Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba slammed the media at a press conference in Bloemfontein on Thursday accusing them of misquoting him regarding the Lucas Radebe controversy.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions’s strike unleashed an ideological and propaganda struggle that divided not just the ruling alliances, but the broader congress movement. Jaspreet Kindra documents the unfolding conflict.

Two books I would like to say something about as we lift our groggy bodies out of this fleeting season of good cheer: Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski’s <i>The Shadow of the Sun</i> and American novelist Barbara Kingsolver’s <i>The Poisonwood Bible</i>.

Whizz-kid Mark Shuttleworth has come up with the notion of appointing himself First African in Space. When Yuri Gagarin was launched into the atmosphere on April 12 1961, the Soviet Union was able to proudly herald him as "the first human in space".

There is a permanent whiff of sulphur in the air in Goma, as if the devil has just passed through, and might well be back at any moment. Even at the best of times, when Mount Nyiragongo is in repose, its volcanic authority is stamped on every part of life.

This week I sneaked, almost (but not quite) unnoticed, into a midday matinee of Leon Schuster’s latest offering, <i>Mr Bones</i>. Like most people who think themselves too sophisticated for the kind of movies Schuster churns out, I didn’t really want anyone to see me doing it.

Africa’s largest development project, a 1040km, ,3-billion oil pipeline between Chad and Cameroon, is being criticised for damaging the interests of the poor — the people it was supposed to help. World Bank officials admitted that the Chad government has spent the grant money on arms.