The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) was the undisputed kingmaker. ”People did not believe us when we told them we were going to rewrite history at this conference,” ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula was quoted as saying by the Times newspaper this week.

Staying away from Polokwane’s excitement, I thought that in the spirit of the season we should look at the giving that corporate South Africa should be doing. This happens through corporate social investment/responsibility (CSI/R), or whatever title it might be given.

You sense an overwhelming feeling of anticipation as you pass the rooms in the maternity ward. Tumi Gaoaketse’s excitement is contagious as she leads us to her baby’s bed. Onthatile was born on December 6 at the hospital in Dobsonville, Soweto. His mother describes him as a gift from God; the baby boy she gave birth to a year ago died shortly after he was born.

The scantily dressed actress waltzes majestica lly on to the Mannenberg theatre stage, jutting breasts noticeable beneath the red silky lingerie that reveal the curves of her body. She cuddles a teddy bear close to her chest, caressing its fur, as she gets lost in fantasy to the lyrical soundtrack of Love Is Not Supposed to Hurt by U Meleni.

Which Brazilian footballer, who plays for AC Milan, recently won the European player of the year award? Who is the new Anglican archbishop? What will South Africa’s newest coal power station in Limpopo be called? Who received the first Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership this year? These are some of the brain teasers for our end-of-year quiz.

The good, the bad, and the ugly. How did South Africa’s Cabinet members fare this year? Starting at the top, President Thabo Mbeki is now officially a lame-duck. In Polokwane this week, he was trounced by African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma in the race for the party’s top job. While Mbeki’s legacy will be written in time, he has not had a great year.

Did you know Belgium was for sale? Or that Switzerland invaded Liechtenstein? Heard the one about the bank who issued a cat with a credit card? Or how about the British man who claimed he had made the world’s first cellphone call from Mount Everest? He said it was ”cold”. Here is a selection of wild and wonderful news items from 2007.

Africa’s political and economic balance sheet continues to move into the black. The long-awaited European Union-Africa Summit in Lisbon earlier this month heard that when leaders of the two continents last met in Cairo seven years ago, there were no fewer than 14 conflicts raging on African soil — making up 50% of violent deaths on the planet.

It is likely the ANC has not had a more complex president than Jacob Gedleyihlikisa Zuma (65) or posited in a single individual all things that the party is to its constituency. Abroad he is a diplomat whose initiatives saw Burundi achieve peace, while at home he leads songs calling for his machine gun.

Brigitte Mabandla, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, scores a double GG — and that stand for ”get going”. She and her boss, Mbeki, suspended National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli, apparently for party-political reasons, with blatant disregard for the Constitution and the values it represents.