Staff Reporter

THE Angolan government abandoned the 1994 peace accord on Tuesday and said it would use its military might to seize land held by Unita rebels. Faustino Muteka, minister for territorial administration, told parliament that an official declaration ending the validity of the 1994 Lusaka agreement would be issued before the end of February. The army […]

PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela on Tuesday cancelled his scheduled trip to Germany in response to unrest in the wake of the the assassination of United Democratic Movement leader Sifiso Nkabinde in KwaZulu-Natal on the weekend. Mandela was due to arrive in Baden-Baden in Germany on Thursday.

COMOROS interim President Tadjidine Ben Said Massonde has postponed the election for the successor to Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim who died last November. Tadjidine said on Wednesday: “My interim period was to last for three months and enable the organisation of the presidential vote,” he said. “But … it is impossible to organise elections in which […]

THE Western Gauteng Services Council seized all the ambulances from the West Rand town of Krugersdorp on Monday, because it has allegedly failed to respond to emergency calls. The ambulances are owned by the province, but operated by agents, in this case the Krugersdorp municipality. Dr Philip van Rensburg, director of Gauteng’s emergency services, said […]

SCOTLAND captain Bryan Redpath has warned his team’s Five Nations rivals to expect a much improved performance from the Scots this season. Redpath, who joined Wales captain Rob Howley, England’s Lawrence Dallaglio, France’s Raphael Ibanez and Ireland’s Paddy Johns for a sponsorship launch in London on Monday, spelled out to each of them what they […]

THE launch of South Africa’s first home-grown satellite, Stellenbosch University’s Sunsat, has been postponed yet again. In the 12th delay since the new year, the launch was once again aborted due to unfavourable weather conditions.

NONE of the nine people aboard a United Nations-chartered plane that crashed in central Angola early this month survived, the UN said on Tuesday. On January 13, the rebel Unita movement, which denies charges that it shot down the Hercules C-130 on January 2, said everybody on board was killed. A rescue team on Monday […]

SENIOR public service managers will have to work for pay rises in future, according to Public Service and Administration Minister Zola Skweyiya. Signing a performance agreement with his director general, Paseka Ncholo, on Tuesday, Skweyiya said he believes the new regime will improve relations between directors general and ministers and reduce the temptation for ministers […]

TWO Namibian wrestlers — Wynand and Nico Jacobs — are the only wrestlers from Africa to participate in a two-year Olympic Solidarity scholarship scheme in Canada. The youngsters will leave for Canada on Tuesday night, and will immediately start the programme upon arrival, Namibia National Olympic Committee secretary-general Gerhard Roux said. The scholarships were awarded […]

DRIEFONTEIN Consolidated gold mine reported on Wednesday that its profits are up 9% to R242-million in the quarter ending in December. However, headline earnings were down at 63 cents a share against 68 cents a share in the September quarter. An interim dividend of 75 cents a share was declared. Gold output rose 13% to […]

ARMY units have arrested over 103 illegal Mozambican immigrants hundreds of kilometres from the border near the small farming towns of Piet Retief and Delmas in Mpumalanga over the past week. South African National Defence Force spokesperson Lize Pienaar said on Wednesday that the arrests formed part of a concerted anti-crime campaign in the region […]

ZIMBABWEAN attorney general said on Wednesday that he will order an investigation into the torture in detention of two journalists. Chinamasa said he will direct police to investigate accusations by Mark Chavunduka (34) editor of the independent Standard newspaper, and reporter Ray Choto (36) that they were tortured by the military after reporting on an […]

FORCES of the Wildlife Conservation Administration in Sudan have foiled an attempt by a group of tourists to smuggle 100 antelopes to Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea. Colonel Abdulazim Awad, director of poaching control at the administration, put the value of the gazelle antelopes at $50000. He said on Monday that the smugglers were […]

FRENCH oil company Total has taken control of Forzando coal mine in South Africa by purchasing shares in the mine from South Africa’s Anglovaal Minerals (Avmin), Total announced on Tuesday. Total previously had a 50% stake in Forzando. The mine has been operational since 1996, last year producing some 1,1-million tons of coal. Output is […]

TWO health workers were beaten to death by a crowd in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado for allegedly contaminating their wells with cholera bacteria, Radio Mozambique reported on Tuesday. The radio said the incident occurred in the district of Montepuez, one of several areas in the province stricken by cholera, where the health workers […]

South African Hendrick Ramaala scored his first major international success when he won the men’s IAAF cross country challenge event in Belfast, Ireland on Saturday. Road running specialist Ramaala was 30 metres behind at the beginning of the final lap in the eight kilometres event but won a sprint finish ahead of Kenya’s Laban Chega […]

THE sale of Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines’ (ZCCM) remaining mines is expected to effectively end a crisis period in the Zambian economy, Barclays Bank said on Tuesday. According to a bank newsletter, the sale of Nkana and Nchanga mines — previous to the sale they were a key obstacle to donor aid — has now […]

SWAZILAND’s national Olympic committee will decide on Wednesday whether to fire its president, David Sibandze, following his resignation from the International Olympic Committee on Sunday. Sibandze (66) resigned along with three other members at the weekend in the worst corruption scandal to rock the IOC in its 105-year history. IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch also […]

CASUALTY figures in the Sierra Leonean capital rose dramatically on Wednesday as mortar fire was heard on the western edge of the Freetown peninsula. This comes a day after the Nigerian-led intervention force warned it would launch an offensive against the rebels. In the first official death toll since fighting broke out in Freetown on […]

TREVOR Phillips, former chief executive Officer of the Professional Soccer League (PSL), launched a company on Tuesday that will be one of the first African-based sports management groups to apply for Fifa accreditation. “The company will focus on providing the soccer industry with a two-pronged service — player management and sports marketing,” Phillips said. “While […]

THE Cameroonian national football championship began in various parts of the country on Saturday. In Douala, Union Sportive de Douala beat Bamenda Free Boys 4-0 and Port FC won 2-0 against Badjoun Stadium, while in Yaounde, hosts Tonnerre Kalara Club (TKC) drew with Baham (2-2). In Ngaoundere, Canon de Yaounde, which will play in this […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 8.00pm. SOUTH Africa’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Sam Ramsamy said on Tuesday he is ashamed that four Africans were among the six IOC members suspended in the votes-for-favours scandal. “I view the IOC membership as a total entity – not a continental grouping,” Ramsamy said. “On the other hand, […]

EAST and Central African leaders have suspended economic sanctions imposed on Burundi almost three years ago, official sources said at the end of a summit of heads of states of the region held in Arusha, northern Tanzania. The decision was taken on Saturday, based on a report submitted by former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, who […]

FLIGHT problems on Monday forced the ministers of defence and foreign affairs to cancel a trip to Uganda, where they were to stand in for President Nelson Mandela. “First they had flight clearance problems with some countries to the north and then there was a major technical problem with the aircraft they had chartered. It […]

TANZANIAN police and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations are holding one person for questioning in connection with last year’s US embassy bombing Dar es Salaam, press reports said on Monday. Tanzania’s Criminal Investigations Department director Rajabu Adadi would not name the suspect and also refused to say whether the he was one of […]

MARTIN Dreyer became the first paddler from the Cape to win South Africa’s premier endurance canoe challenge by overpowering a machine-like Natalian challenge on the final day of the three-day race from Inanda Dam to Blue Lagoon on Saturday. Dreyer and Gauteng’s Mark Perrow are considering teaming up for victory when the KwaZulu Natal epic […]

INVESTMENT banking group Investec Botswana is to launch Botwana’s first private bank on February 1, Investec Private Banking (SA) MD Steve Helibron announced on Monday. Investec established itself in Botswana in 1995 and is dual-listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Helibron said in a statement that although the bank will […]

SUSPECTED Unita rebels killed at least 30 people travelling aboard two trucks on the road between Saurimo and Lwena in eastern Angola, radio reports indicated on Monday. Police in Luanda confirmed the ambush and stated that some of the members were among the casualties, but could give no details of the attack. Highway attacks generally […]

A SHARE swap announced last night between Johnnic and its 58%-held Omni Media subsidiary will result in MIH Investments becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Nasionale Pers. MIH Investments holds only shares in MIH (Multichoice Industrial Holdings) and M-Web. The swap means Omni Media is giving up 61,7-million shares in MIH Investments for 90,9-million M-Cell […]

A HUGE debt burden remains a major impediment to attainment of sustainable socio-economic development of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) members, said vice- president Christon Tembo on Monday. Tembo, opening the sixth Comesa council of ministers meeting in Zambia, said most of the organisation’s member states used over 50% of their […]

ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba on Friday cited a prolonged donor aid squeeze and declining foreign exchange earnings from copper as among factors that led to the country’s poor economic performance during 1998. Despite projections that the economy would grow by 5% in 1998, it only registered a 2% growth rate. Chiluba reported that inflation, which […]

THE army, police and traffic services on Monday patrolled the streets of Rustenburg in the North-West province after clashes between taxi operators and mine employees on Sunday night. Taxi operators reportedly assaulted and robbed a number of mine workers who were running lift clubs to work. Taxi operators claim that by charging for the rides, […]