MONDAY, 5.30PM OUSTED Congo president Pascal Lissouba has fled to Burkina Faso, newspapers in the capital, Ougadougou, have announced. No official statement has been made, but a large entourage of men guarded by soldiers has arrived to stay in a complex reserved for visiting foreign dignitaries. Meanwhile Angola has confirmed its own role in the […]

MONDAY, 3.30PM: ALLAN BOESAK’S bookkeeper, Freddie Steenkamp, has been found guilty on five counts of fraud and one of theft involving R2,9 million. Steenkamp and his former boss at the Foundation for Peace and Justice, Dr Allan Boesak, originally faced 32 charges of theft and fraud together, but their trials were separated when Steenkamp chose […]

MONDAY, 8.30AM THE SA Telecommunications Authority has retaliated against Telkom (see below) warning that the phone company faces a fine or even the loss of its licence should it continue to ignore instructions. Satra accuses Telkom of high-handed behaviour in its failure to follow procedures for a tariff increase and its refusal to reverse the […]

MONDAY, 10.10AM: THE “Big Three” clubs – Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns – are through to the semi-finals of the Rothmans Cup after their impressive wins over the weekend. They are joined by the Premier Soccer League defending champions Manning Rangers. While Chiefs and Sundowns registered 2-1 victories on aggregate over Wits University […]

MONDAY, 6.00PM FRIDAY’S interest rate cut helped the JSE shrug off a downward trend in international markets on Monday. Led by financial shares, the industrial and all share indices gained strength. At close of trade the industrial index had gained 64,6 points to 8854, while the all share index climbed 36,8 points to 7293,8. The […]

RAPE CASE QUIETLY CLOSED Police on Monday closed investigations into the alleged rape of former gender commissioner Nomboniso Gasa in January on Robben Island. The case has been closed unsolved, as no suspect has been arrested, but police say it may be periodically re-opened if new evidence comes up. The case has been tinged with […]

MONDAY, 11.45AM: Mpumalanga scrumhalf Dan van Zyl,who narrowly missed out on selection for last year’s Bok tour, was a surprise late inclusion to the Springbok squad to tour Italy, France, England and Scotland, announced Saturday night by national coach Nick Mallett. Van Zyl only received the green light after Gauteng Lions star Johan Roux pulled […]

MONDAY, 4.00PM: WINNIE Madikizela-Mandela has entered the ANC leadership controversy by accusing “all the political parties in the country” of being in agreement to prevent her from becoming ANC deputy leader. She also made it clear that she has set her sights not only on deputy leader of the party, but also of the country. […]

MONDAY, 10.30AM: BANK-ROBBERS made away with R18-million in cash on Saturday after a daring break-in at a bulk deposit depot in Pretoria. Police investigating the robbery, carried out by 15 armed robbers, said it was “very professional and well prepared.” . Two bank tellers at the Standard, Barclays and Volkskas (SBV) deposit were abducted after […]

MONDAY, 8.00AM A UNIVERSITY of Cape Town report on unemployment reveals that a quarter of South Africa’s black men and half the black women are unemployed. A third of South African blacks earn less than R500 per month. By contrast, 5% of whites are unemployed, and less than 5% of whites earn less than R500. […]