Staff Reporter

POLICE captain Johannes Hanekom, in charge of the 1997 identity parade in which people’s poet Mzwakhe Mbuli appeared in connection with the armed robbery of the First National Bank’s Waverley branch, admitted on Tuesday that the parade had been “irregular” and had contravened police regulations. Hanekom was testifying before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on the […]

A HARDLINE Palestinian guerrilla group accused Libya on Monday of arresting members of the organisation and confiscating funds. Atef Zaki, a spokesperson in Lebanon for the Fatah Revolutionary Council of Abu Nidal, said members were arrested in August 1998 and funds of an unspecified amount seized. It said the moves came despite the fact that […]

ELLIS Ferreira and Chris Haggard, with their respective partners, won through to the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles draw at the Australian Open tennis championships on Monday. Ferreira and his American partner, Debbie Graham, downed fifth seeds Rick Leach of the US and Larisa Neiland of Latvia 6-4 2-6 6-4 while Haggard and Belgian Els […]

BEER giant South African Breweries Ltd said on Friday it plans to merge its interests in two Polish breweries, Lech Browary and Browary Tyskie, into one company with a single distribution system. SAB said the move follows the thumbs-up from the supervisory boards of Browary Tyskie Gorny Slask SA and Lech Browary Wielkopolski SA to […]

JOHANNESBURG sprinter Wendy Hartman upstaged several bigger-name athletes at the Absa Permit meet held on Saturday afternoon in Bloemfontein. The 22-year-old athlete twice upset sprint darling Heide Seyerling, winning the 100m in a personal best 11,29 seconds. “I have done powerlifting as my second sport for some time now, and this has given me much […]

ZAMBIAN President Frederick Chiluba on Friday apologised to the Zambian people for the mistakes that his government has made over the years. In an uncharacteristic address at the opening of parliament, Chiluba admitted that the quality of life for most Zambians has deteriorated further last year despite the government’s commitment to reverse the trends. “Along […]

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 […]

KENYAN President Daniel arap Moi paid an official visit to Eritrea on Sunday for talks with President Isayas Afeworki on the Ethiopian-Eritrean border conflict. Moi appealed to Afeworki to exercise restraint to avoid an outbreak of hostilities, local radio said. Moi said he had delivered a similar message to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi when […]

A RESCUE team on Monday reached the site of a United Nations cargo plane downed on January 2 in Angola, the second shot down in a month, a UN spokesman said. The team was composed of 25 people who had traveled earlier to Bailundo, a stronghold of the rebel group, Unita. No other details are […]

MANUFACTURING concern CS Manufacturing opened South Africa’s first commercial cassava starch factory in the Northern Province on Friday. The investment in the factory is estimated at R28-million. CS Manufacturing MD Jim Casey said the new factory will produce 60 tons of starch a day, with 50% of the factory’s capacity to be sourced from surrounding […]

ETHIOPIA is to receive $255-million in long-term lending from the Abidjan-based African Development Bank for the implementation of projects in agriculture, transport and public utilities, according to an agreement signed in Addis Ababa on Friday. The agreement stipulates that the Ethiopian government receive $235-million as loan and $20-million as grants to pay for project studies […]

MILO, the six-month-old Jack Russell terrier who underwent open heart surgery at the University of Cape Town last week, died overnight. The puppy died of heart failure shortly after landing at Johannesburg International Airport while being moved from Cape Town to Onderstepoort veterinary research institute near Pretoria.

DUTCH football giants Ajax Amsterdam completed a two-match tour of South Africa with a 3-2 victory over a Cape Town selection at Athlone Stadium on Wednesday. Jasper Gronkjaer put the four-time European Cup holders ahead after two minutes and former South Africa striker Grant Young levelled just before half-time. Gronkjaer struck again early in the […]

CIVIL servants in north-east Nigeria have abandoned their cars and taken to cycling to work because of the scarcity of fuel in the region. In Borno State, a semi-desert region on the border with Chad, fuel scarcity is so bad that pedal power has replaced motorised transport for all but the most senior of officials, […]

BRITISH actress Helen Mirren slated the European small arms trade on Saturday, blaming it for fuelling South Africa’s rampant crime. “European countries are very culpable for the spread of arms throughout the world and it’s time to stop them,” she told a press conference in Johannesburg. Mirren, star of the Prime Suspect television series, is […]

THE South African Revenue Service announced on Friday that it is to outsource its entire dispatch function to Paragon Business Forms in an initial contract worth approximately R60-million over two years. The contract, which also includes warehousing and distribution, will see the SARS phase out its inhouse computerised forms operations early this year. Paragon’s major […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Monday 7.30pm. ZIMBABWEAN newspaper executive Clive Wilson, who was freed on Monday after being detained over a report of an alleged coup plot, vowed that Zimbabwe’s independent press will not be cowed. “Not for a moment,” said the British-born former editor in response to a question at a news conference at […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 9.00pm. A FORMER member of the Afrikanerweerstandsbeweging (AWB) who boasts he planted at least 32 bombs in the run-up to the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, has been granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Dries Kriel was given indemnity from prosecution for a spate of bombings […]

FRANKLIN Sonn, flamboyant former ambassador to the United States, has been appointed to the board of directors of both Absa Group and Absa Bank, it was announced on Friday. Absa chairman Danie Cronje said in a statement that Absa is “delighted to have a man of such stature and vision serving on our board”.

THE survival of a young Senegalese stowaway who hid for some five hours in the landing gear of an Airbus bound from Dakar to Lyon is almost a miracle, French doctors say. The stowaway, about 15, was found unconscious “in bad shape but alive” on January 17. After eight days in hospital, doctors on Sunday […]

GARBA Lawal and Finidi George scored to give Nigeria a 2-0 victory over Burundi on Saturday and moved the 1996 champions to the top of Group 5 in African Cup qualifying. The 1994 champions, who withdrew the week before the 1996 tournament and were banned from the 1998 finals because of it, improved to 1-1-0 […]

FOUR Italian missionaries who escaped their rebel kidnappers in Sierra Leone last were to leave Freetown Sunday for Italy, the Misna agency reported. The Rome-based missionary news agency said the four were to fly by helicopter to Lungi, then on to Guinea, before travelling to Italy. The clerics escaped on Wednesday during an air raid […]

LIFE assurance giant Old Mutual is still trying to persuade the government to grant it the approval it needs to list in London this year, the finance ministry said this week. “They have to convince government why they want to move,” a ministry spokesperson said. He added that Finance Minister Trevor Manuel would not respond […]

MILO, the six-month-old Jack Russell puppy who underwent open heart surgery on Thursday, is showing an improvement, the University of Cape Town’s medical school said on Friday. Milo, who has a rare congenital condition which causes defects in all four chambers of his heart, was in a critical condition on Friday morning. University spokesperson Paddy […]

THE blockbuster restructuring of Anglo American Corporation faces another key test on Thursday when shareholders in Anglo’s industrial subsidiary consider a share swap offer. The scheme meeting for Anglo American Industrial Corp (Amic) is one of Anglo American’s last major hurdles as it tries to consolidate its operations and move its domicile to London. Shareholders […]