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He was so famously good at his job, not only did two kings of England commission him to do important plumbing work for them at some of their castles, but his name has become immortalised in the English language. He most likely would have preferred to see his name used in a more positive sense, than it turned out. But at least his legacy did not all go down the proverbial toilet – even if it did not quite have the spark of another contemporary inventor.

Muhammad Ali, who celebrates his 70^th birthday today in an Olympic-year, was the best boxer of his generation, perhaps of any generation.  Some would argue he was perhaps the greatest sportsman of all time. But in his time he had bigger fights than just in the ring. One was naked racism in his native land that he was so proud to represent at the Olympic Games of 1960.

AB de Villiers has signalled the dawn of a new one-day international cricket dispensation for the Proteas when this energetic and vibrant captain led the South African team to two straight victories against Sri Lanka in the first two games of the five-game series. A number of questions regarding the personnel for the five-day version of the game however remain unanswered at this stage.

Southern Africa’s ‘democracies’ do not produce citizens but subjects controlled by governments as a result of  the hierarchical nature of the region’s politics, which demands obedience. But for how long will this go on? The year 2011 for southern Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa in general, will probably be remembered for what did not happen in  light of the people-powered uprisings and protests that swept the globe, writes Ndumba Kamwanyah.

Not only has South Africa just come through a particularly bad holiday season as far as road accidents and fatalities go, but despite huge capital upgrade and/or expansion programmes in most of the major metropolitan areas, the image of its public transport system is still extremely negative. A scan of information websites aimed at the tourist and related industries portrays even a scary image of what visitors to the country can expect.

The first of the three Friday the 13th’s of 2012 turned out to be a scary movie for the euro zone last week when nine member states saw their credit rating being notched down. Among them was France, which with Germany has to date been leading efforts to steer Europe out of its sovereign debt crisis – and it is much more than just a psychological blow since it will also affect the euro zone bail-out fund, which is at the heart of efforts to ease fears about the currency bloc.

Flanked by military high brass and the Secretary of Defence, President Obama on 5 January 2012 at the Pentagon  gave details of a new US defence strategy titled Sustaining US Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st-Century Defence.
This new defence strategy is significant because it notifies a major policy shift in the size and strategic goals of America’s defence forces.

House prices and interest rates have fallen to such a great extent, that the monthly cost of owning a home is now more affordable than at any other point in the past 15 years and less expensive in terms of cash flow than renting in a number of South Arican suburbs. It is not fully reflected in market activity yet, but it is a better time to buy than it has been for some time, according to experts like Auction Alliance CEO Rael Levitt.

In this meta review we take a look at Handling Truth: Navigating the Riptides of Rhetoric, Religion, Reason, and Research in which retired professor of experimental psychology, William M. Gardner explores what he has identified as the four domains of truth – setting out to provide a succinct summary of the liberal arts educational experience, direct the reader to a rewarding path of real understanding of law and politics, religion, philosophy, science, and self.

And, the new Springbok rugby coach is.... , sorry, no answer yet, but the suspense is killing the South African rugby fans. Watch this space, but the 27^th January will – we hope – provide the final answer to the question whether Heyneke Meyer or Gert Smal will be filling the most coveted and most challenging position in South African sport.

Ever since the advent of full democracy in South Africa in 1994 housing the landless poor, especially in the urban areas, has been one of the main instruments to fight the effects of poverty. Providing decent formal housing to the poor is, however only the first step in the rehabilitation of the poor and properly integrating them into  modern society.

Local government finances have deteriorated significantly over the past four years. Some 66 of the country's 262 municipalities are in financial distress and another 37 are on the verge of it. More than half do not have sufficient cash reserves and could face liquidity meltdown making meeting short-term liabilities impossible. And overall they have underspent R12.4 billion or 29.3% of their capital budgets.