OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday THE office of the South African has declared war on an internationally syndicated journalist, author and former Oxford professor, RW “Bill” Johnson, for suggesting that Thabo Mbeki is “off his rocker,” The Sunday Independent reports. Johnson, the director of the Helen Suzman Foundation and a freelance journalist who writes a […]

RETAILER Pepkor is to split into three listed entities, with the Pepgro holding company being unbundled to shareholders and delisted. Chairman Christo Wiese said that for every 100 Pepkor shares, shareholders would earn 150.6 Shoprite shares and 50 shares in a new company, Tradehold Limited, which would hold Pepkor’s 69% stake in British subsidiary Brown&Jackson. […]

SOUTH African construction firm Aveng Ltd expects to achieve real earnings growth in 2001 on the back of recent acquisitions to consolidate its position in the sector. ”Aveng in its current form should achieve real earnings growth in the year ahead. Any revival in the economy and construction industry will further improve performance,” said managing […]

SOUTH African motorists will pay more for their fuel from October 4 because of higher international petroleum prices and a weaker rand against the dollar. Diesel will jump 36c a litre from early next month, while petrol will rise by five cents a litre, the Department of Minerals and Energy said. Petrol in the main […]

AFP, Cape Town | Friday A MAJOR obstacle in the country’s economic growth, besides unemployment, is HIV and Aids, South African Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni said. Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the University of the North at Turfloop, Mboweni said that despite the epidemic, South Africa had the best chance of all the […]

THE head of the anti-corruption unit in the office of Northern Province Premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi has appeared in court on charges of corruption. Paul Tanyani Nenzhelele, 34, was not asked to plead and his bail of R1 000 was extended. Nenzhelele is accused of promising a woman a job in return for R1 000. The […]

AFP AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, New York | Saturday SOUTH Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela called on rebels in Burundi to cease fire, saying they were killing only civilians and not hurting their military enemies. Mandela, who mediated in last month’s peace talks, held in Arusha, northern Tanzania, said: “Now that there is a peace agreement, […]

MALAWI and Mozambique reopened a railway that reconnects landlocked Malawi to an Indian Ocean port with a short and cheap route that civil war once made impassable. Presidents Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique and Bakili Muluzi of Malawi signed an agreement launching the Nacala Develepoment Corridor, as they have dubbed the road and railway linking Malawi […]

REUTERS AND OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sasolburg | Saturday A WHITE South African accused of dragging a black man to his death behind a truck has been remanded for psychiatric tests, sparking clashes between black protesters and police. Businessman Pieter Odendaal, 44, had been scheduled to appear before a Sasolburg court on Thursday, but the hearing was […]

FROM Friday, smokers who light up in an enclosed public place outside designated smoking areas are liable for a fine of at least R200, according to harsh new tobacco regulations published in the Government Gazette. The new laws, which are effective immediately, also ban all tobacco advertising and sponsorships, and make the sale of tobacco […]