Staff Reporter

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 […]

TWO men appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday in connection with the theft of a motorcycle that was destroyed by a bomb planted outside the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on January 12. Faizel Felix and Ashraf Saban will appear in the court again on January 26. The motorcycle was destroyed by the […]

FIVE miners were injured in an underground blast at the Premier Diamond Mine in Cullinan, east of Pretoria on Tuesday. The blast apparently occured when a miner detonated a routine blast an hour earlier than expected. Three of the miners were in a critical condition on Wednesday morning, while the other two sustained slight injuries.

A SENIOR European Union official arrived in South Africa on Tuesday for talks aimed at rescuing a free trade accord that was due to come into effect on January 1, but has been held up by Italian and Greek objections. A spokesman for Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin said that EU development commissioner Poul […]

THE Congress of South African Trade Unions is considering mass action in protest against Johannesburg’s iGoli 2002 project, which aims to rejuvenate the city by privatising some of its assets. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Wednesday said in Johannesburg that the trade union federation will also “explore political solutions” to solve labour’s problems with […]

MPUMALANGA education department head Faith Sithole was fired on Tuesday for her role in the province’s 1998 matric exam scandal. Education MEC Craig Padayachee said in a statement he decided to terminate Sithole’s services with immediate effect after months of detailed analysis of her performance both before and during the scandal. Sithole was initially suspended […]

Burundi’s main rebel group said on Tuesday that former president Nelson Mandela has already brought peace closer.

SWAZILAND’S embattled media won the first round in the kingdom’s latest attempt to dilute press freedom on Friday, by getting temporary High Court protection for not revealing its sources. Judge Tom Masuku ruled on Friday the State-owned Swazi Observer was not obliged to hand over leaked government documentation it based news reports on. Swaziland Attorney-General […]

EASTERN Cape police have found the bodies of Cape Town businesswoman Brenda Fairhead, 50, and her 11-year-old daughter Kia, in an area near the Keiskama bridge between Pedi and King William’s Town. The two failed to return home from a fishing trip on Sunday afternoon. Fairhead’s husband, who had gone to a wedding in Kleinmonde, […]

ENGLAND’s Graeme Swann has been fined for oversleeping on his team’s tour of South Africa. Having played just two first-class games so far, the Northamptonshire all-rounder overslept on the first day of the fifth test against South Africa at Centurion Park on Friday. “Swann has been fined 250 for missing the team bus on the […]

MOZAMBIQUE’S President Joaquin Chissano on Monday appointed a new cabinet following general elections last month. Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi retained his post with Foreign Minister Leornado Simao and Interior Minister Almerino Manhenje. Chissano dropped Defence Minister, Aguiar Mazula, a civilian and replaced him with a retired army general, Tobias Dai. The finance portfolio was given […]

RESULTS of the SuperSport Series matches which ended on Monday. In Durban: Match drawn. Northern Titans 139-2 vs KwaZulu-Natal. In Port Elizabeth: Free State beat Eastern Province by 185 runs. Free State 296 and 226-6 declared (Nicky Boje 58 not out; Shafiek Abrahams 4-67). Eastern Province 227-8 declared and 110 (Mark Rushmere 52 not out; […]

DAVID SHAPSHAK, Cape Town | Monday 5.00pm. THREE rising black stars have been included in the four Super 12 2000 squads, named in Cape Town on Monday, but there is no place for eighthman AJ Venter until his contractual wrangles are concluded. Centres Wayne Julies and Kaya Malotana, part of the Springbok squad for last […]

INTERNATIONAL credit rating agency Duff & Phelps said on Thursday it has placed the domestic ratings of Santam and Guardian National Insurance on ratings watch after news of Santam’s bid for Guardian. Santam this week launched a R1,58-billion bid for Guardian in a deal set to create the country’s largest short-term insurance firm with 25 […]

ANGOLAN rebel forces killed more than 100 people near the central highland city of Kuito last week, a private Catholic radio station reported. The attack occurred at Chicandula, a village in Chinguar township in the province of Bie about 600 km (380 miles) southeast of the capital Luanda, said Radio Ecclesia, citing independent sources.

A 22-YEAR-OLD pupil who allegedly set fire to a school near Duiwelskloof after he failed grade 11 twice will be charged with arson, said Northern Province police said on Monday. Lowveld police spokesman Captain Thomas Ramatseba said the suspect apparently blamed his teachers at Mphuma High School after he failed two years in a row. […]

THE rate of consumer inflation averaged 5,2% in 1999, its lowest level since 1969 when it stood at 3%, slowing from 6,9% in 1998, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. Stats SA said in a statement that the average rate for core inflation over 1999 was 7,9%, which was slightly higher than 1998’s 7,5% average. […]

Peace talks aimed at ending Sudan’s 17-year civil war have started in earnest after lengthy opening consultations, officials said. The talks opened in the Kenyan capital on Saturday but delegates from the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, the main rebel group, only sat down for face-to-face talks late on Monday.

ALL of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) memmbers want to extend the cartel’s lower production quotas beyond March 20, the Kuwaiti oil minister, Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah, said on Saturday. Sheikh Saud also told the official KUNA news agency that the Opec summit initially planned for the end of March in Caracas has […]

FORMER foreign minister Alfred Nzo, who died last Thursday, will be buried in Johannesburg on Saturday. Memorial services will be held in Pretoria and Johannesburg on Wednesday. Nzo’s funeral service will be held at 9.00am on Saturday at the Rhema Church in Randburg, followed by the burial at West Park cemetery, African National Congress spokesman […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Tuesday 12.45pm. THE Nigeria Football Association (NFA) have rejected the request of English side Arsenal for striker Nwankwo Kanu to be released to the club for engagements during the Nations Cup which kicks off on Saturday. “Arsenal are irreponsible,” said NFA chairman Anthony Williams, reacting to the request from the English […]

FINANCE Minister Trevor Manuel on Thursday asked that state institutions dealing with national security issues be exempted from a proposed law seeking to boost black businesses through preferential tenders. Manuel told a parliamentary committee drafting the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Bill there could be instances where certain key government departments were forced not to award […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN and NIKI MOORE, Durban | Tuesday 6.10pm THE Inkatha Freedom Party has appointed disgraced former Home Affairs director-general Albert Mokoena as a special consultant. President Thabo Mbeki personally fired Mokoena from government last year following media revelations that he abused his position for personal gain. Mbeki’s intervention came after home affair minister and […]

AT least 200 suspected members of a militant ethnic Yoruba group have been arrested during the past week for a spate of violence in Nigeria’s capital, Lagos. Lagos State Police Commissioner Mike Okiro said some of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) suspects would be charged with murder and arson for ethnic violence, lynching of criminals […]

ANDY Flower will captain Zimbabwe in next month’s limited overs tournament involving South Africa and England. Squad: Andy Flower (captain), Neil Johnson, Alistair Campbell, Grant Flower, Murray Goodwin, Guy Whittall, Andy Whittall, Craig Wishart, Gary Brent, Heath Streak, Mpumelelo Mbangwa, Everton Matambanadzo, Henry Olonga, John Rennie, Stuart Carlisle.

SARAH BULLEN and Reuters, Cape Town | Tuesday 8.45pm EXHAUSTED firefighters are taking their first breather after three days of battling raging fires in the Western Cape as a lull in the punishing south-easter on Tuesday has allowed them to break the back of the flames engulfing the penninsula. However, firefighters warn that the flames […]

UNITED Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata arrived at a refugee camp in Tanzania on Monday to visit thousands of refugees who have fled civil war in neighbouring Burundi. Ogata’s visit coincides with what officials say is the region’s worst refugee crisis since 1997 and with a fresh mediation attempt in the Burundi conflict […]

THE Independent Complaints Directorate recommended on Monday that National police commissioner Jackie Selebi should not be prosecuted on crimen injuria charges brought against him by a Pretoria sergeant. The ICD said its investigation has yielded prima facie evidence that Selebi had called the sergeant a chimpanzee but said that instead of prosecution Safety and Security […]

THE United Nations has dispatched a delegation to the Ivory Coast in an effort to persuade the country’s military rulers of an early return to constitutional rule following last month’s coup.

PACEMAN Allan Donald has made himself available for two Test matches South Africa will play on their tour of India starting next month. Donald announced at the weekend he would take a six-month break from international cricket, with the rider that he still had to decide whether to go to India. “I got a call […]

NIGERIAN’S white collar oil workers are to strike if the government moves the unit responsible for safety for its members, a union official said on Wednesday. The official of the Petroleum and Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria told state-run television the union issued a 21-day ultimatum to the government on Tuesday to withdraw plans […]