Staff Reporter

THE South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said on Tuesday that it will only announce the winner of the country’s third network licence in July. The delay means the winner might only be operational by early next year and could make it more difficult for the newcomer to break into the MTN, Vodacom duopoly. Consortiums have […]

THE Paris to Dakar rally, suspended on Tuesday after terrorist threats, will restart on Monday, January 17. Wednesday’s seventh stage start from the Niger capital of Niamey was cancelled following a warning to race organisers from the French foreign ministry. Rally organisers the Thierry Sabine Organisation (TSO) were informed of the possibility of a security […]

VEHICLE sales last year fell 5,9% from 1998 to their lowest level since 1992, a manufacturers’ association said on Wednesday. Last year 295,785 new vehicles were sold, compared with 314,410 in 1998, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa said in a statement. Nearly 36% of these were passenger cars, the association said. […]

ZIMBABWE’S annualised inflation rate fell for the second straight month in December, to 56,9%, according to official statistics made available Tuesday. The latest bulletin of the government’s Central Statistical Office (CSO) shows that inflation dropped from a record of 70,4% in October to 61,2% in November and shed another 4,3 percentage points in December. The […]

ZANZIBAR President Salmin Amour on Wednesday pardoned the Arab sultan who ruled the semi-autonomous Indian Ocean islands of Zanzibar and Pemba before being overthrown in a bloody revolution in 1964. “In the spirit of civility and reconciliation, I am pleased to announce that I have pardoned King (Sultan) Jamshid bin Abdallah bin Khalfan, who ran […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Niamey | Wednesday 12.50pm. THE Dakar rally, suspended on Tuesday after terrorist threats, will restart on Tuesday, January 18, race organisers said. All the teams and equipment will be transferred by air from Niamey to Sabbah and Waw el Kebir airports in Libya from January 12 to 17 and racing will resume Tuesday. […]

THE Natal Rugby Union plans to host a tribute match for former South African international and skipper Gary Teichmann in Durban on June 3. Teichmann, however, will turn out in the match in the kit of his new Welsh club Newport as they clash with Natal. “This is an opportunity to honour his service and […]

SOUTH frica’s economic freedom rating has improved from 5,9 in 1990 to 7,3 in 1997 on a scale of 10 according to the Economic Freedom of the World annual report. The Free Market Foundation of Southern Africa director Eustace Davie said on Monday South Africa was ranked 47th out of 123 countries analysed in the […]

JOHANNESBURG businessman Jonathan “Jonty” Bruce Sandler appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court on Monday on charges of indecent assault. Sandler, 49, is accused of indecently assaulting a security guard at the Himeville Arms Hotel near Underberg on September 10 last year. Sandler, a multi-millionaire, is a co-founder and former executive director of New Africa Investments […]

A BOMB exploded on Wednesday outside the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Cape Town, injuring two people. The bomb was placed at the entrance of the court, a member of the city’s rescue services said. He was unable to provide further details. Cape Town has been plagued by a series of bombings which police have blamed […]

ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Pretoria | Monday 11.30am. BRUCE Grobbelaar made a dream debut as SuperSport United coach when the Castle Premiership strugglers scored a dramatic 3-2 victory over Orlando Pirates at Caledonian Stadium in Pretoria on Sunday. United trailed and led in the second half before Michael Thurling struck a last-minute winner that dashed Pirates’ hopes […]

DURBAN Roodepoort Deep (DRD) said on Monday it has secured unmargined hedging facilities to guard against margin calls from banks at a time of volatile gold prices. DRD also said it will not do any further hedging at current price level. “DRD wants to use its free cash for acquisitions and further growth, not for […]

AN elderly man has lost his battle against the fatal lung disease asbestosis and with it a R2 million law suit against a cement manufacturer he claimed exposed him to lethal asbestos dust. Nelspruit attorney, Richard Spoor, said carpenter Stephanus Johannes Kleynhans, 70, had worked with products from cement manufacuturer, Everite Limited, for 40 years […]

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo national team midfielder Emeka Mamale has been released by South African side Kaizer Chiefs, a club official said on Monday. Mamale, who is likely to be included in the Congolese African Nations Cup squad this week, did not impress during a six-month trial after moving to Johannesburg from Club Africain of […]

ONLY one change has been made to the Border Bears team to play Easterns in a Standard Bank Cup limited-overs match at Buffalo Park on Wednesday. Pieter Strydom will be joining the national squad for the fifth Test at Centurion, and his place has been taken by all-rounder, Francois Klopper, who played in the last […]

ECONOMIC growth across Africa averaged 3,5% in 1999, much the same as in 1998, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Omar Kabbaj said on Monday, citing provisional figures. He told a meeting of ambassadors to Ivory Coast that the Asian crisis and the spread of conflict in some African countries meant that growth rates of 4,0% […]

TEXACO has made a massive oil find at its Agbami field off Nigeria with potential recoverable reserves of more than one billion barrels. Texaco said on Thursday it completed testing on the Agbami-2 appraisal well confirmed that the Agbami structure was a “giant discovery” — among the largest single finds in deepwater West Africa. The […]

THE country’s population is estimated to reach 44,7-million this year, the Bureau of Market Research at the University of South Africa said in a research report published on Monday. Earlier projections indicated a population figure of about 80-million by 2021, but factors such as declining fertility levels and life expectancies due to Aids put that […]

PIK Botha, the apartheid’s government’s foreign minister for 17 years, is considering joining the African National Congress, and called in a Sunday newspaper on fellow Afrikaners to do the same. Botha said in an interview with the City Press newspaper that the time had come for whites, especially Afrikaners, to reach out to blacks in […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 3.45pm. SWAZILAND may soon be without its best soccer players after the national team accused the country of exploiting their talents by paying match fees of only R25 per international. Players, headed by team vice captain Siza Dlamini, also complained they are paid only R5000 in appearance fees, while […]

GHANAIAN President Jerry Rawlings named Trade and Industry Minister John Abu as the new Minister for Mines and Energy on Monday. Deputy mines and energy minister Simon Abinga has held the fort in the ministry since December 9. The last permanent mines minister, Fred Ohene-Kena, was sacked in October after expressing support for a bid […]

IRISH Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, arrived at the Waterkloof Airforce base in Pretoria on Tuesday morning for a four day visit to South Africa. Ahern was met by Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad. Premier Ahern will meet Deputy President Jacob Zuma, and pay a courtesy call on President Thabo Mbeki later in the afternoon.

MINISTER of Trade and Industry Alec Erwin on Friday released the names of eight manufacturers shortlisted to produce new purpose-built public transport vehicles. AMC, DaimlerChrysler, Iveco, QLS and Tata have all proposed to build either 18-seater or 35-seater configurations while GAZ, Kwoon Chung and Malandela have tendered to supply 18-seaters.

COTE d’Ivoire maintained a timely return to form by defeating holders Egypt 2-0 at the weekend in a warm-up match for the African Nations Cup finals this month. Charles Dago put the Elephants ahead after only two minutes at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan and Bonaventure Kalou added a second nine minutes before the […]

The Nigerian Football Association on Saturday again refused permission for Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu to play in Sunday’s FA Cup tie against Leicester at Highbury. Kanu made a personal plea to the Nigerian FA to be allowed to turn out for his club but Arsenal have now released the player for African Nations Cup duty. […]

IRISH Prime Minister Bertie Ahern arrived in Lesotho on Monday for a brief official visit to be followed by a four-day trip to neighbouring South Africa. Ahern and a delegation of Irish trade and aid officials were met at Maseru’s airport by Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili and members of his cabinet. The Irish premier was […]

THE death toll on South African roads passed the 900 mark on Monday, Arrive Alive said. The traffic safety campaign said 902 deaths had been recorded in 632 crashes since the start of the December holidays. KwaZulu-Natal led the fatality rate with 140 followed by Eastern Cape and Free State with 124 deaths each. The […]

A FRENCH couple wounded in an ambush by suspected Unita rebels in northeastern Namibia in which their three children were murdered, arrived back in Paris late on Sunday aboard a private medical flight. Claude and Brigitte Bidoin, wounded in last Monday’s attack, flew in from Windhoek and were whisked to hospital. The bodies of their […]

THREE men set an old man alight in a veld on Sunday night and then raped his elderly wife next to the burning body. Northern Province police said James Chauke, 59, and his 56-year-old wife were confronted at about 9pm on a footpath in Tshamahanza village in Mokopane near Potgietersrus. The assailants beat Mr Chauke […]

EDUCATION Minister Kader Asmal has called for an urgent review of the controversial Curriculum 2005 outcomes based education system which is set to revolutionise teaching methods in the country. The Argus reports that sources close to Asmal say although he is stopping short of scrapping the controversial system, he has raised some serious concerns about […]

ANGLO American Zimbabwe said on Wednesday it has reached a provisional agreement to purchase the Zimbabwe Mining and Smelting Company with partners of its choice. In a statement, the company said the finalisation of the purchase is subject to conclusion of a due diligence exercise undertaken with the government’s support as well as regulatory approvals […]

MEMBERS of the advertising industry said on Thursday that they expect clients to spend around R8,5-billion this year, up 10% from last year, in accordance with hopes for an upturn in the economy. Although the final numbers are not in, the industry estimates between R7,5-billion and R8-billion was spent on advertising in 1999 when the […]