THE three accused in the Fairhead trial in the Circuit Court at Port Alfred have pleaded not guilty to all the charges. However one of the accused has admitted to some of the charges. The case started earlier on Monday amid huge public interest with a strong police presence, including the Public Order Policing Unit. […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 11.20am. IN a move which threatens the already fragile state of affairs in the Premier Soccer League, Sundowns have turned down an offer to play in the Vodacom Challenge. The competition, an unofficial multi-million rand involving top soccer teams from all over Africa — and possibly teams from countries […]
ORLANDO Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs will play in the Charity Spectacular and the BP Top Eight competitions next season. The two South African soccer giants withdrew from the events following a R120-million sponsorship deal by cellular service provider Vodacom. The decision comes after a Premier Soccer League Board of Governors meeting on Tuesday at which […]
SOUTH Africa’s main agency for government statistics said on Tuesday it is recruiting a new head to replace Mark Orkin, who has held the post since 1995. Orkin has been credited with turning the body around, making it a authoritative source of relevant market information reflecting a democratic South Africa. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel stressed […]
SOUTH Africa’s Oscar Chalupsky claimed his ninth kayaking title when he won the World Ocean Kayak championships in Hawaii on Sunday. Chalupsky was only 33 seconds off the race record held by Australian Dean Gardner, and crossed the finishing line in 3 hours 21 min 48 seconds –more than six minutes ahead of his nearest […]
LISTED insurance and financial services company, Sage, reported headline earnings per share for the year ended March 31 of 257,7 cents, a 22% increase from the 211 cents seen in the year-earlier period. Sage said before-tax profits had risen 54% to R492,2-million from R318,6-million in the previous year, although taxes had more than trebled to […]
FORMER Zimbabwean President Canaan Banana lost an appeal on Monday of his conviction on sexual assault charges and gay sex offenses and has been ordered to spend a year in jail. He is expected to report to jail later on Monday. One year of his sentence has been suspended. The 64-year-old Banana was convicted in […]
STATE-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp said on Tuesday it has begun preliminary talks with South African investors planning to set up an oil refinery in Nigeria. The investors plan to build and operate a refinery with a concession to lift Nigerian crude oil. The capacity of the plant is not yet known. The three-member South […]
SOUTH Africa may send a battalion of combat troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect UN military observers in the volatile city of Kisangani. The Star reports that President Thabo Mbeki may decide as early as Monday on whether or not to send the troops. South Africa’s ambassador to the UN Dumisani Kumalo […]
FIVE Russian pilots set free by Angola’s Unita rebels have arrived in Zambia after walking for many days through war-torn Angola. The airmen, whose two planes had been flying on contract for aid agencies, delivering food to government-held towns, were shot down by Unita last year. Officials said the famished pilots had arrived in the […]
LIBERIAN President Charles Taylor, who successfully negotiated the release of UN soldiers held hostage by the Sierra Leone rebel group RUF, said on Tuesday that the freedom was given “unconditionally.” “I thank God that I was able to convince them (RUF) to do the right thing, to release all the hostages unconditionally,” Taylor told a […]
FAMOUS Nigerian club Enugu Rangers have been banned from their home ground after crowd trouble in a league match left a referee unconscious, an official said on Monday. Rangers, who were also fined the equivalent of US$500, will now play their reamining home matches in the central town of Makurdi. Angry fans beat Fifa referee […]
SHARES in Network Healthcare Holdings rose almost 5% on Tuesday as the market warmly welcomed the hospital group’s positive half year results. By 10am the counter was up 4,94% at 85 cents, outperforming the benchmark All Share index which was up a marginal 0,04%. Netcare earlier reported a 54,7% rise in headline earnings per share […]
A 46-year-old Mpumalanga pilot died instantly on Monday evening when his borrowed light aircraft developed mechanical problems and crashed shortly after take-off. Gary Griffiths was burnt beyond recognition in a fire which also consumed the wrecked Armerod two-seater he had borrowed from a friend. Witnesses told police on Tuesday they saw sparks shooting from the […]
LIBYA is to send a second envoy to the Philippines to try to help secure the release of 21 mostly foreign hostages held by Muslim rebels, a Libyan organisation said on Tuesday. The Kadhafi World Foundation, in a statement published by the Libyan embassy in Riyadh, said the second representative would back up the efforts […]
SOUTH Africa were outpointed 69-10 by New Zealand in the inaugural World Sevens Series Cup Final in Paris on Sunday. The teams went into the break with the Kiwis leading 45-0 and although the Springboks scored two tries in the second-half it was a matter of trying to retain their self respect. “I’m just pleased […]
THE country’s leading internet marketing specialists have announced the formation of the South African branch of the US-based Internet Advertising Bureau. Ronan Langford, MD of Real Media Africa, says that IAB SA will act as a collective voice representing companies engaged in selling advertising in internet-based media in South Africa and internationally. It aims to […]
ZIMBABWE’s annual inflation rose by 2,9% to 53,7% in April, the Reserve Bank announced on Tuesday. The central bank said food inflation rose by 0,8% to 47,2% and core inflation by 4,7% percent to 58,9%. On the interbank foreign exchange market, the bank said the net outflow came to US$38-million. The current account registered a […]
OWN CORRRESPONDENT, New Delhi | Tuesday 10.00am. SOUTH Africa will allow Indian police detectives to question disgraced South African skipper Hansie Cronje for his alleged role in match-fixing, Pretoria’s chief diplomat in New Delhi said on Tuesday. The Asian Age newspaper quoted South African High Commissioner to India, Maite Nkoana Mashabane, as saying that Pretoria […]
ZIMBABWE warmed up for Thursday’s second Test at Trent Bridge with their second consecutive victory on Yorkshire soil beating MCC by 22 runs in Castleford on Sunday. The tourists, beaten with embarrassing ease by England in the first Test at Lord’s and badly out of touch elsewhere this summer, played themselves back into form with […]
THE Free State Rugby Union has rejected an offer by the Gauteng Lions Rugby Union to buy out its Super 12 shares even before the offer, or price, has been made. The proposed plan to combine the Cats and the Lions into a single franchise has drawn widespread criticism from the GLRU’s Super 12 partners. […]
DISCARDED Springbok wing Stefan Terblanche scored two of the Barbarians five tries as they shaded victory against Ireland by 31-30 with some champagne rugby. It was a bruising encounter to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Irish Rugby Football Union at Lansdowne Road in Dublin on Sunday. But injuries in the game could cost Ireland […]
AT least 10 people were killed and dozens seriously injured in renewed fighting between residents of two southwestern Nigerian towns. Violence broke out on Saturday between the neighboring towns Ife and Modakeke just as leaders of the two communities were holding peace talks with President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja. The border dispute between the two […]
MICHAEL VLISMAS, East London | Monday 12.25pm. RYAN Reid claimed his maiden professional victory when he edged out Ulrich van den Berg by one stroke for the Vodacom Series: Eastern Cape title at the East London Golf Club on Sunday. The two players were locked together at 11-under par playing the last after a fiercely […]
BANKING group Saambou has announced a 52,7% jump in headline earnings to R146,6-million for the year ended March 31, compared with R96-million the year before. Headline earnings per share were up 51% to 105c from 69,5c.
SEVEN South Afrian Airways crew managers are expected to apply for an interdict on Monday, to stop their positions in the airline’s in-flight services division being declared redundant. Six of the managers have already raised concerns over SAA’s senior management in a report handed to the Transnet board in January. Staff were informed last week […]
SIERRA Leonean rebels appear to have released the last of more than 500 UN peacekeepers they took hostage almost four weeks ago when a peace accord collapsed. “We are optimistic that the release of the hostages signals a positive change of direction by the Revolutionary United Front in coming back to seek a peaceful settlement,” […]
DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | Monday 11.55am SIMON Ramoni retained his IBO junior featherweight world title on Friday night in London, scoring an eighth round stoppage over Patrick Mullings, the fighter he took the title from in 1998. It was an all-action fight with both fighters being dropped early on. At the time of the stoppage, […]
THE leader of Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) indicated Sunday that he would move to expel former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam if the MDC wins parliamentary elections due next month. “There is no room here in Zimbabwe for Mengistu,” Morgan Tsvangirai said. Colonel Mengistu, ousted nine years ago, has been living in an […]
Nando’s has reported a 21,26% rise in headline earnings per share to 8,1 cents for the year ended February 29 from 6,68 cents the year before, reports said. Revenues have increased by 13,46% to R321,5 million from R283,3 million the year before. Operating profit before interest and depreciation increased by 46,65% to R41,3-million from R28,2-million […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 4.30pm. MOST counters ended firmly in positive territory on Monday, the overall finishing 1,01% or 73 points up. With markets in the United Kingdom and United States closed, dealers said futures buying helped the local bourse fair better. The financial index closed 2% or 180 points good, while the industrial […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 11.30am. A GOLDEN Arrow bus driver was shot dead and six commuters were wounded on Monday in Delf, one of Cape Town’s townships. The police’s Superintendent Wicus Holzhausen said the bus driver died after gunmen, believed to be from a minibus taxi organisation locked in a turf war with […]