Thembekile Mankayi is 49 years old. In 1995, when he was 37, he contracted silicosis and silico-tuberculosis from inhaling silica dust while working for Anglo American’s Vaal Reefs Exploration and Mining Company, which later became AngloGold Ashanti. He was awarded a lump sum of R16 320 after contracting the illness.

”There are numerous cases of no-fee schools that did not receive their allocations. Some things require checking and monitoring and I include myself in some of the failings. Now, every week I want a report on no-fee schools and I don’t take things at face value, ” education minister Naledi Pandor tells Ferial Haffajee.

Travelling in private jets, helicopters and bulletproof limousines, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, a staunch supporter of President Pervez Musharraf, is hard on the campaign trail for Monday’s Pakistani general election. But at his lavishly funded, tightly guarded rallies there is a striking absence: any mention of Musharraf.

Presidential candidate Simba Makoni used the word “renewal” a total of 13 times during an exclusive interview with the Mail & Guardian, saying Zimbabwe needed fresh leadership to “heal the wounds” of 28 years of President Robert Mugabe’s rule. Makoni, who declared his candidacy recently, predicts a landslide win against Mugabe.

If your religious festivals follow lunar phases and seasonal solstices, you will be happy to know that marriage under pagan rite and ritual is now a possibility for South Africans. The South African Pagan Rights Alliance (Sapra) has been designated by the department of home affairs a religious organisation under section 5 of the Civil Union Act (17 of 2006).