Just when it seemed nothing more could go wrong with Bafana Bafana’s hazardous preparation for the Concacaf Gold Cup tournament in the United States, along came Independence Day. On Monday, the US embassy was closed, leaving six Bafana players stranded in Johannesburg without visas.
According to South Africa’s Competition Tribunal, any public-interest concerns over the merger between listed retailer Edgars Consolidated Stores (Edcon) and Topics, regarding cheap clothing imports from China and the effect on local employment, cannot be cured by the imposition of a merger condition on a single firm.
Australian Robbie McEwen has hit out at what he called an unfair disqualification from the third stage of the Tour de France, held over 212,5km from La Chataigneraie to Tours on Monday. McEwen, of the Davitamon team, finished third in the sprint but was soon disqualified to the back of the peloton.
Chelsea were reported on Tuesday to have lodged a staggering £32-million (R384-million) bid for Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard. Liverpool directors were believed to be trying to convince Gerrard to stay, despite Gerrard’s agent Struan Marshall insisting that contract talks had broken off.
The five-city race to capture sport’s most glittering prize — the right to host the Olympics — has been reduced to a battle of two cities, International Olympic Committee (IOC) sources said on Tuesday. Only 24 hours before IOC members will decide the winner of the 2012 Games, it seems to be down to London and Paris.
Up to 100 anti-Group of 8 (G8) protesters were arrested in violent clashes with police in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, police said early on Tuesday. Riot police said they were bombarded with paving stones and bricks during several hours of pitched battles with 1Â 000 police in the city centre late on Monday.
Red distress flares are to be fired in emergencies only, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) warned on Monday. The call followed a false alarm on Saturday and another possible false alarm on Monday night in Simonstown, in which red distress flares were fired.
Prolific South African soccer agent Mike Makaab left South Africa on Monday in what is believed to be ”hush-hush” negotiations to conclude the transfer of the PSL’s player of the year, Collins Mbesuma, from Kaizer Chiefs to an English Premier League club.
If English wickets tumble in Thursday’s one-day international against Australia, captain Michael Vaughan is likely to send a bowler packing and tell substitute Matt Prior to pad up. And Australia captain Ricky Ponting interprets the law changes that will be trialled in the three-match series, beginning in Leeds Thursday, in much the same way.
Actis, a leading global private equity investor in emerging markets, and Comafin, a pan-African private equity fund, have jointly sold their 37,6% stake in Protea Hospitality Corporation to a black economic empowerment (BEE) consortium, highlighting their joint commitment to South Africa’s empowerment imperatives.