MONDAY, 11.00AM: SOUTH AFRICA has adopted a new set of aviation safety rules based on those in several other countries, which bring SA in line with global aviation rules. The new regulations make passenger safety the responsibility of cabin staff, who are now required to be licenced and to undergo regular medical check-ups. Other changes […]

MONDAY, 5.00PM A SINGLE brief radio announcement informed the people of DR-Congo that the dictator who had ruled them for 31 years was dead (see below). “In the African tradition, you don’t say anything bad about someone who has died,” the state-run radio said, explaining the subdued public reaction to the death in Morocco of […]

MONDAY, 1.00PM: The new UK-listed arm of Gencor, Billiton, will merge with the Australian nickel mining group QNI to produce the world’s fourth-largest nickel mining group, with a capacity to produce 60 000 tons next year. The deal gives Billiton 52,4% of an enlarged QNI, the rest held by existing QNI shareholders, who will enjog […]

BARNARD AMNESTY? FERDIE BARNARD, charged with the murder of David Webster, has had a change of heart about amnesty. Barnard, who has repeatedly said he will not apply for amnesty, now says he is considering it. He added that everything he had done, had been on behalf of his country, and carried out under orders. […]

MONDAY, 10.15AM: NATAL and former Springbok coach Ian McIntosh had no comment on speculation that he might apply for the job as a succesor to fired Springbok coach Carel du Plessis. Du Plessis was fired by the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) after he refused to step down when asked to do so in […]

MONDAY, 9.40AM: KAIZER CHIEFS went down 2-1 to Bush Bucks in a Premier Soccer League match at Johannesburg Stadium on Saturday, in an entertaining game in which both teams played attacking football from the first whistle. Bucks opened the score in the 40th minute through striker Vincent Skhosana after capitalising on a defensive mistake by […]

MONDAY, 11.35AM: NAMIBIA’S Frankie Fredericks criticised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for Friday’s decision not to award Cape Town the 2004 Olympic Games.”I’m very disappointed and sad,” he said after beating Donovan Bailey of Canada in a Grand Prix 100m final in Tokyo on Saturday. He said: “I can’t see any other African countries comming […]

MONDAY, 1.30PM The leader of the Anjouan separatists in the Comoros announced that he will hold a “cabinet” meeting today to decide what to do next. Local businessman Ahmed “Charlie” Charikane held a candle-light press conference in a local hotel and said his first priority would be to re-establish phone links to the outside world […]

MONDAY, 10.30AM: AMERICAN energy expert Amory Lovins, currently visiting South Africa, says Eskom is making a mistake “running wires out to people who can’t pay”. He suggests that Eskom “leap-frog” to looking at the potential of solar energy, which would cut infrastructure costs and help consumers pay their energy bills. Lovins, who runs the Rocky […]

Hazel Friedman Jazz enthusiasts in Cape Town will be forgiven for thinking they are somewhere on the west coast -America’s west coast, that is. The source of their confusion is P4 in Cape Town – a new jazz radio station that got airborne on September 1. After the 6am news bulletin, listeners would have been […]