Elizabeth Jacobs and I grew up in Wellington on the same farm. She was the daughter of the Klaas and I was the daughter of the baas. My three sisters and I called her “Ous” because, being slightly older than us, she was our “Ousus” (older sister). I saw Ous almost every day of my life. After school and at weekends she played with us, writes the Mail & Guardian‘s Pearlie Joubert.

All copies of a new book that notorious apartheid murderer Eugene de Kock believes defames him and harms both his dignity and his reputation are being withdrawn from bookshops. This follows a Pretoria High Court interim order two weeks ago after De Kock applied to the court to halt further sales of the book, White Power and the Rise and Fall of the National Party.

ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary and pro-Jacob Zuma strongman Senzo Mchunu this week sought to quell rumours that Zuma supporters within party structures would seek to dislodge President Thabo Mbeki from the Union Buildings if their man ascended to the organisation’s presidency.

The maze of passages leading to District Court B on the first floor of the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court is dim, poorly lit and unventilated. It is mid-morning in Alexandra, a township north of Johannesburg. Just beyond the courthouse steps a throng of pedestrians weaves its way through clutters of hawkers’ stalls and food outlets. Loud music thumps from a radio inside a makeshift barber shop.

The most dangerous place for South Africans to be is in their own homes and workplaces. The crime statistics released on Thursday show decreases in most crime categories but robberies at residential and business premises are still on the rise.