Staff Reporter

A BUMPER crop of 905000 tons of sunflower seeds is expected this season, the National Crop Estimates Committee said on Monday. In its first official estimate for the 1999/2000 season, the crops body said 828000 hectares have been planted compared to 511000 hectares last season. Last year’s crop was 562000 tons.

THREE as yet unnamed South Africans have had their helicopter, two large trucks and a bulldozer impounded by Mozambican police and have been charged with illegal poaching. Police detained the men during a raid on a Chimoio bush camp on February 12 after they allegedly tried to herd and capture rare sable antelope and other […]

SOUTH Africa’s total outstanding foreign apartheid debt amounted to just R235,8-million, finance Director-General Maria Ramos said on Monday. Addressing a National Assembly finance committee hearing, Ramos said loans taken out by the present government were unlikely to be open to renegotiation. Her comments come amid growing calls for South Africa’s apartheid debt to be written […]

TRADE unionists in the Northern Province are set to make history this week when they take a traditional leader before the Commission for Conciliation, Medication and Arbitration for the first time for unfair labour practices. Zebediela tribal Chief Kgoshi Sello Kekane will have to explain on Wednesday why he fired his administrative clerk immediately after […]

GREECE does not intend to move three associates of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan out of its embassy in Nairobi, embassy spokesperson Forte Yanopulous said on Monday. Asked if the embassy was making plans to relocate three women who have been holed up in the building since Ocalan’s capture in Nairobi on February 15, Yanopulous […]

THE International Monetary Fund has commended Tanzania’s economic transformation programme and promised continued support. Visiting IMF Deputy Managing Director, Shugemitsu Sugisaki, made the promise during official talks at the State House on Sunday. Sugisaki had talks with Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, the Minister for Finance, Mr Daniel Yona and the Governor of Bank of Tanzania, […]

ETHIOPIAN warplanes on Sunday bombed the airport serving the Eritrean Red Sea port of Assab, Ethiopia’s government spokeswoman said amid conflicting reports of the damage caused. Sources in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, while confirming a raid had taken place, said the 12 bombs dropped by Antonov warplanes fell wide of the airport’s runway. The bombing […]

ALGERIAN authorities denied late on Sunday a report that 70 bodies have been recovered from a well on the outskirts of Algiers.The civil protection service said that while a search has begun with the assistance of security forces, no bodies had been found. The daily Liberte reported earlier on Sunday that the remains of 70 […]

THE directors of flailing New Republic Bank Holdings agreed in principle on Sunday to accept an offer by the managers of NRB asset management (NRBAM) to purchase their Johannesburg-based private client equity asset management division. NRB was placed under the curatorship of the Reserve Bank in the beginning of February after a run on its […]

FORMER rebel leader Arthur Zahidi Ngoma, who last week quit the Democratic Republic of Congo rebel movement, announced on Monday that he will continue to oppose President Laurent Kabila through a newly formed unarmed group.”We have set up with Congolese people abroad and within the DRC, the Union of Congolese for Peace (UCP),” said Ngoma, […]

CALIFORNIAN aeronautical engineers will attempt, for the fifteenth time, to launch South Africa’s first satellite, Sunsat on Tuesday. After the last aborted launch the power and control boxes as well as electronics package have been replaced and technicians are testing the hardware and wiring before attempting another launch, the Boeing company said on Saturday. The […]

THE Libyan national oil company’s budget has been reduced by 40% because of lower crude oil prices and international sanctions, an industry journal reported on Monday. The National Oil Corporation budget for 1999 was $500-million, a steep drop from the previous year’s budget of $850-million, the weekly Middle East Economic Survey said. The newsletter attributes […]

VETERAN spinner Pat Symcox was roasted by the New Zealand press for delivering a ball which meant the Black Caps would win Saturday’s third limited-overs match and deny Nathan Astle his century. Symcox bowled a leg-side wide which went to the boundary when New Zealand needed a six to win and Astle was on 95. […]

MPUMALANGA’S third largest hospital, Rob Ferreira Hospital, warned on Monday that patients would have to bring their own bedding and food for the next six weeks because the hospital has run out of money. Eskom recently threatened to cut electricity to the Nelspruit hospital because it had failed to pay an outstanding bill of R500000. […]

IN a move that will make it the largest individual financial planning business in the country, Alexander Forbes on Thursday said it had acquired the Fincorp business from Brait. A team of 19 people from Fincorp, headed by Vernon Cresswell, will join Alexander Forbes with effect from January 1. The expanded Alexander Forbes financial planning […]

THE Taipei government is seeking to extradite from Mauritius a Taiwanese skipper suspected of shooting to death two Chinese sailors on his ship during a mutiny last week, a Taiwanese official said on Monday. Mauritius recognises Beijing rather than Taipei. On February 16, captain Kung Tai-an of the Chin Ching 12 allegedly shot and killed […]

CHARGES against alleged international slave trader, Joseph Amos Nkuna, were temporarily withdrawn in the Tonga Magistrate’s Court near Komatipoort in Mpumalanga on Tuesday, for further police investigations. Superintendent Thys Loedolff said on Friday that police need more time to investigate allegations that 39-year-old Nkuna was part of a Witbank-based syndicate that sold illegal Mozambican and […]

MAIL & Guardian Chief Executive Mike Martin announced on Monday he is to quit after nine years with the M&G. M&G Media Ltd chairman Bob Phillis said the board accepted Martin’s resignation on Friday. The name of a successor will be announced shortly and Martin will stay with the company until May 31 to assist […]

ZIMBABWE’S Standard newspaper editor, Mark Chavunduka, and his chief writer, Ray Choto, will appear at the Harare Magistrate’s Court on Monday to face charges of contravening section 50 of the Law and Order Maintenance Act. The two journalists were illegally detained and tortured by state agents before being released and brought to the court on […]

A Mail & Guardian cartoon which appeared more than two weeks ago depicting Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as a naked emperor, is gaining a cult following in Zimbabwe. The independent Standard newspaper reports that the cartoon — which shows a journalist barking: “..and next time show some respect when describing his clothes.” — is being […]

BLACK business leaders, politicians and social leaders meet in the Kruger National Park on Thursday to evaluate the successes and failures of the government and black business since goals for black economic empowerment were set at the last meeting in 1993. The meeting, called Mopani II, follows Mopani I where 200 black business delegates and […]

THE centre-left Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of former military ruler Olusegun Obasanjo won an overall majority in both houses of the new Nigerian parliament, according to unofficial results compiled on Monday. The PDP held 56 seats in the 109-seat senate with some states still to return results and 181 seats in the 360-seat House of […]

CAPE Town was largely brough to a standstill on Monday when a power cut left hundreds of thousands of commuters stranded and hospitals without power. SABC news reported on Monday evening that city hospitals were unable to perform operations and some outpatient departments had to be closed. The cut, which started at 11pm on Sunday […]

THE communication minister for Congo (Brazzaville), Francois Ibovi, announced on Thursday the confiscation of unregistered sawmills using logs stolen alongside the Congo River. About 12712m of timber worth 1,073-billion CFA francs were stolen from logging companies in northern part of the country between June 1997 and April 1998. The Congolese government has established surveillance brigades […]

ZIMBABWE’S Standard newspaper editor, Mark Chavunduka, and his chief writer, Ray Choto, will appear at the magistrates court on Monday to face charges of contravening section 50 of the Law and Order Maintenance Act. The two journalists were illegally detained and tortured by state agents before being released and brought to the court on 21 […]

SOUTH AFRICA has dropped reformed bad boy, Alfred Phiri, for an African Nations Cup qualifier against Gabon on February 27 in Mabopane. Turkish-based Phiri celebrated his return from a three-match ban after being sent off in the World Cup finals last year with the winner in a 2-1 Castle Cup Southern Africa championship victory over […]

HIGHWAY robbers took away more than one million dollars worth of gold when they ambushed a bullion van transporting the precious metal to Accra, Ghana its owner, Resolute Amansie Limited said on Thursday. The head of the company’s risks management unit, William Usmer, said the gold weighing 170kg was being conveyed from the company’s mine […]

OLYMPIC marathoner Abel Mokibe made his long-awaited return to road racing when he won the Pick ‘n Pay marathon in Bedfordview on Sunday. Mokibe finished only nine seconds outside of the incentive time clocking 2:23:09. He started the race with the intention of running an easy qualifier but the lack of commitment up front forced […]

UNITED States First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will conduct a private visit to Morocco next week. Clinton will make stops in Fez and Marrakesh during her holiday. This comes after President Bill Clinton has advised his wife to “take time and rest” before a possible bid for a seat in the US Senate next year.

A FORMER mayor in the Rwandan town of Mabanza, wanted in connection for the 1994 genocide, was reportedly arrested in South Africa on Thursday and handed to the United Nations Court. Radio reports on Saturday said that Ignance Bagilishema was arrested in Pretoria for visa violations. He has been on the run since 1995 after […]

SWAZI nurses called off a crippling two-day nationwide strike late on Friday after the government agreed to recognise the Swaziland Nurses Association. The strike had left thousands of people without health services. SNA president Masitsela Mhlanga said she is relieved the strike, which started Thursday, is over. Government officials said they called in legal experts […]

A LIBERIAN military tribunal has formally charged nine military officers with sedition for their alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow the government last year, a military communique said on Saturday. It accused the soldiers, detained without charge since last September, of fighting on the side of former warlord Roosevelt Johnson during clashes last September […]