iMaverick, Thursday 6 October

It happened overnight

JOBS’ VACANCY – APPLE’S GENIUS DIES AT 56

He invented all the devices you love, or insist you hate. Apple’s founder has passed away at 56, and coming to terms with his legacy requires some tricky thinking. A personal tribute by RICHARD POPLAK.

LAST CHANCE FOR THE DALAI LAMA'S VISA

The Desmond Tutu Peace Centre has written an open letter to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, requesting that the Dalai Lama's visa be granted by Thursday morning – even if this means he arrives too late to attend the Arch's 80th birthday party. South Africa's international reputation has been damaged already by the visa fiasco. But better late than never, right? By THERESA MALLINSON.

MALEMA GETS HOSPITAL-SIZED MAN-FLU ON THE EVE OF HIS DISCIPLINARY

When a flu presents itself a day or two before an important conference, you dose yourself with the strongest medicine. But when you fall ill before a difficult trial, you take it like a man and go to hospital – as ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has done. CARIEN DU PLESSIS doesn’t think the ANC will be sending him flowers soon.

ANC: NO CROOKS, NO DIRTY MONEY ALLOWED. APPARENTLY.

The line between politics and crime, and politicians and criminals is not a big one in South Africa. Before you start gnashing your teeth at the current and government and that poor chap, Julius, who’s on his sickbed, it’s been like this for a long time. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

TEMBISA FAILS TO GET WHAT IT WANTS

There are protests about land and there are protests about houses. The majority of service delivery protests we're tracking, though, are simply about high electricity prices. And, as Tembisa showed again on Wednesday, that is an intractable problem that promises nasty consequences. By PHILLIP DE WET.

BEGGING CHINA FOR MONEY, AND BEGGING THE QUESTION

With the debate over the Dalai Lama and China’s influence over South Africa raging, PAUL BERKOWITZ wants to know: what has China really done for us lately?

DALAI LAMA PROTEST MARCH AT WITS FUELS PROTEST OF ITS OWN

The numbers at the Dalai Lama visa protest march at Wits were swelled by SRC members staging a counter-protest. They accused Wits management of hypocrisy, best summed up by the poster: “Give Wits cleaners the same respect you are demanding for the Dalai Lama. Politics starts at home!” They've got some publicity out of this, granted. But it's not particularly impressive that their own demand to be heard resulted in vice chancellor Loyiso Nongxa being unable to deliver his speech. In sabotaging his platform to speak, they undercut their own cause, showing no small measure of hypocrisy themselves. By THERESA MALLINSON.

Opinionistas

CHRIS VICK: GOING OFF POP ABOUT RELIGIOUS POP-IDOLS

So Archibishop Desmond Tutu has gone off pop with the government again – this time over the fact that there's another religious pop-idol missing from his 80th birthday party. It's a biggie – far more significant, it appears, than government's ability to address poverty, homelessness, illness, unemployment or a lack of education. It's the beginning of the end for the ruling party, the death of our human-rights culture, a return to pariah-nation status. Our Chinese Spring...

IAN OLLIS: WORRIED ABOUT A ONE-PARTY STATE? DON'T PANIC!

The ANC voter base is slowly but surely shrinking and the effects are being felt in their ability to drive their agenda in Parliament. If the trend continues, a true multiparty legislature is going to become the order of the day – another reason to calm down about the political troubles in SA.

Africa

EGYPTIAN BLOGGER MAIKEL NABIL'S HUNGER FOR JUSTICE

The longest that anyone can last without food is approximately 43 days. Today, Maikel Nabil, the imprisoned Egyptian blogger, is on Day 43. Unless he's freed immediately, he doesn't have much longer left. By SIMON ALLISON.

NIGERIA TO SCRAP FUEL SUBSIDIES

We knew that President Goodluck Jonathan’s first budget proposal was going to be different. After all, his crack economic team is headed up by former World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and is advised by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote – neither of whom are known for taking any nonsense. But scrapping fuel subsidies? That’s not different, just crazy; unless they’ve got something else up their sleeves. By SIMON ALLISON.

ALL POWER TO GRAND INGA PROJECT?

For a project billed as a prerequisite to Africa’s development, the Grand Inga hydropower scheme has had many false starts. Will it now finally attract investment? By GREG NICOLSON.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT

A day at the Pan-African Parliament was supposed to tell me everything I needed to know about the African Union’s perspective on all the continent’s political hotspots. Instead, I saw plenty of pomp and ceremony and some very fine traditional outfits, but no sign of any substance. By SIMON ALLISON.

THE STRUGGLE FOR ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN AFRICA

The world is opening up to transparency and in the last ten years, the number of countries that have adopted progressive access to information laws has swelled from 12 to 90. No such luck for Africa where only seven states have these laws. But a Pan African movement is aggressively working to change this. By MANDY DE WAAL.

World

GREEK STRIKES PUSH COUNTRY TOWARDS THE BRINK

The Greek financial crisis is nearing a climax. Vital services were shut down around the country as civil servants went on strike to protest against proposed austerity measures. The government must institute such measures for any hope of financial aid from Europe. Without that aid, Greece will default. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

CYPRIOT PRESIDENT IN TROUBLE

The Mediterranean island of Cyprus isn't generally in the news very much. That changed in July, when Cyprus suffered the worst peacetime disaster in its history. Now a report has named its president Dimitris Christiofias as responsible. By REBECCA DAVIS.

GRIM NEWS FOR AIDS ACTIVISTS

It's been a bad week for HIV-related news. First was a study released claiming that southern Africa's most popular contraceptive doubles a woman's chances of contracting HIV. Now Britain has announced it is cutting its overseas funding for HIV projects by a third. By REBECCA DAVIS.

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO TURKEY'S ENERGIZER LEADER

During his second visit to South Africa this week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed Turkey was not a mere observer of global affairs but an active participant in forging a way forward for the world community. Under Erdogan’s tutelage, Turkey has certainly become a formidable force in world politics. KHADIJA PATEL wades through the Turkish Premier’s speeches to present the world according to Erdogan.

Business

SHOULD THIS R480 TABLET WORRY THE IPAD?

Never mind the Amazon Kindle Fire. Could this ridiculously cheap tablet made in India gain enough popular traction to bury the iPad in a heap of electronic dust? The idea suggests that it could – but there’s one problem. It’s very cheap. Which means it’s probably crap. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Life, etc

GET READY FOR THE RAPTURE... AGAIN

Remember Harold Camping, the eccentric Christian broadcaster who told everyone Jesus was coming for them on 21 May? He's back, and urges you to diarise 21 October, the revised date of the Rapture. By REBECCA DAVIS.

iSRAELI CHEMIST WINS NOBEL FOR SOMETHING THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST

Nobel Prize for chemistry winner Daniel Shechtman once said of his own discovery, the quasicrystal, “There can be no such structure”. Regardless, there can be. This researcher at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, having found the impossible almost 30 years ago, is the newest recipient of this year’s crop of Nobel Prize winners. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

WAR OF THE POPULISMS: OCCUPY WALL STREET VS THE TEA PARTY

With the Occupy Wall Street campaign spreading to cities, small towns and colleges across the United States, the tradition of liberal populism – which stretches back to 1776 – is being reawakened. But can the Democrats harness the anger of the American Left at big business as effectively as the Republicans have harnessed the anger of the American Right at big government? Will President Obama even dare try? By KEVIN BLOOM.

LUCIEN DUNLOP FANTASIA'S EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

How could Muammar Gaddafi remake his career? Is there a deal big enough to make Jacob Zuma notice Duduzane? What could Bheki Cele’s natty dress sense do for your leadership style? What is the secret to Juju’s spin arsenal? Eminent marketing-supremo-cum-business-advisor and author-by-proxy turned public speaker, Lucien Dunlop Fantasia, answers all this and more as he launches his new self-help book, Empire. By MANDY DE WAAL.

BMW M5: THE POWER AND THE GLORY

What makes BMW’s M-cars so special? Well, they epitomise the motorsport heritage of the brand and show how race-bred technology can be applied in a road car context. Right now, the newest M-car on the block is the fifth-generation M5 – and DEON SCHOEMAN flew to Spain to drive it on the road and on the track.

Sport

QUARTERFINAL CRUNCH TIME AT RWC

The pool matches of a Rugby World Cup that showed a marked improvement in the state of rugby among the smaller nations are now over. The eight quarterfinalists through to the knockout stages are hardly surprising, given they are the Top 8 teams in the world. STYLI CHARALAMBOUS previews quarterfinal weekend at the RWC with some predictions.