It wasn’t perhaps the start he would have wanted. As Pope Benedict XVI emerged from his plane yesterday at Cologne airport, the wind immediately whipped off his white cap. He briefly considered whether to retrieve it. He decided not to bother and, hatless, descended the steps on to German soil.
Molly, the "receptionist" at Klippe Rivier guesthouse, drags herself from the spot where she has been enjoying the early morning sun. Her eyes peruse the breakfast room, where a scrumptious morning meal has just been served, hoping that some scraps remain for the taking.
South Africa’s banking giant Absa has been roped into Zimbabwe’s biggest media scandal in 25 years, which erupted recently with revelations that the country’s state security agency had taken over three mainly private newspapers. Absa was dragged into the rumpus after disclosures that Zimbabwe’s central bank governor was instrumental in helping the Central Intelligence Organisation take over the newspapers.
A Welkom community comprising the poorest of the poor lost a total of R640Â 000 after housing consultants backed by politicians encouraged them to participate in a housing scheme. Among those accused of promoting the scheme is former Free State Premier and now national MP Winkie Direko.
Grain SA’s beleaguered chairperson, Bully Botma, has escaped dismissal as a Maize Trust trustee — but has been barred from further meetings of the trust. This follows the disclosure that, under Botma’s care, more that R7-million of Maize Trust (used to promote farming) money was either misdirected by Grain SA or not spent.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is out of step with the public in its support for former deputy president Jacob Zuma, report <i>Marianne Merten</i> and <i>Ferial Haffajee</i>. Public opinion polls suggest South Africa is far more ambivalent about Zuma than his union and business backers.
South Africa is often considered to be in the unfortunate position of having some of the world’s best laws and poli-cies to protect women and children but an inability to implement them. Take the roll-out of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for rape survivors to prevent HIV infection, a lot of dissatisfaction with the programme has been widespread.
So, what’s up with starting columns with questions, the kind that, prefaced with a mutated bimbo conjunction, beg Dear Reader to cock his head to one side, hang an index finger from the corner of his mouth, and shrug exasperatedly? What did bad columnists do for introductions before Jerry Seinfeld made it okay to flaunt the banal?
Telkom looked outside its own structures for new leadership when it named United States-educated, charismatic former youth leader Papi Molotsane as its CEO. A senior Transnet staffer described Molotsane as a "people’s person" who can be firm. Molotsane is a director of Arivia.kom, South Africa’s America’s Cup Challenge and Fike Investment.
I stopped just short of buying a tame politician in a "canned" hunt recently. The deal came to an end when I refused to fork out R100 000 to a minor government politician in return for seven sets of authentic identity documents and birth certificates.