Cosatu has conjured up a cosy little parallel universe in which its leadership is united, where general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi is still its champion and faces no accusations of impropriety, and where the media is the main offender, “working overtime” to attack it. On Planet Earth, though, the reality is somewhat different from the picture they presented at a media briefing on Wednesday. Even though they blotted out the heated factional clashes that brought this week’s central executive committee to a premature end, Cosatu’s make-believe version simply makes no sense whatsoever. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

The National Prosecuting Authority has come in for a pasting lately, with a string of controversial outcomes to high-profile cases. But somebody who doesn’t share the public concern about the NPA is Justice Minister Jeff Radebe, if his comments to journalists on Wednesday before his budget vote speech were to be believed. For those hoping for an announcement on the new heads of the NPA and the Special Investing Unit, there was further disappointment. By REBECCA DAVIS.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

It was never going to be easy to dislodge Zwelinzima Vavi as Cosatu general secretary. The allegations against him are weak and his power-base in the federation is strong; Vavi has garnered more public sympathy in his battle for survival than a rhino in a poacher’s crosshairs. But behind closed doors in Cosatu House, none of this really matters. It is who shouts loudest, who is most brutal and who can draw the most support in the room. The three-day Cosatu meeting to decide Vavi’s future ended on day two, with matters left pending until the next meeting in a few weeks. For now, Vavi lives on, but severely constrained. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

On Monday, in case you missed it, a disciplinary inquiry by the National Prosecuting Authority found prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach not guilty on all counts. On Tuesday, the NPA hit back with a statement of its own. Fasten your seatbelts, because this may hurt your senses. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

Don’t expect to turn down a Gupta-owned business and get away with it. That was the lesson learned by the Cape Chamber of Commerce in February this year, when it attempted to run a post-Budget breakfast without the involvement of The New Age. (Spoiler alert: the Guptas’ business wins in the end. But you already knew that.) By REBECCA DAVIS.

Twenty-seven May this year marked the 50th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s first arrival onto Robben Island (he actually was received there twice, the second time after the Rivonia Trial was decided). Once incarcerated there, he eventually became the country’s most famous political prisoner (and most likely the world’s best-known one as well), as he spent much of the next three decades of his life before he finally left Victor Verster Prison on 11 February 1990 for a then still-uncertain life of political activity and personal freedom. Now, the nature of the legacy of this nonagenarian, elder statesman, a man who has not made a significant public appearance since the 2010 World Cup, is coming forward anew, even as his children squabble over money with the custodians of his finances. J BROOKS SPECTOR examines the crucial role of the newly refurbished Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in the Mandela legacy effort.

More foreign-owned stores were looted in Diepsloot on Monday night. Political parties condemned the criminal acts while police said they have the situation under control and have been under pressure to respond swiftly to avoid looting turning into a repeat of the 2008 xenophobic attacks. By GREG NICOLSON.

On Tuesday StatsSA released the GDP figures for the first quarter of 2013. The quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth for the South African economy was a paltry 0.9% - the lowest figure since the 2008 slowdown and subsequent recovery. In short, the South African economy is in bad shape. By PAUL BERKOWITZ.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

The reputation of the criminal justice system is in tatters following the repeated failures of the NPA in high-profile matters and prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach’s suggestions of abuse of power and political interference. On Monday Breytenbach was cleared of all disciplinary charges brought against her by her employer, the NPA. Furthermore, it was ruled she had been victimised and her constitutionally-enshrined right to privacy violated during the official investigation of the complaint against her. For justice to be seen to be done, however, the NPA now faces a test it dare not fail if it is to begin restoring its credibility and integrity: it must allow her to continue with all of her cases. By MANDY WIENER.

On Monday night, foreign-owned stores in Diepsloot were once again looted. Police were deployed to halt the attacks, but fears remain of a further spike in violence against foreign nationals in South Africa. KHADIJA PATEL parsed through some of the literature on the rise of xenophobia in South Africa to place the current surge of violence in context.

The budget vote speech for the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities seems to have escaped much media scrutiny – perhaps a sign of the low importance accorded to the department. But there are some rather extraordinary aspects to the department’s budgeting. For instance, it appears that one third of all staff in the department earn on average R1 million a year. This would represent a greater ratio of millionaire staff members than the departments of Health, Education and Treasury, to name a few. By REBECCA DAVIS.

The looting of foreign-owned stores continued on Sunday night as Diepsloot residents sought to avenge the deaths two men killed in a shooting incident at a spaza shop. The spark might have been different but the outcome was similar to the violence, intimidation and theft seen last week in Sebokeng, raising the spectre of xenophobic attacks. By GREG NICOLSON.

Lower Main Rd in Observatory (Cape Town) was carefree and festive on this past Saturday. Motor vehicles were replaced with pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, rollerskaters, skateboarders, salsa dancers, martial artists, musicians, artists and more. But not everyone was there to take advantage of the “opened streets”. A group of residents from the Marikana settlement in Philippi East had come to protest against the ongoing illegal evictions that they have been facing since Freedom Day. By BARRY CHRISTIANSON.

On Thursday Cosatu will hold a media conference on the outcome of its crucial three-day central executive committee meeting. It can either announce that its general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, is suspended pending investigations into impropriety and misconduct, or that discussions on his future are on ice until the various probes are completed. Or that there’s a stalemate and Cosatu now needs an intervention. One thing it will not be, though, is a routine meeting and whatever happens, Vavi will not be left unscathed. It could be a week of high drama or another stitched-up, temporary truce at Cosatu House. The Trojan horse, as always, is the greater political power in the alliance. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

A service delivery protest morphed into an attack of foreign-owned stores in Sebokeng last week. The stores were vandalised and looted in a systematic campaign against foreigners in the area. The issues that first stoked the protest movement have been overshadowed by the orgy of theft and violence. By KHADIJA PATEL.

Two Cosatu affiliates met this weekend, highlighting two different positions within the federation. One is growing and calling on the ANC to do more to win its backing. The other wants all the support it muster to halt its decline. One supports Zwelinzima Vavi. The other is skeptical. Tensions between Cosatu affiliates will continue to play out this week; the outcome will be crucial to the 2014 national elections. By GREG NICOLSON.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

On Thursday, President Jacob Zuma finally spoke out against the abuse of his name “to flout procedures and secure privileges” in order to land the Gupta jet at the Waterkloof Air Force Base. It’s a little late but kudos to him for finally breaking his silence on the issue. However the statement is weak and is hardly likely to stop the name-droppers in their tracks. If Zuma really wanted to deal with the issue decisively and presidentially, the opportunity presented itself on Wednesday during the parliamentary debate on Guptagate. Here is the speech he should’ve delivered. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

The release of the Guptagate report by the task team charged with investigating it clearly states that the Waterkloof Air Force Base, contrary to widespread public belief, is not a National Key Point. As a “strategic military base”, the report states, it has “even more stringent security measures” than a National Key Point. This rare piece of official clarification on the security status of a public installation only increases the mystery around National Key Points: if a military air base isn’t one, what is? By REBECCA DAVIS.

The report from the justice, crime prevention and security cluster of government departments has identified the chief of state protocol at the Department of International Relations and Co-Operation (Dirco), Bruce Koloane, and the commanding officer of movement control at Waterkloof, Lieutenant Colonel Christine Anderson, as the main culprits in the facilitation of the landing of the Jet Airways owned aircraft at the military airbase. And while President Zuma insists he had nothing to do with it, Anderson feels hard done by. By KHADIJA PATEL.

A round-up of the day’s news from South Africa.

In the recently released government report detailing the specifics of the so-called Guptagate scandal, one of the suggestions was that “Government… should develop and implement a public service awareness campaign to discourage the negative culture of name-dropping.” The Daily Maverick has secured a secret memo that is currently doing the governmental rounds. RICHARD POPLAK believes that it will have the necessary effect.

The result in ward 7 of Albert Luthuli (Eleukwatini/Carolina) was only confirmed on Thursday morning. Far from being the slam-dunk retention that we thought it would be, the ANC lost the ward to the IFP in a shocking upset. By PAUL BERKOWITZ.

On Wednesday, South Africans went to the polls in six by-elections – and just last week there was a single, lone by-election. The local electioneering process has been a bit chaotic this month, and the DA has lost a fair bit of ground. By PAUL BERKOWITZ.

On Wednesday, the government team tasked with investigating the circumstances under which the Guptas were able to land an aircraft at the Waterkloof air force base released their report. Their investigation points the finger of blame squarely at the Guptas, two state officials, and individuals in the Indian High Commission. Zuma, it says, is innocent in the matter. But absolutely none of the opposition MPs who addressed a fiery debate in the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon were buying that. By REBECCA DAVIS.

The National Prosecuting Authority is in crisis. Crisis is, in fact, the wrong word. The right word may well be tatters. No capacity. No political will. No credibility. The failures can sear one's retina: J. Arthur Brown. Andries Tatane. Anene Booysen. A list of damning mistakes, disasters and possibly deliberate missteps. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

The clock is ticking down to the implementation of e-tolls and Cosatu is raising the stakes. Highways will be blocked in Johannesburg on Friday and a stay-away is planned for June. E-toll-bashing is almost a national pastime, but so far the outrage has failed to translate into action. Cosatu’s trying to change that and show government it’s not about to give up the fight. By GREG NICOLSON.