The opening day of the 29th continental showpiece, the African Cup of Nations (Afcon), was characterised by cold, miserable rainy conditions. It also got off to an uninspiring start on the playing field. The opener between host, South Africa, and the debutant, Cape Verde Islands, ended in a goalless stalemate. As did the second match between Morocco and Angola. 

There has been backlash against President Jacob Zuma’s comments on ANC membership benefiting business, with a legal expert asserting that such an arrangement was “another form of corruption”. But before there was even time for the media storm to blow over, Mail & Guardian released a damning exposé, giving detailed evidence of how a R1.25-billion tender to supply the City of Johannesburg with tamper-proof 'smart meters' was fiddled with to ensure the contract went to one of the president’s most generous pals, Vivian Reddy. 

In whites, South Africa’s cricket team is an impenetrable fortress in defence and a ruthless predator on attack. In short, it is a team that may have deserved the plaudits as arguably South Africa’s finest test team of the modern era, or perhaps of any era. In green, it is a totally different story and the team looks vulnerable. 

Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), recently echoed the sentiments of many economists that Africa’s emerging nations have become a driving force for world economic growth. However, she also warned that armed conflicts pose the principal threat to the continent’s future development. 

Meeting or making deadlines has become an integral part of modern life, something that we are constantly chasing, from meeting the deadline for the submission of our tax returns to submitting an application for this or that. The expression started off as (literally) a deadly serious matter. 

Nothing new of substance came out of the African National Congress’s annual 8 January statement that was delivered on Saturday by President Jacob Zuma in Durban. He did indicate, however, that the “second (economic) phase of the national democratic revolution”, with land reform at its core, will dominate the political stage in 2013. Emotive and sensitive debates lie ahead. 

Attorney, arbitrator, mediator, corporate director, commission chair, author and speaker – this former High Court judge has corporate governance in South Africa covered. King shares his views on current-day corporate governance in South Africa with Leadership Magazine. 

The globe is under increasing risk from the confluence of a growing worldwide income gap between rich and poor, persistent government deficits, climate change, water shortages and aging populations. This is the core of the latest annual Global Risk Report just released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) based in Switzerland.