TUESDAY, 10:00AM: The National Council of Provinces has three days to approve or reject 30 crucial Bills this week affecting housing, health, justice and education. Most have already been approved by the National Assembly. Among the Bills the NCoP will be whipping through are the Health Department’s three controversial measures on parallel imports of prescription […]

TUESDAY, 5:00PM: Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano told an investment summit on Tuesday that Southern African countries should guard against competing among themselves to attract investment. Presenting the keynote speech at the International Herald Tribune Southern African trade and investment summit in Gaborone, Botswana, he said such competition would be counter-productive, whereas the emergence of Southern […]

TUESDAY, 8.45AM: NICK Mallett is likely to name Werner Swanepoel as the replacement for injured Springbok scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen, who returned home to South Africa on crutches on Monday. Swanepoel has been an understudy of Van der Westhuizen for some time now. Swanepoel played three Test matches this season — as a replacement […]

TUESDAY, 6.15PM: THE JSE had a lacklustre day, in which only R802-m worth of shares was traded. Rises in Tokyo coupled with losses in Hong Kong led to a directionless local market. At the close of trade the all share index was 8,8 points lower at 6 419, the all gold index had lost 2,1 […]

TUESDAY, 9.15AM: MINERALS and energy officials, instructed by minister Pennuel Maduna to investigate the appointment of a mysterious Liberian consultant to the Central Energy Fund, will make a decision by the year’s end. But the man whose job is most on the line is the non-executive chairman of the fund, Don Mkhwanazi, who made the […]

TUESDAY, 10.00AM: ZIMBABWE’S Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa says a programme to find Z$5 billion to pay war pensions to former guerrillas has been put to an International Monetary Fund team visiting the country. A high-powered IMF delegation to Zimbabwe wants the Mugabe government to provide a plan for paying off the guerrillas — whose militancy […]

TUESDAY, 9.25AM: KAIZER Chiefs coach Paul Dolezar is not worried by the absence of Nigerian defender Muisi Ajoa in the team to face archrivals Orlando Pirates in a Castle Premiership match at the FNB on Saturday. Ajoa was red-carded in the game against Manning Rangers for head-butting Rangers striker Kerryn Jordaan. “I don’t think the […]

TUESDAY, 5:30PM: The concept of a wealth tax to correct past economic imbalances received strong support on Tuesday from South Africa’s Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris, who told the truth commission that a number of Jewish businessmen supported the idea. He said he would throw his weight behind the proposals as well. “I really feel that […]

TUESDAY, 11:00AM: Reserve Bank gross reserves soared this year from R10,3-billion to R27-billion, according to a report Reserve Bank deputy governor James Cross released on Monday. At the same time, South Africans invested about R21-billion offshore via asset swaps and the transfer of individuals’ savings. This is the first yer South Africans have been allowed […]

South Africa and Saudi Arabia have signed a "memorandum of understanding" to boost oil exports to South Africa and build an oil refinery.