THE Zambian government has announced that it plans to round up and send home about 200000 street children. The exercise will take place in the capital Lusaka and the copperbelt region. The minister of community development and social services Dawson Lupunga says the government will train the youngsters to become responsible adults. He gives no […]
A UGANDAN rebel group has circulated leaflets to newspapers here claiming responsibility for all recent bomb blasts in the capital. The National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (Nalu), a moribund group which was active in western Ugandan in the early 1990s, said its agents carried out the attacks in the capital. A spate of […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
CABINET has asked the Mineral and Energy Affairs Department to finish up the restructuring of the liquid fuels industry by the end of 1999. While current regulatory mechanism will remain in place, all the investigations and consultations over new mechanisms should be completed by the end of the year. A key element of the restructuring […]
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 […]
THIRTEEN Thai women, allegedly prostitutes, have been arrested and face deportation from South Africa for working without permits, police said on Sunday. The women and Wolfgang Meyer, owner of a Johannesburg nightclub, were arrested at the weekend after police followed up complaints from 12 other Thai women, police spokesman Gideon Thessner said. The 12 had […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 10.00am. SHOOTING Stars of Nigeria staged a dramatic second-leg recovery on Sunday to reach the second round of the African Champions League. West African champions Stars trounced Kaloum of Guinea 6-0 in Ibadan with two goals each from Baldwin Bazuaye, Duke Udi and Peter Obanor to qualify 6-3 on aggregate. […]
COUNTIES-Manukau flanker Koula Tukino has been ruled out of the Chiefs final Super 12 game against the Bulls in Pretoria. The New Zealand Colts flanker has been carrying a calf strain which worsened during the Chiefs training session overnight. “It isn’t getting better, so he’s not going to play,” Chiefs manager Steve Gilbert said. Paul […]
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe, to the surprise of no-one, has said in Harare that he has no plans to retire in two year’s time, as reports two weeks ago suggested. According to news agency Xinhua, Mugabe said at a Harare press conference that he will leave in his own time, and on his own terms. Recent […]
HEALTH Minister Dr Nkosazana Zuma will on Monday become the first recipient of the World Health Organisation’s Tobacco Free World-award in Geneva, Switzerland. Zuma’s spokesman Vincent Hlongwane said from Geneva the award is in recognition for her “outstanding work in the area of tobacco control”. The award was the first of its kind. It will […]
SOUTH African and Free State prop Os du Randt has been given permission by the Free State Cheetahs management to play for the World XV in a festival match at Twickenham on May 23. The match, which is an annual event, will be played against English league champions Leicester. South Africans are regularly invited to […]
DAVID SHAPSHAK, Cape Town | Saturday 5.00pm. THE under-performing Cats produced a startling upset by beating the log-leading Stormers 18-16 at Newlands Stadium on Saturday. The Cats, producing one of their best performances in the tournament to, led 10-6 at half time, scoring two tries to one. It was a tight, tough match between the […]
FRIDAY, 12.30PM: HARRY VILJOEN, coach of the Western Stormers and Western Province has quit. Viljoen’s decision to quit the game has come as a surprise to the rugby public, but players say they have known about his intention to leave the sport since the return of the Stormers from New Zealand ten days ago. Viljoen […]
DAVID SHAPSHAK, Pretoria | Friday 10.00pm. THE Chiefs defeated the Northern Bulls 39-31 in their Super 12 clash at Loftus Versveld stadium under lights on Friday. The Chiefs, who scored five tries to three, led 26-10 at the break. Playing only for honour in the last round of the Super 12 before the semi-finals, the […]
HARRY Simon, who recently defended his World Boxing Organisation light middleweight title with a third round knock-out of Britain’s Kevin Lueshing, has the potential to dominate the light middleweight ranking for the next couple of years. So says Bert Blewett, a South African boxing expert and editor of the magazine, Boxing World and Simon’s trainer […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 7.30pm. A SERIES of blows have left Sundowns with little chance of surviving an African Champions League clash against Saint-Louisienne in Reunion on Saturday. The first was the late return of goalkeeper John Tlale, defenders Michael Manzini and Themba Mnguni, midfielder Joel Masilela and striker Daniel Mudau from national duty […]
NAMIBIA, who ended Bafana Bafana’s hopes in the opening round of the Cosafa Cup last year, are banking on their South African connection to keep their cup ambitions alive. They have included four players from South Africa’s Premier League in their squad for a first round play-off match against Malawi at the Chicheri Stadium in […]
FRIDAY, NOON: SOUTH African electricity parastatal Eskom plans to bid for parts of the Uganda Electricity Board’s operations when it is privatised, and is looking for other African investment opportunities, chairman Reuel Khoza said this week. A delegation led by Khoza is in the midst of a trip to Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, […]
FORMER South African captain Tiaan Strauss remains unsigned by the New South Wales Waratahs for next year’s Super 12 rugby tournament. Strauss, who turns 33 next month, said on Wednesday he would probably re-sign for one last season of representative rugby with the Waratahs. “NSW have spoken to me and they’re interested in probably signing […]
THE recent outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now under control, World Health Organization experts confirmed on Friday. A news release from the WHO regional office for Africa in Harare quoted the experts as saying the last reported case was 23 April. Two cases of the 90 suspected cases were […]
Howard Barrell The row over the Financial Mail’s endorsement last week of the United Democratic Movement in the forthcoming election has brought into sharp relief the relationship between editorial independence and media ownership in South Africa. This week’s Financial Mail carries a lengthy rebuttal of the endorsement by one of the publication’s co-owners, former African […]
TEN Pakistanis who were among a group of 21 sailors abducted by a Somali warlord are returning home this weekend after more than six months in captivity, officials said on Friday. The sailors were freed after successful negotiations with their captors by Pakistan ambassador to neighbouring Kenya Hameed Asghar Kidwai and officials of the Asaka […]
THE four-year ownership saga surrounding the beleaguered Rosh Pinah zinc mine will end on Thursday with the official launch of a new holding company for the mine. Today’s launch will also pave the way for the listing of the new company on the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) before the end of the year. Rosh Pinah […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Wellington | Thursday 2.00pm. TWO of the Otago Highlanders’ injured big guns will return to the fray as the All Black-laden team seeks to regain top spot from the Stormers in the Super 12 in the competition’s final qualifying round this weekend. The Highlanders led the Super 12 table for much of the […]
Howard Barrell You may have heard the story. It goes like this: the police have an unfortunate history which has left them, among other things, short of the skills they need to do their job; so the public doesn’t trust them; so the police don’t get the information they need for their investigations; so the […]
The David Gleason Column Gold, the precious metal most commonly associated with South Africa, is in the way of taking yet a further beating after the United Kingdom’s Chancellor, Gordon Brown, announced last week that Britain is to sell off about 415 tons over the next three years. An extraordinary aspect of the British announcement […]
WAGE negotiations between municipal workers and the government were resolved on Thursday by the Centre for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. The South Africa Municipal Workers’ Union said the parties agreed to settle on the greater of R230 per month or a 5,5% salary increase. For the first time, municipal workers will receive a minimum wage […]