Staff Reporter

UN chief Kofi Annan has asked the security council to raise the number of peacekeeping troops in troubled Sierra Leone to 10000 to make up for the departure of Nigerian soldiers. The UN force, Unamsil, has deployed 6000 troops in the country to enforce peace accords signed in July to bring an end to its […]

VOLUMES were thin on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Tuesday with many players absent for year-end holidays. The modest value traded, only R327-million, and the fall in the benchmark all share index were evidence of the thin trading conditions. Other major indices were also down, with the exception of the financial index and the gold […]

THE Department of Home Affairs said on Tuesday it is geared to issue hand-written birth, marriage and death certificates in the event of any computer failures linked to the change of year to 2000. In a statement in Pretoria, the department assured the public that its systems are Y2K compliant, saying there is no need […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 12.15pm INFORMATION technology firm Dimension Data Holdings Ltd said on Tuesday it will cut an original purchase price for the European networking operations of its rival, Comparex Holdings Ltd, to 250-million from 290-million Didata shares. “As a result of the due diligence exercise, Didata and Comparex have agreed to alter […]

AN Australian music producer, Peter Carlson, has been charged with allegedly recruiting five Zambian girls with the intention of taking them to Australia to become prostitutes. Carlson, who was arrested on the weekend together with a Zambian driver, Misheck Banda, denied the allegations on Monday. Each was granted bail of 6-million kwachas ($2000). Carlson was […]

MORE than 1000 foreign tourists are this week expected to climb Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, as part of millennium celebrations. “We expect more than 1000 people to take part in the expedition despite the hiking of fees to check the influx for environmental reasons,” James Lembeli, public relations manager in the Tanzania National […]

THE government of Senegal and armed separatists in the southern Casamance region agreed on “an immediate halt to fighting” at peace talks on Sunday in the Gambian capital. The Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC), has been battling Senegalese government troops for the past 17 years. The agreement has been signed by Senegalese Interior Minister […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Tuesday 4.00pm. SOUTH Africa are 183 runs behind England’s first innings total of 366/9 declared after being bowled out for 156 runs and asked to follow-on by England skipper Nasser Hussain on the third day of the third Test in Durban on Tuesday. South Africa have not been forced to follow […]

THE road death toll since the start of the holiday season on December 1 has surged towards the 650 mark, well over the number of road deaths the same time last year. Two people were killed and six others injured after a vehicle they were travelling in collided with a goods train at the Mare […]

SOUTH AFRICAN holiday road deaths passed the 600 mark on Monday morning, with 100 deaths recorded over the Christmas weekend alone. A provincial breakdown of the deaths has not yet been released, but the most recent figure, for Sunday night, was: KwaZulu-Natal, with 106, followed by 91 in the Western Cape, 72 in Gauteng, 73 […]

ABOUT 50 heavily armed police officers, apparently seeking firearms, raided the palace of Malawi’s late dictator Kamuzu Banda in the northern Kasungu district, an opposition politician said on Tuesday. Hetherwick Ntaba, an outspoken member of Banda’s Malawi Congress Party (MCP), said the police had a court warrant to search the largely unused hilltop palace, some […]

YOUNG legspinners Andre Abrahams and Jacques Rudolph have been included in the Plascon Academy intake for next year. The two players spent a fortnight with Aussie spin-wizard Terry Jenner in Adelaide last month, and are two of six spinners in a “class” of 19 announced by SA director of coaching Jimmy Cook in Durban on […]

THE United Nations Security Council, concerned over the recent flare-up of fighting in Sierra Leone, on Wednesday condemned indirectly the participation of Liberian forces in the conflict. In a statement read by council president Jassim Buallay, the members “condemned the participation of foreign forces in the internal strife in Sierra Leone”. The council did not […]

THE South African government has moral and material aid to ensure that democracy prevails in Nigeria, SA High Commissioner to Nigeria George Nene said on SABC TV news on Thursday. Nene said non-governmental organisations from South Africa are already in Lagos to assist the military government in preparing for next year’s elections. “Nigerians are more […]

THE road death toll since the start of holiday season on December 1 has reached 635. That’s over 30 deaths more than the same time last year. The Arrive Alive campaign said on the weekend, that at least 29 people had been killed on South African roads since Christmas Eve. In KwaZulu-Natal, Arrive Alive issued […]

SOUTH AFRICAN holiday road deaths reached 538 by Christmas Day — 70 more than in the same period last year. Most of the deaths were reported in KwaZulu-Natal, with 104, followed by 89 in the Western Cape, 72 in Gauteng, 72 in the Eastern Cape, 53 in Mpumalanga, 51 in the Free State, 38 in […]

MATRIC results will be released in Kwazulu-Natal and the Free State on Monday – the first of some 600000 results that will be released this week. Results for Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and the North West Province will be released on Tuesday while Gauteng and the Northern Province matriculants will have their results on Wednesday. The […]

THE first 10 weeks of South Africa’s military intervention mission in Lesotho cost the country more than R30-million, the defence ministry said on Wednesday. R24-million was spent by the army. From September 22 to November 30, South Africa spent R6,6-million on personnel, R5-million on administrative expenses and R13,2-million on storage space and emergency food. The […]

THE department of home affairs on Friday confirmed that the four days from December 31, to January 3, will be public holidays. Spokesman Hennie Meyer said December 31 and January 2, were declared public holidays in a notice in the Government Gazette on May 7. “In terms of the Public Holidays Act, if a public […]

SOUTH African midfielder Quinton Fortune scored for Manchester United in the 75th minute to help seal a 4-0 victory over Bradford at Old Trafford. Fortune’s goal was followed by goals from Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Roy Keane.

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Monday 2.40pm. ENGLAND are on 366/9 after bad light ended play on the second day of the third Test against South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban. The day belonged to England’s skipper, Nasser Hussain, who scored 146 unbeaten runs in a mammoth innings of 463 balls. The South African’s struggled against […]

PROSECUTORS meeting in Durban on Wednesday to discuss a 6% pay rise announced on Tuesday called for the resignation of Justice Minister Dullah Omar. Prosecutors say they have an average daily workload of 20 dockets and three court appearances, which does not allow them to perform their jobs adequately, SABC TV reported on Wednesday night. […]

A MAN who gunned down an elephant in the Kruger National Park and hacked out its 65kg tusks, was sentenced to 20 years in the Skukuza Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. The sentence is the stiffest given in the history of the South African National Parks. The poacher, Shalate Khoza, is currently also serving a 10-year […]

PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela officially declared on Wednesday the tornado-stricken Eastern Cape districts of Umtata, Libode and Ngqeleni as disaster areas, the Welfare Department said on Thursday. Those affected by a tornado which killed 18 people and injured 162 on December 15 can apply for relief, the departmental said. Applications will be considered by the board […]

THE National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, representing 400 workers at Anglo American Platinum’s (Amplats) base metals refinery in Rustenburg on Wednesday declared a dispute with the company over wages. Numsa said it is ready for a battle with management after contract talks on Tuesday stalled over the wage issue. Numsa said it is […]

PHILLIP Ndou has moved up to the number-five spot in the WBA ratings after successfully defending his WBA Continental featherweight title for the first time. Ndou, nicknamed “Time Bomb”, stopped Laureano Ramirez of the Dominican Republic inside three rounds of their scheduled 12-rounder at Johannesburg’s Wembley Arena last Wednesday. Promoter Branco Milenkovic received a letter […]

ALL staff at Mpumalanga’s Tourism Authority (MTA) have lost their jobs and will have to re-apply for positions when the organisation is restructured early next year. A group of 17 staff members have already consulted with attorneys in an attempt to fight the move but declined to comment for fear of prejudicing their legal claims. […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 11.00am. PHIL Masinga, Bafana Bafana’s leading all-time goal-scorer, could be out for as long as six months with a knee injury. Masinga, who has netted the ball 16 times for South Africa, will miss next month’s African Cup of Nations in Ghana and Nigeria. Masinga sustained a ligament injury during […]

THE Inkatha Freedom Party has condemned the murder of six people early on Wednesday morning at remote KwaMachi on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast. Six men, aged between 40 and 60, were shot and hacked to death and several others were wounded during the attack which is believed to be related to faction fighting in the […]

AN estimated 220000 tourists are expected to travel to the beaches of Mozambique through the Lebombo border post this Christmas. Border police spokesperson, Captain Hansie Wessels, said on Wednesday that 140000 people have already passed through the border post since December 1. “We’ve beaten the previous year’s record every year since 1994 and expect to […]

GHANAIAN international goalkeeper James Nanor was ruled out of next year’s African Nations Cup on Tuesday after being suspended by the African Football Confederation (CAF) for a year for spitting in a referee’s face. Nanor, who will also miss Hearts of Oak Champions League campaign next season, spat in the referee’s face during November’s African […]

THE Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday that the department’s former chief spokesman has begun legal action against Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma. Media relations chief Marco Boni, who quit his post at the end of last month, wants R805000 in severance pay. He says he was sidelined by the minister when she arrived from the […]