OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sydney | Tuesday 4.30pm. KENYAN great Kip Keino on Tuesday predicted a continuing hold for his country on the steeplechase title at the 2000 Olympics. The soft-spoken Keino, who gave Kenya its first gold medal at the 1968 Olympics when he won the 1,500 metres and went on to win the steeplechase gold […]
KENYAN authorities on Monday began a bid to extradite a British woman charged with plotting to steal thousands of dollars’ of United Nations property after peacekeeping troops withdrew from Somalia. Kerry Page (30) organised the shipping of UN goods from Somalia to the Kenyan port of Mombasa in 1995. At a London court, lawyers for […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: A NERVOUS Johannesburg Stock Exchange lost 3,28% of its value on opening on Monday morning, as market sentiment plunged with fears over the debilitating rand/dollar exchange rate and Friday’s indications that the Reserve Bank is scaling back its intervention in the foreign exchange market. On Friday, the market was caught off guard when […]
THE state has decided not to prosecute music legend Ray Phiri on three criminal charges that his former landlord laid against him in March. Senior public prosecutor Marius van Heerden said on Friday that he decided not prosecute Phiri, but declined to give reasons for his decision. Phiri was facing charges of housebreaking, theft and […]
A 19-year-old woman suspected of strangling her newborn baby is under police guard at the Matikwana Hospital in the Northern Province. Police said on Tuesday that the teenager, of Cork village near Calcutta in Bushbuckridge, gave birth at the hospital to a healthy baby girl on Sunday. Nurses found the baby dead on Monday morning […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Luanda | Sunday 7.15pm. ANGOLA spurned three late chances as they drew 2-2 with South Africa in a thrilling African Nations Cup Group 4 qualifying match at the Citadela Stadium in Luanda on Sunday. Betinho and Salvador Avelino shot over and goalkeeper Hans Vonk tipped a Osvaldo da Cruz header away as Angola […]
BOTSWANA’S parliament convened in Gaborone on Monday for the start of what is expected to be a short session due to the October general elections. The session is expected to be a busy one, with a number of bills and motions to be debated before parliament is dissolved ahead of the election. According to the […]
THE man widely tipped to become Nigeria’s new defence minister, Theophilus Danjuma, has been treated in France for clinical depression, diplomats said at the weekend. Danjuma, a former chief of defence staff, flew to France this month for the treatment after suffering a breakdown, and is recovering, the sources said. Danjuma, a close adviser of […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 5.45am. GAUTENG’s health services are on the verge of collapse, and intensive-care patients will begin to die unnecessarily if a freeze on hiring new doctors at Johannesburg’s four teaching hospitals is not reversed by month’s end. That was the sobering message of a panel of four senior state-employed doctors, who […]
FOURTEEN Zambian children face death by brain seizure after a dog suspected to have rabies bit them during a two day rampage in the country’s central province of Kabwe. The only way to avoid the fatal disease after exposure is immediate and relatively expensive treatment. “Victims of the mad dog’s rampage are in despair, as […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 1.30pm NEW regulations boosting the powers of ministers in managing their departments were launched in Pretoria on Tuesday. The public service management framework, which comes into effect on July 1, will enable ministers to create and abolish posts, as well as to recruit, appoint, promote, transfer and discharge employees. Deputy […]
PRESIDENT Mbeki’s office has begun advertising key positions, including that of presidential spokesperson. The post of chief director of communication will pay a basic R208326 for a person with “high-level managerial, communication and negotiation skills”, whose duties will include researching and writing speeches for the president. Mbeki’s current spokesperson, Ronnie Mamoepa, who is expected to […]
THREE bandits suspected of attacking six American tourists in the world-famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve in southwest Kenya this week appeared in court on Saturday and admitted the charge. The suspects, arrested by Kenyan security forces early Saturday in a bush den on the Kenyan-Tanzanian border were remanded in custody. Police said that the three […]
THE Estcourt Magistrate’s Court on Monday issued a warrant of arrest for former Miss South Africa Kerishnie Naicker after she failed to appear before the court for an alleged traffic offence. She was allegedly caught driving at 190km per hour near the town in March. The magistrate ordered that the execution of the warrant be […]
NOT only were the Natal Sharks beaten 23-29 in a Currie Cup match against Griqualand West, but returning from Kimberley on Friday night they narrowly escaped injury when their chartered airplane burst into flame shortly after take-off. The rugby players and about 20 other passengers were returning to KwaZulu-Natal when the right engine on the […]
A JAPANESE businessman on Saturday escaped from kidnappers who had demanded $50000 for his release, police in Durban said. Police said in a statement that Kensuke Matsumoto (67) ran into a Japanese restaurant in a beachfront hotel about 1.30pm on Saturday. “Mr Matsumoto … does not appear to have been seriously injured,” police said. Police […]
EMILE Ilunga, the breakaway leader of the Congolese Rally for Democracy rebel movement, on Saturday spelled out a set of conditions for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The RCD’s three preconditions for ending a 10-month rebellion to topple President Laurent Kabila are that his troops stop targeting civilians, release Tutsi prisoners held in […]
FIFTEEN African National Congress Youth League members picketed the entrance of the Western Cape legislature building in Cape Town on Monday, demanding the formation of a provincial youth commission. ANCYL provincial deputy chairperson Goodenough Kodwa said he expected large number of their supporters to join them later on Monday afternoon. Earlier on Monday, ANCYL chairperson […]
FORMER Mpumalanga MEC for environmental affairs, Luckson Mathebula, and his girlfriend were denied bail in the Mhala Regional Court in Bushbuckridge on Friday for the alleged murder of Mathebula’s estranged wife. Northern Province police spokesman Senior Superintendent Phuti Setati said Mathebula and 34-year-old Pretty Gama — an employee of Coca-Cola in Nelspruit — will be […]
LIBYAN leader Muammar Gadaffi wrapped up a three day visit to Sudan with an appeal to Sudanese opponents abroad to come back home. “I am ready to guarantee their safe return,” he told Sudanese students at a meeting just before heading for the airport for his flight home. “Force cannot solve any problem and all […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 11.50am. ALGERIA, Congo and Cote d’Ivoire clinched places at the 2000 African Nations Cup on Sunday after the final qualifying matches. A 2-0 win over Uganda in Annaba enabled Algeria to finish runners-up behind Tunisia in Group 7, but it was close as only a one goal difference separated them […]
PREPARATIONS for the Southern African Development Community heads of state summit in Lusaka on June 26 are on course, said Zambian foreign affairs spokesman Kimbala Meleka on Monday. Meleka confirmed that SADC defence and foreign ministers are expected to begin arriving in Lusaka from Tuesday to begin finalising the summit’s agenda on Wednesday. Ministers from […]
FRED CHELA & DAN LANGEVELDT, Blantyre | Monday 4.00pm. POST-election violence which erupted in Malawi’s opposition stronghold in the north of the country on Friday has left at least one person dead and ten mosques razed to the ground, police and the Muslim Association of Malawi said on Monday. The violence began in the northern […]
FOLLOWING the drop of the repo rate, or Reserve Bank overnight lending rate, to 15,222% on Thursday, a rate cut has become imminent. The repo rate is now close on 400 points lower than the current prime lending rate of commercial banks, at 19%. At present, such a 400 point margin usually triggers a prime […]
GAUTENG’s new Premier Mbhazima Shilowa named his provincial executive committee on Friday afternoon. Notable by their absence from the new executive are former housing MEC Dan Mofokeng and local government MEC Sicelo Shiceka, as well as previous premier Mothole Motshekga. The only incumbent to retain his portfolio was finance and economic affairs MEC Jabu Moleketi. […]
THE man accused of raping journalist Charlene Smith appeared briefly in the Johannesburg Regional Court on Thursday. The 26-year-old Newlands, Johannesbug man, who has not yet pleaded to a charge of rape, allegedly broke into the journalist’s house on April 1 after making threatening calls to her. He allegedly raped her, covered her mouth with […]
LANCE Klusener, who took South Africa within a run of the World Cup final and received four man of the match awards, was named the player of the tournament on Sunday. The soft-spoken Natalian was asked to stay behind to watch the final, won by Australia, when his team-mates returned. Klusener finished as the top […]
STRONG profits and sales gains reported on Thursday by Swiss luxury goods and tobacco group Richemont confirmed a rebound in key Asian markets and helped lift luxury goods stocks in early trading across Europe. Richemont posted a 19,6% gain in attributable profit for the year ended March 31, driven largely by higher earnings in its […]
AN overloaded boat which sank two weeks ago on Ghana’s Lake Volta, where more than 60 people drowned, was not authorised or equipped to carry passengers, marine officials said on Friday. In a government-commissioned report by Ghana’s Marine Surveyors, an investigation concluded that the boat carrying an estimated 90 people was neither certified, licensed or […]
SUDANESE President Omar el-Bashir said on Friday that his government is working toward creating a strong Islamic state that will not succumb to any outside pressure. Despite much resistance, el-Bashir said that Sudan during his 10-year leadership has never deviated from advancing Islamic goals. A strong Islamic nation would lead the world to respect Muslims, […]
A DIESEL shortage in the Zambian capital Lusaka has worsened, forcing some motorists to spend nights at filling stations while some bus operators have had to reschedule their departure times. A check around Lusaka on Wednesday found most filling stations only selling a maximum of 100 litres for any vehicle, litres which bus operators felt […]
THE Congress of South African Students (on Thursday re-affirmed its commitment to make the Western Cape “ungovernable” if the African National Congress was not given control of the province. Cosas provincial deputy chairperson Mailibongwe said in Athlone that they would hold meetings on Thursday and Friday with students to discuss the coalition impasse. Asked if […]