Uncertainty in economies across the globe is still very much the order of the day and likely to remain for some time to come in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008/09 and the sovereign debt crisis that came to light earlier this year. “The cost of this crisis will be with us for a generation,” Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King said last week as others foresee widespread social unrest and possibly even the end of the free-market system of capitalism.

Both the seasoned observer and the novice who followed reports on last week’s meeting of the ruling African National Congress National General Council-meeting (NGC)in Durban will be hard pressed to come up with clear-cut conclusions bar one: President Jacob Zuma came out of the week-long deliberations stronger than he went in.

Springbok rugby flyhalf of yester year  Naas Botha became almost as well-known for his kicking abilities as for coining the phrase “the Currie Cup is not won in May” ­– meaning the season is not over until the last game is won, or lost.

The African National Congress proposals for an Information Protection 

Bill and a Media Appeals Tribunal (MAT) in South Africa is a dangerously wrong reaction to real structural flaws in the country’s economy. The country faces a new Rubicon; as is the case with the media there is a need to change economic policies in favour of more diverse corporate ownership.

As a global crisis about the availability of fresh water is gathering momentum there are also those ready to make big profits from the problem. “Cheap, easy access to freshwater would go a long way to alleviate the problems detailed in this article. And it'll be just as lucrative as finding an untapped reserve of easy-flowing oil,” writes Nick Hodge in his Energy and Capital newsletter.

Desalination of seawater, which removes dissolved minerals from the water, seems to be presented as the universal answer to a fast-expanding global water crisis. It offers massive investment potential for some companies and short-term relief for some South African communities. Serious environmental risks that could rival the Acid Mine Drainage monster are however also starting to emerge.

When Roger Federer won the Australian Open at the start of the year he made his own catch-me-if-you-can statement and his legend as arguably the greatest tennis player ever to wield a racquet, grew.

The ANC’s National General Council of 2010  will, among others, probably be remembered as the occasion that proved ANC Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema to have been but a mere political shooting star – a spectacular but fleeting phenomenon. The NGC gave President Jacob Zuma the opportunity to change his tune from a 2007 remark that the youth league had always influenced the presidential succession in the ANC, to one in an interview over the weekend that the presidential succession in the ANC was no business of the Youth League.

Perhaps the one thing the ANC’s National General Council meeting last week In Durban will best be  remembered for is the way in which President Zuma emerged from it seemingly much stronger than  the general perception was of him going into it. It certainly expelled any notion of Thabo Mbeki’s ghost coming to haunt Zuma.

Iranian authorities this weekend made public that some 30 000 computers in that country have been infected by the Stuxnet worm, including some at its Bushehr nuclear power station, which it has been racing to get operational. The worm is widely believed by experts to have been developed by some national government or security agency and to be the first example of weaponised software.

When the Cricinfo website described the implosion by the Chevrolet Warriors against the Chennai Super Kings at the Wanderers in the final of the Airtel Champions League, it compared the triumph by the Kings to the overwhelming victory by the Voortrekkers at the Battle of Blood River in 1838.

Pieter de Villiers and his assistants, Dick Muir and Gary Gold, survived  on Monday when the South African Rugby Union (SARU) completed an extensive review of the international rugby season in conjunction with the Springbok coaching staff. But the hunt for help does not seem to be over yet.

With the co-operation of the The LR Management Group, we can now bring you the leadership training tool 50 Lessons, which is a powerful force in the world of corporate learning. 50 Lessons is the worlds premier multimedia business resource, offering more than 1 000 personal and authentic video lessons from internationally respected business leaders. It can assist you to increase the utilisation and return on investment of your learning programmes immediately!