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 […]
Stephen Gray LIFESTYLE Once, for my sins, a man whose name really was Paul von Blixem approached me. He ran a mampoer distillery and his mission was to widen the appeal of his product, an important patriotic beverage, to English- speakers, not just to lying, lazy louts in the backveld. And to tourists, that was […]
Chris McGreal in Freetown The surge of foreboding among Freetown’s long-suffering citizens is not made any easier by the realisation that their peninsula city is little better than a sprawling trap. Foreigners may scan the skies for the rescue helicopters, but there is nowhere for Sierra Leonians to run if Foday Sankoh and his rebels […]
Barry Streek The South African road network is in a state of rapid decline due to under- investment, with an accrued backlog for road infrastructure of R37-billion by 1997, according to Minister of Transport Dullah Omar. The Moving South Africa study, which estimated the accrued backlog, found the annual shortfall for road infrastructure in 1997 […]
A potential commitment to renewable energy comes close on the heels of predictions of solar power as a possible multibillion-dollar market Terry Macalister BP Amoco is considering a massive expansion of its renewable energy programme over and above the $250-million it has already earmarked to spend over the next five years. In a move that […]
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 […]
Neal Collins SOCCER It makes you proud (sob) to be English. True grit in the face of stunning mid- table mediocrity (sigh). It was (simper) marvellous to watch. Last Sunday we saw Southampton, safe and sound above the relegation zone, hold mighty Liverpool 0- 0. On Monday, mid-table Everton had two sent off as they […]
The line between tax havens and offshore financial centres is fairly fuzzy, with most of the latter operating in the former Sarah Bullen A tax haven is one of those emotive phrases that conjur up images from a John Grisham novel: Lotharios in tailored suits popping over to an island for a day, azure seas, […]
Fraud and corruption are widespread in the local medical industry, involving doctors, medical administrators and pharmaceutical companies Belinda Beresford South Africans are paying an estimated extra R8-billion a year in medical costs because of fraud, corruption and perverse incentives spread throughout the country’s Alice in Wonderland health care system. The private sector spends approximately R30-billion […]
Don Albert It’s alarming just how misunderstood jazz is in South Africa. Jazz is, after all, a form which provides the purveyor with basic as well as intangible rules. Unlike the 100m dash or an office memo, there is no specific format. It’s amazing that everyone is a so called “classical music” listener; maybe that […]
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 […]
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 […]
THE Stormers will field an unchanged side from the one that beat the Hurricanes 43-23 last week when they clash with the Sharks at King’s Park on Saturday. Skipper Corne Krige and Robbie Kempson, both with injury niggles, are expected to be fit before the weekend. Stormers: Percy Montgomery, Breyton Paulse, Robbie Fleck, De Wet […]
TRAFFIC flowing into major centres was backed up on Wednesday, ahead of a planned nationwide strike by the Congress of South African Trade Unions to protest job losses and retrenchments. The strike is expected to cost the country R3,2-billion. Cosatu said the strike has been called because because mediation body Nedlac has “failed to address […]