THE South African short-term insurance industry notched up some significant underwriting losses last year, compared to the previous year, the South African Insurance Association said on Monday. Chief executive Barry Scott said that 12 out of 23 insurance companies reported underwriting losses for the year to December, compared to only seven in 1997. He said […]
THE rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army and southern factions loyal to the Khartoum regime have agreed to observe a ceasefire, an official of one of the factions said on Monday. Teny Youk of the United Democratic Salvation Front and a state minister in an interim governing body, said SPLA leader John Garang himself gave instructions […]
SOUTH African netballers were whipped again, losing their fourth straight match in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday. The team was beaten 61-35 by Jamaica, in apparent retaliation for the Windies’ humiliation at cricket recently. The game was never in contention, and poor passing sank the Proteas again. The team has lost all of its games on […]
AGRICULTURE authorities in Malawi, which normally faces a maize deficit, said on Monday they expect a record yield of the crop this year. Ellard Malindi, principal secretary in the ministry of agriculture, said estimates show that 2,35 tons of the staple maize will be harvested. “This will be the highest ever maize yield to be […]
ORLANDO Pirates put nine goals past Olympics amateur club in the first round of the BobSave Super Bowl, winning handily 9-0. Two goals were disallowed, from Joseph Ngake and Simon Makhubela, keeping the rout from ending 11-0. Goals which were allowed came from Thabo Mngomeni (2) Phumlani Mkhize (2) and Makhubela (2). The remaining hat […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 4.30pm. SWISS journalist Jean-Phillipe Ceppi, arrested last week for possession of a “secret” military document, was released from custody on Monday when all charges against him were withdrawn in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court. Ceppi’s lawyer Richard Rosenthal said afterwards that Attorney General Frank Kahn dropped the charges after […]
THE Ugandan government has closed Bwindi National Park following the killing of eight foreign tourists by Hutu rebels last week. The Ugandan daily newspaper New Vision said the park will be off limits to tourists for one month. The Ugandan army said on Saturday it had killed ten Rwandan Interahamwe rebels inside the Democratic Republic […]
THE bidding contest for copper mining firm Namibian Tsumeb Corporation Limited is continuing, with a Namibian company insisting that it remains in the running for the lucrative copper mines. Namibian bidders — Namibia Mining and Processing (Pty) Limited, formerly Namibia Base Metals — offer to buy TCL for N$360-million remains on the table and is […]
DAVID LE PAGE, Johannesburg | Monday 5.30pm. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange was one of the few markets to buck Monday’s trend to decline. Led by industrials’ 105-point push to 7241, all the major indices pushed their way upwards on Monday. Gold climbed 13 points to 964 and financials 89 points to 9495. The overall index […]
GOLD FIELDS Limited announced on Friday it has reached an agreement with the bankers of Gold Fields Ghana to reschedule the debt used to finance the Tarkwa Gold Mine. Accordingly, Gold Fields Ghana will receive a cash injection of $75-million on Friday. Gold Fields is providing $60-million, with the balance provided by Golden Knight Resources […]
NEWLY crowned world 200m indoor champion Frankie Fredericks will compete in the final leg of the South African Grand Prix series in Cape Town on March 26, athletics officials confirmed on Sunday. Fredericks’ participation was announced along with former World 400m hurdle champion Samuel Matete, who comes up against 1997 World championships silver medallist Llewellyn […]
ERITREAN troops are still occupying “Ethiopian terrority” and digging in to hold their positions in defiance of an Organisation of African Unity peace plan, the Ethiopian government said on Saturday. The Addis Ababa government said: “Eritrean troops continue to occupy the [northern] Zala Anbesa-Aiga region, [northeastern] Bada-Bure region and [northern] Egala region. The Eritrean army […]
AUSTRALIA pulled their game together in the second hockey test of the five-match series to beat South Africa 3-1 at Pretoria Technikon on Sunday after leading 2-1 at half-time. Goals by Scott Webster (2) and Lachlan Vivian Taylor gave the visitors the advantage after the tourists lost the first Test 3-2 in an upset on […]
THE South Africa Under-19 rugby team survived a withering onslaught from a Boland Under-20 side, to win 18-5 after leading 10-5 at the break. The match was an excellent “acid Test” for the Under-19 side as they prepare for the Fira Junior World Cup in Wales later this month, the South African Rugby Football Union […]
NIGERIA might rejoin the Commonwealth on May 29, when the military government is due to hand over to president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo, Commonwealth Secretary General Emeka Anyaoko said on Sunday. Anyaoko, himself a Nigerian, told the BBC: “The Commonwealth has become an association of democratically elected governments and until that is in place in Nigeria, I […]
THE Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) announced on Friday that it is upgrading and expanding the shopping area and duty-free mall at Johannesburg International Airport at a cost of R210-million. The expansion is part of a R2-billion project over the next five years. Acsa said its retail division, which includes shops, car hire, outdoor advertising […]
SOUTH Africa’s new rugby boss, Silas Nkanunu, won the Herald Mayor’s Port Elizabeth Citizen of the Year award at a glittering banquet at the Feather Market Centre in PE on Saturday night. The 65-year-old attorney, who replaced controversial Louis Luyt as president of the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) last year, is the 10th […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday 8.00pm. SIX kilogrammes stood between Dingaan “The Rose of Soweto” Thobela and the IBO world welterweight title on Saturday night. Although he stopped Adrian Daneff with a seventh round technical knockout, he did not win the title that was up for grabs, purely because he could not make the weight. […]
NATIONAL Council of Provinces chairman Patrick “Terror” Lekota announced on Thursday that he is to take part in the gruelling 105km Argus cycle tour in a bid to raise money for the aged. Should Lekota finish the race, his sponsor — Hollard Insurance — has agreed to donate R25000 towards programmes for the aged, and […]
THE African Development Bank has approved a loan and grant package for Lesotho worth $6,6-million aimed at rejuvenating the country’s agricultural sector. The financial assistance comes from ADB’s special African Development Fund, set up to provide funding to poorer countries. The agricultural programme is expected to diversify crop production, increase productivity, boost farming revenues and […]
THE army in Congo announced on Friday its recapture of the Nganga-Lingolo district from rebels just south of Brazzaville, thereby completing its control of the capital’s outskirts.Forty-two Ninja militiamen, who backed former prime minister Bernard Kolelas ousted in a 1997 civil war, were killed and many wounded in the fighting.The Ninjas have been fighting government […]
THE leaders of Ghana’s Ashantis formally announced the death of their king on Friday, more than a week after the 79-year-old monarch died.Asantehene Otumfo Opoku Ware II will be buried on March 25, one month after his death. According to tradition, the funeral will be held in private around midnight.Otumfo Opoku Ware II ruled the […]
EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak and Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi moved their talks on the Lockerbie affair from a tent pitched on the lawn into the Eqyptian presidential palace on Sunday. The two leaders focused on Lockerbie during their first session of talks in the tent. Sunday’s talks concentrated on economic issues and covered Arab issues, […]
The ZIMBABWE Republic Police has retrenched 43000 thousand of its special constabulary department employees. The operatives have also been denied employment by the ruling Zanu-PF party, which seconded them to the force in the early 1980s. Commissariat director Raymond Takavarasha said the lay-offs of the reserve police officers are consistent with overall cutback in civil […]
NIGERIA has applied to stage next year’s African Nation’s Cup finals, originally scheduled in Zimbabwe, a top Nigerian official said late Friday. “We have asked CAF (the Confederation of African Football) to host the 2000 Nations Cup” Chief of General Staff Vice Admiral Mike Akihgbe said at the draw for the World Youth Championship here. […]
UGANDA’S coffee exports declined in February when the country shipped 402710 bags of 60kg each, compared to 428020 bags exported in January, an official report said on Friday. However, the February figure is still more than that forecast by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority of 300000 bags. According to authority, the state body managing the […]
These are the bulk of the questions faxed to Magnus Heystek, at his request, before publication. He declined to make any comment. 1. How do you reconcile the fact that your company, Cream Publishing, bought stand 1 with the house for R650 000 while the trust bought stand 2 for R850 000? 2. At the […]
After initially neglecting the Internet, South Africa’s traditional media houses are now investing heavily in the next wave of media: online newspapers. Most major newspaper groups for the past two years have maintained a virtual presence on the World Wide Web, usually postings of their print stories and searchable archives of previous editions. But late […]
Karlin Lillington It’s about the stupidest site you’ll look at all week, but the URL has been flying across the Web as everyone mails it to friends: it’s the dancing hamsters at . If it doesn’t make you laugh, then you’re clearly the kind of person who enjoys reading Windows programming manuals. We’ve all prayed […]
Magnus Heystek appears to have created an eyebrow-raising conflict of interest in a property deal involving a family trust of which he is a trustee. Mungo Soggot and Belinda Beresford report High-profile financial adviser Magnus Heystek engineered a questionable R1,5-million property deal in which a family trust he oversees bought into land used for his […]
Susan Purn The almost complete collapse of medical care for prisoners, and the dangerous circumstances under which a district surgeon serving Leeuwkop prison was forced to work, saw her quitting the position last week with only 24 hours’ notice. Dr Liz Levendig, a former member of the Detainees’ Parents Support Committee in the 1980s, says […]
UGANDAN troops have killed 10 more Rwandan Hutu extremists suspected of having taken part in the massacre of eight foreign tourists in Uganda, a military source said on Friday. The Hutus, members of the Interahamwe youth militia held partly responsible for Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, were killed 15km across the border inside the Democratic Republic of […]