WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM TENSIONS are running high at the Amandebult section of the Amplats mine near Rustenburg, where 5 000 workers have been on strike since Monday, and and four people, including a manager, are under investigation for torture. There have been repeated clashes between the National Union of Mineworkers and a populist faction called the […]
WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM: BAFANA BAFANA management have added seven players and an injured Gavin Lane to the 23-man squad that faced England last weekend, in preparation for the upcoming matches against Holland and Zambia. Kaizer Chiefs’ Mark Williams and Thabo Mooki, and former Chiefs striker Pollen Ndlanya have been named along with Orlando Pirates player Brendon […]
WEDNESDAY, 9.00AM PARLIAMENT’S finance committee has thrown out Trevor Manuel’s proposed changes to the tax on housing benefits — because it could hurt low and middle income earners who would lose an estimated 20% of their net income. The amendment was proposed to close a widely abused loophole, but critics have warned that it imposes […]
WEDNESDAY, 5.30PM HOUSING Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, in a parliamentary interpellation on Wednesday, said she had encouraged her director-general Billy Cobbett to approach the auditor-general with any concerns he had about the Mpumalanga Rural Housing Project. The minister’s statement was in sharp contrast to remarks she made in a press conference last week called to explain […]
WEDNESDAY, 3.00PM IN continuing testimony before the inquest into the deaths of 19 people during an Inkatha march in March 1994, the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday heard that the number of staff guarding the African National Congress’s Shell House headquarters was doubled and additional firearms issued after promised police reinforcements failed to arrive. Shell […]
WEDNESDAY, 1.00PM THE Democratic Republic of the Congo’s national radio station has announced a ban on meetings by political parties, public protests and any public meetings. The ban, similar to those Laurent Kabila imposed in areas under his control during the civil war, is for an indefinite period. Opposition political parties, which have planned marches […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.00AM TRADE and Industry Minister Alec Erwin has given Hyundai Motor Company’s Botswana assembly plant 48 months to comply with local content regulations or face tough action. Erwin said action would be taken, even though it would likely cause “a major clash between the SA and Botswana governments”. “In the short term, certain actions […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.30AM LONRHO considered Johannesburg Consolidated Investments’ merger proposals at a board meeting on Tuesday, but said no statement will be issued. “We have nothing to add to last week’s statement which confirmed we are in preliminary talks about the financial benefits of a possible combination,” a company representative said. London newspapers reported that Lonrho […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.30AM GOVERNMENT has received non-binding offers from the four preferred bidders for a 100% stake in parastatal Sun Air ranging from R60-million to R120-million. Rethabile-Comair, a wholly black-owned consortium supported by Comair leads the race with the highest bid of R120-million, while Malaysia Airlines, which has no black empowerment partner and may not make […]
WEDNESDAY, 1.00PM: WORLD soccer governing body Fifa said yesterday it will support any disciplinary action taken against the South African team for their behaviour last weekend. Bafana Bafana players threatened to boycott their England meeting the night before the Old Trafford match, unless their demands for match fees were met by the South African Football […]