The urge of people in the developing world to heap scorn and spleen upon those in the developed is a curious one. In fact, to come across a young man living in a house made of goat dysentery, who spends his days in quivering prayer to a vengeful god (whose divine bipolar disorder ordains everything from thunderstorms to sexually transmitted diseases).
I cannot hope to contribute in any meaningful sense to the roars and squeals of disparagement already heaped on poor Zwelinzima Vavi’s head; payback with interest for the blunt demands he issued recently on behalf of Congress of Stupendously Asinine Trade Unionists (Cosatu).
The Limpopo education department can rebuild a Thabazimbi farm school that was mysteriously burnt down in July, the Pretoria High Court ruled recently. This comes after Johan Pienaar, the farmer on whose land the school stood, refused to have it rebuilt or to have temporary classrooms erected on his property.
As police officer Simangaliso Patrick Simelane went on trial this week over the alleged torture last year of four Landless People’s Movement activists, questions remained about the identity of others involved in the incident and why the alleged victims were never given the opportunity to identify the assailants at an identity parade.
To some, the introduction of basic income grants (BIG) in South Africa is an unimaginable luxury — and the idea of implementing BIG in other, poorer African states simply laughable. Nonetheless, the South African campaign for BIG, which began four years ago, appears to be resonating elsewhere in the region.
Students at the University of the Witwatersrand have had enough of parties who are out of touch with their political needs. At the recent student representative council elections, the African National Congress Youth League/South African Students’ Congress alliance lost all 15 seats it won in a clean sweep last year.
I’ve always wondered how the Department of Arts and Culture actually comes up with the amounts allocated to the National Art Council or any other institution. They often appear to be arbitrary, bureaucratic thumbsucks, writes Mike van Graan.
"Speculating publicly about the permutations of a back-line game plan ahead of a Test against the All Blacks is something we haven’t seen very often. But then again, we haven’t seen a Springbok side like the present one in eight years, either. Saturday’s Test at Carisbrook is a decider in more ways than one," writes Rob Davies.
Josiah Tungamirai, Minister for Black Empowerment and Indigenisation in Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s government, has died while receiving treatment at a clinic in South Africa, state radio announced on Friday. Family members said the retired Air Force of Zimbabwe commander had been having problems with the rejection of a kidney transplant.
The Cape High Court has ordered e.tv to show prosecutors a programme on the murder of baby Jordan Norton before it goes on air. Acting Judge Dumisani Zondi made the ruling on Thursday after an application by the Western Cape directorate of public prosecutions to block the broadcast of the documentary.