MONDAY, 4.30PM FIRST National Bank will launch an online banking service, to be called First Online, at this week’s Computer Faire in Johannesburg. Sevices including account balances and statements, account payments, inter-account transfers and cheque book requests will be available, protected with 128 bit encryption technology. “First Online uses the most secure encryption technology that […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM RUMOURS of a forthcoming National Party split grew stronger today with the rescheduling for tonight of a meeting between Roelf Meyer and the Gauteng NP executive. The meeting was originally planned for Friday, one day before a crucial meeting of the province’s party caucus. Meyer is expected to resign from the party at […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: A FURIOUS Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Assocation has threatened legal action and accused Health Minister Nkosasana Zuma of “nationalising the industry” in a new Bill designed to lower the price of medicine. The Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Bill, introduced last week in Parliament, would encourage the use of generic drugs, allow parallel importation […]
MONDAY, 8.00AM: The rightwing Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport caused a storm yesterday by quoting a forensic expert, Leendert Jansen, who said the infamous Markgraaff rugby tape had been tampered with, “as a result, no part of the recording can be trusted”. Springbok coach Andre Markgraaff was forced to resign earlier this year after a former […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: CLOSE to 8 000 applications for amnesty poured into the Truth and Reconciliation Commission before the final deadline struck at midnight on Saturday. Among last-minute applications was a hefty 1 000-page submission from jailed former Vlakplaas commander, Eugene de Kock, which arrived 20 minutes before the cut-off time, and 280 applications from the […]
MONDAY, 9.00AM: Moroka Swallows thumped Michau Warriors 2-0 at Rand Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday, giving them a three point boost in the league log. The first goal came just before half-time, when Joseph Rapelago passed the ball to defender Mark Byrne, who promptly netted it. The next goal came after much tense playing in […]
MONDAY, 1.30PM THE ANC’s submission to the Truth Commission today was the first by a political party to make actual revelations about past transgressions, including the murder of ‘spies’ in its ranks, and bomb attacks on commercial targets. Among today’s revelations: Bartholomew Hlapane, a member of the ANC national executive and of the SA Communist […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM: SOUTH AFRICAN heavyweight Franscois Botha had a 10th round knockout win over James Stanton of Philadelphia on Sunday, to bag the World Boxing association North American heavyweight title. Stanton looked good in the third and fourth rounds, but in the tenth Botha finished him off. “I took my time. I wanted to work […]
STRIKE POSTPONED A STRIKE planned by the Congress of South African Trade Unions to protest against the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill has been postponed to June 2 and replaced with lunchtime demonstrations. Cosatu acted after the Labour Appeal Court found the federation had not first discussed its objections to the Bill at meetings of […]
Trout may be the favourite fish of South African anglers, but they are dangerous interlopers who wreak havoc on our ecosystems, argues Jim Cambray BETWEEN 1850 and 1950, there was a dramatic increase in the rate of animal extinctions, which coincided with European colonial expansion. Many alien plants and creatures were introduced to colonised territories, […]