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.

The South African peacekeeping mission in Burundi struggled for four years with chaotic accounting systems, inadequate logistical support and complex supply lines that left numerous vehicles and other equipment unserviceable, ammunition supplies vulnerable to theft and accident, and made it impossible for the mission to balance its books.

In a bid to consolidate his power base in a Cabinet already dominated by supporters of embattled ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele has appointed two known backers of president Thabo Mbeki and a neutral figure to his Cabinet.

The African National Congress’s Chancellor House group has targeted investments in sectors of the economy where government institutions dish out opportunities such as business rights or contracts. When companies in which Chancellor holds a share compete for such opportunities, the ruling party becomes both player and referee. Chancellor’s biggest known deal is as part of a manganese consortium. Here are others.