iMaverick, Monday 3 October

South Africa

ANC CONFERENCE SEASON UPON US AGAIN

Provinces slugging it out among themselves, newspaper headlines on battle strategies and a President showing his face around small and far-flung communities to check on his government’s service delivery – these are all early symptoms of the ANC’s elective conference. By CARIEN DU PLESSIS.

MALEMA TIMES: ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER FRESHLY-PICKED BUNCH OF ENEMIES

Julius Malema. Yes, him. It’s difficult to think of someone who has made as many enemies as he has in such a short time. Okay, maybe Jimmy Manyi. Or perhaps, going back a bit, Butana Khompela. But when it comes to the sheer speed of creating enemies, and thus friends of your earlier enemies but not necessarily friends of your own, Malema is in a class of his own. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

WHILE BASSON GETS GRILLED, DR SHOCK FACES TRIAL IN CANADA

Wouter Basson is currently getting headlines for his role in waging chemical warfare for the apartheid military. But less well known is the case of apartheid doctor Aubrey Levin, who is alive and well and, until last year, was still practicing psychiatry in Canada. By REBECCA DAVIS.

Opinionista

ANC MUST THROW SUCCESSION DEBATE WIDE OPEN

Gwede Mantashe's dusty-grey goatee is going to turn snow-white one of these days. He worries a lot about where the ANC is going, but some of his solutions to guide the party back to the narrow way are woefully outdated. The ANC, and the times, have changed – it's time its rules changed as well.

Africa

MUGABE'S MYSTERIOUS MEDICAL HOLIDAYS

Robert Mugabe has a very conscientious eye doctor. The old man apparently has cataracts and must travel all the way to Singapore to have them, er, seen to. Not just once, or even twice – since January, he’s been there six times, and he was there for a seventh this weekend. Cataracts don’t usually require such thorough attention. By SIMON ALLISON.

SOMALI PROBLEMS MAKE KENYA DANGEROUS FOR TOURISTS

Another tourist snatched off a Kenyan resort and spirited into Somalia; what started as a bizarre, isolated incident is becoming a potentially crippling trend for Kenya’s tourist industry. By SIMON ALLISON.

AFRICA'S BEST BATTLEFIELD AGAINST THE PIRATES: LAND

With the South African counter-piracy task force under “Operation Copper” cycling through our shiny frigates at an alarming rate, the Southern African community is beginning to understand that piracy off the Horn of Africa is not a localised phenomenon. The thought of Somali piracy encroaching upon Southern African waters is a new one, but with a successful attack occurring last year, maritime security is back on the agenda in a big way. By JOHN STUPART.

World

SYRIAN OPPOSITION GROUPS FORM NATIONAL COUNCIL

In mounting pressure against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s main opposition groups agreed on Sunday to join a newly formed national council. For the Syrian opposition, this is the first step towards overthrowing al-Assad but the Syrian President, for now, remains unimpressed. By KHADIJA PATEL.

SEE TEODORIN'S NICE CARS – SEE SARKOZY GRAB ’EM

In a suspiciously-timed, headline- grabbing swoop, French authorities have seized 11 supercars belonging to the son of Equatorial Guinea’s President. It’s a nice collection valued at R65 million, including two Bugatti Veyrons. Sarkozy will be hoping the vehicles are shiny enough to divert attention from his own problems with African corruption. By SIMON ALLISON.

EURO TROIKA TO GREECE: FIRE PUBLIC SERVANTS, OR FACE UTTER RUIN

What Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou wouldn’t give to be allowed to sack a lot of public servants without consequence. That’s what he’s been told by the euro overlords charged with putting the Hellenic Republic back on the financial straight-and-narrow – and exactly what the Greek public unions told him they won’t tolerate. So who is going to give in? By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

AS DRONES TERMINATE AL QUAEDA'S AL-AWLAKI, A DEBATE ON EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS RAGES IN THE US

American citizen, Anwar Al-Awlaki was assassinated in a drone strike in Yemen on Friday. The United States government had labelled Al-Awlaki a radical cleric and had placed him on a targeted-killing list. Al-Awlaki is believed to have been at the helm of al-Qaeda operations in the Arabian Peninsula. While the Obama administration is being feted for dealing a fatal blow against the terrorist organisation, the killing has dredged up tired concerns about extrajudicial killings in the name of fighting terrorism. By KHADIJA PATEL.

Business

APPLE WANTS SWEEPING MUSIC RIGHTS FOR ICLOUD

Apple is currently in talks with record labels and music publishers to obtain international music rights for its new iCloud service, which would make sharing music on the service via Apple as easy as downloading it from iTunes. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

SHELL'S LARGEST REFINERY COULD BE OUT FOR ONE MONTH

A gigantic oil refinery in Singapore could be out for more than a month following a fire that burnt from Wednesday to Friday. Dutch Shell, the company that owns the refinery, notified some of its clients that it could possibly fail to meet some of its obligations due to the blaze. Tanker berthing operations have already resumed though, so impact on global oil prices is likely not to be felt. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

THE RAND DOWN: A GOOD THING, RIGHT?

Our economic sages have long hoped that the rand would depreciate. So why aren’t they celebrating now that it’s in freefall? By GREG NICOLSON.

NOKIA FORGETS NOT THE LOW-END SMARTPHONES

In the heady days of the Apple iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy S II and the other super-smart mobile phones on the market, it is easy to forget that the majority of cellphones out there don’t run on nectar and can’t start world wars. They’re simple, elegant and unassuming. Nokia hasn’t forgotten that. Their software innovations for “lower-end” smartphones demonstrates that. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Life, etc

TOO OLD TO PARENT?

When Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband announced his intention for the Hungarian actress to bear his child earlier this year, the public response was one of horror: Gabor is 94. But the sight of older parents with young children is something we should all get used to. By REBECCA DAVIS.

WHO'S THE IGNOBLEST OF THEM ALL?

The Ig Nobel prize is awarded each year in 10 categories to honour researchers who “first make people laugh, and then make them think”. We're not so sure about the thinking bit, but the winners definitely made us laugh. By THERESA MALLINSON.

HOW THE LEADING TORIES SPENT THEIR YOUTH

Three of the men who run Britain are alumni of Oxford University's notorious drinking society, the Bullingdon Club. A profile of chancellor George Osborne published this weekend has given more details of the Bullingdon's secretive world of debauchery. By REBECCA DAVIS.

AGENT ORANGE STILL CODE RED FOR VIETNAMESE

This month marks 50 years since the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Its effects linger on for the Vietnamese, but the US is still dragging its heels on compensation – despite the fact that US army veterans who claim they were affected by the herbicide have received payouts totalling billions of dollars. By REBECCA DAVIS.

CITY PRESS'S BIG, GLOSSY BID TO EXPAND MARKET SHARE

Media24 is opening their cheque book in a big way for City Press’s new magazine which premiered as a supplement to the newspaper this past Sunday. Big on luxurious eye-candy and sporting good writers, i magazine has potential, but is it distinctive enough to make readers want to hang on to it past Monday morning? By MANDY DE WAAL.

HAIL TO THE CHEF: HOW WE ARE RULED BY CELEBRITY KITCHENS

An iMaverick correspondent muses on an earlier career as a cook, and how the Foodie has risen in a culture obsessed with eating. By RICHARD POPLAK.

LET'S TALK ABOUT SEXPO

In a world where people constantly bemoan the sexualisation of, well, pretty much everything, this weekend's expo at Gallagher Estate failed to rise to the occasion. THERESA MALLINSON finally lost her Sexpo virginity, and wonders what all the fuss is about.

Sport

CARTER OUT OF THE WORLD CUP

Rugby World Cup hosts New Zealand will be without star flyhalf Dan Carter for the rest of the tournament because of a groin injury. By PLANETRUGBY.COM.

MAN CITY DISH OUT FOOTBALL LESSON

Manchester City thrashed a poor Blackburn Rovers side 4-0 at Ewood Park on Saturday to round off a difficult week in style. By FOOTBALL365.COM.

WEEKEND OF WONDER AT RUGBY WORLD CUP

With South Africa cementing their place in the quarter finals of RWC 2011, Bok fans could afford to sit back and watch rugby drama unfold as the biggest upset in World Cup history played out and the favourites all suffered heavy injury setbacks. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.

BOKS BRUISE THEIR WAY TO WIN OVER SAMOA

In the build-up to the Rugby World Cup, we dubbed Pool D the “Physio’s Pool of Pain”. On Friday, the Boks and Samoans proved us right as the South Africans battled to a 13-5 win at Auckland’s North Harbour stadium. By STYLI CHARALAMBOUS.