South Africa

Apla to call it a day after 38 years
JOHANNESBURG -- The Pan Africanist Congress will officially dissolve its military wing, Apla, SABC public television reported on Saturday. The party decided at a pre-election congress that the Azanian People's Liberation Army -- which suspended i...

Lightning destroys holiday home
PORT ALFRED -- A holiday home at Riet River near here was reduced to smouldering embers after it was struck by lightning on Saturday night, police reported yesterday. The home belongs to businessman Keith Elliot of Bathurst. Police said the loca...

SA prefers holiday to vote
PRETORIA -- Most South Africans would prefer next year's general elections to be held on a weekday which should be declared a public holiday, according to the results of a survey released here last week. Opinion '99, conducted by the Institute fo...

Zuma instigates probe into KZN hospitals
DURBAN -- KwaZulu-Natal Health Department superintendent-general Ronald Green-Thompson yesterday said all major hospitals in the province would be investigated to ensure service was delivered properly. Mr Green-Thompson was speaking at a press co...

Farmworker killed by croc
GROBLERSDAL -- A farmworker was on Saturday found dead, floating in a pool on Kalkfontein farm near here, after a crocodile attack, Mpumalanga police said yesterday. The man, Mr Alvaco Maluvane, who was believed to be from Mozambique, went fishin...

NNP admin man joins Luyt's party
JOHANNESBURG -- Mr Jan Bosman, media and programme manager for New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk, yesterday announced that he had resigned and joined Mr Louis Luyt's Federal Alliance. In a statement, Mr Bosman said one of the reas...

Sowetan artist Moletsane dies at 51
JOHANNESBURG -- Internationally recognised and community-minded Soweto artist Keith Moletsane died at the age of 51 this week. Moletsane, a contemporary and friend of painter Gerald Sekoto, was described by a family friend as "an unsung Sowetan a...

Ernie Els to marry on New Year's Eve
GEORGE -- Golf hero and world top-ranker Ernie Els announced at a star-studded charity party here that he is to marry on New Year's Eve, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. The 29-year-old told party guests, including former state president FWde...