From the man who at one time symbolised some of the deepest fears of my youth, growing up with a siren sounding at 10 o’clock at night warning black people they had to disappear from the streets of our town, to one  I can honour as –  and who truly deserves the title – Tata or father of the South African nation.

It all started with mass protests, riots or uprisings in Africa, the Arab world, Southern Europe, and more recently in Turkey and Malaysia. Many of these are calling for regime changes. But one such event that South Africa should carefully heed, to avoid a similar fate, is last week’s mass demonstrations in Brazil, its close cousin and fellow Brics member across the Atlantic Ocean.

As South Africa increasingly moves into election mode, with next year’s general election now just 10 months away, it is not only South Africans who are taking an interest. There is also keen international interest in what is happening in the home of Africa’s largest economy. In addition to our first overview, we also publish a recent article by Anita Powell from Voice of America. 

As the main contenders at this stage in South Africa’s 2014 general election have all gone into formal campaigning, an early reading of the mood speaks of a gloves-off, ugly confrontation ahead. The run-up to the election comes at a critical juncture on numerous fronts, domestically and globally.

Do South Africa's labour brokers exploit the most vulnerable members of the labour force, or are they champions of job creation? The answer is much more complicated than the public debate would have it. And the issues at stake are not unique to this country.

Brace yourself for an evening of high-octane thrills at the forthcoming Motlekar Holdings Black Business Quarterly Awards, hosted by Cape Media Corporation. With Minister of Human Settlements, Mosima Gabriel 'Tokyo' Sexwale, and Agang leader, Mamphela Ramphele, already confirmed to take the stage as keynote speakers, sparks are expected.

The Western world has experienced extraordinary economic progress throughout the last six decades, and extended continuous economic growth has become accepted as ‘the norm’. But such an era of continuously rising living standards is a historical anomaly, and the current stagnation of western economies threatens to reach crisis proportions in the not-so-distant future.

If you, like me, always thought pickaninny was a typical South African word to describe a young – usually black – boy child, you are wrong. And if you thought ‘Fanagalo’ – that mixture of South African languages spoken mostly on the mines – is a uniquely South African phenomenon, you are wrong again. 

After their emphatic 56-23 win against the Pacific Islanders, many fans pose the question: “Who is Samoa anyway?” The job, as Springbok rugby coach, remains one of the hottest seats in the world sport.

Two questions are currently dominating the South African cricketing landscape in the wake of the humiliating seven wicket defeat at the hands of England in the first Champions Trophy semifinal: Did they or didn’t they choke? And, quo vadis South African one-day cricket?