LAWRENCE BARTLETT, Lusaka | Monday 9.00pm. EFFORTS to end Africa’s international conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo faltered on Monday as a draft ceasefire agreement was rejected by some of the warring parties, conference sources said. A long-awaited meeting of foreign and defence ministers in the Zambian capital Lusaka broke up within two hours, […]
GUINEAN authorities have turned away the body of a promiment opposition politician, Facine Beavogui, refusing to allow him to be buried in his homeland, a party source said on Sunday. The coffin bearing Beavogui, who had been spokesman for the opposition Guinean People’s Rally (RPG) and died in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, was refused entry by […]
FARMERS in the Western Cape will import 500000 tons of yellow maize this season for animal feed, buyers said on Tuesday. A spokesman for the Western Cape Maize Buyers Association said that it has begun importing from Argentina, and is likely to ship in more than usual due to low availability locally. The Western Cape […]
BETWEEN 120 and 130 civilians held in internment camps in Kinshasa since last year are due to arrive in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Sunday evening, a Rwandan government spokesman said. Most are Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) citizens of Rwandan origin, but some are Rwandan nationals, Nicholas Shaalita, spokesman for Rwandan Vice President and […]
SOME 250 National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers’ members marched on two government departments in Pretoria to demand a revised salary offer on Tuesday. Nupsaw, which claims to represent about 65000 public servants, is demanding a 10% increase, compared to an offer of 5,7%.Other demands included an unconditional moratorium on retrenchments, and “transformation […]
A man appeared in the Mhala court on Monday in connection with the murder of Aleta Rose Mnisi, the wife of former Mpumalanga environmental affairs MEC, Luckson Mathebula. Northern Province police spokesperson Phuti Setati said Moses Sambo was arrested on Sunday and taken to Thulamahashe, in the Bushbuckridge area. Mnisi was shot dead in front […]
MALAWI’S opposition on Friday faced a new setback in its challenge to President Bakili Muluzi’s reelection victory when a court deferred a hearing on the affair to next month. The opposition is seeking the annulment of the results of presidential elections on June 15, charging that they were rigged. The delay was necessitated when Muluzi’s […]
SOUTH Africa’s equity markets are among the most attractive in emerging markets, according to a poll of US-based investment managers and traders. Low prices for essentially good shares make SA’s markets a better choice than comparatively expensive Latin American stocks, according to some US funds. Recent price hikes in other emerging markets have left SA […]
THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange is preparing for a complete make-over into a full electronic market starting in mid-2000, consigning paper-based equities into the dustbin of history, officials said on Tuesday. The JSE said that its Share Transactions Totally Electronic (Strate) project should improve efficiency on the local market and reduce shareholder exposure to fraudulent equity […]
MOZAMBIQUE will have 160000 tons of maize and 27000 tons of millet for export in 1998/1999 agricultural year ending June 30, 1999, Mozambican Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Carlos do Rosario has said. Harvests are expected to be some 10% larger than last year, despite recent flooding. while exporting maize and millet, Mozambique will have […]
THE Vodacom Eagles of the South Western Districts retained their unbeaten record in the Bankfin Currie Cup competition when they defeated the Fedsure Western Province team 36-24, after the visitors had been ahead 15-10 at halftime. WP led on the scoreboard for a major part of the game, but towards the end the Eagles managed […]
THE Angolan government’s recent decision to scrap the dual currency exchange rate system has not had a major impact on the lives of ordinary people, analysts in Luanda said on Wednesday. Analysts said the move may stabilise the economy in the long run, but commodity prices remain extremely high. Over the past decade the government […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 10.15am. THE South African Reserve Bank cleared local banks on the Year 2000 problem, saying there is “no reason whatsoever” for massive withdrawals ahead of the millenium. Registrar of Banks Christo Wiese said banks have been prepared for potential millenial problems because of extensive Reserve Bank pressure. He was speaking […]
DAVID LE PAGE, Johannesburg | Friday 2.00pm. A BROAD and sweeping plan for South African development was laid out on Friday morning by President Thabo Mbeki in his state of the nation address to a joint sitting of the National assembly. Covering every issue from crime to the humiliation of the Bushmen, and announcing a […]
ZIMBABWEAN authorities have suspended 18 top management members of Harare’s municipality for allegedly contributing to maladministration and chaos. The suspension of the 18 senior council workers, just two weeks after government sacked the elected mayor and all his councillors, came amid reports that emergency services were falling apart, with only four out of a total […]
FORMER apartheid-era hitmen Abraham “Slang” van Zyl and Leon “Chappies” Maree have gone to court to demand the banning of a book which says they plotted to murder former Tollgate chairman Julian Askin. The two former policemen, whose names featured in Truth Commission hearings, want the book “Dangerous Deceits – Julian Askin and the Tolgate […]
Former African presidents Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere and Sir Ketumile Masire are likely to be called on regularly to promote the cause of Africa.
A PRETORIA English teacher resigned on Thursday after angry parents called him a “racist” for setting an exam based on a Herman Charles Bosman extract containing the word “kaffir”. The short story, “Unto Dust”, deals with a quarrel over the skeletons of a “boer soldier” and a “kaffir”, making the point that no-one can tell […]
BRYAN PEARSON, Cape Town | Friday 3.00pm. PRESIDENT Thabo Mbeki on Friday announced measures to increase the competitiveness of the South African economy, boost job creation and promote foreign investment in the country. Addressing parliament in his maiden state-of-the-nation address, Mbeki also committed his government to continuing the liberal free-market macro-economic policies of his predecessor, […]
FOUR people were killed and several injured in an explosion on Friday at a Pietermaritzburg candle factory. Police are investigating the cause of the explosion.
ALL-ROUNDER Lance Klusener, voted man of the tournament in the World Cup, has turned down an offer to replace injured fellow South African Jacques Kallis at English county side Glamorgan. “No way,” Klusener told a Durban newspaper. “They have Jacques — that’s it. “Right now, I’m longing to get back home. It’s been a long, […]
FRIDAY, 12.30PM: THE WELSH side that will meet the Springboks in a one-off Test match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday will be characteristically full of spirit and fight, but all indications are that the Boks will maintain their unbeaten record over the Celtic visitors, writes Rob Davies . The Welsh rugby road has been very […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 6.30pm. PAKISTANI Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ordered a probe into allegations of match fixing against the national cricket team which lost to Australia in the World Cup final. Sharif’s Ehtesab (Accountability) Bureau has undertaken inquiries against Pakistan’s players after their humiliating defeat amid rumours the side staged a fixed […]
FORMER All Black mentor and current Golden Lions head coach Laurie Mains has predicted a torrid time for South Africa in their rugby Test against Wales at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday. “I think Wales will be a real wake-up call for South Africa,” Mains said in Johannesburg on Thursday. “I’m not saying […]
FRIDAY, 12.30PM: ALL THREE South African tennis players who went into the second round at Wimbledon on Thursday, emerged unscathed to take their places in the third round of the illustrious competition. Wayne Ferreira trumped his former nemesis, Spaniard Albert Costa, beating him 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. The Spaniard resorted to breaking Ferreira’s concentration by […]
FRIDAY 5.30PM: PLAY was suspended due to rain on the third and final day of the cricket match between British Universities and the touring South Africans at Fenners on Friday. The South Africans scored 394/1 declared in their first innings, and were 130 without loss in the second. The Students scored 199. FRIDAY, 12.30PM: PAT […]
NIGERIAN-BORN WBO heavyweight champion Herbie Hide turned over tables and chairs after losing his temper in a press conference in London on Thursday. Hide leapt to his feet to confront his former sparring partner Danny Williams during a meeting with the press ahead of Saturday’s title defence against Vitali Klitschko at the London Arena. British […]
Wonder Hlongwa A taxi driver from Pinetown in KwaZulu- Natal claims he was arrested, handcuffed to a chair for seven hours, assaulted and suffocated after he reported to police that his minibus was stolen. Three weeks ago, the minibus Mthokozisi Mwelase (26) drives was stolen outside his home. He reported the theft at the Marianhill […]
A FARM worker has laid assault charges against an Mpumalanga farmer who allegedly beat her for talking loudly to a friend in a toilet while on duty. Cynthia Mkhatjwa (37) of Magogeni tribal trust alleges that Ricardo Colonna assaulted her two weeks ago and then tried to bribe her with R10. She laid charges against […]
Friday night Mercedes Sayagues Zimbabwe has a Lost City, in the Great Zimbabwe ruins, and a Fun City, in Vic Falls. More than half a million tourists flock every year to Vic Falls to have fun, since that is what tourists are supposed to do. The town has caught the disease. Every day is a […]
Matthew Krouse The Encounters Swiss South African Documentary Film Festival is the first of its kind in South Africa. Given our proud history of documentary film-making it’s surprising that no others have preceded this major event that launched on June 20. An initiative of the film department of the Swiss cultural organisation Pro Helvetia and […]
Mungo Soggot ASecond Look A few weeks before the election, a foreign diplomat said that as far as his government was concerned, the litmus test of the Thabo Mbeki era was going to be what happened to the then Cabinet’s non-performers. The diplomat mentioned only two names – Penuell Maduna, whom he believed had had […]