It is not <i>Slaughterhouse 5</i>, or <i>Catch-22</i>; it is not even <i>The Magnificent Seven</i>. It is neither Zuckerman, nor Everyman. It is <i>Spider-Man 3</i>, and no more. There is a film, in which there appears a man, who is also a spider, and he has appeared three times. That is all.
It is estimated that about 70% of South African football fans support either Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates, which begs the question: Are the Soweto giants really good for our soccer? The 2006/07 season has been described as boring, lacking intensity and poor in quality, but for me this has been one of the more interesting campaigns in recent times.
Say what you like about South Africa’s first five months at the United Nations Security Council, the country hasn’t suffered from stage fright. Voting against a resolution to bring the appalling human rights record of the Burmese junta under council scrutiny laid down a marker early on.
When, a couple of years ago, environmental conferences were held and issues of the Earth discussed, men in suits carrying briefcases were few and far between. But as climate change and environmental politics edged itself higher on to the world agenda, things have changed dramatically.
Custom magazines outshone the other categories in the first Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures released for this year. This category showed a massive overall growth of 47.8 percent, according to circulation figures for the period between January and March 2007, which were released on Thursday.
Progress towards employment equity is still too slow, according to government’s Commission for Employment Equity — but there are signs that the commission’s conclusion is based on faulty data. Earlier this week, the commission released its report and publicly criticised six companies for lack of compliance.
The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation has found that the continuing torture of people in custody is a major blemish on the record of the police force. Its report says the torture allegedly used by some officers is a hangover from apartheid. It also says that deaths in custody have not received the attention such an important issue demands.
The police response time to crime calls ranges from 30 minutes — in two-thirds of cases according to some studies — to five hours. The findings in the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation’s policing report highlight the extreme variations between police stations. Response times greatly affect public perceptions of police performance, the report finds.
Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi continues to fiddle while Khutsong burns. As anti-incorporation protests turned violent this week, the minister sent residents a message that can only inflame their anger. After weeks of peaceful demonstration against the town’s removal from Gauteng to North West under cross-border municipality legislation, youths this week looted shops and property belonging to Somali and Pakistani traders.
A campaign by a hard line faction in Namibia’s ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation to return former president Sam Nujoma to power has taken a hit in the past week as the faction has found itself isolated from the rest of the party and accused of self-promotion.