Staff Reporter

IT seems unlikely that the state will be able to claim back more than R100000 from former Arts, Culture, Science and Technology deputy minister Winnie Madikizela-Mandela for unauthorised expenses relating to overseas travel, because too much time has lapsed. That’s according to chief parliamentary law adviser Anton Meyer, who explained the issue to the Standing […]

BAFANA BAFANA top the latest Fifa rankings for African football, after a good showing at the African Cup of Nations in Nigeria and Ghana. Ratings: 1 South Africa, 2 Morocco, 3 Tunisia, 4 Cameroon, 5 Egypt, 6 Zambia, 7 Cote d’Ivoire, 8 Nigeria, 9 Ghana, 10 Angola, 11 Democratic Republic of Congo, 12 Zimbabwe, 13 […]

A TODDLER has been beaten to death by his mother’s lover on an Mpumalanga farm. Bancho Malepe, 3, died on his mother’s bed on Rietfontein 7 farm, near Lydenburg. She is a farm worker. Police say the the assaults began on Sunday afternoon. Then the man slapped the child several times after midnight. At about […]

DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | Tuesday 9.15am. THE controversial decision which saw Hawk Makepula crowned the World Boxing Organisation junior flyweight world champion on Saturday night is one that will be debated for many years to come. Most ringsiders felt the legendary Baby Jake Matlala had once again proved his class against a top opponent. The […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 12.31pm. THE Sharks will have to make do without the services of lock lynchpin Mark Andrews and centre Andre Snyman when they take on the the Hurricanes in their Super 12 opener in Wellington on Friday. The new-look Sharks boast a strong team despite the unavailability of the two […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Bombay | Monday 1.10pm. HANSIE Cronje and his touring South African side will not know whether to be delighted or mortified after star Indian batsman Mohammad Azharuddin was dropped from the first Test line-up due to injury. Azharuddin’s unavailability will leave a huge gap in the Indian batting, but he will be replaced […]

PALLADIUM surged into European trade on Monday to set a new all-time high, reinvigorated by views Russia must first come up with promised supplies before tightness in the metal used to clean car exhaust would abate. Palladium hit $755 an ounce in thin early dealings, having driven to a series of all-time highs this month […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Tuesday 5.30pm ASHANTI Goldfields of Ghana said it has clinched a $100-million loan and extended an existing $270-million credit facility, resolving its cash crisis. Ashanti announced the signature of agreements covering a new $100-million debt facility to complete its Geita gold mining project in Tanzania, as well as extending a $270-million […]

SECURITY fears and inadequate facilities will prevent Somalia’s national football teams from playing at home this year. Football Association president Farah Addo said that preliminary ties in the World Cup and the African youth and junior championships will be reduced to one leg on the ground of their opponents. Somalia are scheduled to meet African […]

POLISH archeologists have found the ruins of a large Egyptian temple in Sudan dating from the New Kingdom era of 1580-1085 B.C. The ruins run for some 500 meters along the right bank of the Nile at Hudjeir Gubli, near El Arak, with walls 107 centimeters thick and fragments of columns measuring 200-250 centimeters in […]

FARMERS in the Northern Cape province are fighting to eradicate swarms of locusts threatening maize and grape vines, an agricultural spokesman said on Tuesday. “In some places there are swarms up to 10 km long, but we have started spraying to get the situation under control,” said Hoffie Joubert, a spokesman for the Northern Cape […]

AJAX Cape Town showed their class at Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town on Sunday when they steamrollered Classic 3-0 in a Castle Premiership match. Ajax lead 1-0 at half-time. Classic did not play to their best abilities, and were fortunate not to have conceded more goals. David Kannemeyer scored Ajax’s first goal in the 30th […]

KENYAN-born Dane Wilson Kipketer, the world 800m outdoor champion, broke his own 1000 metres indoor world record for the second time in a month on Sunday in Birmingham. Kipketer’s new record time is 2min 14,96sec. Kipketer, who holds both the indoor and outdoor 800m world records, broke Algerian Nourredine Morceli’s eight year-old mark earlier this […]

A WEEKEND health report on Southern Africa estimates that more than 36 million people in the region are HIV-positive. The report was released on Saturday and says one in five people in the region could be affected, including 25% of women going to antenatal clinics in the Southeren African Development Community. “By virtue of its […]

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo president Laurent Kabila has decreed a general amnesty for rebels who have fought his regime since August 1998, Justice Minister Mwenze Kongolo announced. The amnesty was motivated by the DRC’s “need to implement a general measure of pardon with the aim of establishing a new era of peace,” according to the […]

Homechoice Holdings Ltd said on Monday the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has demanded R31-million in customs duty and value added tax and fines from the retail group over an alleged breach of trade rules. Homechoice said in a note to its annual results that SARS had demanded a R10-million payment and that a further […]

GHANA on Saturday qualified for the Euro-Africa Zone three tournament when they took an unbeatable 2-0 lead over Andorra in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup Zone Four competition at the Accra Sports Stadium tennis courts. Frank Ofori beat Jean Baptiste Poux 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 while Gunther Darkey defeated Joan Jimenez 6-2, 6-4. In the […]

GHANA’S Black Meteors football team beat Guinea 2-0 in their third group one match at the Accra Sports stadium on Saturday to stay in contention for a place in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Godwin Ablordey and substitute Nana Arhin-Dua scored for the Meteors in the fourth and 69th minutes respectively. The win gives Ghana […]

JOHNNY Jooste, suspected of killing his wife, two children and four other relatives on a farm in the Koue Bokkeveld in the Western Cape on Sunday morning, has apeared in the Ceres Magistrate’s Court. No charges were put to him and the hearing was postponed to March 13 for further investigation. Jooste, 35, handed himself […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 1.35pm. ORLANDO Pirates coach Ted Dumitru has quit. Dumitru, former Kaizer Chiefs and Sundowns coach, is in Namibia to conduct a coaching course en route to New York where he will be attending a sports conference. Romanian-born Dumitru told The Sowetan that “it’s over between Pirates and me, ” apparently […]

THE 3000 South Africans suing British-based Cape for asbestos poisoning will appeal to Britain’s House of Lords on June 19 for their case to be heard in the UK, their South African legal representative Richard Spoor said on Monday. The victims, most of whom worked on Cape mines in Prieska in the Northern Cape and […]

UK hotels and brewing company Bass has declined to comment on a Financial Times report that it has put its beer division up for sale to focus on the faster growing leisure and hotels operations. Bass shares, which have underperformed the market by 18% in the past year, edged up just one penny to 696p […]

SHARES in the world’s top platinum and palladium producers, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Impala Platinum Holdings stumbled on Friday on news Russia planned to resume platinum group supplies. Platinum on Friday was fixed at $715,00 an ounce after hitting an all-time high of $735,00 on Thursday, while platinum was fixed at $537,00 an ounce. […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 4.40pm. IN a move that is likely to boost Stanbic’s standing with its shareholders, former Reserve Bank govenor Chris Stals has joined the bank’s board, while Transnet MD Saki Macozoma has been appointed its deputy chairman, effective from March 1. Making the announcement on Monday, Stanbic refused to say if […]

FORMER Springbok rugby player Naas Botha is suing his son for more than R31000 for outstanding legal fees. Anna Jooste, the mother of 11-year-old Frans, says Botha’s lawyers have sent her a letter demanding payment within seven days, the Saturday Star reported. Last year Judge Kees van Dijkhorst order Frans, assisted by his mother, to […]

MOZAMBIQUE’s government allegedly owns 20% of the Plasmex plastic pipe factory in Matola in Mozambique, where a bi-national police team made Africa’s largest ever mandrax bust last week. The raid by a joint South African/Mozambican police team netted over 300kg methaqualone power meant for the manufacture of at least 30-million mandrax tablets worth an estimated […]

LESOTHO’S King Letsie 111 marked the third day of his wedding celebrations on Sunday, this time at his birthplace south of Maseru. He married commoner Karabo Motsoeneng on Saturday, at a ceremony witnessed by thousands in Maseru. The celebrations on Sunday have a special traditional significance as Motsoeneng will be given a new name, according […]

A FIRE at a refugee camp in northwestern Kenya has destroyed 500 huts and left at least 3000 refugees without shelter. The cause of the fire, which erupted on Thursday at a UN refugee camp at Kakuma, 600 kilometers northwest of the capital Nairobi, has not yet been established. One witness, speaking on condition of […]

TWO Kenyan Members of Parliament were shot and seriously wounded in the capital Nairobi after a traffic accident, police said on Monday. Sammy Leshore, the ruling party’s chief whip, and his deputy Mohammed Shidiye were attacked on Sunday night after their vehicle was in a collision with a matatu, or passenger minibus. Police said that […]

A MYSTERIOUS disease has killed hundreds of flamingos at Lake Nakuru and Bogoria National Parks, in Kenya’s Rift-Valley province, over the past few months. The Kenya Wildlife Service said the infection has greatly reduced the number of the famous coloured birds and warned they could be wiped out within the next few weeks if the […]

SHARES in I-Fusion tumbled at the start of dealings on Friday after the information technology company warned that its profits for the year to end-February will fall short of market expectations. The first trade in I-Fusion slashed 10% or 10 cents off the company’s stock price to 85 cents, a new record low. I-Fusion said […]

SOUTH AFRICA has withdrawn a visa issued to Sierra Leone’s former rebel leader Foday Sankoh and ordered him to leave the country following a protest from the Freetown government, South Africa’s embassy in Abidjan said on Monday. “I have just spoken to Pretoria and I have been told Sankoh’s visa has been withdrawn,” a South […]