TUESDAY, 5.00PM: GAUTENG attorney-general Jan D’Oliveira’s office announced on Tuesday that an eight-month investigation into allegations of fraud and corruption against deputy parliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete-Kgositsile by the police commercial crime unit in Nelspruit had failed to produce sufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution. The investigation followed Mbete-Kgositsile’s receipt of fraudulent learner’s and driver’s licences […]

TUESDAY, 11.30AM CERTAIN key Western Cape administration officials appointed by former African National Congress MECs will “undoubtedly” lose their current jobs, Premier Hernus Kriel said on Monday. The officials will probably be demoted or appointed elsewhere within the administration. Changes are likely within the departments of health, welfare, transport, public works and economic affairs, as […]

TUESDAY, 10.30PM: THE world’s wealthiest creditor nations, the so-called “Paris Club”, will meet on Wednesday to decide the fate of Mozambique’s debt. The south-east African nation, which is beginning to recover after two decades of civil war, is widely regarded as one of the more deserving nations for debt relief. However, in an ironic twist, […]

MONDAY, 5.30PM: THE Mpumalanga health and welfare department will not build any hospitals or clinics this year because of financial constraints, director Dr Gulam Karim said on Monday. Gulam said the department hopes, however, that there will be a surplus on the budget, which will allow it to build a psychiatric ward at Rob Ferreira […]

MONDAY, 11.30AM: SOUTH African tennis star Wayne Ferreira made a convincing start to his Australian Open campaign on Monday. Despite a short second-set lapse, Ferreira beat Slovakian Jan Kroslak 6-4 3-6 6-2 6-3 to carry himself into the second round. Said Ferreira: “I won. That’s about the best I can say about my performance today. […]

MONDAY, 2.30PM: TRUCKLOADS of riot police filled downtown Harare on Monday as police clashed with more than a thousand protesters who barricaded roads in protest at steep increases in prices of basic commodities. The stock exchange, banks and shops closed early, with youths, chanting anti-white and anti-Mugabe slogans, stoning cars. Police on the ground clubbed […]

Gwen Ansell At last, an overseas impresario is taking an interest in South African music. Euro Stages Peter Ultee who has also promoted opera, and folkloric shows from West Africa departed on Sunday with the 40-strong Sikulu Theatre Group and their production The Journey for a commercial tour that so far includes theatre bookings in […]

In a post-painting art world, video seems to be the medium du jour, writes Brenda Atkinson If it is possible to distil one widely shared impression from the critical cross- currents of the second Johannesburg Biennale, and in particular of its showcase exhibition, Alternating Currents, it is this: there was a whack of video installation […]

Ben Laurance When Chris Patten was running Hong Kong, he was fond of dropping a smug little statistic into any conversation about the Hong Kong and Chinese economies. The colony, with six million people squeezed into a sweaty little corner of Asia, was about to achieve one-fifth of the economic output of its enormous neighbour […]

Neil Manthorp : Cricket South Africa’s domination of the World Series one-day competition in Australia has been almost embarrassing. Actually, it has been extremely embarrassing to Australia who have changed their squad and tried to adapt to the modern trends of instant cricket after half a decade of laurel- resting; they are still being stuffed. […]