CRUDE oil prices tumbled more than 8% on Wednesday amid indications that Iran will back plans by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to raise production from April 1. At the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), April delivery crude oil futures settled at $31,26 per barrel, falling $2,87 or 8,4%on the day. The fall […]
STORMERS centre Robbie Fleck will miss three weeks of Super 12 action after an accidental collision during Saturday’s 22-18 loss to the Cats. Fleck saw a specialist in Cape Town, who advised him not to play until the Crusaders match on March 26.
IN the Eastern Cape, the Bisho government and a national state unit have joined forces against a fraudulent petrol card scheme said to be running into millions of rands. Last weekend a civil servant was arrested after allegedly using a government petrol card to fill up his own car. In another breakthrough, 16 petrol attendants […]
AMAZULU edge closer to relagation after being beaten 1-0 by Sundowns in their Premier Soccer League match at Loftus Stadium in Pretoria on Wednesday night. Sundowns had to start the game without a number of key players, and their first-half efforts were somewhat pedestrian, and the half-time score was 0-0. The defending champions went into […]
MOTHER City took no prisoners in their 4-0 demolition of Budeli Real Vultures in a Bobsave Superbowl match at Hartleyvale in Cape Town on Wednesday night. City led 2-0 at the break. The goals came through Makuka Makinta (two), Mimi Radebe and substitute Nzawetheti Nogwasa.
DUDU Nkosi, the former girlfriend of one fo South Africa’s most wanted men, alleged cash-heist kingpin Collin Chauke, is a free woman. On Wednesday she walked out of the Nelspruit Regional Court after being given a suspended sentence. She was found not guilty of defeating the ends of justice by harbouring Chauke until he was […]
BUSH Bucks went down 2-1 in their PSL match against Wits University at the Investec Stadium on Wednesday. Bucks were leading 1-0 at half-time, but an inspired performance by Wits snatched away the points. Patrick Moyo put Bucks in front in the fifth minute, but Wits equalised through substitute Robrecht van Rijkel in the 74th […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sydney | Wednesday 10.30am. CATS’ coach Laurie Mains has added a second black player to his team for Saturday’s Super 12 match against New South Wales but denied the move was made to appease the South African Rugby Union. Mains, a former New Zealand coach, promoted black centre Mac Masina to his starting […]
ALAN FINLAY, Johannesburg | Thursday 4.50pm. NEGATIVE sentiment continued to dog the JSE on Thursday, driving the markets down 0,87% or 69 points by close of play. Analysts said local markets lack direction in the wake of a whipsawing Dow Jones, and that the big players are taking advantage of its vulnerability. Resources plunged 2,97% […]
A BABOON which climbed on electricity lines in a rural part of the Western Cape sparked a fire which destroyed at least six farms. Police Inspector Derik Petersen said a badly burnt baboon was found hanging on the electricity wires near the farming town of Porterville. He said police believed the baboon had caused the […]
THE Stockpoort border post between South Africa and Botswana was reopened to light traffic on Wednesday, three weeks after the Limpopo River burst its banks. It is now one of only two border posts between South Africa and its northern neighbours that are open. Northern Province police spokesman, Captain Ronel Otto, said the Beit Bridge […]
FORMER world kick-boxing champion Mike Bernardo will be contesting the WBF heavyweight world title on March 19 in Las Vegas. Bernado, who has taken a break from Thai boxing to concentrate on the more lucrative square ring sport, stopped US fighter Scott Conner in the second round of an elimination tournament earlier this year. Bernardo, […]
THREE people were killed in clashes on Tuesday in the far northern Nigerian city of Sokoto over demands for the imposition of Islamic Sharia law, reports said. Two churches were burnt down in the clashes which broke out around the university, one resident who asked not to be identified said. Details of the unrest — […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 3.00pm. THE rand continued firming against the dollar on Wednesday after its intraday worst level of R6,53 to the US currency. Dealers said the local currency was tracing the euro to range around the crucial R6,50 mark by mid-afternoon. Dealers also said investors remain bullish about the rand’s prospects, despite […]
SOUTH Africans are becoming more optimistic about government’s ability to fight crime and improve the economy, according to the results of a survey released on Tuesday. The independent Human Sciences Research Council said a survey conducted in November last year showed most six out of 10 people believe the government has some degree of control […]
THE government imposed a curfew on two neighbouring communities in southwest Nigeria where fighting since Friday has claimed more than 30 lives and tension reigns. Residents said the governor of Osun state, Bisi Akande, announced on state-run radio that a curfew was being imposed in the communities of Ife and Modakeke. It will run from […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 4.00pm ALTHOUGH the Proteas will have to do without Lance Klusener’s bowling in the first one day international on Thursday, there’s still the fearsome South African pace attack for India to contend with. “It’s unlikely at this stage that he will bowl. The physio has asked us to take it […]
TANZANIA, one of the world’s poorest countries, is sending 1000 tonnes of maize to flood-stricken Mozambique. Foreign Affairs spokesman Patrick Chokala said on Wednesday that in addition to the maize, the Tanzania-Mozambique Friendship Association would embark on a national fund-raising campaign for victims of the floods. “Under the circumstances, we are giving what little we […]
TROPICAL cyclone Gloria and Eline have killed 130 in Madagascar, and left thousands homeless. Gloria, which hit Madagascar last weekend, killed at least 66 while Eline killed 64 mid-February, authorities said. The UN has warned that Madagascar could be next in line for international aid on the scale being received by Mozambique. The thousands left […]
WALLABY captain John Eales will be out of rugby for up to six weeks after tests on Monday confirmed he has suffered a fractured eye socket. Eales was injured in a head clash with Queensland Reds teammate Sean Hardman in last Saturday’s 43-25 Super 12 loss to Wellington in New Zealand. “There is a fracture […]
THREE Dutch tourists have been murdered by “armed bandits” in a remote desert region of northern Mali. Security forces found the bodies and arrested four people in a search of the area known as the Tessalit circle, some 2000km north of the capital. While such attacks on vehicles are not uncommon, no foreigners have been […]
THE former head of apartheid’s security police, General Johan Coetzee, on Tuesday said he had no prior knowledge of a bloody cross-border raid by police into neighbouring Lesotho in 1985. Coetzee told a TRC hearing in Pretoria that at the time of the raid he was on holiday. “I did not know about the raid […]
CHINA will invest $200-million in a Zambian mine as part of Beijing’s effort to ensure a stable supply of raw materials, an official said on Wednesday. Officials said the rehabilitation of the Chambishi copper mine is at an advanced stage and production is expected to resume later this year. The Chinese group bought an 85% […]
HUNGRY, lost and confused a 10-year-old Morrocan boy was picked up by Italian police on Monday after he travelled 1,600 km hidden in the luggage compartment of a coach. Mounir hid himself in the tourist bus before it left his Morrocan home town of Tangiers in the hope of making his way to his aunt’s […]
CELLULAR network companies Vodacom and MTN will be given access to the sought-after 1800 GSM spectrum provided they fulfil certain conditions, government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said on Monday. The cabinet has ruled that the spectrum cannot be reserved solely for SA’s third cellular network operator, scuppering plans by the chosen bidder, Cell C, to lobby […]
KENYAN Benson Mutisya Mbithi won the rain-soaked Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday in an unofficial time of 2 hrs, 11min 55sec. Mbithi, 22, finished well ahead of runner-up Mark Yatich and 1999 winner Simon Bor. Jane Salumae of Estonia, who trains in San Diego County, won the women’s title with an unofficial time of 2:33:34. […]
ALAIN Amogou gave a fortunate Sundowns a controversial win when he scored for the visitors in their PSL match against Mother City at the Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town. Amogou scored after a mix-up when a City player was brought down in what looked like a sure penalty challenge. Referee Jonas Nhlapo though otherwise and […]
THE Golden Lions massacred a Namibian President’s XV 60-15 in a Vodacom Cup match in Windhoek on Saturday after leading 36-6 at halftime. The match was strewn with errors, but the result was never in doubt as the Lions dominated all facets of play.
THE Port Elizabeth High Court has ruled that a security business in the city and its sole owner pay in excess of R14-million to the South African Revenue Service. The Sars has hailed the judgement as significant because the sole owner of a closed corporation is now, in terms of the judgement, personally liable for […]
GRIQUAS and the Gauteng Falcons gave each other as good as they had in their Vodacom Cup match, with the visitors eventually winning 17-16 in Brakpan. The half-time score was 10-6 in favour of Griquas. Griquas skipper Luther Bakkes, playing at hooker, scored for Griquas as did lock Hanu Nel. Edrich Lubbe converted both tries […]
AT least 34 homes, a school and three game lodges have been destroyed by flooding in the Chiawa valley of the lower Zambezi following opening of spill gates at the giant Kariba Dam. Aid workers say maize fields along the river banks in the valley have been destroyed after the waters rose just over 5.1 […]
MINERALS and Energy Minister Phumuzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on Friday announced PricewaterhouseCoopers as the consortium to advise government on restructuring the electricity distribution industry. Mlambo-Ngcuka said PricewaterhouseCoopers was selected above 16 other bidders to advise government on developing a comprehensive and integrated implementation strategy for the establishment of regional electricity distributors.