Staff Reporter

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 9.00pm. Ernie Els’s victory in the Alfred Dunhill SA PGA on Sunday has moved him back up to fourth place in the latest world rankings issued on Monday. Els, newly-wed and refreshed after an injury-plagued 1998, is looking forward to 1999 and is aiming to get back on top of […]

SEVEN men were killed and one was seriously wounded when an armed gang stormed into a private home in the Vaal Triangle township of Evaton, south of Johannesburg, police said on Tuesday. Police arrested four men and confiscated three pistols soon after the massacre at midnight on Monday. “The four entered the house and apparently […]

MORTAR fire was heard Tuesday morning in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, as intervention troops continued an offensive against rebels who stormed the city two weeks ago. The offensive by the Nigerian-led Ecomog force began Monday, southeast of Freetown, along the main road linking the peninsula to the interior. Ecomog intends to prevent the rebels escaping […]

IN the latest violent storm to lash the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape, at least 21 people were killed on Monday, hundreds injured and some 50 homes flattened in the Mount Ayliff and Thabankulu area, according to Mount Ayliff police station commander Nxibe Zweladinga. At least three of the injured are reported to be […]

IN its first foray into the Chinese market, the world’s largest gold firm, Anglogold, on Monday announced a series of initiatives to boost China’s gold market. The drive is co-sanctioned by the World Gold Council. Announcing the plan in Beijing, China, Anglogold CEO Bobby Godsell said he sees China developing as a major growth market […]

THE 1989 assassination of prominent Swapo member Anton Lubowski will return to court next month. Five former military and police officers have launched large defamation suits on allegations about the killing, principally against The Namibian newspaper. The case will be heard from February 8 to 19. The plaintiffs — retired Namibian Police Deputy Commissioner Flip […]

TWO women have won a prestigious South African boxing award, without ever fighting. Shona MacTaggart and Robbyn Segal are the joint winners of the 1998 King Korn/Boxing World special award — making them the first female recipients of an award in the 23-year history of the event. Boxing World magazine editor Bert Blewett said the […]

THE launch of South Africa’s first home-grown satellit has been delayed again, according to a statement on Tuesday by Stellenbosch University. Spokesperson Douglas Davies said the launch by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Vandenberg Air Force base in California is now scheduled for 12:39:52 SAST on Wednesday. He said the latest delay […]

SOUTH African, world ninth-seed squash player Natalie Grainger made it through to the final on Tuesday of the Arader and O’Rourke Greenwich Open in the United States, beating seventh-seeded Australian Kim Keevil 9-4, 9-7, 9-2 in the semifinal. In the quarterfinals Grainger defeated sixth-seeded American Latasha Khan 9-4, 9-2, 9-0. Grainger will face second-seed Rebecca […]

KURDISH rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan applied for a visa to South Africa before leaving Italy at the weekend, the Anatolia news agency reported on Monday. His whereabouts are at present unknown. The report quoted anonymous security sources as saying they received information that Ocalan went to Moscow after leaving Rome on Saturday and then moved […]

FRANK Pooe cruised to victory in the Reebok Half Marathon in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, on Sunday, finishing in 66:23. Pooe was the first of the Liberty Life/Reebok team to cross the line — and more followed. All four top places were taken by his team members and, had one runner not been disqualified, all five top […]

THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange said on Monday foreigners were net buyers of nearly R1,2-billion rands’ worth of equities last week after buying only R86,7-million worth the previous week. MAJOR MANGO PULPING A MAJOR United Arab Emirates fruit processing company, Moh’d Al Oman, has begun construction a mango pulping plant in Mozambique’s central province of Sofala. […]

THE University of Pretoria launched a satellite-based pilot programme on Tuesday which will link two schools via satellite to lecturers in Pretoria in the rural Northern Province. The pilot project, which has targeted 200 pupils at the Nape A Ngaato and Mkoni A Mabule high schools, hopes to boost existing matric pass-rates of roughly 20% […]

EDUCATION Minister Sibusiso Bengu said on Tuesday that the government will give R390-million to needy students in 1999. In a statement in Pretoria, Bengu said this represents a 20-fold increase in state financial aid to students since 1994. He added that the amount allocated for this year is in line with recommendations of the National […]

PENNY HEYNS won her second breast stroke event and the World Cup short-course swim meet on Saturday. Heyns edged two Australians in the 50-m sprint, finishing in 31:27 to Helen Denman’s 31:29 and Samantha Riley’s 31:81. Heyns beat Riley in the 100m breast stroke on Friday.

KAIZER Chiefs star midfielder Doctor Khumalo is the latest celebrity to try his hand at the Dusi Canoe Marathion, which takes place in the Umsindusi river between Pietermaritzburg and Durban from January 21 to 23. Khumalo will team up with SA surfi ski champion Oscar Chalupsky for the race. Also taking part will be local […]

Local favourite Simon Finch shocked national champion Glen Gore and Olympic team fixture Lieuwe Boonstra to win the Mr Price Triathlon on the Durban beachfront on Sunday morning. The 24-year-old Finch completed the two-lap 800m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run in a brisk 1 hour 02 minutes 53 seconds. Gore finished 43 seconds behind […]

A BOTSWANA judge granted an eleventh-hour stay of execution for two men due to be hanged for murder on Saturday amid an outcry from human rights groups that the men were convicted on circumstantial evidence. Justice Reynolds ruled late Friday night that the death sentences for Gwara Brown Motswetla, and Tlhabologang Phetolo Maauwe were unconstitutional. […]

THE Law Society of the Transvaal announced on Sunday it will establish a new transformed council which will give both the Black Lawyers’ Association and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers representation. Both associations will have 25%, or five members, represented on the council. Of these, four are from Gauteng, and two each from the […]

BAFANA Bafana have suffered a series of setbacks just 48 hours before flying to Mauritius for an African Nations Cup qualifier on January 23. A knee injury rules out Swiss-based striker Shaun Bartlett, midfield anchor John Moeti has been suspended by Orlando Pirates and wingback Steve Lekoelea was briefly detained by police at the weekend […]

WATER levels in Mozambique’s Pungue valley continue to rise after widespread flooding at the weekend. Maputo daily Noticias reports that the rising Pungue river in the central Sofala province are threatening to cut off the main highway between Zimbabwe and the Indian Ocean port of Beira. The newspaper reports flood waters were lapping at the […]

THE trial of 50 Lesotho soldiers on mutiny charges hit an unexpected snag on Monday when all six lawyers in the defence team withdrew. Spokesperson for the defence team Khalaki Sello said the lawyers withdrew to register their objection to the trial being held inside a maximum security prison. The trial was adjourned to Tuesday […]

GAUTENG jockey Craig Magua, 36, died at a Johannesburg hospital on Sunday night after sustaining severe head injuries in a racing accident at Gosforth Park on Sunday afternoon. The freak accident occurred in the fourth race in which Magua rode a 33-1 outsider, Whistling Nun. She was a backmarker in the race when she stumbled […]

YOUTH clubs in Mpumalanga are being urged to introduce the ancient SiSwati custom of virginity testing in an attempt to fight the spread of the pandemic. Mpumalanga has the second highest Aids and HIV infection rates in South Africa. The first youth club to adopt the practice, Vukuzakhe Youth Club in the small farming towns […]

NIGERIA’S centre-left Peoples Democratic Party won the governorship of Rivers State in a re-run vote this weekend, taking its national tally to 20, officials said on Sunday. PDP candidate Peter Odili won the southeastern state with 770074 votes, against 710280 votes for Ebenezer Isokrari of the centre-right All Peoples Party. Eric Bekwele Aso of the […]

PUBLIC prosecutors staged a placard demonstration outside the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court at lunch time on Monday, in protest at 6% salary increases announced last month by Justice Minister Dullah Omar. Spokesperson for the picketers Yolande Labuschagne said the prosecutors restricted their protest to lunch hour after they were threatened with dismissal if they protested during […]

A LIGHTNING bolt struck a house and killed a family of seven in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape late on Sunday, police said. Two other people were injured and admitted to hospital. Police said a grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, two teenage boys and a girl were killed by the bolt in the Libode […]

AT least 18 people were killed in a clash between Ethiopian government troops and rebel Oromo Liberation Front militiamen at the Kenyan frontier town of Moyale on Saturday, Kenyan newspapers reported on Monday. Several people were also injured in the fighting which, other reports said, killed as many as 40 people on both sides of […]

THE expertise of South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu could be called upon to help with plans to put on trial leaders of the Khmer Rouge, according to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. “We are looking at the South African example of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission as an interesting one, where they have the end […]

TEST cricketer Makhaya Ntini will remain eligible for selection for the national team, the United Cricket Board of South Africa announced on Sunday. In a brief statement, the board said Ntini (21) remains eligible for consideration. Ntini was released on R5000bail on Friday after appearing in court in East London on a charge of raping […]

SENTENCE in the 17-day trial of former Zimbabwean head of state, Canaan Banana, will be delivered on Monday by judge president, Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku. The judge last year found Banana guilty of 11 counts of sodomy, indecent assault and attempted indecent assault.

THE total mining production for the three months ending in November increased by just 0,7% after seasonal adjustment compared with the previous three months. However, the total mining production for the first eleven months of 1998 fell by 2,2% compared with the first eleven months of 1997. Seasonally adjusted value of mineral sales for the […]