”The cops look at our houses and they see hiding places for stolen goods and drugs. They must fuck off — we raise our children here, watch 7de Laan and try to keep our boys out of prison.” Patricia Booyes* (54) grew up on Gympie Street and is one of the residents now fighting a court battle to continue to live on it.

The Law Society of South Africa (LSSA), which represents the majority of the country’s attorneys, launched a scathing attack on the ANC and the government for “the perception that the principles of the rule of law are under threat”. The LSSA criticises government’s delay in making its submissions to the Ginwala inquiry which is investigating suspended National Prosecuting Authority boss Vusi Pikoli’s fitness to hold office.

On February 2 the Durban Metro branch of the Red Cross was stripped of all its powers, including control of all income and expenditure. Now South African Red Cross Society (Sarcs) volunteers in KwaZulu-Natal are up in arms that the organisation’s leadership is hell-bent on rooting out individuals perceived as whistle-blowers — rather than cleaning up its financial mess.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has itself to blame for the attacks to which it is being subjected, say MPs on the justice portfolio committee. The NPA recently appeared before the committee to discuss its annual report and complained about the continued attacks fired at the unit.

Public servants who do not know how to manage money cost the state R130-million and themselves more than R1-billion in the past financial year. These are the staggering findings of two reports by the Public Service Commission, which investigated the financial misconduct in the state and the indebtedness of public servants.

Higher Education South Africa, the association of university vice-chancellors, has rejected the idea of the capping of tuition-fee income by the education department. Hesa asserts that the sector’s autonomy could be at stake. Instead, it wants a strengthening of the government’s contribution to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

Johannesburg police are still looking for the perpetrators of a violent sexual assault on a woman inside a Johannesburg taxi rank last weekend. Nwabisa Ngcukana (25) was stripped naked, had alcohol poured on her head and was sexually assaulted at the Noord Street taxi rank — apparently because she was wearing a miniskirt.

It is with glee that the organisers of the Design Indaba 2008 announced on their website that the event has been sold out for the fourth year in a row. Tickets for a “young designers” simulcast, however, were available late this week. (Strangely enough young participants include anyone over 25.)

The housing war raging in Delft between about 2 000 homeless backyard dwellers and the government’s housing agent, Thubelisha Homes, the city and the police, has manifested as a racial fight between African and coloured people. But the cause of this war can be traced to the decision to build the controversial N2 Gateway housing project and the political fights between the ANC and a city led by the DA.

The African National Congress has called for the sacking of a senior council official who blew the whistle on alleged abuse of power and corruption in a R1-billion 2010 stadium project. The apparent attempt at a cover-up follows a damning report by independent attorneys on the alleged corruption, which was leaked to the Mail & Guardian.