For now, the ANC leadership election battleground has shifted firmly into trade union territory. Re-election support for President Jacob Zuma and other currently-serving top leaders is significantly growing within some of the trade unions affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). But it is not yet conclusive.

Amid concerns about the use of intelligence for political purposes in South Africa and the violation of citizens’ right to privacy, parliament is currently reviewing the new General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill (GILAB). A fundamental concern raised in submissions is the failure to address the difficulty in balancing national security and the right to privacy.

Although serious challenges remain in the gap housing market, there are profits to be made by shrewd investors who are willing to embrace risk and seize opportunities for affordable housing.

More than a million loyal subjects lined the banks of the Thames in typically miserable London weather last week to pay tribute to the most popular British queen in history. Elizabeth II is celebrating her diamond jubilee but will she have a drink named after her as Queen Mary I, who reigned for only five years in the mid 16th century, did? 

South Africa will need a two-prong attack to arrest its alarming football slide very soon before the next Soccer World Cup qualifying match in 2013, after its draw against neighbour Botswana at the University of Botswana Stadium in Gaborone the weekend. A broad-based strategy, starting at school level, is necessary.

It may be too early to talk about the dawn of a new great Springbok era, but there were promising signs in the victory against England. England had arguably its best opportunity to catch the ‘underprepared’ Boks in the first half, but it was denied in the second half by the Green and Gold's aggression and excellent cohesion of its forwards. It can just get better for the South African team.

The youth wage subsidy has been a hot topic in the news recently. Why has the issue of youth unemployment, as opposed to the problem of unemployment overall, come to the fore now and why has it become an issue that has been embroiled in politics? It is a scheme that has been in the planning for over a year but is only one part of an approach to alleviate youth unemployment.

“Peruse the news and you may reach an inescapable conclusion: The world is an exceedingly dangerous place – and getting more so all the time. Myriad risks – real and perceived – assault us from all quarters: terrorism and war, data privacy and IT security breaches, natural and manmade disasters, market instability and currency crises, hazardous waste and industrial accidents, overtaxed power grids and fuel shortages, and on and on.”