Staff Reporter

Thebe Mabanga Upon selling his company for a cool R3,5- billion, information technology entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth noted that university life was about “partying, booze and sex. Repeat if necessary.” The highlight of this cycle is definitely orientation week, enjoyed last week by more than 50 000 first years at 21 universities across the country. There […]

Khadija Magardie The government is planning to use colonial- era legislation to impose a R5E000 fine or maximum five-year jail sentence on traditional surgeons who perform botched circumcisions. The proposals are contained in a draft proclamation, drawn up under the 1927 Black Administration Act, which is currently being circulated among health authorities, practitioners and traditional […]

One of Durban’s biggest police stations has been renting its car park and providing a private security service to a nightclub Paul Kirk As I pull up into the Point Road parking lot, a well-dressed car guard comes up and ensures me my car will be safe. Neatly dressed in blue, and sporting a bulletproof […]

Graham Greene’s love affair with the mysterious ‘C’ is revealed obliquely in his books and private papers. Robert McCrum has read them Graham Greene was a novelist who understood the meaning and mechanics of mystery. He patrolled with impressive vigilance the perimeter fence of his privacy, while at the same time scattering tantalising clues about […]

NAMIBIAN WBO junior middleweight champion Harry Simon finds himself more in demand than any boxer from Southern Africa in recent years. Ahead of his title defence on Saturday night in Dagenham, England against Enrique Areco, ShowTime television has signed him to be on the under-card for the next Mike Tyson fight. Although a date has […]

THE Shoprite Group has entered into a joint venture with the Egyptian-Kuwaiti Holding Company, which will open up investment opportunities for the supermarket group in Egypt and the Middle East, the company announced on Tuesday. Shoprite holds the majority share in the new company Shoprite Egypt. Said MD Whitey Basson: “Our decision for the business […]

ALBIE Morkel, Easterns’ 19-year-old opening bowler, led his team to a 39-run victory over Free State with a match-winning performance in their limited-overs day-night match in Bloemfontein. After choosing to bat, Easterns scored 163/9, to which Free State replied with a paltry 124-all out. Morkel was the bane of the Free State batting and produced […]

“YOU” magazine and community radio station 786 have been summonsed to appear before the SA Human Rights Commission to testify over alleged racism in the media. The editors of five newspapers, including the Mail & Gurdian, Die Burger, Cape Argus and Cape Times, have already been subpoenaed to appear before the commission in Johannesburg next […]

GAUTENG skipper Ken Rutherford was at his menacing best when he whipped 71 runs from 65 balls to lead his side to a 16-run win over Northerns at the Wanderers on Wednesday. Gauteng were sent in to bat, and posted a formiddable 243/6 in their 45 overs. Northerns could only manage 227/9 in reply, with […]

THE court case against three suspects who are charged with the abduction and murders on the Fairheads near Port Alfred has been postponed to March 1. Bongani Tom, 22, his brother Solani, 21 and a 17-year-old youth remain in custody. Cape Town businesswoman Brenda Fairhead and her daughter Kia, 11, were attacked and strangled near […]

CATS coach Laurie Mains has named a shadow side for the team’s final warm-up match against Free State in Bloemfontein on Friday. The team to face Free State will in all likelihood be much the same as the side that opens the Cats’ Super 12 campaign at Loftus on February 26. Mains has left out […]

FINANCIAL troubles at builder Stocks & Stocks Ltd did not betray a wider malaise in the local sector, which is expected to grow by four percent in 2000. “The situation at Stocks has no real influence on what’s going to happen in the industry,” said Building Industries Federation of South Africa (Bifsa) director Ian Robinson. […]

THE judge hearing the murder and fraud trial of apartheid scientist Wouter Basson has refused to stand down, describing a prosecutor’s claims that he is biased as “absurd”. Judge Willie Hartzenberg said in the Pretoria High Court there are no grounds for the state’s claim that he had pre-judged the case. Delivering judgment on an […]

THE Amaglug-glug squad for the Olympic qualifier against Cameroon has been announced by the South African Football Association. The squad is: Emille Baron, Wayne Roberts, Nkhipitheni Matombo, Fabian McCarthy, Quinton Fortune, Matthew Booth, Aaron Mokoena, David Kannemeyer, Patrick Mbuthu, Stanton Fredericks, Jabu Pule, Steve Lekoelea, Abram Nteo, Benni McCarthy, Daniel Matshau, Nkosinathi Nhleko, Siyabonga Nomvete, […]

SOUTH Africa could negotiate on Zimbabwe’s behalf with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to help Harare out of an economic crisis, President Thabo Mbeki said Thursday. Mbeki, however, ruled out the possibility of giving direct financial help to Zimbabwe to save it from fuel and electricity shortages, saying the South African constitution […]

THE United States and Nigeria on Wednesday signed a framework agreement establishing a forum for discussion of trade, investment and intellectual property rights questions. Nigeria is the US’s second-largest trading partner in Africa. Through November 1999, the US shipped goods worth $573-million to Nigeria and imported items worth $3,97-billion. US direct investment in Nigeria in […]

US envoy Reverend Jesse Jackson, concluding a two-week mission to promote investment in Africa, urged US companies on Tuesday to partner with African businessmen and said he will be there to help. He also said that US lawyer Willie Gary, with experience suing the tobacco industry, is contemplating spending as much as $30-million of his […]

SPRINGBOK winger Breyton Paulse showed electrifying form by scoring three tries in the Stormers’ 60-14 thrashing of Western Province in a pre-season match on Wednesday. The Stormers looked rusty at the start of the match, but soon got the rhythm going and scored eight tries, seven of which were converted by Braam van Straaten, whose […]

A POLICEMAN appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in connection with charges of attempted murder, corruption and theft. Reports on Tuesday indicated that Sergeant Neil David Baard, 35, is being investigated for possible involvement in the bombing of the St Elmo’s restaurant at Camps Bay in November last year. The investigating […]

MALAWIAN President Bakili Muluzi launched the Malawi Revenue Authority on Tuesday. The revenue collection body has been formed from the ashes of the Department of Customs and Excise and the Department of Income, which hitherto collected government revenue. With the current annual income generation of nine billion kwacha (about $205-million), he said the country needs […]

LESOTHO’S King Letsie III marries a commoner on Friday in a ceremony expected to draw fellow African royals, heads of state and tens of thousands of blanket-clad subjects from throughout his country. The 35-year-old king has said that Karabo Motsoeneng, 23, who has been living and studying in South Africa for several years, will be […]

SPRINGBOK loose-forward Corne Krige will take his place in the back-row when the Stormers take on Western province in a pre-season match at Bellville-Tech on Wednesday. Stormers coach Alan Solomons seems to have settled on a side with which to kick off the Cape side’s Super-12, with only hooker Johan van Wyk an uncertainty. The […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Bulawayo | Wednesday 6.00pm. GRAEME Hick, playing for England in the country of his birth, led the touring side to a five-wicket win over Zimbabwe with an unbeaten 87 in the first one-day international on Wednesday. Hick and all-rounder Mark Ealham saw England home with an unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 90. England […]

JUDGE Chris Botha on Wednesday morning turned down an application by the State to keep the accused in the R17,4-million Bronkhorstspruit heist trial appear in shackles for the remainder of the trial. The application came after three of the accused escaped from court last week, one of the escapees was shot in the attempt. The […]

MANDE Sidibe, an advisor to President Alpha Omar Konare, was named as Mali’s new prime minister on Tuesday by presidential decree. Sidibe, 60, a trained economist, replaces Ibrahim Boubacar Keita who resigned on Monday, in what many observers believe is a move to prepare his candidature for presidential elections in 2002.

A TOUGH challenge awaits the country’s top canoeists as they attempt the non-stop 110km Husqvarna Canoe marathon on February 25. The top competitors in the field of more than twenty paddlers are recent Dusi Canoe marathon winners Mark Perrow and Martin Dreyer. Perrow and Dreyer, who last year claimed victory in the race when he […]

ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba gave a clear indication that he plans to leave office next year when he launched a Democracy and Industrial Relations Institute in Lusaka on Tuesday. He is expected to run the institute when he comes to the end of his second and final five-year term. Chiluba said he has been inspired […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Ouagadougou | Wednesday 12.15pm. BURKINA Faso fired their Belgian coach Rene Taelman on Tuesday after the national soccer team’s poor showing in this month’s African Nations Cup. Burkina Faso Football Federation spokesman Abdoulkarim Traore told state television that Taelman failed to fulfil his contractual obligation with the “unacceptable result” of the team, who […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Accra | Wednesday 1.50pm ASHANTI Goldfields of Ghana has reached an agreement with shareholders and the Ghanaian government, clearing the way for the sale of 50% of Geita Tanzanian mining company, the company said on Wednesday. Ashanti, facing severe financial problems, has estimated that the mine, expected to be fully operational later this […]

ANGOLAN President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has accused South Africa of “meddling” in the internal affairs of Angola, the official Angola news agency ‘Angop’ reported on Tuesday. Speaking after a one-day meeting with his ally, President Sam Nujoma of Namibia, Dos Santos said: “It seems to me that it would be sensible for South African […]

RETAILER Woolworths announced plans on Tuesday to restructure into two core divisions, one broadly focused on marketing and retail, the other on information technology and financial services. “[This will] enable it to benefit from the rationalisation opportunities in the Wooltru Group and to use the group’s exciting e-commerce initiatives for the benefit of its customers,” […]

FOEMER Bafana Bafana coach Philippe Troussier, John Toshak and Artur George are among candidates to replace Moroccan soccer coach Henri Michel, who quit after what he described as a media smear campaign. State-run radio said Morocco’s FRMF soccer governing body has set up a six-member committee to study “profiles of various coaches” to replace Frenchman […]