/ 10 December 2018

Unembargoed: December 7 to 13

This week's M&G is now free to read.
This week's M&G is now free to read.

SABC meltdown all too familiar

Are certain board members being pushed out to ensure government control?

Gupta looters leave SA in the dark

And a planned PetroSA plant shutdown meant Eskom could not replenish diesel supplies

Eskom sweats as Trillian buys time

A delay in Eskom’s battle to claw back the millions of rands it lost to Gupta-linked Trillian could further hurt the ailing power utility, the high court in Pretoria heard this week.

Slice of life: The journey to Beyoncé

‘I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to see Beyoncé and Jay Z in South Africa’

An El Niño away from water crisis

Outdated data, debt and mismanagement — Gauteng’s water plans predict a crisis. But it could be mitigated if people cut their water use by half

Mission possible: Polluters can change

Six major elements of the world economy are responsible for a third of all carbon emissions.

Independent assessor throws new light on ‘deeply divided’ MUT

The Mangosuthu University of Technology has been unstable for about 10 years, according to an independent assessor’s report looking into the problems faced by the institution and the state of its governance.

Deadly twist to university dispute

A former colleague has been charged with the murder of the dean after threatening him

Family lose hope MK fighter is alive

To find peace, the mother and sister of Nokuthula Simelane are asking for her to be presumed dead

Cheated, we turn to a superhero

South Africa has descended into a hell and we are pinning our hopes on Shamila Batohi to rescue us.

Ex-Aurora mines to be sold off, again

The Aurora gold mines looted by former president Jacob Zuma’s nephew Khulubuse Zuma and his partners are heading for liquidation again after a falling-out between the South African and Chinese partners in the consortium that bought Aurora in 2012.

SA’s pioneer intersex and trans models

Lauren Foster and Monique Walker found themselves in a conservative but developing industry

Activists’ families fight for justice

Former apartheid cop Joao Rodrigues could be setting an unwelcome precedent for victims of apartheid if a judge agrees to halt his trial for the murder of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol permanently, the National Prosecuting Authority said in court papers.

Prison company stalls court actions

G4S has belatedly sought to prevent the release of medical records of inmates who say they were tortured

HEALTH:

Durban on pins and needles about HIV project closure

More than six months after the City of eThekwini closed its only needle exchange programme, negotiations between the city and the project’s staff continue. But each day the project remains shuttered, workers say, is another day that puts people who use drugs — and the public — at risk.

Tracking Mpumalanga’s missing migrant fruit pickers

In this province, the agricultural and mining sectors draw thousands of workers each year – and then they disappear. Here’s why we need to find them

AFRICA:

Will Zim bury poll deaths report?

Kgalema Motlanthe investigated post-election violence but there are concerns President Mnangagwa will not release his findings

East Africa won’t tackle Burundi crisis

Maybe regional leaders should follow the West African playbook

Tanzania suffers peril of populism

People call John Magufuli ‘The Bulldozer’. But in his haste to get things done, he might be wrecking the very foundations of his country’s democracy

BUSINESS:

Eskom aims to shed its debt load

But critics say shifting liability to the state could have unintended consequences for the economy

Eskom casts a pall over growth

There was good news this week when gross domestic product (GDP) figures released by Statistics South Africa for the third quarter showed positive growth, lifting the economy out of a technical recession.

Struggling investments sting PIC

A R1-billion impairment caused by the media group investment has again raised questions

It’s time to #PayBackTheMoney

Various agencies are at last going after those accused of looting the state coffers and the amounts are huge

COMMENT & ANALYSIS:

A genuine democracy is needed

Stability demands that those who are brutally excluded must be given a meaningful voice

Editorial: We are rooting for Batohi

The task of securing South Africa for future generations is immense

Editorial: Your earth, take action

Change is happening at such a rate that animals, plants and ecosystems cannot evolve fast enough to survive.

Township sanitation remains the pits

The commodification of basic services is to blame for the current appalling situation

Pappi for Daddy takes on Guru

The man with a penchant for purple and paraffin has started a political party

Just what are the red berets up to now?

There are three possible scenarios that might explain the party’s recent attacks and alignments

Labour law redefines parenthood

The definition includes adoptive parents and commissioning parents in surrogacy cases

FIFTH COLUMN: Click here. Actually, no, don’t

“Sometimes I think South African retail websites don’t actually want to sell anything.”

Education analysis misses the mark

Yes, schooling has a long way to go to contribute to economic growth, but good progress has been made

SPORT:

Women’s Proteas wilt under heat

It’s not been an easy year for the Women’s Proteas. The grind was there, but, bereft of quality, it was not enough to force the results to flow.

Long road ahead for Springbok women

The Springbok women don’t actually have much work to mark. But just because little Johnny doesn’t show up to class doesn’t mean that he gets a passing grade.

Proteas on a good wicket

Bar the Sri Lanka Test series, the team brought back a sense of indomitability to their game

Bafana, better is not good enough

Oh Bafana, what more is there really to say? For years now you have insisted on the same stubborn pattern: stumbling at imaginary hurdles, belying our passion for football before creaking the door ajar just enough for us to think hope could creep in.

Banyana wins our hearts

What a year for Banyana Banyana. During the past 12 months they have driven our expectations higher and higher, and then proceeded to smash even those.

FRIDAY:

The danger of abuser confessions

“Done well, abusers’ confessions can educate other abusers and potential abusers”

Kwaito: Golden or new age?

The originators insist that the cultural phenomenon has not died, it took new forms

The Weekend Guide

For good vibes and an arts fix, don’t miss this

On our lists this week: Ray BLK, Mad Satta, and metropolis

In between working on Friday copy, this is what the team reads, listens to and watches

The gqom whisperer comes home

“I was just trying to create something that sounded like hip-hop, but on a house tempo” is how DJ Lag tried to articulate his sound on our first meeting at his mother’s house in Clermont four years ago.

The people versus the captured police

Not even the promise of uninterrupted electricity could guarantee crime-free partying for the more than 60 000 Beyoncé fans who braved hours to see her and a legion of foreign and local artists perform at the Global Citizen Festival in Soweto last Sunday.

Cassper’s filled up by his loyal Tsibipians

Last week Mr Fill-up held a listening session for his latest album, Short and Sweet. To make his signing to the record label official, the gathering took place at the Universal Music recording studios in Rosebank, two days before it dropped internationally.

‘Tis the season: It’s festive, It’s fokol but depression is real

You might put it down to end-of-year fatigue. But, in this volatile time of the year, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group experiences an influx of calls for crisis intervention for depression and suicide during December.

The literary echoes of the Afro-modern

What is exceptional about the Afro-modern is its radical unsettling of being a theory or a movement. It is that bold generation, as Daoud puts it “We are open space: Africa’s newest genre.”

Mahobe  gets his chance to shine

Growing up in Sophiatown and later in Western Native Township in the 1940s and 1950s, artist Monty Mahobe was kind of cajoled into drawing by his schoolmates as a boy.

 

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