Staff Reporter

THE Independent Electoral Commission is to hold its next and final phase of voter registration on March 5 to 7. As in its previous two phases, registration will start on a Friday and continue over the weekend until 5pm on Sunday. Chief electoral officer Mandla Mchunu said arrangements have been made for the registration of […]

FORMER Lesotho military leader Elias Ramaema was charged on Monday with being an accessory to murder and robbery relating to the stabbing to death of an Irish national two weeks ago. Ramaeme, who was charged in the Maseru Magistrate’s Court along with his son and daughter-in-law, was not asked to plead and the case was […]

MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Tuesday 5.15pm. THE top of South Africa’s batting order folded dramatically in Tuesday’s One Day International against the West Indies at Newlands in Cape Town, leaving the score at 125/6 after 37 overs. This is the fifth of the seven limited overs games, currently standing at 3-1 to South Africa. If […]

SPRINGBOK and Golden Lions hooker Owen Nkumane has withdrawn from the Cats’ Winfield Super 12 squad after consulting with Cats coach Andre Markgraaff and Lions mentor Laurie Mains. Nkumane has instead elected to play for the Lions in the Vodacom Cup in a bid to improve his fitness and skills which, by his own admission, […]

FLOODS and rockfalls in South Africa’s Northern Province have killed at least five people following torrential rain, police said on Tuesday.Police divers had recovered five bodies by Tuesday afternoon after mud and water swept through villages situated on the slopes of the Drakensberg mountains.Bodies were swept downriver and five have been recovered so far, said […]

THE Nylsvlei Nature Reserve near Nylstroom in Northern Province will be recognised on Tuesday as Ramsar wetland site. “This is an international certificate and will be given to the Nylsvlei Nature Reserve for having one of the best conserved wetlands in the country,” explained Thembi Makhuveli, spokesperson for the Northern Province department of environmental affairs. […]

POLICE and army rescue teams are still having difficulty tracking a Northern Province man who disappeared when a mini-tornado hit the village of Mahlomelong near Tzaneen on Sunday night. Four villagers, including a three-month-old child, died in the storm when large rocks were dislodged from a nearby mountain and crushed their mud huts. Local police […]

STAFF were back Tuesday at the Forcados oil terminal, Nigeria, owned by Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell four days after deadly clashes between soldiers and local youths, the company said.The company said assurances had been given on the safety of Shell staff at the site and its employees had returned. The Shell staff were withdrawn from […]

REBEL soldiers loyal to General Ansumane Mane on Tuesday retreated north of Guinea-Bissau’s capital as loyalist troops and allies from Senegal and Guinea advanced, informed sources said here.Heavy fighting with artillery and small-arms moved north towards the airport of Bissau, and the sources said shelling no longer threatened the city center.Hospital and other sources earlier […]

FOUR golfers held the lead at different stages during the third round of the Vodacom Players’ Championship on Saturday, but it was Chris Davison who claimed it. The San Lameer professional shot a 67 at the Royal Durban Golf Club to surge to 10-under par 206. A stroke behind were Andre Cruse, who blazed around […]

MPUMALANGA officially launched its new R1,2-million highway patrol on Monday with 10 of the most advanced law-enforcement vehicles in the country. The ten high-speed patrol vehicles can detect the speed of other drivers without officers having to lay speed traps or cameras. Provincial Transport MEC, Jackson Mthembu, said at the launch that the initiative is […]

AUSTRALIAN favourite Jarrod Moseley erased Ernie Els’ three-stroke lead in the final round of the Heineken Classic to steal the title on Sunday. Els had looked set to walk away with the trophy after extending his lead to six strokes. He lost his focus on the seventh hole, however, notching up a triple-bogey. After scoring […]

DIVERSIFIED media conglomerate Primedia is though to be bidding for a controlling interest in Cape-based radio KFM. This comes after both Primedia and KFM shareholder Brimstone Investment Corporation issued separate cautionary notices. Meanwhile one of Primedia’s holdings, CapeTalk, announced at the weekend that it has recorded an operating profit after only 15 months of operation. […]

THE only witness to point out celebrity praisesinger Mzwakhe Mbuli as one of the armed robbers of the First National Bank in Waverley, Pretoria, in 1997, admitted on Monday that she saw a photograph of Mbuli before she identified him. Madrinelle van der Linden admitted under cross-examination that she had seen a newspaper photograph of […]

NIGERIA’S military rulers have agreed to a new constitution, the regime’s number two, Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe, told newspapers on Tuesday. Akhigbe, Chief of General Staff, told reporters in Abuja after a meeting of the country’s top military body, the Provisional Ruling Council, that it has agreed to a constitution similar to that of 1979.The […]

TWO French diplomats were among five people killed in a three-car pile-up on the N4 toll road near Middelburg on Sunday night. Police report that F Millancourt (53) and his unnamed 54-year-old wife were killed after being struck by a car carrying a mother and three daughters. The mother, M Casmod, and her three daughters […]

A 1000km Mediterranean highway linking Africa and Asia will be inaugurated in June, Egyptian Reconstruction Minister Mohammad Ibrahim Soleiman said on Monday. “The highway will skirt the Mediterranean Sea, linking the north-eastern border town of Rafah and Sallum in the north-west,” Soleiman told the Egyptian news agency Mena. Rafah is Egypt’s gate to Asia through […]

PRIVATE airline company Aero Zambia, accused last week of running guns to Angolan Unita rebels, was “cleared” by the Zambian government on Monday. Although transport and communications permanent secretary Xen Vlahakis refuted the claims, a national official said Aero Zambia has a subsidiary, not based in Zambia, who use the same colours on their aircraft. […]

POLICE on Monday morning confirmed that 34 people were killed in a horror bus crash on Sunday night in the Free State. The bus was en route to Johannesburg from Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal on the N3 highway between Villiers and Warden in the Free State when a tire burst around 7.30pm. The bus lost control […]

STEEL prices are expected to remain in a slump until the end of the year — with the depression in the industry set to continue — according to predictions made by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of South Africa on Monday. Seifsa said that the local industry is largely hostage to foreign markets and […]

MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Tuesday 9.30pm. STEVE ELWORTHY made his third catch of a bouncy delivery by Hansie Cronje, sending Keith Semple back to the pavilion, and a simple runout bagged Rawl Lewis. Cronje took his time in touching the ball to the wicket after quick fielding by Nicky Boje and miscommunication between the batsmen […]

TWO black executives of Rand Water have lodged a charge of racial discrimination in the Labour Court after an outside candidate was appointed over their heads as general manager of scientific services. Business Report indicates that the two, Moss Selala and Jacques Katabua, filed papers after an appeal to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and […]

FACTORY Ducati and Castrol Honda motorcycle teams slugged it out on day two of the Vodacom World Superbike Championship winter test sessions at Kyalami on Tuesday. Reigning world champion Carl Fogarty came out on top on a Ducati. Fogarty set the fastest time of the day on Monday and was fastest again in Tuesday morning’s […]

AN ankle injury has forced seam bowler David Terbrugge to withdraw from the national squad to tour New Zealand later this month, captain Hansie Cronje announced on Monday. Terbrugge (22) will be replaced by veteran all-rounder Steve Elworthy (32). Terbrugge made his debut for South Africa against the West Indies in the recently concluded five-Test […]

AMNESTY hearings in Nelspruit were delayed by more than five hours on Monday when key witnesses got lost on their way to Nelspruit. The hearings had still not begun by 2pm but Truth and Reconciliation Commission officials were confident that the lost witnesses would arrive in Nelspruit in time to testify. The witnesses are supposed […]

DAVID TERBRUGGE, Gauteng and South Africa’s right-arm seamer, is racing against time to be fit for South Africa’s cricket tour of New Zealand. He will see a doctor on Monday for a further assessment of his injured left ankle. With only nine days to go before the national squad go on tour, Terbrugge might have […]

CHINESE Vice President Hu Jintao opened his country’s first consulate general in South Africa at a short ceremony in Cape Town on Monday, the second day of a five-day visit to the country. Hu is to open a similar office in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Diplomatic ties between China and South Africa, which severed links with […]

AT least 11 people were killed and two soldiers seriously wounded in a clash between protesting youths and soldiers in the troubled Niger Delta at the weekend. Details of the incident were sketchy, but according to witnesses on Monday, it appeared soldiers opened fire on youths who had come to an army barracks near the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 1.20pm. THE Inkatha Freedom Party sacked KwaZulu-Natal premier Dr Ben Ngubane and education MEC Vincent Zulu at the weekend because of poor matric results in the province. Arts, Culture, Science and Technology Minister Lionel Mtshali is expected to replace Ngubane as premier, and Public Works Deputy Minister Eileen Shandu is […]

THE property management arm of steel giant, Iscor, has raised a lower-than-expected R360-million from the sale of its properties since June 1996. Yskor Landgoed has liquidated its property holdings in Pretoria, Vanderbijlpark and Newcastle in a bid to raise an estimated R350-million for its general investment programme. Iscor expected to raise an estimated R500-million — […]

THE critically injured commander of Mozambique’s navy, Rear Admiral Pascoal Jose Nhalungo, was flown to a Johannesburg clinic for emergency treatment over the weekend after he was ambushed and shot in Maputo two weeks ago. Nhalungo was being treated at Maputo’s central hospital but was transferred to an unnamed Johannesburg clinic for specialist treatment on […]

THE Democratic Republic of Congo government repealed on Sunday a ban on political activities in force since President Laurent Kabila took power in May 1997. The government also laid down stringent requirements for the registration of parties. First, according to official television, parties now create a forum of at least 300 delegates coming from all […]