/ 9 July 2018

Unembargoed July 6 to 12

This week's M&G is now free to read online.
This week's M&G is now free to read online.

Brace yourself for tougher times

The petrol price hike will have a ripple effect on other consumables, with the poor worst hit

Zuma itch causing ANC discomfort

Some NEC members believe a rebellion is being formed against President Ramaphosa

DA backs Max’s move as Madikizela fumes

The ex-cop, frustrated by not being able to use his policing skills in the Western Cape, has been poached by Cele

Evictees’ lives turned inside out

Winter arrived with force in Cape Town this week, and for some the driving rain adds to the suffering that comes with being evicted

Now SAA has landed at the CCMA

Former staff accuse ‘turnaround’ chief executive of purging those who fail to do his bidding

Pupils feel the heat of arsonists

The basic education departments cannot afford to replace or refurbish schools burnt in protests

Slice of Life: ‘We’re told to be cold’

‘I was working on a story on male corrective rape and, during that time, I had this recurring dream

Overtreated, overcharged and misled

The Competition Commission has found you are paying more for less when it comes to medical aid

Lily Mine’s revival may be derailed if claims of negligence are proven

Just months after clinching a deal to revive the Lily Mine in Mpumalanga, Vantage Goldfields now faces claims that it was acting negligently while the mine was under care and maintenance

Polls Mexican style: Sex, sport and rock

‘Fifteen men running for city council in the southern state of Oaxaca were disqualified when the electoral court ruled they were not transgender, as they claimed, but straight men trying to cheat gender quotas’

Women farmers need land but not  all want expropriation

Some believe the state can’t simply take land but others argue that the Constitution must be amended’

Rural life under the yoke of baas and chief

The land committee in Mpumalanga and Limpopo heard stories marked by heartbreak, anger, confusion, willingness and fear

A greybeard lost in his family’s land

His father was robbed of freedom and of his land, now he hopes justice will be won for those to come

Trump sounds mad but his trade war makes sense, says Mchunu

An increase in customs tariffs might be what South Africa needs to ward off an influx of foreign imports that are threatening the survival of local industries, says ANC national executive committee member Senzo Mchunu

Premier hopeful: ‘Work the land’

The Tshwane metro’s DA speaker believes agriculture will stimulate the province’s economy and generate jobs

ANC regions get behind Makhura

Mashatile’s vacant seat as party chair in Gauteng will be filled by the premier ‘to bring stability’

Rising star puts her hand up for youth league’s top job

ANC Youth League national executive committee member Victoria de Beer is hoping to make history by becoming its first woman president when the young lions convene their elective conference in September.

MUT head’s lavish life slammed

The university’s council was aware of the abuse of resources but nothing was done to stop it

HEALTH:

Policing power: Whose job is it anyway?

There is no shortage of provincial health crises. But old watchdogs might not have enough bite to bring those responsible to book

AFRICA:

East Africa’s heroin coast

The continent’s porous eastern seaboard, from Somalia all the way down to South Africa, is emerging as the route of choice for drug traffickers to get their illicit cargo to the West

The day a robot visited Ethiopia’s PM

Sophia, the world’s most famous ‘real, live electronic girl’, stopped by to highlight the country’s AI ambitions

Kenya bothered by a perfect storm

Rains have hit Kenya especially hard this year. But the perilous state of the country’s infrastructure has pushed bureaucrats to tackle corruption and mismanagement

Renegade Malawian vice-president guns for top job

Malawi’s Vice-President Saulosi Klaus Chilima this week threw his hat into the ring for the 2019 presidential elections, going up against the incumbent, Peter Mutharika, who is embroiled in a corruption scandal.

When it’s more than just a game

On our TV screens, sport happens in a vacuum. But for John Mikel Obi and other African stars, real world problems intrude all too often

BUSINESS:

IoT tech fires up savvy SA start-ups

The internet of things is sparking innovative solutions to local problems, as small businesses devise smart devices to improve lives

Fuel price hikes: What, me worry?

“In tough times, consumers tend to generally keep their cars for longer, or downgrade”

Sugar sector wants a sweeter deal

Despite contradictory claims about the protection the industry enjoys, it says it is up against a wall

A French revolution in the making

France gave the world the word entrepreneur – and now it is giving the world entrepreneurs

US-China trade needs a strategic rethink

Global prosperity requires that the multilateral free-trade system be maintained and strengthened

The drivers behind fuel price hikes

Ways to cushion the knock-on effects, to protect the poor in particular, must – and can – be found

COMMENT & ANALYSIS:

Race debate elicits fatal fallacies

No answer is simple in our complex society, which is why the ‘obvious’ solutions are so often wrong

Editorial: Sassa’s misstep is beyond apology

‘How far can you fall in the three days that you stood in line, having been forced to borrow money to pay taxi fares to get to a collection point?’

Editorial: Beware unholy KZN pact

‘We shudder to think what could happen should two KwaZulu-Natal powerhouses, the king and the former president — both under threat — come together’

Letters to the Editor: July 6 to 12

Our readers write in about the M&G’s 200 Young list, Dali Mpofu and Lennit Max

Battered by the flu…and Shenge

As the wind batters his feathered headdress, Shenge’s talking like it’s 1993. I’d far rather be sick in bed, thank you

The Bulldozer crushes rights of Tanzanians

The supposedly reform-driven president is now terrorising the very people who trusted him

Science will unlock Africa’s potential — if it is funded

Any good leader knows that scientific discovery and innovation fuel progress, facilitate development and can tackle issues

Women the biggest losers in Zim election

The die has been cast against them, despite the reassurances of the country’s new leader

Struggle lawyer led the charge

Michael Richman’s career was closely linked with those who suffered the injustices of apartheid

The truth? No one is ‘unrapeable’

Married women, sex workers, men – all can be raped. To say otherwise protects perpetrators

FIFTH COLUMN: Sars-buster Tom leads by example

‘So Tom Moyane, the suspended head of the South African Revenue Service (Sars), went into battle early this past week’

Western Cape schools plan is ‘undemocratic’

Legal amendments undermine democratic governance and are not in pupils’ best interests

It’s a great time to be at UCT and to make real change happen

“It is an honour and a privilege to be asked to lead the University of Cape Town. I have met and worked with many of you in the past two years, and so I know the hard work and dedication that are hallmarks of this world-class institution.”

Professor’s mark is on land, democracy

Lungisile Ntsebeza’s research has ignited a movement challenging the authority of traditional councils

FRIDAY:

There’s no sweetness in Kenya’s sugar

On June 13, Kenya’s Cabinet secretary for the interior and coordination of national government told the country that sugar imported from Brazil had been impounded because it contained, among other metals, traces of mercury and copper, which can harm the nervous, digestive and immune systems

The Weekend Guide

Nigerian Afro-beat with Femi Koya and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival

In the lists this week

Like Sugar by Chaka Khan, Deities by Solo and the BETR Gang, Just Add Rice by Ming-Cheau Lin, You Have to Be Gay to Know God by Siya Khumalo.

Looping history for a brave new now

Thabang Tabane’s music video twists apartheid footage to create new meanings, malombo style

Nyamza’s hatchling comes into his own

Mamela Nyamza, wearing only an assortment of white ballerina skirts under a tattered apron, sits in a deep squat with her back to the audience as they take their seats to watch a performance of Hatched.

#RUReferenceList: The fear of repercussions still lingers

At Rhodes University, there were many of us who experienced rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. I grew up quickly as these words started to lose their distance. First, it happened to women in my residence and in my tutorial groups, then it was my friends. Eventually, it was me too.

‘Umlindelo’ captures the insider’s view from without

A rectangular piece of cobalt blue fabric graces the entrance. On it, straight white lines form a star — the fabric introduces us to the work. A video is playing at the back of the room.

More than one trip in a trip

The wheels of the bus turn and turn on the way to Mpuma-Koloni and the National Arts Festival

My child’s father, the distressed hip-hop head

The angst that comes with parenthood is becoming pervasive in the youthful genre

Discover the roots of an African luminary

A Giant Tree Has Fallen is a festschrift in honour of scholar and activist Ali Mazrui, the Kenyan-born academic whose work was to have a lasting effect on Africa’s scholarship.

Like God’s eye, T’s rap sees all

Some see his work as a form of journalism but it’s to beats that weave between boom bap and trap

SPORT:

Five stars born in Russia 2018

The football extravaganza is the perfect showcase for those players who want to bump up their monetary value

Old England is just so yesterday

The worldly Instagram generation of players are everything that the Brexiteers are not

In praise of the beautiful e-game

Virtual football is putting more South Africans into the boots of their on-field heroes

 

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