Staff Reporter

Who are . . . the Congolese Rebels? Ann Eveleth When Congolese rebel commander Jean- Pierre Ondekane vowed this week to “intensify” the rebellion against embattled Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila, he spoke with a confidence his opponent has never enjoyed. Unlike Kabila, whose 1997 Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of […]

Maureen Barnes Down the tube Money, the SABC is always telling us, is the problem which prevents us from watching top-quality television – a fact which we silly viewers just can’t get into our heads. There’s not enough money from the government; there’s not enough money from advertisers and there’s not enough money from us […]

Brenda Atkinson On show in Johannesburg The opening of the Wits group exhibition Histories of the Present was a beautiful moment in contemporary art history. As freakish French multimedia artist Orlan looked on in horror, Steven Cohen douched fake blood onto a cheesy thrift-shop painting of a serenely bare-breasted young girl. Later, Orlan – the […]

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is, as we have observed before, a curious if admirable beast – a combination of attributes which were on display with particular effect this week. There is something wonderfully satisfying about the sight of the likes of General Johan Coetzee and Craig Williamson being subjected to aggressive questioning on their […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Thursday 10.30pm. A DIAMOND prospector who was robbed of R10,8-million’s worth of diamonds by former Civil Co-operation Bureau policeman Ferdi Barnard told the Pretoria High Court on Thursday that he had trusted Barnard and had not expected to be robbed. Barnard — who is serving a life sentence for the murder […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 7.30pm. The Langa Commission’s final report on alleged election fraud in Lesotho contained no surprises, an aide of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday afternoon. The director-general in Deputy President Thabo Mbeki’s office, Frank Chikane, indicated that the findings were similar to the commission’s interim report in August, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kuala Lumpur | Thursday 11.40am. STAR pole-vaulter Ockert Brits has pulled out of the South African Commonwealth Games team, troubled by a hamstring injury. Brits will also no longer be competing in the Athletics World Cup, which begins at the Johannesburg Stadium on Friday. Brits informed Athletics SA secretary-general Banele Sindani of his […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 9.00pm. THE Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has alleged that young elephants from Botswana are being ill-treated in a warehouse near Johannesburg. SPCA director Marcelle French claimed the elephants were tied together by their front legs and that one front leg and one back leg were chained. […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday 8.00PM. UNITED Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has warned that the UN will pull out of Angola if the government and Unita don’t stop fighting. Annan called for the UN brokered 1994 peace accords to be implemented immediately. He recommended the Security Council conduct a full-scale review of the situation […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Thursday 9.30pm. FORMER chief of police Johann Coetzee on Thursday told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he found the assasination of former Communist party chief Joe Slovo’s wife, Ruth First, morally repugnant, and again denied having any part in the parcel-bomb murder. Coetzee told the TRC’s amnesty committee that he […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Luanda | Wednesday 11.30pm. SEVENTY MPs belonging to Angola’s rebel Unita movement who were dismissed from parliament last week have refused to joint the breakaway faction which has established itself as the movement’s alternative leadership. Five ministers, also dismissed for being Unita members, last week denounced leader Jonas Savimbi and set up a […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maseru | Wednesday 11.30pm. DEPUTY President Thabo Mbeki has told a Lesotho government delegation that the findings of the Langa commission of inquiry into electoral fraud in the mountain kingdom will not be made public until the Southern African Development Community meeting in Mauritius on Sunday. He gave the same response to Lesotho […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kuala Lumpur | Tuesday 11.00pm. THE Commonwealth Games general assembly decided on Tuesday to limit the number of participating sports in future meetings to 14. The limit has been forced on officials as they struggle to compete against an ever growing international sports calendar. Other changes decided at the federation’s general assembly include […]

JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Nelspruit | Wednesday 10.00pm. MPUMALANGA’S finance MEC, Jacques Modipane, was aware of the province’s parks board attempts to get an illegal R500-million offshore loan in December last year but failed to report the matter to the Reserve Bank or any other institutions until two weeks ago. The R500-million loan scheme centred on the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kisangani | Wednesday 11.00pm. REBELS occupying the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Kisangani are striking north and aiming for the strategic town of Buta after overrunning Banalia, 100km north of Kisangani, their military commander said on Wednesday. Commander Jean-Pierre Ondekane said that Banalia had been under rebel control for some time, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Wednesday 9.00pm. FORMER police commissioner General Johann Coetzee told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission amnesty committee in Pretoria on Wednesday that he never agreed to any political assassinations, including that of Ruth First. Coetzee, who is applying for amnesty for the bombing of the ANC’s London offices in March 1982, was […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 5.30pm. THE travel and tourism industry in South Africa has the capacity to create 174000 new jobs by 2010, according to a report by World Travel and Tourism Council president Geoffrey Lipman on Tuesday. The council’s assessment is based on the ability of the sector to attract substantial private sector […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 3.30pm. PARLIAMENT on Tuesday approved legislation paving the way for life assurance giants Sanlam and Old Mutual to proceed with their plans to demutualise later in the year or early next year. The demutualisation will see the two giants convert from mutual societies into listed companies. The National Council of […]

SARAH BULLEN in Johannesburg | Tuesday 5.30pm. THE local stock market continued to hold out for the second day running on Tuesday, with firmer Asian markets providing a boost for local and European equities alike. Dealers are now speculating that most markets have contained their exposure to Russia. Institutional investors were again back in the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Moroni | Wednesday 8.00pm. UNITED STATES FBI investigators are searching for a Comorian Islamic militant as part of their inquiry into the US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, sources in the Comorian capital, Moroni, said on Wednesday. The suspect, Abdallah Mohamed Fadhul, 25, arrived in Moroni on August 14, seven days after […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.00am. TRANSNET has been cross-subsidising some of its business units, using its profitable companies to subsidise its loss making one, the transport department’s Moving South Africa study suggests. The transport parastatal has long denied crossfunding, despite widespread speculation within the sector that it is a common practice by Transnet. The […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nelspruit | Tuesday 9.15pm. MPUMALANGA’s provincial finance MEC Jacques Modipane on Tuesday said that it is highly probable that Mpumalanga’s Parks Board chief Alan Gray forged his signature on the back of three illegal promissory notes. The notes offer some of South Africa’s prize national parks up as collateral for an illegal R340-million […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Wednesday 9.00pm. ALMOST half the Alien Investigation Unit in Pretoria has been arrested for taking bribes and sleeping with foreign prostitutes. A senior Home Affairs official has also been arrested, and a further 15 cases are under investigation, SABC3 reports. The arrests, which include the former acting commander of the unit, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nairobi | Tuesday 10.00pm. KENYA on Tuesday deregistered six international Islamic non-governmental organisations as a direct result of the August bombing of the United States embassy in the capital, Nairobi in which 240 people died and 5000 were injured. Announcing the decision, government-appointed NGO Co-ordination Board chairman John Etemesi warned that the board […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 9.15am. FORMER Springbok and Griqualand West rugby coach Andre Markgraaff will quit as coach of Griquas at the end of the year, and may take over the coaching position of the Golden Cats Super-12 team. Markgraaff was recently appointed managing director of Supersport Rugby Holdings, comprising Griquas, Boland Cavaliers and […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 10.00pm. VARIOUS projects for the Loxton community in the Northern Cape could not be continued because overseas donor funds paid to the Foundation for Peace and Justice did not arrive, the Cape High Court heard on Monday. A community worker giving evidence at the trial of former anti-apartheid activist, […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 9.15pm. SOUTH African pint-sized Amanda Coetzer, seeded 13th in the US Open Championships, fought her way through an 150-minute monster match at Flushing Meadows on Monday to oust Spaniard Conchita Martinez. Coetzer’s victory secures her a place in the quarter finals of the Grand Slam event. Both baseline sloggers, the […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kisanjani | Tuesday 9.00pm. THE rebels fighting to topple Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila have vowed to fight on until he has been ousted. Speaking in the Congolese city of Kisanjani following the failed summit at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, rebel commander Jean-Pierre Ondekane told journalists that the rebels will continue their […]

SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Monday 5.15pm. TAKING its cue from stronger Asian markets, local stock rose like a battered Phoenix as investors returned to the market on Monday. Gold again led the charge, with the index rising 78 points (8,51%) as the gold price soared $1,85 an ounce to $288,70 from its London morning fix. […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nairobi | Tuesday 3.00pm. ON the same day as human rights watchdog Amnesty International condemned Kenyan police brutality in its 1998 annual report, Kenya’s civil service chief Fares Kuindwa has criticised the same police for brutality and corruption, newspapers reported on Tuesday. Kuindwa told officers attending a police seminar they should tackle police […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Tuesday 11.00pm. FEARS of a full-scale taxi war in Kwazulu-Natal have risen after a prominent taxi boss was gunned down as he chatted to a friend in the street of Mpumalanga town on Tuesday. Maxwell Mata was allegedly assassinated because he was a key witness in a murder trial involving taxi […]

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kuala Lumpur | Tuesday 11.00pm. THE Commonwealth Games general assembly decided on Tuesday to limit the number of participating sports in future meetings to 14. The limit has been forced on officials as they struggle to compete against an ever growing international sports calendar. Other changes decided at the federation’s general assembly include […]