THE Anglo-Swiss team trying to make the first non-stop round-the-world balloon flight is now unlikely to touch down in Egypt, contrary to earlier hopes, organisers said on Wednesday. The meteorologists plotting the course of the Breitling Orbiter III, piloted by Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland and Brian Jones of Britain, will not be able to name […]
THE Cats received a boost on Tuesday, with news that Springbok World Cup hero Chester Williams returns from injury to play against the fearsome Otago Highlanders on Saturday at Ellis Park. The Cats’ vice-captain has recovered from a hamstring injury and will retake his left-wing berth from Lourens Venter, who has a shoulder injury. Griquas […]
JUST 15 days before the sale of Zambia’s major copper mines is to go through, prospective buyer Anglo American Corporation is still lacking a substantial mining partner to join the venture. Sources from the ministry of finance said on Monday that the Zambian government is in a difficult situation because Anglo — who appears to […]
NIGERIAN president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in Paris on Wednesday at the start of a European tour, two weeks after winning elections aimed at restoring civilian rule to his country. Obasanjo, Nigeria’s military ruler from 1976 to 1979, is to meet French President Jacques Chirac. His tour is also expected to take him to Britain, Germany […]
TAXI drivers at Apel village, 80km from Pietersburg, have prevented teachers from going to school in their own cars for three days. Regional Police Commissioner Erwin Dorfling said 17 primary schools and eight high schools have been paralysed since Monday. One teacher, who insisted on remaining anonymous because of threats from taxi drivers, said they […]
MOROCCO and the United Nations have signed a military agreement to identify and destroy mines and unexploded bombs still buried in the Western Sahara, UN officials based in Al Ayun said Tuesday. The agreement does not apply to minefields bordering the fortifications built by Morocco in the barren eastern part of the territory.Minurso, the UN […]
President Nelson Mandela will meet Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi in the capital Tripoli on Friday.
THE Constitutional Court on Tuesday reserved judgment in its hearing on the New National Party’s challenge to the government ruling that only voters with bar-coded identity books can vote in the June election. The judgment is pending the presentation of supporting documents. The NNP, which took its case to the Constitutional Court after losing its […]
IRELAND will donate R45-million in development aid to Lesotho this year, Irish consul-general to Lesotho Tom Wright announced in the capital Maseru on Wednesday. Addressing a reception to mark Saint Patrick’s Day, Ireland’s national day, Wright said poverty alleviation is at the heart of Ireland’s development programme to Lesotho. He added that the Irish aid […]
MPUMALANGA housing deputy director-general Steve Ngwenya has resigned to take up a post with the Independent Electoral Commission, MEC Craig Padayachee said on Tuesday. Addressing the provincial portfolio committee on housing and local government, Padayachee said Ngwenya will join the IEC as Mpumalanga’s electoral officer. Housing department spokesman Leon Mbangwa also resigned from the department […]
MATTHEW LEE, Washington | Tuesday 7.00pm. A YEAR after his landmark trip to Africa, United States President Bill Clinton on Tuesday urged the international community to forgive $70-billion in debts owed to it by African countries. Clinton announced the proposal at the opening session of a US-Africa ministerial meeting at the state department at which […]
SIX people have drowned and scores more are missing after a boat carrying at least 200 people sank in the Forcados River in south-east Nigeria, press reports said on Tuesday. The accident took place late on Sunday near Burutu in the swamps south of the troubled oil town of Warri, the reports said, quoting police […]
President Nelson Mandela on Monday thanked Denmark for its help in the struggle against apartheid.
KENYAN Simon Bor set a course record of 2:09:25 in winning the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, beating the mark set 11 years ago by compatriot James Bungei by almost one minute. South Africa’s Johannes Maremane finished fifth in 2:14:19.
THE Azanian People’s Liberation Army will officially disband at a parade in Umtata on Saturday March 20. PAC spokesperson Wonder Masombuka said on Tuesday the move comes after a unanimous decision at the party’s conference in December that its armed wing be officially disbanded. PAC President Stanley Mogoba will preside over the final parade in […]
RAINS over prime sugar lands in eastern KwaZulu-Natal have staved off fears that the crop could be adversely affected by recent hot weather, a sugar official said on Monday. Soaking rains last weekend brought relief to maize farmers and sugar cane growers. Mtunzini on the North coast of the province had 43mm of rain, Durban […]
President Nelson Mandela will meet Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi in the capital Tripoli.
HEALTH Minister Dr Nkosazana Zuma leaves for Washington, DC. on Tuesday to attend the three-day International Conference on Children and Tobacco from March 17 to 19. The summit, hosted by the United States Senate, The Campaign for Tobacco Free-Kids and the American Public Health Association, will be attended by more than 100 delegates and health […]
AT least 800 armed Democratic Republic of Congolo soldiers fleeing a rebel offensive have streamed into Zambia over the past few days, the Times of Zambia reported on Monday. The paper reported that nearly 10000 civilians including some French settlers had also crossed into Zambia. The soldiers entered Zambia through the northern town of Kaputa, […]
SOME 14225 children were reported raped in the first 11 months of last year, according to police figures presented on Monday at a conference on crimes against children. Northern Province divisional commissioner of human resources, Neels Steenkamp, said at the Nylstroom conference that reported rapes of children have doubled since 1994, when 7559 cases were […]
THE two wives of a Malian immigrant were given suspended five-year jail terms on Monday for having five of their daughters circumcised in 1992 at their home in a Paris suburb. The case was linked with that of Hawa Greou, another Malian woman who was jailed for eight years by a Paris court in February […]
TWO members of the Azanian People’s Liberation Army were convicted in the Bisho High Court on Monday of the 1994 murder of three Iranian nationals belonging to the Baha’i Faith church. The men claimed the crime had been politically motivated, and that they had mistook the Persians for “Boers”. The men have applied for amnesty […]
PROFESSOR Willem van Riet has been appointed acting chairman of the board of trustees of South African National Parks. The appointment by Environmental Affairs Minister Pallo Jordan follows the resignation of Vusi Khanyile on March 12. Khanyile cited increased work pressure as managing director of Thebe Investments as the reason for his departure in a […]
ERNIE ELS slipped a spot to fourth in the world rankings on Monday after American Mark O’Meara rose two places to third after finishing joint third in the Honda Classic. Vijay Singh, who won the Coral Springs tournament by two strokes on Sunday, climbed one place to seventh. Tiger Woods leads the rankings with fellow […]
THE Constitutional Court on Tuesday reserved judgment in its hearing on the New National Party’s challenge to the government ruling that only voters with bar-coded identity books can vote in the June election. The judgement is pending the presentation of supporting documents. The NNP, which took its case to the Constitutional Court after losing its […]
THE Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s amnesty committee on Tuesday granted amnesty to apartheid-era spy Dieter Gerhardt. Gerhardt (64), a former commander of Simon’s Town naval base, was sentenced in the Cape Town High Court in 1983 to life imprisonment for spying for the former Soviet Union. He was released in 1992 as a political prisoner […]
THE United Nations mediator to Angola left the war-torn country on Monday following the withdrawal of the UN mission there, as reports of weekend clashes reached the capital. “I am leaving Angola encouraged. We did our best,” Issa Diallo told journalists before his departure. Diallo said the United Nations would continue to work to end […]
SOUTH AFRICA will be short of water just 20 years from now unless people cut back their usage immediately, Water Affairs Minister Kader Asmal said on Monday. “Our economy is growing. Our climate is becoming drier. Our demand for water is growing too,” said Asmal, launching National Water Week at Cape Town’s Waterfront. “Experts predict […]
GHANA and Nigeria will co-host the 2000 African Nations Cup, the African Football Confederation (CAF) said Monday in Guinea. The West African countries replace Zimbabwe, who failed to meet stadia and financial targets, in staging the 16-team event from January 23 to February 13.
TRADITIONAL leaders around South Africa will receive the same government salaries and benefits after talks between Constitutional Development Minister Valli Moosa, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, Land Affairs Minister Derek Hanekom and the Congress of Traditional Leaders (Contralesa). Moosa announced at the weekend that the government plans to bring uniformity to the salaries of kings and […]
POLICE are holding two Zambian men in Lusaka and have deported two foreigners in connection with the bombs which exploded in in the city a fortnight ago. The foreigners, an American identified as Gilbert Herbert and an Austrian named David Clay, who were arrested together with the duo, were deported to South Africa and Zimbabwe […]
THE Mouthpeace Workers Union said on Friday it was shocked by an announcement that Anglo-American Platinum Corporation is to trim its 35000 operational labour force by 5% this year. This comes after Amplats human resources director Eric Ngubane announced on Thursday that the employee cutbacks are part of the group’s restructuring process through its breakthrough […]