WEDNESDAY, 1.30PM: TWO South African under-20 soccer stars left for Holland on Sunday — Orlando Pirates’ Steve Lekoelea and School of Excellence’s Lucky Maselesele joined PSV Eindhoven for three months. They stand a chance of clinching contracts with the club if they impress during their stay. This move comes after their performances in the World […]
WEDNESDAY, 1.30PM: THE South African Football Association (Safa) will invite Namibia, Nigeria and one unnamed Asian country to take part in this year’s Four Nations Cup. Safa has decided to invite Namibia because it is the only neighbouring country that has not played against Bafana Bafana. “We have played against all our neighbours except Namibia […]
WEDNESDAY, 8.30AM RESCUE workers found the bodies of five more miners at Hartebeesfontein mine overnight, taking the death toll to 15. Three more miners are missing, presumed dead. Two teams of rescue workers are tunneling through debris to reach the area where the miners are believed to have been trapped. The rockburst that killed the […]
RULING PARTY WINS IN MALI The ruling Alliance for Democracy in Mali (Adema), according to returns from 50 of the 55 electoral districts, has won 110 of the 147 legislative seats in the national elections held on Sunday. The elections were boycotted by most opposition parties. Adema won all the districts in the capital Bamako. […]
WEDNESDAY, 4.00PM THE Comorian army moved in to restore calm on the island of Anjouan after violent clashes between security forces and separatist militants there, residents said on Wednesday. In unrest sparked by the arrest on Monday of separatist leader Abdallah Ibrahim, two police officers were seriously wounded in Domoni, where protesters torched the residence […]
WEDNESDAY, 1.30PM: THERE are two changes to the Free State side to play North-West in a Currie Cup match in Potchefstroom on Friday. Naka Drotske and Werner Swanepoel are in the South African squad to tour Australia and New Zealand and will be replaced by Charl Marais and Kat Myburgh respectively. Free State :Christo Potgieter, […]
TUESDAY, 4.00PM AS peace talks between Congolese President Pascal Lissouba and his rival and predecessor Denis Sassou Nguesso in the Gabonese capital Libreville bogged down on Tuesday, Lissouba’s supporters, emboldened by Monday’s extension of the president’s mandate, called for a “general mobilisation” against the militia of Sassou Nguesso. A representative of Lissouba’s 16-party support base […]
TUESDAY, 4.00PM TEN miners are confirmed dead at Avgold’s Hartebeesfontein mine near Stilfontein in North-West province, after an earth tremor precipitated a rockburst on Monday morning. As rescue operations continue at the mine, hopes are fading that eight miners who remain trapped three kilometres underground are still alive. So far, 46 injured miners have been […]
TUESDAY, 4.00PM ZIMBABWEAN liberation war veterans, who have for the past week been demonstrating in support of demands for compensation pay-outs from the government’s War Victims’ Compensation Fund, on Tuesday disrupted traffic to a Harare conference centre where an African-American summit was due to begin. Riot police stood by as the protesters were prevented from […]
TUESDAY, 1.30PM: THE South African Football Association (Safa) and its marketing arm Awesome Sports International (ASI) will jointly stage this year’s Four Nations Cup tournament. ASI co-director Ian Riley and Safa chief executive officer Danny Jordaan said the marketing company is negotiating for a sponsor, but the tournament is a Safa event. This follows submisions […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM WOMEN’s empowerment group Nozala Investments is to acquire 10% of listed private education and personnel group Educor in a two-phase deal. The first phase of the deal will see Nozala acquire 17,8-million new Educor shares (6% of the group’s enlarged equity) at 412c a share, a total of R73-million. The price represents a […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM THE Gencor group’s gold mines managed to buck the trend in the quarter to the end of June, with all Gengold mines reporting a profit, despite the 1,8% lower rand/gold price and a 20% drop in aggregate income to R109-million. Offsetting these presssures was a 3% increase in aggregate gold production to around […]
TUESDAY, 1.30PM: ANDRE JOUBERT was on Monday left out of the Springbok squad to tour Australia. Springbok coach Carel du Plessis said Joubert passed the medical test, but will be left out in a bid to strengthen other positions. Du Plessis decided to include Natal centre Japie Mulder, who also went for a fitness test […]
TUESDAY, 1.30PM: DISCUS thrower Fritz Potgieter was on Monday added to the team to take part in the world championships in Athens between August 1 to 11. This comes after Potgieter’s recent world-class perfomances in Europe. Potgieter achieved a world-championships qualifying distance in 64.16m in England last Tuesday. Athletics South Africa also included a 4×400 […]
TUESDAY, 3.30PM A NEW draft Bill providing for a tougher parole system was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. Among the provisions of the Bill include allowing courts to fix a non-parole period of a convict’s sentence, and revamped parole boards with greater community representation. The Bill proposes that where a court has set a non-parole […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s all gold index edged back over the 1 000 point mark on Monday for the first time in three weeks, but the rand took a beating, falling to a six-month low against the US dollar. Following Friday’s close at 992, the gold index leapt to an opening 1 014, […]
NUPEN TO RETURN TO ILO CHARLES NUPEN, the director of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, will leave his post at the end of October to resume his contract with the International Labour Organisation, the labour ministry announced on Tuesday. The ILO released Nupen to take up a short-term contract with the CCMA when […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM INSTITUTIONAL investors from America, Europe and the United Kingdom have pounced on Billiton’s offer of shares, way exceeding market expectations. The company will trade for the first time on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, at first conditionally, then normally from next Monday. Billiton and financial advisers Fleming Martin said in London on […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM INVESTMENT companies belonging to the Congress of SA Trade Unions and its affiliates, together with a black doctors’ organisation, have clinched a R220-million stake in Netcare’s R920-million acquisition of private hospital group Clinic Holdings. The deal, in which Netcare acquired Barney Hurwitz’s controlling stake in Clinic Holdings, which owns 17 hospitals and Hurwitz’s […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: ORLANDO PIRATES are the new Iwisa Charity Soccer Spectacular champions after beating defending champions Kaizer Chiefs on penalty shootouts on Saturday. Chiefs went down 10-9 to Pirates. A total of 30 penalties were taken. Pirates qualified for the final after beating Moroka Swallows 6-5 on penalties after their game ended 1-1 at full […]
MONDAY, 8.30AM PRESS reports on Monday morning confirm that labour minister Tito Mboweni plans to quit (see below). Questioned by reporters, Mboweni did not deny plans to move, but said he would not join the “Great Trek” to the private sector. It is believed that he is hoping to head the ANC’s economic policy unit. […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM BLACK empowerment group Worldwide African Investment Holdings has wrapped up a surprise R400-million deal to acquire control of the R1,4-billion-a-year petrol retailer Zenex Oil. Worldwide on Friday confirmed that it had, together with a consortium including Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank and Zenex management, bought Zenex Oil from Zenex Trust. Worldwide already owns […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM THE Industrial Development Corporation has signed a R250-million five-year, fixed-rate eurorand term loan. The loan, which was signed last week with Rabobank of the Netherlands and Commerzbank in Johannesburg, will be financed by Rabobank. It is the IDC’s second eurorand loan. IDC CEO Khaya Ngqula said the loan will be used to fund […]
MONDAY, 4.00PM AS peace talks between rival Congolese factions continued in the absence of President Pascal Lissouba in the Gabonese capital of Libreville on Monday, Congo’s constitutional council announced that elections set for July 27 had been postponed and Lissouba’s mandate extended. The delegation representing Lissouba’s rival and predecessor Denis Sassou Nguesso turned up for […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: SPRINGBOK centre Jappie Mulder was on Sunday ruled out of the Tri-Nations tour of Australia because of injuries. Mulder was injured in the first Test match against the British Lions. He has been advised to rest for two weeks and is expected to come back against the Wallabies on August 23 at Loftus […]
MONDAY, 5.00PM THE Pan Africanist Congress will not apologise for its liberation struggle activities during the apartheid era, although a few military mistakes had admittedly taken place, PAC secretary general Michael Muendane said on Monday. Muendane also revealed for the first time why the PAC’s armed wing, the Azanian People’s Liberation Army, targeted St James […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: TWO South Africans finished in the top 10 in the British Open at Royal Troon on Sunday. US Open champion Ernie Els and Retief Goosen finished 10 shots adrift of the champion Justin Leonard of the US. Els carded his second 69 in a row to total 282 to share the 10th place […]
MONDAY, 3.30PM THE African National Congress had won four of the five contested wards in Sunday’s by-election in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands town of Richmond, scoring a landslide victory over its main rival in the area, the National Consultative Forum. Leader of the forum in the area, fired ANC MPL Sifiso Nkabinde suffered a humiliating defeat, […]
MONDAY, 8.00AM GAUTENG health MEC Amos Masondo is leading the race for the provincial premiership, after winning the support of the ANC, the communist party, Cosatu and the SA National Civics Organisation at a marathon seven hour meeting yesterday (Sunday). Trailing Masondo is deputy provincial chairman Mathole Motshekga, supported by the ANC Youth League and […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s all gold index followed bullion’s latest recovery on Friday, picking up 27,7 points to close at 992 (after an intraday high of 1 005,1) as gold rallied $4,80 to $324,20/oz. Analysts, however, remain cautious about gold’s fortunes, saying the situation is nothing to get excited about, and a rally […]
DENEL SUES THREE PAPERS ARMS manufacturer Denel is suing the three Sunday newspapers in the Independent Group for an article revealing details of an R7-billion weapons export deal to an unnamed Middle East country. Denel had earlier attempted to stop publication with an urgent court interdict. Denel has not denied the deal, but objects to […]
MONDAY, 4.00PM ZIMBABWEAN war veterans, who stormed the country’s parliament last week to demand pension pay-outs from a government war veterans’ fund, at the weekend mobbed cabinet ministers who were to address them, forcing the ministers to flee for their safety. President Robert Mugabe’s government called a series of meetings with veterans around the country […]