Staff Reporter

Sport in South Africa is not just about fun and games. It is, to misquote the great Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, "more important than that". Those who continue with their misguided view that religion is the opiate of the oppressed will have us believe that sport is to modern societies what religion was before the age of enlightenment.

<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=ancconference_home"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/321750/Icon_ANCconference.gif" align=left border=0></a>The mood ahead of the African National Congress (ANC) national conference in December is similar to that in the winter of 2005 when the ANC membership surprised the leadership and hijacked the policy discussion forum. Now, as then, the leadership appeared incapacitated by internal wrangling.

South Africans are earning more. Much more. Total income has more than doubled in the past seven years. This phenomenal growth is eclipsed only by the growth of the black middle class, which has grown at an even faster rate. The latest Amps figures reflect rocketing growth in spending power, writes Jocelyn Newmarch.

Most magazines on the market offer either business insight or lifestyle information. The new women’s magazine, <i>Destiny</i>, attempts to combine both. Founding editor Khanyi Dhlomo, who previously edited <i>True Love</i> magazine, said she explored several ideas while doing an MBA at Harvard.

As South Africans pull together to strengthen our young democracy, there is widespread recognition that children and youth are the fabric of the future. The emotional, economic, educational and social needs of our youngest citizens are of paramount importance if they are to reach their full potential and become productive and stable members of South African society.

Matric pupils at Kwa-Ntebeni Comprehensive High School in rural KwaZulu-Natal celebrated when they were able to write their final exams together in one classroom for the first time. Before that milestone was reached in 2004, the matrics had to write their exams in separate, cramped classrooms.

Lumko Mtimde is not a latter-day "Please sir, I want some more" kind of person. He certainly does want a double helping, but this seasoned media activist isn’t begging for extra funds for the Media Development and Diversity Agency. Instead, his tactics are strategy, charm and persuasion. As MDDA CEO, he ran a round-table session with broadcasters in Johannesburg this week.

On World Teachers’ Day, we celebrate teachers and the central role they play in efforts to achieve quality education for all children. However, in many countries not all children have the opportunity to enter a classroom or gain basic literacy or numeracy skills, as there are simply not enough qualified teachers.

The word “innovation” has acquired special status in South Africa’s educational vocabulary since the introduction of the outcomes-based education in the late 1990s. Teachers, most of whom trained and taught during apartheid, have had to learn new rules of the game.