Andrew Higgins in Hong Kong IN the dying days of British rule, all eyes in Hong Kong are fixed on a corpse. Around it crowd dozens of television cameras and a throng of mud-slinging mourners. The cause of the controversy is the death of a philandering, opium-smoking and much loved Cantonese opera star. Tang, best […]
RUGBY:Steve Morris IT is a sad state of affairs when the top sides in this country are left to fight it out among themselves for the scraps of the Super 12 semi-final berths. But, as things currently stand in the maelstrom of the three-nation provincial competition, this is indeed the case. With the Auckland Blues, […]
TUESDAY, 9.00AM ENERGY Minister Penuell Maduna yesterday accused the multinational oil companies of exercising a stranglehold on the local oil industry. He suggested instead a government-backed national oil distributor, with a black empowerment share, which would redistribute its profits inside the country. Maduna said the oil industry benefitted from sanctions-era agreements to encourage multinationals to […]
NEW FRONT IN DRUG WAR A GROUP calling itself “Soldiers of Islam” today claimed responsibility for last night’s firebombing of a house in Lenasia, near Johannesburg. An anonymous caller said Soldiers of Islam will continue to bomb houses belonging to drug dealers. The firebombing adds a new twist to the ongoing war between Cape Flats […]
MONDAY, 4.30PM LABOUR consultants Andrew Levy & Associates today published its quarterly wgae report, which shows that wages in SA increased by an average of 9,1% in the first three months of this year, just below the 9,6% average inflation rate so far this year. Researcher Jackie Kelly said wage increases across all industries ranged […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM: UNITED States soccer authorities have invited SA to an international friendly in Miami, Florida in September, Safa CEO Danny Jordaan said yesterday. However, Bafana Bafana’s tight schedule for the rest of the year might mean them turning down the invitation. The team has still to play 10 international matches this year, and September […]
TUESDAY, 9.00AM TRANSPORT Minister Mac Maharaj and Mozambican public works minister Roberto White yesterday signed the three contracts to begin construction of the R3 million toll road from Witbank to Maputo. The road will give Gauteng access to the sea 150km closer than Durban. Building will start in November and take four years. The road […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM The troubled livestock industry will commission analysis of the entire feed chain from farm lots to mills to increase efficiencies and cut costs in the face of foreign competition. The analysis follows a study by the consultancy Agrimaker Trends which warned that such sectors as livestock production, animal feed production and abattoirs are […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM: THE SA Football Association is to hold an urgent meeting tomorrow with its Zairean counterpart to seek clarity on Zaire’s threat to pull out of the World Cup competition. The Zairean Leopards have been forced to play all recent matches on neutral territory due to the Zairean civil war, which has sapped their […]
TUESDAY, 3.30PM: A FORMER Bophuthatswana policeman today confessed to shooting dead three Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging members during violence preceeding the downfall of former Bop president Lucas Mangope on March 11 1994. In a written submission to the Tebbutt commission investigating the violence, Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe, now a constable in the SA Police Service, admitted firing the […]