Cape Town

Manning Rangers’ woes continued when they were beaten 2-0 by 10-man Ajax Cape Town in a Castle Premiership encounter played at Chatsworth Stadium on Saturday night. The first goal of this dull match was netted by Thembinkosi Fanteni in the 19th minute, thanks to an excellent cross ball from Kanku Mulekelayi.

German Michael Stich regained his winning touch with a 6-4 7-6 (4) win over Australian Pat Cash in Saturday’s opening singles rubber at the Grand Champions 2005 tournament at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Stich went down to Croatia’s Goran Ivanisevic in his opening gambit on Friday night.

President Thabo Mbeki has praised world leaders who were at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, last month, for committing to be ”part of the generation that eliminates extreme poverty” in Africa and the world. Mbeki led a South African delegation that attended the meeting at the end of January.

Portions of South Africa’s media are failing in their role as watchdogs, and seem ”extremely reluctant to bark these days”, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said on Friday. He singled out the South African Broadcasting Corporation for particular criticism, calling it a ”virtual propaganda arm” of the African National Congress.

Goran Ivanisevic, the handsome Croatian who has been turning heads since he arrived in the Mother City on Monday, has a chance to record a career ”first” when he plays German Michael Stich in the opening match of the Cape Town Grand Champions 2005 tournament at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Friday.

The African National Congress says the so-called "Travelgate" probe into the misuse of MPs’ travel vouchers has been carried out in a "vindictive" and "unplanned" manner. But the official opposition Democratic Alliance says the ruling party wants to "smear the Scorpions" and "obscure the culpability" of MPs.

Jomo Cosmos eased their relegation woes when they beat a struggling Santos 2-0 in a Castle Premier Soccer League match played at Athlone Stadium on Wednesday night. Santos, on the other hand, now face a real danger of being relegated. Both goals were scored in the first half.

South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs has signed a contract to play for the English club Lashings later this year from June to August. The club’s owner, David Folb, has brought a ”Harlem Globetrotter” element to the team in the past few years when it contracted some of the world’s greatest cricketers, past and present.

The Inkatha Freedom Party has expressed its shock at the suspension of Compensation Fund commissioner Bongiwe Ncube, apparently under investigation for management irregularities. ”The IFP demands that the case be discussed openly,” IFP labour spokesperson Prince Nhlahla Zulu said in a statement on Wednesday.

Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett had been appointed Western Province’s (WP) director of rugby, the president of the WP Rugby Football Union, Koos Basson, announced on Tuesday. The newly created position forms part of the strategic vision for WP rugby. Mallett has been appointed on a contract basis for three years.

The opening of this year’s session of the South African Parliament by President Thabo Mbeki next week, on Friday February 11, is set to cost about R1,2-million, according to the government news agency BuaNews. It is "to be a spectacular affair, with South Africans from all walks of life expected to grace the event".

Ajax Cape Town beat Swaziland’s Mhlambanyatsi Rovers in the first leg of the first round of the CAF Champions league by 1-0 at Newlands on Sunday. The goal came in the 35th minute when clever play by Brent Carelse saw the ball go to Nhlanhla Tshabalala, whose powerful shot ricocheted into the goal off a defender.

Scorpions spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said in a statement on Friday that the 40 MPs implicated in the Travelgate scandal — 27 current and 13 former MPs — will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on February 18. The names of the MPs — who allegedly used their travel vouchers for illicit purposes — will be disclosed when they appear in court.

South Africa has sacrificed the nation’s sporting potential once before under apartheid, and the country should not make the same mistake again, says official opposition leader Tony Leon. ”If the state applies racial criteria to cricket and rugby, what is next? Will there be quotas for bridge and lawn bowls?” Leon asked in his weekly newsletter.

The burgeoning cheese industry in South Africa, which has been around for more than 100 years, is set to benefit when the first plug of formerly disadvantaged cheesemakers goes to France to learn more about the trade. The objective is to offer cheesemakers the opportunity to gain new skills and expertise by doing an intensive, three-week course.