Staff Reporter

Fiona Macleod Aaron Mmako (39) used to sell his sculptures for a pittance on the side of the road. He knows how hard it is to flag down a tourist, and how easy it is to sell a lovingly crafted piece for a song because it is the only cash he will see for a […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Port Elizabeth | Friday 6.30pm. ENGLAND clawed their way back into the match on day number two of the second test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth. By the close of play the touring side had rattled up a reply of 139/1 to South Africa’s blistering first innings total of 450. After losing […]

Mamphela Ramphele A SECOND LOOK The question I want to ask today is whether South Africans deserve democracy, whether they deserve the benefits of the sacrifices of those who fought for democracy. Douglas MacArthur once said: “No man [woman] is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.” This quote […]

The Heath unit is set to investigate irregularities at Technikon SA estimated to amount to about R60-million, reports Ivor Powell With his institution in chaos, the principal of Technikon SA gave himself a 35% salary increase, pushing it up to around R1,5-million per year. Attie Buitendacht neglected to seek the governing council’s approval for this […]

Sources in the Democratic Party have fingered four prominent members of the party as being part of a cabal bent on keeping their grip on the DP in Gauteng. Howard Barrell reports The machinations of a cabal of old-style liberals lie behind the extraordinary conflict within the Democratic Party that has exploded into the public […]

terror Marianne Merten August 8 1996: Hard Livings gang boss Rashaad Staggie is lynched during a People against Gansterism and Drugs (Pagad) demonstration in the presence of police, media and emergency workers. An inquest into the death, launched when the Cape High Court trial of Pagad member Ozeer Booley collapsed last year, has been repeatedly […]

SOUTH Africa’s seven-a-side rugby team kick off their challenge for the Stellenbosch Sevens title on Friday with a match against Kenya at the Danie Craven Stadium. The team, led by former Bok winger Jacques Olivier, will be hoping to improve on their recent showing at the Dubai Sevens where they were beaten 31-0 in the […]

One of the six cellular licence bidders argues it can bring low-cost phone services to South Africa’s struggling rural masses, writes David Le Page A 15c cellular phone call! Depending on who wins the third cellular licence early next year, such low-cost calls might become a reality in South Africa’s rural areas, where currently only […]

The Festival of Living Treasures is set to take over from Womad, writes Alex Sudheim A warm wave of sensuous sound from the four corners of the earth engulfs South Africa this month in the form of the Festival of Living Treasures. Held in KwaZulu-Natal over five days from December 15 to 19, the festival […]

Bob Woolmer FROM THE PAVILION ‘The answer is blowing in the wind”, so goes the chorus of a famous song, something that the Eastern Province band will no doubt have in their repertoire as the South African juggernaut and the English tourists do battle at the wind-swept St George’s Park stadium. We all know Port […]

EGYPTIAN brothers Hossam and Ibrahim Hassan have become the first African members of the Century Club, FIFA said on Monday. The club comprises players who have represented their countries in at least 100 competitive or friendly internationals and is headed by Lothar Matthaus of Germany and Thomas Ravelli of Sweden with 143 caps each. Retired […]

ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Johannesburg | Thursday 8.00am. KAIZER Chiefs and Orlando Pirates triumphed again in the Castle Premiership on Wednesday to keep the pressure on pacesetters Sundowns at the top of the standings. The Amakhosi squeezed past stubborn Wits University 1-0 at Johannesburg Stadium and the Buccaneers defeated Jomo Cosmos 3-1 at Vosloorus Stadium as the […]

SOUTH Africa’s border gates with Mozambique and Swaziland will remain open an extra two hours over the festive season in an attempt to cope with the expected flood of holiday-makers. The Department of Home Affairs said on Wednesday it expects at least 250_ 000 vehicles to travel to through the border gates during December. An […]

THE new Royal Bafokeng stadium near Rustenburg, one of the proposed venues for South Africa’s hosting of the World Cup finals, is expected to play host to the Rothmans Cup final. Mamelodi Sundowns, who were narrowly beaten on a penalty shootout in the last two finals, face Free State Stars. Stars beat Manning Rangers 1-0 […]

ZAMBIA were merciless in their Cosafa Cup match against Namibia at Vosloorus Stadium on Tuesday, beating their hapless opponents 5-0. The Chipolopolo scored four goals in the first half to put the match out of the reach of the Namibians. Striker Solomon Banda drew first blood when he scored in the sixth minute beating goalkeeper […]

ZIMBABWE were beaten 1-0 by Zambia in their Cosafa Cup under-20 match at Vosloorus Stadium in Johannesburg on Monday. The Zambians scored through Gift Kambamba in the 77th minute when he struck home off a corner taken by Njofwa Chaswe.

SWAZILAND has declared December 31 and January 3 special Year 2000 (Y2K) bank holidays to help a smooth transition into the new millenium. The two days will not be general public holidays but all banks in the small kingdom of roughly one million people will be closed. Finance minister John Carmichael said on Wednesday people […]

ABOUT 13000 people have been employed by small, medium and micro enterprises working on the construction of the R2-billion Maputo Corridor toll road since last year. A survey last month by Silulu Investment Services to gauge the success of the programme, found that 70% of the some 300 SMMEs on the N4 were based in […]

THE World Bank has made a loan of $30-million to Sierra Leone under an emergency rehabilitation program. President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah announced the loan during a luncheon on Tuesday at the Freetown Chamber of Congress. UN agencies and the Sierra Leone government have listed 33 projects that need international financial aid in the west African […]

SOUTH Africa were held to a 1-1 draw by Mozambique in their Cosafa Cup match at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The locals took the lead when Eric Sono scored in the 60th minute, but 12 minutes later the scores were level when the visitors’ captain Amid Tarmomade got the ball past SA keeper […]

THE Virginia Regional Court on Wednesday imposed a R500000 fine on the management of Rovic diamond mine after 20 people were killed in a mudslide in November 1996, SABC radio news reported on Thursday. On December 1, the manager of the mine near Dealesville in the Free pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter. Pieter Smith […]

MADAGASCAR beat Mozambique 2-0 in their Cosafa Cup match at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg on Monday. Mozambique were unlucky to lose the match as four of their strikes hit the woodwork. Gaetan Brunnel, the Madagascan striker, made full use of his side’s two chances and scored the first goal in the 18th minute when he […]

FIRST National Bank and Nedcor’s stable of Nedbank, Permanent Bank and Peoples Bank on Wednesday announced a 0,5% cut in the mortgage rates to 22,75% from 23,25%. The new mortgage rates come into effect on Tuesday, December 15. FNB Properties said the continuing easing of rates in the money market has allowed the cut. SHELL […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Port Elizabeth | Wednesday 6.30pm. AN explosive half-century by Lance Klusener enabled South Africa to fight back after a poor start on the first day of the second Test at St Georges Park Thursday. Klusener hit an unbeaten 63 off 71 balls as South Africa reached 253 for six before bad light brought […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday 9.30am. STEFFI Graf was in blistering form as she blasted South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in the opening match of the Spar Challenge tennis tournament at Westridge Park on Tuesday evening. Graf was given a standing ovation as she walked out onto the court, and the spectators […]

THE South African Women’s Cricket Association (SAWCA) announced on Tuesday that they will wearing the Protea national emblem when representing the country in the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand next year. The squad previously competed under the banner of the United Cricket Board. Three training camps will be held in preparation for the tournament […]

BRONWEN ROBERTS, Johannesburg | Wednesday 12.45pm. FORMER Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, wanted by Addis Ababa on charges of genocide, left South Africa before a formal request for his extradition had been received, a presidential aide said on Wednesday. Mengistu travelled to South Africa last month from his home in exile in Zimbabwe for heart […]

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said on Monday she will block the awarding of a third cellular licence if evidence of bid tampering comes to light. But Matsepe-Casaburri added that despite two probes over allegations of corruption in the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Satra), the evaluation of bids for the lucrative licence is on schedule. […]

A NORTHERN Province Zionist priest allegedly castrated a five-year-old boy while the child was still alive. Jan Skosana, 33, of Winterveldt in the North-West Province, made a brief appearance on a murder charge in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Skosana was arrested on Sunday, allegedly with the genitals in a plastic bag, when security […]

ARRIVE Alive road safety campaign said on tuesday that at least 72 road deaths have been reported on South African roads since the start of the holidays on December 1. Figures indicate that road deaths in the North West province are still the highest with 25 fatalities, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 12 and Mpumalanga with […]

TWO people were injured in a chemical explosion at a city centre satellite campus of Pretoria Technikon on Monday. Technikon spokeswoman Willa de Ruyter identified the two as Trevor Haug, 40, and Samuel Monageng, 35 — both technikon employees. She said the men were moving chemicals at the technikon’s natural sciences campus in Vermeulen Street […]

ANDREW MUCHINERIPI, Durban | Wednesday 7.00am. Manning Rangers …. (0) 0 Free State Stars … (1) 1 (Tsiu 45) SO there is room in South African soccer for fairytales after all as Free State Stars reached the Rothmans Cup final on Tuesday night against all the odds. Few gave the QwaQwa-based club much hope after […]