WEDNESDAY, 10.00AM: WINE and spirits co-operative KWV on Tuesday formally converted itself to a company after 80 years as a co-operative. The co-operative, which also acted as a state-appointed regulator of the industry, first made a high court application for the conversion last December 12, but this was opposed by Land Affairs Minister Derek Hanekom, […]

WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM: SOUTH African golf hero and US Open champion Ernie Els dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when he dednounced his position as favourite to win the Nedbank Million Dollar Golf Challenge, which starts at Sun City this weeekend. Els said the Gary Player Country Club course does not suit his game, and named his […]

WEDNESDAY, 10.30PM THOUSANDS of Malawians converged on the capital, Lilongwe on Wednesday to bury the country’s founding father and former dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who died last week aged 99. The five-hour funeral started in the grounds of State House with a speech by President Bakili Maluzi, followed by a religious ceremony attended by African […]

ROBBERS ATTACK AIRPORT ABOUT 15 robbers armed with AK47 automatic rifles and revolvers broke into a security company’s control room at Johannesburg International Airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning, assaulted the guards — injuring three of them — and stole 37 firearms. BOESAK MUST PAY HIS OWN WAY ALAN BOESAK has lost his […]

WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM DEPARTMENT of Agriculture director-general Bongiwe Njobe-Mbuli says farmers continue to plant crops unsuited to drought areas — such as maize — in response to consumer demand. The only solution, she told a drought workshop in Pretoria on Wednesday, will be to work on changing the public’s eating habits. Njobe-Mbuli called on farmers to […]

WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM: BRAZIL’s multi-million dollar soccer superstar Ronaldo will definitely be in the squad to face Bafana Bafana in a World Cup warm-up match at FNB stadium on Sunday. SA coach Clive Barker took hios squad through their paces in a practice session at Rand Stadium on Tuesday, confident that the national squad has what […]

WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM: SOUTH Africa’s first black-owned mining house Johannesburg Consolidated Investments on Tuesday signed a three-year mining exploration deal with the Ethiopian governemnt. In terms of the agreement, JCI subsidiary JCI (Ethiopia) acquires exclusive exploration rights in the Borena region, according to the Ethiopian ministry of mines, which added that JCI will pay up to […]

TUESDAY, 11.30AM FORMER political prisoner Koigi wa Wamwere, considered the only serious challenger to Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi, has had a four year jail sentence scrapped to allow him to contest the elections at the end of this month. Wamwere, presidential candidate for the Kenya National Democratic Alliance party, was warned last week that […]

TUESDAY, 6.00PM: THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange was very bullish on Tuesday morning, but a turn-around began later in the day with mixed sentiments over Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s new Medium Term Expenditure Framework, released today. (see our top news story) There was some worry over the down-graded growth prediction of 2% for the current financial […]

TUESDAY, 6.00PM: A SECOND Mandela name was dragged into the Truth Commission’s hearings yesterday. Gift Ntombeni, a former Mandela United Football Club member confirmed claims by previous witnesses that the club had carved the letters ‘ANC’ and ‘WM’ into the flesh of victims, and burnt their feet. But he said Zinzi Mandela-Hlongwane, daughter of Nelson […]