Staff Reporter

Iden Wetherell Zimbabwes public watchdog, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, risks losing its bite as the countrys bishops, anxious to appease President Robert Mugabe, attempt to muzzle it. The commission built a formidable reputation snapping at the heels of Ian Smiths rebel Rhodesian regime in the 1970s. It exposed atrocities committed by security […]

Gustav Thiel The Nederduitse Gerefor-meerde Kerk (NGK) , once again under pressure from its world body to repudiate apartheid, continues to find biblical justification for the separation of races. Although the NGK apologised in 1990 at its annual synod for as its moderator Doctor Freek Swanepoel puts it those who were hurt by apartheid and […]

contaminated. Andy Duffy The base created for 32 Battalion, the notorious army unit that fought on the frontline of South Africas dirty wars in Angola and Namibia, is to be closed amid fears that it is a potential death trap. The army said this week that Pomfret military base, home to nearly 5 000 soldiers […]

culture Eddie Koch Khoekhoe languages, although thought to be on the verge of extinction, have left an indelible print on many facets of South African culture. Apart from place names, ranging from Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma in the Cape to Gudaus (now translated as Goodhouse) in the far north, many words have been imported from Khoe […]

Stephen Gray : Unspoilt places They first appear, like sentinels, on the dirt roads north of Calvinia in the Northern Cape. Then up over the salt pans, en route to the Orange River at Upington, there is the occasional specimen, linking the sky to the dry, dusty, arid landscape. Keep on the R27 surely South […]

Paul Hayward : Soccer David Beckham is a 22-year-old millionaire with a Spice Girl on his arm and a Porsche in the garage. Talk to him about Glenn Hoddle, though, and he still sounds like a youth training scheme trainee with a line of mucky boots to scrub. The first time I came to the […]

THURSDAY, 12.30PM: NORTHERN Transvaal rugby selectors have named an unchanged squad to face Eastern Province in a Bankfin Currie Cup match at Loftus Versveld Stadium on Friday night. Injured hooker Jannie Brooks and Springbok tighthead Marius Hurter have been rested. NORTHERN TRANSVAAL SQUAD: Thys Potgieter; Archer Dames, Grant Esterhuizen, Johan Schutte, Casper Steyn; Roland de […]

THURSDAY, 12.30PM: WHEN Bafana Bafana take on France in a friendly match in Lens on October 11, Ajax Amsterdam’s striker Benedict “Cellular” McCarthy is likely to spearhead the national soccer team’s attack. National coach Clive Barker said he will be pinning his hopes on the youngster to score the winning goals. “He is brilliant and […]

THURSDAY, 11.00AM: The gloomy sentiment that his beset local markets this week continued on Wednesday as weak international markets added to the general gloom to push major indices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange lower. Turnover, at R1-billion was higher than it has been this week and producer inflation figures released on Tuesday were positive, but […]

WEDNESDAY, 11.00AM: PESSIMISM about the softening SA economy and gloomy sentiment on international markets kept investors away from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Tuesday, giving industrial shares a sharp knock. The thin volumes and bullion’s doldrums dragged the gold index to its lowest level in two months, losing 12 points to close at 981. Industrial […]

WEDNESDAY, 12.30PM: UNITED Cricket Board managing director Ali Bacher on Tuesday said the sponsorship row surrounding cricket and golf will be resolved within the next three days. “We have reached a stage where there are only a couple of issues that need to be ironed out,” he said. Bacher said he and former PGA Tour […]

TUESDAY, 12.30PM: WORLD number three golfer, South African Ernie Els will play only two tournaments in the Vodacom Golf Tour this season. He said he will only play in the South African Open and Alfred Dunhill PGA and will try to win the Nedbank Million Dollar at Sun City in December. “I’d love to play […]

TUESDAY, 10.30AM: TRADE on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was subdued on Monday, with the only action the result of investors dumping “Olympic” stocks in the wake of Cape Town’s failed bid for the 2004 Games. The thin trade brought all shares lower, with the all gold index slipping 2,9 points to 992,5, industrials shedding 34,7 […]

TUESDAY, 12.30PM: NATIONAL soccer coach Clive Barker has demanded R200 000 a month to guide Bafana Bafana to the World Cup finals in France next June. On Monday, Barker accepted the coaching job on a full-time basis for the next 15 months. South African Football Association (Safa) president Molefe Oliphant confirmed that Barker had requested […]

TUESDAY, 11.00AM: BUSINESS confidence in South Africa took a further dive in August, with the SA Chamber of Business business confidence index falling a further 0,3% after a 0,2% drop in July. Sacob said the results reflect the continuing slowdown of the economy and disappointment following the Reserve Bank’s reluctance to cut the interest rates. […]

TUESDAY, 11.00AM: GOVERNMENT’s R1,74-billion infrastructure plans for the Western Cape will go ahead in spite of Cape Town’s failure to host the 2004 Olympic Games. Olympic Bid Company project management director Mbali Swana told a press conference that the projects will proceed “because they are in accordance with central government’s development objectives”. Swana said the […]

TUESDAY, 12.30PM: GAUTENG Lions coach Dawie Snyman has refused to name the starting XV, and instead kept his options open by naming a 21-man squad ahead of the Bankfin Currie Cup match against South Western Districts in George on Saturday. There is only one change to the team that did duty against Natal Sharks last […]

TUESDAY, 2.00PM THE National Party’s electoral college has selected party executive director Marthinus van Schalkwyk as the party’s new leader, the eighth NP leader since 1914. Van Schalkwyk, the youngest candidate at 38, had the backing of three provincial leaders, the black caucus, and former leader FW De Klerk. He said that he favours “coalition […]

TUESDAY, 12.30PM: FORMER Wimbledon champion Pat Cash has been named as the replacement for Frenchman Yannick Noah in the field for the MTN championships senior tennis tournament to be held at Sandton Gardens later this month. Reigning champion Noah withdrew from the tournament, citing prior commitments. Tournament promoter Franco Barocas welcomed the inclusion of Cash. […]

TUESDAY, 11.00AM: THE Zimbabwean government is pressuring pension funds with more than R10-million in assets to invest 10% of them in African Resources Investment, a new company formed by the cabinet indigenisation committee. Some fund managers have alleged government officials said they would use persuasion followed by force to get the funds to comply with […]

MONDAY, 11.00AM: SOUTH AFRICA has adopted a new set of aviation safety rules based on those in several other countries, which bring SA in line with global aviation rules. The new regulations make passenger safety the responsibility of cabin staff, who are now required to be licenced and to undergo regular medical check-ups. Other changes […]

MONDAY, 11.05AM: NORTHERN TRANSVAAL beat bottom-of-the-table Mpumalanga Pumas 36-16 in a Bankfin Currie Cup match at Johann van Riebeeck Stadium on Saturday. Northerns led 21-6 at half time. The teaming of Joost van der Westhuizen, Archer Dames and Casper Steyn, proved effective for the Northerns. Van der Westhuizen made some decisive breaks around the fringes […]

MONDAY, 11.00AM KENYA’S President Daniel Arap Moi has renewed his attacks on foreigners and refugees, calling on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to move out all Somali refugees in Kenya. “We are being treated like fools by being so generous in every thing”, the president told a fund raising meeting in aid […]

MONDAY, 8.00AM THE National Olympic Committee of South Africa is gearing up for another bid attempt for 2008, starting with an analysis of what Athens offered that swayed the International Olympics Committee. But South Africa’s first problem will be to address its failure to capture the African vote — half the 20 African countries voted […]

MONDAY, 5.00PM A SINGLE brief radio announcement informed the people of DR-Congo that the dictator who had ruled them for 31 years was dead (see below). “In the African tradition, you don’t say anything bad about someone who has died,” the state-run radio said, explaining the subdued public reaction to the death in Morocco of […]

MONDAY, 1.00PM: The new UK-listed arm of Gencor, Billiton, will merge with the Australian nickel mining group QNI to produce the world’s fourth-largest nickel mining group, with a capacity to produce 60 000 tons next year. The deal gives Billiton 52,4% of an enlarged QNI, the rest held by existing QNI shareholders, who will enjog […]

BARNARD AMNESTY? FERDIE BARNARD, charged with the murder of David Webster, has had a change of heart about amnesty. Barnard, who has repeatedly said he will not apply for amnesty, now says he is considering it. He added that everything he had done, had been on behalf of his country, and carried out under orders. […]

MONDAY, 10.15AM: NATAL and former Springbok coach Ian McIntosh had no comment on speculation that he might apply for the job as a succesor to fired Springbok coach Carel du Plessis. Du Plessis was fired by the South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) after he refused to step down when asked to do so in […]

MONDAY, 9.40AM: KAIZER CHIEFS went down 2-1 to Bush Bucks in a Premier Soccer League match at Johannesburg Stadium on Saturday, in an entertaining game in which both teams played attacking football from the first whistle. Bucks opened the score in the 40th minute through striker Vincent Skhosana after capitalising on a defensive mistake by […]

MONDAY, 11.35AM: NAMIBIA’S Frankie Fredericks criticised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for Friday’s decision not to award Cape Town the 2004 Olympic Games.”I’m very disappointed and sad,” he said after beating Donovan Bailey of Canada in a Grand Prix 100m final in Tokyo on Saturday. He said: “I can’t see any other African countries comming […]

MONDAY, 1.30PM The leader of the Anjouan separatists in the Comoros announced that he will hold a “cabinet” meeting today to decide what to do next. Local businessman Ahmed “Charlie” Charikane held a candle-light press conference in a local hotel and said his first priority would be to re-establish phone links to the outside world […]

MONDAY, 10.30AM: AMERICAN energy expert Amory Lovins, currently visiting South Africa, says Eskom is making a mistake “running wires out to people who can’t pay”. He suggests that Eskom “leap-frog” to looking at the potential of solar energy, which would cut infrastructure costs and help consumers pay their energy bills. Lovins, who runs the Rocky […]