RESCUERS may be close to reaching missing miners Lawrence Molise Tsolo and John Befile Delekile as the search was narrowed to an area of about 300 square metres on Wednesday night. Anglogold spokesman Andries Van Zyl said rescue teams have reached the stopes where the missing men were working when the earthquake, measuring 4,6 on […]
A ONE-ARMED man robbed two women near the Gracelands casino at Secunda of R45 000 on Wednesday. Police spokeswoman Inspector Sibongile Nkosi said on Thursday that the women were taking the money to First National Bank, about 500m from the Foschini branch where they worked, when the one-armed man held them up with a gun.
SARAH BULLEN, Cape Town | Wednesday 3.00pm PRODUCER inflation, as measured by the change in the Producer Price Index (PPI), rose an annualised 5,5% in March, up from February’s rise of 5,0%, Statistics South Africa said on Wednesday. From February to March PPI increased by 0,3%, while the seasonally adjusted index increased by 0,9%. The […]
TUESDAY, 5.00PM: ZIMBABWE’S United Merchant bank, which belongs to the high-profile and controversial black businessman Roger Boka, has suffered a run on deposits which it cannot sustain. When Boka’s bank opened three years ago, it was criticised for being under-capitalised. Many of the country’s financial institutions are exposed to the bank, which closed for a […]
NIGERIA will begin exploiting its vast deposits of bitumen, an essential material for road construction, next month, an official said on Tuesday. Most Nigerian roads are in deplorable condition due to lack of bitumen, while the oil-rich west African country has an estimated 42 billion barrels worth of bitumen deposits in the southwest of the […]
GHANAIANS on Tuesday celebrated the enthronement of their new Ashanti king, who was officially proclaimed the new occupant of the sacred Golden Stool on Monday night in Kumasi.In a private ceremony that began at midnight, 48-year-old Nana Kwaku Dua underwent final rites to become the 16th occupant of the Stool, believed to have fallen from […]
GHANA have withdrawn from the race to host the 2006 World Cup tournament, a top South African football official said on Monday. South Africa World Cup bid chief executive Danny Jordaan said from Denmark he was informed that Ghana had quit while attending the world youth championships, which ended on Saturday in Nigeria. Jordaan is […]
VILLAGERS have burnt to death four women they accused of being witches, police in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province said on Monday. The villagers allegedly herded the women into a traditional thatch-roofed hut on Sunday in the rural Thabankulu area near Mount Ayliff and doused the hut with petrol before setting it alight, police said.The […]
TUESDAY, 2.30PM: PETROLEUM product sales in South Africa rose 4,5% in the first quarter year-on-year, a sharp increase last year’s first quarter increase of 1,3%, according to the South African Petroleum Industry Association. Petrol accounted for over half of total sales. Petrol sales increased 2,4%. Diesel sales rose 7,1%, jet fuel sales 10,4% and illuminating […]
ABDELAZIZ Bouteflika was sworn in as Algeria’s new president on Tuesday. Bouteflika (62) won a presidential election on April 15 in which he stood as a sole candidate — and the one favored by the military establishment — following the withdrawal of six others on allegations of fraud. The circumstances of Bouteflika’s election drew expressions […]
THE net profit of the motor trade sector last year was 20,6% lower than the previous year, Statistics South Africa announced on Monday. Dividends paid in the sector were down 75,1% while interest paid increased by 8,5% over the same period. Capital spending on new assets in 1998 was 16,8% lower than in the previous […]
SHARES in international tobacco to luxury goods company Richemont surged in Johannesburg on Wednesday following news an international investment bank had increased its target price for the stock. Shortly By 10:30 Richemont shares were up nearly 6% to R98,00. Credit Suisse First Boston said on Wednesday that it has increased its targeted share price on […]
EGYPT’S top movie stars will lend their voices to “talking” traffic lights amid government efforts to help the blind negotiate the congested streets of the capital, police sources said on Tuesday. The first ladies of the silver screen Yusra and Nabila Ebeid and veteran screen and stage actor Jamil Rateb among others have taped special […]
SOUTH AIRWAYS has shed 1064 jobs since last year in the company’s build-up to partial privatisation, says executive manager for communications, Victor Nosi. Nosi said at the weekend only 94 people were forcibly retrenched and the remaining 970 opted for voluntary retrenchment. The retrenchments and voluntary retrenchment packages were across the board and included senior […]
ZIMBABWE was cut off from the rest of the world for most of Tuesday and part of Wednesday after striking telephone engineers reportedly sabotaged the telephone system’s connections with external exchanges. It became almost impossible to make telephone calls to and receive calls from outside the country. E-mail and internet services were severely disrupted. Management […]
President Nelson Mandela arrived in Moscow.
A MAJOR meeting of countries who are signatories to the Convention Banning Anti-Personnel Landmines is scheduled for Maputo next month. Attendees will further pledge commitment to the Mine Ban Treaty and to assess its implementation. The Treaty agreed to in Ottawa, Canada, in 1997 was negotiated over a record one year period. It has been […]
SOUTH African Airways annouced on Tuesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding outlining a long-termpartnership between SAA and Cathay Pacific Airways. Areas of co-operation outlined in the MOU include codeshare services, frequent flyer programmes (FFP), and ground handling arrangements. South African Airways is Cathay Pacific’s sixth codeshare partner. Cathay Pacific commenced flying to […]
THE Lagos Stock Exchange has begun computerised trading on an automated trading system, ending 37 years of floor trading, officials at the exchange said on Wednesday. The introduction of computerised trading Tuesday is expected to boost trading volume on the market, which has grown sharply in recent years.
RESCUERS workers remain at least 150m away from the position where two missing miners have been trapped underground for six days after an earthquake in Welkom in the Free State on Friday. Anglogold spokesman Andries van Zyl said on Tuesday that rescuers are approaching the area — where Lawrence Tsolo and John Delekile were working […]
SHARKS lock Mark Andrews has angered Cape Town saying the Auckland Blues can beat the Stormers, and been labeled a “turncoat” by the media. “The Blues are more physical than the Stormers, who have the skills but not he same intensity,” Andrews told a New Zealand newspaper. The Stormers, one of the form side of […]
KAGISO Media has bought the Rand Easter Show, Saitex and Auto Africa, according to a group announcement made on Monday. A new subsidiary called Kagiso Exhibitions will become the holder of these companies. The National Exhibition Centre (Nasrec) cost R44,25-million and the issue of shares worth R2,3-million. Most of the purchase price was attributed to […]
A CAPE Flats police reservist was shot dead and two of his colleagues wounded when they attended a complaint in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain late on Sunday. Police spokesman Captain Mark Romburgh said Constable Nasrula Samie and three colleagues spotted a group of about 10 men in Mirinda Street, Tafelsig at about 9.15pm. Samie got out […]
AN organised gang drove a truck through Fourways Mall in Johannesburg on Sunday morning before smashing it through a glass window of a shop and driving off with R750000 worth of clothing. Superintendent Chris Wilken said on Monday that 12 gunmen in three vehicles reversed a truck through a glass entrance to the mall and […]
FUGITIVE German businessman Jurgen Harksen was released from Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison on Monday after he paid R1-million bail, a Cape Town newspaper reported on Tuesday. Harksen, who is being sought in Germany in connection with fraud and other charges, said he would remain in South Africa and fight for his rights. Harksen’s luxurious Constantia […]
MONDAY, 12.00NOON: CLASSY Conchita Martinez beat Chanda Rubin in a disappointingly one-sided final of the MTN Women’s Classic in Johannesburg on Sunday. The Spaniard stroked her way to an easy 6-2, 6-1 victory over the 66th ranked American to pocket the $60000 winner’s cheque. Martinez used her varying pace to keep Rubin from establishing a […]
SOUTH African Breweries (SAB) has made an offer to buy Spanish beer brewer Cruzcampo, according to the Sunday Times of London. The bid price is unknown. Offers also came from Spanish brewer Damm and Heineken of the Netherlands. An acquisition by SAB is not likely to be blocked by Spanish legislation and could be a […]
ANGLOGOLD said on Friday that an earthquake has halted operations at its Matjhabeng mine in the Free State province but most of the workforce had been accounted for. The earthquake, measuring 4,2 on the Richter scale, hit the South African gold mining town of Welkom in the early hours on Friday causing damage to buildings […]
THE national strike by national bus workers looks set to enter its second week after talks with the South African Bus Employers’ Association remained deadlocked on Friday. Spokesman for the four unions supporting the strike — — the Transport and General Workers’ Union, the Transport and Allied Workers’ Union, the Western Cape Omnibus Staff Union […]
MONDAY, 12.00NOON: ORLANDO Pirates came up against mean defence in their Premier Soccer League match against relegation-threatened African Wanderers, being held to a goalless draw at Kings Park Soccer stadium on Sunday. Pirates were in almost total control through the tense first-half, but had nothing to show for it at the break. Pirates should have […]
MONDAY, 12.00NOON: MAMELODI Sundowns’ Mandela Cup hopes were given a serious knock on Sunday when the Premier League leaders went down 2-1 to Zambian rivals Nkana Red Devils in the first leg of the second round of the African Cup Winners Cup in Kitwe, Zambia. Sundowns’ Namibian international goalkeeper Ronnie Kanalelo effectively killed all chances […]
“… We are one people with one destiny. The diversity of colours and languages once used to divide us are now a source of strength. We have been liberated from a system that held us all in its chains, free to be at last who and what we really are … [However,] political parties should […]