WEDNESDAY, 12.00AM: MARATHON runner Desmond Witbooi was banned for four years on Tuesday after he tested positive for steroids in the SA Marathon championships in February. Athletics SA held a tribunal on the findings, and announced the four-year ban as effective from February 23. Witbooi said the drugs he took were prescribed by his doctor, […]
JOINT DEFENCE DEFENCE Minister Joe Modise has signed a joint defence agreement with Namibian defence minister Philemon Malima. The two countries have agreed to co-operate on training, disaster relief, joint naval exercises, military intelligence, medical services and communications. JOINT POLICE SAFETY and security minister Sydney Mufamadi has met with Mozambique’s interior minister to discuss cross-border […]
WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM ONE of SA’s largest poroperty owners, Anglo American Property Services (Ampros), has dealt a severe blow to the country’s struggling city centres, by announcing it will sell all its central business district properties in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town. Ampros’s three listed vehicles, Apex Property Fund, Compass Property Holdings and Anglo American […]
WEDNESDAY, 2.30PM A CAPE Town schoolgirl has been awarded R70 000 in damages for emotional anguish suffered at the hands of her mother’s lover, who raped her repeatedly from the age of nine to 12. The girl sued the rapist in a civil case after he was jailed for seven years in 1995 for the […]
WEDNESDAY, 8.30AM TWO provincial governments are in dire financial straits, having discovered that they will need massive central government funding to avoid disaster. Mpumalanga legislative committee chairman will attend an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss ways to cope with an R900 million deficit. The current budget of R5 billion already represents a cutback of […]
WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM ANGLO American Platinum Corporation (Amplats) is to be restructured under a single listed entity through Rustenburg Platinum Holdings, the group said on Tuesday. Amplats MD Barry Davison said the deal involves exchanges of Rusplats shares for shares in Amplats and its operating companies, Lebowa Platinum and Potgietersrust Platinums, and the sale of the […]
WEDNESDAY, 5.30PM FORMER National Party cabinet ministers approved a strategy in 1986 to provide support for Witdoek vigilantes in the Western Cape as a counter-revolutionary measure, the Truth and Reconcillation Commission heard on Wednesday. Former regional development board member and town clerk of Crossroads, Ricky Schelhase, said the aim of the strategy was to reward […]
WEDNESDAY, 5.30PM DELEGATES to the Cites convention in Harare, the world’s largest conservation meeting, went into closed committees on Wednesday to study scientific reports and search for consensus on issues threatening to split the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The meeting is threatened with rifts over emotional calls by African nations […]
TUESDAY, 11.30AM THE United States commerce department has made a preliminary finding that Iscor and Highveld Steel have been dumping steel plate in the US market by charging domestic consumers more than US importers. The department imposed duties of 31% and 16% respectively against Iscor and Hiveld to reflect the differences between domestic and US […]
ECSTASY CHARGE DROPPED A CHARGE of possession of the designer drug ecstasy against Dr Johannes Koekemoer, 54, was withdrawn in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court last week. Koekemoer was arrested in February, allegedly in possession of 56 ecstasy tablets. The charge was apparently withdrawn at the request of the attorney-general. Koekemoer was arrested during police follow-up […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM: THE British Lions rugby team has lost yet another player to injury; Scott Quinnell flew home on Monday with a strained groin muscle. Quinnell is the third player to leave South Africa within 10 days, close on the heels of lock Doddie Weir and flyhalf Paul Grayson. Grayson has a hip injury and […]
TUESDAY, 5.30PM LESOTHO opposition parties on Tuesday called for strikes and a civil disobedience campaign in protest at what they call the coup by Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle. “We are going to make Lesotho ungovernable and the parliament unworkable,” said opposition leader Tseliso Makhakhe, who is a deputy and president of the ruling Basotho Congress […]
TUESDAY, 10.30AM THE Reserve Bank on Monday waived the requirement for a tax certificate by individuals wishing to move funds into offshore investments. Continuing to set the scene for a general relaxation in exchange controls, Bank exchange control GM Eric Pike confirmed that individuals will now no longer be required to present a tax certificate […]
TUESDAY, 4.00PM SIERRA Leone’s new military leaders, led by Major Johnny Paul Koroma, have offered to relinquish power on payment of an undisclosed sum of money, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday. However, a junta representative has dismissed the claim as a “blatant lie” and an attempt “to confuse people”. The […]
TUESDAY, 11.30AM SOUTH African Airways, the star Transnet subsidiary up for privatisation, has liabilites totalling R6-billion, and may even be technically insolvent, with liabilities exceeding assets by R600-million, which will get in the way of any potential privatisation of the state airline. SAA holding company parastatal Transnet has a R17-billion pension fund deficit, which may […]
TUESDAY, 10.30AM The rand weakened to over R4,50 to the dollar on Monday, nearly 2c down on Friday’s close and its lowest level since February 5. The poressure on the local currency comes amid jitters causee by the imminent relaxation of foreign exchange controls. Market analysts believe the rand’s move above R4,50/dollar could see it […]
TUESDAY, 11.30AM: THE South African Rugby Football Union on Monday announced the Emerging Springbok team to play the British Lions in Wellington on June 17. The side, made up of the strongest young players from the provinces, will begin training on Sunday in Cape Town. Emerging Springboks: MJ Smith, Keon Kayser, Percy Montgomery, McNeil Hendricks, […]
TUESDAY, 11.30AM: THE South African men’s hockey team drew 3-3 with Italy in their international match at the Trefontane Stadium in Rome on Monday. The South Africans started off strongly, scoring two goals in the first quarter — one from Greg Nicol in the 10th minute, and the next from Mike Cullen three minutes later. […]
TUESDAY, 11.30AM JOHNNIC’s Ikageng share scheme, involving a R600-million offer of 9,1-million shares in the industrial holding group to “previously disadvantaged” small investors, was 3,5 times oversubscribed, Ikageneg scheme chairman Hazel Ralefeta said on Monday. Launched by the National Empowerment Consortium, Johnnic’s new black controllers, in April, the Ikageng scheme raised R190-million before its close […]
TUESDAY, 11.30AM JOHANNESBURG Consolidated Investments on Monday psotponed for the third time retrenchments at its Randfontein Estate Gold Mine to allow the National Union of Mineworkers time to complete a report on the proposed axing of 4 100 jobs. At the same time as it announced the new postponement, the company warned the NUM that […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM: THE National Sports Council has retracted the statement it made on Sunday criticising the draft Sport and Recreation Bill as unconstitutional. The Council said on Monday the Bill has its support in principle, but the way in which it has been drafted is unacceptable. NSC president Mluleki George said the council’s executive committee […]
TUESDAY, 8.00AM FRANCE, which failed so dismally to intervene in the dying days of Zaire, proved yesterday that it is still a power in Francophone Africa by mediating a ceasefire between the Congolese army and the private militia of a former president. French officials announced on Monday night that President Jacques Chirac has extracted agreements […]
MONDAY, 12.00NOON SIERRA LEONE rebels have won back the airport from Nigerian troops, preventing an air strike against them. The Nigerians have dithered over their promised attack against Freetown, allowing the rebels to strengthen their position. The rebels claim to have captured two Nigerian officers who had landed with a cargo of machine gun shells […]
MONDAY, 2.30PM THE OAU observer mission has said the Algerian poll last week was conducted quietly and calmly and the 70 members of the team are satisfied they were generally fair. Turnout at the polls reached 65,4%, despite boycott calls by militant Muslim opponents of the poll, and victory went to the National Democratic Rally […]
MONDAY, 8.00AM THE African National Congress is believed to have offered Inkatha leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi a more senior cabinet post — probably the second deputy presidency vacated by FW De Klerk — in return for his stepping down as chairman of the KwaZulu Natal house of traditional leaders. An exploratory ANC document released to the […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM: THE South African Protea women’s netball team beat the Australian Institute of Sports 60-54 in Perth on Saturday, in their last match before they face the World Champions Australia in the third and final Test match on Wednesday. Team manager Lorraine Lewis said: “The team played a more relaxed game. It has given […]
MONDAY, 11.30AM A THIRD licence to operate a cellular telephone network will be issued before year’s end, SA Telecommunications Regulatory Authority chairman Nape Maepa said at the weekend. “There is no reason to wait. The licence hs been on the cards since 1993,” he said. Satra last week announced it was appointing a consulting team […]
MONDAY, 10.30AM FOLLOWING last week’s successful Samurai bond offer, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and his team will jet off to New York next week on a roadshow to launch a $500-million 20-year Yankee bond issue aimed at further boosting SA’s foreign exchange reserves ahead of lifting forex controls. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank is expected to […]
IS JOHN VORSTER STILL A SQUARE? The largest police station in Gauteng, John Vorster Square, held public hearings on a name change for the station on Monday. Members of the Johannesburg CBD community policing forum and various police unions submitted suggestions. Police spokesman Inspector Riaan Prinsloo said: “The change is happening because it was the […]
MONDAY, 9.00AM: BAFANA BAFANA have one foot in France, after their 3-0 drubbing of Zambia in the World Cup qualifier before a crowd of 61 000 at the FNB stadium on Sunday. South Africa’s convincing three-goal victory will take them up against Congo on August 16 in their last qualifier before the World Cup in […]
MONDAY, 1.30PM THE 10th annual conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (Cites) kicks off in Harare on Monday, with the call by Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia for a limited resumption in the international ivory trade expected to dominate proceedings. For the next 10 days, representatives from 136 […]
MONDAY, 2.00PM: THE National Sports Council has criticised the new draft Sports Bill, saying it will detract from the current autonomy of sporting bodies in South Africa. The draft Bill, if passed, will give the Department of Sport effective control over all sport, and proposes to establish 30 statutory national and provincial bodies to monitor […]