R23m \'winner\' sitting in cell, and other brief reports

* Five Chinese men have been granted bail of between R3 000 and R5 000 after appearing in the Pretoria Magistrates\' Court where they are facing charges in connection with the kidnapping of a Chinese family in Pretoria. It is speculated their disappearance might be linked to four bodies recently found in a Centurion drainpipe. – News24 * The treasury division of Nedbank has obtained regulatory approval to spin-off three of its businesses into a consortium with substantive broad-based empowerment credentials, known as Taquanta. – Mail & Guardian * A frustrated Port Elizabeth magistrate has lashed out at correctional services officials because the court had to wait for hours every day before prisoners were brought to the dock. The delay was reportedly attributed to security reasons following numerous escapes this year. – The Herald * A KwaZulu-Natal South Coast teenager was given a three-year suspended prison sentence and sentenced to 832 hours of community service by a local magistrate after he was found guilty of making a false bomb threat. – The Mercury