SOUTH Africa and Botswana have signed a bilateral military pact on defence and security, SABC radio news reported on Friday. Speaking at the signing ceremony in Gaberone, SA Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said the time had come for Africa to control and manage its political and military conflicts. The agreement would bind the two countries […]
SOUTH Africa is to host the biggest aerospace and defence exhibition ever to be staged in Africa in early September, the SA Air Force said on Friday. SAAF chief Lieutenant-General Roelf Beukes said the show at Waterkloof air base near Pretoria would feature about 250 exhibitors from all over the world. Briefing reporters at the […]
THE UN Security Council debated on Thursday a British proposal to ban trade in diamonds mined from rebel-held areas of Sierra Leone. Diamonds are the major source of revenue for the Revolutionary United Front rebels, who in May took 500 UN peacekeepers hostage. The proposed resolution says that “all states shall take the necessary measures […]
FORMER brothers-in-rebellion and now Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda will try to mend fences on Saturday after their armed forces clashed earlier this month in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The pair are expected to try to settle their differences in two days of meetings, in the wake of heavy […]
Former Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa distanced himself from shady “freelance” financier Jean Mopotu this week following revelations that the Zairian tried to source funding for Phosa’s ambitious R390-million casino development in Mozambique. Mopotu attained notoriety in 1998 when he helped international fraud fugitive and suspected chemical weapons dealer Moshe Regenstreich mastermind Mpumalanga’s R1,3-billion promissory note […]
PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki will chair a new super cabinet committee which will “co-ordinate and monitor” everything related to national security. The inter-ministerial committee, to be known as the National Security Council, will be able to deal swiftly with security threats including natural disasters, regional conflicts and internal instability, government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said after the […]
A BRITISH man has jumped 2120 metres in a parachute made according to a design sketched by Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century, proving that the pyramid-shaped contraption works. Beeld newspaper said Adrian Nicholas launched himself from a hot air balloon drifting close to the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga province, at […]
SHARES in life assurer Capital Alliance shed over 20% in early trade on Tuesday on the back of disappointing full-year results released late on Monday. At just before 10am the counter was down 23,18%, or 335c, to R11,10, with 662401 shares changing hands. The fall in the share price far outpaced the life assurance sector, […]
A BOY died and 24 others were hospitalised in the Eastern Cape after circumcisions performed on them as part of a rite of passage went wrong. Police said the boys, all Xhosas aged between 14 and 18, are in a serious condition and there are fears that some of them may have to have their […]
BIRD strikes directly cost the Airport Company South Africa (ACSA) more than R4 million last year and indirectly between two and four times that figure. This was revealed on Thursday at a national workshop and the launch of the ACSA and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) partnership to minimise bird strikes which pose a danger […]