How many of the year’s events can you remember? 1 Name the new”peace park” straddling the Kruger National Park, Mozambique’s Coutada 16 and Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou? 2 In what cities would you find the eThekwini, Msunduzi and Tshwane councils?
3Which club from South Africa won the 27th edition of the African Cup winners’ cup, also known as the Mandela Cup? 4 How did China celebrate the United Nations’s International Day against Drug Abuse? 5 Which African National Congress MP resigned over the handling of the investigation into the arms deal? 6 What is the name of the campaign by the South African Police Services’ commercial branch to clamp down on white-collar crime? 7 How many skilled South Africans have left South Africa since 1994? 8 How many skilled people have immigrated to South Africa? 9 Which king reintroduced the umchwasho chastity rite, effectively banning young women and teenage women from sex for five years and promptly took a fiance?
10 Name the Australian outlaw who is the main character and narrator of Peter Carey’s 2001 Booker prize-winning novel? 11 Two countries were affected by soccer tragedies this year. Which were they?
12 President Thabo Mbeki’s plan for the economic recovery of Africa is called:
a) The New Partnership for Africa’s Development b) Millennium Africa Recovery Programme c) The African Renaissance? 13 How much was former South African Airways CEO Coleman Andrews paid to go away?
14 Who replaced Tony Yengeni as ANC chief whip? 15 Which best-selling American novelist was bumped off the Oprah book-club list but went on to sell millions of copies of his novel The Corrections anyway? 16 Who is South Africa’s new chief justice? 17 Which five countries will be making their debut in the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup? 18 What is Thabo Mbeki’s favourite tipple? 19 Which former Wits academic became a leading apologist for the Zimbabwean government after years of criticism of Robert Mugabe? 20 Who wore the”nine rings”? 21 What major environmental event will be staged in Gauteng in September next year? 22 Which conservative Trinidad-born writer won this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature?
23 Who is the Pashtun anti-Taliban leader named as Afghanistan’s premier to head a hoped-for all-party government? 24 What car is former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni driving these days and how much did it cost? 25 Which pioneering black South African artist died in July? 26 Which politician is known as The Egg? 27 Is Sahib the name of: a) an Indian restaurant b) the first circus elephant allowed to return to the wild in South Africa c) both? 28 Which two Cape former politicians were released from jail this year after serving time for fraud and theft of donor money? 29 Name the judge appointed to head the inquiry into the Ellis Park soccer tragedy.
30 Which famous South African mining company delisted this year and went private?
31 How many times was thecontroversial Telecommunications amendment Bill changed? 32 The first child of the emperor and empress of Japan has created a constitutional crisis. Why? 33 In education-speak, what does NPHE stand for? 34 Who is the first incumbent of the Caxton chair of journalism and media studies at Wits University? 35 How was the Microsoft antitrust court case resolved? a) Bill Gates was forced to leave the United States b) A slap-on-the-wrist settlement was reached with Microsoft c) Microsoft was split into two separate business units. 36 The listing of which parastatal has been postponed until at least next year?
37 What minister took the Mail & Guardian to court this year for its 1998 end-of-year”report card” on her? 38 Which Cape politician went from the mayor’s office to the premier’s suite, pausing only to challenge in court his ouster from the first job? 39 Which five cricketers were fined R10 000 each for smoking dagga in a hotel room in the Caribbean, and who was the sixth man? 40 What are the monsters behind the closet door scared of? 41 Who succeeded Barney Pityana as chair of the South African Human Rights Commission?
42 Name the whistle-blower whose revelations led to the probe by Judge Willem Heath into the Democratic Alliance street-naming scandal in Cape Town?
43 What is the name of the company testing a coal-based Aids drug on Tanzanian soldiers? 44 What shaven-headed preacher controversially married a blonde divorcee, to the apparent consternation of his congregation? 45 What is the name of the international initiative to stop the distribution of conflict diamonds? 46 From which sports stadium were Bafana Bafana banned from playing their international World Cup qualifier against Zimbabwe and why? 47 Which institutions conducted the marathon investigation into the R60-billion and rising arms deal? 48 Name the German executive arrested for his alleged involvement in the Mercedes-for-arms deal scandal, and the company he was working for? 49 What’s the name of Harry Potter’s owl? 50 Which two journalists are currently heading up and transforming SABC news?
51 Three national publications this year acquired new editors: Business Day, Financial Mail and the Sunday Independent. Can you name them? 52 Which company famous for cruelty-free cosmetics made from edibles produced by developing communities has finally set up shops in South Africa?
53 Who were the three applicants who took government to court for its failure to provide nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women? 54Which organisation initially intended to join the Treatment Action Campaign suit as amicus curiae, but pulled out at the last minute after a telephone call from the president’s office? 55 Which German car company increased its investment in South Africa in December?
56 Name the favourite game of Xolani Nkosi Johnson, the internationally-known”face of Aids”, who died at the age of 12 from Aids-related illness? 57 Baixinha is: a) a rare East African black rhino that hunters want to shoot b) the name of a new cellphone company c) Spanish for”kiss me”? 58 When was the first major terorrist attack on the World Trade Centre? 59 Which famous nutty South African is living a life of luxury in the US surrounded by lovely young fillies? 60 Which famous South African model and award-winning South African actor announced they will be marrying in the new year? 61 How much did the World Racism Conference cost South Africa? 62 What is the name of the drug used to treat anthrax that almost certainly led to the US government’s softening its stance on intellectual property in cases of national emergency? 63 Who is Ben Trovato? 64 What is the name of the new class of anti-retroviral drugs registered for treatment of HIV? 65 How much did the rand depreciate between January 1 and December 15? 66 Who won the Nobel Peace Prize after failing to stop mass murder in Rwanda, Kosovo, Sierra Leone? 67 Which wartime atrocity has been commemorated by a giant casino and shopping mall in Fourways? 68 Which supersonic”white elephant” recently took to the skies again after a horrific ground-level accident in France? 69 Which cold country has a penis museum? 70 A book published this year mentions that only two South Africans protested to the British about the destruction of the Zulu kingdom in the mid-19th century. Who were they? 71 What underpopulated continent has seen several skirmishes involving South African mining companies in search of riches? 72 In mining jargon, what does PGM stand for? 73 Which country is entering its fourth recession in a decade? 74 What is the name of the Indian generic drug company which hit the headlines this year for its offers of cheap anti-retrovirals? 75 Who is the referee who precipitated a crisis in cricket by citing Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar for ball tampering? 76 Which three political businessmen were effectively accused of treason this year and subsequently received apologies from minister Steve Tshwete? 77 Which country had to confess that it had acccidentally shot down a passenger plane as part of its military excercises? 78The decision to go to St Andrews University by which British royal sparked a rush to go there? 79 Which Welsh temptress burst from bud into bloom with her marriage to much older Hollywood star Michael Douglas? 80 Who became the most famous virgin since Brooke Shields, at least in South Africa?
81 Who, famous for sharing her bed and sexual fantasies with millions of film viewers, has married a man who objects to the world seeing her nipples through her clothing? 82 Which country, better known for its citizens’ 419 criminal activties, produced an unusually stunning Miss World? 83 Which big bank was so overwhelmed by the success of its free Internet access policy that it decided to pull out of the arena? 84 As Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe wrecks his country in a relentless push for a fifth term, which African presidents have announced they will step down when their current terms in office end? 85 Which left-leaning leader in the labour movement collapsed at a public function after receiving death threats over his stance on privatisation? 86 Which American-Germanic coupling looks set to produce the future winner llof Wimbledon, the French Open, the US Open and the Austalian Open? 87 Who is the cosmetics queen who will be using safety pins in nappies rather than dresses or possibly in a voodoo doll of her defaulting billionaire boyfriend? 88 How many flyhalves has Harry Viljoen used since he took over the Springbok rugby team? 89 The leggy Australian ex-wife of what pint-sized American was dancing in the streets when their divorce agreement was finalised? 90 Which starry-eyed agency had its feet brought firmly to ground by a financial and managerial crisis? 91 Which South African entrepreneur emigrated to Britain en route to outer space?
92 Former president Nelson Mandela was diagnosed with a serious ailment this year. What was it? 93 What conviction and sentence did Gauteng businessman Piet Odendaal get for killing his employee, Mosoko Rampuru, and dragging his body behind his speeding bakkie? 94 Which former provincial government department head is now suing the premier and MEC for defamation after his dismissal, apparently for rooting out corruption in his department far too successfully? 95 “Worse than Afghanistan.” Who was describing what? 96 The controversial sacking of which academic led to the closure of a prestigious Aids research institute in one of the country’s worst HIV/Aids hotspots?
97 Which prominent Soweto businessman was raided this year for his alleged involvement in an oil company scandal? 98 South African cricketer Jacques Kallis set an unusual Test batting record this year: what was it? 99 Name the new organisation formed after the merger between Nafcoc and Sacob?
100 Who was the first inmate to be evicted from the Big Brother house? 101 What is the name of former Gau-teng premier Tokyo Sexwale’s mining group?
102 What is the answer to the riddle in the M&G’s radio advert: What is greater than God / More evil than the Devil / The rich don’t need it / The poor have it / And if you eat it you die?