OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nelspruit | Thursday 8.45pm. THE ANC has accused Public Protector Selby Baqwa of violating his powers, wasting tax money and acting subjectively during his probe into Mpumalanga’s “lies scandal”. Accusing Baqwa of acting without a mandate and of dangerously undermining the credibility of his office, ANC speaker after speaker rose to reject the […]

AMPLATS reached an agreement with the National Employees Trade Union on Wednesday on wages and conditions of employment for the 1999/2000 period, ending a strike begun on Tuesday. The core of the agreement is an 8% increase in wages, but other details of conditions of employment were not specified in the company’s statement.

THE All Blacks have decided to adopt a more aggressive pre-match haka in a bid to help their World Cup chances. The new, improved haka is figuring prominently in New Zealand’s World Cup preparations and will debut when the All Blacks kick off their campaign against Tonga at Bristol on Sunday. The new version of […]

INTERNATIONAL credit rating agency, Duff & Phelps (DCR), has placed the domestic ratings of Nedcor Bank and Standard Bank on positive rating watch, following the recent announcement that the banks are investigating a merger. FitchIBCA expressed concerns about industry and risk concentration when evaluating the firms’ ratings. According to DCR analyst, Charles Nel, if the […]

JOHN Eales has been confirmed as captain of the Australian team to face Romania in their opening World Cup match in Belfast on Sunday. Eales has fully recovered from a shoulder injury, and finds himself back in the Wallaby starting line-up for the first time this year. Eales will be partnered in the second row […]

SIX people were arrested on Tuesday following the murder of a 63-year-old woman at Kampeng Village near Pietersburg at the weekend, Northern Province police reported. Clara Shabangu was stoned and then necklaced after she was accused of poisoning her 14-year old neighbour, Keledi Mziza. Keledi died last Friday after she allegedly ate meat given to […]

Afrikaans singer and actor G Korsten died in his Wilderness home in the Western Cape on Wednesday when he shot himself in the right temple. Police spokesman Sergeant David Mosola said Korsten, (70) got up to make his wife a cup of tea. The singer apparently took a 7.65mm pistol, walked into the kitchen and […]

ALAN FINLAY, Johannesburg | Wednesday 12.30pm. SPECULATORS preying on a struggling gold price over the past year have been caught with their pants down, with one analyst estimating the over-the-counter market may be as much as 3000 to 4000 tons short. “There’s a scramble to buy back gold,” said Fedsure’s Nick Goodwin, who predicts the […]

FUGITIVE German billionaire Jurgen Harksen on Wednesday won a stay of extradition, possibly for a year, when the Cape High Court ruled that a fresh magistrate should rule on his suitability for extradition, SABC television reported. Harksen, who is wanted by the German authorities on fraud and tax evasion charges involving more than R1-billion, has […]

THE Vodacom Tour makes its first major foray into Africa this week when the Royal Swazi Sun Classic tees off at the Royal Swazi Sun Country Club on Tuesday. Justin Hobday returns as the defending champion in this R200000 event played at the par-72 Royal Swazi Sun golf course, nestled in the beautiful Ezulwini Valley […]