GHANAIAN President Jerry Rawlings named Trade and Industry Minister John Abu as the new Minister for Mines and Energy on Monday. Deputy mines and energy minister Simon Abinga has held the fort in the ministry since December 9. The last permanent mines minister, Fred Ohene-Kena, was sacked in October after expressing support for a bid […]

IRISH Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, arrived at the Waterkloof Airforce base in Pretoria on Tuesday morning for a four day visit to South Africa. Ahern was met by Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad. Premier Ahern will meet Deputy President Jacob Zuma, and pay a courtesy call on President Thabo Mbeki later in the afternoon.

MINISTER of Trade and Industry Alec Erwin on Friday released the names of eight manufacturers shortlisted to produce new purpose-built public transport vehicles. AMC, DaimlerChrysler, Iveco, QLS and Tata have all proposed to build either 18-seater or 35-seater configurations while GAZ, Kwoon Chung and Malandela have tendered to supply 18-seaters.

COTE d’Ivoire maintained a timely return to form by defeating holders Egypt 2-0 at the weekend in a warm-up match for the African Nations Cup finals this month. Charles Dago put the Elephants ahead after only two minutes at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan and Bonaventure Kalou added a second nine minutes before the […]

ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Pretoria | Monday 11.30am. BRUCE Grobbelaar made a dream debut as SuperSport United coach when the Castle Premiership strugglers scored a dramatic 3-2 victory over Orlando Pirates at Caledonian Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday. United trailed and led in the second half before Michael Thurling struck a last-minute winner that dashed Pirates’ hopes […]

DURBAN Roodepoort Deep (DRD) said on Monday it has secured unmargined hedging facilities to guard against margin calls from banks at a time of volatile gold prices. DRD also said it will not do any further hedging at current price level. “DRD wants to use its free cash for acquisitions and further growth, not for […]

AN elderly man has lost his battle against the fatal lung disease asbestosis and with it a R2 million law suit against a cement manufacturer he claimed exposed him to lethal asbestos dust. Nelspruit attorney, Richard Spoor, said carpenter Stephanus Johannes Kleynhans, 70, had worked with products from cement manufacuturer, Everite Limited, for 40 years […]

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo national team midfielder Emeka Mamale has been released by South African side Kaizer Chiefs, a club official said on Monday. Mamale, who is likely to be included in the Congolese African Nations Cup squad this week, did not impress during a six-month trial after moving to Johannesburg from Club Africain of […]

ONLY one change has been made to the Border Bears team to play Easterns in a Standard Bank Cup limited-overs match at Buffalo Park on Wednesday. Pieter Strydom will be joining the national squad for the fifth Test at Centurion, and his place has been taken by all-rounder, Francois Klopper, who played in the last […]

ECONOMIC growth across Africa averaged 3,5% in 1999, much the same as in 1998, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Omar Kabbaj said on Monday, citing provisional figures. He told a meeting of ambassadors to Ivory Coast that the Asian crisis and the spread of conflict in some African countries meant that growth rates of 4,0% […]