IN BRIEF BABY SMUGGLER PLEADS GUILTY A SOUTH African woman accused of accidentally smothering her baby to death while trying to smuggle her into the United States will plead guilty to charges of alien smuggling, her defence attorney Dan Oliverio said on Thursday. Galiema Begg agreed to plead guilty in the hope of getting a […]
IN BRIEF MASIRE STEPS DOWN BOTSWANA’S outgoing President Sir Ketumile Masire stepped down on Tuesday, after 18 years in office. He is succeeded by his vice-president Festus Mogae. Masire’s last official duty involved meeting American President Bill Clinton on Tuesday night before Clinton left for Senegal on the final leg of his six-nation African tour. […]
WEDNESDAY, 2.30PM: THE opening match of the Cosafa Cup mini-league competition between defending champions Zambia and Mozambique has been postponed for a month, organisers announced on Wednesday. The match has been rescheduled from April 11 to May 16 at the Independence Stadium in Lusaka, due to domestic cup commitments in Zambia. The match between Zimbabwe […]
MONDAY, 5.30PM: SOUTH African cricket captain Hansie Cronje blitzed his way to the second-fastest 50 in Test cricket history, facing only 31 deliveries, to steer South Africa to a sensational six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second cricket Test at Centurion Park on Monday. Cronje needed only 14 scoring shots to reach his half […]
TUESDAY, 12.45PM: RAPIDLY growing Internet service provider M-Web made its debut on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Monday, with shares rising from R22 to R26 over the day’s trade. M-Web shares are listed jointly with its holding company MIH Holdings, with a plan for M-Web shares to be spun off at a later stage. Shareholders […]
TUESDAY, 11.30AM: SOUTH African rising surfing star Greg Emslie moved to the top of the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) rankings after an impressive fifth-place finish in the Mark Richards Newcastle City PRO in Australia at the weekend. Emslie narrowly missed the final when he placed third in the semifinal behind Brazil’s Peterson Rosa and […]
TUESDAY 5.30PM: THE government will save R91-million a year when four divisions of the Department of Transport are commercialised this year, Transport Minister Mac Maharaj said on Tuesday. In a commercialisation drive that is due to start this week, three chief directorates will be repositioned as independent agencies under newly formed bodies: the South African […]
MONDAY, 12.30PM: THE Springbok sevens rugby squad reached the final four of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, but lost heavily to Western Samoa on trying to reach the finals. The Boks were trampled 45-7 in a one-sided game, which the strong and mobile Islanders dominated from the start. The South Africans reached the semi-finals after […]
MONDAY, 11.30AM: THE National Sports Council on Saturday gave the controversial South African Rugby Football Union’s executive an ultimatum to resign within a fortnight or lose the Springbok badge and face international sports sanctions. NSC president Mluleki George, himself a rugby official, called on the Sarfu executive, including controversial rugby boss Louis Luyt, to resign […]
IN BRIEF 21 DIE IN SOMALI FIGHTING AT least least 21 people were killed and 29 injured when heavy fighting broke out between clans in the southern Somali port town of Kismayo on Monday. The fighting is reported to have died down, but the town, 500km south of the capital Mogadishu, remains tense. The renewed […]