Last week’s ANC policy conference brought to mind a traditional proclamation: The king is dead. Long live the king! However one interprets the minutiae of ANC pronouncements on the next leadership selection, three things can be said. First, Thabo Mbeki will not be South Africa’s president come 2009; second, the internecine war for the presidency of the ANC will continue right up to the last moment.
A plan to rescue Zimbabwe’s flailing economy by pegging the Zimbabwe dollar to the South African rand is being put together by the Southern African Development Community (SADC). SADC’s Zimbabwe rescue package would see the Reserve Banks of South Africa and Botswana pump money into the Reserve Bank in Harare.
Kimi Raikkonen confirmed his and Ferrari’s return to form with a dazzling triumph in Sunday’s British Grand Prix as home hero Lewis Hamilton struggled home third. The 27-year-old Finn took full advantage of Ferrari’s excellent strategy and tyre problems that slowed both Hamilton and his McLaren Mercedes-Benz teammate and defending champion Fernando Alonso.
Western Stormers utility forward Gerrie Britz has been called up to the South Africa squad in place of injured skipper Bob Skinstad. The veteran number eight, who led the Springboks against Australia in a Tri-Nations Test in Sydney on Saturday, has a broken rib and is on his way home facing a fight to be fully fit in time for the World Cup in September..
Roger Federer emulated the legendary Bjorn Borg when he captured his fifth successive Wimbledon title with a 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 6-2 win over Rafael Nadal in a thrilling final on Sunday. It was Federer’s 11th career Grand Slam title, taking him within three of Pete Sampras’s record of 14 and his 54th consecutive grasscourt win.
Venus Williams said her fourth Wimbledon trophy was special because she had overcome so much to win it but that she was unlikely to swap it with her 2005 one which she keeps by her bed. Williams got off to a wobbly start at this year’s championships when she was taken to three sets in her first and third round matches.
An award-winning sports reporter for the South African Broadcasting Corporation has been killed in a car accident, officials said on Sunday. The public broadcaster reported that veteran journalist Maseru Koaho died in a car crash in Potchefstroom, west of Johannesburg, on Saturday night.
Stand-in skipper Chris Gayle praised West Indies’ resolve as they came from behind to clinch a 2-1 one-day series success against England with a crushing 93-run win at Trent Bridge. West Indies, overwhelmed 3-0 in the preceding Test campaign, were a team transformed and dominated England in all departments during Sunday’s match.
Real-life Robocops, robots armed with lethal weaponry and a programmed determination to eliminate foes, could become a key element in global counter-terrorist and military operations within 10 years, a United States security expert said on Saturday.
Egypt has banned all female circumcision after the death this week of a 12-year-old girl undergoing the widely practised procedure. Budour Ahmad Shaker died from an overdose of anaesthetic at a private clinic in Minya province in upper Egypt during the $9 operation.