THE organisation Muslims Against Illegitimate Leaders will launch a campaign to discourage people from voting in the June 2 election, according to Mail spokesman Abdurahman Khan. Organisations affiliated to the Islamic Unity Convention decided at the weekend to encourage people not to vote, Business Day reported in its Tuesday edition. The IUC claims to represent […]
AN American citizen wanted on two charges in the United States was traced to Cape Town via the internet, police said on Tuesday. The Federal Investigation Bureau in was looking for Steven Nelson Delit on charges of theft of $1,2-million and of flight to avoid prosecution. A member of the public who was surfing the […]
PANASONIC Systems Company announced on Monday it has appointed its first empowerment franchise called OSEC (Office Solutions Empowerment Company. The firm said OSEC is a private black owned operational company dealing in office automation with the majority shareholding of 70% owned by the managing director, Mthandeni Bengane, and the remainder owned by the other director, […]
AN increase in motor vehicle theft last year left many motor insurers making significant underwriting losses last year, the South African Insurance Association said on Monday. SAIA chief executive Barry Scott said in a 1988/99 annual report that the relentless increase in crime in the mid-1990s apparently tapered off in 1996 and 1997. “However, during […]
JUBILEE 2000, the British-based group campaigning for the cancellation of the unpayable debts of the world’s poorest countries by next year, supports Nigeria’s calls for debt relief, director Ann Pettifor said on Tuesday. Speaking after a two-hour meeting with president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo, the director of the high-profile group said: “We in Jubilee 2000 would be […]
NIGERIA’S outgoing military ruler General Abdulsalami Abubakar said on Monday his country and Cameroon have agreed to resolve their long-running dispute over the Bakassi peninsula “in brotherly fashion.” Speaking after talks with Cameroon’s President Paul Biya Monday, Abubakar said his one-day visit had been a great success, while Biya called it “very useful.” The Cameroon […]
THE referees for both semifinals of the Winfield Super 12 and Vodacom Cup this weekend have been announced. In the Super 12 on Saturday night in Cape Town the second place Stormers play third place Otago Highlanders. The officials for this match will be Peter Marshall (Aus), referee, and Andrew Cole (Aus) and Wayne Erickson […]
SACHIN Tendulkar has flown back to India from the cricket World Cup following the death of his father but team officials said on Wednesday they were confident he will rejoin the team. Brijesh Patel from the Indian squad said: “He was in a state of shock. Our thoughts are with him and his family.” He […]
THE United Nations has set July 31 2000 as the date for a referendum on the future of Western Sahara, according to a UN report released on Tuesday. The referendum to decide the future of the former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in 1975 will cap a year of identification and appeal processes approved by […]
PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela has invited Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II to visit South Africa in November, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. The visit is set to start on November 9 and precede the Commonwealth heads of government meeting due to take place in Durban from November 12 to 15, the ministry said. The queen, who […]
THE director of Jubilee 2000, a British-based coalition of non-governmental organisations campaigning to cancel the unpayable debt of the world’s poorest countries, on Monday began a five-day study visit to Nigeria. Ann Pettifor is expected to meet Nigeria’s president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo to raise questions about Britain’s recent offer of debt relief for Nigeria. British Chancellor […]
DEPUTY President Thabo Mbeki on Tuesday congratulated the Israeli Labour Party leader Ehud Barak on his election as Israeli Premier. Barak replaces Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party. Mbeki said he believed the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians would now move rapidly forward in a spirit consistent with the principles for which former Premier […]
THE Independent Electoral Commission announced on Tuesday that it has scrapped a total of 428 candidates from its final list for the elections. Deputy chief electoral officer Norman du Plessis said that some candidates lost their place on the lists because they failed to sign the relevant documents accepting their nomination, while on other applications […]
THE Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board is due to announced the preferred finalist for the Cape Metropole casino licence on Wednesday. The board said that once the preferred finalist has been selected, it will determine whether there is any probity considerations still outstanding regarding the preferred finalist, on the basis of investigations that have […]
CLIMBER Cathy O’Dowd and her team will resume their attempt to climb the northern slope of Mount Everest in Nepa this week after a rescue attempt set them back. Punt Geselsradio reports on Monday that the team is expected back at the advance base camp, which is about 6500 metres above sea level, on Wednesday. […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Dar es Salaam | Monday 2.00pm. A TANZANIAN court on Monday adjourned for two days an application by Kigali for the extradition of the suspected murderer of a Rwandan prime minister and 10 Belgian peacekeepers. Magistrate Projestus Rugazia postponed the case to Wednesday to give former Rwanda major Bernard Ntuyahaga time to obtain […]
CHARGES of fraud and theft involving R10-million were withdrawn against the United Christian Democratic Party in the Mafikeng High Court on Monday. Former Bophutatswana president, Chief Lucas Mangope, is the party leader. UCDP spokesman Sipho Mfundisi said the charges related to allegations that the party, then known as the CDP, misused government funds to bolster […]
DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila’s pilot was arrested at Harare International airport last Tuesday after being found in possession ammunition, but released later the same day. Sunday weekly The Standard reports that the pilot, an American citizen flying Kabila’s presidential plane, was briefly detained at Hatfield Police Station after he was found with […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Canterbury | Tuesday 9.30am. CANTERBURY Crusaders’ All Black flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens rates Queensland as the most dangerous team in the Super 12 rugby union tournament. Mehrtens said Tuesday the Crusaders had hoped to avoid playing the Reds, but also warned the defending champions were regaining fluency and confidence ahead of Saturday’s semi-final at […]
FIVE elephants which were moved this weekend from KwaZulu-Natal to the Northern Province Have adapted to their new environment well. The dramatic operation was filmed and shown live on the internet. Andrew McKenzie, director of the Rhino and Elephant Foundation, said the elephants — an adult cow, a sub-adult cow and three sub-adult bulls =- […]
WESTERN Cape Premier and provincial New National Party leader Gerald Morkel was forced on Monday to cancel his planned visit to an informal settlement on the Cape Flats due to a “life-threatening African National Congress presence”. Morkel said in a statement that he had been advised by his security personnel to avoid the Vrygrond squatter […]
JOMO Cosmos’ coach Jomo Sono predicts Kaizer Chiefs will win the Castle Premiership after his side dropped a 1-0 game to the Amakhosi on Saturday. The win for Chiefs opens up a six-point lead over nearest rivals Sundowns. Sono felt that beating Cosmos was a crucial turning point for Chiefs, after which they will be […]
THE Stormers have a home semi-final when they will face the Otago Highlanders next weekend at Newlands in the Super 12 semi-finals. The Cape Town team finished second on the log, with 36 points, winning eight of their 11 games, and losing three. However, the Queensland Reds, also with 36 points and eight wins, drew […]
STORMERS’ coach Alan Solomons claims his side will “go for broke” agains the Otago Highlanders in their Super 12 semifinal at Newlands on Saturday. The Storm rested its top team when facing the Highlanders earlier in the season. Solomons says the team has refocused after 11 rounds of round-robin play, and has shifted to the […]
LIBERIAN President Charles Taylor on Saturday reinstated six of 13 cabinet ministers he had earlier dismissed for failing to attend a prayer service for the nation that he had convened, a government statement said. “All other cabinet ministers and heads of public corporations not included on the list of officials to resume duties are hereby […]
AUSTRALIAN rugby captain John Eales said on Thursday he does not expect to play for the Wallabies before the World Cup in October. The giant second rower had hoped to make his return in the annual Tri-Nations series against South Africa and New Zealand but has been forced to delay his comeback while he recovers […]
GAUTENG Housing and Land Affairs MEC Dan Mofokeng will on Saturday present African National Congress veteran Walter Sisulu with the title deed to his house at Orlando, Soweto. The Department of Housing and Land Affairs has thus far issued some 84000 titles. This has provided secure tenure to more than 350000 families in the province. […]
THE Association of Microlenders and Associated Consumers has objected to latest government proposals to regulate the industry, claiming the planned controls will close it down. The proposed regulations include capping interest rates from the current allowable 30% per month to 15,83% a month, or 190% a year. Association MD Henk Vivier says if the regulations […]
AMNESTY International demanded on Saturday the release of its Togo bureau staffer Antoine Koffi Nadjombe, arrested in Lome on Friday. The international human rights group also demanded the release of Nadjombe’s wife and two members of the Togolese League for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights, Nestor Tengue and Francois Gayibor. Amnesty said it […]
NIGERIA’S new constitution, set initally to govern the country’s return to civilian rule later this month, has at last been officially released, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Few details are known of the constitution, drawn up by the outgoing military regime, but it does provide for an Islamic or Sharia court to be established in […]
STOCKBROKERS Botswana has downgraded First National Bank Botswana (FNBB) from a buy recommendation to a hold, based on uncertainties surrounding the bank’s lending to the troubled Hyundai motor assembly operations. “We believe provisions that the bank will make in its next accounts due to lendings to Hyundai Motor Distributors will be such that there will […]
MOST of the nearly 40 million faulty condoms which South Africa’s health department said last July must be recalled are still being distributed, the Sunday Times reported. The Indian-manufactured Kenzo condoms, approved by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), were recalled after tests found one in four to be faulty. But the recall only […]