FORMER Tunisian president Habib Bourguiba has died aged 96. Bourguiba died in Monastir, 160km south of Tunis. The former president, who led his country to independence from France in 1956, had been ill for some time. He was removed from power in 1987 following allegations that he had become senile. Bourguiba created a moderate, pro-western […]

South African motorists are facing the highest fuel prices ever following Wednesdays’ sharp increase in the price of diesel, paraffin and petrol. In Gauteng petrol will now cost R3,22 per litre and R3,11 per litre in the Cape. Paraffin has risen by 14 cents a litre. Long queues were reported at filling stations just before […]

THE recent flooding in the Northern Province has resulted in a plague of grasshoppers in Pietersburg, e.tv news reported. The Long Horned grasshoppers appeared in the province’s capital a few weeks ago and have since multiplied dramatically. Many businesses shut down for a few days as customers stayed indoors to avoid the visitors. The Department […]

The Appeal Court in Bloemfontein on Thursday refused alleged Hard Livings gang members, Solomon Staggie and Desmond Holland leave to appeal against their convictions for murdering three members of a rival gang in February 1998. Staggie and Holland were found guilty in the Cape Town High Court last year for murdering Riyaan Samsodien, Clinton Wyngaardt […]

DESPITE having wild animals roaming within its boundaries, Marloth Park municipality has lost its bid to be incorporated into the neighbouring Kruger National Park. Instead, the Demarcation Board has decided to link it with the small towns of Komatipoort and Malelane in Mpumalanga, and four rural areas in Nkomazi. Marloth Park is part of a […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 1.30pm. THE struggle to represent Africa at the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea begins this weekend with 23 first-leg preliminary matches involving the mighty and the minnows, including South Africa’s Bafana Bafana who face Lesotho in Maseru. The build-up has, inevitably, been marred by club-versus-country […]

A NIGERIAN teenager has burnt herself to death in protest at a marriage imposed on her by her father. Binta Gambo, 18, set herself on fire on Monday in despair at the marriage forced on her two months ago. Kano Radio Corporation said. Gambo, from Mararrabar Musawa in Katsina State, northern Nigeria had apparently told […]

THE rand on Wednesday weakened back to 18-month lows touched last week, with traders citing the impact of volatility on world markets, which has triggered a steep slide in domestic shares, and political turmoil in neighboring Zimbabwe. At 12noon, the rand had firmed slightly to R6,58 to the dollar after touching R6,60 earlier in thin […]

THE government has granted ministers of the Church of Scientology the right to perform marriages, ending a 40-year battle by Scientologists for legalisation of their weddings. Home Affairs department spokesman Hennie Meyer said 12 Scientology ministers had been granted the right and it would be granted to others on application. The Reverend Heber Jentzsch, president […]

ARCHBISHOP Desmond Tutu had harsh words for Zimbabwe’s embattled President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday during a visit to Sweden, calling him a “caricature” of an African leader. “He’s almost a caricature of all the things people think black African leaders do. He seems to be wanting to make a cartoon of himself,” Tutu said. Tutu, […]