The South African Communist Party (SACP) faces court action or debt collectors over its failure to pay Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University R1,6-million for hosting its congress last year. The university has given the SACP until next week to sign a settlement arrangement.
Her eyes flicker with excitement when she talks about the game, clearly her first love. Kass Naidoo, the newly appointed commercial manager for Cricket South Africa, looks small as she sits behind her table, papers lying scattered on her desk. When asked about the game she does not know where to start: ”I’m a cricket fan who just cannot get enough of it.”
Do religion and sport mix? Some sports people evidently think so. Players who believe in God often show it openly — some saying a prayer on the field after scoring or missing a goal, others showing off T-shirts underneath their kit bearing religious messages.
Nwabisa Ngcukana was back at Johannesburg’s Noord Street taxi rank last week, the scene of her assault by taxi drivers. Three weeks before, they stripped and beat her for wearing a miniskirt. Last week, she marched at the head of an army of women. Defiantly dressed in miniskirts, hundreds of women toyi-toyied to the taxi rank.
On a wall outside a crumbling school in rural Gokwe, central Zimbabwe, a battle is being fought. A youth is pasting a Morgan Tsvangirai poster over graffiti, written in bright orange paint, proclaiming: "Good morning Makoni." A few years ago, this would have been a job done under cover of darkness, and hurriedly.
Dumiso Dabengwa, the senior Zanu-PF member who has rebelled against President Robert Mugabe to back Simba Makoni, says the ruling party needs reform to save Zimbabwe from ”falling into the wrong hands”. ”This is a rescue operation,” Dabengwa said after appearing with Makoni in public for the first time.
The contest for the presidency in Zimbabwe has begun, with candidates preparing manifestos and travelling the length and breadth of the country to drum up support. The Mail & Guardian looks at the tactics, insults, prospects and problems of the three contenders in Zimbabwe.
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/ 29 February 2008
A dark horse contender for the crucial ANC Youth League leadership has emerged with a strong chance of defeating the candidate favoured by outgoing president Fikile Mbalula. Current treasurer Saki Mofokeng has the backing of at least five provinces in his battle to become the next youth league president.
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/ 28 February 2008
Eastern Cape Premier Nosimo Balindlela announced in her recent State of the Province speech that the province will appoint additional 932 maths and science teachers. However, finding the right people for the job is a challenge — and infrastructure remains a problem too.
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/ 25 February 2008
Sudan’s Abyei region is a possible trouble spot from which conflict could resume, three years after a comprehensive agreement was signed to end civil war between the north and south, the United Nations special envoy to Sudan has warned. The oil-rich region, which lies between north and south Sudan, has experienced an administrative and political vacuum after disagreements over its status.