TRACTOR sales fell 47% in in December compared to the same month in l997, with only 165 units sold, the South African Agricultural Machinery Association announced on Monday. Tractor sales for the year were down 30% on the previous year, at 4015 units. Combine harvester and baler sales for 1998 were also 30% down on […]

Nigeria has named a provisional 29-man squad dominated by its foreign-based professional players for Saturday’s African Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi. Naming the team on Monday in the southwestern city of Abeokuta, venue of the match, Dutch coach Thijs Libregts expressed the hope that with dedication and commitment, the players would overrun Burundi and […]

AN arbitration hearing aimed at solving the dispute between the SA Broadcasting Corporation and its fired deputy group CEO Govan Reddy began on Monday under the auspices of the Independent Mediation Service of South Africa. The proceedings, expected to last about a week, follow the termination of Reddy’s contract after he accused the corporation of […]

EDUCATION Minister Sibusiso Bengu said on Tuesday that the government will give R390-million to needy students in 1999. In a statement in Pretoria, Bengu said this represents a 20-fold increase in state financial aid to students since 1994. He added that the amount allocated for this year is in line with recommendations of the National […]

THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange said on Monday foreigners were net buyers of nearly R1,2-billion rands’ worth of equities last week after buying only R86,7-million worth the previous week. MAJOR MANGO PULPING A MAJOR United Arab Emirates fruit processing company, Moh’d Al Oman, has begun construction a mango pulping plant in Mozambique’s central province of Sofala. […]

THE launch of South Africa’s first home-grown satellit has been delayed again, according to a statement on Tuesday by Stellenbosch University. Spokesperson Douglas Davies said the launch by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Vandenberg Air Force base in California is now scheduled for 12:39:52 SAST on Wednesday. He said the latest delay […]

SOUTH African, world ninth-seed squash player Natalie Grainger made it through to the final on Tuesday of the Arader and O’Rourke Greenwich Open in the United States, beating seventh-seeded Australian Kim Keevil 9-4, 9-7, 9-2 in the semifinal. In the quarterfinals Grainger defeated sixth-seeded American Latasha Khan 9-4, 9-2, 9-0. Grainger will face second-seed Rebecca […]

KURDISH rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan applied for a visa to South Africa before leaving Italy at the weekend, the Anatolia news agency reported on Monday. His whereabouts are at present unknown. The report quoted anonymous security sources as saying they received information that Ocalan went to Moscow after leaving Rome on Saturday and then moved […]

THE 1989 assassination of prominent Swapo member Anton Lubowski will return to court next month. Five former military and police officers have launched large defamation suits on allegations about the killing, principally against The Namibian newspaper. The case will be heard from February 8 to 19. The plaintiffs — retired Namibian Police Deputy Commissioner Flip […]

IN the latest violent storm to lash the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape, at least 21 people were killed on Monday, hundreds injured and some 50 homes flattened in the Mount Ayliff and Thabankulu area, according to Mount Ayliff police station commander Nxibe Zweladinga. At least three of the injured are reported to be […]