ROB DAVIES, Johannesburg | Thursday 12.00pm. SOUTHBOUND lanes on the N1 highway near the Corlett drive offramp in Johannesburg ground to a standstill on Thursday morning as about a hundred taxis blocked lanes in a protest against government’s plans to revamp the industry. According to eyewitness reports, the taxis parked in four rows after which […]

ZIMBABWE’S president Robert Mugabe has won first prize in the first monthly draw organised by Zimbank, which is partly owned by the government. The bank did not reveal how many names were in the draw, but said in a statement that they could “hardly believe their eyes” when Mugabe’s name was the first one drawn […]

DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | Thursday 1.30pm. NAMIBIA’S World Boxing Organisation (WBO) junior middleweight world champion Harry Simon finds himself in an enviable position. American television giant HBO and British television channel ShowTime are involved in a tug of war over where Simon’s next defence will take place. Simon is scheduled to meet former world champion […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Thursday 1.50pm. CONGO coach David Memy has an unexpected problem ahead of the African Nations Cup Group of Death clash with title favourites Nigeria at Surulere Stadium in Lagos on Friday. He is battling to raise spirits in the Red Devils camp after they came within six minutes of holding star-studded […]

THE SABC has axed the award-winning consumer series Fair Deal. According to SABC spokeswoman Marge Murray, the series, presented by Isabel Jones, has been axed due to sponsorship problems with Absa bank. The show’s producers, Paul Zwick Productions, said however that the SABC decided that the programme does not fit into the new SABC 3 […]

POLICE investigating license fraud at three Mpumalanga vehicle testing stations were forced to abandon their probes in 1998 after systematic intimidation of witnesses destroyed their court case. Nelspruit fraud investigator Sergeant Jan Ngwenya confirmed on Wednesday that police managed to arrest five senior traffic officials in 1998 during a sting operation at the Elukwatini test […]

A NIGERIAN lawyer is threatening to sue organisers of the on-going African Nations Cup after he was beaten up by security agents and officials at the Nigeria-Tunisia match on Sunday. Austin Mamedu told the television station AIT he had been invited by organisers to the match but was caught up in a stampede when spectators […]

THE government is setting up a national disaster management centre in the wake of the devastating fires that swept through the Cape Peninsula last week. Water Affairs Minister Ronnie Kasrils says the centre will concentrate on strengthening co-ordination and our ability to manage disasters as well as taking steps to reduce community vulnerability to their […]

AT least four people were killed and seven wounded when armed robbers opened fire indiscriminately in Mogadishu’s main market in Somalia. Among those killed during the attack on Bakara market on Wednesday was Ahmed Kafi Mohamed Awale, a broadcaster at a radio station controlled by south Mogadishu warlord Hussein Mohamed Aidid. The raiders fled when […]

STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Wednesday 6.10pm. A LAW which seeks to outlaw unfair discrimination on the basis of race, gender, marital status, disability and other grounds was passed by the National Assembly on Wednesday, amidst howls of protests from the insurance industry. Insurers say the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Bill […]