Johannesburg - Nine people, including four children, died when their light aircraft crashed in mountains in north-east South Africa, police said Monday.

The plane was travelling from Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport, near the renowned Kruger National Park, towards the central city of Bloemfontein, when it disappeared Sunday in bad weather.

Rescue workers on Monday found the bodies of the pilot and two families, each with two children, in a mountainous area of Mpumalanga province, which borders Mozambique.

Johannesburg- Two weeks after former South African president Thabo Mbeki was forced by his party to resign, his ouster continued to make waves Sunday, with respected Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu threatening to boycott upcoming general elections over the move.

"I would be sufficiently unhappy not to vote," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and renowned anti-apartheid activist told the Sunday Times, South Africa's biggest selling newspaper, in an interview.

Johannesburg - South Africa's petrochemical giant Sasol on Friday announced it would appeal a hefty fine imposed on it by the European Commission for participating in a cartel in the paraffin wax business.

While making clear it was not quibbling with the Commission's finding of anti-competitive behaviour, Sasol questioned how the European Union's executive arm had concluded that it was the ringleader in the 10-company "paraffin mafia".

Sasol also questioned whether the 318-million-euro (445 million dollars) fine was appropriate.

Johannesburg - After several months postponement Zimbabwe announced Thursday the 13th summit of the 20-nation Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) will take place in Victoria Falls resort from November 25 to December 8.

Zimbabwe takes over the rotating presidency of the trade grouping at the summit from Kenya.

Confirming the summit, Christian Katsande, permanent secretary in the international trade ministry, said COMESA members aimed to launch a customs union at the summit.

The meeting had been due to take place in April but was put on hold over a spate of political violence following elections in March that the longtime opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won.

Johannesburg  - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has opposed calling in ex-South African president Thabo Mbeki to salvage a power-sharing deal with prime minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Zanu-PF's chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa rejected calls from the MDC for Mbeki to step in to end the impasse between the two parties over the distribution of cabinet posts in a new unity government.

Mbeki is the Southern African Development Community (SADC)'s mediator in Zimbabwe, who brokered the power-sharing deal between Mugabe and Tsvangirai last month.

SADC said they expected him to continue in the role after he stepped down as South African president on September 21.

Johannesburg  - South Africa's rhinoceros population is under threat from poachers, who are killing the leathery quadripeds in growing numbers for their valuable horns, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Witness daily in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal reported that 12 white rhinos had been killed in game reserves in the province so far this year. Their horns were harvested and the carcasses left to rot.

A spokesman for the provincial wildlife authority, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, confirmed the killings, which marks a steep increase on previous years.