Staff Reporter

OWN CORRESPONDENT | Monday 8.30pm. TANZANIAN police and FBI investigators uncovered a vital clue in their inquiry into the August 7 bomb blast in Dar es Salaam on Monday when they stumbled on a piece of metal with the vehicle’s chassis number on it. The Tanzanian Daily Mail claims that Tanzanian and FBI investigators have […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Arusha | Monday 8.30pm. THE subject of economic sanctions against Burundi will not be discussed at talks aimed at ending the civil war in the country, organisers said on Monday. The talks, due to start on Monday, have been postponed to Tuesday. “Sanctions are not on the agenda,” General Hashim Mbita of the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Freetown | Monday 11.30pm. A MILITARY court in Sierra leone has condemned 34 officers to death by firing squad for crimes linked to the coup that toppled the elected government last year. The 34 were found guilty of treason, murder and other crimes committed by the junta, which held power for 10 months […]

FRANCIS XOAGUB, Namibia | Monday 9.30pm. THE Namibian Defence Force on Monday dismissed weekend reports that a consignment of artillery from South Africa destined for its Grootfontein army base is actually in transit to the Democratic Republic of Congo. A Namibian weekly newspaper reported on Saturday that TransNamib trucks hauling lowbeds with G-2 artillery pieces […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 4.30pm. WHETHER South African Davis Cup captain Danie Visser will continue to head the team remains undecided after Sunday’s crisis meeting between senior SA tennis officials. Two weeks ago, South Africa suffered a major loss in Prague, threatening Visser’s contract. Sources, however, believe that SA tennis leadership is as much […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 9.30pm. THE Cape Town businessman Vito Palazzolo has been named by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation as being a senior member of the Sicilian mafia group Cosa Nostra. Palazzolo entered South Africa illegally in the 1980s and was given South African citizenship in 1995 in spite of appearing […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 8.45pm. A CAR-HIJACKER, convicted of shooting a man dead and seriously injured his female companion in a hijacking in 1983, applied for amnesty on Monday on the grounds that he had been acting with political motive. Saint Mkhululi Manyamalala, 30, told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he had needed […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Lagos | Monday 9.30pm. THE Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell has evacuated staff from the most volatile parts of the Niger Delta after a previously unknown group threatened the safety of foreign oil workers, Shell officials said on Monday. Armed youths last week seized 15 flow-stations belonging to the oil giant, which is the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maseru | Sunday 9.00pm. A MAN was beaten to death and four more seriously injured by an enraged crowd at a Lesotho Congress for Democracy rally on Sunday. The rally in Maseru, attended by around 5000 people, had already been scattered by an earlier shooting in which one person was injured. Several people […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kampala | Friday 7.00pm. THE Commonwealth has announced the lifting of santions against Nigeria and a partial return to the fold of the organisation’s most populous member-state. At the end of their two-day conference at the Commonwealth secretariat, members of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (Cmag) said they had reached their decision “in […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Midrand | Sunday 9.00pm. A PRESIDENTIAL summit to discuss farm attacks has ended with all parties in agreement on a 10-point plan to tackle the problem, the Sunday Independent reports. Delegates adopted a resolution committing all parties — government, opposotion parties, labour unions and farmin organisations — to co-operation and mobilisation of their […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT Kisangani | Sunday 9.00pm. THE wreck of an airliner shot down at the weekend by Democratic Republic of Congo rebels has been found about 40km west of the eastern city of Kindu, a Congo Airlines official said on Sunday. “Villagers who found the wreck in the forest found no trace of survivors,” the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kampala | Sunday 9.00pm. THE Ugandan government has confirmed that Ugandan troops now control several airstrips in the easter Democratic Republic of Congo. Regional Cooperation Minister Amama Mbabazi said on Sunday that Uganda was holding the airstrips to prevent Sudan from using them to deliver supplies to Ugandan rebels. “The best achievement has […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, N’djamena | Sunday 9.00pm. The Sudanese government has meanwhile announced that it wants a ceasefire with southern rebels. However it stopped short of agreeing to a truce declared by the rebels a few days ago. The SPLA said on Thursday that it will extend by another three months a cease-fire set to end […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Friday 10.30am. BJORN BORG on Thursday annihilated Argentinian veteran Guillermo Vilas to proceed to the semifinals of the MTN Champions Tournament, being played at the University of Pretoria indoor arena. Borg (42), who held his world number-one ranking for an incredible 109 weeks in his prime, outplayed Vilas in all departments […]

Mark Hulbert Share World What a difference two months can make. As recently as this summer, the debate between market timers and buy-and-hold investors was all but dead. After all, this year was shaping up as yet another in which virtually no market timers – investors who try to jump in and out of stocks […]

Ferial Haffajee South Africa’s television war is in full throttle with people in the industry at each other’s throats – and the only victors are likely to be viewers. The quick and dirty war has featured an arsenal of snitching to the authorities, comparative advertising campaigns, staff poaching and a drive to snap up the […]

to die Zanemvula (Zakes) Mda has happy memories of growing up among a community of South African exiles and Lesotho locals in the small town of Mafeteng. Last week he returned to find a smouldering ruin Chris Hani used to frequent this restaurant. His father, known to us only as Ntate Hani, owned it in […]

Dan Atkinson It’s that point in the economic cycle once again. It comes around like New Year’s Eve and usually leaves behind the same trail of wreckage, destruction and blinding hangovers. Yes, it’s junk time. Some of us can remember this X-rated film the last time it was showing. How we thrilled to the transatlantic […]

Michael Metelits The big news this week was the retention of investment grade ratings by Moody’s Investor Services for South Africa’s foreign currency debt and deposits. Moody’s action is a stamp of approval on local macro-economic policy. Their ratings, and those of other international agencies, are the first level of information used by international investors. […]

Chiara Carter Nomaindia Mfeketo, the new mayor of Cape Town, tackles the social side of her work with zest because she wants to make sure every function she hosts tackles the city’s “apartheid divisions”. Mfeketo, who became mayor last week, acknowledges the criticism often levelled at Cape Town: that little has changed since 1994 and […]

Angella Johnson VIEW FROM A BROAD It is exceedingly rare that the president of Johannesburg’s Central Divorce Court refuses to dissolve a marriage. Yet that was exactly what Helen Lotriet did after questioning a young husband who claimed his wife regularly cheated on him. “Are you still living as husband and wife?” inquired Lotriet. It […]

Wally Mbhele A major clash looms between the ruling African National Congress and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission over the commission’s final report to be made public at the end of this month. Behind the scenes, a volcanic war of words has already erupted between the two organisations. The truth commission accuses the ANC of […]

Andy Capostagno Cricket A collective sigh of relief echoed through the corridors of power in the smaller unions this week when the United Cricket Board (UCB) decided not to impose a two-tier system on the Supersport Series. It was, by all accounts, the most conciliatory UCB meeting for years. The outcome was that, while note […]

The winner in Exclusive Books’ promotion, the Boeke Prize, was announced this week. Critics vote on the best of six books chosen by booksellers. The ranking of the books from first to last is: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (Sceptre); The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Flamingo); Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur […]

airwaves Ferial Haffajee Allister Sparks is an unlikely Ted Turner. Other than the grey hair, the local journalist has until now had little in common with the American media magnate. Now Sparks is the driving force behind SABC-Africa, a 24-hour news channel going head-to-head with Turner’s CNN for supremacy of the African airwaves at least. […]

CD of the week Michael Odell Sweeting Of course we knew there were two Ringos in the group. The Fugees, the biggest-selling rap group in the world, comprises two blokes employed to shout “One time!” and Lauryn Hill – who combines the singer/songwriter talents of Lennon and Macca. The Fugees was never the arena to […]

Chiara Carter investigates a link between the Mafia boss and the ex- foreign minister The investigation into alleged Mafia moneyman Vito Palazzolo has led to a bizarre hunt for photographs of former foreign minister Pik Botha in bed with a black woman. The presidential investigation task unit’s acting head, Peter Viljoen, said he had several […]

row with black officers Tangeni Amupadhi Minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi is extinguishing fires these days. In between shuttles to Lesotho for peace talks, he stepped in to quell a growing rift between the national police commissioner and black managers. It is understood Mufamadi urged police National Commissioner George Fivaz to meet with […]

The outsider on this year’s Booker Prize shortlist is a bus driver. Peter Kingston caught a ride You’re sprinting for the bus. The driver spots your imploring wave and appears to be waiting, but just as catching the bus looks a real possibility, it pulls away. Why do they do that? “It’s the only pleasure […]

Ann Eveleth: IN THE ACT T hree pieces of labour legislation working their way through the halls of Parliament promise dramatic changes in the workplace. But tight human and financial resources, coupled with the growth, employment and redistribution programme’s (Gear) industrial growth bias, raise questions about how effective these changes will be. The Basic Conditions […]

Minister of Welfare and Population Development Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi responds to articles on welfare month featured in Monitor last week Poverty is one of the greatest challenges facing our country. It demands that all South Africans face up to some basic realities and come up with sustainable solutions. The payment of social grants and pensions is […]