Tokyo Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda group was recently reported to be seeking a stake in the Mail &Guardian. Drew Forrest quizzed M&G proprietor Trevor Ncube about these reports, his media philosophy and the growing anti-media clamour in ruling circles.

The Polokwane conference takes place amid a vexing national debate, underlined by protests at Wits and the University of Johannesburg, on whether post-apartheid education policy is effectively expanding the right of access to higher education to black students. At the core of South Africa’s post-1994 education policy is the notion that black students from disadvantaged backgrounds are treated fairly when they are bused to white schools and universities.

An Eastern Cape Parks Board dictum reads: ”We promise the Earth.” As the ruling party’s delegates pack their bags for Polokwane, the daunting question stares us in the face: what promise, if any, does the ANC hold for the Earth? Writing for Mayibuye almost 10 years ago, Pallo Jordan observed that ”while the market can very easily assess and weight the value of a host of other commodities, it finds it difficult or underestimates the value of things we cannot buy and sell.”