South Africa

R550m budget not enough for election -- IEC
CAPE TOWN -- The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has warned that it will be impossible to conduct this year's national and provincial polls on its R550million budget. This comes as court challenges get under way against the Electoral Act p...

W Cape criminals face crack-down
PRETORIA -- A concerted effort to fight urban terrorism in the Western Cape would see extra police, money and equipment being poured into the province, national police commissioner George Fivaz announced yesterday. The project, dubbed Operation G...

Gauteng schools open but many still on streets
JOHANNESBURG -- Schools in Gauteng reopened yesterday with education department officials confident the school year has got off to a good start. Education MEC Mary Metcalfe, who toured schools with Premier Mathole Motshekga, said preliminary repo...

Kriel recovers from coronary
CAPE TOWN -- Former Western Cape premier Hernus Kriel is recovering in a clinic here after suffering a heart attack at his Kleinmond holiday home on Saturday. Mr Kriel, 57, was taken to the Hermanus Hospital after suffering the coronary and was t...

Fastmail service to Namibia
PRETORIA -- A Fastmail letter service will be introduced on a trial basis between South Africa and Namibia from February 1 to April 30, the SA Post Office (Sapo) said yesterday. The Fastmail service, which allows mail to get to its destination fa...

R9,8m for landmine charities
LONDON -- Princess Diana's memorial fund yesterday announced grants totalling more than R9,8million to 13 charities helping landmine victims across the world. In the last year of her life, Diana had championed the cause of eradicating landmines a...

Mahomed remains head of law commission
PRETORIA -- Chief Justice Ismail Mahomed has been reappointed chairman of the SA Law Commission for three years from January 1 by President Nelson Mandela, the Justice Department said yesterday. Judge Yvonne Mokgoro from the Constitutional Court...

Mourners told Pagad to continue struggle
CAPE TOWN -- The struggle by People Against Gangsterism and Drugs for a drug- and gangster-free society would continue, despite the fact that police had declared war on the organisation, Pagad's chief national co-ordinator Abdus Salaam Ebrahim sai...

SA micro-satellite to blast off on Friday
CAPE TOWN -- The launch of the Stellenbosch University satellite (Sunsat), South Africa's first locally designed and manufactured satellite, has been delayed by a further 24 hours. Sunsat, built by the university's faculty of engineering, was ori...

Mufamadi praises police for successes
JOHANNESBURG -- Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi said yesterday recent police successes in solving high-profile crimes showed they had finally come to grips with combating crime. At a press conference here, Mr Mufamadi said he was sat...

Amnesty granted to 18 across political spectrum
JOHANNESBURG -- Eighteen people across the political spectrum have been given amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and five have been turned down. The TRC said in a statement yesterday the 23 were applying for amnesty for crimes co...

Boipatong hearing to resume
JOHANNESBURG -- The Truth and Reconciliation Commission yesterday announced that 13 Inkatha Freedom Party members would appear before the amnesty committee next week for their role in the attack on Boipatong residents in 1990. On June 17, about 2...