GABORONE – Around 400 buffaloes drowned after stampeding into the Chobe River along the border between Botswana and Namibia, possibly while running away from lions, the tourism ministry said. The Chobe River flows along the northeastern border of the Chobe National Park, known for the large breeding herds of elephants, giraffe, sable and African buffalo, […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog, the Public Protector, said on Thursday that it was investigating Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, a close ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, for allegedly abusing his powers during his time as finance minister. The watchdog said it was looking into allegations that Gordhan wrongly approved an early retirement package […]

JOHANNESBURG – Credit Suisse has pulled out of South Africa after more than a decade as part of Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam’s bank-wide revamp, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. Wealthy South Africans and a few blue chip SA companies will continue to benefit from Credit Suisse’s services from overseas offices. Switzerland’s second […]

MELBOURNE – Cricket Australia (CA) is considering a demand by the players’ union that ball-tampering bans on former captain Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft be lifted immediately, the governing body’s CEO Kevin Roberts said on Wednesday. CA has come under pressure from the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) to end the bans following the […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that closing down state-owned South African Airways (SAA) could collapse the country’s public finances as the government would have to service its debts immediately. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said last week that his preference would be to close down the debt-ridden airline. But Ramaphosa told […]

COPENHAGEN – South African police on Monday arrested a Danish woman accused of stealing 111 million crowns ($17 million) of Danish government funds intended for the most vulnerable in society, the Danish state prosecutor for financial crime said. The case, seen by many Danes as a symbol of the decline in confidence in once trusted […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Ministry of Public Enterprises said on Sunday that state-run South African Airways (SAA) should reduce its cost base and prepare for a strategic equity partner in the near future. The Public Enterprises ministry said the airline should stop all fraudulent contracts, address its cost base, discipline those implicated in corruption and […]

LONDON  – South Africa’s formidable forwards can lay the platform to topple England in their opening match of the November international series at Twickenham on Saturday, captain Siya Kolisi believes. The Springboks selected an experienced and muscular pack, arguably their first-choice selection, and a backline with plenty of flair but one that is light on […]

CAPE TOWN – South African researchers say they have made bricks using human urine in a natural process involving colonies of bacteria, which could one day help reduce global warming emissions by finding a productive use for the ultimate waste product. The grey bricks are produced in a lab over eight days using urine, calcium, […]

JUBA  – Retired South African Colonel William Endley was released from prison in South Sudan on Friday, with his face showing the pure joy – and relief – to have escaped the death sentence he was given earlier this year. Endley was one of two associates of rebel leader Riek Machar whom South Sudan freed […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has fired the suspended head of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Tom Moyane, the Business Day newspaper reported on Thursday, citing president spokeswoman Khusela Diko. Judge Robert Nugent, who is heading an inquiry into Moyane, had recommended the suspended tax chief should be removed from office for […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africans overwhelmingly support changing the constitution to allow land to be expropriated without compensation, parliament said on Thursday, announcing the findings of a draft report that followed public hearings on the issue. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress has made the acceleration of land redistribution a key issue ahead of 2019 […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba should be disciplined for lying under oath about the wealthy Oppenheimer family’s attempt to open a private airport immigration facility, the country’s official anti-corruption watchdog – the Public Protector – said on Wednesday. This is the latest setback for Gigaba, who said on Sunday that he […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s biggest insurer Sanlam Ltd announced a series of deals on Wednesday to meet so-called affirmative action rules, including the sale of a 5 percent stake to black investors and staff for up to R8.6 billion ($583 million). Companies in South Africa have to meet quotas on black ownership, employment and procurement […]

BEIJING – China unveiled new rules on Monday that would allow the use of rhino horn and tiger parts for some medical and cultural purposes, watering down a decades-old ban in a move conservation group WWF said could have “devastating consequences”. China’s State Council issued a notice replacing its 1993 ban on the trade of […]

CAPE TOWN – South African former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk was discharged from a three-night hospital stay after recovering from a lung ailment, his foundation said on Monday. De Klerk, 82, was hospitalised over the weekend for treatment of pneumothorax, “an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African lender Nedbank said on Monday it would appoint Ernst & Young as joint external auditors in May 2019, becoming the latest firm to drop the scandal-hit KPMG’s local unit. The auditor’s South African unit has been under close scrutiny since 2017 over work done for a company owned by the Gupta […]

WINDHOEK – Namibia has scrapped a requirement for companies seeking mining exploration licences to be partly owned and managed by black Namibians, the country’s mining industry group said on Friday. The policy was introduced in 2015 to increase the participation of historically disadvantaged black Namibians in some of the country’s most lucrative business projects, but […]

JOHANNESBURG – South African Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Sunday that efforts to clean up corruption in state-owned companies (SOCs) faced “dangerous” resistance which threatened the country’s sovereignty… and hinted that the Gupta family is behind this resistance. Gordhan, a former finance minister, has been tasked by President Cyril Ramaphosa with cleaning up […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s former finance minister Malusi Gigaba said on Sunday a private video was leaked after his phone was hacked, and he had faced blackmail threats over it when he headed the Treasury. Gigaba, now Home Affairs minister (again), was thrust into the finance post in March last year after former President Jacob […]

JOHANNESBURG – Former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner FW de Klerk has been hospitalised for a lung condition, but is recovering and is expected to be discharged next week, his foundation said on Saturday. De Klerk, 82, South Africa’s most recent white president, became Nobel laureate jointly with his successor, Nelson Mandela, […]

CAPE TOWN – South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Thursday that the country had to act swiftly on its debt levels to avoid turning to the International Monetary Fund for help. “Whether or not you like the IMF, ideologically or practically, it doesn’t matter. When you get into a debt trap that’s where […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s rand weakened more than 1 percent on Wednesday after new Finance Minister Tito Mboweni forecast wider deficits and slower growth in his maiden budget speech. At 1247 GMT, the rand traded at 14.4200 versus the dollar, 1.1 percent weaker on the day. Mboweni delivered the medium term budget to parliament as […]

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s state pension fund and a local black investment firm have bought a majority stake in Africa’s biggest cattle company for R5.2 billion. The Public Investment Corp. (PIC), Africa’s largest investment fund and the biggest investor in South Africa’s economy, said on Tuesday it had bought a majority share in Karan Beef […]

JOHANNESBURG  – South Africa’s biggest supermarket chain, Shoprite, said on Tuesday it would pay customers for reusing its newly introduced recyclable bag… as it joined domestic rivals in efforts to curb plastic pollution. Supermarkets have come under increased pressure to cut their use of plastic as images of littered oceans and beaches become commonplace, shocking […]