Were you paying attention?
1 Which South African accused which other South African of making “toxic statements” this year? (Half-mark each.)
2 What is the name of the African National Congress Youth League’s investment company?
3 Which four Southern Africa countries held elections this year? (All required for full mark.)
4 Which South African politician, who once rejected the deputy presidency, lost his Cabinet seat this year?
5 A current South African premier raised eyebrows when, as provincial education minister, she donned a schoolgirl’s uniform. Name her and her province. (Half-mark each.)
6 Which Inkatha Freedom Party politician made a dramatic comeback this year as national chairperson?
7 Where is the Pan African Parliament located?
8 Malawi’s ruling party has the same name as a now-defunct South African political movement. What is it?
9 What did Mark Thatcher claim was stolen from him in a South African jail?
10 A Zimbabwean minister’s star is waning after he organised a meeting of a faction called “Mafikizolo” (Yesterday’s arrivals). Name him.
11 Who is Zimbabwe’s new vice-president?
12 What is the name of Kenya’s ruling coalition?
13 Which country has refused to take its African Union seat and why? (Half-mark each.)
14 Name the African state and head of state targeted for a coup this year by South African-based mercenaries? (Half-mark each.)
15 Where was this year’s African Union summit held?
16 Who won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize?
17 Global warming and climate change inspired a Hollywood blockbuster. What is its name?
18 Which is the world’s favourite animal, according to a recent global poll?
19 Which English novelist is central to the film The Hours?
20 Name South Africa’s Catholic Cardinal.
21 Which United States company, linked to US Vice-President Dick Cheney, was embroiled in repeated controversy this year?
22 Which two South African Cabinet ministers (not deputy ministers) are married to each other? (Half-mark each.)
23 Which two Cabinet ministers are divorced? (Half-mark each.)
24 Scientists are seeking what they now regard as the ultimate sub-atomic particle. What is it called?
25 From what condition did Ronald Reagan suffer for several years before his death?
26 Before which US politician did filmmaker Michael Moore kneel on television?
27 What is title of Michael Moore’s cinematic attack on US President George W Bush?
28 Which American documentary won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes film festival?
29 Who is Viktor Yushchenko and why is he feeling under the weather?
30 Which South African newspaper carried the front-page headline “Woman gives birth to spoons”?
31 In November, a South African university reached a R1,1-million settlement with a top administrator who had resigned a year earlier. Which university, and who was the administrator? (Half-mark each.)
32 Who succeeded Sam Nujoma as Namibia’s president?
33 Why did David Beckham hire Rebecca Loos?
34 Name the wives of George W Bush and John Kerry. (Half-mark each.)
35 Name the consortium, headed by Andile Ngcaba, whose bid for a slice of Telkom caused an outcry.
36 Northern Cape politician John Block is on the comeback trail. What was the passion that cost him his government job?
37 What do Marie Fourie and Celia Bonthuys want to do?
38 Which university has employed former Haitian president Jean- Bertrand Aristide?
39 Who is the new South African cricket coach and which two provincial sides did he play for? (Half-mark each.)
40 What share of the vote did the Democratic Alliance poll in the April election (to one decimal place)?
41 Who provides the donkey’s voice in the film Shrek?
42 Which American woman soldier was accused of torturing Iraqi prisoners?
43 In which country did the Table Mountain tahrs orginate?
44 What was the previous government job of Minister of Education Naledi Pandor?
45 Minister of Environmental Affairs Marthinus van Schalkwyk has rejected a controversial road planned for an ecologically sensitive area. Name the road and area. (Half-mark each.)
46 Which educational institution was murder and kidnap victim Leigh Matthews attending at the time of her death?
47 Who accused high court Judge Siraj Desai of rape in Mumbai?
48 What were the names of the gay couple who appeared in M-Net series The Block?
49 Where did the Cape-based opera company Dimpho di Kopane set its acclaimed reworking of the opera Carmen?
50 Who released an album this year after spending eight years in prison, and what is the album’s name? (Half-mark each.)
51 Which famous South African died this year after allegedly taking benzodiazepine?
52 How much has Transnet spent so far on closing South African Airways’s disastrous hedge book (to the nearest million)?
53 Former SAA CEO Andre Viljoen missed a Competition Commission hearing in October. What was his excuse?
54 How many times, and when, were interest rates cut in South Africa this year? (Half-mark each.)
55 In what event did South Africa win Olympic gold this year?
56 The World Trade Organisation ruled against cotton subsidies in April. Which country brought the case, and which country was accused? (Half-mark each.)
57 Who is New York’s attorney general, the scourge of corporate America?
58 Tony Blair says Britain will use its presidency of one multilateral organisation and chairmanship of another to push African concerns next year. Name the organisations. (Half-mark each.)
59 An international joint venture was formed this year to take on SAB-Miller in the premium beer market. What is it called?
60 A T-shirt lampoon of an SAB-Miller brand has landed a small company in court. Which company and which brand? (Half-mark each.)
61 Whose biography of Nadine Gordimer was rejected by the publishers after Gordimer withdrew her authorisation?
62 Which retailer, delisted this year, used to claim it could clothe a child for less than R1?
63 Name the bosses of Harmony Gold and Gold Fields, locked in a bitter takeover battle? (Half-mark each.)
64 Where did Mail & Guardian editor Ferial Haffajee and Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya receive their training?
65 Before the Appeal Court judgement, what was the maximum dispensing fee pharmacists could charge for selling a prescribed medicine?
66 Name the Jewish architect of Polish extraction who won the bid to design a memorial for New York’s Twin Towers.
67 South African National Archive experts are helping an African country conserve ancient Qur’anic manuscripts. Where are the documents held (town and country)? (Half-mark each.)
68 Which Caribbean and Pacific islands suffered terrible floods this year? (Half-mark each.)
69 Which ANC politician, who died this year, wanted the ANC and Zanu-PF to merge?
70 Name the son of a former Pan Africanist Congress leader who has made a film about exile.
71 What was the real name of the “monster” played by Charlize Theron in her Oscar-winning performance?
72 How did defrocked Irish priest Neil Horan make news at the Olympics?
73 What did Horan do in 2003 to grab the headlines?
74 Who was the International Rugby Board’s player of the year?
75 How many Oscars did The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King win at this year’s academy awards?
76 Which 1960s political movie, withdrawn after the Kennedy assassination, was remade as an allegory of the George W Bush era?
77 How many formula one races were not won by Ferrari this year?
78 How many English Premier League games did Arsenal go unbeaten before losing to Manchester United in October?
79 Which luxury vehicle, also driven by Cyril Ramaphosa and Tokyo Sexwale, did Swaziland’s King Mswati buy amid much controversy this year?
80 Why was San Francisco’s Bay Area Laboratory Company in the news for most of 2004?
81 Which serving Cabinet minister was once detained by the ANC in exile?
82 Who resigned as South African Football Association acting CEO after details of his sex life hit the headlines?
83 Who won the Nobel Prize for Literature this year, and what country does he/she come from? (Half-mark each.)
84 Which of these names — Leon Schuster, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Mandoza, JM Coetzee, PJ Powers — did not appear on the SABC’s list of 100 greatest South Africans?
85 Robert Sobukwe, Ahmed Kathrada, Gary Player, Zackie Achmat, Jamie Uys — which of these names appeared in the top 10 of the greatest South Africans list?
86 Who played the lead role in Chanel’s $33-million television advertisement, dubbed “marketing as art”?
87 Which Canadian-born media mogul was charged with fraud this year?
88 Name the Russian oil company persistently targeted by President Vladimir Putin over alleged tax arrears?
89 The Boston Red Sox finally reversed the “Curse of the Bambino” this year by winning the World Series. Who was the “Bambino”?
90 Which South African had his book on the 2004 Man Booker Prize shortlist?
91 Which South African woman, convicted of hiring killers to murder her abusive husband, was freed this year?
92 What is the name of the new anti-hangover drug allegedly invented by the Soviet KGB?
93 Who won the 2004 European Championships soccer tournament, and what rare feat did they achieve in the process? (Half-mark each.)
94 Who was the first South African footballer to win a European Champion’s League medal?
95 The University of the Transkei, Border Technikon and Eastern Cape Technikon are to merge. After which (dead) politician will the new institution be named?
96 Which South African parastatal organisation had its entire board sacked this year?
97 Iraqi sculptor Karim Khalil has created a work titled The Man from Abu Ghraib. What is the man depicted doing?
98 Who was (incorrectly) reported as preparing to challenge Tony Leon’s leadership of the Democratic Alliance at this year’s DA congress?
99 Kwaito supergroup Bongo Maffin’s lead singer released a successful album this year. What is her name and who is her father? (Half-mark each.)
100 The Indian-born owner of a controlling stake in Ispat-Iscor bought an R800-million house this year. What is his name, and who was the seller? (Half-mark each.)
101 What is the name of Nelson Mandela’s son, currently ill in hospital?
Answers below:
1 (The ANC’s) Smuts Ngonyama; (Cosatu’s) Zwelinzima Vavi.
2 Lembede Investments.
3 Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa.
4 Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
5 Nosimo Balindlela, Eastern Cape.
6 Ziba Jiyane.
7 Gallagher Estate, Midrand.
8 United Democratic Front.
9 His cellphone.
10 Jonathan Moyo.
11 Joyce Mujuru.
12 National Rainbow Coalition.
13 Morocco, because the AU recognises the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.
14 Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.
15 Addis Ababa.
16 Wangari Maathai.
17 The Day After Tomorrow.
18 The tiger.
19 Virginia Woolf.
20 Wilfred Napier.
21 Halliburton.
22 Minister of Home Affairs Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula; Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula.
23 Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma; Deputy President Jacob Zuma.
24 Higg’s boson (half-mark for “God particle”).
25 Alzheimer’s Disease.
26 Ralph Nader (to beg him to withdraw from the presidential race).
27 Fahrenheit 9/11.
28 Fahrenheit 9/11.
29 Ukrainian opposition leader;
he was poisoned.
30 Daily Sun.
31 Wits University, Norma Reid Birley.
32 Hifikepunye Pohamba.
33 To teach him Spanish.
34 Laura Bush, Theresa Heinz Kerry (Theresa will do).
35 The Elephant Consortium.
36 Jazz.
37 Get married (the couple brought the court action on gay marriage).
38 Unisa.
39 Ray Jennings, Transvaal, Northern Transvaal.
40 12,4%.
41 Eddie Murphy.
42 Private (first class) Lynndie England.
43 India.
44 National Council of Provinces chair.
45 N2, Pondoland.
46 Bond University.
47 Salome Isaacs.
48 Gary and Paolo.
49 Khayelitsha.
50 Mzwakhe Mbuli, Mbulism.
51 Brenda Fassie.
52 R6-million.
53 His borrowed BMW broke down in Mozambique.
54 Once, in August.
55 4x100m freestyle relay.
56 Brazil, the United States.
57 Eliot Spitzer.
58 The EU, G8 (in that order!).
59 Brandhouse.
60 Laugh it Off, Carling Black Label.
61 Ronald Suresh Roberts’s.
62 Pepkor.
63 Bernard Swanepoel, Ian Cockerill.
64 Mail & Guardian.
65 R26,00.
66 Daniel Liebeskind.
67 Timbuktu, Mali.
68 Haiti, Philippines.
69 Dumisani Makhaye.
70 Rihad Desai.
71 Aileen Wuornos
72 He disrupted the men’s marathon (by pushing Brazil’s Vanderiel de Lima off the road).
73 He ran on to the track during the British Grand Prix.
74 Schalk Burger.
75 Ten (including best picture).
76 The Manchurian Candidate.
77 Three.
78 Forty-nine.
79 A DaimlerChrysler Maybach.
80 It allegedly provided illegal drugs to top athletes.
81 Minister of Arts and Culture Pallo Jordan.
82 Albert Mokoena.
83 Elfriede Jelinek, Austria.
84 JM Coetzee.
85 Gary Player.
86 Nicole Kidman.
87 Conrad Black.
88 Yukos.
89 Babe Ruth.
90 Achmat Dangor.
91 Anita Ferreira.
92 KGB.
93 Greece; they beat the host nation, Portugal, twice.
94 Benni McCarthy.
95 Walter Sisulu.
96 Transnet.
97 Crouching, naked, with a sack over his head.
98 Helen Zille.
99 Thandiswa Mazwai; publisher Thami Mazwai.
100 Lakshmi Mittal, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.
101 Makgatho Mandela.
Rate yourself:
85-101 — You should get out more
65-85 — Regular Mail & Guardian reader; take a bow
30-65 — Promiscuous reader; must buy more often
Below 30 — Christmas edition reader only