A PARACHUTIST remains in a critical condition at the Knysna Hospital after a freak accident at an airshow at Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape on Monday, SABC radio news reported on Tuesday. Paul Siebert hit the tailwing of the aircraft he was jumping from, and was knocked unconscious. His parachute opened with the impact, […]

UN chief Kofi Annan has asked the security council to raise the number of peacekeeping troops in troubled Sierra Leone to 10000 to make up for the departure of Nigerian soldiers. The UN force, Unamsil, has deployed 6000 troops in the country to enforce peace accords signed in July to bring an end to its […]

VOLUMES were thin on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Tuesday with many players absent for year-end holidays. The modest value traded, only R327-million, and the fall in the benchmark all share index were evidence of the thin trading conditions. Other major indices were also down, with the exception of the financial index and the gold […]

THE Department of Home Affairs said on Tuesday it is geared to issue hand-written birth, marriage and death certificates in the event of any computer failures linked to the change of year to 2000. In a statement in Pretoria, the department assured the public that its systems are Y2K compliant, saying there is no need […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 12.15pm INFORMATION technology firm Dimension Data Holdings Ltd said on Tuesday it will cut an original purchase price for the European networking operations of its rival, Comparex Holdings Ltd, to 250-million from 290-million Didata shares. “As a result of the due diligence exercise, Didata and Comparex have agreed to alter […]

AN Australian music producer, Peter Carlson, has been charged with allegedly recruiting five Zambian girls with the intention of taking them to Australia to become prostitutes. Carlson, who was arrested on the weekend together with a Zambian driver, Misheck Banda, denied the allegations on Monday. Each was granted bail of 6-million kwachas ($2000). Carlson was […]

NINETEEN awaiting-trial prisoners escaped from three police holding cells in the Eastern Cape on Christmas Day, police said on Monday. Inspector Maphelo Ngame said 14 people escaped from Lusikisiki after they sawed off the iron bars on their cell door on Christmas night. The men had been charged with crimes ranging from murder to fraud. […]

YOUNG legspinners Andre Abrahams and Jacques Rudolph have been included in the Plascon Academy intake for next year. The two players spent a fortnight with Aussie spin-wizard Terry Jenner in Adelaide last month, and are two of six spinners in a “class” of 19 announced by SA director of coaching Jimmy Cook in Durban on […]

THE United Nations Security Council, concerned over the recent flare-up of fighting in Sierra Leone, on Wednesday condemned indirectly the participation of Liberian forces in the conflict. In a statement read by council president Jassim Buallay, the members “condemned the participation of foreign forces in the internal strife in Sierra Leone”. The council did not […]

THE South African government has moral and material aid to ensure that democracy prevails in Nigeria, SA High Commissioner to Nigeria George Nene said on SABC TV news on Thursday. Nene said non-governmental organisations from South Africa are already in Lagos to assist the military government in preparing for next year’s elections. “Nigerians are more […]