ZIMBABWE admitted on Thursday that the village of Manono in the Democratic Republic of Congo has fallen to rebel forces, but said Southern African Development Community troops made a “tactical withdrawal”. Army spokesman Chancellor Diye said in a statement that just 94 men had held out at Manono, the birthplace of DRC President Laurent Kabila, […]
DEPUTY Speaker Baleka Mbete was on Monday re-elected for a second five-year term, weathering a challenge from the Democratic Party — the first in its role as official opposition — in which the party nominated its own candidate for the post. Mbete had already been nominated by fellow African National Congress MP Bertha Gxowa, when […]
WATER supplies were restored on Tuesday to most parts of the Zimbabwean capital Harare, where hospitals, hotels, schools and factories have had to close during a three-day operation to replace the pumping system. The installation of the new pumping equipment was to have been completed in a day on Saturday, but continued through Monday. The […]
THE recently-launched Namibia Airports Company is to spend more than N$70-million upgrading the eight airports and aerodromes under its management. The NAC, which has inherited responsibility for the cash-strapped airports, also plans to increase the combined turnover of the eight air terminals by as much as 36%. NAC CEO Tukondelanee Nghihalua said that Walvis Bay […]
NIGERIA’S new President Olusegun Obasanjo has retired 93 military officers who have held political appointments in the last 14 years to achieve a “clean break” with the junta-dominated past. The officers, ranking from lieutentant colonel to major general in the military, police and customs, who held political appointments between 1985 and 1999 have been retired […]
DEDICATED teams of detectives will probe all police attacks and killings in the flashpoint provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape, Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi announced on Friday. The announcement came as the number of policemen murdered so far this year touched the 100 mark, according to figures released […]
PORTNET managing director Rob Childs has resigned suddenly, SABC news reports. Childs, who joined Transnet last February, was the subject of an internal investigation into the alleged abuse of Portnet tender procedures. The probe found no such abuse, but that Portnet’s management had failed to manage its consultants properly. Transnet CEO Saki Macozoma said Childs […]
THE South African National Civic Organisation and the Congress of South African Trade Unions in the Eastern Cape are to team up to mobilise support against the construction of a casino at the Marina Glen site. Sanco spokesperson Benson Hobo says Gompo Leisure, the successful bidders for an East London casino licence, must face the […]
SOUTH AFRICAN arms manufacturer Denel on Tuesday denied claims by the anti-arms lobby group, the Ceasefire Campaign, that it is selling artillery shells worth R300-million to India. Denel spokesman Sizakele Kooma said the company has no intention of selling artillery ammunition to India and had not received any request from that country for such a […]
DENMARK, long one of Zimbabwe’s closest allies, has suspended more than $26-million worth of aid — until Zimbabwe pulls out of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Denmark had pledged the aid to upgrade Zimbabwe’s eight airports.The Danish Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Erik Fiil, said on Thursday that the move is a protest against Zimbabwe’s continued military […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 9.30am POLICE and army troops have been redeployed to the volatile Cape Flats after a weekend of gang-related fighting that left 19 people injured and two dead. On Monday morning three-year-old Chantien Veldsman, the daughter of slain Cape Flats gang leader Glen Kahn, is in a critical condition in […]
A DEADLOCK in talks in Lome between Sierra Leone’s government and the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has eased, Togo’s Foreign Minister Joseph Kokou Koffigoh said late on Sunday. He said the two sides agreed in a meeting on Saturday to consider each other’s positions, after pleas from Togo’s President Gnassingbe Eyadema and other mediators […]
ITALY have called up uncapped scrumhalf Filippo Frati to replace the injured Matteo Mazzantini on their four-match tour of South Africa. Mazzantini was taken off with a knee injury in his side’s 47-10 defeat by South Western Districts in the opening match on Tuesday. The 27-year-old Frati, of Parma, is the second scrumhalf to be […]
AT least 57 more people have died as an outbreak of a virulent strain of highland malaria spreads in southwestern Kenya. A clinical officer at Kilkoris government hospital, says another 30000 people have been affected by the disease in the remote Transmara district, about 240 kms west of Nairobi. A reporter who visited the region […]
THE troubled southern Nigerian oil town of Warri has been declared an official “disaster zone” by the governor of Delta State, James Ibori, an aide said on Monday. Ibori over the weekend declared the town a disaster zone to allow the state to provide relief for people made homeless by inter-communal fighting which had devastated […]
BOTSWANA’S all-items consumer price index rose 0,3% in May from April, bringing the year-on-year increase to 6,5%, the Central Statistics Office said on Thursday. The cost of living was 119,6 points, against April’s 119,2 and 112,2 a year ago. The increase was attributed to small increases in most sub-groups, with alcohol and tobacco the largest […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 4.00pm MPs on Monday unanimously chose African National Congress leader Thabo Mbeki to take over from Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa. The announcement, by Constitutional Court president Arthur Chaskalson, that he had been elected unopposed was greeted with a roar of applause and a standing ovation from […]
SOUTH African businesses have been hit on Friday morning with new virus called the “ExploreZip Worm” –causing a number of businesses to shut down their e-mail servers to contain it. The new infection can erase files from users’ computers, making it much more dangerous than the Melissa virus, which gained notoriety for its ability to […]
TWO people were killed and two injured when suspected Unita rebels ambushed their vehicles as they were carrying out a polio vaccination campaign in Angola, officials said on Monday. The health ministry initially said one person died in Saturday’s attack near Calomboloca, 80km southeast of Luanda. It was blamed on Unita rebels, who made off […]
South African National Defence Force commander, General Siphiwe Nyanda, on Monday said he believed his late brother was sold out by a fellow MK cadre known as “Fear”, who allegedly committed suicide while being interrogated by ANC members in Lusaka. Nyanda told reporters during a break in Truth and Reconciliation Commission proceedings that there had […]
ARNOLD Mentz, the Commissioner of the Southern African Tour, announced he is to leave his current position and move into a facilitation role in the structuring of a new golf development body, which will focus on the previously disadvantaged. Mentz joined as Commissioner of the SA Tour in November 1996 at the request of Johann […]
THE director of the Independent Complaints Directorate, Neville Melville, said on Friday certain individuals and organisations are creating a mischievous perception that the ICD is conducting a witchhunt against police officials. Melville said some of the misinformation being spread appears to be politically motivated. There are also people within the ranks of the police who […]
TWO people were killed and two injured when suspected UNITA rebels ambushed their vehicles as they were carrying out a polio vaccination campaign 80 kms southeast of Luanda. The UNITA rebels apparently made off with various supplies and vaccines. The two injured people were hospitalised in Luanda. Meanwhile, at least three people, two of them […]
DE BEERS Consolidated Mines, the world’s largest diamond producer, said on Thursday it has struck a two-year pay deal with the National Union of Mineworkers covering 5100 workers. The company said in a statement that it had agreed to increases of 8% per year on basic salaries, an additional 1% a year for service increments […]
THE touring South African netball squad have kicked off their New Zaland tour with a 49-40 victory over the Wellington Club 49-40 in their first match in the Fisher & Paykel international series. The series is being contested by SA, New Zealand and Australia.The Proteas’ next match is against Western Flyers in Palmerston on Saturday.
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Frankfurt | Monday 11.20am FINANCE ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations agreed on Saturday on the sale of 10-million ounces of IMF gold to finance debt reduction for the world’s poorest countries. “There will be a very limited amount of gold sales, 10-million ounces,” German Finance Minister Hans Eichel told […]
NIGERIAN bank workers on Tuesday suspended a strike action launched two weeks ago over better pay and working conditions following the decision of employers to negotiate, union officials said.”The ongoing action is hereby suspended with immediate effect,” Princewell Ojeh, president of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions said. Ojeh urged […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 4.20pm THE African National Congress in the Western Cape plans to announce at a press conference on Monday afternoon that it is declining the offer, made by the New National Party and Democratic Party, of three seats in the provincial cabinet, sources said. The ANC is therefore opting for […]
PAN Africanist Congress secretary general Ngila Muendane told SABC TV news on Wednesday that he was unaware of his apparent removal from the party’s National Assembly list. Muendane told the station: “I don’t know what is happening … I’m just hearing it from you.” He had been number three on the party’s parliamentary list, but […]
THE African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party on Thursday agreed to form a coalition government in KwaZulu-Natal. In a joint statement the parties said that they commit themselves to a need for the formation of a coalition government between the ANC and IFP. They said they hope “to finalise the talks in due […]
AUSTRALIAN star leg spinner Shane Warne could be driven from the game by unrelenting media attacks, according to cricket World Cup skipper Steve Waugh. Waugh, speaking before Sunday’s clash with South Africa, said: “Shane’s under a lot of pressure and is copping a lot of stick from back home in the press. “I’m really not […]
ARCHAEOLOGISTS in Egypt’s Western Desert have discovered a huge cemetery, so far uncovering 200 mummies including some of the wealthy and powerful of 3000 years ago. The cemetery, which dates back to the early Greco-Roman era, is believed to contain more than 10000 mummies, making it the biggest ever uncovered. The site, 300kms southwest of […]