The exhaustion of the planet and existing ways of life as humankind is consuming our planet and presents a creative challenge: exploring 'uncivilisation'. In an article for openDemocracy, Paul Kingsnorth writes that he often wonders how we would act if we really believed it. How we would act and how we would write? It led him to the introduction of the Dark Mountain Project.

If South Africa is to come to grips with the debilitating problem of inadequate service delivery at particularly municipal and provincial government levels, greater urgency needs to be injected into the debate on and declared intentions to establish a more professional and depoliticised civil service corps. Working in professional positions in the government should become a career and not short-term contractual appointments. This was one of the main messages from the annual media breakfast of the Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) last week. While also from other sources, the news was that the country is heading for a number of serious infrastructure-related crises.

Not having a website or an appropriate website (it is the same thing) does not mean you do cannot advertise online. There are options, and cost-effective ones at that; including landing pages created by media owners or group pages such as a Facebook group.

Inequalities between various groups in South Africa along varied divides do not only remain one of the greatest challenges or even threats to the stability of the South African society, but there is strong evidence that on some fronts it is increasing, with little hope for respite for some time to come. Most threatening is the increasingly colour-blind divide between rich and poor, with some of the official policies aimed at transforming the society – such as black economic empowerment (BEE) – proving to be counterproductive in certain respects.

Having become a mega-sized global business sector, its top participants having been bestowed with the status of "professionals", having acquired the perception that its huge international entertainment showpieces can change the lives of millions, and being – in the absence of war – a major conduit of national pride and patriotism: sport is now one of the most universally worshipped idols of humankind of all times. However, with that come some serious dangers.

When the Australian sport magazine "Alpha" published a wide-ranging article in 2009, in which it selected its 100 greatest sports stars of all time across all sporting codes on the global stage, its number one was the iconic heavyweight boxer, Muhammad Ali. Ali was the man who could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, and who won remarkable contests against Joe Frazier and George Foreman.

Interdicts by business owners feeling aggrieved because their constitutional rights have been infringed upon by the international governing body of world soccer Fifa, during the 2010 Soccer World Cup, could become more frequent as South Africa approaches this iconic tournament within the next four months. This is the warning from Professor Marinus Wiechers, former rector of Unisa and adviser in the drafting of the Namibian and South African constitutions.

On the eve of his first full-blooded State of the Nation Address in parliament and with the ash of the celebratory fires of his fourth wedding barely cold, President Jacob Zuma – with news breaking about a baby born outside wedlock – triggered a furious debate on the question of morality in public life. It is a complicated subject, interwoven with diverse cultural heritages in which we sought a few fixed points of reference.

With the kickoff for the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup now only about four months away, it has become clear that Gauteng is the ultimate winner in the race to host teams for the tournament. For others such as Mpumalanga, there is disappointment and what now appears to have been fruitless expenditure on facilities.

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President Jacob Zuma’s latest sex scandal threatens completely to overshadow his State of the Nation Address on Thursday, despite the importance of a number of issues he should be addressing. The scandal seems to significantly have weakened Zuma’s position in the ruling ANC Alliance, with all Alliance parties toning down their reactions and not coming to his defence. In the longer term, it seems a second term as president is now no longer a given. However, should this or any other scandal cut short Zuma’s presidency, for South Africa the sting in the tale of this saga lies in the question of who could succeed him.