THE Zimbabwe High Commisioner to Canada, Simbarashe ‘Reward’ Marufu has been charged in Ottawa with raping a 16 year-old girl. According to The Ottawa Citizen, Marufu is claiming diplomatic immunity. Mr Marufu is the brother-in-law of Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe. Canadians are reportedly furious, and are insisting that Marufu pay for the alleged crime. Marufu’s […]

NEDCOR is turning up the heat on Standard Bank Investment Corporation (Stanbic) by insisting market prices are a fair way of valuing the two groups ahead of their possible merger. Business Day reports that the Nedcor view comes in the wake of a Stanbic statement last week that, according to its advisers, a deal completed […]

WASHINGTON-based WorldSpace Corporation on Thursday launched a new satellite broadcast system that will bring 25 audio channels of programming to Africa and the Middle East. The “AfriStar” satellite promises a dramatic improvement in broadcast quality to regions that have been poorly served by traditional radio broadcasting. Programming will be in English, Afrikaans, French and Arabic. […]

NAMIBIAN President Sam Nujoma on Friday announced that the country’s third general and presidential elections will take place over two days on November 30 and December 1. Nujoma, who is seeking a third term as president, is expected to make a television and radio address to the nation later Friday. The 70-year-old president and his […]

SWISS Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss will visit South Africa from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of his South African counterpart, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the foreign ministry said on Sunday. Deiss and Dlamini-Zuma will on Tuesday co-chair a meeting of the recently-established South Africa-Swiss joint working group, the ministry said in a statement. The two ministers […]

THE $12-billion Templeton Emerging Markets Fund is to invest a further $1-billion in the JSE over the next 15 months. The fund, which is weighted at about 10% towards South Africa, is on an acquistion drive, the Business Report said. Fund President, Mark Mobius, said he is “unbelievably bullish about South Africa.” He said from […]

A TOP Ugandan delegation arrived in Rwanda on Sunday for a three-day visit aimed at restoring good relations between the two countries, whose troops fought each other in August in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Ugandan delegation is led by James Wapakabulo, a senior figure in the ruling National Resistance Movement. It was met […]

WALES went on a scoring rampage Saturday, trouncing hapless Japan 64-15 in their World Cup Group D match at the Millennium Stadium as fly-half Neil Jenkins equalled the record for points scored in Tests. Wales scored 38 unanswered points in a desperately one-sided second half. The Dragons got two tries from centre Mark Taylor and […]

THE Mpumalanga town of Witbank’s entire city council was fired during a surprise coup by the local African National Congress (ANC) branch last week when an internal power struggle erupted into public mudslinging. ANC branch chairman in Witbank, David Maloma, fired all 11 party members on the council after accusing them of overlooking local ANC […]