The appointment of ANC national chairperson Baleka Mbete to run the political committee in Parliament will be the first step in winning over ANC MPs to support the quest to defend ANC president Jacob Zuma. Mbete will replace Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, who is the current chairperson of this powerful committee.

Private hospitals in South Africa could be facing demands to repay about R1-billion they allegedly charged medical schemes over the past three years for overpriced theatre gases that were not used on patients. Trustees of the medical schemes were reminded that they could be held accountable if they fail to retrieve any funds that were paid erroneously to hospitals.

The ANC national executive committee (NEC) decision to investigate the arms deal as part of a support strategy for Jacob Zuma represents an attempt to find a political solution to an intractable problem — the criminal charges hanging over the person nominated to lead the country.

When Baldev Singh arrived to open his car parts showroom last September he found not customers but officials from Delhi’s municipal council at his doorstep. Part of a drive to clean up Delhi in advance of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Singh was forced to close his business — sacking 12 of his staff. Officials told him that zoning laws, previously ignored, were now to be zealously enforced.

Fears are growing that Mozambique faces its worst floods, while a new report has found that most households affected by flooding last year are yet to recover and are experiencing severe food insecurity. During last year’s floods government authorities moved affected people to resettlement areas on higher ground.

”When the going gets weird,” the late father of gonzo journalism Hunter S Thompson once wrote, ”the weird turns pro”. On Wednesday Thompson’s words came to life in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, where Gauteng Scorpions head Gerrie Nel was granted bail of R10 000 he was arrested, handcuffed and detained on two to five charges — depending on who you ask.