WEDNESDAY, 10.50AM: ORLANDO Pirates will be looking to new Bafana Bafana star, Willem Jackson, to help them gain maximum points in their Premier Soccer League match against Bloemfontein Celtic at FNB on Thurday. Pirates coach Ronald Mkhandawire praised Jackson and John Moeti for the brave performance they put up aganist France on Saturday and said […]

WEDNESDAY, 7.00PM THE South African luxury department store chain Woolworths has announced plans to take over the giant Australian retail group Country Road. Woolworths has made a R396 million offer to all ordinary shareholders of Country Road to buy them out at R6,85 a share. Woolworths already has an Australian subsidiary, which owns 19,9% of […]

WEDNESDAY, 6.30PM THE National Assembly’s education committee approved on Wednesday of changes to the Education Laws Amendment Bill, including last-minute changes which will give the Education Minister the power to regulate the funds used for employment of additional staff at public schools. The controversial amendments also require public schools to fill vacant posts from government […]

WINNIE ANSWERS QUESTIONS WINNIE MADIKIZELA MANDELA spent the entire day on Monday before a closed session of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. TRC officials would say only that she had answered all questions, and that no witnesses had yet been called. The hearing, into eight murders allegedly linked to Madikizela-Mandela, is in preparation for public […]

TUESDAY, 12.30PM: THE Gauteng Lions selectors have made two suprise changes to the team for the Bankfin Currie Cup semi-final match against Western Province at Newlands on Saturday. Coach Dawie Snyman has named Lions Under-21 wing Dean Hall and injured Springbok lock Hannes Strydom in the 21-man squad. Hall, who has only had one training […]

TUESDAY, 11.00AM The production price index plummeted one percentage point to 5,9% in August, from July’s annualised 6,9% and the lowest producer inflation since May 1996, when it was 5,8%. According to the Central Statistical Service, greatest contributor to August’s producer costs were agricultural products, followed by mining products, minerals and metals. The CSS said […]

TUESDAY, 5.00PM FORMER foreign minister Pik Botha told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Tuesday that the National Party government suspected its security forces of engaging in illegal activities, but stopped short of admitting that the apartheid cabinet ordered gross human rights violations. Botha was testifying on the first day of the commission’s hearings on […]

TUESDAY, 6.00PM INDUSTRIAL shreas on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange had fallen from their morning’s highs by noon on Tuesday after volatile futures-related trades, and the markets surprisingly ignored the excellent August producer inflation figures released in the morning. Gold shares, meanwhile, remained under pressure from the softer bullion price. At 4pm the industrial index was […]

TUESDAY, 11.00AM RESERVE Bank governor Dr Chris Stals said on Monday he is happy with the easier liquidity conditions in the money market and will refrain from acting to put the squeeze on banks. Stals said: “WE have allowed the money market to become more comfortable as part of a gradual easing of monetary policy. […]

TUESDAY, 8.30AM: RUGBY’s most senior black official, Mluleki George, has pulled out of the race against Louis Luyt for presidency, following a last-minute announcement by Natal president Keith Parkinson that he will stand. Geroge said he had no desire to become president of the SA Rugby Football Union, but believes that Luyt had to go. […]