OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 1.20pm. NECOR has won the bid to acquire control of the embattled FBC Fidelity Bank, which was placed under curatorship last year after liquidity problems. The bank aims to merge FBC with its own Peoples Bank to form the country’s biggest empowerment bank. FBC’s curator, Tim Store, announced on Thursday […]
A STORM has broken out in boxing circles with the announcement that WBA intercontinental champion, Philip Ndou is leaving his promoter Branco Milenkovic and signing up with Golden Gloves — the giant of SA boxing promotions. Milenkovic called a press conference on Tuesday in which he stated that Ndou is still contracted to him, but […]
NAMIBIA is setting up a fund to enable it to expropriate white-owned land for redistribution to landless blacks, a senior official told parliament. Hifikepunye Pohamba, secretary general of the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation, said the government would pay “just compensation” as stipulated in the country’s constitution. He was speaking during a debate on […]
ALL Blacks prop Kees Meeuws may have recovered sufficiently to play in the Super 12 rugby semifinal for the Highlanders against the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday. Hiighlanders coach Peter Sloane said on Tuesday that Meeus has an outside chance of making the team. Meeuws left the field against the Waratahs last Friday with a […]
ALAN FINLAY, Johannesburg | Wednesday 4.00pm. LOCAL markets and gold were hammered on Wednesday after a fifty basis point interest rates hike to 6,5% in the US produced a demand for dollars and dampened local counters. Analysts said the negative sentiment was surprising, after the Dow Jones responded positively to the hike. The US Federal […]
ALAN FINLAY, Johannesburg | Thursday 4.00pm. THE JSE recorded losses for the second day in a row on Thursday, after the US interest rate hike of half-a-percent pushed the bourse lower on Wednesday. The overall finished 0,55% or 41 points down. The rand also weakened considerably, touching a new low of R7,18 to the dollar […]
DOUBLE Olympic champion Penny Heyns has withdrawn from South Africa’s swimming team for the Mare Nostrum series in Europe. Heyns has indicated that she wants to focus on training for the Sydney Olympics in September. With the unavailability of Heyns, Ryk Neethling, Brendon Dedekind and Roland Schoeman for the European meets, South Africa’s medal charge […]
JULIAN GUYER, London | Thursday 7.00pm. ENGLAND were 29 for one in reply to Zimbabwe’s 83 all out, the lowest at Lord’s since New Zealand were dismissed for 67 in 1978, when play was abandoned for the day in the first of two Tests at Lord’s on Thursday. Heavy rain prevented any play after tea […]
ALL South African soldiers partaking in peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo will have to be tested for HIV in accordance with United Nations regulations. However soldiers had the right to refuse to be tested, and those that did so would have declare they were unavailable to serve in the DRC, Deputy President […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 5.00pm. THE Congress of South African Trade Unions has stepped up its campaign against joblessness and called for high level discussions between labour, government and business to reduce unemployment in South Africa. The call comes after a two-day meeting of Cosatu’s central executive committee which ended on Wednesday. Cosatu general […]
WESTERN Cape Transport MEC Piet Meyer met taxi operators on Wednesday in a bid to end their two-month dispute with the Golden Arrow bus company over who gets to operate lucrative township routes. While the talks were described as constructive and more discussions were scheduled for Monday – which bus company representatives are to attend […]
THABANG Makwetla, the chairman of the ANC’s parliamentary caucus, on Thursday slated Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille’s attempt to get political leaders to volunteer to be tested publically for HIV. “Intimidating MPs to submit themselves to a public test of their HIV status is unethical and a blatant persecution of public representatives,” he […]
THE US Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged $250-million in development aid to South Africa for the next five years. The money will be used to stimulate job creation, strengthen the country’s justice system, improve access to health, education and housing for its people and fight the spread of HIV/Aids, the US embassy and […]
AFRICA’S first continental rugby competition has been given the go-ahead with the first match kicking off on June 17. The inaugural African Rugby Championship will be based on a home-and-away format and will feature six teams with South Africa being represented by an under-23 side. Teams will be divided into south and north sections, with […]
ROYAL treatment will be the order of the day if Baby Jake Matlala is successful in his bid to become the first South African boxer to win four world titles next Wednesday night. “It’s already arranged,” said Rodney Berman, promoter of the triple world title bill to be held at Carnival city on May 24. […]
ACT Brumbies skipper Brett Robinson’s hopes of a glorious Super 12 swansong will depend on whether his colleagues can get through to the Super 12 rugby final without him. Flanker Robinson, who is playing his final season for the Brumbies, has been ruled out of Saturday night’s semi-final against the Cats at Canberra’s Bruce Stadium. […]
A 30-YEAR-OLD University of Durban-Westville student has died after being hit by a rubber bullet during a skirmish between students and police on the campus earlier in the day. That’s after about 200 students went on the rampage, overturning a security vehicle, breaking windows and trashing rubbish bins. The violence was sparked by a disagreement […]
ALAN FINLAY & Reuters, Johannesburg | Wednesday 11.20am. LOCAL markets slumped in early trade on Wednesday, as investors took a dim view of a US rates hike of 50 basis points, which boosted the Dow Jones overnight. Analysts say the hike may put pressure on the rand and result in an interest rates hike in […]
ALAN FINLAY, Johannesburg | Wednesday 9.50am. DRAMATIC new evidence released by a United States laboratory proves that the ill-fated Helderberg, which went down just off Mauritius on November 28 1987, killing 159 people, was carrying a “deadly” cargo. The evidence, which has been released by the Forensic Audio Laboratory in the US, has been obtained […]
GRAHAM GRIFFITHS, London | Wednesday 10.35am. KEY strike bowler Heath Streak has given Zimbabwe the perfect boost for their first test match at Lord’s by recovering from knee trouble in time to face England. Zimbabwean captain Andy Flower said after his players had practised on Tuesday at Shenley Cricket Centre, a few miles north of […]
THE South African Chamber of Business has warned that the Congress of South African Trade Unions must accept that it is also responsible for the country’s economic well-being. Sacob’s policy director Henry Makupula said Cosatu should “seriously consider” the consequences of strikes given the “fragile nature of the South African economy”. He has also called […]
CRUDE prices slipped lower in midday trading on Wednesday following the publication of US supply figures and as the market digested comment from the world’s leading producer Saudi Arabia about expected output levels. In London, the benchmark Brent crude for July delivery was trading three cents lower at $27,8 a barrel. In New York on […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday 4.00pm BAFANA Bafana coach Trott Moloto has had to throw continuity out the back door in naming the Bafana Bafana side to face Malta in a centenary-celebration friendly before flying to the US to compete in the Nike Cup. Moloto would have liked to stick with the side that […]
PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki flew to Britain late on Tuesday for a two-day visit which will be followed by a five-day tour of the United States. Mbeki will attend the third meeting of the United Kingdom/South Africa bilateral forum on May 18 and 19 and will holds talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair, likely to focus […]
WALLABY centre Tim Horan, widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the game, will quit Australian rugby union later this year and finish his playing career with former Springbok skipper Francois Pienaar’s London club Saracens. Horan announced on Tuesday that he will leave Australia in September after the Tri-Nations series, ending a Wallaby […]
SOUTH Africas Wayne Ferreira got his Hamburg Masters first-round off to a flyer when he knocked out Australian Pat Rafter on Tuesday. Ferreira was in fine fettle, ousting the 11th-seeded Rafter 6-4, 7-5 to reach the second round of the $2,95-million, the fifth Masters Series event of the year. The 25th-ranked Ferreira made the perfect […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 3.45pm. ESKOM, the electricity parastatal, has managed to cut its municipal debt by more than two-thirds in four years, due in part to a tougher stance against defaulting municipalities. In 1996 it stood at R1,54-billion, but Eskom’s Butana Nkosi said on Wednesday it is now at the R450-million mark. Nkosi […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Wednesday 1.00pm. THE world’s leading diamond miner De Beers announced it is selling its only direct holding in a Russian mine to Alrosa, Russia’s leading diamond miner. A spokeswoman for De Beers said the company had hoped there would be a relaxation in Russia’s legislation to the benefit of foreign investors, […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Asmara | Tuesday 6.00pm. ETHIOPIA has stepped up its assault in the border war with Eritrea in a bold offensive into west of the country. Eritrea in response has repeated its call to the United Nations to take action against the “aggressor” in what is thought to be Africa’s bloodiest and most senseless […]
THE World Bank’s outgoing Vice-President Jean-Louis Sarbib has condemned reports in the Economist which depicted Africa as an economic and political basket case. Speaking at a conference in Montreal, Sarbib said it is shortsighted to perceive the entire continent as a high-risk destination for trade and investment and each region and country should be investigated […]
BRYAN PEARSON, Harare | Wednesday 7.00pm. VIOLENCE in Zimbabwe threatened to spiral out of control ahead of next month’s general elections, with police reporting one death and numerous injuries in bloody clashes in the capital and a chaotic rampage by militant war veterans through farmlands in the east. The clashes came as the main opposition […]
SHANE Warne’s first season in English cricket has, so far, been a humbling experience. The Australian test spinner, recently voted one of the Five Cricketers of the Century in a Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack poll, currently leads the “Battle of the Bunnies” – a contest to find the worst first-class batsman in the country. Warne has […]