ED STODDARD, Johannesburg | Wednesday 12.10pm THE money supply and private credit extension grew a bit faster than expected in November but analysts said the numbers are not too worrying. Economists said the figures are traditionally on the high side in November in the run up to the Christmas shopping season and still look good […]

ZAMBIA’S cash-strapped football team are expecting an injection of government support for their African Nations Cup preparations after a stand-off between the Football Association of Zambia and the sports ministry ended with the resignation of the association’s entire executive committee this month. The team had an ill-fated training trip to the United States which they […]

THE Unita rebel movement in Angola has called for peace talks with the government next year, following a string of defeats in its south-eastern strongholds. In a statement published in Paris, Unita said peace has to go further than a simple end to hostilities. “Peace must come from a dialogue on the deep historical and […]

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi left his country for the first time in years for a private visit to South Africa on Wednesday. Tshisekedi, a long-time foe of the late Mobutu Sese Seko, and now of his successor Laurent Desire-Kabila, heads the Union for Democracy and Social Progress. He had repeatedly been […]

SOUTH African Airways announced on Tuesday that because of dramatic hikes in fuel costs, it is to increase domestic and regional airfares by an average of four percent from January 10. SAA’s vice president for corporate affairs Victor Nosi said the sharp worldwide increase in the cost of a barrel of crude oil from a […]

TRANSPORT Minister Dullah Omar said on Wednesday that traffic law enforcement will be stepped up in all provinces with immediate effect in an attempt to curb the mounting holiday death toll on South African roads. After meeting transport MEC’s in Pretoria, he urged traffic officials to show no mercy for transgressors and to make sure […]

THE strike at Anglo American platinum mines may be over within 24 hours if strikers accept an improved wage offer. According to Amplats spokesperson Steve Calladine, mediation talks went well and Amplats tabled a significantly improved offer to the National Union of Mineworkers, which NUM representatives are taking back to their members, witH a report-back […]

EGYPT’S new soccer coach Gerard Gili has already run into trouble with the country’s vociferous media after he banned journalists from the team’s training sessions. A boycott of the side’s activities was announced by the Sports Journalists Association, whose members walked out of a press conference Gili had just begun and demanded an apology from […]

IN Gauteng, the matric pass rate improved to 57,1%, up from 55,6% in 1998, however only 37,5% of matric candidates in the Northern Province passed the 1999 exam. “We have successfully arrested the decline and turned the tide,” said an optimistic Gauteng Education MEC Ignatius Jacobs. Some 71757 candidates wrote matric in the province, earning […]

ROBBERS battled security guards in central Johannesburg on Monday, killing one guard and injuring two others. A woman passerby was also shot and wounded. The security guards confronted the robbers as they were fleeing from a hold-up inside a clothing shop. The robbers fled, shooting wildly at the passing crowd. Two of the robbers were […]