After almost 120 years of experience in submerged drilling for oil, starting at depths of barely four metres and progressing to wells 800 times deeper, man has not put in place sufficient backup systems for if and when things go wrong. If you are unsure whether the latest oil disaster will render certain sea life extinct, you may want to consult your bookmaker.

No less than 28 municipal by-elections have taken place in South Africa during the month of May in eight of the country’s nine provinces. It has given a good indication of the lay of the land at this point, a year before next year’s general municipal elections. While the gains made by the Democratic Alliance outside its traditional power base may, not without reason, be portrayed as dramatic, it does not represent the full picture. It is, however, indicative of some clear trends to watch and underlines the importance of local government as a shaper of national politics.

Mobile phones have the potential to just about double the Internet user base in the country and take South Africans across the digital divide, but due to factors such as costs and ignorance, it is not quite happening yet. The first comprehensive survey in terms of a formal framework defining the use of Internet on cellphones found that a high percentage of cellular users are using their phone's Internet capacity without realising they were doing so.

African states should consider renegotiation of unfavourable contracts with multinationals to ensure they get a fair return on their natural resources, concludes a joint study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the African Development Bank (ADB) which was released last week. Judged by the outcry and negative consequences in Australia on the announcement of a super mining tax, African governments would do well to handle the OECD/ADB advice with great care.

The visit by South African President Jacob Zuma to Algeria a week ago gave a glimpse of an ongoing shift in the country’s oil relations with other countries. For the past decade or so, the focus has increasingly been to lessen dependency on traditional sources, while engaging new sources in Africa and elsewhere. Other considerations regarding the country’s fuel security have also come into play as oil in South Africa is fast becoming a whole new ball game.

 “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, is the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. This phrase is an apt description of the mood in two South African cities after the Super 14 final, but there were also reasons to cheer for the fans of the losing team.

In his State of the Nation Address earlier this year, President Jacob Zuma said: “During the course of this year, we will mark the centenary of the establishment of the Union of South Africa. This created a unitary state. Significantly, the exclusion of black people from this union was one of the chief reasons for the formation of the African National Congress in 1912. As we mark this centenary later in the year, we should reflect on how far we have travelled as a country.” The 31st of May has come and gone this week, with no visible commemoration of or reflection on the 100th birthday of Africa’s most successful modern state.

When Grant Thornton Strategic Solutions assessed the economic legacy of the Fifa Soccer World Cup early in 2010, it predicted that there would be a R93-billion gross domestic impact, while 695 000 annual jobs would be sustained and a once-in-a-lifetime profiling of the country would be secured. Much has changed since then.

The furore that broke out last week over the cartoon by Zapiro in the Mail and Guardian, and the way it was resolved, has again illustrated why the South African society - despite the fact that it is one of the most diverse on the planet - is able to defuse differences as well as it does: when explosive situations arise, as they always will, we talk to one another. We show one another respect. Perhaps it is because we have no other choice, lest we will perish.

Serious divisions over the future position of its controversial president Julius Malema are tearing apart the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). Clashes and manipulation of voting have marred several of the League’s recent provincial conferences as Malema and his supporters pull out all the stops to ensure his re-election next year at the ANCYL’s national elective conference. In addition, the organisation is heavily burdened by other troubles reflecting poor, even corrupt, leadership. The once proud organisation that produced giants among leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Anton Lembede and Walter Sisulu is in dire crisis.

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