"We must congratulate Rwanda for achieving 48,8% of women representation in Parliament. This is the highest in the world. It means gender parity is no longer a dream but a reality in Africa," told Lulu Xingwana, South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, more than 1 000 women in Pretoria this week.
The Free State Cheetahs got their Absa Currie Cup campaign off to a perfect start with a comfortable 38-19 win over the Golden Lions at Vodacom Park on Saturday afternoon. The Cheetahs led 21-5 at half-time after dominating all aspects of the game against a disappointing Lions outfit.
Bafana Bafana made use of their territorial advantage at FNB Stadium on Saturday when they beat Burkina Faso 2-0 in a 2006 World Cup and African Cup of Nations qualifier. Steven Pienaar and Shaun Bartlett scored in the 13th and 32nd minutes respectively to help ease the pressure for the South Africans on the road to Germany and Egypt.
A day after a pair of enthralling, three-set women’s semifinals enlivened Wimbledon, unrelenting rain and uneven match-ups conspired to produce a dreary Friday on which neither men’s semifinal was completed. When play was stopped, defending champion Roger Federer held a 6-2, 6-3, 4-3 edge against number 10 Sebastien Grosjean.
Fourteen thousand spectators rubbed their eyes in disbelief as the Natal Sharks, completely outplayed in the first half, came back from a 6-30 deficit midway through the second half to pip Griquas 33-30 in a pulsating Absa Currie Cup match in Durban on Friday night.
Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer wasted little time in finishing off Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) in Wimbledon’s rain-hit men’s semifinals on Saturday. The 22-year-old Swiss player was up two sets and 4-3 on Friday evening when play was finally abandoned after a frustrating day of unsettled weather.
Russian 17-year-old Maria Sharapova pulled off one of the biggest Wimbledon upsets to date on Saturday when she dethroned top seed and two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4 in a stunning women’s final. She is the second-youngest Wimbledon winner in the Open era and the first Russian to win.
Second-seeded American Andy Roddick unleashed the full power of his awesome artillery to crush the brave resistance of Croatia’s Mario Ancic 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 and set up a Wimbledon title showdown with defending champion Roger Federer on Saturday. The 21-year-old Roddick becomes the first American to reach the men’s final since 2000.
Rising formula-one star Fernando Alonso delighted the Renault home-country crowd to capture the pole position for the French Grand Prix ahead of six-time world champion Michael Schumacher. ”To be first at the home grand prix is very nice,” the Spanish driver said. ”Now we have to see tomorrow.”
The American-bred, three-year-old Greys Inn gave the opposition a galloping lesson in the R1,5-million Vodacom Durban July Handicap over 2 200m when he streaked through the field down the home stretch to win with ease. This was the second win in South Africa’s premier race for trainer Mike de Kock and jockey Anthony Delpech.