The South African world of letters and scholarship is in desperate need of colour. Black women and men are in short supply when it comes to imaginative writing and knowledge creation. Yet the publishing industry, we are told, is experiencing a revolution — a fiction boom to be specific. What exactly is the nature of this boom?
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Soshanguve serial rapist Simon Malatji was on Monday sentenced in the Pretoria High Court to life imprisonment and a further 307 years on various other counts. Judge Ronnie Bosielo sentenced Malatji (32) to life imprisonment for twice raping one of his victims and to a further 307 years’ imprisonment on 30 further counts. All sentences will run concurrently with the life sentence.
Former national cricketer Garth le Roux had acted openly and honestly in all the transactions over which he now faces fraud charges, his advocate told Cape Town’s Wynberg Regional Court on Monday. Le Roux and his accountant, Deon van Heerden, are seeking a discharge at the end of the state’s case on the 48 counts of fraud they both face.
Al-Qaeda threatened in an internet statement on Monday to escalate attacks against the ”enemies of Allah” in North African countries, warning Muslims to stay away from government sites. ”The Mujahedin [holy warriors] … have many hidden surprises for the enemies of Allah in the countries of the Islamic Maghreb, which will come in an escalating sequence,” said al-Qaeda.
State utility Transnet unveiled its new brand positioning and corporate-identity strategy in Johannesburg on Monday. Company group chief executive Maria Ramos told reporters that the company had come up with a new one-brand image with its different operations falling under it.
There is a rising tide of Zimbabwean immigrants crossing the border into South Africa, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday. DA home affairs spokesperson Mark Lowe said he and several other DA parliamentarians and local DA councillors had visited the Beitbridge border post and surrounding areas.
Alexander Vinokourov clinched his second victory of this year’s Tour de France with panache when he won the 196km 15th stage from Foix on Monday. The Astana rider, who lost all hope of winning the race when he cracked and crashed on Sunday’s 14th stage, went solo 15km from the summit of the Col de Peyresourde to beat Luxembourg’s Kim Kirchen.
The Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has distanced itself from a South African Press Association (Sapa) report on a speech by Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Monday. Sapa’s report was issued under the headline: ”High crime levels driving tourists away: Van Schalkwyk.”
Caxton has been granted leave to participate in the Naspers/EMN/SuperSport merger procedures subject to certain conditions, the Competition Tribunal said on Monday. The tribunal said the merger had been referred to them at the end of May by the Competition Commission.