Staff Reporter

ISSA Hayatou of Cameroon comfortably won re-election as president of the African Football Confederation (CAF) in Accra on Thursday. Hayatou defeated Angolan Armando Machado 47-4 at the 24th CAF congress to win a fourth four-year term. It was the first time he was opposed for the position. The 53-year-old former Cameroon athlete said that he […]

AMERICAN maxi Zephyrus IV smashed the record for the Cape to Rio transatlantic race by almost two days when it crossed the finish line at Rio de Janeiro on Friday, the organisers said. The 75-foot Californian yacht crossed the finish line off Copacabana Beach at 3:49am. She improved the 1996 record of 14 days 15 […]

ANDY CAPOSTAGNO, Johannesburg | Sunday 6.30pm. SWEDEN’S Mathias Gronberg overcame a three hour lightning delay to win his third European Tour event by birdying the final hole of the South African Open at Randpark. In a breathless finish Gronberg’s score of 274, 14 under par pushed him a shot ahead of Nick Price and Ricardo […]

THE Côte d’Ivoire’s military-led government, in power since ousting Henri Konan Bedie on December 24, announced Friday that a constitutional referendum will be held in April and that presidential elections will be held later. The statement did not indicate an exact date in April for the referendum, nor did it announce when presidential elections will […]

THE cash-strapped National Symphony Orchestra, facing closure at the weekend, is involved in urgent talks with a number of potential sponsors Friday, NSO chairman Don MacRobert said on Friday. MacRobert said that he has been contacted by a banking group and a life assurance company, as well as a number of private citizens, offering to […]

CLOSE of play scores on the first day of four-day South African SuperSport Series cricket matches on Friday. In Port Elizabeth: Boland 193-9 declared, Eastern Province 26-4. In East London: Western Province 111 (Vasbert Drakes 5-37), Border 116-3.

SUDAN and Eritrea have agreed on how to ensure security following the reopening of their borders and the restoration of diplomatic relations, the SUNA news agency reported on Sunday. The two sides on Saturday concluded a two-day meeting on security in east Sudan’s Kassala town by opening the border to traffic and creating a mechanism […]

SUDANESE President Omar al-Beshir and Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi held a face to face meeting for the first time since a political conflict between the two about six weeks ago. Al-Rai Al-Akher independent daily said a ruling party mediatory committee managed to bring Beshir and Turabi together in a luncheon Friday to mark the end […]

SARAH BULLEN, Cape Town | Sunday 5.00pm THE Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday rejected recent reports that South Africa is arming certain rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The department in a statement denied it is providing assistance to any faction in the conflict and said its intevention is on a diplomatic […]

BAFANA Bafana will stand in line for a R2-million incentive bonus by team sponsor Castle Lager if they win the African nations Cup in Ghana and Nigeria next month. The team incentives were announced by Godfrey Morley, South African Breweries’ head of sponsorships. Bafana will stand to win R1-million should they win the semi-finals of […]

PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki and former leader Nelson Mandela were among 500 mourners who attended the funeral on Saturday of South Africa’s first post-apartheid foreign minister Alfred Nzo. Nzo, who died on January 13 at the age of 74, was buried at the Rhema Bible College in Randpark Ridge, north of Johannesburg. Mbeki said Nzo was […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kano, Nigeria | Sunday 10.30pm. ARCH predator Hossam Hassan struck as holders Egypt began their defence of the African Nations Cup title with a 2-0 victory over Zambia on Sunday in the opening Group C match. Hassan, joint leading scorer in the previous finals with Benni McCarthy of South Africa, punished a moment […]

EDUCATION director-general Thami Mseleku on Saturday convened a special meeting in Pretoria to discuss the country’s education crisis and the controversial Curriculum 2005 outcomes-based education system. Education ministry spokesman Bheki Kumalo said the meeting is attended by senior officials of the national department and nine provincial education departments. “They’re looking at Curriculum 2005 and related […]

SHAUN Manion, the 22-year-old canoeist who nearly drowned in an accident on the first day of the Dusi Canoe Marathon on Thursday, remains in a coma on Saturday. Manion almost died when the canoe he was sharing with team-mate Alex Swift capsized and he got entangled in wire. He was pulled out about five minutes […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Sunday 4.30pm. CAMEROON dropped hints on Saturday in a 1-1 draw with African Nations Cup co-hosts Ghana that they are ready to reclaim their position as kings of African football. The opening match of the biennial, 16-team championship saw the Indomitable Lions from Central Africa create and waste a host of […]

PHILIPE BERNES-LASSERRE and EMSIE FERREIRA, Pretoria | Sunday 6.00pm THE vast numbers of Burundians fleeing their country have become Africa’s single biggest refugee crisis, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata said in Pretoria on Saturday. “Just over the Christmas holiday some 20000 new persons arrived [in Tanzania] which makes the overall Burundian refugee situation […]

THE average room and bed occupancy rates of South African hotels for November 1999 decreased by 12% and 6,7% respectively, compared with November 1998, according to figures released Thursday by Statistics South Africa. Stats SA said decreases in room and bed occupancy rates were reported in 4 of the 9 provinces. North West province recorded […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Accra | Friday 6.30pm. FIFA president Sepp Blatter backed African claims in Accra on Friday that it was their turn to host the World Cup. “It is logical that the 2006 World Cup should be in Africa,” said Blatter, here for the African Nations Cup which kicks-off on Saturday. He added that Fifa […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kano, Nigeria | Saturday 6.30pm. ELDER African football statesmen Hossam Hassan of Egypt and Kalusha Bwalya of Zambia will loom large over a Group C showdown between the countries on Sunday. Hassan enters the match at the 25000-capacity Sani Abacha Stadium in the northern city with 136 official international appearances – a record […]

TUNISIA are a good team but Nigeria should still win, Nigeria’s Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere said on Saturday, the day ahead of the two teams’ first match in the African Nations Cup in Lagos. “The Tunisians have a good team but neither are we pushovers. We have a good defence, a good midfield and a […]

LEISURE consortium SunWest on Thursday said it has awarded a R362,5-million casino construction contract to joint venture partners WBHO Grinaker Rainbow Boshard. SunWest last year was awarded the Cape Metropolitan Casino licence. SunWest said in a statement that its total investment in the project is R1,56-billion. SunWest is 49% owned by Sun International.

AS cars, bikes and lorries sped through the Egyptian desert on the home stretch of the Dakar 2000 rally, thousands of people from around the world gathered here ahead of Sunday’s finish at the Giza pyramids. More than 3000 rally fans have already arrived in the Egyptian capital whose pharoanic monuments will watch over the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Gabon | Saturday 6.30pm. NO qualifiers for the 16-team African Nations Cup know each other better than former champions SA and Gabon, who set Group B rolling on Sunday at Asokwa Stadium. SA triumphed 4-1 at home and lost 1-0 away in qualifiers for the 2000 finals, and the manner of the defeat […]

A HOTEL manager in Democratic Republic of Congo has filed a lawsuit against a rebel group based there over unpaid bills totalling some $31750 dollars, the plaintiff’s lawyers announced on Friday. A Ugandan-backed wing of the Congolese Rally for Democracy allegedly ran up the bills between June and July at the Palm Beach Hotel in […]

RED-HOT oil prices sizzled near nine-year highs on Thursday as the West’s energy watchdog warned that Opec supply curbs will leave the world perilously short of oil in coming months. World benchmark Brent crude for March delivery was up 16 cents at $26,00 a barrel, near the $26.30 nine-year high struck briefly on Wednesday. Forecasts […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Saturday 6.30pm. THE opening game in the African Nations Cup ‘Group of Death’ on Sunday pits Nigeria against Tunisia — teams considered strong enough to go all the way and win the biennial tournament. It will be a Group D match of contrasts with poorly-prepared, Europe-based Nigerians opposing perfectly-conditioned, home-based Tunisians […]

THE Financial Services Board has taken the unusual step of inviting investors who may have been prejudiced by insider trading to claim compensation from its arsenal of funds from fines imposed. The Insider Trading Directorate of the FSB, which was set up a year ago to stamp out the crime of profiting from privileged information, […]

DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | Friday 9.45am. MPUSH Makambi, the International Boxing Organisation’s middleweight world champion, was voted the South African boxer of the year on Thursday night. Makambi was a popular winner at the 24th Annual King Korn Boxing Awards held in Sandton, although many thought the likes of Lehlo Ledwaba and Hawk Makepula would […]

Evidence wa ka Ngobeni South Africa’s largest vigilante group, Mapogo a Matamaga, is spreading its influence in and around suburbs of Pretoria and Johannesburg. Last year the group, which has become infamous for its sjambokking and brutal assaults of alleged criminals, formed branches in Alberton, Springs, Vereeniging, Hammanskraal, Centurion and Pretoria. Leaders of Mapogo claim […]

Justin Arenstein South Africa’s National Intelligence Agency (NIA) is set to go on trial later this year when two rogue agents defend themselves on theft and fraud charges totalling R94- million. The agents, linked to the NIA’s strategic projects unit headed by Thabo Khubu, are accused of engaging in illegal money- laundering operations and of […]

Neil Manthorp Cricket Identifying a defining moment in history becomes easier with every year that passes after that moment. Doing so at the time is an altogether different challenge. A much less precise science. But let’s try anyway. On Tuesday January 18 2000, the game of Test cricket was changed forever, for the better, by […]

Ebrahim Harvey Crossfire Seen against the background of preceding developments, the reaction to recent statements by Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel has exaggerated the significance of what he said. Most of Manuel’s policy pronouncements and the impending “big bang” in economic reforms reported last week were said many times last year: the need to accelerate […]