South Africa

PIETERMARITZBURG COPIES DURBAN WITH PLANNED TOURIST HUB

Taking a page out of the Ethekwini municipality’s “How to get Tourists” handbook, Pietermaritzburg is planning its own tourist hub in the city centre. Hopefully it won’t be a grotesque monstrosity like Gateway Mall or the uShaka Marine World. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

POST OFFICE EXECUTIVES FACE CORRUPTION PROBE

Three top executives at the South African Post Office are being probed for graft. One has been sacked, and another suspended pending an investigation. The department of communications has stepped in to provide oversight. All this is happening as the Post Office faces a huge revenue squeeze. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

ALEXANDRA THREATENS FOREIGNERS ON HOUSING – AGAIN

The last time the Alexandra township turned its anger on foreigners, necklacing was resurrected and thousands ended up in refugee camps around the country. So when blatant and unashamed intimidation of foreigners is the opening gambit in a battle for housing, we tend to worry. By GREG NICOLSON and PHILLIP DE WET.

THEMB’ELIHLE GETS ATTENTION, MALEMA GROWS HIS ARMY

Just a week shy of what the ANC Youth League promises will be a historic series of marches to demand economic freedom, the troubled Themb’elihle township had a visit from Julius Malema on Wednesday, leaving just about everybody happy: the community finally got the attention it so craved, Malema got to link his message to a basic service delivery issue. By PHILLIP DE WET.

DA PLOT THICKENS AS MORE ENDORSEMENTS FOR CAUCUS LEADERS TRICKLE IN

The DA likes to be seen to engage in clean play and good governance, but the race for its parliamentary caucus mid-term election is turning into a free-for-all, with one MP even attacking party leader Helen Zille for “interfering”. CARIEN DU PLESSIS reports.

SO WHICH IS IT: IS SA’S FOREIGN POLICY A FOX OR A HEDGEHOG?

Our foreign policy is an extension of our domestic policy and our value system, President Jacob Zuma said recently. “We believe in a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights”, he went on say. But is this evident in how we conduct our international relations? By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

SA’S FOREIGN POLICY TACTICS: WEAK AND VICIOUS

The Department of International Relations and Co-operation’s – and by extension, the government’s – delaying tactics around the issuing of the Dalai Lama’s visa exhibited classic passive- aggressive tendencies. Don’t believe us? Just watch this clip from The Newsroom. By THERESA MALLINSON.

ANALYSIS: TIME TO SHUT DOWN THE DEPARTMENT FOR WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

The department for women, children and persons with disabilities was grilled by MPs last week for its mess of an annual report. PAUL BERKOWITZ thinks it’s high time that the ministry was dissolved.

Opinionistas

CARIEN DU PLESSIS: FIGHT UNCERTAINTY WITH UNCERTAINTY, AND AVOID BEING FLAVOUR OF THE MONTH

History repeats itself and sometimes opportunistic politicians repeat history – their own version of course – because it suits them or it’s simply what they choose to see. Clever, but not very visionary.

Africa

MALARIA-FIGHTERS ABUZZ AS VACCINE SEEMS TO WORK

It’s the biggest news in public health for years. Researchers at GlaxoSmithKline are on the verge of producing a vaccine against malaria which could halve the risk of contracting the disease. They reportedly wept when they saw the results – a sign of the investment in this project. By REBECCA DAVIS.

FORMER WARLORD BACKS JOHNSON SIRLEAF IN LIBERIAN RUN-OFF ELECTION

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will almost certainly be re-elected in Liberia’s run-off election after the endorsement of kingmaker Prince Johnson. SIMON ALLISON explains the former warlord’s change of heart.

LITTLE TEODORO OBIANG: A CASE STUDY IN THE ART OF INTERNATIONAL FRAUD AND

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue – the 41-year-old son of one Africa’s longest-ruling presidents and current African Union chairman, Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang – has been living the kind of life that would put even some of South African ministers to shame. Forget chartering a flight because you didn’t want your handbag sent through an airport scanner. Prolonged luxury hotel stays, chauffer-driven limousines, luxury car rentals and first-class air travel are for amateurs. If you must plunder, do it with impunity. By OSIAME MOLEFE.

NO ANGELS IN AFRICAN POLITICS: THE LIBERIAN EDITION

International Nobel darling and the current president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is in a sticky position. Just 6% short of a victory which would have granted her a second term, she now may need to shake the hand of some very unsavoury characters to win a run-off against her challenger. It may appear that a moral compromise for political victory is in the offing, but a closer examination of Johnson Sirleaf suggests she herself isn’t as pure as the driven snow. This is a country of fractured and highly strung politics, after all. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

GADDAFI’S FALL THREATENS MALI’S FRAGILE DEMOCRACY

Pro-Gaddafi Tuareg fighters are streaming into Mali, heavily armed and ready to fight. Their new target is Mali’s government. Could the revolution in Libya have the unintended consequence of destabilising one of Africa’s most promising young democracies? By SIMON ALLISON.

World

HITCHENS TAKES ON ROMNEY’S MORMONISM

One of the most notable features of the current Republican presidential race has been the emphasis on religion. Frontrunner Mitt Romney’s Mormonism has been the subject of jibes from his detractors. This week Romney said that a candidate’s religion should be irrelevant – but u?ber-atheist Christopher Hitchens disagrees. By REBECCA DAVIS.

GOP DEBATE No 7368: WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS?

On the evening of Tuesday, 18 October, the newest of umpteen debates between the candidates vying for the Republican Party’s nomination for the president took place. It’s taken a while to make it really clear but this latest debate (there will be at least 22 in all) was convincing proof that these debates are one more variant of reality television – not the staged competitions like “Survivor” or “The Great Chase” – but more like a policy wonk’s special edition of “The Real Women of the Jersey Shore” or “Life in the Fab Lane” with Kimora Lee Simmons. Scary thought, that. Kimora as moderator though, could be more interesting than Anderson Cooper was. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

Business

SABMILLER JOINS FORCES WITH TURKISH BREWER

A deal between SABMiller and Turkey’s Anadolu Efes will see the London-based corporation transfer some of its Russian holdings to the Turks in exchange for a big share in the company. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Life, etc

TINTIN AND THE COURT CASE

Over the past fortnight, intrepid comic-book sleuth Tintin has been both in the cinemas and in the dock. As Stephen Spielberg’s 3D Adventures of Tintin opened, less attention was paid to the closing of a four-year-long court case about Tintin in the Congo happening in Brussels. By REBECCA DAVIS.

FOURTH TIME A FITTING ENDING: JULIAN BARNES WINS THE BOOKER

Julian Barnes, thrice a bridesmaid at the Man Booker awards, famously derided the award as “posh bingo”. Where Borges once claimed there was a cottage industry keeping him from the Nobel Prize, so it seemed for Barnes and the Booker. That’s all in the past now. By RICHARD POPLAK.

AUDI A8 L 6.3 W12: DOES SIZE COUNT?

Big, swanky cars used to be an expression of wealth and status – mobile confirmation that its occupants had arrived. But as the world’s economic woes continue, many companies (and even governments) have adopted a more circumspect approach to purchasing cars for their senior execs and office bearers. Where does that leave cars like that Audi A8 L? By DEON SCHOEMAN.

Sport

IRB RUGBY PLAYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

Three All Blacks, two Wallabies and a Frenchman will fight it out to become the IRB’s Player of the Year for 2011. By PLANETRUGBY.COM.

CRUDEN LOOKS TO CARTER FOR INSPIRATION

As All Black flyhalf Aaron Cruden prepares to face the enormous task of marshalling his team in a World Cup final, he will look for help from a man who would have hoped to be performing the task himself. By PLANETRUGBY.COM.

BEALE, THE SLIPPERY EEL, BACK FOR AUSTRALIA

Kurtley Beale will make his comeback for a much-changed Australia side on Friday in their bronze-medal clash with an in-form Wales at Eden Park. By PLANETRUGBY.COM.

ZIMBABWE VS NEW ZEALAND ODI SERIES PREVIEW

If Zimbabwe’s series against Bangladesh and Pakistan were a test of skill and enthusiasm, then their one-day series against New Zealand is likely to be a test of character. By Tristan Holme for CRICKET365.COM.