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/ 10 November 2006

Bafana kicking their heels

For months the South African Football Association (Safa) has been talking about a ”turn-around strategy for Bafana Bafana” and a ”2010 vision”. Wednesday’s Nelson Mandela Inauguration match against Egypt in London is the last time the national team will get together this year and Safa’s two concepts are in danger of being exposed as semantic posturing.

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/ 10 November 2006

Every underdog has its day

Monday morning, and the world shines anew. Grown men skip down the street, pensioners raise their walking sticks in solidarity, babies gurgle contentedly, unseasonal birds tweet the Internationale. ”Lovely day!” says the man selling tickets at the Tube station. I don’t think I’ve seen him smile before.

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/ 10 November 2006

Equatorial Guinea leader’s son buys $35m US mansion

For a man paid less than  726 a month, the six-and-a-half hectares of mansion, designer golf course and sprawling gardens speckled with fountains in Malibu was quite a buy. The views of the ocean alone — never mind the 4 500 square metres mansion with eight bathrooms, a pool and tennis courts — probably accounted for a good chunk of the -million asking price.

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/ 10 November 2006

Chávez takes off on a four-hour flight of rhetoric

On the podium is a map of the world, a map of Venezuela and a desk piled with charts, reports, books and pens: essential navigational tools for a tour through the mind of Hugo Chávez. The Venezuelan president is three weeks away from an election and has assembled Cabinet ministers, aides and journalists at the presidential palace, Miraflores, for a rhetorical journey.

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/ 10 November 2006

Toyota does well with new seven-seater

Toyota has slotted a brand-new, entry-level seven-seater people carrier into its line-up, and the good news for South Africans is that the little wagon kicks off at less than R100 000. The Avanza comes in either 1,3- or 1,5-litre versions, delivering 67 kW and 80 kW respectively.

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/ 10 November 2006

Kawasaki’s uncompromising new motorcycle on the way

Kawasaki’s all-new ZX-6R is just that — all new. The factory has developed a brand-new engine in a spanking new, twin-spar aluminium perimeter frame, blending the best features of the outgoing 636cc ZX-6R and the limited-edition 599cc ZX-6RR track bike into a single package. The new Kawasaki engine was completely redesigned from the cases up — the first in the ZX-6 range in 10 years.

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/ 10 November 2006

Legends are still playing the game

The middle-aged woman waiting patiently on the sidelines at the Atrec playing fields in Alexandra on Tuesday summed up the effect the influx of sports heroes had on South Africa this week. She’d driven up from Durban with the sole purpose of meeting and having her picture taken with Martina Navratilova.

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/ 10 November 2006

The pride of Manchester

Alex Ferguson had been manager of Manchester United for less than two months when a local newsagent and part-time ground steward named Harold Wood seized his chance. Wood had been telling the club for weeks — though no one was listening — about an outstanding schoolboy who was training with Manchester City but was passionate about United.