The International Press Institute condemned the decision by Zimbabwean authorities to put a United States journalist on trial for having published an erroneous article.
The unqualified praise that political leaders have heaped on Peter Mokaba following his death has been more than a little nauseating. Yes, he had great strengths and talents. Yes, we all want to speak well of the dead. But the conscious amnesia on which this effusion has depended is insidious.
Last week we erroneously reported that the African National Congress called for HIV/Aids to be declared a notifiable disease. In fact, it was Dr Confidence Moloko, the deputy chairperson of the ANC’s health committee, who made the call in his personal capacity.
Now and then we hold extravagant and bloated ideas about ourselves. The problem arises, however, when the ideas become fixed and we remain impervious to reason. We become paranoid and suffer from delusions of grandeur.
There go a few more million, this time in glamorous double-page spreads in the Sundays which, in glorious technicolour, revealed Kader Asmal’s plans for the future of tertiary education in South Africa. Not that Asmal would stoop to using such forthright language.
One of the most memorable moments on my return to South Africa in the early 1990s occurred when I was walking with my daughter, then nine years old, through the tumult of central Johannesburg towards the Market Theatre precinct.
The organisers of this year’s Comrades marathon are bracing themselves for a repeat of the pacemaking controversy that saw the women’s race at the recent Two Oceans Marathon descend into farce. In Cape Town at the end of March the winner, Natalia Volgina, was guided through every step of the 56km by the former Comrades champion Dmitri Grishin. It was in complete disregard for the rules laid down by the world governing body but the race referee did nothing.
Bafana Bafana should now start rebuilding after their tantalising World Cup performance, despite an early exit. The core of the national team that went to the World Cup –the likes of Jabu Pule, Delron Buckley, Benedict McCarthy and others –must be retained, while the likes of ageing defender Lucas Radebe, goalkeeper Andre Arendse and midfielder Thabo Mngomeni should call it a day.
There are half a dozen beds in the hospital in Cuemba. But there are no mattresses, so children lie on the concrete floor rather than on the bare metal slats. One little girl is curled up in the corner, coughing under what seems to be the only blanket available. Other children have nothing.
The African National Congress in Parliament on Wednesday rejected claims it was ”soft” on Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.