Communist authorities have banned most state media from reporting on the deadly collapse of a bridge in southern China, with local officials punching and chasing reporters from the scene, reporters said on Friday. The harassment and the reporting ban, issued by the Central Propaganda Department, came on Thursday.
Despite Airports Company South Africa’s excellent annual results, airline passengers are still going to be hit with increased fees, the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa said on Friday. Airlines have no choice but to incorporate increased airport tariffs into the price of their tickets.
The Sunday Times is to return all of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s medical records with the exception of one copy, the Johannesburg High Court ordered on Friday. The newspaper must also refrain from reporting or commenting on any of the minister’s medical reports pending the outcome of the rest of the application.
The African National Congress (ANC) is not a party for the independent-minded, says Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille. The recent sacking by President Thabo Mbeki of his deputy health minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, illustrated what the ANC had become, she said on Friday in her weekly online newsletter, DA Today.
Many residents were too afraid to leave their homes in Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s main oil, on Friday and troops patrolled the streets after dozens were killed in gun battles. Up to 40 people died in street fighting between troops and heavily armed gangsters on Thursday, local newspapers reported, and the gunmen are widely expected to return.
Devarakshanam Govinden looks at the career of Amitav Ghosh, whose books focus on mobility and migration.
Shaun de Waal on non-fiction that examines South African senses of space.
The Social Construction gig at the Gem Bioscope in Kensington is the place to be this weekend, writes Lloyd Gedye.
Whether you call his music township jive, jazz or bubblegum, Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse has provided the soundtrack for generations, writes Kwanele Sosibo.
Once again, South Africa’s most debauched music festival was a riot. Lloyd Gedye and Lisa Skinner made the trek to Oppikoppi.