THE London-listed base metals group Billiton plc has confirmed that it has offered shareholders of Rio Algom Limited CD27 (Canadian dollars), or R129,87 a share, in pursuit of its bid for the Canadian zinc and copper producer. Billiton said the company had posted the offer to shareholders on Friday. Billiton is competing for the stake […]

A NORTHERN Province mining supervisor accused of shooting dead a farm worker while taking pot-shots at a beer can has been released on R1 500 bail by the Phalaborwa Magistrate’s Court. Byron Dennis, 46, of the Phalaborwa Mining Company, was not asked to plead on a murder charge and the case was postponed to October […]

BURUNDI army and rebel groups have accused each other of launching major offensives in the run-up to ceasefire talks later this month. ”The army is launching attacks to try to recover ground before direct negotiations start,” rebel spokesman Jerome Ndiho said. ”They are also killing civilians, to scare people so they don’t shelter or give […]

A GUINEAN court has sentenced opposition leader Alpha Conde to five years in prison with hard labour on charges ranging from illegal deployment of armed forces to threatening the security of the state. Thirty-three of Conde’s 43 co-accused, many of them military personnel, were acquitted. The remaining 10 were given sentences of between 18 months […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Delmas | Tuesday THE 32-year-old woman charged with having a 16-year-long sexual relationship with her brother has married her childhood sweetheart – by the same magistrate presiding over the incest case. Heibrecht ”Breggie” Fedder, who is alleged to have been pregnant at least 10 times by her brother, was married in a simple […]

REPRESENTATIVES of three Tutsi parties which did not sign Burundi’s peace accord have travelled to South Africa to meet the accord’s mediator, Nelson Mandela. Officials of the Independent Party of Workers (PIT), the Union for Democracy and Economic and Social Development (RADDES) and the National Alliance for Law and Economic Development (ANADDE) are to “consult” […]

STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Monday THE recent spate of bombings in Cape Town had the potential to plunge the country into a state of unrest similar to that of Algeria, where 100000 people have died in civil unrest since 1992, Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete has warned. His remarks, made at a parliamentary […]

AN urgent application made by Skyway Management to compel Telkom to resume the provision of telecommunication services to Skyway has been rejected with costs by the Pretoria High Court. This followed Telkom’s termination of its services to Skyway on the grounds that Skyway offered voice services via its data network. In terms of telecommunications legislation […]

OWN CORRESPONDENTS, Cape Town | Monday THE government is stepping up its efforts to stamp out the wave of terror gripping Cape Town, announcing plans to fast-track tough new anti-terrorism legislation and sending security reinforcements into the bomb-wracked city. Spurred into action by the drive-by shooting on Thursday of a city magistrate and a car […]

MATRIC pupils at a secondary school in Thohoyandou, Northern Province, are boycotting classes in an attempt to stop teacher-pupil affairs, which they say contribute to the high failure rate at the school. Students’ Representative Council president Livhuwani Mugumo said the school authorities were doing nothing about two teachers who openly boasted about having affairs with […]