Whether South Africa will be a successful nation or not in the years to come will depend on the success of the National Development Plan (NDP). Finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s first budget proposals to be tabled within the framework of the NDP, made this clear. While, according to him, the budget " marks the beginning of a process through which government departments and agencies will align their planning and expenditure to the NDP,", major challenges to the NDP also emerged. 

Consumers across the board are smiling after Eskom was granted only an 8% tariff increase instead of the 16% it had requested. But there are plenty reasons to question whether 8% will be enough to allow Eskom to guarantee sufficient and reliable future supply. If not, South Africa may return to the dark days of 2008 – or worse. 

Management of public finances, particularly in the local government sphere, is a potential weak link in the achievement of the growth objectives of South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP). While President Jacob Zuma in his State of the Nation Address, and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his budget speech largely avoided the subject, auditor-general (AG) Terence Nombembe highlighted the seriousness of the matter. 

South Africa’s image as a country in which the rule of law is supreme, was badly damaged last week as an amateur video of police brutally went viral on the Internet. Statistics reveal that the number of people who die in police custody has gone up by a massive 365% in the 10 years between 2001/02 and 2011/12. And that is not even the worst statistic. 

That the media landscape, particularly for the dissemination of news, is amidst a sea of change, is not only illustrated by the ‘Oscar Pistorius story’ but is also being accelerated by it. The mainstream media of newspapers, radio and, to lesser extent, television, is scrambling to adapt to the new environment as  alternative and social media fast becomes the looked-to source for news. 

South Africans generally seem to think that harsher punishment, starting with the refusal of bail for accused and a return of the death penalty, will curb the country’s high rate of violent crime, especially against women and children. Unfortunately, according to experts, there is very little the police or the criminal justice system can do to prevent rape and gender-based violence. 

Pakistan claimed a piece of silverware and resurrected their tour after a test series whitewash with a convincing 95-run win against South Africa in the final T20 match at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Meanwhile, South African fans are set for more disappointment in the One Day Internationals to follow. 

Mali has proved, yet again, that the West is comfortable with using military force if it believes its interests or security are under threat. This is even the case if they may at some future stage come under threat – particularly in Africa. Mali is no exception, although it is an improvement on the way the West ventured into the Libyan conflict. 

As we reported in a previous article, Paralympian and Olympian Oscar Pistorius earned big money from sponsorships and should have built up a substantial personal kitty. He now has had to put up R1 million in bail money from that kitty to get out of another kind of a ‘kitty’. 

The DHL Stormers were off to a flyer in their 2012 campaign, while the Sharks failed to impress in the infancy stages of their Super Season. But the roles have been reversed in 2013, as the Sharks won their opening two encounters, while the Stormers stumbled to two straight defeats.