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 […]
TRADING group Lonrho Africa said on Monday that it has completed its sale of Lonrho Africa Cotton, the holding company of its cotton ginning operation in Zambia, to the unit of a US cotton merchant for $5,85-million. Lonrho Africa, which was demerged from the mining interests of the late Tiny Rowland’s Lonrho empire in 1998, […]
JOANETTE Kruger has withdrawn from the South African Fed Cup team to play in a Euro/Africa Group One qualifying tournament in La Manga, Spain, next week. Kruger’s teammate Liezel Horn said that she received an e-mail from Kruger where she said that she was carrying a knee injury and did not want to jeopardise the […]
DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.30am SOUTH Africa’s Frans Botha has come out firing in reaction to criticisms about his July 15 bout with Lennox Lewis for the universal heavyweight world title. Botha claims that he is the best heavyweight around, saying: “Believe me, the guys out there are all over-rated.” “Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Mike […]
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 […]
A FIRE has ripped through the domestic wing of Lagos airport, destroying dozens of buildings and property worth millions of dollars. Shocked officials said on Wednesday that the fire broke outin the early hours of the morning, during a fierce electrical storm, and first indications suggested it might have been sparked by a bolt of […]
DONORS are concerned about hold-ups in the delivery of emergency aid in Ethiopia, including some 16000 mt donated by the European Union which has remained in Djibouti Port for 18 days. There is “a greater need for flexibility” instead of a “tendency towards centralisation” during the present crisis, humanitarian sources said. The Ministry of Transport […]
FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel said the weakening of the rand could be attributed to the US currency’s strength more than rand weakness. “There is so much uncertainty and so much turmoil, and what is often read as weakening of some currencies is inordinate strengthening of the dollar against large baskets of currencies,” Manuel told parliament’s […]
WORKERS affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions downed tools across the country on Wednesday to protest job losses and unemployment plaguing the economy. In Durban, police fired teargas at about 300 residents of the Lamontville township who were trying to force others to heed the strike call, police said. The mob stoned […]
JUDICIAL authorities said on Tuesday they had frozen accounts worth over 600 million euros belonging to late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha in a move related to a Nigerian investigation into Abacha’s finances. Eight bank accounts holding shares worth 671 million euros at the Luxembourg subsidiary of a foreign bank had been frozen, Deputy Chief Prosecutor […]
UGANDAN army troops shelled Rwandan positions overnight at an airport near rebel-held Kisangani in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Rwandan officer said on Tuesday. The incident came three days after bloody clashes in Kisangani between the erstwhile allies backing rebels against the government of President Laurent Kabila, and followed an agreement […]
BAFANA Bafana are rated 20th in the latest Fifa world football rankings, a jump of four places. Brazil continue to lead the rankings, with the Czech Republic remaining in second spot ahead of world champions. Egypt moved up five places to 32, and Ghana recorded the biggest improvement to jump ten places to 47th thanks […]
TEN people have been killed in a minibus accident inthe Free State. A minibus taxi veered off a bridge and caught fire, provincial police said on Tuesday. Six people were seriously injured in the accident. The minibus was heading from Maseru, in Lesotho, to Johannesburg. All passengers are thought to be Lesotho citizens. The driver […]
ZAMBIAN Defence Minister Chitalu Sampa on Wednesday accused Angolan government soldiers of entering the country and attacking Zambian troops patrolling the northwestern border. Sampa said at least one Zambian soldier was killed and three were wounded in two attacks last month along the border with the war-torn Angola, which has accused Lusaka of backing the […]
SOUTH African companies have emerged as leading contenders for controlling stakes in two Nigerian firms in a move analysts said underlined the growing economic ties between Africa’s two dominant countries. The Nigerian privatisation agency said that South Africa’s Addax Holdings SA had offered 1,3 billion naira 30%, of oil marketing company Unipetrol The Bureau of […]
AN ANIMAL welfare group has launched a mission to rescue pets left behind by families fleeing farms in the unrest in neighbouring Zimbabwe. The Wet Nose Animal Rescue Centre in Pretoria has permits to bring 100 cats and dogs from Zimbabwe, centre founder Tracey Forte said. “We will bring the animals here and will house […]
OLD Mutual announced that it has merged its UK stockbrokers Albert E Sharp Securities with Greig Middleton to create a new broking arm, Old Mutual Securities, to be launched later this month. The group said the creation of Old Mutual Securities is part of a strategy to expand beyond its core life assurance business in […]
THE Canterbury Crusaders will face up to the ACT Brumbies in their vital final-round Super 12 clash without the services of Andrew Mehrtens, but the All Black flyhalf is likely to play in the semi-finals. Mehrtens failed the final fitness test on Wednesday today and his place will be taken for the second week by […]
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 […]
HURRICANES prop Kevin Yates was saved from another disciplinary sighting on Tuesday after the Hurricanes’ 23-43 loss to the Stormers in Cape Town Sunday. Match officials said they could not be sure who launched a flurry of blows at a second-half ruck, but footage seen in New Zealand showed that Yates was the agressor. Had […]
THE Cape High Court has granted what may be the last wish of a man dying of Aids by allowing his lover, an inmate at Allandale Prison, to visit him at the Cape Town Medi-Clinic, etv news reported. Quinton Booysen, who is serving a 15-year sentence for fraud, had not seen his partner of 15 […]
THREE men burst into a Johannesburg shebeen on Saturday night, demanded cash from the owner, then opened fire killing seven men and two women and wounding others. “We have a team of 30 people working around the clock to gather all the information. We are not sure yet how many were injured,” police Inspector Joep […]
A NEW group designed to protect Afrikaans interests was established in Pretoria over the weekend. Group spokesman Johan Rossouw said opionmakers such as Van Zyl Slabbert and writer Breyten Breytenbach had been invited to meet over the weekend to discuss the establishment of the organisation. The 63 people attending the meeting on Sunday morning decided […]
SOUTH African under-23 coach Shakes Mashaba has named near full-strength squad to play New Zealand in the first leg of their Olympic qualifier in Auckland on May 19. The Squad: Emile Baron, Rowen Fernandez, David Kannemeyer, Nkipitheni Matombo, Matthew Booth (c), Aaron Mokoena, Fabian McCarthy, Patric Mbuthu, Steve Lekoelea, Jabu Pule, Lebohang Kukame, Quinton Fortune, […]
WORLD number two bullion producer Gold Fields turned in a steady March quarter on Thursday and said it would seek further acquisitions and mergers in the future. The miner posted a 20% increase in net earnings to R231,9-million from the December quarter, but revenue fell R25,4-million to R1,793-billion because of lower gold output. Gold production […]
THE announcement of the Springbok squad for the upcoming tests against Canada and England in June has been postponed due to the possibility of the Cats or Stormers making the Super 12 semi-finals. The announcement, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed to a later date which will be determined after a meeting of the […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Dhaka | Tuesday 4.30pm BANGLADESH’S South African cricket coach Eddie Barlow, who suffered a brain haemorrhage last month, is on his way back to South Africa. Barlow left Dhaka for Singapore on Tuesday for further treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official said. He will remain there for a […]
SIERRA Leone’s national cricket team put the fighting in their country to the back of their minds as they defeated Ghana in the Gambian capital of Banjul to become West African cricket champions at the weekend. The Sierra Leoneans dismissed Ghana for just 63 runs and scored the 64 required to win in only 14 […]
THE Sharks team to play the Stormers in a final-round Super 12 match at Kings Park on Saturday has been announced. Sharks team: Joe Gillingham, Deon Kayser, Stefan Terblanche, Pieter Muller, Stephen Brink, Gaffie du Toit, Chad Alcock, Warren Brosnihan, Wayne Fyvie, AJ Fyvie, Mark Andrews (capt), John Slade, Brent Moyle, Chris Rossouw, Andre-Henri le […]
SOUTH Africa is planning to deport more than 6000 Nigerians living illegally here, the Nigerian newspaper The Punch reports. The paper said President Thabo Mbeki told President Olusegun Obasanjo of the plans last week and that Obasanjo expressed concern. The paper said that the Nigerians were the largest group to be expelled from South Africa […]
SOUTH Africa’s women’s hockey team fought gamely but were held to a 2-2 draw in the fourth and final hockey Test against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Monday. The home-side scored twice against the run of play shortly after the break, but the Proteas rallied through goals by Marilyn Agliotti and Caryn Bentley to earn […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 1.45pm BAFANA Bafana will be without the services of skipper Lucas Radebe for their match against Malta in Valletta on May 28 as well as the Nike Cup to be played on June 11 at the Giants Stadium in New Jersey, USA. Radebe will be unavailable for the matches […]