TUESDAY, 6.00PM: THE Goldstone Commission report into the Truth Commission, released on Tuesday, clears commissioner Dumisa Ntsebeza of involvement in the 1993 Heidelberg Tavern killings, but fails to answer the central riddle: who ‘framed’ Ntsebeza, and why? Goldstone was appointed last month by President Nelson Mandela to probe why Guguletu gardener Bennett Sibaya accused Ntsebeza […]

MONDAY, 11.00PM: GROSS gold and foreign exchange reserves held by the South African Reserve Bank made a surprise fall in November, dropping R800-million in November to R26,5-billion, according to provisional figures published by the Reserve Bank on Monday. The figure had been expected, following October’s stock exchange crisis when the bank had to step in […]

TUESDAY, 10.00AM: SOUTH Africa set a target of 268/6 on Tuesday in their 50-over match against a Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Captain Hansie Cronje slipped right back in to one-day cricket with a sterling 42 not out after facing just 26 balls in 34 minutes at the crease. His tally […]

MONDAY, 12.15PM: KAIZER CHIEFS and Mamelodi Sundowns played to a 1-1 draw in the final of the Rothmans Cup at the FNB stadium on Saturday. Both teams had chances but were denied goals by good goalkeeping. It was Chiefs who immediately put pressure in the first half and were unlucky not to have scored a […]

BANDA TAKES IT WITH HIM The late Malawian president Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who died last week aged 99, will take his lavish lifestyle to the grave with a $37 000 coffin. The gold-plated casket, “fit for a former head of state”, comes with a 75-year guarantee. Said diplomat John Chikago: “By guarantee, I mean that […]

MONDAY, 12.15PM: SOUTH AFRICA’S opening game against Western Australia in Perth ended in a draw on Sunday. Western Australia never showed much interest in chasing a fourth-innings target of 289 in 52 overs. South Africa declared immediately after lunch at 167/3 with Hansie Cronje at 59 not out off 70 balls and Adam Bacher with […]

MONDAY, 5.30PM: CONGOLESE President Laurent Kabila put off a visit to his closest ally, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, on Monday morning, while he struggled to halt clashes between his own soldiers in Kinshasa. The armed clashes began on Thursday, resulting in at least 20 deaths, and have included gunfights inside army barracks and the presidential […]

MONDAY, 11.30PM THE African National Congress Youth League said on Monday that health cannot be a privilege of the wealthy, but has to become a right for all. ANCYL president Malusi Gigaba made the statement in response to the death of Durban kidney patient Thiagraj Soobramoney, 41, who died soon after a Constitutional Court ruling […]

MONDAY, 5.30PM: The all gold index on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange slid even further today after Friday’s rout, losing 18 points to fall to 709. The financial index fell too, shedding 48 points to 10 043. But industrials saved the day however, with the index climbing 45 points to 7 757, to ensure that the […]

MONDAY, 11.30PM: A STATE witness in the treason trial of Zanu-Ndonga leader Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole on Monday presented documents to show that the opposition leader wrote out cheques to Philemon Fernando and William Namakonya, both convicted of attempting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. Assistant commissioner Zachius Nyathi said he led a team of investigators who […]