Staff Reporter

If you weren’t in a unit trust with a heavy resource weighting, you probably missed the 1999 JSE boom, writes Neil Thomas The bull caught investors off guard in the final quarter of 1999, driving share prices and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s All Share Index (ASI) to a new high, but leaving most general equity […]

If approved by Cabinet, the proposed `dole’ system could be linked to the new Welfare Payment and Information Service, expected to be up and running in 2003. Barry Streek reports The government has been committed to the introduction of a “dole” system in South Africa since 1997 but the estimated price tag of about R7-billion, […]

investors Dave Bradfield The market for innovative investment products has grown in the past few years, but innovations in the area of statistical, or quantitative, analysis of these products (and investment funds in general) remain comparatively unknown. With investments, the valuable information is more deeply hidden (it would cease to be valuable if everyone had […]

Dense uncontrolled alien vegetation fuelled the flames which scarred the Cape Peninsula this week. As the worst fires in decades ravaged the area, scientists blamed vast tracts of alien vegetation for the scope of the inferno in the current dry, hot and windy conditions. It has proven a combustible mix. From Noordhoek, Kommetjie and Hout […]

SOUTH Africa and Hungary have agreed to intensify political cooperation, a Pretoria government statement said after a meeting on Friday between senior foreign ministry officials from the two countries. At the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad and visiting Hungarian Political State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Zsolt Nemeth signed an agreement on political consultations.

ANDY CAPOSTAGNO, Johannesburg | Friday 6.30pm. ENGLISHMAN Paul Eales and South Africa’s Darren Fichardt head the field after two rounds of the South African Open at Randpark. Eales shot a three under par 69 and Fichardt a five under 67 to reach nine under par, a shot ahead of South Africa’s Don Gammon, former US […]

We posed seven questions to three unit trust managing institutions, asking them to put their mouths where their money is and outline their strategic thinking past and present. Fedsure 1 Fedsure Asset Management aggressively increased the weightings in resources for Fedsure unit trusts funds. Index weight, however, was never reached. – Patric Ho, chief investment […]

Alan Smith Soccer Without wishing to appear disloyal or sound unpatriotic, I have to say that South Africa has a very good case for staging the 2006 World Cup finals. I know we in England are desperate to beat South Africa, Morocco, Brazil and Germany for the right to host the finals. But I doubt […]

A shaky local economy last year saw investors taking up all available slack in offshore unit trust funds, writes Sarah Bullen Offshore was the investment buzzword last year. Local markets hit a wobbly patch, international markets were strong, and suddenly every investor and their little sister wanted their investments handled in Guernsey. And the easiest […]

Andy Capostagno Golf The weather gods have smiled mercifully on Randpark for the 89th South African Open. After the ceaseless downpours that reduced last week’s Alfred Dunhill Challenge to 54 holes at Houghton, the sun has shone, the wind has helped the drying process and although more rain is forecast for the weekend, it should […]

SOUTH Africa should have its first woman president when Thabo Mbeki’s second term in office expires in the by the year 2009, says speaker of the National Assembly Dr Frene Ginwala. “This is the logical conclusion of where we are going,” Ginwala told the Beeld newspaper on Friday, saying it was in line with the […]

CRIMINALS have their eyes on unsuspecting parents and teachers who might be walking around with substantial amounts of cash in the form of school fees. Police are warning principals to encourage parents to pay school fees into a bank account, because of a spate of school robberies in the Eastern Cape. There have been six […]

THE National Federated Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc) on Tuesday denied claims that the organisation is on the brink of collaspe, owing over R1,8-million in taxes and wracked by internal disputes. Nafcoc’s financial state came to the fore this week when City Press reported on Sunday its president Steve Skhosana had resigned amid claims of in-fighting […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Rabat | Thursday 4.30pm. MOROCCO denied on Thursday that it will withdraw its 2006 World Cup bid if the African Football Confederation (CAF) opts to back South Africa as Africa’s sole candidate. Both countries are vying to bring the event to Africa for the first time but there are worries that the existence […]

MEDIA holding company Johnnic announced on Tuesday that it has acquired 100% of internet search engine Ananzi. Ananzi was bought from I-Net Bridge, the online business portal of which Johnnic owns an indirect 37,5%. I-Net Bridge CEO Neil Jacobsohn said Ananzi would immediately be redeveloped and expanded to ensure it was robust enough for these […]

THE Ghanaian government and central bank officials have been in intensive discussions since Monday on the future of the Bank for Housing and Construction and Co-operative Bank, which have been liquidated following heavy losses. The government has, meanwhile, approved a scheme to protect depositors of the two banks. Government Monday closed down the two banks […]

FIVE people were killed on Wednesday and six were injured when gunmen attacked a bus in the north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The gunmen sprayed the bus with bullets without warning at the north Mogadishu Sana bus station, according to the witness, who was among the passengers. Among those killed was a wealthy businessman, […]

CREDIT rating agency Fitch IBCA on Monday affirmed the national claims paying ability of South African insurer Santam Ltd at AA+ and its international claims paying ability at BBB. The decision followed Santam’s R1,58-billion offer for rival Guardian National. Santam will finance part of the purchase through a R1-billion ights issue and has said the […]

ERITREANS should be able to access the internet starting next month following the arrival of necessary equipment, according to Estifanos Afewerki, head of the national telecommunications service. “We should have internet by the end of February,” Estifanos told AFP Tuesday afternoon. The equipment arrived from the United States on Monday after several months of delays. […]

BIDDER for the third cellphone licence say they might as well throw in the towell after South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Satra) on Tuesday began a process of amending the MTN and Vodacom licences to include the coveted 1800 GSM as well as the current 900 GSM frequency. Business Day reports that bidders say they […]

STEVEN MANN & AFP, Cape Town | Thursday 11.00am. FIRE fighters on Thursday said they were winning the battle to contain the series of blazes which have wreaked havoc in the Cape Peninsula over the past few days. All roads had been reopened and people who had been evacuated were able to return home, disaster […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 6.00pm. THE leading yacht in the Cape to Rio 2000 yacht race, the Californian maxi Zephyrus IV, is expected to cross the finish line in Rio de Janeiro early on Friday local time, organisers said. At 07:00 GMT Thursday, the yacht, skippered by Robert McNeil, was only 255 miles […]

AJ VENTER thinks his best chances of playing for the Springboks lie with the Natal Sharks. The form eighthman of last season, who was controversially left out of the World Cup squad in Wales, is in a contractual wrangle while trying to leave the Golden Lions for the Durban outfit. He has not been included […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Thursday 11.00am US oil giant Texaco has struck oil off the coast of Nigeria with a find estimated at around one billion barrels, valued at $25-billion at current prices, the company confirmed Wednesday. Texaco Overseas Oil Corporation and a Nigerian partner, FAMFA Oil, made the find in a deep-water offshore field […]

ONE of the three suspects arrested in connection with the murder of Brenda Fairhead, 55, and her daughter Kia, 11, appeared in the Port Alfred Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, SABC radio news reported. The 16-year-old suspect’s evidence was heard in camera. Police are formulating murder, robbery and kidnapping charges against him. His mother asked that […]

MEMBERS of rival student unions in Burkina Faso’s capital used batons and bludgeons against each another during clashes on Wednesday at the University of Ouagadougou campus. The clashes broke out after the National Union of Faso Students (UNEF) ordered a four-day strike beginning on Monday, while the larger National Association of Burkinabe Students (ANEB) expressed […]

CANADIAN gold producer Placer Dome said on Monday its joint venture with South Africa’s Western Areas Ltd is unaffected by the shock resignation of Western Areas’ deputy chairman Brett Kebble at the weekend. Vancouver-based Placer also said it was confident of Western Areas’ ability to meet its financial commitments to the promising South Deep gold […]

THE bail application of Abdus-Salaam Ebrahim, the leader of the organisation People Against Gangsterism and Drugs, was postponed for a day in the Cape Town Redgional Court on Wednesday, because the magistrate was unavailable. Ebrahim faces several charges, including the 1996 murder of gang boss Rashaad Staggie, who was shot and set alight by a […]

NAMIBIA intends replacing its General Sales Tax and Additional Sales Levy systems with Value Added Tax, the Namibian Press Agency reported on Tuesday. A parliamentary committee heard on Tuesday that computer hardware for the proposed VAT system is already in place and that finance ministry staff are undergoing training to be able to train and […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Wednesday 4.30pm. THE Zimbabwe Cricket Union has been rapped over disciplinary action against a black player during a series against Sri Lanka last month, but cleared of racism, an official said on Wednesday. Charges of racial bias in the sport, which is dominated by white players here, were made in government […]

STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Wednesday 4.50pm. THE 75-foot sloop Zephyrus IV had opened up a big lead over its nearest rival Sagamore in the Cape to Rio yacht regatta on Wednesday, and with just over 500 nautical miles to go to Rio de Janeiro it seems assured of winning the race. While the two […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Accra | Wednesday 2.30pm. THE bitter struggle between Morocco and South Africa over who should become the first African country to host a World Cup threatens to dominate the two-day 24th African Football Confederation (CAF) congress which starts in Accra on Thursday. The key item on the agenda is the almost certain re-election […]