EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubabrak has welcomed the Israeli cabinet’s decision to transfer full control of three villages near Jerusalem to the Palestinians. “The decision to return the three villages to the Palestinian Authority is a step in the right direction,” Mubarak said in a statement published by the state-owned MENA news agency. One of the […]
AN investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the underground explosion that killed seven miners at the Beatrix gold mine near Welkom on Monday. Part of the mine was shut down on Monday evening pending the outcome of a meeting with Mineral and Energy Affairs Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, National Union of Mineworkers representatives […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 4.30pm. ALL local counters were up on Tuesday ahead of a key meeting of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate-setting committee. There is widespread speculation the US committee will become more aggressive in the fight against inflation and boost rates by half a percentage point, making it more costly to […]
CôTE d’Ivoire’s military junta said it will stamp down on any unrest caused by politicians who disagree with eligibility criteria drawn up for candidates in a presidential election to be held later this year. In a statement read out on state media late on Saturday, the junta said certain political leaders, whom it does not […]
MALAWI President Bakili Muluzi has called for fast track debt relief so he can spare funds to improve the lives of his 10-million mainly poor people. Opening the annual Consultative Group meeting between this impoverished southern African country and its mainly Western lenders late on Monday, Muluzi pledged to intensify a fight against graft, which […]
ITALO-BELGIAN former journalist Georges Omar Ruggiu, 44, has pleaded guilty in a UN court in Arusha, Tanzania, to having used the airwaves to incite the 1994 genocide that claimed up to 800000 lives in Rwanda. Ruggiu is the only non-Rwandan to appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He “admitted having directly and publicly […]
A VAST game reserve spanning Botswana and South Africa became Africa’s first official transfrontier park on Friday after the presidents of the two countries opened the conservation zone. President Thabo Mbeki and his Botswanan counterpart Festus Mogae inaugurated the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park at a ceremony attended by about 500 people at the park’s southern Twee […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Tuesday 5.15pm. COMMONWEALTH chief Don McKinnon said free and fair elections in Zimbabwe are possible, after talks with President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday. “I believe it is possible to have a free election,” Secretary General McKinnon said after the hour-long meeting at Mugabe’s State House office in Harare. “There are concerns […]
LEADERS from eastern and southern Africa meet in Mauritius on Wednesday to discuss ambitious plans for economic integration which are threatened by conflicts across the continent. Heads of state from members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa will hold a two-day summit to discuss plans to create a free trade zone from […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Tuesday 12.30pm. SOFT drink giant Coca-Cola is to invest $200-million in South Africa. Chairman Douglas Daft announced in Pretoria on Tuesday that this will form part of a billion dollars the company is investing in Africa as a whole over the next three years. “We are very optimistic about this company’s […]
ANGLO American announced on Tuesday an investment of R700-million at the Black Mountain Mine located at Aggeneys in the Northern Cape. Anglo purchased the mine from Goldfields and Phelps Dodge in July 1998. The major element of the expansion project will be the sinking and equipping of a new vertical shaft together with associated underground […]
MINING giant Anglo American Corporation said on Tuesday that Tony Trahar, currently an executive director, will become chief executive of the company from July. Trahar takes over the helm from Julian Ogilvie Thompson, who was previously chairman and chief executive and who will remain in a non-executive capacity, the company said in a statement. The […]
ZIMBABWEAN leg-spinner Brian Murphy has had to cut short his final-year law studies to strengthen the depleted Zimbabwe bowling attack in the two-test series against England starting at Lord’s on Thursday. Murphy, 23, made his debut in the West Indies this year, and will play in the place of senior leg spinner Paul Strang, who […]
THE US Agency for International Development pledged on Tuesday $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 […]
THE 139 UN peacekeeepers freed by Sierra Leone rebels are expected to arrive in Freetown Tuesday, as international frustration rises over the situation in the country. Liberian President Charles Taylor called on Monday for a ceasefire in Sierra Leone after securing the release of 139 UN hostages being held by the rebel Revolutionary United Front. […]
STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Tuesday 3.30pm. A TOP prison official has described convicted fraudster Allan Boesak as a “highly principled man” who would neither want nor receive special privileges while he is in jail. Stephen Korabie, the Western Cape correctional services commissioner, said it had been decided to transfer Boesak from Pollsmoor prison to […]
SEVEN miners have been killed in an explosion at the Beatrix No 1 shaft near Welkom in the Free State. A spokesman for Gold Fields said the explosion happened at about 3am on Monday morning, about 870m below the surface. It is unclear at the moment what caused the explosion. The names of the dead […]
REBELS in Sierra Leone have freed a first batch of 139 detained UN peacekeepers and sent them to neighbouring Liberia, a U.N. spokesman said on Monday. David Wimhurst told Reuters on Monday that 15 of the freed peacekeepers had been sent to Liberia’s capital Monrovia and the remainder were in the Liberian border town of […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 4.00pm. THE JSE retraced early losses on Monday, after nervousness ahead of Tuesday’s US interest rates decision weighed on local sentiment. The all-share finished 0,36% or 27 points up. Industrials closed 0,40% or 33 points in positive territory, while financials ended 0,35% or 32 points stronger. Gold shares took the […]
THE coach of Nigeria’s Lobi Stars, who are representating the country in the African Champions League, has been dismissed, a top club official said on Monday. “Coach Godwin Uwua has been sacked,” club secretary Francis Ijiga said. Another top official was also sacked and Uwua was replaced by Andrew Agu, one of the junior officials […]
FINAL Super 12 standings (collated as played, win, drew, lost, for, against, points). ACT Brumbies 11 9 0 2 393 196 45 Cant. Crusaders 11 8 0 3 369 293 39 Otago Highlanders 11 6 0 5 323 280 32 Cats 11 7 0 4 320 334 32 Stormers 11 6 1 4 298 276 […]
SURINA de Beer, playing in her first-ever Fed Cup match, will get South Africa’s campaign off the ground in La Manga on Tuesday. De Beer, ranked 170th, faces up to Greece’s Evagelia Roussi, ranked 557th in her first match as South Africa’s number two singles player. South Africa are seeded seventh for the tournament and […]
DAVID SHAPSHAK, Sydney | Monday 11.00am. QUEENSLAND rugby coach John Connolly said on Sunday that there was a “strong possibility” he would take over Natal Sharks but added he still had to decide whether to reapply for his current job. Queensland ended this season’s Super 12 campaign in seventh place following Saturday night’s 33-26 win […]
YOUTH finally gained the upper hand over experience during the final round of the R125000 Pietersburg Classic, as 22-year-old Zimbabwean Mark Cayeux powered to a bogey-free eight-under-par 64, including a blistering inward loop of 30, and a four-shot victory over 35-year-old Dean van Staden at the latest Vodacom Tour stop. Cayeux’s round gave him a […]
ZIMBABWE held off a dramatic fight back by Namibia to win Sunday’s Cosafa Castle Cup quarter-final 3-2 and progress to the semifinals of the southern African championship in Harare in dramatic fashion. The home side almost squandered a 3-0 goal and let Namibia claw their way back with two goals in the last 10 minutes […]
THE South African Rugby Football Union said on Monday that Cats coach Laurie Mains will not be disciplined for excluding Lions centre Mac Masina from his squad for Saturday’s Vodacom Super 12 semi-final against the Brumbies in Canberra. Sarfu president Silas Nkanunu said in a statement that reports saying that Mains will be disciplined are […]
ONE-thousand-three-hundred dismissed Vokswagen workers entered talks with the labour body, the CCMA, in Uitenhage on Monday, in an attempt to get their jobs back. Volkswagen sacked the workers in February after they failed to heed to an ultimatum to return to work, which was issued during an illegal strike. The dismissed workers say the ultimatum […]
DAVID SHAPSHAK, Bloemfontein | Saturday 7.00pm. THE Cats will face the Brumbies in their first Super 12 semi-final next weekend after finishing fourth with a seven tries to none, 53-3 thrashing over the Chiefs at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The Cats had the game sown up ten minutes after the break, which […]
PREMIER Soccer League clubs Ajax Cape Town, Classic, Jomo Cosmos, Moroka Swallows, Mother City, Orlando Pirates, Santos and Free State have five days to get their tax affairs in order or face strong action from the South African Revenue Services. The PSL’s advocate Michael Katz on Friday said that the clubs have until noon on […]
MIKE Bernardo’s hopes of gaining local recognition as a boxer by winning the WBF heavyweight world title have backfired. Although Bernardo won the title on Friday night in Hungary, his opponent was not Wayne Llewellyn as earlier reported. Llewellyn, who is rated in the top ten in Britain, withdrew days before the bout due to […]
ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Pretoria | Monday 10.00am IT is questionable who exhaled the deeper sigh of relief when the final whistle blew and Sundowns qualified to meet Kaizer Chiefs on June 10 in a dream Bob Save Super Bowl final. Was it Sundowns coach Paul Dolezar, who endured many anxious moments before his star-studded team defeated […]
MIKE Bernardo etched his name into the history books on Friday night, when he stopped Wayne Llewellyn in five rounds, in a WBF heavyweight world title fight staged in Hungary. By doing so Bernardo became the first man to win heavyweight world titles in both orthodox boxing and kick boxing. South Africa also now boasts, […]