FRIDAY, 6.30PM: ENGLAND are still in a strong position after tea on the second day of the first Test against South Africa being played at Edgbaston on Friday. After a sterling innings on the first day on Thursday, England lost a couple of early wickets, and went to lunch on 321/4. The batsmen back in […]

FRIDAY, 4.30PM: THE Zimbabwe government moved rapidly to diffuse a potential political bomb on Friday, by attempting to block a planned 18% hike in the price of mealiemeal, the nation’s staple, announced by the Millers Association on Thursday. Behind the wrangling over the price rise, however, are fears of a repeat of nationwide rioting in […]

Thandi Mahlangu While most party leaders were ushered to the front of long lines of voters on Wednesday, Northern Cape Premier Manne Dipico steadfastly refused to jump the queue, waiting in line for seven hours before he finally cast his ballot. “I can’t go to the front – I must wait like everyone else,” Dipico […]

THURSDAY, 11.30AM: DESPITE a slight increase in new vehicle sales from April, May sales fell sharply compared to the corresponding period in 1997, reflecting the overall sluggishness in the economy and uncertainty in international markets. The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa now expects that an anticipated recovery in the vehicle sales market […]

Wally Mbhele makes very bold statements about the disunity of the African National Congress in the Free State (“Fresh splits in the Free State ANC”, May 21 to 27). And the article has done a disservice to the understanding of the nature of Free State politics. Essentially, Mbhele sees red in the ANC where it […]

Last weekend M-Net presented prizes totaling R230 000 to the winners in the various language categories of the annual M-Net Book Prize, given to a novel published within the previous year. The winners were: l English: The Tikieline Yuppie by Mehlaleng Mosotho (Vivlia) l Afrikaans: Op Soek na Generaal Mannetjies Mentz by Christoffel Coetzee (Queillerie) […]

It may be worth losing a few percentage points growth on your investments in exchange for a peaceful night’s sleep, writes Shaun Harris Investment decisions should be amoral, shouldn’t they? In a perfect world, perhaps. But suspending moral judgment is not easy in modern society where the profit motive is still widely regarded with suspicion […]

Mungo Soggot The United Democratic Movement this week slated the business community for the African National Congress’s majority, saying business could have thwarted the landslide victory had it supported opposition parties The UDM emerged as a significant opposition player, on track this week to bag at least nine seats in the National Assembly, which will […]

FRENCH President Jacques Chirac sent a message to Moammar Gadaffi praising the Libyan leader for his efforts to bring peace to Africa, Libyan state television said on Thursday. Chirac said “France supports Colonel Gadaffi’s efforts to establish peace and stability in Africa,” the television station said. “Libya plays an important role in the Mediterranean area, […]

NIGERIA’S first parliament in more than 15 years opened Thursday in Abuja, electing a former state governor from southeast Nigeria to the country’s third-highest ranking constitutional position. The 109-member Senate and 360-member House of Representatives, elected in landmark polls in February, were declared opened by the clerks of the two assemblies. The upper chamber elected […]