to leave its current offer of A$1.85 and/or […]

THE South African Chamber of Business (Sacob)’s business confidence index (BCI) edged up to 101.3 in September from 100.1 in August, but the overall mood remains wary. ”Although more stable than for a long time, there seems to be a cautionary element preventing the BCI from moving forward progressively,” Sacob said. Factors which negatively influenced […]

SOUTH Africa’s manufacturing output rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in August, versus a fall of 4.0% in July, Statistics South Africa reported. On an unadjusted basis, output climbed by 4.1% in the year to August, it added. In the three months to August, the rate climbed by 2.6% versus the previous quarter, with output […]

THE Volta Aluminium Company (Valco) in Ghana is ready to buy substantial quantities of gas from the West African Gas Pipeline project once it is completed, a source at Valco said. Valco’s interest will be a boost to the stakeholders in the $400m project, who are due to take a decision by the end of […]