Ferial Haffajee Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel again displayed his linguistic dexterity this week. It has become a Trevor trademark to deliver bits of the annual budget in at least three languages. His fluent Xhosa brought the house down and the minister clearly loved playing to the gallery. In his three years in office Manuel […]

BRITAIN, Norway, Mali and Togo have offered to host peace talks between rebels and the government in Sierra Leone where fighting this year has claimed up to 5000 lives. Widespread atrocities such as crude amputations and immolation have been attributed to the rebels.Britain, Sierra Leone’s former colonial power, has said the two sides could use […]

>From parallel parking to Ponte, Stephen Hobbs’s exhibition puts a new spin on living in Johannesburg, writes Chris Roper Arriving at the opening of Stephen Hobbs’ current exhibition, Torque of the Town, normally unflappable Capetonians are confronted with a scene of disjunctive strangeness. All the road markings in Bree Street have been painted out. Even […]

The DP has accused Gauteng MEC Jabu Moleketi of bribery. Charlene Smith writes that he is a great administrator, setting an example for other provinces While most provincial governments have struggled to manage their budgets, Gauteng has quietly but efficiently managed to cut back debt and increase revenue, in an environment where provinces have virtually […]

ANGOLA is awash with counterfeit money, including high-quality copies of $100 bills and one million denominations of the Angolan currency, the new kwanza, police said on Wednesday. The injection of fake money is an attempt at economic destabilisation of Angola perpetrated from “the outside,” police said in a communique. A ring of foreign businessmen and […]

THE committee established to investigate minority rights in Mpumalanga is not an ANC trick to pacify the political Right, Mpumalanga Premier Mathews Phosa said on Wednesday. Created last week under the chairmanship of provincial Freedom Front leader Moolman Mentz, the committee will investigate the position of minorities but will also study the self-determination proposals of […]

FIVE Bulgarian nurses at a Libyan university hospital in Benghazi have been arrested in connection with an inquiry on infants infected with the HIV virus. The arrests followed allegations made by a Libyan magazine which reported in its December edition that several children were infected with the HIV virus after they were admitted to the […]

HOSSAM HASSAN scored twice in the first half as African champion Egypt trounced Bulgaria 3-1 Tuesday to advance to the final of the Carlsberg Cup soccer tournament. The Egyptians dominated the first half and Hassan struck first in the 11th minute with a simple shot after the Bulgarian defenders were caught off guard. Hassan headed […]

FRENCHMAN Pierre Lechantre has arrived in Cameroon to coach the national football team. Appointed to succeed another Frenchman, Claude Leroy, Lechantre actually began his coaching duty last January in France where Cameroon’s “Indomitable Lions” were preparing for their African Cup of Nations match against Eritrea. Cameroon could only manage a goaless draw in the match, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 8.30pm. GOLD Fields on Thursday announced the acquisition of AngloGold’s entire 21,5% interest in Driefontein in a move designed to pave the way for a reverse takeover of Driefontein. That deal will make Gold Fields the world’s third largest gold producer with annual production of around 4-million ounces and total […]