Staff Reporter

THE head of Cote d’Ivoire’s ruling junta, General Robert Guei, attended late on Wednesday a memorial service for the 169 victims of the crash of a Kenya Airways’ aircraft on January 30. A total of 169 people died when the Airbus plunged into the sea close to Abidjan, two minutes after take-off. Aside from Guei, […]

SOME 20 United States business leaders are to arrive in South Africa at the weekend on a trade and investment mission, the US Embassy said in Pretoria on Thursday. It said the visit will form part of a tour of three African countries by the delegation, headed by US civic leader Jesse Jackson. The mission […]

DUDU Nkosi, the lover of alleged cash-heist kingpin Collin Chauke, was finally granted bail by Nelspruit’s Regional Court on Wednesday after spending more than ten months in jail. Nkosi was however unable to pay the R2000 bail and was remanded to police custody until March 8 or until she can raise the money. Nkosi faces […]

UNEMPLOYED miners armed with knives and spears on Wednesday attacked a group of miners going to work near Johannesburg, injuring 21 of them, police said. The attack took place at the East Rand Propriety Mine (ERPM) east of Johannesburg. “There were 200 or 300 miners who we believe used to work at the mine and […]

THE State is to request Judge Willie Hartzenburg, presiding over the Wouter Basson trial, to recuse himself, the senior prosecutor in the case said on Wednesday. This follows earlier comments by Hartzenberg who said during testimony that he is not convinced that Basson’s multi-million rand group of companies was aimed at defrauding the state. Should […]

ESCAPE artists Tunisia are just one match away from reaching a second African Nations Cup final in five years. The North Africans tackle physically-imposing Cameroon at the 40000-seat Accra Sports Stadium on Thursday and the winners qualify for a showdown with Nigeria or South Africa. Most observers dismissed Tunisia as serious challengers, but says coach […]

SEVENTEEN people burned to death in a fuel pipeline fire in Nigeria. The fire erupted in the fuel pipeline after the victims, who were trying to illegally tap the duct, broke a valve on the pipe, company officials said on Wednesday. Fifteen people died on the spot and two more died later from burns received […]

SOUTH Africa has emerged in 25th position of the World Tourism Organisation’s list of the 40 most popular destinations. Ten years ago it ranked 55th, and it is the only sub-Saharan country to make the top 40 in the latest report. The WTO says the country has six million foreign visitors a year, placing it […]

THE controversial National Aids Council, which Aids activists have accused of being unrepresentative of any recognised Aids bodies, has been forced to change it’s name. The hoped for acronym, NAC, is already being used by the National Arts Council. The Health Department has renamed it the South African National Aids Council, or Sanac.

THE Namibian government has vowed to take stiff action against Namibians who sell their ‘preferential’ fishing rights and quotas to foreign companies to make “a quick buck”. A number of offenders had already been penalised, Fisheries Minister Abraham Iyambo said, noting that the ministry is preparing legislation which would give it more control over fishing […]

THE case against “People’s Poet” Mzwakhe Mbuli was delayed in the Randburg Regional Court on Wednesday after a dispute about Mbuli’s leg shackles. Mbuli appeared in court on charges of murder and armed robbery for allegedly killing a security guard during a bank robbery in 1997. The case was postponed after the defence counsel asked […]

EMSIE FERREIRA, BRYAN PEARSON , Cape Town | Thursday 8.30pm PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki on Thursday touched on his week-old remark that racism is still alive in post-apartheid South Africa in a much softer tone, assuring whites that he knows many of them have seen the light. In his opening speech to parliament last Friday, Mbeki […]

PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki will go to Zimbabwe on Friday to see President Robert Mugabe about issues including the conflicts in Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo. The visit to Harare is part of South Africa’s efforts to improve its relations with its neighbours, Mbeki’s spokesman Parks Mankahlana said.

A MAN was gored by a buffalo while walking through a sugar cane field near Hectorspruit on the southern border of the Kruger National Park this week. Pat Sambo, 28, of Dindela township, said from his bed at Shongwe Hospital on Thursday that he was on his way to visit his brother, who works for […]

THE national lottery, which kicks off in the first week of next month, will deliver an estimated R24-billion in prizes over the seven-year period of the initial contract, the Business Day reports. Lotteries board chairman Joe Foster told Parliament on Wednesday that the lottery will potentially have a R50-billion turnover in the first seven years. […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 5.25pm. LANCE Klusener, South Africa’s star all-rounder, has been handed a four match ban, suspended for three months, after he was involved in verbal confrontation with Zimbabwean Guy Whittall. Klusener and Whittall had words after the latter’s dismissal in a triangular series match at St George’s Park on Sunday. International […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 6.30pm. TORRENTIAL rains continued unabated in the northern areas of South Africa for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, leaving at least 38 people dead and thousands homeless. Northern Province formally applied for disaster status on Thursday following confirmation it will not be able to fund repairs. Damage to government […]

FORMER Springbok eighthman Schutte Bekker will be back on the field for the Northern Bulls on Wednesday night after missing much of last season with a heart condition. Bekker will start on the bench in the warm-up match against the Blue Bulls. Northern Bulls: Casper Steyn; Hendry Pedro, Wynand Lourens, Eugene Meyer, Hannes Venter, Jaco […]

SWEDISH bus and truck manufacturer AB Volvo said on Tuesday it will step up its investment in southern African by acquiring its regional distributor, liquidated last month, for $10-million. Executive vice-president Lennart Jeansson said that Volvo has reached an agreement with the liquidators to acquire the assets of Volvo Trucks, one of the companies owned […]

AN Angolan army helicopter which crashed at the weekend killing 30 people was loaded far beyond its 24-seat capacity, witnesses said on Tuesday. According to witnesses, the Russian-built Mil-8 transport aircraft was carrying 37 people and two pigs when it took off on Saturday from the highland city of Lubango, 650km south of the capital […]

PUBLIC Works Minister Stella Sigcau on Tuesday announced a programme to “re-image” a number of public buildings which have been associated with apartheid. Among the structures to be revamped is the farm Vlakplaas, near Pretoria, once the headquarters of the apartheid police death squad; the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the executive seat of government; the […]

THE UN Security Council agreed on Monday to double the size of its force in Sierra Leone to 11100 troops. It also expanded the force’s mandate to include such tasks as providing security at government buildings and airports, facilitating the free flow of people, goods and humanitarian aid, and helping guard and destroy weapons due […]

TWO Bronkhorstspruit heist suspects who escaped from the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday afternoon are still on the run. The two escaped through an unlocked door after taking guards by surprise. A third suspect is is a stable condition after being shot and wounded during his attempted escape. Apparently three policemen took five of the […]

NEWS and information company Reuters Group nnounced a 500-million plan on Tuesday to move its core business to the Internet, a board shake-up and a 9% rise in 1999 pre-tax profit to 632-million. The company also unveiled plans for a new consumer finance portal and a joint venture portal aimed at European private investors. Criticised […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT | Wednesday 7.00pm HEAVY rains which wracked Mpumalanga, the Northern Province and Gauteng over the past few days, killing at least 27 people and leaving scores missing and hundreds of thousands homeless had abated by late Wednesday. However the Weather Bureau has warned that more rain could fall before the weekend. In Mpumalanga, […]

MEMBERSHIP of political parties has decreased significantly since 1994 according to a survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in Pretoria. The slip is even more evident among African respondents where active membership of political parties decreased from its high of 24% in 1994, to 10% in 1999. In the same period active membership […]

BREYTON Paulse will play fullback for the Stormers in a frendly against South Western Districts on Wednesday evening. Paulse, who scored one of the most exciting tries in last year’s World Cup during the Springbok’s win over New Zealand in the third-place play-off, has a large following who would rather see him in the number […]

ANGLO American Platinum Corporation (Amplats) said that the National Union of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa) has informed it that the union will suspend strike action at Rustenburg Base Metals Refiners (RBMR). “We have been told by Numsa that they are going to suspend their strike pending further negotiations and that they will urge their […]

NORWEGIAN Prime Minister Kjell Mange Bondevik is due in South Africa on Thursday on the second leg of a three-nation tour of Africa. The prime minister, on his first official visit to South Africa, is scheduled to meet President Thabo Mbeki for bilateral talks on Friday, embassy and government officials said. Bondevik, accompanied by a […]

THE Confederation of African Football has halved the $10000 fine imposed on African Nations Cup co-hosts Nigeria on Tuesday after unruly behaviour by their fans in Lagos, a senior official said on Wednesday. No reasons were given for the reduction announced by CAF in Lagos following a second incident at the national stadium, which witnessed […]

MOROCCO, in a move to reaffirm its bid to stage the 2006 World Cup, said on Monday it has no plans to withdraw from the competition to host the finals, an official statement said. “Morocco will pursue its campaign to host the World Cup finals in 2006 with self-confidence and calmly,” said the statement. It […]

PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki held hour-long talks with visiting Burundi President Pierre Buyoya in Cape Town on Tuesday. The talks were a follow-up to a meeting between Nelson Mandela and Buyoya on Monday during which the two leaders discussed efforts to bring peace to the tiny African state, embroiled in a civil war since 1993 in […]