TUESDAY, 11.30AM THE United States trade surplus with SA, which hit record levels last year despite the rand’s crash, fell in the first quarter this year largely due to a 10% decline in the value of US imports to SA. The first quarter tarde surplus decreased 28% from $299-million to $217-million. At the same time […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM LATEST Reserve Bank figures show foreign capital flowed into SA like never before in May, boosting the Bank’s gold and foreign exchange reserves by R7,4-billion to an all-time high of R21,8-billion. The massive inflows, which came a month before the lifting of foreign exchange controls, were much bigger than anyone had forecast, even […]
TUESDAY, 9.00AM: IF eleventh-seed Amanda Coetzer beats second-seed Steffi Graf in their French Open quarterfinal match on Wednesday, Graf could slip one position in the rankings. The five-time winner of the French Open was beaten hollow by South African Coetzer at the German Open in Berlin last month, losing 0-6, 1-6. Graf said on Tuesday […]
MONDAY, 4.30PM THE Motheo construction company at the centre of the Mpumalanga housing scandal is not about to close its doors, and the Mpumalanga rural housing project is going ahead, Motheo director Thandi Ndlovu said on Tuesday. Ndlovu was responding to rumours which surfaced in a parliamentary housing committee hearing into the project, when Motheo […]
BISHO MASSACRE AMNESTY FORMER members of the Ciskei Defence Force have applied for amnesty for their part in the 1992 Bisho massacre. The applications were submitted after Bisho attorney-general Leon Langeveld warned them earlier this year that they may still face prosecution for their actions. DP-IFP TALK SHOP PARTY leaders from the Inkatha Freedom Party […]
TUESDAY, 11.30AM FINANCE Director General Maria Ramos said on Monday that SA plans to borrow R4-billion in foreign currency during the rest of this financial year. Speaking at the South Africa in Europe conference, Ramos said her department is aiming at a R2-billion yen issue in about a fortnight, to be followed by a similar-sized […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM The new government in the Democratic of Congo (formerly Zaire) has paved the way for SA rail parastatal Spoornet to return to the country after admitting its earlier nationalisation of the Congo rail network was a mistake. Spoornet operated parts of Zaire’s rail network for the past two years through its Sizarail subsidiary. […]
TUESDAY, 8.30AM NIGERIAN ships shelled Freetown yesterday from daybreak until lunchtime, reportedly killing about 20 civilians. The coup leaders, backed by rebels, continued their attack on the seafront hotel (see below) where about a thousand foreigners have taken refuge, under guard from Nigerian soldiers. The rebels appear to suspect that a Nigerian attack will start […]
TUESDAY, 8.30AM ENVIRONMENT Minister Pallo Jordan on Tuesday reiterated the SA government’s commitment to support resumption of the trade in ivory and rhino horn. Jordan told the National Assembly’s environment committee that his department was presented with a fait accompli after decided to support a Southern African Development Community position on a resumption of the […]
MONDAY, 12.30PM THE World Bank on Friday approved its first loan to SA in over 30 years, awarding $36-million in credit to help small businesses compete in the global marketplace. The $46-million loan is repayable over 15 years, after a three-year grace period. SA’s last World Bank loan was awarded in 1966 for transport and […]
MONDAY, 12.30PM The rash of Eurorand bond issues this year have proved a boon for the rand, keeping outlook for the local currency positive and helping to keep it stable, according to Reserve Bank international banking GM Bertus van Zyl. Total outstanding Eurorand bond issues stand at about R19-billion, R13-billion of which were launched this […]
MONDAY, 9.30AM AT least 50 000 people are expected to converge on Johannesburg city centre today for a Congress of SA Trade Unions march pushing for changes to the new Basic Conditions of Employment Bill, including increased paid maternity leave and a 40-hour working week. A heavy presence is being maintained by police, SANDF soldiers […]
MONDAY, 3.00PM THE Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council took another blow at the weekend when the Democratic Party and two independent councillors prevented the adoption of the Eastern Metropolitan Substructure’s 1997/98 budget. After Johannesburg’s Northern, Western and Southern Substructures successfully passed their budgets at the weekend, it is now likely that a legal battle is looming, […]
MONDAY, 10.30AM: TONGA beat an Eastern Province Invitation team 34-19 in their second South African tour match on Sunday, scoring five tries, three conversions and a penalty. At half-time Tonga led 15-5, and kept going strong to 27-5 at one stage. The EP forwards tried to patch things up — Cecil du Plessis and Willie […]
PAGAD MARCHFIVE HUNDRED members of People Against Gangsterism and Drugs marched on Caledon Square police station on Saturday, in an appeal to police to work harder to fight crime. Police stopped the march twice, to remove some marchers’ face masks, as this is illegal. A house in Athlone, in the Cape Flats region, was bombed […]
MONDAY, 4.30PM NEDCOR group chairman Chris Liebenberg sais at the weekend that he forewarned both Housing Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele and Mpumalanga Premier Mathews Phosa that the banking group was firing “Mr Housing”, Kevin Gibbs. He also told them that Nedcor was investigating a series of “highly unethical” irregularities allegedly committed by Gibbs. Lienbenberg said on […]
MONDAY, 12.00NOON THE Reserve Bank is examining the possibility of reducing its role as the major marketer of SA gold production abroad, Bank sources say, with the likelihood of private sector participation by the end of the year. Bank international banking GM Bertus van Zyl said on Friday the Bank is in negotiations with the […]
MONDAY, 9.00AM: AMANDA COETZER eased her way into the quarterfinals of the French Open in Paris on Sunday, when she beat eighth-seeded Conchita Martinez 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 in their fourth-round match, the first time she has beaten Martinez. Coetzer said after the two-and-a-half hour match: “Obviously I’m really pleased with the way I’m playing. I […]
MONDAY, 9.00AM: THE British Lions beat Western Province 38-21 at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday, playing to a capacity crowd. Lions led 18-14 at half-time, and kept their concentration levels high throughout the game. Western Province, including eight Springbok players, tried to keep up, and even had a 21-18 lead just after half […]
MONDAY, 3.00PM NAMIBIA’s ruling South West African People’s Organisation at its weekend conference resolved to amend the country’s constitution to allow President Sam Nujoma to stand for a third presidential term. Nujoma said he was deeply moved and will make himeslf available “to answer the call of duty and to serve my people in whatever […]
MONDAY, 10.00AM: CROWD-pleasers Kaizer Chiefs drew 1-1 with Qwa Qwa Stars in the crowded Northern Free State Rugby Stadium in Welkom on Sunday, in their Castle Premier League match. Amakhosi had a couple of near-misses in the first half, thanks to the lacklustre performance of striker Mark Williams. When Williams did get a shot into […]
MONDAY, 4.30PM AS preparations get under way for the ‘media truth commission’, the Freedom of Expression Institute on Monday handed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission a report which says that agreements between the Newspaper Press Union and police and military establishments led to collusion between media management and the apartheid-era government. FXI leaders told a […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM: THE National Olympic Committee of South Africa (Nocsa) wants to submit urgent representations to Sports minister Steve Tshwete on the draft Sport and Recreation Bill, despite it being after the official deadline. Tshwete granted an extension to the deadline, and a Nocsa delegation will meet sports officials this weekend to discuss the bill. […]
Ferial Haffajee THE SABC’s head of radio, Govin Reddy, is set to be appointed as deputy chief executive of the corporation, making him second only to the chief executive, Zwelakhe Sisulu. The move is part of a wide-ranging management shake-up at the SABC which burst into the open this week with a spate of senior […]
Robin Blackburn CHE GUEVARA: A REVOLUTIONARY LIFE by John Lee Anderson (Bantam Press, R182,95) CHE GUEVARA helped Fidel Castro to topple Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and then masterminded Cuba’s break with the United States. These events established him as a revolutionary statesman of global reputation. With his subsequent renunciation of the fruits of power and […]
Physicists claim to have invented a meltdown-free nuclear reactor that burns radioactive waste, writes Robin McKie in Geneva SCIENTISTS have designed a nuclear reactor that they say can “burn” atomic waste. The breakthrough could solve the world’s nuclear waste crisis and save the beleaguered atomic energy industry. Experiments carried out for two years at Cern, […]
ANDY WARHOL once advised that you should always carry two drinks with you at cocktail parties. That way, if you run into someone icky, you can excuse yourself by saying you have to take a drink to your friend. The snack affair after the Edgars Club/Boss Models Fashion Model of the Year Award last Friday […]
Dan Wylie TESTING THE EDGE by Mark Swift (Snailpress, R35) MANY of the poems in Mark Swift’s muscular fourth collection “home in on exile”. Divided between the landscapes of the Eastern Cape and the British Isles, Swift struggles to find a “home where the heart is”, within himself, within the process of travelling itself: “We […]
Journalists once learnt the trade on the job without the dubious assistance of technology or journalism schools, writes Gabriel Garca Mrquez SOME 50 years ago, there were no schools of journalism. One learnt the trade in the newsroom, in the print shops, in the local caf and in Friday-night hangouts. The entire newspaper was a […]
David Sharrock A CAPE game reserve will play host this weekend to Northern Ireland’s main politicians in a peace conference just days before talks on the province’s future resume in Belfast. David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader, Sinn Fein negotiator Martin McGuinness, and Peter Robinson, deputy leader of the Democratic Unionists, are all understood to […]
Madeleine Wackernagel highlights some of the issues raised at the World Economic Forum AT the February meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, President Nelson Mandela made an impassioned plea for a renewed fight against Aids. His address made world headlines, but back home the “new struggle” has been sidelined by the Sarafina […]
FRIDAY, 5.30PM THE Congress of SA Trade Unions announced on Friday it is to stage a 24-hour national strike on Monday in protest at the lack of progress in negotiations on sections of the new Basic Conditions of Employment Act in the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac). Cosatu representative Nowethu Mpati on Friday […]