Staff Reporter

THE tourism ministry on Sunday urged the country’s tour bus operators to force clients to wear seat belts following two road accidents in which 31 foreigners were killed. “This would save a lot of lives on our roads,” Tourism Minister Valli Moosa’s spokeswoman Didi Moyle said. She said there is no law forcing tour operators […]

SOUTH Africa’s 739 traditional leaders collectively earn more than R48-million a month, and do not even have to sign performance contracts, Sydney Mufamadi, the minister of provincial affairs and local government said Monday in reply to a parliamentary question.In KwaZulu-Natal, the North West, and the Northern Province they are also paid generous allowances for attending […]

MANAGING director of the United Cricket Board, Ali Bacher, has paid tribute to legendary West Indian paceman Malcolm Marshall who died late on Thurdsday after a long battle with colon cancer in Bridgetown, Barbados. Marshall was 41. “Malcolm was a brilliant fast bowler and an outstanding ambassador for the game of cricket,” said Bacher. “He […]

ZIMBABWEAN strike bowler Heath Streak has again been ruled out of the squad to play South Africa in the second Test of the two match home-away series in Harare on Thursday. Streak has been suffering from a knee injury which again flared up after surgery. The 13-man Zimbabwean squad shows three changes to the one […]

A METRORAIL train driver faces disciplinary action after the accident near Riverlea, Johannesburg which left four commuters dead and at least 20 injured in October. A Metrorail statement issued on Friday said the driver had been travelling at high speed and had lost control of the train when it went through a red signal and […]

A POLICE inspector from the National Protection Service has appeared in court for allegedly stealing a “Checkers bag full of goldfish” from Nelson Mandela’s new R4-million house. Inspector Petrus Kotze of the protection service’s Rondebosch office was arrested on Tuesday and appeared in the Wynberg court the same day. His case was postponed until November […]

SWAZILAND’S health and welfare ministry has threatened to publish the names and faces of snappily dressed city slickers who have left their elderly parents destitute in rural areas. The department announced this week that it would conduct a census to identify the abandoned elderly, find out who their children are in the cities, and then […]

MARTYN Gidley gave Griqualand West their first bit of good news in three days as the hosts saw a glimmer of hope after the third day of their Supersport Series match against the Northerns Titans on Saturday. At stumps, Griquas were still 94 runs behind overall as they reached 240 for four in their second […]

WICKETS were the order of the day with 15 falling in just two sessions as Gauteng recovered from a wretched batting collapse to have Easterns reeling when rain ended play at tea. Gauteng set Easterns a daunting target of 284 despite being bowled out for a paltry 122 on a treacherous, though innocuous-looking pitch. Easterns […]

STYMIED by rain and concern over the fitness of Allan Donald, Free State faced another day of toil against the gutsy North West side on the third day of their Supersport Series match on Saturday. At the close, the Series minnows, North West, had fought their way to 203 for six – an overall lead […]

EARL Spencer, the brother of the late Princess Diana, is being accused by his former housekeeper of being a cheapskate. Virginia Ganyaza said Spencer paid her only R55 per day during the two years that she worked for him in his mansion in Cape Town, refused to allow her time off to attend Sunday church […]

THE Eastern Cape health department, its services threatened with collapse within five years by an overload of Aids patients and its budget facing over-expenditure of R200 million this year as it struggles with a near billion rand shortfall, has announced plans to rationalise state hospitals and seek private sector partnerships. Eastern Cape Health MEC Dr […]

NEARLY a century after the end of the Boer Wars, Ottawa is starting to pay South Africa to look after the graves of Canadian soldiers who died in the conflict. Canada’s Department of Veterans Affairs is sending R12000 to the National Monuments Council in South Africa as an initial contribution to cost of maintaining the […]

THE United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Roberto Garreton, said it is estimated some 6000 people lost their lives during the first year of the conflict. Garreton said many of the casualties killed in retaliation for Mayi-Mayi or Interahamwe attacks on towns controlled by the rebel […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cardiff | Friday 4.00pm. AUSTRALIAN fullback Matt Burke has jumped to the defence of much-maligned northern hemisphere rugby. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have done their utmost to make World Cup 1999 an exclusive Tri Nations affair, and will fill three of the top four places. France are shock finalists, courtesy of […]

informant payouts Turning informant for the South African Revenue Service can take a long time to show financial rewards, reports Rowan Callahan A tax informant who supplied the revenue service with information that allegedly led to the recovery of over a million rand, has still not received his reward after a four- year wait. His […]

Alex Sudheim Review of the week At school we learned all about history. That dry, dusty cupboard full of dates, facts, causes and effects locked into a rigid and inviolable corset of objective truth. You didn’t argue with history. Then we left the incubator of school, blundered around the world, racked up some bitter experience […]

ZIMBABWE has deployed more than 2000 soldiers, including 20 military intelligence officers to war-torn Angola, the Zimbabwe Independent reports on Friday. The Zimbabwean combat troops presence has reportedly powered the Angolan army to overrun Unita’s Jonas Savimbi, whose 22 year-old son recently deserted him accusing his father of being a brutal murderer. The 2000 soldiers […]

WEST Indian quickie Kenny Benjamin vindicated the Gauteng selectors decision to include him in the starting line-up, after only arriving in the country on Tuesday, by ripping into the heart of the Easterns innings on the second day of their SuperSport Series match at the Wanderers on Friday. The lanky Antiguan brought back memories of […]

Andrew Muchineripi Soccer At last, some light at the end of a pretty dismal tunnel! Amaglug-glug set the tone with an impressive victory over Guinea in a qualifier for the 2000 Sydney Olympics soccer tournament. Within 24 hours we had witnessed an absorbing Rothmans Cup semi- final between Sundowns and Orlando Pirates that restored my […]

Aaron Nicodemus Another Mpumalanga farm worker is planning to sue members of the Wakkerstroom Commando after he was kidnapped in a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) helicopter. Alfred Hlatshwayo (34) said in 1998 he was forced into an army helicopter by police dogs, then beaten and kicked, and later forced to pay a fine […]

CARDIFF’S Millennium Stadium was lashed by driving rain and gale-force winds on Friday, forcing officials to close the retractable roof ahead of Saturday’s World Cup final between Australia and France. If the weather stays the same, the roof could remain closed for the showpiece final, tournament officials said. The storms came just hours after South […]

JOHN MEHAFFEY, Cardiff | Friday 11.30am. WITH perfect timing the elements of form, fitness, organisation and luck have combined for Australia to make them deserved favourites for Saturday’s World Cup final against France. Their immediate concern is coping with opponents who can make a mockery of any form guide, throwing logic out of the window […]

Neil Manthorp Cricket Like a fat boy in a cake shop, South Africa waddled through the Test match against Zimbabwe randomly plucking scones and doughnuts off the shelf until, finally, the shop closed. With no natural restraint offered by the visitors (other than to bowl so wide it was difficult to reach) the home side’s […]

Fiona Macleod Sugar gliders, the latest fad in the exotic pet market, are tiny marsupials from Australia and Indonesia, about the size of a large rat with a long tail. In the United States, sugar gliders are big business. Many books and websites are dedicated to them. Now South African conservation officials, who have received […]

MARTIN van Jaarsveld hit the highest score ever by a Northern Transvaal player as the Notherns Titans set themselves up for almost certain victory against Griqualand West in their Supersport Series match in Kimberley on Friday. At close of play, Griquas had staggered to 175 for eight, still 387 runs behind the Titans mammoth first […]

Wally Mbhele Outgoing Department of Correctional Services Commissioner Khulekani Sitole, who this week pre-empted being axed by the Cabinet by submitting his resignation, leaves a legacy which, according to some prisons staff, will take long to correct. In its submission to the public protector, the Correctional Staff Forum (CSF) – an organisation that is largely […]

erring men Evidence wa ka Ngobeni Oupa Mofokeng’s voice still trembles with anger when he relates how he was assaulted and almost killed last month because he hit his wife. “I had a fight with my wife at about 10.30pm. She ran away with my kids and I thought she would go to her home. […]

THREE Americans jailed in Zimbabwe for one year for illegal possession of arms of war will be released on Saturday, the weekly Financial Gazette reported. Their freedom effectively renders Attorney General Patrick Chinamasa’s appeal to the Surpreme Court against their “lenient” sentences an academic exercise. The paper quotes unnamed sources saying that the cabinet discussed […]

Shaun Harris TAKING STOCK The shift towards small business is an international trend. Changing economic and social conditions are leading an increasing number of people into this growing business sector, from the self-employed individual to the person who starts a small business enterprise employing staff. The importance of this trend and the reason why governments […]

David Shapshak Products: HP PhotoSmart 1100 printer (R3 559), C200 digital camera (R2 875), and ScanJet 6300C scanner (R3 029); photo- quality paper – R60 for 20 sheets Digital cameras are one of those next big things that have initially failed to become the next big thing. They’ve suffered from being too pricey, and from […]

FRENCH captain Raphael Ibanez believes his team’s unpredictability can help conjure up a victory over favourites Australia in Saturday’s World Cup final at the Millennium Stadium. “I think we are just challengers, not favourites for this final,” hooker Ibanez said. “Australia are much better than us, but we are unpredictable – and I think that […]