Staff Reporter

BLACK empowerment firm African Harvest, in conjunction with United States-based Risa Investment Advisers, announced on Monday a scheme to offer US investors opportunities to invest in selected businesses in South Africa. The scheme will offer investors securities or open-ended equity mutual funds as a vehicle to invest in South African firms. African Harvest CEO Leon […]

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. […]

MAURITIUS Telecom has acquired 66% of the private Madagascar telephone company Sosaiety Misahna Varotra Sylndostria, the Mauritian national company said on Tuesday.The installation of expansion facilities will begin in April at a cost of 15 million dollars to MT, which will oversee the financial, commercial, technical and administrative management of SMVI. According to 1996 figures, […]

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 […]

Nigeria has named a provisional 29-man squad dominated by its foreign-based professional players for Saturday’s African Cup of Nations qualifier against Burundi. Naming the team on Monday in the southwestern city of Abeokuta, venue of the match, Dutch coach Thijs Libregts expressed the hope that with dedication and commitment, the players would overrun Burundi and […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

FORMER Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda has challenged incumbent President Frederick Chiluba to refute charges that he has helped to arm Unita rebels in Angola. “There is no smoke without fire — let them deny it convincingly and effectively because Angola keeps coming back with the same accusations,” the independent Post newspaper quoted Kaunda as saying. […]

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 […]

KENYAN authorities have appointed an anti-corruption advisory board, meeting a key condition for the resumption of talks on an aid package halted by the International Monetary Fund in July 1997. Attorney General Amos Wako named the new advisory board to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Authority (KACA)late on Monday. Its first task will be to nominate a […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

THE Bank of Botswana has introduced Repurchase Agreements to deal with increasing excess liquidity in the financial system, the Bank said in a statement on Thursday. The instruments were introduced effective January 4. “They will enable us to fine-tune the system,” a spokesperson said.

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 […]

THE EXECUTIVE of the United Cricket Board of South Africa on Sunday declared that 21-year-old pace bowler Makhaya Ntini would be eligible for selection to all national teams. With the squad to play the West Indies in the upcoming one-day series scheduled to be announced at Centurion Park on Monday, speculation was rife that Ntini, […]

ACTIVITIES at the Lagos docks were at a standstill on Thursday, the third day running, due to a strike by licensed customs agents protesting against the continued presence of unauthorised security agencies at the waterfront. The customs agents said they will continue with the strike until the banned agencies leave the ports, as directed by […]

POLICE detained South African national soccer star Steve Lekoelea for reckless driving, on Saturday. Lekoelea, 19, was arrested Saturday and his name was only made public after he was charged and released on bail. A traffic officer said the Bafana Bafana player “nearly caused a pile up before he was forced to pull of the […]

THE South African Under-23 soccer squad play their Egyptian counterparts in a two-match friendly encounter next week in further preparation for qualification for the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. The sides meet next Thursday at Dobsonville Stadium, followed by a clash at Vosloorus Stadium on Saturday. “This will also be preparation for the All-Africa […]