South Africa

Tax collection puts more in Manuel's purse
By Eddie Botha, Business Editor CAPE TOWN -- Tax collection during the past financial year has been the success story of the South African government and has mainly been the reason why Finance Minister Trevor Manuel is in a position to announce m...

Mandela praises govt's handling of Aids
JOHANNESBURG -- The South African government's handling of the HIV/Aids issue is ''the best in the world'', according to former President Nelson Mandela. Interviewed by Noeleen Maholwane-Sangqu on 702 Talk Radio yesterday, Mandela said the only w...

Tales of hardships ahead of Budget Children speak out on poverty
CAPE TOWN -- Children from across South Africa gathered in Cape Town yesterday to speak about their experiences of poverty ahead of Budget day. "In our area there are many children suffering, including us," a girl from Cape Town's Samora Machel i...

Sporting codes listed for transformation
CAPE TOWN -- The National Assembly's sport and recreation committee yesterday agreed on a list of priority sporting codes for transformation. Committee chairwoman Ruth Bhengu of the African National Congress said it was necessary "to lay a basis ...

Winnie's letter to registrar deemed contemptuous
CAPE TOWN ­ Parliament's joint ethics committee has objected to an apparently contemptuous letter from ANC MP Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to the Registrar of Members' Interests, Fazela Mahomed. The letter, dated February 11, was in reply to a ...

Basson on the mend
JOHANNESBURG -- Apartheid chemical warfare expert Wouter Basson is reportedly still in a Pretoria hospital after suffering a minor stroke earlier this month. His advocate, Jaap Cilliers, said yesterday that although Basson had not suffered any pe...

Bogus clothing seized
JOHANNESBURG -- Counterfeit clothing worth millions of rands has been seized at the Johannesburg International Airport. North Rand police spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman said the goods, with a street value of around R3 million, were f...

Firms blamed for unspent training funds
CAPE TOWN -- Over R3billion in skills development funds for workers is sitting unspent in the bank accounts of 24 sector education and training authorities (Setas), the Department of Labour confirmed yesterday. To blame for the untouched billions...

Micro-lender seeks to calm market fears
JOHANNESBURG -- The micro-finance industry was indispensable in South Africa if the average citizen was going to be empowered, said Leon Kirkinis, CEO of African Bank Investments (Abil) yesterday, in response to continuing negative sentiment in th...

Saambou to release funds
PRETORIA -- Saambou Bank's curator is to announce a special once-off release of funds to qualified depositors today, his spokeswoman said last night. This special dispensation is only applicable to the following qualifying deposits: * Those th...

Postal regulator suspended
PRETORIA -- Postal regulator Warara Kakaza has been suspended, the Communications Ministry said yesterday. Spokesman Robert Nkuna said Kakaza, head of the postal regulator's office, would face an internal disciplinary hearing within a week or two...

Pretoria confronts Zim on barring of journalists
PRETORIA -- The South African government has taken up the refusal of accreditation to local journalists with the Zimbabwean government, the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. "We are dealing with the matter," Foreign Affairs spokesman ...

Winnie to defend bank debt action
JOHANNESBURG - Winnie Madikizela-Mandela will defend banking group FirstRand's application in the Johannesburg High Court to force her to repay the bank over R100000. Madikizela-Mandela yesterday filed papers indicating her readiness to fight an ...

Worker dies, 3 hurt in bridge crash
PRETORIA ­ A construction worker was killed and three others injured when a truck about 10cm too high crashed into beams supporting a bridge in Waverley here. The bridge forms part of the N1 highway, which is being widened. One of those inj...

Parliamentary observer team for Zimbabwe
CAPE TOWN -- A 20-member South African parliamentary observer team will leave for Zimbabwe this week to monitor the presidential election on March 9 and 10, and will report back to the National Assembly. A further five MPs will form part of the S...