OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 3.00PM. GENERAL Siphiwe Nyanda, the former MK Transvaal commander and current chief of the SA National Defence Force, was the mastermind behind the 1987 Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court bombing, former MK member Solly Shoke told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s amnesty committee on Wednesday. Four policemen died and 14 other people […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 9pm. FILLING stations around South Africa are running dry with no end in sight to the strike by 47000 members of the Chemical Workers’ Industrial Union. No negotiations took place on Wednesday, and no meetings are planned, CWIU president Welile Nolingo said, although he expects “some approaches or initiatives from […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg| Wednesday 4.00pm. THE Katz Commission of Inquiry into tax structures on Wednesday proposed that a provincial surcharge on the national fuel levy be added to boost the revenue of provinces. In a report released on Wednesday, the commission said such a levy could be raised with relative ease at a lower-tier level, […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Leeds | Wednesday 11.30AM. THE South African cricket squad on Tuesday thwarted attempts by the English media to turn the series-deciding fifth Test at Headingley into a Donald-bashing party. The South African team refused to talk to the press after net practice on Tuesday, following the comments made by Allan Donald on the […]
SARAH BULLEN, Johannesburg | Tuesday, 3.00pm. THE total numbers of liquidations in the second quarter of 1998 rose a staggering 59,3% to 1034, from 649 liquidations in the previous quarters, the latest figures from the Central Statistical Services released on Tuesday indicate. The increase reflects a 21,6% increase compared with liquidations in the second quarter […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Wednesday 9.00PM. A SUSPECT wanted in connection with a body found in a shallow grave near Richmond has died in while being pursued by police in a high-speed car chase. Police wished to question farmer Neville Garrod, 59, and his son Ian Wayne Garrod, after the body of their domestic worker, […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 8.30PM. JUSTICE Minister Dullah Omar on Wednesday announced a project which will prevent dangerous criminals being released on bail. According to Omar the project entails a computer link between courts and the police’s Criminal Record Centre in Pretoria, effectively giving courts access to all crime suspects’ previous conviction records. Omar’s […]
Sarah Bullen, Johannesburg | Monday 6.00pm LOCAL stock had a rough, abysmally quiet day on Monday as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange followed international markets lower. Weaker undertones dragged all indices down, with the all share index losing 1,89%, 133 points, to 6887. Key international tones, said Barnard, Jacobs, Mellett dealer Kevin Brady, were a negative […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 4.30PM. THE preliminary rounds of the African Nations Cup championships kicked off this weekend, and there were many surprises among the results. Namibia beat Malawi 2-1 in Windhoek on Saturday, while Burundi beat Tanzania 1-0 in their match in Bujumbura. Jean-Marie Mbuyi scored the only goal. Swaziland lost 2-1 […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Monday 3.30PM. PRESIDENT Nelson Mandela will meet with the head of Formula One racing Bernie Ecclestone on August 19 to discuss the future of a South African grand prix in view of the government’s proposed crackdown on tobacco sponsorship. Sports Minister Steve Tshwete said that the meeting is “quite critical”. […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 7.00pm. THE Chamber of Mines on Tuesday condemned the draft National Environmental Management Bill, saying it is seriously flawed and unworkable. Chamber environmental adviser John Kilani said the draft Bill not only contravenes the Constitution while conflicting with other laws, but does not include sustainable development measures. He said it […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kigali | Tuesday 10.00PM. THE Democratic Republic of Congo government in Kinshasa has accused Rwanda of “invading” DRC, and has subsequently said on national television that it is preparing a “vigorous riposte” against Rwanda for attacking its territory. A United Nations source in Kinshasa has also said that Rwandan forces were seen crossing […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Addis Abbaba | Tuesday 7.00pm CITING security reasons, Ethiopia has expelled 500 more Eritreans in ongoing tit-for-tat hostility bewteen the two countries. However a ceasefire has continued to hold along their disputed shared border, where fighting first broke out in May. The Organisation of African Unity is persisting with efforts to mediate the […]
SIZWE samaYENDE in Nelspruit | Monday 3.30pm SOUTH Africa’s second largest primary tobacco company, with an initial market capitalisation of R100-million and representing 35% of total production in the country, opened for business on Monday. Lowveld Golden Leaf was formally incorporated on July 28 but opened its offices in the Mpumalanga capital of Nelspruit on […]
SARAH BULLEN in Johannesburg | Tuesday 12.30pm. SOUTH Africa’s gold and foreign exchange reserves fell 2,4%, R800-million,to R32,60-billion in July from R33,40-billion in June, the Reserve Bank said on Tuesday. The Bank released preliminary reserves figures in advance of more detailed data on its holdings of gold and foreign currencies, scheduled for August 11. ING […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 10.00AM. FORMER Orlando Pirates midfield star Clifford “Tough” Moleka was killed in a car accident near Johannesburg International Airport on Monday morning. Moleka, who was on loan to Nyanga Seven Stars, was on his way to the airport to return to Cape Town when he swerved to avoid a truck […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Tuesday 9.00PM. AN Umkhonto we Sizwe special operations unit commander on Tuesday described to the amnesty committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission how he watched as two men were killed by a bomb he set outside Ellis Park rugby stadium in 1988. Lester Dumakude (45), now a lieutenant-colonel in the […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 10.30AM. AFTER losing more than a full day’s play to rain, South Africa’s three-day match against Essex in preparation for the fifth Test at Headingly ended in a draw. When play was abandoned, South Africa had scored 406/5 declared in their first innings, and 27 without loss in the second. […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 9.30pm A REBEL army faction has seized power in two eastern towns of the Democratic Republic of Congo and has stated that its aim is to overthrow President Laurent Kabila. Fighting has also been reported in Kinshasa and other centres in the east of the country. Unconfirmed reports say that […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 8.30pm THE July 1988 car bomb explosion at Ellis Park sports stadium, in which two people died and 35 were injured, was not intended to kill anybody, but to send a message to whites that they, too, were vulnerable, a former Umkhonto weSizwe cadre applying for amnesty told the Truth […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 5.00pm A SUSPECTED robber was shot dead and another seriously injured after police intercepted what they believe to be a heist attempt on the Modderfontein Road in Ivory Park, Midrand on Monday. Police spokesman Captain Hannes Lombaard said police were travelling on the Modderfontein Road toward Kempton Park at about […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday 2.00PM. SESHI CHONCO has resigned as CEO of arms manufacturing parastatal Denel, he claims, because of a conflict of interests. The Sunday Times reports, however, that Chonco was pushed following a long-running dispute with Public Enterprises Minister Stella Sigcau over the pace of his privatisation plans. Chonco says he handed […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 6.00PM. THE Truth and Reconciliation amnesty committee has granted amnesty to Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement) member Nicolaas Willem de Jongh for the bombing of two houses shortly before the 1994 elections. De Jongh, the AWB commander for the Queenstown, Eastern Cape, area and two other AWB members bombed the […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 5.30pm SOME 8000 chemical workers in the rubber and plastic sectors were still locked in talks with management on Monday afternoon in a bid to end the Chemical Workers’ Industrial Union strike, which started at midnight on Sunday. At a number of factories, including Port Elizabeth-based pharmaceutical companies Pharmacare Lennox […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Harare | Monday 8.00pm A NEW political party, the Zimbabwe People’s Convention, was officially launched in Harare on Saturday to promote democracy, transparency and accountable governance. ZPC spokesman Obey Mudzingwa said at a news conference that Zimbabwe needed political plurality as the current situation had degenerated into a one-man gang. “Political contributions are […]
ROB DAVIES, Johannesburg | Sunday 1.00PM. SPRINGBOK wonderboy flyhalf Gaffie du Toit again delivered the goods to steer Griqualand West to a 23-17 victory over Natal at King’s Park in Durban on Saturday. Du Toit, who came on as a substitute in the second half, drilled two drop-goals through the posts in the 64th and […]
OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cheltenham | Sunday 1.00PM. SOUTH Africa’s final warm-up fixture against Essex failed to get off the ground on Sunday, when a combination of heavy overnight rain and a malfunction in the drainage system resulted in a waterlogged outfield. Play is expected to resume at 3pm. The local fire brigade was called in to […]
Richmond There tends to be a false assumption that firm or tough government is conservative government and, as such, inimical to the liberal principles enshrined in our Bill of Rights. For that reason, perhaps, those who take pride in the foundations of the new South Africa contained in our Constitution would see a declaration of […]
Greig Coetzee’s plays have shown alternative sides of the male psyche. Denise rack Louw probed him about his characters `For me, writing is a passion. At times it can also be a pain in the ass; but, like eating and sleeping it’s something I simply have to do,” says Greig Coetzee, author and executor of […]
Steve Gordon : A Second Look The Gift to the Nation concerts last weekend disappointed not so much in what they were, but in what they were not. Boasting South Africa’s biggest-ever artist billing, we squandered the opportunity to assert and affirm our nation, our voice, our identity. Mega-concerts are notoriously difficult to organise, and […]
Neasa MacErlean Embarking on an new career doesn’t have to be a harrowing experience. Here are a few pointers on making a smooth change: * Understand that you can probably make a dramatic switch if you are completely determined – but few people are brave enough to try. Most sacked executives end up in the […]
The continuing battle over alleged electoral fraud could plunge the region into turmoil, writes William Boot Opposition parties in Lesotho this week expressed “great shock” at a “serious rumour alleging a possible resolution by some people in high places or quarters to banish from Lesotho His Majesty the King and declare a state of emergency”. […]