DEFENCE Minister Joe Modise on Thursday confirmed South Africa will withdraw its troops from Lesotho, SABC radio news reported. Modise said the situation in Lesotho has stabilised. South African troops have been in Lesotho since September last year as part of a Southern African Development Community peacekeeping force along with Botswana. Speaking in Pretoria, Modise […]
ANGOLA’S government on Wednesday said it is in favor of resumption of direct negotiations with separatists in Cabinda, an oil-rich enclave to the north of mainland Angola. “The government has always been in favor of negotiations, and one day we will resume dialogue,” Cabinda Governor Amaro Taty said over the independent Catholic radio station Ecclesia. […]
THE Volkstaat Council has formally disbanded, SABC radio news reported. The council was established after the 1994 election to investigate the application of the constitutional clause acknowledging territorial self-determination of groups sharing common language and culture. Although the council has formally disbanded as a government body, it will continue to exist as a privately funded […]
THE Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that prisoners must be allowed to vote in the June 2 general election. In its ruling in an application brought by two prisoners, the court held thast it is unconstitutional to deny prisoners the vote and ordered the Independent Electoral Commission to register convicts and awaiting-trialists who were behind […]
CAPE TOWN unveiled plans on Wednesday to welcome in the new millennium in style, but warned potential revellers to book their place for a sunny New Year soon. Cape Town mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo said the city plans a six-month programme of arts and cultural events starting in September as well as a huge New Year’s […]
AMANDA Coetzer began her defence of her Family Circle Cup tennis title in brisk winds with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Russian qualifier Elena Makarova at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. “I felt like I had to be really, really careful with some shots and I had to really commit my footwork, the South African […]
MALAWI launches its first, long-awaited television station on Thursday, officials said. Project co-ordinator Benson Tembo said President Bakili Muluzi, along with President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya, will launch the television station. Moi started a two-day state visit to Malawi on Wednesday afternoon, after a trip to Namibia. Despite its lack of national television, Malawi […]
JUDGMENT against Trevor Tutu on reckless or negligent driving charges was postponed again on Wednesday when Johannesburg Regional Court Magistrate P Louw was unavailable. The wayward son of Archbishop Desmond Tutu is accused of causing a four-car pile-up in Johannesburg’s Lower Houghton suburb. A state witness claimed in the trial that Tutu tried to pass […]
THE KwaZulu-Natal north coast town of Ballito officially handed over its water and waste water services to a private company. In terms of a deal between Siza Water Company and the Ballito municipality, the company will manage the town’s water and waste water for the next 30 years.
THE Mpumalanga Pumas beat the Namibia Kudus 52-32 in an Vodacom Cup rugby match in Windhoek on Wednesday, after leading 33-8 at half-time. Both teams attacked relentlessly at every possible opportunity, but it was Witbank team who took full points by scoring their fourth try within 21 minutes and finishing with eight. Fullback Kallie Benade […]
A FIRST-HALF goal from Hazem Emam gave Egypt a 1-0 win over Belgium in a friendly international in Liege on Tuesday. Emam struck after 14 minutes to hand the Belgians their fourth straight defeat although they had the lion’s share of chances. The Belgians’ poor form — they have not scored in their past four […]
PHOENIX serial killer Sipho Agmatir Twala (31) was sentenced on Wednesday to 506 years in prison after he was found guilty on 27 charges of murder, attempted murder, indecent assault and rape. Twala was found guilty on 16 murder charges, one of attempted murder, seven of indecent assault and three of rape. In handing down […]
THE Cape Town Magistrate’s Court heard on Tuesday morning that inadequate forensic laboratory facilities are delaying the testing of blood and saliva samples taken from six People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad) members arrested in Cape Town in January. All six were last month released on bail and face charges of possession of firearms and […]
SOUTH African regulators have switched their approach to GratisTel, the Swedish firm looking to offer commercial-laden free telephone service in SA. This comes after Satra was on Tuesday reported to be planning to block a free domestic phone service planned by a Swedish firm with a local partner. The SA Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (Satra) says […]
FOREIGN Minister Alfred Nzo on Tuesday announced the appointment of Ambassador Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo as the permanent representative to the South African Mission at the United Nations in New York, with effect from April 5 1999. Kumalo (52), has been the director of the United States desk since joining the Department of Foreign Affairs in […]
PRESIDENT Sam Nujoma has acknowledged that the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo cannot be won and must be solved through peaceful dialogue. Speaking at a state banquet for Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi in Windhoek, Nujoma said the Congolese people deserved a fair chance for peace and development. He said foreign forces in […]
A DISPUTE between tertiary educational institutions and the National Educational Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) has led the Nehawu executive to threaten a strike by 220000 members on April 28. If the dispute over delaying tactics on the part of the institutions is not resolved, the national strike is set to go ahead. Nehawu […]
CABINET ministers and their deputies jointly gave R51481 from their salaries to the Job Creation Trust on Wednesday. Presenting Congress of South African Trade Unions president John Gomomo with the donation at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said: “I am very pleased to hand over this cheque of a lot of […]
President Nelson Mandela on Wednesday urged parties involved in the faltering Northern Ireland peace talks to seek agreement.
THE Independent Electoral Commission said on Tuesday it has rejected from the provisional voters roll 296266 people that registered for the general election. Those rejected include 31327 people who are dead according to the population register, 39498 people with invalid identity documents, and 109441 people who are not South African citizens. IEC chief electoral officer […]
SOUTH African batsman Daryll Cullinan, who scored a record-breaking 275 not out in the drawn first test at Eden Park, was named as New Zealand’s international cricketer of the year winning a luxury car worth NZ$32000. According to team policy, half of the value of the vehicle will go into the team pool and half […]
SOUTH Africa’s top tennis juniors will be able to test their skills against Africa’s best at the ITF/MTN African Junior Championships which will take place at the Groenkloof courts in Pretoria from April 4-11. Some 181 players from 41 African countries will participate in this event which is sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation. For […]
BAFANA Bafana will be short two high-profile players for the upcoming Gabon match in Libreville next Saturday as striker Phil Masinga and goalkeeper Hans Vonk will be out of commission due to important European league matches. South African Football Association officials and coach Trott Moloto agreed the team has sufficient depth to let Masinga and […]
HEIST suspect Collin Chauke and two others on hunger strike in Pretoria’s C-Max prison are refusing medical attention, the correctional services department said on Wednesday. Department spokesperson Rudi Potgieter said the three claimed to have stopped eating on Friday, although they only received official notification of the hunger strike a few days later. “We arranged […]
UGANDA’S Vice President Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, who also holds the agriculture portfolio, has defended herself against charges that her ministry mismanaged a World Bank-funded project. Speaking before Parliament on Tuesday, Kazibwe asked the House, which has demanded that she resigns as agriculture minister or face a censure motion, for “justice and fairness”. She urged the […]
KALAHARI Holdings, the firm controlling holdings of Namibia’s ruling South-West Africa People’s Organisation is indebted to the tune of R32-million, The Namibian reported on Tuesday. President Sam Nujoma told party leaders last weekend that Kalahari was near collapse and proposed a number of rescue measures. Plans to save the troubled firm include selling De Rust, […]
TROUBLED Air Namibia has finalised an agreement with South African Airways to lease a Boeing 747-SP to replace the Boeing 767-300 used on its intercontinental routes. The aircraft is scheduled to arrive at Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako Airport tomorrow. Since its inception until March last year, Air Namibia had leased a similar aircraft, the popular ‘Etosha’, […]
WELFARE organisation Operation Hunger on Tuesday said they have received thousands of letters from people destitute after their pensions and disability grants were stopped while the government weeds out “ghosts” and unnecessary payouts. Felicity Gibbs, national manager for Operation Hunger, said: “Rural areas are worst hit as people cannot afford to contest the judgments, cannot […]
OLD Mutual Unit Trusts temporarlity suspended its R2,9-million Global Equity Fund on Wednesday, and will not accept new investments. MD Pieter van Niekerk told a press conference in Johannesburg that the move follows a decision by the Reserve Bank to limit offshore investment to 15% of financial institutions’ South African-based assets, rather than total assets […]
NEW South Wales captain Michael Brial has been ruled out of the Waratahs side to meet Auckland in their Super 12 match in Sydney on Saturday. Brial injured his leg during training on Monday. Former Springbok captain Tiaan Strauss takes over the captaincy and will also move from number eight to Brial’s position at flank. […]
TRADE union federation and ruling party ally the Congress of South African Trade Unions came out in support on Wednesday of the African National Congress’s campaign for the June 2 elections. The 1,8-million-member Cosatu has agreed to embark on a campaign to “mobilise workers for a decisive ANC victory on June 2”, Cosatu secretary general […]
FIVE opposition parties are to meet the Cabinet on Wednesday to discuss what they are claiming is an abuse of taxpayers money by the African National Congress in a publicity campaign. New National Party, the Democratic Party, the Freedom Front, the African Christian Democratic Party and the Pan Africanist Congress have claimed that a recent […]