OWN CORRESPONDENT, AFP and AP, Johannesburg | Wednesday SECURITY guards at the Johannesburg offices of mining giant Anglo American sprayed about 150 demonstrators with pepper spray as they arrived to protest IMF and World Bank policies. Their protest came as several hundred like-minded demonstrators clashed violently with police in Prague as the two financial institutions […]

A 67-year-old Dundee farmer has been found guilty of hiring a professional assassin to murder a State witness scheduled to testify against his son. Cooks Henning showed little emotion when Dundee Magistrate Barney Visagie found him guilty of conspiracy to murder. Magistrate Visagie said the evidence confirmed that Henning hired Sasolburg hitman Gerard Opperman to […]

AT least 36 people have died, and 44 are missing, after a Greek ferry with 511 people aboard ran aground and sank off the Aegean island of Paros. A port official also suffered a heart attack and died after hearing news of the sinking, the coast guard said. CNN reported that rescue teams are heading […]

THE government may raise the legal age for gun owners from 16 to 25 in a move it hopes will ensure better control of firearms. A number of stringent new controls are to be discussed this week in the National Assembly when the new draft of the Firearms Control Bill is debated. Expected amendments include […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT and AFP, Pretoria | Wednesday THE Reserve Bank has described South Africa’s loss of 39 213 formal jobs in the second quarter of this year after widespread restructuring and government retrenchments as “alarming and concerning”. Statistics SA said in its Survey of Total Employment and Earnings (STEE) that at the end of June […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kimberley | Wednesday SPECIAL agents have smashed a massive arms smuggling ring operating at a South African National Defence Force ammunition depot at Jankempdorp in the Northern Cape, arresting seven people and seizing weapons, nearly 200kg of explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Chris Louw, deputy director of public prosecutions in the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Wednesday THE South African National Defence Force has been called in to help cope with an antibiotic-resistant outbreak of cholera in KwaZulu-Natal that has killed 13 people and infected more than 1_ 000 others. Authorities say the disease appears to be spreading after new cases were reported in Eshowe last week. […]

THE man arrested two months ago for allegedly having sex with his sister for 16 years and producing two children has been granted bail. Robert Jan Fedder, 40, was released on R600 bail in the Delmas Magistrate’s Court. He has been in custody since he, his sister and parents were arrested on July 26 after […]

AN 18-year-old matric pupil died in a bizarre accident in KwaZulu-Natal when he fell asleep under a school bus and it drove over his head. The pupil was on a school trip from Ntshisekelo High School in Inanda to the Newcastle Farmers’ Hall. KwaZulu-Natal road traffic inspectorate spokesman Vijen Murugan said the accident happened when […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Wednesday CONTROVERSIAL South African arms manufacturer Denel, which has undergone a major transformation in recent years, has “turned the corner” and expects to start realising profits next year, says acting chief executive Flip Botha. Releasing Denel’s results, Botha said the company’s gross revenue increased by 20% in the past financial year, […]