Following the seasonal rains, the Kalahari Desert in central Botswana is alive with rolling waves of green grasses and stretches of bright yellow wild flowers. Large herds of antelope munch the vegetation and canter across the plains. Jackals and hyenas lurk nearby to pick off the stragglers.
Once the cradle of young black leadership, the African National Congress Youth League seems in part to have become a vehicle for elites and a reference point for businesses seeking to engage "political capital".
Here is an idiot’s guide to the 2004 election manifesto of another of the three most prominent political parties currently filling the airwaves and newsprint with great rushings of wind, promises, pledges, commitments, warranties, bargains, bonds and sureties. This week, a brief look at the Democratic Alliance Election Manifesto XP.
Despite its attempts to persuade us to the contrary, sport is intrinsically unglamorous, and it was a logical step to co-opt Oscar-style celebrations replete with triumphal muzak swirling from the orchestra pit and leggy apparitions in gownless evening straps.
It has pride of place in the quiet Basotho village. Large as life, freshly painted and set on lush rolling lawns with luxury cars in the garage, its ochre-coloured walls stand in sharp contrast to the shabbier, grey dwellings of Thaba Tseka. It can only be the best and only hotel in town, or so you think until you drive closer.
Patrice Motsepe will continue his ascent up the South African corporate ladder when a consortium he leads completes its purchase of a 10% stake in financial services giant Sanlam in a deal worth R2,2-billion. The details of the transaction were disclosed by Sanlam last Thursday.
Despite an economic slump, food queues and fuel shortages, mining activity is surging in Zimbabwe. The combination of a currency that is competitive in United States dollar terms, a skilled workforce and a climbing precious-metal price have made the outlook for Zimbabwean mining profitable.
Serious questions about the dwindling power of national bargaining councils in the face of the increasing casualisation of South Africa’s labour force were raised this week, as negotiations between transport unions and employers in the road freight industry crashed.
Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is locked in a conundrum over whether or not to contest next year’s general election under the current electoral framework and in the prevailing political climate.
President Thabo Mbeki launched the Urban Renewal Programme in 2001 to target development in the eight urban areas with the highest poverty levels in South Africa. Approximately R200-million will be invested in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain this financial year.