INTERNATIONAL credit rating agency Duff & Phelps said on Thursday it has placed the domestic ratings of Santam and Guardian National Insurance on ratings watch after news of Santam’s bid for Guardian. Santam this week launched a R1,58-billion bid for Guardian in a deal set to create the country’s largest short-term insurance firm with 25 […]

RESULTS of the SuperSport Series matches which ended on Monday. In Durban: Match drawn. Northern Titans 139-2 vs KwaZulu-Natal. In Port Elizabeth: Free State beat Eastern Province by 185 runs. Free State 296 and 226-6 declared (Nicky Boje 58 not out; Shafiek Abrahams 4-67). Eastern Province 227-8 declared and 110 (Mark Rushmere 52 not out; […]

ENGLAND’s Graeme Swann has been fined for oversleeping on his team’s tour of South Africa. Having played just two first-class games so far, the Northamptonshire all-rounder overslept on the first day of the fifth test against South Africa at Centurion Park on Friday. “Swann has been fined 250 for missing the team bus on the […]

SWAZILAND’S embattled media won the first round in the kingdom’s latest attempt to dilute press freedom on Friday, by getting temporary High Court protection for not revealing its sources. Judge Tom Masuku ruled on Friday the State-owned Swazi Observer was not obliged to hand over leaked government documentation it based news reports on. Swaziland Attorney-General […]

THE United Nations has dispatched a delegation to the Ivory Coast in an effort to persuade the country’s military rulers of an early return to constitutional rule following last month’s coup.

UNITED Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata arrived at a refugee camp in Tanzania on Monday to visit thousands of refugees who have fled civil war in neighbouring Burundi. Ogata’s visit coincides with what officials say is the region’s worst refugee crisis since 1997 and with a fresh mediation attempt in the Burundi conflict […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Tuesday 12.45pm. THE Nigeria Football Association (NFA) have rejected the request of English side Arsenal for striker Nwankwo Kanu to be released to the club for engagements during the Nations Cup which kicks off on Saturday. “Arsenal are irreponsible,” said NFA chairman Anthony Williams, reacting to the request from the English […]

FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel on Thursday asked that state institutions dealing with national security issues be exempted from a proposed law seeking to boost black businesses through preferential tenders. Manuel told a parliamentary committee drafting the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Bill there could be instances where certain key government departments were forced not to award […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN and NIKI MOORE, Durban | Tuesday 6.10pm THE Inkatha Freedom Party has appointed disgraced former Home Affairs director-general Albert Mokoena as a special consultant. President Thabo Mbeki personally fired Mokoena from government last year following media revelations that he abused his position for personal gain. Mbeki’s intervention came after home affair minister and […]

THE rate of consumer inflation averaged 5,2% in 1999, its lowest level since 1969 when it stood at 3%, slowing from 6,9% in 1998, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. Stats SA said in a statement that the average rate for core inflation over 1999 was 7,9%, which was slightly higher than 1998’s 7,5% average. […]