JUDICIAL authorities said on Tuesday they had frozen accounts worth over 600 million euros belonging to late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha in a move related to a Nigerian investigation into Abacha’s finances. Eight bank accounts holding shares worth 671 million euros at the Luxembourg subsidiary of a foreign bank had been frozen, Deputy Chief Prosecutor […]

FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel said the weakening of the rand could be attributed to the US currency’s strength more than rand weakness. “There is so much uncertainty and so much turmoil, and what is often read as weakening of some currencies is inordinate strengthening of the dollar against large baskets of currencies,” Manuel told parliament’s […]

DONORS are concerned about hold-ups in the delivery of emergency aid in Ethiopia, including some 16000 mt donated by the European Union which has remained in Djibouti Port for 18 days. There is “a greater need for flexibility” instead of a “tendency towards centralisation” during the present crisis, humanitarian sources said. The Ministry of Transport […]

A FIRE has ripped through the domestic wing of Lagos airport, destroying dozens of buildings and property worth millions of dollars. Shocked officials said on Wednesday that the fire broke outin the early hours of the morning, during a fierce electrical storm, and first indications suggested it might have been sparked by a bolt of […]

FORMER South African cricket coach Bob Woolmer has joined the ranks of the sceptics in the Hansie Cronje betting scandal. Cronje was sacked as national captain last month after admitting taking money from a bookmaker for providing information. Writing in The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday Woolmer said he had initially defended Cronje. “I now feel […]

DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.30am SOUTH Africa’s Frans Botha has come out firing in reaction to criticisms about his July 15 bout with Lennox Lewis for the universal heavyweight world title. Botha claims that he is the best heavyweight around, saying: “Believe me, the guys out there are all over-rated.” “Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Mike […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 5.30pm. RALLYING resource shares kept the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on positive ground but morning firmness in industrial counters eroded later by a weaker opening on Wall St and an ailing rand. Commodity-based shares moved from strength to strength, as investors piled into export-oriented companies as a currency protection against a […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 3.20pm. PAPER and pulp manufacturer Sappi beat market forecasts on Monday with a 93% surge in first-half earnings, boosted by higher global paper prices and tight cost controls in a performance that sent its shares flying. The global paper and pulp group, which has operations across South Africa, Europe and […]