Communist leader Moses Mabhida, who died in exile in Maputo in 1986, finally came home recently. Mabhida’s remains were exhumed in a special ceremony in the Mozambican capital attended by family members and ANC high-ups, including KwaZulu-Natal Premier S’bu Ndebele and Finance Minister Zweli Mkhize.

When more than 1 200 Eastern Cape ANC branch delegates descend on Fort Hare University, Alice the heart and soul of the 94-year-old liberation movement will be up for grabs. The Eastern Cape ANC conference will have a major impact on the struggle over who will succeed Thabo Mbeki as party president and, ultimately, who will lead South Africa when Mbeki steps down in 2009.

Farmers have raised heavyweight objections to a steel barrier erected on the Crocodile River, at the Mpumalanga government’s request, to stop hippos from chomping canoeists. They say the metre-high steel cable — which will ensure the animals watch the Lowveld Croc canoe marathon from a safe distance — is environmentally unfriendly overkill for a race that happens once a year.

Writer Ronald Roberts threatened at least 25 individuals at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), including the entire board, with criminal and civil action when the corporation refused to apologise to him over a broadcast he objected to, the Cape High Court heard recently.