Staff Reporter

ARCHBISHOP Desmond Tutu, who is currently in resident in the United States, is to be honoured by the New York Stock Exchange by ringing the closing bell of trading on December 23. The ringing of the bell forms part of the stock exchange’s Bridging the Millennium programme, a series honouring distinguished leaders of this century […]

HOLIDAY traffic to Cape Town has been diverted to Rawsonville after a mudslide caused by heavy rain blocked the tunnel on the N1 just outside the city. Traffic officials said on Wednesday night that they were unsure when the tunnel will be re-opened. No-one was injured in the mudslide.

THE Finance Department said on Friday that R15,87-billion was requested from the exchequer in November by government departments and agencies, compared to October’s R14,86-billion. This brings exchequer issues for the first eight months of the financial year (April to November) to R140,72-billion,the department said in a statement. The total was 5,1% up on the R133,91-billion […]

A SENIOR Northern Province policeman was denied bail on Tuesday when he appeared for allegedly raping and indecently assaulting under-aged girls. Senior Superintendent Shimanyana Frans Lebese, 49, of Lebowakgomo, was not asked to plead in the Potgietersrus District Court on Tuesday on three charges of rape, and three of indecent assault. He was denied bail […]

FANYANA MABUZA, Mbabane | Monday 4.30pm. SWAZILAND’S Under-20 soccer team insisted this weekend that it cheated at the recent regional championships in South Africa purely for patriotic reasons. National Football Association of Swaziland secretary general, Mike Vilikazi, said at the weekend the team fielded over-aged players in an attempt to impress judges and boost the […]

PASSENGERS left stranded when their ship broke down off the French west coast in November have finally arrived on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena. St. Helena Line general manager Tony Bownes said a replacement ship, the Greek-registered MTS Jason, arrived on Saturday at St. Helena, a British overseas territory, with 223 passengers […]

THE Department of Correctional Services said on Tuesday it is considering a total ban on smoking in prisons as one way of complying with the government’s proposed tobacco regulations. The draft regulations, issued for comment on December 3, will allow prison authorities to set aside designated smoking areas or rooms in jails. However these rooms […]

SOUTH Africa signed the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings in New York on Tuesday. The convention was signed by South Africa’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Kumalo. The purpose of the convention is to criminalise acts of terrorist bombings in the hope of strengthening the international legal framework for combating […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 7.30am A GOVERNMENT-appointed team investigating the South African diamond industry urged Monday a thorough overhaul of the country’s diamond controls and its gem valuating system. A report released here by a task team appointed by the Cabinet earlier this year also called for a review of the composition, role and […]

THREE barges carrying a floating power station arrived in the Nigerian capital Lagos this week, under a deal reached earlier this year to boost chronic power supplies in the city. United States group Enron in September signed a deal with the Lagos State government to supply a 90 megawatt floating power station to be moored […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 3.40pm. TRANSPORT minister Dullah Omar on Tuesday blamed reckless, speeding drivers for hundreds of deaths on the roads as the festive season gets into full swing. The holiday carnage has claimed 459 lives since December 1 and is expected to get worse this week as South Africans and foreign tourists […]

ANNOUNCEMENT of final official results from Mozambique’s presidential and parliamentary elections was delayed Monday to allow time to verify the results with the political parties involved, the National Elections Commission (CNE) said. The CNE said it will try “its best to publish the results by Tuesday.” The results were billed to be released on Monday […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 10.45am GOVERNMENT announced on Monday that it is to merge its gas exploration company Mossgas and oil exploration company Soekor into a commercial venture with an expected market capitalisation of over $2-billion. Announcing the restructuring, Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said that the new entity will focus on […]

L ONDON-listed Anglo American Plc said on Friday that it has lifted its stake in Anglo American Platinum Corp (Amplats) to 50,23%. Anglo, which previously made clear its intention to secure a majority holding in the world’s largest platinum producer, increased its holding to 48% last month from 45% at the time of its listing […]

MALAWI national coach Jack Chamangwana has been sacked and replaced by former international player Young Chimodzi, a Malawi football association official said on Monday. The national team lost 2-1 to Libya and twice drew 1-1 with Rwanda this month in home matches designed to prepare the Flames for their World Cup qualifiers against Kenya during […]

LAURIE Mains will not be leaving the Golden Lions and the Cats for a New Zealand coaching post, says his boss, Golden Lions president Jomo King. King said Mains, in New Zealand on holiday, has a three-year contract at Ellis Park and would be returning on Januray 17. “I’ve spoken to him again and there […]

ALAN FINLAY, Johannesburg | Tuesday 4.30pm. THE JSE lost some ground on Tuesday after Monday’s surge ending the day 1,15% or 97 points down. One analyst said investors were tightening their positions ahead of a US interest rate decision by the Federal Open Market Commission expected on Tuesday night. The industrial index ended 0,17% or […]

BURKINO Faso claimed their first international club prize when ASFA Yennenga lifted the West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup in Ouagadougou at the weekend with a 3-2 final win over Stade Abidjan. ASFA levelled twice through Amadou Toure after Lacina Traore had struck two goals for the Cote d’Ivoire team and Burkinabe national team midfielder […]

OVER a thousand people attended a memorial service for Kaiser Chiefs founder Clarence Mlokoti at Vista University in Soweto on Tuesday. Mlokoti was killed during an attempted hijacking in Pimville, Soweto, on Wednesday last week. Speakers at the service challenged government and communities to do more to address crime. Isaac Mogase, Mayor of Greater Johannesburg, […]

GABON’S Finance Minister, Emile Doumba, has moved to calm disgruntled civil servants in an open letter defending his cash-strapped government’s plan to slash salaries by up to 25%. In his letter, published by national media, Doumba said the cuts were essential to reduce government spending in the face of sliding revenues and falling oil production.

AFRICAN leaders and senior international bankers will meet in Libreville in January to discuss anti-poverty strategies and economic growth in the region. The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Michel Camdessus, the president of the African Development Bank (ADB), Omar Kabbaj, and governors of a number of African central banks will attend the January […]

FOREIGN Minister Nkosazana Zuma arrived in Rwanda on Thursday to sign a co-operation agreement intended to pave the way for closer ties in trade and culture. She is also expected to discuss the situation in Democratic Republic of Congo, where Rwandan troops have been fighting in support of the Congolese rebels before signing a peace […]

ZIMBABWE beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the fifth and final one-day cricket international in Harare on Sunday. Sri Lanka were 202 all out in 48.2 overs, while Zimbabwe scored 206-4 in 46.2 overs. Tillerkratne Dilshan’s maiden half-century brightened an otherwise dowdy Sri Lankan batting display. Dilshan scored 51 off 73 balls including two […]

ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Johannesburg | Monday 11.00am. LONG-TIME pacesetters Sundowns lost and regained the Castle Premiership lead within 150 minutes on Sunday after defeating Ajax Cape Town 2-0 at Bellville Stadium in Cape Town. Alex Bapela scored midway through the first half for the ‘Brazilians’ and Joel Masilela made sure the defending champions returned to Gauteng […]

THE country’s national news agency, the South African Press Association, has sold its radio division, Network Radio Services, to multi-media company Dotcom, the two groups announced in a joint statement on Friday. The sale was agreed at a meeting on Friday afternoon. Network Radio Services (NRS) runs Network Radio News, the largest syndicated news service […]

SOUTH African companies will from next week shut down their internet and e-mail connections to avoid a rash of computer viruses expected to strike on January 1. More than 10 prominent companies, including the top commercial banks, as among those who will cut their electronic links until a few days after New Year’s Eve to […]

THE town council of the Afrikaner seperatist community Orania has been ordered by the Delimitation Board to form a unified municipality with Hopetown and Strydenburg. Orania’s spokesman, Carel Boshoff, said on Friday afternoon that within such a municipality the community of Orania would be in a minority and be frustrated in its efforts for independence. […]

IBO leaders from Nigeria’s southeast are demanding $87-billion in government compensation for civil war during the 1960s and years of subsequent marginalisation. A petition from the Ohaneze group submitted to President Olusegun Obasanjo’s human rights panel and published in local newspapers catalogued perceived wrongs against the Ibos from ethnic riots in 1966 to date.

FINAL official results from Mozambique’s second democratic elections are due to be announced on Monday, an electoral official said. “The final results will be announced in principle tomorrow,” National Elections Commission (CNE) spokesman Julio Bika told AFP on Sunday. The results of the presidential and parliamentary elections, held in early December, could not be announced […]

LIBYAN leader Muammar Gaddafi has met Laurent Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Tunis for talks on ways to restore peace in Africa’s Great Lakes region, Libyan state television reported. Gaddafi and Kabila met in Tripoli on Sunday night to discuss mechanisms to implement a peace accord concluded earlier this year between […]

STEVEN MANN, Johannesburg | Saturday 5.30pm. The annual holiday season carnage on South African roads continued apace on Saturday, as the death toll since the beginning of December climbed to 354. In the worst accident recorded this month thus far eight people were killed and six injured when a minibus taxi collided with a car […]

A MAN was beaten to death for urinating against a car in Cape Town’s Sea Point tourist area on Thursday, police said. Police spokeswoman Superintendent Nina Kirsten said the 26-year-old Johannesburg man was on holiday in Cape Town when the incident occurred early in the morning. The man, who was with friends, got out of […]