General Paul Kagame tells Mahmood Mamdani that he had to reveal the truth about his army’s involvement in the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko The day before I took the Air Rwanda flight from Entebbe to Kigali on July 11, both major dailies in Kampala had carried reports of The Washington Post interview with Rwandan […]
Andrew Putter: Performance art Cape Town artist Peet Pienaar is one of this year’s FNB Vita Award finalists. Each finalist was given a budget with which to make a new work, a work that will be judged to decide on an overall winner. For his piece, Pienaar interviewed Mark Andrews, the Springbok rugby player who […]
FRIDAY, 11.30AM: IT has emerged that US-based Dow chemical Company mopped up batches of Sentrachem shares on the open market before announcing its offer this week to buy the local chemicals group for R10,50 a share. It is also believed that SBC Warburg, which is advising Dow on the deal, brokered a sale of 2,3-million […]
FRIDAY, 5.00PM TREVOR TUTU, the son of truth commission chairman Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was on Friday arrested by members of the Soweto Fraud Unit at his home in Randburg north of Johannesburg. Police said Tutu was arrested on the strength of an arrest warrant issued against him for contempt of court arising from his failure […]
Lucy Hannan in Nairobi Kenyan police are rounding up hundreds of refugees and foreigners after President Daniel arap Moi announced that “foreign spies and criminals” were masquerading as refugees and inciting the people. Buses carrying 129 Burundian, Rwandan, Sudanese and Somali refugees drove under police escort last week to Kakuma camp, more than 800km from […]
The shooting of a vital witness casts doubt on the Durban police ordered to protect him, writes Ann Eveleth A key witness in a KwaZulu-Natal political murder inquiry was shot twice while hiding in a hotel under police protection, it emerged this week. The man, 23-year-old Nhlakanipho Nxumalo, survived the attack. But, weeks later, he […]
* “Bubbly Fassie Proves We Can Take on the World” -City Press headline, 1988 * “The Wedding of the Decade -SAPop Queen Finds the Love of Her Life” -City Press, 1988 * “Triple Platinum on Latest Album” (the album: Too Late for Mama)-City Press, 1989 * “Brenda’s New Hubby Floors Her After Tiff” – Sunday […]
Slowly, slowly, Brenda Fassie, the original South African pop diva, seems to be finding her feet again. Charl Blignaut joins her in the studio where she’s recording a new album Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that there is no way to write a Brenda interview without its being personal. That’s because […]
blind Mail & Guardian reporters The most sought-after newspaper readers in South Africa are turning to the Mail & Guardian – in their thousands. The M&G has surged way ahead of its competition. More upwardly mobile, young professionals are reading the M&G than any other similar product. For the first time in several years the […]
FRIDAY, 9.20AM: NAMIBIA’S Frankie Fredericks advanced to the finals of the 200m at the World Athletics Championships in Athens on Thursday. Fredericks finished second and clocked in 20,39sec, behind Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago, who clocked in 20,09sec. Fredericks, who has been suffering from an injury throughout the Championships, refused to comment after the […]
THURSDAY, 10.30AM BIG trades in certain blue-chip stocks ensured the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s industrial index held record levels for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. Industrials leapt to anotther record high, climbing 64 points to 9 247. The gold index kept ahead of another fall in the bullion price, helped by the rand’s further weakening […]
THURSDAY, 1.00PM: SOUTH AFRICA’S 800m medal hopeful Hezekiel Sepeng was eliminated in the semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships in Athens on Wednesday night. Sepeng finished fifth and second last with a time of 1min 47,00sec. He was boxed in and tried to pull out of the pack unsuccessfully. Sepeng refused to blame the hamstring […]
THURSDAY, 1.00PM: HELLENIC and Orlando Pirates drew their Premier League match 1-1 at Greenpoint stadium in Cape Town on Wednesday. Pirates opened the score through defender Willem Jackson and thereafer were all over Hellenic, but failed to penetrate the tight Hellenic defence. Hellenic took control of the second half and equalised through Peter Kirsten after […]
WEDNESDAY, 5.30PM THE SA Chamber of Business said on Wednesday that business confidence declined slightly in July from 114,6 to 114,4 as the country anxiously awaits a relaxation in monetary policy. Sacob economic policy director Ben van Rensburg said on Wednesday consumers are under severe pressure from the sustained high interest rate environment. He said […]
WEDNESDAY, 5.30PM KENYA’s pro-reform coalition decided on Thursday to go ahead with a national strike to pressure the government for electoral reforms, although the plan has been rejected by two opposition leaders and several trade unions. The National Convention Executive Council (NCEC), grouping political parties, citizens’ groups and religious leaders, announced it will go ahead […]
THURSDAY, 1.00PM: SOUTH African Football Association CEO Danny Jordaan said on Wednesday the Four Nations tournament might be called off if there is no answer from China and Nigeria by Friday. Jordaan said only Namibia has confirmed its participation in this year’s tournament. “We have received no response from China or Nigeria to our invitation,” […]
THURSDAY, 1.00PM THE Cahora Bassa power line was finally completed on Tuesday this week — almost 20 years late. The Cahora Bassa power project, initiated in the mid-1960s as an arrangement between the government of John Vorster and the Portuguese colonial administration of Mozambique, has been delayed by years of civil war and tension between […]
HIGHWAY ROBBERS IN COURT THREE of the four men arrested for alleged involvement in a highway heist last week in which two security guards were shot dead and R17-million stolen appeared ion the Pretoria Regional Court on Wednesday. The fourth man arrested was released for lack of evidence against him. Oupa Edwin Sihani, 39, Themba […]
WEDNESDAY, 5.30PM NEW Africa Investments Limited is set to purchase the Independent group’s 42,5% stake in the Sowetan, South Africa’s largest circulation daily newspaper. The price of the deal values the Sowetan at R150-million. The Sowetan was unbundled by Argus (now Independent) Newspapers in 1994 with Nail, chaired by Dr Ntatho Motlana, taking a controlling […]
WEDNESDAY, 4.00PM INKATHA Freedom Party leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Wednesday morning denied any knowledge of hit-squad killings by Caprivi-trained IFP members, and said he was astounded such allegations are being made. On Tuesday the self-confessed commander of the Caprivi trainees, Daluxolo Luthuli, said there was no way Buthelezi could deny he was aware of […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.30AM The proposed free trade deal between South Africa and the European Union will cost SA’s Southern African Customs Union partners R350-million, according to the final report on the effects of the deal. The other Customs Union partners, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, share external tarfiis with SA and are heavily reliant on income […]
WEDNESDAY, 1.00PM: NORTHERN Transvaal Rugby Union president Hentie Serfontein said on Tuesday that he will not be available for re-election at the union’s annual general meeting later this year. The announcement was made after a closed doors meeting called because of the pressure from local rugby fans, who are calling for the sacking of both […]
WEDNESDAY, 5.00PM The new leader of the Comoran island of Anjouan, Abdullah Ibrahim, on Wednesday held the first meeting of his “cabinet” since Anjouan and Moheli broke away from the Comoros Islamic Republic at the weekend. The new cabinet ordered an audit of the amount of money left in government coffers on Anjaoun, where all […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.30AM THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s industrial index rocketed to a new high yesterday as investors took hope from Reserve Bank statements that monetary policy will not be affected by the latest depreciation in the rand and widespread expectations of an imminent interest rates cut resurfaced. Industrials added 73 points to take the index to […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.30AM PARLIAMENT’s finance committee on Tuesday approved a draft Bill giving wide powers to the Reserve Bank and the finance minister jointly to disclose confidential information about SA’s banking system. Urging the committee to adopt the SA Reserve Bank Amendment Bill, which will make the Reserve Bank one of the most open to scrutiny […]
WEDNESDAY, 1.00PM: AMAZULU have signed up Zimbabwean international striker Stewart Murisa from Caps United in Zimbabwe. Murisa will replace Simon Magagula, who moved to Orlando Pirates earlier this month. Murisa said on Monday he was looking forward to the new challenge with great interest. “If I am selected in the starting line-up on Sunday, I […]
WEDNESDAY, 4.30PM The recent massacre of five African National Congress members in Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal had an unexpected effect on the peace pact in the province betwen the ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party when violence betwen supporters of the two parties broke out in nearby Fredville after security forces were moved from the area to […]
R17m ROBBERS FOUND POLICE have discovered the lair belonging to the gang that robbed a security van of R17m last week, and arrested four gang members. The 15-man gang lay low in a house in southern Johannesburg for a week after the heist in which two security guards were murdered. Police have recovered R630 000 […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.30AM: NEW car sales in July increased for the second consecutive month, rising 2,1% against last July to 21 994 units. Latest figures from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA show new passenger car sales for the first seven months of this year up 2,9%, at 144 446 units, over the same […]
WEDNESDAY, 5.30PM ADVOCATES of constitutional reform in Kenya on Wednesday gave President Daniel arap Moi an ultimaltum to accept constitutional negotiations or face a general strike. The ultimatum was handed down late on Tuesday by opposition figures, 22 religious leaders and the executive council of the National Convention Assembly, the umbrella organisation seeking the reforms, […]
MONDAY, 4.30PM EBRAHIM SATARDIEN, the man accused of murdering People Against Gangsterism and Drugs national secretary Ebrahim Khan was on Tuesday granted R10 000 bail in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court. Pagad members were noticeable by their absence from the hearing, after packing the court and hurling abuse at the accused during previous hearings. Khan was […]
TUESDAY, 2.30PM NAMIBIA will not follow South Africa into allowing its citizens to open foreign currency accounts, the bank of Namibia has announced. Senior Research Manager Ehrenfried Merero told a briefing that the Bank was obliged to be prudent and the economy was not yet ready for relaxed controls. “The issue is not whether Namibian […]