LIFE insurance giant Sanlam said its half-year earnings jumped 18%, and that it looked set to achieve its target of 10% growth for the year. Headline earnings per share rose to 45.1c in the six months to June 30, from 38.1c in the same period last year, boosted mainly by growth in its personal finance […]

Radio 702 talk-show host John Robbie apologised to Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang at the start of his programme on Wednesday. Robbie said he had not been under any pressure from the station’s owners, Primedia, to apologise for last week’s acrimonious interview with the minister. He said he listened to the interview again and realised that […]

AFP, Nigeria | Thursday AN Islamic court in northern Nigeria has sentenced a 17-year-old pregnant girl to 180 lashes of the whip after finding her guilty of engaging in premarital sex. Bariya Ibrahim Magazu was found guilty by the Islamic court at Isafe in northern Zamfara State, said the court’s presiding judge, Malam Idris Usman […]

AFP, Cape Town | Thursday SOUTH African MPs sent to observe Zimbabwe’s general elections in June reported that the ruling Zanu-PF was not solely to blame for violence that killed 32 people in the run-up to the poll. In a special report due to be debated in parliament on Thursday, the 20 MPs said they […]

AFP and OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday PRESSURE is mounting for President Thabo Mbeki and his health ministry to publicly state that HIV causes Aids and to clarify what steps the government will be taking against the fatal disease. While 200 chanting activists demonstrated against Mbeki’s Aids policy near parliament in Cape Town on […]

The South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) has fined two of its member unions after finding them guilty of breaching regulations regarding quotas for black players. According to Sarfu rules, two black players must be on the field at all times during Currie Cup matches. A black player may only be replaced with a white […]

PETER CUNLIFFE-JONES, Lagos | Thursday THE high price of oil, which is causing a furore across the developed western world, has been a “godsend” to the poor of Africa’s most populous country, says a top official. Nigeria, home to 120 million people, 90% of whom live on under US$2 a day, depends on oil for […]

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday accused Guinea’s government of inciting mob violence in Conakry against Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees, whom authorities have accused of fuelling a rebellion. “The mobs drove refugees out of their houses, frequently beating, raping, and sexually abusing them. The attackers wielded sticks, rocks, iron bars, electric cords and knives,” according […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana says the government’s investigation into reducing working hours to 40 hours a week is expected to be released soon. Refusing to divulge details of the report, Mdladlana told a media briefing at parliament that it would be “exciting” for business and labour. South African workers […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT and REUTERS, Cape Town | Thursday ATTEMPTS to bring South Africa’s black majority into the economic mainstream have failed and must be replaced by a new law to force the pace, says leading businessman Cyril Ramaphosa. “Black people remain at the periphery of the economy. They need access to funding and markets,” says […]