FOUR UN military observers — three Britons and a New Zealander — evaded capture by rebels in Sierra Leone with a daring trek through the jungle. Britain’s defence ministry said Friday the the observers had been working with Kenyan peacekeepers in Makeni when they became aware of the “fairly heavy” presence of rebels from the […]
THE African National Congress is pushing ahead with plans for centralised control over the five proposed megacities in the country, namely Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria and Port Elizabeth. Despite opposition to the executive mayoral system, which vests all authority in the mayor, the ANC said it is confident of adopting it even in provinces […]
Cameron Duodu LETTER FROM THE NORTH The speed and efficiency with which Britain has deployed forces to evacuate its beleaguered citizens from Sierra Leone has been admirable. But to many Africans the British action raises a very worrying question: why didn’t Britain place its forces at the disposal of the United Nations, so that everyone […]
With few resources to aid it, the Cape Peninsula’s visible gang unit battles to bring an end to gang activity Marianne Merten The dark alleys of gang-wracked Mannenberg on the Cape Flats resound with a rapid- fire volley of 20 gunshots shortly before 8pm on Saturday night. Gunsmoke is heavy in the air only metres […]
Paul Kirk Arthur Konigkramer, the treasurer general of the Inkatha Freedom Party and one of its earliest members, has resigned from the party after nearly 30 years’ service. Sources within the office of the KwaZulu- Natal premier, Lionel Mtshali, this week confirmed they had received a letter from Konig-kramer in which he asked to be […]
Peter Dickson Port Elizabeth, gateway to one of South Africa’s most impoverished regions, is gearing up for an economic miracle that could ironically put immense pressure on the city as the homeless and jobless compete for living space. A decade ago 30 000 people poured into Saldanha and set up informal settlements, built on the […]
UGANDAN coffee exports were down 45% year in April to 94953 60-kg bags due to a poor harvest and slower deliveries as farmers held out for better prices, officials said on Thursday. “Trading activities were extremely low during the month largely due to temporary suspension of operations by some volume movers,” the Ugandan Coffee Development […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Paris | Friday 3.30pm. ALGERIAN national coach Nasser Sandjak announced on Friday that he has quit his post and will be returning to French third division side Noisy-le-Sec, based in the suburbs of Paris. “I’ve decided with a lot of regret not to renew my contract,” Sandjak said in a statement. He said […]
Barry Streek If the fight against rural poverty is to be won, the government has to ensure a “national lifeline tariff” of 50 litres of clean water a person a day, the Rural Development Services Network (RDSN) said this week. Its research has shown that about 40% to 60% of rural people do not have […]
Neil Manthorp Whatever else may be said about the King inquiry, the notion that South Africa’s cricketers will somehow attempt, let alone be successful in masking the truth would appear to be absolute rubbish. Not only are the national squad players prepared and willing to testify, they are, for the most part, looking forward to […]
The Motley Fool began as a hoax. Now it is a serious player in investment advice Jamie Doward For a while it was a very successful company. It was the new, new thing and everyone wanted a slice of the action, despite the fact that details of what it did and where it operated were […]
with fraud Darran Morgan Six members of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands child protection unit (CPU) in Pietermaritzburg have been charged with fraud after an internal investigation revealed irregularities in informer payment claims going as far back as 1996. Most of the allegedly fraudulent claims were made out to a police reservist who, according to a member […]
MILITANT youths in Nigeria’s volatile oil-producing Niger Delta abducted five Royal Dutch/Shell workers and released them 24 hours later, company officials said on Thursday. The workers were abducted on Wednesday along with two navy escorts from Shell’s Opuama flow station in southern Delta State, the officials said. “All the hostages were released this [Thursday] morning,” […]
MPUMALANGA’S suspended parks board chief Alan Gray and three alleged accomplices are scheduled to appear in Nelspruit’s regional court on Thursday on 77 embezzlement charges. Gray, who was forced to sell his personalised M3 BMW and Land Rover earlier this year due to escalating legal fees, is accused of siphoning over R2,3-million out of the […]
STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Thursday 6.30pm. THE number of illegal immigrants coming into South Africa has spiralled over recent years and the home affairs department does not have sufficient money to repatriate them. Over the past six years, the number of illegal aliens sent home had risen from 70000 a year to more than […]
THE National Olympic Commission on Wednesday announced the South African track and field team to compete at the Sydney Olympics in September. Men: Matthew Quinn (100m, 200m) Lee-Roy Newton (100m, 4×100,) Marcus LaGrange (200m, 400m, 4x100m, 4x400m) Paul Gorries (200m, 4x100m) Hendrik Mokganyetsi (400m, 4x400m) Arnaud Malherbe (400m, 4x400m) Jopie van Oudtshoorn (400m, 4x400m) Gideon […]
SOUTH Africa will send soldiers to Democratic Republic of Congo to act as an advance team to facilitate the deployment of four battalions of UN monitors there, President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday. “It will be more of a headquarters group that will enable support for the UN mission,” Mbeki said in a special address […]
THE Revolutionary United Front has released two UN military personnel in eastern Sierra Leone, the United Nations said on Thursday. Major Suresh Karki, a Nepalese military observer serving with the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, arrived Thursday in Freetown a day after he was freed, Unamsil said in a statement received. The statement said Karki […]
PETER Rabali, chairman of MTN First Division League club Dynamos, has been expelled for life from the Premier Soccer League following his resignation after accusations of match-fixing. Rabali allegedly paid City Sharks R7000 to lose a vital match in the First Division so that Dynamos could have a better chance of promotion to the lucrative […]
EMBATTLED former Bafana Bafana soccer coach Philippe Troussier will guide Japan at the King Hassan Cup in Morocco and the Kirin Cup in Tokyo next month, the Japanese Football Association said on Thursday as it considers Troussier’s future. Troussier, whose contract runs out in June, is rumoured to be facing the axe with Arsenal manager […]
PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki said the government is considering increasing the distribution of state-owned land to black farmers to more than the earmarked 15%. Government announced earlier this week that it intended to resettle 70000 black commercial farmers on nearly two million hectares of state-owned land over the next 15 years. “The 15% should not be […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 10.30am. THE government was mulling the use of a controversial method to force down the price of drugs, such as Aids treatments, by letting non-patent holders produce medicines cheaper locally, a senior official indicated. The director general of health, Ayanda Ntsaluba said officials had held “exploratory” talks with their […]
STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Wednesday 7.30pm. EIGHTEEN months after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended that R3-billion be distributed to some 20000 victims of apartheid, the government appears no closer to finalising its reparations policy. “We are committed to honoring our commitments,” President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday but shed little new light on […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Thursday 2.45pm. FIFA vice-president David Will predicted on Thursday that England’s “flawless” bid will win the right to stage the 2006 World Cup. The Scottish lawyer is the sole British representative on the 24-man executive committee which will decide who hosts the prestigious tournament at a two-day meeting in Zurich at […]
A UNITED NATIONS special envoy on Wednesday pleaded with Ethiopia and Eritrea to end their “senseless” war, saying new fighting would lead to carnage on the battlefield and exacerbate a famine in both countries. Richard Holbrooke, the US ambassador to the UN who is heading a seven-member team from the world body’s Security Council, said […]
FORMER South African cricket coach Bob Woolmer has joined the ranks of the sceptics in the Hansie Cronje betting scandal. Cronje was sacked as national captain last month after admitting taking money from a bookmaker for providing information. Writing in The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday Woolmer said he had initially defended Cronje. “I now feel […]
THE inquiry into the Hansie Cronje affair will be conducted in Cape Town. Department of Sport spokesman Graham Abrahams confirmed the location after a meeting with retired judge Edwin King, who will head the investigation. The venue is still to be decided. Pretoria was originally named as the location by Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour, but […]
GRANT SHIMMIN, Pietersburg | Thursday 6.00pm. THE overwhelmingly youthful appearance of the field at the R125000 Pietersburg Classic didn’t stop two veritable veterans of the Vodacom Southern Africa Tour from stamping their authority on the first round. Dean van Staden and Justin Hobday both turned professional on New Year’s Day in 1985, when some of […]
THE Burundi army has killed at least 200 Hutu rebels in five days of fighting near the Tanzanian border, local villagers said on Thursday. Colonel Bernard Bijonya said that the rebels — members of the Forces for the Defence of Democracy — have infiltrated from Tanzania in the past two weeks. He said many rebels […]
STEPHANE ORJOLLETT, Freetown | Thursday 10.00am. THE United Nations said it was preparing for a “pitched battle” to defend Freetown on Wednesday as more civilians thronged into Sierra Leone’s capital from rural areas in fear of rebel attacks. For the third day running, people fearing a return to civil war fled to the capital, the […]
THE National Olympic Commission of South Africa on Wednesday named South Africa’s Olympic track and field team for the Sydney showcase in September. Josia Thugwane has been included in the team and aims to defend the marathon title he won in Atlanta 1996. The runner has personal reasons for winning the tile again, as his […]
ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Pretoria | Thursday 10.00am A 2-0 victory for Sundowns over African Wanderers in a Castle Premiership match at Loftus Stadium moved the former closer to the title and the latter closer to relegation. Goals by captain Daniel Mudau and French-born Alain Amougou secured maximum points for the defending champions against opponents who have […]