A UNITED STATES-based technology research firm ranks South Africa’s cellular phone service as amongst the world’s most expensive, along with Brazil, Colombia, India and Mexico. The Yankee Group’s finding is based on a comparison of purchasing power, or how expensive cellular service is compared to other standard goods and services in any particular country, rather […]
UGANDA is accusing the Sudanese embassy in neighbouring Kenya of coordinating bomb and grenade attacks which have left 55 people dead and 183 injured in Kampala since 1997. In the past, Sudan has accused Uganda of supporting the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army and Kampala in turn accuses Khartoum of backing rebels fighting the Ugandan […]
MOST government schools in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare were deserted on Friday as a strike by civil servants entered its third day. Teachers are among thousands of civil servants around the country striking for a 20% cost of living adjustment. President Robert Mugabe on Thursday night described the strike as “completely unjustifiable”, adding “It is a […]
INTERNET portal iafrica.com announced on Thursday that it has entered into a joint venture with Interactive Investor International (iii) to provide on-line financial information to private investors and financial intermediaries both locally and internationally. The joint venture is expected to generate more revenue for the Metropolis financial community over the next few years through subscriptions […]
A GIANT portrait of an Egyptian Islamic militant executed for the 1981 assassination of president Anwar Sadat will be unveiled in the Iranian capital on Friday. The picture of the “great al-Islambuli martyr” — Khaled al-Islambuli — is being painted by fundamentalists in a residential street named after the assassin by Iranian authorities angry over […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
IN BRIEF AWB MAN UNSURE WHO HIS SUPERIOR WAS THE Afrikaner Weerstandbeweging had a top-heavy rank structure, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission amnesty committee heard on Friday. Nonetheless, Abie Fourie, one of 10 AWB members applying for amnesty for the pre-election bombings of 1994, did not know who his immediate superior was, or where the […]
FRIDAY, 8.00AM: BAFANA BAFANA need to beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 to keep alive their World Cup chances after their draw against Denmark on Thursday night (see below). South Africa coach Philippe Troussier is confident the South Africans can beat the Saudis, who lost 4-0 to France on Thursday night. Denmark will have to lose 2-0 […]
SOUTH Africa coach Bob Woolmer confirmed on Tuesday he would not be available to coach England after the World Cup. In Cape Town the Western Province Cricket Association said coach Duncan Fletcher would be allowed to leave if he was offered the job as England coach. Woolmer steps down as South Africa coach after the […]
THE South African cricket team, dubbed Hansie Cronje’s tragic heroes by one sports writer, will fly into Johannesburg on Sunday morning — about two hours before Pakistan and Australia take to the field for the World Cup final in England. Cricket boss Ali Bacher has appealed for large crowds at the airport to greet the […]
DEON POTGIETER, Johannesburg | day 11.00m. MZUKISI Sikali, South Africa’s World Boxing Union Junior Bantamweight world champion makes the second defence of his title in Italy on Saturday night. The gutsy South African Southpaw will be facing Luigi Castiglione, the man he dethroned for the title last year. Although Sikali who’s record now stands on […]
LANCE Klusener would probably be the first name on every World Cup captain’s wish list and Australia’s Steve Waugh must have been thinking “if only” when he saw the organisers’ latest averages. Sitting proudly atop the South African list was Klusener – and he was somehow also included ahead of Waugh and his team mates […]
GREG Emslie, 22, from East London, will enter the Association of Surfing Professionals Yop Rip Curl Cup, in the Reunion Island from June 22-27, as hot favourite in a bid to successfully defend his title. However, Emslie has forfeited his wildcard entry normally due to defending champions because of a late entry, and will have […]
FRIDAY, 10.30AM: ERNIE ELS carded a pedestrian five-over-par 75 after the first day’s play at the US Open on Thursday, putting him nine shots behind the leader, Payne Stewart, who closed with three straight birdies to finish on a four-under 66. Qualifier Mark Carnevale, playing in only his second US Open, was one stroke behind […]
THE South African Professional Golf Players’ Benevolent Fund was launched on Thursday with a pro-am event at Germiston Golf Club. The fund will help golf pros and their families should they suffer disability or death.
LANCE Klusener’s heavyweight bat and cavalier approach have combined to make him the World Cup’s leading six hitter after the first two rounds. Klusener, whose ferocious late order hitting has been a vital ingredient of South Africa’s smooth passage into the semifinals, has cleared the boundary nine times. He leads by one from India’s Saurav […]
STEVE Bucknor and David Shepherd will umpire the World Cup final at Lord’s on June 20. Organisers said on Tuesday the third umpire will be Srinivas Venkataraghaven and the match referee will be Ranjan Madugalle. Umpires for the Old Trafford semi-final between Pakistan and New Zealand on Wednesday will be Darrell Hair and Peter Willey. […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Friday 11.00am. THE coalition government of the Inkatha Freedom Party and the African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal was committed to co-ordination and co-operation on all issues, the newly appointed provincial premier Lionel Mtshali said on Friday. Speaking shortly after being sworn in as premier, Mtshali said: “Our shared responsibility for the […]
AFRICAN Olympic chief Jean-Claude Ganga will lose his position as chief of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, following a change of rules made by the International Olympic Committee on Thursday. Ganga has been implicated in the recent scandals over bribery of Olympic officials.
GRIQUALAND West beat the Natal Sharks 29-23 in the Bankfin Currie Cup match played at Kimberley on Friday. Griquas led 14-5 at half-time.
THE Pan Africanist Congress said on Thursday some of the appointments to the new Cabinet were so surprising that they were “spine-chilling”. PAC spokesperson Wonder Masombuka said the appointments of Dr Nkosazana Zuma to Foreign Affairs, Patrick Lekota to Defence and Thoko Didiza to Land Affairs were of particular concern. The appointments appeared to be […]
FELIX MPONDA, Blanytre | Friday 6.30pm Malawi’s President Bakili Muluzi, who ousted dictator Kamuzu Banda in 1994, has won re-election for a second and final five-year term, the electoral commission announced Friday. But a slender victory margin will send a warning to the man who ousted dictator Kamuzu Banda five years ago that anger over […]
Cameron Duodu Letter from the North I am extremely proud to inform you that the only reason I was able to watch President Thabo Mbeki’s inaugural speech live was because your brothers and sisters in the north have begun to pull up their socks. I was watching the ceremony on BBC World. Just as Mbeki […]
Barbara Ellen Body Language One of my strangest assignments was being asked to review an example of “erotic fiction for women”. If I remember rightly, it was called something like The Silken Flesh or Sigh Of Desire. Oddly, for a mucky book, none of the female characters appeared to have vaginas, clitorises, or any of […]
THURSDAY, 1.00PM: A FURORE has broken out over transport parastatal Transnet’s award of lucrative public relations contracts to Simeka TWS Communications, because Transnet MD Saki Macozoma sits on Simeka’s board. National Party MP Daryl Swanepoel has accused Transnet of a “gross conflict of interest”, and claims that Simeka was awarded Transnet contracts irregularly. Swanepoel claimed […]
Marianne Merten `I have no more tears left,” says Keith Mentor, whose three-year-old granddaughter, Chantine Veldsman, was shot in the head at point-blank range last Saturday in Mitchells Plain. The little girl clung to life at Cape Town’s Red Cross Children’s Hospital for two days. On Monday Chantine was declared brain dead and the life […]
Once upon a time, women in tennis meant short skirts and visible knickers. Now it’s all serious muscles and attitudes. But, Jim White asks, are women doing themselves a disservice? Four hundred and fifty-five thousand pounds: not bad for a fortnight’s work. That’s how much Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski will be straining (and, being […]