FOR one week now Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been experiencing a water shortage which has forced residents to recycle water from polluted sources. Sources at the Water Production and Distribution Board suggested the water crisis was due to a shortage of chlorine, a chemical used to treat potable water. […]

THE new R620-million Skuifraam Dam to be built in the vicinity of Franschhoek and Paarl in the Western Cape will add a yield of 56-million cubic metres a year to the current water supply system for Cape Town and surrounding areas. Business Day reports that, unlike past practices of simply building dams when water was […]

POP singer Brenda Fassie’s former husband Nhlanhla Mbambo appeared briefly in the Johannesburg Regional Court on Monday on charges of attempted murder and attempted car hijacking. Mbambo (31) and his two co-accused, Darius Petlele (28), and Pule Mdluli (35), were arrested on Saturday after an extended chase through the streets of Hillbrow. It is alleged […]

TWENTY Sudanese travellers have died of thirst in the Libyan desert in recent days, the Akhbar al-Youm daily reported on Tuesday. Thirteen people died after the truck they were travelling in towards neighboring Libya broke down near the border a few days ago. The other 52 people who had been travelling with them managed to […]

Mondeor residents have arrested three suspects in connection with last Thursday’s killing of a school teacher, police said on Monday. Two men and a woman were apprehended by members of the public over the weekend and taken to the Mondeor police station for questioning, according to police spokesperson Inspector Mary Martins-Engelbrecht. Nandi Mhlongo, (31), was […]

HEAVY fighting erupted on Friday in the southern Somali port city of Kismayo, militia and humanitarian sources reported. Kismayo has been controlled since 1993 by warlord Mohamed Said Hirsi “Morgan,” a Marjerten, but it was unclear by late-afternoon if he still controlled the city or if a coalition of rival Marehan and the Habr Gedir […]

DEPUTY Speaker Baleka Mbete was on Monday re-elected for a second five-year term, weathering a challenge from the Democratic Party — the first in its role as official opposition — in which the party nominated its own candidate for the post. Mbete had already been nominated by fellow African National Congress MP Bertha Gxowa, when […]

THE recently-launched Namibia Airports Company is to spend more than N$70-million upgrading the eight airports and aerodromes under its management. The NAC, which has inherited responsibility for the cash-strapped airports, also plans to increase the combined turnover of the eight air terminals by as much as 36%. NAC CEO Tukondelanee Nghihalua said that Walvis Bay […]

PORTNET managing director Rob Childs has resigned suddenly, SABC news reports. Childs, who joined Transnet last February, was the subject of an internal investigation into the alleged abuse of Portnet tender procedures. The probe found no such abuse, but that Portnet’s management had failed to manage its consultants properly. Transnet CEO Saki Macozoma said Childs […]

DENMARK, long one of Zimbabwe’s closest allies, has suspended more than $26-million worth of aid — until Zimbabwe pulls out of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Denmark had pledged the aid to upgrade Zimbabwe’s eight airports.The Danish Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Erik Fiil, said on Thursday that the move is a protest against Zimbabwe’s continued military […]