BRYAN PEARSON, Cape Town | Wednesday 9.00pm. THREE opposition parties in the Western Cape agreed Wednesday to form a coalition and said the ANC — which won the provincial election last week — could join them or be excluded from the provincial government. However, the New National Party, Democratic Party and the African Christian Democratic […]
JAMES BRYANT, Edgbaston | Tuesday 12.25pm WORLD Cup favourites South Africa will receive a simple message from Hansie Cronje before their second-round clash with New Zealand here on Thursday — let’s try and win without Lance Klusener’s help for a change. The South Africans, fresh from beating main tournament rivals Pakistan, can make sure of […]
THE Malawi Electoral Commission has fired two District Commissioners from acting as Returning Officers during the country’s 15 June general elections for “not cooperating” with the Commission. Chief Elections Officer Roosevelt Gondwe says the two men — Geoffrey Mwanja and Martin Mainja — created problems in the run up to the elections. Opposition and civil […]
ALL four opposition parties in Mpumalanga’s legislature appear set to form a coalition against the ruling African National Congress. The Democratic Party, which won 4,5% of the provincial vote, met with New National Party representatives in Witbank on Tuesday to discuss the proposed alliance. Further meetings between the NNP, United Democratic Party and Freedom Front […]
AT least 18 suspected robbers have been killed by irate Lagos residents in the last week, press reports said on Wednesday. The victims were roasted alive by the residents, who organised themselves into a vigilante group in the Ebute-Metta area of the city, the independent newspaper The Punch said. Amid escalating crime in Lagos, residents […]
PRESIDENT-ELECT Thabo Mbeki hinted strongly that an alliance with the Inkatha Freedom Party is on the cards when he invited IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi to join him on the podium on Monday night to receive the election results. A deal with the IFP gives Mbeki 75% of seats in the National Assembly, and control of […]
TUESDAY, 6.30PM: VODACOM CUP winners Griqualand West continued their excellent run of form beating Ireland by 52-13 in a tour match played at Hoffe Park in Kimberley on Tuesday. The Irish, who have now lost three games on the trot, will no doubt be somewhat under-confident when they meet the Springboks for the first of […]
DAVID SHAPSHAK , Johannesburg | Monday 9.00pm THE African National Congress missed its two-thirds majority by just one seat in the National Assembly, in the final election results released on Monday night. The ANC achieved 66,35% of the vote, or 266 seats out of 400, in Parliament — one short of the 267 needed to […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Tuesday 1.30am FORMER Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock said on Tuesday he would not have killed askari Johannes Mabotha if he had known Mabotha was to have testified against Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in a possible high treason case. He told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s amnesty committee in Pretoria that he would […]
RESIDENTS of Nairobi woke up on Monday morning to find the city blanketed in a foul stench due to a sanitation workers’ strike. About 1000 employees of Kenya Refuse Handlers, the firm contracted by the Nairobi City Council to keep the city clean, went on strike on Sunday to protest against unsatisfactory wage conditions. Kenya […]
POLITICAL parties believed the Independent Electoral Commission had done a good job in running South Africa’s second democratic elections last week, IEC chairwoman Brigalia Bam said on Monday. Bam said all South Africans could be proud of the June 2 poll, which had been described as free and fair by 96% of respondents to a […]
MONDAY, 12.30PM: SOUTH AFRICA were held to yet another draw in an international soccer match when they levelled 1-1 with Iceland at the Baiersbronn Stadium in Obertal, Germany on Saturday. Bafana Bafana put on a poor display in their final warm-up match before meeting France in their opening Group C match in Marseilles on Friday, […]
THE Oil Company of Malawi (Oilcom) said on Monday that the decision by national carrier Air Malawi to suspend refuelling its aircraft in Malawi will mean millions in losses for the local petroleum company. Air Malawi on Friday announced that aviation fuel in Malawi is too expensive, and it will refuel its Lilongwe-London flight, run […]
AN armed separatist movement which is holding four Europeans hostage in the Angolan oil enclave of Cabinda on Monday laid down its conditions for their release in a statement. The movement said that it has been holding the two French and two Portuguese oil industry personnel since March 20 to overcome what it called the […]
THE South Western Districts Eagles thrashed Italy 47-10 on Tuesday in a warm-up to the first Test against the Springboks this weekend. The George team scored six converted tries – including a hat trick by centre Tiaan Joubert and a penalty try – to one. The second string visitor’s side was comprehensively outplayed, managing to […]
THE Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Trevor Tutu, the son of Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Tutu faces arrest for failing to appear in court on three charges, including two of tax evasion. The two charges of tax evasion relate to Tutu’s alleged failure to submit tax returns in 1996 and […]
The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa has declared a dispute with Columbus Steel and Highveld Steel after the weekend’s wage negotiations reached a stalemate. Columbus Steel’s offer of a 6% wage increase was rejected by Numsa, as was Highveld Steel’s offer of an 8,5% increase on minimum wage. Numsa has also criticised […]
THE White House said on Monday it will nominate Delano Lewis, a former National Public Radio director, to be the United States’ ambassador to South Africa. Lewis served as assistant director of operations for the Peace Corps in Nigeria in the 1960s and then as Uganda’s Peace Corps director. Later, he became director of Peace […]
THE New National Party’s federal executive started a ‘strategy’ meeting at an undisclosed venue outside Cape Town at 10am on Monday. NNP spokeswoman Juli Kilian said it is a routine planning meeting which had been scheduled some time ago, with the party’s election performance and its future role on the agenda.
A TWO-DAY conference on aid and debt in Africa is due to begin on June 9 in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou, bringing together some 100 researchers and officials of multilateral lending institutions. The meeting, which will reconsider the role of the Breton Woods institutions on the African continent, will bring together academics and senior […]
DAVID SHAPSHAK, Johannesburg | Tuesday 11.30am. WESTERN Province and Stormers wing Breyton Paulse is the new black Springbok in the “attacking” team named by coach Nick Mallett on Monday. Paulse, who comes in on the right wing for Stefan Terblanche, is certain to bring his attacking flair after excelling in this aspect of play in […]
THE inspector general of the Namibian Police, Lieutenant-Geneneral Lukas Hangula, on Monday urged African governments to seriously tackle economic crime, saying it is an evil of concern to the whole world. He said crime patterns in Africa split into two major areas: physical or violent crimes such as murder, rape, assault and homicide and crimes […]
MONDAY, 3.00PM: A CONSORTIUM reportedly backed by financier George Soros has, since May, been planning a takeover bid for Lonrho Africa, the recently spun-off trading arm of British conglomerate Lonrho, the Sunday Telegraph said. The consortium is expected to wait for Thursday, when Lonrho Africa is expected to post poor interim results which could depress […]
A MAJOR offshore pipeline project across four west African countries has received the go-ahead, a source associated with the project said on Tuesday. The cost of the project, which is expected to carry natural gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana, is estimated at $430 million. The 1,030km pipeline will be financed by a […]
NORTHERN PROVINCE premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi warned on Monday that he would not re-appoint lazy or ineffective politicians to the provincial cabinet next week. Declining to name those accused of inefficiency, Ramatlhodi said he would only re-appoint MECs who had proven their integrity and who had a firm grasp of their portfolios. Anyone who failed to […]
MONDAY, 12.30PM: THE IRISH rugby team currently on tour in South Africa have a tough week ahead after losing a second tour match against Western Province at a wet and muddy Newlands on Saturday. Both sides found the conditions virtually unplayable, and the final score of 12-6 reflects the nature of the match. No tries […]
THE Malawi Privatisation Commission has announced that the Malawi government has approved CFM/SDCN consortium of Mozambique as successful bidders for the financially-troubled Malawi Railways Ltd. In a statement issued Monday in Blantyre, the commission said. CFM/SDCN emerged victors from seven international rail companies, including Spoornet of South Africa and a British rail company, who bade […]
THE son of a prominent member of vigilante group People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) was shot and seriously wounded while he was playing soccer at the Tafelsig sports grounds in Mitchell’s Plain on Sunday. Police spokesman Captain Jacques Wiese on Monday said two men, allegedly members of the Americans gang, shot Moegamat Heuwel (17) […]
NIGERIA’S fledgling petrochemical and natural gas sectors will be expanded to be on a par with the oil sector within four years, President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Friday. Setting out economic plans, Obasanjo told legislators at a joint sitting of the new Nigerian parliament that these two under-developed areas of the oil industry would be […]
HUGE deposits of minerals including potash and sulphur have been discovered in Ethiopia’s northeastern Afar state, officials in Addis Ababa said on Tuesday. Ethiopian and foreign prospectors have found “a huge deposit in the form of salt, potash, sulphur, marble, granite and limestone”, according to the regional office for development, mines and energy, which said […]
THE Boere Weerstandsbeweging on Monday warned Freedom Front leader General Constand Viljoen that a Boer council could order his elimination if he refused to disband his party. BWB secretary general Dries Kriel said Viljoen could be outlawed or declared an “enemy of the Boer volk” by the council. The BWB, supporters of the reinstatement of […]
The entire editorial, sales and supplements staff of De Kat magazine have resigned, citing financial problems at Penta Publications as the reason for their action. The group of 15 employees said although they were committed to producing a quality Afrikaans magazine, the current financial situation at Penta Publications make it impossible to meet that objective.