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.
Middlesbrough’s chairperson Steve Gibson fears eventually losing his manager, Steve McClaren, to the call of either the Premiership’s top trio or the national side in the future, though he envisages him remaining at the Riverside for the time being. “We know Steve might get called at some stage,” said Gibson.
Think of Michael Owen and you think first of speed. Speed of decision, speed of execution. The speed he showed that night in 1998 when he slipped through Argentina’s defence to score the goal that made his name. The sort of speed that bypasses the normal processes of decision and issues from a youthful instinct unhindered by fear, pain or doubt.
When things go wrong, supporters often feel personally let down by the manager. On Monday Liverpool revealed that in early February club manager Gérard Houllier was sent a letter by an anonymous supporter threatening his life if he did not resign immediately.
When Graeme Smith was 13, South Africa lost six straight one-day games in Pakistan. Nine years later he is one limited-overs loss away from equalling the longest losing streak in South African history, and his boyhood questions remain largely unanswered.
There is still a lot of potential in Jabu Pule, but it appears fame and money will be his downfall. The mercurial young midfielder went walkabout before Kaizer Chiefs’ important Absa Cup clash against Sundowns last weekend and the club has suspended him without pay.
Talk about your highs and lows! The Cats and the Sharks plumb the depths against the Brumbies and Waratahs, the Stormers lose the first half hour 22-0 against the Highlanders and win the next 50 minutes 46-3, then the Bulls steamroller the Hurricanes at Loftus. Just another giddy weekend in the Super 12.