TUESDAY, 10.30AM: THE US-based multinational Dow Chemical Company has offered to buy troubled local chemical giant Sentrachem for R2-billion in a deal which see the US company relaunching its local investments after disinvesting in 1987. Sankorp, Sentrachem’s largest shareholder, has accepted an offer of R10,50 a share for its 38,74% stake and, according to Sentrachem […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM: SOUTH AFRICA’S 800m trio — Hezekiel Sepeng, Marius van Heerden and Hendrix Mokganyetsi — advanced to the second round at the World Athletics Championships in Athens on Monday night. Sepeng, who ran in the first and fastest heat of the five, finished second in 1min 46,42sec behind the world record holder Wilson Kipketer […]
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 […]
ELECTRICITY CUT-OFF BEGINS THE Gauteng government on Tuesday began cutting off electricity supplies to households that refuse to pay for municipal services. The cut-off began in KwaThema near Springs, where local government MEC Sicelo Shiceka said there is no justification for residents not to pay for services, because the apartheid government they were protesting against […]
TUESDAY, 3.30PM A FORMER KwaZulu policeman, Gcina Brian Mkhize, 21, on Tuesday became the first of the “Caprivi 200”, Inkatha members given paramilitary training by the SA Defence Force in the 1980s, to testify before the truth commission. Mkhize’s testimony was delayed since Monday following attempts by the National Party and former SADF chief General […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM: SPRINGBOK rugby coach Carel du Plessis has announced four positional changes to the team to face New Zealand in a Tri-Nations match on Saturday. James Small and Henry Honiball return to the backline, and James Dalton and Marius Hurter are back in the pack. Joe Gillingham, who replaces injured Dannie van Schalkwyk, will […]
TUESDAY, 3.30PM UNITED Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan will not meet President Nelson Mandela on Friday, the president’s office said on Tuesday. Mandela’s office announced the meeting on Monday and Mandela confirmed it on Tuesday, despite a denial issued on Monday night by the United Nations. Mandela’s spokesman Parks Mankahlana said that in telephonic discussions with […]
MONDAY, 8.00AM: COMMUNICATIONS minister Jay Naidoo has announced a committee of “stakeholders” to advise him on broadcasting issues ranging from foreign ownership to the effects of competition on the SABC to Internet and satellite policies and the need for a school of broadcast journalism The part-time committee will be chaired by University of the North […]
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, 10.30AM: TRANSNET, the parastatal transport holding company has managed to curtail its loss for the year to March 31 to R170-million, from R253-million the previous year, largely due to a leap in profit at rail subsidiary Spoornet and reductions in labour costs. Transnet MD Saki Macozoma said the group had “done well” to increase […]
TUESDAY, 10.30AM: SOUTH African Football Association CEO Danny Jordaan on Monday said Namibia has confirmed its participation in this year’s Four Nations Cup. Jordaan said the tournament is alive and will take place at venues where it will not interrupt the League’s programme. He said the first two matches are likely to be played in […]
TUESDAY, 8.30AM THE R28,63-million Tollgate fraud trial began yesterday, the much-delayed probe into one of South Africa’s biggest corporate collapses. In the dock was only one of the three alleged co-conspirators, former director Mervyn Key. Tollgate chairman Julian Askin and his colleague Lawrie Macinkintosh have both fled to the UK. Key is accused of “thievery […]
TUESDAY, 10.30AM The rand depresiated further against the dollar on Monday, losing 3c to hit a new six-month low of R4,66, before backing of slightly to close at R4,6555. However, analysts said the latest fall in the local currency is not yet cause for concern and is well within expectations. Reserve Bank deputy governor James […]
MONDAY, 10.30AM A LATE panic on Friday saw the rand losing almost 3c against a ramapant dollar to close at a new six-and-a-half-month low of R4,6345. Traders believe the pressure will remian on the local currency, with some seeing R4,65 as a possiblity. The rand’s losses were due, however, to the strength of the dollar […]
MONDAY, 4.30PM The trial of former Zimbabwean president the Reverend Canaan Banana, 61, on charges of homosexual rape was postponed on Monday for six weeks to allow him to be represented by a top advocate. The trial, which involves 11 counts of sodomy, attempted sodomy and indecent assault, was due to begin on Monday but […]
MONDAY, 4.00PM FOLLOWING weekend reports that Sports Minister Steve Tshwete intends to ask President Nelson Mandela to appoint a commission of inquiry into the management of SA rugby, SA Rugby Football Union president Louis Luyt on Monday said Sarfu will go to court to have the appointment of any such commission overturned. In a statement […]
The diplomatic rumpus over President Nelson Mandela’s "lost" letter to the Indonesian government took a new turn.
MONDAY, 5.30PM: THE Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Monday granted amnesty to former Vlakplaas police hit squad commander Dirk Coetzee and two accomplices for the November 1990 murder of Durban human rights lawyer Griffiths Mxenge. Coetzee and two former Vlakplaas operatives, David Tshikilange and Almond Nofomela, were convicted of Mxenge’s murder in the Durban High […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: SOUTH AFRICA’S Llewellyn Hebert has qualified for the 400m hurdles final on Monday night at the World Athletics Championships in Athens. Hebert qualified for the finals after finishing second in the semi-final on Sunday night. He clocked in a time of 48,31sec behind Frenchman Stefane Diagana’s 48,14sec. “I held back a bit. All […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: NORTHERN TRANSVAAL beat Border 39-20 in their Bankfin Currie Cup match at Basil Kenyon Stadium in East London on Sunday. Border trailed 3-12 at one time but came back to take a 17-12 lead. Border’s right wing David Maidza beat two defenders to score a try and he set up their second try, […]
MONDAY, 10.30AM: THE Reserve Bank’s gross gold and foreign exchange reserves in July rose marginally to R22,8-billion, from June’s R22,13-billion. Reserves were boosted during the month by proceeds of government’s $250-million yankee bond issue and R1,4-billion in new short-term credit. But the drop in the gold price and Bank efforts to ease the volatility in […]
MONDAY, 4.30PM FORMER Foundation for Peace and Justice chief Dr Allan Boesak wants his trial separated from that of FPJ bookkeeper Freddie Steenkamp, the Cape High Court heard on Monday. Boesak, appearing briefly with Steenkamp, was not asked to plead. The state offering no objection, the trial was postponed to September 15 to give Boesak’s […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: ZAMBIA beat Mozambique 2-1 on Saturday, moving to the top of the five-team Confederation of Southern Africa Football Associations’ (Cosafa) Castle Cup competition in Lusaka. Frazier Kamwandi scored both Zambia’s goals in the 50th and 81st minutes. Mozambique’s Faife Sergio equalised a minute after Zambia’s first goal. Zambia plays Namibia on August 20 […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: THE Springboks went down 32-20 to Australia in a Tri-Nations match at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday. Shaky backline and pathetic tackling cost Springboks the match. Springbok coach Carel du Plessis said after the match the team will have to go back to the drawing board for this Saturday’s game against the […]
FRIDAY, 1.00PM: KENYAN athletes are in great form in Athens and are expected to dominate in the long distance events in the World Athletics Championships which starts on Friday. Kenya is hoping that their top athletes will bring back medals – fastest 5 000m runner this season Daniel Komen, three-time world 3 000m steeplechase chapmion […]
“Betrayed” is a harsh word to describe the government’s failings. So it was not a casual decision when we chose to use it on our cover on May 9 when the plight of seven-year-old rape victim Mamokgethi Malebane first came to light. We were angered by the fact that she had disappeared after her alleged […]
FRIDAY, 1.00PM: NEWCOMERS to the Premier Soccer League (PSL) – Lightbody Santos and African Wanderers host league giants – Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs respectively, in the opening matches of the 1997/98 soccer season. Santos, who eliminated Real Rovers in the preliminary rounds of the Rothmans Cup last weekend, entertain Pirates at Athlone Stadium in […]
Mamokgethi Malebane was one of numerous rape victims who have been betrayed by the system, writes Gustav Thiel ON the day of the school memorial service this week for seven-year-old rape and murder victim Mamo-kgethi Malebane, the agency which first raised the alarm about her unveiled a string of similar cases – young children, raped, […]
FRIDAY, 12.00NOON GOVERNMENT’S hopes of creating 252 000 new jobs this year appear set to be dashed as latest employment statistics released by the Central Statistical Service show that SA’s formal, non-agricultural economy shed another 42 000 jobs in the first quarter of this year. Government’s growth, employment and redistribution strategy (Gear) had projected the […]
* Walter will not get a letter this week due to the unfortunate disappearance of Nelson’s briefcase in Smal Street, Johannesburg. We present this occasional column instead FOLLOWING is a cautionary tale for those seeking a modest weekend getaway in the Magaliesberg. There is a farm on the R24, in the shadow of cliffs where […]
Peta Thornycroft Johan “Sakkie” van Zyl, a manager working for a subsidiary of the arms parastatal, Denel, has been named as the leader of the unit that killed Eastern Cape activist Matthew Goniwe. In his amnesty submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, former hit-squad leader and convicted murderer Eugene de Kock, says Van Zyl […]
FRIDAY, 6.00PM: SEVEN foreigners were lynched in Dakar, Senegal on Thursday, following hysteria over “penis shrinkers”. Locals believe that foreigners who make brief physical contact with them on the street have the power to shrink their penises. Bystanders then go after the alleged “sex stealers” and mercilessly beat them. One of the murder victims had […]