Staff Reporter

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 […]

HEALTH ministers from across Southern Africa are discussing the cost of accessing anti-AIDS drugs at a special two-day meeting in Johannesburg. South African health department spokesperson, Lulu Sebake, said on Thursday that ministers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are meeting at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. They are also discussing the latest development […]

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 […]

PORT Elizabeth experienced the worst gale in its history on Thursday night. The SA Weather Bureau reported south-westerly wind speeds in Algoa Bay of 144km/h, roofs were torn off homes, trees uprooted and cars were lifted into the air and blown several metres. Bank and shop windows were punched out onto city centre pavements in […]

The consequences of growing and eating genetically modified organisms could hit South Africans before we’ve had a chance to debate the issue, writes Ann Eveleth The growing international debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is finally filtering into the public domain in South Africa. But information about the pros and cons of this “food revolution” […]

FRENCH forward Franck Tournaire has been cleared of an allegation of biting during his team’s World Cup semi-final victory over New Zealand, team media officer Lionel Rossigneux said Wednesday. Tournaire, who was cited 24 hours earlier, will be free to play for France in Saturday’s final against Australia at the Millennium Stadium, Rossigneux said. Tournaire […]

MORE than 70000 tickets have been sold for Thursday’s World Cup third place playoff match between South Africa and New Zealand, Welsh officials said. The two teams will be playing for a qualification place for the 2003 World Cup in the Millennium Stadium which has a capacity of 72500. Tickets for Saturday’s final between France […]

STANDAND Bank was on Wedneday awarded the tender to provide its banking services to the Gauteng provicial government. Finance and economic affairs MEC Jabu Moleketi annouced that the contract has been awarded for a period of five years and runs until March 2005. He said that there was very little to choose between the three […]

ALL Black legend Zinzan Brooke has written off France’s chances of beating Australia in Saturday’s World Cup final. The French produced an extraordinary performance in defeating the All Blacks in the semi-finals, but the former All Black eighthman believes a repeat is unlikely. “I cannot see the entire French side repeating their Twickenham performance,” Brooke […]

A FURTHER seven people, including two policemen, have been killed in fresh clashes between members of the OPC, a militant Yoruba nationalist group, and Ijaw youths in Lagos, reports said on Thursday. Weekend communal clashes between Ijaws and members of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) claimed at least 12 lives, the local Guardian newspaper reported. […]

FORMER New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick has predicted that All Black coach John Hart will step down after the rugby World Cup. “There are issues to address, for sure. I don’t think we’ll be seeing John Hart coaching the All Blacks any longer,” Fitzpatrick wrote in his column in Thursday’s Daily Telegraph. “John is a […]

THE retractable roof on Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium will not be closed for the World Cup final, organisers said on Wednesday. “It could only have been considered if we had received written requests from both teams and it is my understanding that we have not done so,” a spokeswoman said. France and Australia, the teams in […]

THE Soweto child protection unit says it will be difficult to convict four Soweto boys accused of raping a two-year-old girl, because they are under the age of 14. Police are still searching for the boys, aged between seven and nine years, after they allegedly raped a toddler in the backyard of a house in […]

STEVEN MANN, Cape Town | Thursday 2.05pm THE National Bureau of Missing Persons said on Thursday that the police are winning their battle to try and track down South Africa’s thousands of people who go missing every year. The bureau was set up in 1994 and since then it has found more than two-thirds of […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thusday 5.15pm. FOUR boys accused of indecently assaulting a two-year-old Orlando West girl at the weekend appeared in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Soweto police spokesman Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said the boys, the youngest aged seven, were charged with indecent assault. They were remanded in custody and will be placed in […]

FORMER national cricketer Makhaya Ntini, who last week won an appeal against a six year rape conviction, has been included in the Border B team for a match against North-West B. The match will be Ntini’s first for his province since the Standard Cup final against Griquas at Buffalo Park in March. He replaces all-rounder […]

AUSTRALIAN coach Rod Macqueen has named an unchanged side to face France on Saturday in the World Cup final at the Millennium Stadium. The same starting XV who beat defending champions South Africa 27-21 after extra-time in the semi-finals will face the French. The only change in the 22-man squad is prop Dan Crowley’s return […]

A TASK team appointed by the SABC to investigate the state broadcaster’s editorial independence on Wednesday found that there is no evidence supporting claims of political bias, unfair labour practices or infringement of editorial independence. The task, which consisted of mainly SABC board members, with advocate Sias Reinecke as the only independent counsel, was appointed […]

NEW Zealand’s team doctor has sparked a furore by alleging France used illegal tactics during the World Cup semi-final win over the All Blacks on Sunday. John Mayhew confirmed complaints thad were made to him about French players eye-gouging, head-butting and attacking testicles during France’s 43-31 win at Twickenham. “I believed after talking to the […]

SARAH BULLEN, Cape Town | Thursday 12.45pm NEW vehicle sales fell 6,1% in October from September, according the latest figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) on Wednesday, despite a long-term positive outlook for the industry. Naamsa said that sales in October fell to 17306 units from September’s 18421 units. Compared to […]

AT LEAST 93 people have been killed and an unknown number injured in two separate bus accidents in Nigeria, officials said on Wednesday. Both accidents occurred on Tuesday but details were not released until Wednesday. At least 80 people died when two buses collided in the northern Nigerian state of Kogi. In the other accident, […]

DISABLED swimmer Tadhg Slattery maintained his awesome form in shattering the 200m breaststroke World Record in the Homebush Bay Aquatic Centre in Sydney. Slattery collected 3 gold and 1 silver medal in his various events and should be included in the South African Paralympic Team bound for Sydney next year. Meanwhile, the South African Mens […]

PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela on Thursday afternoon expressed his condolences to the family of Wezi Kaunda, son of former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, who died on Thursday morning after being gunned down in Lusaka. “He was a prominent figure. His death was a tragedy,” Mandela said at a function to hand over documents from the Rivonia […]

MALARIA kills almost three million people each year because western pharmaceutical companies have refused to develop anti-malarial drugs for impoverished Third World countries. This week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) unveiled a groundbreaking new programme that will develop new anti-malarial drugs every five years for poorer countries. Dr Steven Toovey, producer of the email-based Medinfo, […]

LIBERIA is set to hold its first major post-war conference aimed at reviving a devastated economy, with financial experts and business leaders expected to attend. The three-day conference starting in Monrovia on Thursday is being organised by the Carter Centre, the US government agency USAID, and the Centre for Democratic Empowerment, an organisation headed by […]

DEPARTMENT of education spokesman Bheki Khumalo on Thursday called on all teacher who claim they had their salaries deducted to write a formal letter of complaint. This follows claims by the South African Teachers Union (Satu) that 12000 of its members had a days salary deducted even though they did not participate in the public […]

SPEAKING in Paris at an international conference on globalization Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma spoke on Wednesday of the crushing effects of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. “It is ironic that countries that have instituted sound fiscal and monetary policies so as to try to improve the lot of their nationals should be undermined by the […]

COTE Ivoire President Henri Konan Bedie made an impassioned plea on Wednesday for the elimination of poor countries’ foreign debt, calling indebtedness the primary obstacle to development. Speaking in Paris at an international conference on globalization sponsored by the French Insititute of International Relations, Bedie also lamented the lack of investment in developing countries. Citing […]

THE White River town council is on the verge of bankruptcy, owes ABSA and life assurance giant Sanlam more than R12-million – an amount the council says it is unable to repay. Sanlam has meanwhile announced that it is suing the council for R3,1-million, for a loan granted before the 1994 elections. “Although White River […]

ISRAELI head of state Ezer Weizman has been invited to pay a state visit to South Africa by President Thabo Mbeki, at a date still to be determined. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad on Wednesday said that although it will be Weizman’s first state visit, it won’t be the first time he has visited […]