POLICE in Tanzania’s semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar and Pemba on Monday briefly detained opposition leader Seif Shariff Hamad. The privately-owned Alasiri tabloid reported that Hamad, secretary general of Zanzibar’s main opposition party, the Civic United Front, was detained shortly after the high court here adjourned the trial of 18 CUF members charged with treason. It […]
THE country’s wine crop is expected to dip 5,4% this year due to fires and unusually hot weather, but the percentage of sought-after reds is expected to increase, industry officials said on Monday. Yvette van der Merwe of the South African Wine Industry Information and Systems said she expects an 8,5% increase in the red […]
STORMERS flyhalf Braam van Straaten who faced a New Zealand Rugby Union judicial hearing on Monday after being cited for foul play in Sunday’s Super 12 clash with the Chiefs came off with only a warning. Van Straaten, who scored 13 points with the boot in the Stormers’s 28-25 victory in Pukekohe, was involved in […]
CABINET may amend legislation to recognize the Orania community’s claim to self-determination in the terms of reference of the Municipal Demarcation Board. Following a meeting with a delegation from the Northern Cape Afrikaner settlement in Kimberley, Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi said Orania’s concerns over its proposed new municipal status will soon be […]
THE official police search for the three rafters still missing after the black water tubing disaster last weekend won’t be resumed. This follows the discovery of another body on Sunday during an inspection of the river by the Southern African Rivers Association. Inspector Henk de Vos of the Storms River police station says however that […]
LIFE assurer Sanlam plans to establish an online health insurance business. The company said in a statement that its new 100%-owned business unit, Cura, will offer insurance cover for medical risks over the internet. It said it is a first for SA. “The nature of the product will be of strong interest both to the […]
THE member states of the Economic Community of West African States plan to create a regional airline in the near future, a senior official said. The new company will be called Eco Air, Ecowas Executive Secretary Lassana Kouyate said on Sunday after meeting Malian President Alpha Oumar Konare, the current president of the economic bloc.
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 10.45am. NCHANGA Rangers of Zambia snatched an early goal to defeat Domoina Soavino Atsimondrano 1-0 in Madagascar and reach the second round of the African Football Confederation Cup at the weekend. The intriguing clash was staged before a capacity 40000 crowd at the National Stadium in Antananarivo and settled […]
RICHARD Kaplan produced one of the Vodacom Tour’s most impressive final day comebacks to wipe out a five shot deficit on overnight leader Callie Swart and win the FNB Botswana Open, and a cheque for R28260, at the Gaborone Sun on Saturday. Kaplan began the day in joint 15th place on four-under par 138 and, […]
DOUBLE Olympic champion Michael Johnson ran a sparkling hand-timed 43,9 seconds for 400m to complete his spectacularly successful three-meet tour of South Africa on Friday. Johnson, world record-holder over 200 meters, 300 meters and 400 meters, started easily, and finished fast to reach his goal of a sub-44 second 400, even if it was a […]
DOUBLE Olympic champion Penny Heyns clocked the third-best time of her career in South Africa when she blitzed the 100m breaststroke heats at the Telkom national championships in Durban in 1min 07,84 seconds on Monday morning. The time is a second outside her world record. Julia Russell threw down the gauntlet to Sarah Poewe as […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sydney | Tuesday 1.15pm. THE South African men’s field hockey team has a fortnight to try to convince the National Olympic Committtee of South Africa to reinstate the them in the Sydney Games. Captain Craig Jackson is not confident, coach Giles Bonnet is more upbeat and Australian coach Terry Walsh is wary. The […]
THE gold price fell on Tuesday after Austria’s central bank announced that it has sold 30 tons of gold and is planning further sales. Prices are around their lowest levels since December 1999 when the Dutch central bank announced plans to sell part of its gold reserves and following Bank of England gold auctions. On […]
METEOROLOGISTS have warned that tropical cyclone Hudah is heading for Mozambique, still battling to recover from the devastating floods of February. Mussa Mustafa, spokesman of the National Institute of Meteorology, said that although the cyclone is weakening “it could intensify after reaching our channel (between Madagascar and Mozambique) due to high water temperatures”. The cyclone […]
DEPUTY President Jacob Zuma is attending the opening of the 17th world congress of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions’ in Durban. The confederation, with its 125 million members, has drawn over a 1000 trade union leaders for the congress titled “Globalising Social Justice in the 21st Century”. The participants will spend the week […]
SOUTH Africa’s bowlers will be seeing Australian skipper Steve Waugh in the middle, as the gutsy batsman says he is confident of playing in this month’s one-day series despite suffering a wrist injury in New Zealand. Waugh retired hurt during Australia’s six-wicket win over New Zealand in the third Test when he was struck on […]
UNION representatives in the diamond industry are calling for strict controls to curb the sale of diamonds from war zones. The calls come ahead of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions to be held in Durban. In an motion adopted last week, The Universal Alliance of Diamond Workers condemned the financing of African wars […]
THE national congress of the Socialist Party of Azania (Sopa) has endorsed a memorandum of understanding reached with the Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo) to foster unity. The agreement was reached on Friday between Azapo’s deputy president Pandelani Mefolovhodwe and Sopa’s deputy president Dusty Nkoana. Both have reaffirmed their commitment to scientific socialism and acknowledged the […]
MALAWI’S government suspended its multi-million dollar contract with British pre-shipment clearance company Intertek Testing Services (ITS) on Friday following allegations that it was involved in corrupt practices in other African countries. The surprise move has been hailed as Malawi President Bakili Muluzi’s first real public stand against rampant corruption in the small central African country. […]
CRIAG RAY, Paarl | Monday 10.30pm. ENGLISHWOMAN Claire Duffy won her second consecutive title on the Vodacom ladies Tour with a four-shot victory in the R100000 Orlimar South African Players Championship at the Paarl Golf Club on Sunday. Duffy’s even-par final round of 72 was enough to keep her at 10-under par 206, well clear […]
Castle Premiership Standings after this weekend’s matches. P W D L F A P Sundowns 26 19 5 2 55 27 62 Orlando Pirates 27 15 7 5 54 28 52 Kaizer Chiefs 26 13 9 4 34 17 48 Wits Univ 29 11 13 5 34 23 46 Hellenic 28 12 6 10 57 […]
RODNEY Berman of Golden Gloves was named as WBU Promoter of the year on Wednesday in a lavish ceremony in Cape Town as part of the WBU’s annual convention being held this week. Berman received a diamond ring to commemorate the event. Five of the thirteen WBU world champions are South Africans and all of […]
AIR Malawi is in financial trouble and some of its assets might be sold off. Air Malawi public relations officer Vera Ng’oma confirmed the financial problems but refused to confirm or deny a possible sale of assets and would not speculate on possible job losses. Dye Mawindo, executive director of the Privatisation Commission, said some […]
CADDIES often bare the brunt of golfing tempers, mostly when the errant shot has nothing to do with them. Sometimes, however, they really do mess up. Just ask Warren Abery. The Selbourne Country Club pro was mounting a brilliant comeback during the final round of the FNB Botswana Open, picking up six shots in the […]
EIGHT African leaders and the heir to the Moroccan throne joined 60000 people at the Saturday swearing-in of Senegal’s new president Abdoulaye Wade, ending 40 years of one-party government. Among those scheduled to hear him were the Presidents of Gabon, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritania, the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, […]
AT least 10 people died and 50 were injured when a long-distance bus swerved to avoid a pothole and plunged into a river in western Kenya on Saturday. Police said seven people were killed at the scene while three, including the driver, died on arrival at Kisii hospital. Forty-four victims remain in critical condition in […]
THE Bulls held the Sharks to a 14-14 draw, after leading 14-7 at half-time, in their Vodacom Super 12 match at Loftus in Pretoria on Saturday, effectively relegating the Sharks to the also-rans of the tournament. Springbok hooker and Bulls captain, Naka Drotske, said on Saturday that a lack of confidence was at the core […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 3.50pm. AN angry crowd tried to storm a Durban court where three men faced charges on Friday over a nightclub teargas attack that led to the deaths of 13 school children. Hundreds of protesters broke down the gates at the court where a bail application was being heard for three […]
favour in SA Nawaal Deane ‘Ichi, ni, san, shi [Japanese countdown],” wham, grunt, slap. These are the sounds of two sweating opponents slamming into each other. One pushes his forehead into the other’s chest while gripping him in a bear hug to force him out of the makeshift ring. The opponent is thrown in a […]
A government mandate threatens hoteliers with prosecution if they buy seafood from subsistence fishermen James Black and Arlene Cameron Conrad Winterbach, like all other hoteliers on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape, has been banned from buying fish and shellfish from local subsistence fishermen. Surely this must be a good thing – to reduce […]
John Matshikiza WITH THE LID OFF ‘God gave Noah the rainbow sign:/’No more water, the fire next time!’” So run the words of the old Negro spiritual. The conflagration that consumed the bodies of some 500 members of an obscure Ugandan Christian cult which called itself the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments […]
A celebrity system does exist in South Africa and was very much in evidence at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees Kathryn Smith When Giovanni de Medici (Frans Marx) took Alfonsina de Medici (Sandra Prinsloo) from behind in Deon Opperman’s Magspel, and with each thrust itemised the various parts of Florence she will own after their […]