WEDNESDAY, 6.00PM RACIAL clashes have blown up at a Pretoria high school, closed since Tuesday after brawling when two black pupils allegedly insulted a white teacher. White pupils at Elandspoort High School in Pretoria West were sent home at 10.00am this morning after renewed fighting, and while principal Hennie Breedt addressed the black pupils. The […]
WEDNESDAY, 10.00AM: ORLANDO Pirates kept their third spot in the Premier Soccer League log just one point behind Kaizer Chiefs, when they beat Vaal Professionals 1-0 in their clash at the Iscor stadium near Sebokeng Tuesday night. There was no score at half-time, and the only goal came in the 61st minute, from Bucs’ striker […]
WEDNESDAY, 8.30AM A DELEGATION of top executives from the $76billion a year Korean multinationl Daewoo arrived in South Africa to look at new investments of up to more than R1,2 billion. But first, the delegation wants a meeting with government to discuss tax breaks and other incentives for investing here. The company has been offered […]
HUGE FINNISH AID DEAL FINNISH President Maarti Ahtisaari signed a R50 million aid and development co-operation agreement with President Nelson Mandela at Tuynhuys today. Ahtisaari, who lavished praise on Mandela for his role as an African peace broker, is known to South Africans as the UN mediator who overaw the transition to independence of Namibia. […]
WEDNESDAY, 8.30AM The troubled Transnet communications service Transtel Cellular, which lost R83m in the year to March, is to be sold to MTN, and its staff either retrenched or redeployed inside Transnet. A Transnet spokesman said the deal had been canvassed with government and labour, who agreed that the losses — mainly due to bad […]
TUESDAY, 3.00PM ANC deputy president Thabo Mbeki acknowledged today that “thing had gone wrong” when township self defence units were given arms from ANC caches in the early nineties. Mbeki, leading Truth Commission evidence for the ANC for the second day, had been challenged by commissioner Hanif Vally on whether the ANC had been irresponsible […]
TUESDAY, 3.00PM MOST South Africans believe that women have no role in combat and should be accompanied by men in dangerous areas, a poll of 2 200 people by the Human Sciences Research Council and the Institute for Security Studies has revealed. Almost two thirds of respondents said women should not be allowed to join […]
TUESDAY, 5.00PM A LEVEL two nuclear incident at the Koeberg nuclear power station on Friday, exposing Eskom workers to excessive doses of radiation, was caused by an instrument malfunction, the Council for Nuclear Safety said today which added that it was the second such incident in two months, and that “we will closely monitor Eskom’s […]
TUESDAY, 11.00AM: THE Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) voiced its support yesterday of the move by the Airline Pilots Association of SA and South African Airways to increase air safety over African skies. SAA said over the weekend several African countries will be forced to upgrade their air safety standards or forfeit the overflight […]
‘ARE YOU A JEW?’ DISCIPLINARY action may be taken against National Party MP, Willem Odendaal, who offended members of parliament yesterday when he asked ANC MP Andrew Feinstein: “Are you a Jew?” Odendaal asked the question after Feinstein was questioned on whether he is a communist during his speech on the SA Revenue Services budget […]
TUESDAY, 12.00NOON: GAUTENG’S Malcolm Lange was in 10th position at the end of the second day of the Tour of Japan cycle race in Suzuka yesterday. Lange, 24, is riding for the Nippon Hado Italian Invitation team, made up of three Italian and two Japanese cyclists. After the 147km circuit race, Lange said yesterday, “It […]
TUESDAY, 8.30AM SA EXPRESS, jointly owned by SAA and Thebe Investments, has bought six new 50-seater jets from the Canadian company Bombardier, in an R600 milion deal that includes selling six old turboprop planes back to the Canadians. The company, which has annual turnover of R240 million and is said to operate at a profit, […]
TUESDAY, 12.00NOON: THE SA squad for the May 24 friendly against England at Old Trafford was named yesterday, and Leeds United central defender Lucas Radebe is in the captain’s shoes. Radebe, who led Bafana Bafana in the World Cup qualifier against Zaire last month, is likely to lead the team in the World Cup finals […]
TUESDAY, 8.30AM GOLD climbed out of its three week trough in overnight trade, thanks to the weaker dollar, the gains by silver, platiunum and palladium — and the discovery that a rich new Indonesian gold seam was a hoax. The JSE all gold index was up 2,5% or 30 points to 1 268; and gold […]
MONDAY, 9.00AM: Moroka Swallows thumped Michau Warriors 2-0 at Rand Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday, giving them a three point boost in the league log. The first goal came just before half-time, when Joseph Rapelago passed the ball to defender Mark Byrne, who promptly netted it. The next goal came after much tense playing in […]
MONDAY, 8.00AM: ZAIRE’S rebels resumed their march on Kinshasa at the weekend, despite promising President Nelson Mandela that they would pause to allow negotiations to continue. The rebels suspect that Mobutu is using the lull in fighting to reinforce hs defences. They are also enraged by an agreement between Mobutu and Central African presidents — […]
MONDAY, 11.00AM: SOUTH AFRICAN heavyweight Franscois Botha had a 10th round knockout win over James Stanton of Philadelphia on Sunday, to bag the World Boxing association North American heavyweight title. Stanton looked good in the third and fourth rounds, but in the tenth Botha finished him off. “I took my time. I wanted to work […]
MONDAY, 1.30PM THE ANC’s submission to the Truth Commission today was the first by a political party to make actual revelations about past transgressions, including the murder of ‘spies’ in its ranks, and bomb attacks on commercial targets. Among today’s revelations: Bartholomew Hlapane, a member of the ANC national executive and of the SA Communist […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM RUMOURS of a forthcoming National Party split grew stronger today with the rescheduling for tonight of a meeting between Roelf Meyer and the Gauteng NP executive. The meeting was originally planned for Friday, one day before a crucial meeting of the province’s party caucus. Meyer is expected to resign from the party at […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: CLOSE to 8 000 applications for amnesty poured into the Truth and Reconciliation Commission before the final deadline struck at midnight on Saturday. Among last-minute applications was a hefty 1 000-page submission from jailed former Vlakplaas commander, Eugene de Kock, which arrived 20 minutes before the cut-off time, and 280 applications from the […]
MONDAY, 1.00PM: A FURIOUS Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Assocation has threatened legal action and accused Health Minister Nkosasana Zuma of “nationalising the industry” in a new Bill designed to lower the price of medicine. The Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Bill, introduced last week in Parliament, would encourage the use of generic drugs, allow parallel importation […]
MONDAY, 8.00AM: The rightwing Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport caused a storm yesterday by quoting a forensic expert, Leendert Jansen, who said the infamous Markgraaff rugby tape had been tampered with, “as a result, no part of the recording can be trusted”. Springbok coach Andre Markgraaff was forced to resign earlier this year after a former […]
MONDAY, 4.30PM FIRST National Bank will launch an online banking service, to be called First Online, at this week’s Computer Faire in Johannesburg. Sevices including account balances and statements, account payments, inter-account transfers and cheque book requests will be available, protected with 128 bit encryption technology. “First Online uses the most secure encryption technology that […]
Iden Wetherell A STRUGGLE is looming for custody of a report documenting widespread human rights abuses by Zimbabwean security forces in the 1980s. Details of the report – handed to President Robert Mugabe in March – were carried in the Mail & Guardian last week. It reveals a bloody campaign of terror unleashed by the […]
FRIDAY, 10.300AM: WORLD number 10 Wayne Ferreira of South Africa was left deflated after losing to Sergi Bruguera of Spain in the German Open tennis championship yesterday. Ferreira had to do battle for a win over Alberto Martin earlier in the day in a tense three-set match with five match points. Fereira won 3-6 7-5 […]
Despite criticism, Cuban doctors work in places where South African doctors refuse to go, reports Dawn Blalock THE child on his mother’s lap is breathing in short quick breaths. The mother describes his symptoms in Setswana. “How many days with the fever?” the doctor asks in English. Although neither English nor Setswana is his native […]
[OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT] SHIP’S LOG FRIDAY May 9, 08h00. Set sail from Simonstown under command Captain Horatio Mbeki, Rear Admiral Nelson (that’s me) on board. 18h00. Frustrating day. Still as a painted ship upon a painted ocean. Altercation between Captain Mbeki and First Mate Modise over whether the purchase of boat from cousin in […]
South Africa should get to grips with how Africans are coming up with solutions to the challenges of life, writes Stephen Ellis WHITE South Africa spent 40 years doing its best to keep the rest of the continent at arm’s length, but reality finally intruded. Since 1994, South Africa has not only become a democracy, […]
Ferial Haffajee THE half-day strike organised for Monday by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) appears set to go ahead, despite talks planned for Saturday aimed at suturing controversy around the draft Basic Conditions of Employment Bill. The government and labour are optimistic of a settlement at the talks, but business is still […]
attention Jacquie Golding-Duffy THE new umbrella body for editors – the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) – has quietly being taking strides towards addressing imbalances in the print, broadcasting and radio industries. Since its inception in October, four working groups have been created to tackle issues which have been identified as “needing urgent attention […]
Aspasia Karras A DRIVE to help local communities deal with their environmental needs, so that they do not become recipients of everyone else’s problems, is contained in a White Paper to be presented to the Cabinet next week. The White Paper, which is likely to be made public later this month, comes at a time […]
Stuart Hess and Mungo Soggot report on a case that takes the failure of the courts to protect the public to a new extreme MAMOKGETHI MALEBANA is missing. Lots of children go missing in South Africa. But the disappearance of this seven-year-old child from Katlehong is a shocking indictment of the country’s criminal justice system. […]