Staff Reporter

MPUMALANGA Premier Mathews Phosa dismissed press reports on Wednesday that he is being investigated for possible corruption by a top-level African National Congress team. The reports in The Star contend that Phosa is being investigated for allegedly benefiting from an illegal promissory note deal worth over R1,3-billion, as well as the earlier R25-billion Dolphin deal. […]

CONGO’S President Denis Sassou Nguesso reshuffled his government on Tuesday and named a defence minister as part of his battle against rival militiamen of the previous government. The main change in the reshuffle, officially announced late on Tuesday, is the naming of one of Sassou Nguesso’s aides, Lekounzou Iti Osetoumba, to run defence affairs with […]

THE International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Monday that it will establish an independent commission to investigate allegations of corruption in the sport. ICC chief executive David Richards said cricket’s nine test-playing nations unanimously agreed to relinquish some of their sovereign powers by handing jurisdiction over to the ICC. Richards said the countries also agreed […]

SHEPHERD “Mzimba” Kiviet will replace Stanley Christodoulou at the helm of the South African National Boxing Control Commission, according to the body’s outgoing chairman, Peter Ngatane. Christodoulou resigned just before Sports Minister Steve Tshwete fired the commission’s executive committee on Christmas Eve. Kiviet will run the commission until February 1, when an interim commission will […]

A KENYAN court Wednesday sentenced three foreigners to three months in prison each for smoking and causing a disturbance aboard a Kenya Airways flight from Lagos to Nairobi. Aboubakar Omar Hussein and Ramadhan Faiz Abeid of Tanzania and Nalillakaren Appu of India were charged with committing the offences on Tuesday aboard Kenya Airways flight KQ-433. […]

FORMER Western Cape Premier Hernus Kriel is in a stable condition in the Panorama Medi Clinic near Cape Town after undergoing heart bypass surgery on Wednesday morning. He will remain in the hospital’s intensive care unit for the next few days. Kriel (57) suffered a heart attack at his holiday home in Kleinmond on Monday.

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Dakar | Tuesday 8.30pm. In a desperate bid to prop up the ailing Congolese franc, embattled President Laurent Kabila has banned all foreign currency transactions outside the banking sector. Reports from the capital Kinshasa said Kabilla issued a decree over the weekend which says all transactions on DRC territory mustnow be conducted in […]

FIVE Zimbabwean troops deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were killed when an air force plane crashed on the outskirts of Kinshasa, Zimbabwean defence authorities announced on Monday.”[The] Ministry of Defence regrets to announce that a ZDF (Zimbabwe Defence Forces) CASA 212 transport aircraft crashed a few kilometres outside Kinshasa killing all five […]

CO-OPERATION between the Mpumalanga taxi industry and Trans Africa Concession, the company building the toll road between Witbank and Maputo, paid off during the festive season, said Trac chief executive officer, Trevor Jackson, on Monday. He said 360 minibus taxis stopped at rest areas along the N4 Toll Route after pamphlets were distributed at taxi […]

THE Namibian defence ministry has lifted the media blackout on the country’s involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Namibian newspaper reported on Tuesday. The decision to lift the press restrictions was taken after discussions between Defence Minister Erikki Nghimtina and the editor of The Namibian on Monday. The government imposed […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 11.30am. GAUTENG’S Education MEC Mary Metcalfe denied on Tuesday morning that jobs would be lost as the result of downsizing initiatives in the department. Colette Clark, acting director of labour relations for the department, said on Monday that Gauteng’s education department plans to cut 2800 posts, resulting in 1500 teachers […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 7.00pm. THE rand weakened dramatically on Tuesday, rising above the R6 to the dollar mark for the first time in months and causing anxiety in local bond markets where the yield on the R150 shot up to 15,95%. However, the rand’s weakness pushed up the gold index 13 points to […]

FORMER Western Cape premier Hernus Kriel, who had a heart attack at his holiday home in Kleinmond in the Western Cape on Saturday, is recovering in the Panorama Heart Clinic in Cape Town. Kriel (57) is reportedly feeling much better. SAAF TO MARION’S RESCUE THE South African Air Force is to dispatch a C-130 transport […]

THE diplomatic missions of Britain and the United States in the Ugandan capital were closed to the public Monday after anonymous callers made bomb threats. Workers, mainly guards, at the building housing both missions on the main street leading to the Ugandan parliament said they had only been told that the offices would remain closed […]

MALIAN former president Moussa Traore and his wife Mariam were condemned to death on Tuesday after they were convicted of economic crimes. Traore’s brother-in-law and former head of customs Abraham Douah Cissoko was given the same sentence. The accused had been charged with “embezzling public funds, illicit enrichment and complicity in illicit enrichment.” Traore, who […]

GAVIN RELLY, former chairman of Anglo American, has died aged 72 after a short illness. Relly was chairman of Anglo American from 1983 to 1990, succeeding Harry Oppenheimer. Among his notable accomplishments was his decision in 1985 to lead a delegation of business leaders to Lusaka to meet with the ANC, in defiance of the […]

TWO Siamese twins born on Saturday and separated on Sunday were stable on Tuesday and remain in ventilators and on intravenous feeding at the Garankuwa Hospital. The two were born connected at the central part of the abdomen. The operation was an interim measure, ahead of a more sophisticated operation planned for six months time.

CHAD’S economy grew by 7% in 1998, helped by good rains which pushed up food production, according to a bulletin published by the presidency’s economic service. The Bank of France’s Franc Zone secretariat has estimated Chad’s 1997 economic growth at 6,5%, the bulletin said. A clear improvement was noted in state revenues, payment of civil […]

SOME 700 members of Angola’s Unita movement opened a congress here on Monday to elect a new chairman in place of Jonas Savimbi, whose hardline militarism split the group in September. Angola late last year plunged back into civil war between Unita rebels, who long fought the formerly Marxist regime after independence in 1975, and […]

FORMER Anglo American Corporation of South Africa chairman Gavin Relly died on Sunday after a short illness, the company said in a statement on Monday. Relly, who was 72, was chairman of South Africa’s largest company and the world’s largest bullion producer from 1983 to 1990. He succeeded Harry Oppenheimer and led Anglo through the […]

THE International Monetary Fund has approved a $14-million loan for the tiny West African country of Benin which borders Nigeria. The IMF expects average real growth of 5,5% of gross domestic product over the coming years. The IMF says the Benin government plans new efforts to restructure its economy, privatising firms and reforming the the […]

THE three-day cricket match between Boland and West Indies ended in a draw on the final day on Tuesday. Scores: West Indies 220 and 307, Boland 135 and 123-5. Scoreboard at the close of play. West Indies first innings 220 (S.Williams 55) Boland first innings 135 (R.Lewis 4-45) West Indies second innings 307 (overnight 94-4) […]

NEWBORN South African Siamese twins joined at the abdomen were in a critical but stable condition on Monday after being separated at the weekend. The girls underwent emergency surgery at Pretoria’s Ga-Rankuwa Hospital on Saturday night, hours after they were born, to separate their shared bowels. “Their vital signs are OK; there is nothing alarming […]

KYNOCHEM, a subsidiary of chemical and fertiliser giant AECI, has agreed in principle to sell its transport arm, Industrial Chemical Carriers (ICC), to Tanker Services for R23-million. AECI announced on Friday that the sale of the company had been put out to tender. Industrial Chemical Carriers specialises in the transport of hazardous chemicals for AECI […]

RESIDENTS living beside the R488 million Driekoppies Dam in Mpumalanga fear for their lives and have urged both the government and the dam’s developers to move them from the area. Concerned residents said at a community meeting in Schoemansdal, just north of the Swaziland border at the weekend, that three people had already drowned in […]

THE EMBATTLED Leandra town council in Mpumalanga has lost its telephones to suspension after failing to pay a R24000 phone bill. The town got a reprieve from Rand Water, which reinstated previously suspended water service, but the town’s lack of funds is catching up with it. The council has until January 31 to pay the […]

COMMUTER rail operator Metrorail is planning service reductions and job retrenchments as a result of a R300-million budget shortfall. This came after the transport ministry axed the parastatal’s request for R1,55-billion for its 1999 budget amid increasing demands for ministry resources. Government and the commuter operator is negotiating budget cuts, retrenchments and station closings. Metrorail […]

THE Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has taken over management and operations of the Zambia Electricity and Allied Workers Union (ZEAWU) with immediate effect. According to ZCTU secretary general, Silvester Tembo, a new management team has been put in place to run ZEAWU. The new team includes: ZCTU trustee, Norah Zulu; Zambia National Union […]

LOCAL cellphone manufacturers Alcatel and Malaysian company Telekom Cellular (TCSB) have signed a new three-year contract valued at R760-million for a major extension of their GSM 1800 network in Malaysia. TCSB is one of Malaysia’s leading cellphone operators, which markets its services under the name TM TOUCH. The orders come in addition to the 2500 […]

MPUMALANGA Premier Mathews Phosa has backtracked on public promises to launch an independent commission of inquiry into the province’s embattled parks board. Phosa promised repeatedly in October last year that he would stage an open inquiry into the litany of secret deals engineered by the Mpumalanga Parks Board (MPB) over the past four years. Phosa […]

THE cost of Botswana’s peacekeeping operation in Lesotho was 4,2-million pula (R5,5-million) by the end of November, a Botswana Defence Force spokesperson said on Monday. Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Molefe said Botswana would foot the bill. There was still no date for the withdrawal of the country’s troops, sent to Lesotho in September last year as part […]

ENGEN Petroleum will establish a petrol retail network and lubricants supply facility in Ghana. Making the announcement in Cape Town on Monday, Engen’s CEO Rob Angel said the company felt confident about moving into Ghana as they already operate in 21 African countries. They will be in partnership with a local Ghanaian company and have […]