South African brands are prickly when it comes to comparative advertising. Yet a battle of the spoofs between insurance company Santam and fast food chain Nando’s has greatly benefited both brands. Maybe there’s a moral lurking there somewhere. By GREG NICOLSON.

We don’t like saving, but we sure love gambling, as annual Lotto sales clearly show. But only a politically connected few are the winners here. Isn’t it time for a well-run national savings 'lottery' that could stimulate development while teaching people how to stop burning cash? We don’t even have to create it or prove it works. That’s already been done. But it was blocked. By MANDY DE WAAL.

As Google and Facebook grow, the two corporations increasingly assume mythic proportions in the public understanding. We need them, we use them, yet we fear them – for the information they have on us. REBECCA DAVIS checked out what kind of dirt the two tech giants had on her.

France has never really let go of its African colonies, nor have those colonies ever really let go of France. It’s a tangled, poisonous relationship that is under increased scrutiny as France elects its next leader. But, despite firmly stated plans to stop meddling in Africa, will either of the two major presidential candidates really cut loose the last vestiges of the French empire? SIMON ALLISON suspects not, but argues that this may no longer be France’s decision to make.

In one of those newspaper moments that hark back to the 1970s, the New York Times blew the lid off a massive and systematic bribery scandal involving Walmart’s all-important Mexico division. Payments were made to officials and Walmart stores flourished throughout the land. Makes you think, doesn’t it? By RICHARD POPLAK.

On the day America’s proud Discovery space shuttle was escorted into a museum to take on its new role as an artefact, news broke that South Africa’s home-grown electric car – the Joule – seems to be heading in the same direction. But without ever being used. ALEX ELISEEV explores what went wrong and what the consequences will be.

Bahrain hosts the travelling circus of Formula One this weekend. As anti-government protesters continue to battle for political reforms, race organisers have shrugged off pressure to cancel the race, as they did last year. This time round, they are determined to hold the race, no matter the backlash. By KHADIJA PATEL.

War talk dominates coverage of the Sudans after the south’s surprise seizure of Khartoum’s most valuable asset. Is a full-scale resumption of hostilities inevitable, or is this just another example of Africa’s most ruthless “negotiators” in action? SIMON ALLISON investigates.

Deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe says more state intervention is needed in the mining industry. Not if government wants jobs, says CHRIS GIBBONS – although there may be more to this than meets the eye.

The country’s tertiary learning systems are in a mess. They haven’t been upgraded since the 1970s. Rather than leaving the problem to the politicians, Gossy Ukanwoke is creating an online university called Beni American University for Nigeria. By MANDY DE WAAL.

“It’s the biggest theft in this country,” says Clarke Gardner, Summit Garnishee Solutions founder. But creditors continue to sting consumers over outstanding debts, leading to overcharging amounting up to R3-billion a year. By GREG NICOLSON.

Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala won a milestone election on Monday as she became the first non-American president of the World Bank since the institution was founded in 1944. Historically a position reserved for white, American males, the bank rose above national and regional cronyism to appoint the best candidate. By GREG NICOLSON.

After felling global media conqueror Rupert Murdoch and making world history with Wikileaks, The Guardian faces its biggest challenge yet: being the good media folks who actually make money. By MANDY DE WAAL.

One hundred years after the sinking of the Titanic, the event’s principal tragedy – the more than 1,500 people who died that icy night notwithstanding – is the boat’s cultural legacy. In particular, the song that closed the James Cameron movie of the same name. The ship did not go on, but that song sure has. RICHARD POPLAK is still haunted by it.

Comparing traditional authorities to slave traders and calling the system the biggest obstacle to development, the DA’s Athol Trollip might have missed some nuances in his column last week, but it’s a sorely needed debate. It comes while the ANC is trying to define the roles and responsibilities of traditional leaders. By GREG NICOLSON.

Wanted: South African cities to host the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Must have: ability to foot bill and assume full liability; willingness not to ask about return on investment. By REBECCA DAVIS.

Forbes has released its annual list of the world’s richest politicians. The Daily Maverick, known for its billionaire readers, would like to offer a note of caution: Just because you’re loaded, doesn’t mean you get to run a country. Tenderpreneurs, beware. By RICHARD POPLAK.

Angie Motshekga, the minister of basic education, this week told big business she needed R86.6-billion to fix SA’s schools crisis. Given the education department’s track record, industry will think twice before taking out its cheque book. But there is a cheaper, better solution. By MANDY DE WAAL.

In Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (Harvard University Press, 2011), Rob Nixon performs a dense but stylish call to activism, writes HEDLEY TWIDLE.

Years after the resources boom skipped South Africa, the biggest culprit in the country’s failure to capitalise on global demand for minerals has found some sense and grown some balls. Transnet will almost triple its investments and expand operations over the next seven years, its CEO Brian Molefe announced in Johannesburg on Wednesday. By GREG NICOLSON.

Over the last week, Reuel Khoza has been on the receiving end of a massive drop-kick by the ANC for criticising the party’s political leadership. How far we’ve come since the days when Khoza was the ANC’s poster boy at Eskom. And how well did that tenure work out for all of us? Not very well. Khoza may be right in his criticism of the ANC, but this particular apple didn’t fall far from the ANC delivery tree. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

A salutary story of how a young man climbs a beanstalk and finds untold wealth. A South African folktale, as told by CHRIS GIBBONS. 

Nigeria will probably pass South Africa as the continent’s powerhouse in the next 20 years. Why? Because that country’s underworld acts as a bellwether for the potential of its overworld. If you want proof, look no further than the unfolding AT&T “IP relay” scandal, in which Nigerians play a defining role. By RICHARD POPLAK.

On Wednesday the Department of Labour started its hearings on amendments to the Labour Relations Act and Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Labour broking came up, of course, but most interesting were proposals to raise the requirements for a legal strike. By GREG NICOLSON.

What comes to mind when you think of Stellenbosch? Graceful Cape Dutch buildings, rolling vineyards, perhaps the university. But you may have to update your mental entry to include being the first municipality in Africa to offer free wireless Internet access. REBECCA DAVIS had a look at its new wi-fi coverage.

Microsoft invented the art of the long, tough interview process for humans who aspired to be computing deities. Google has perfected it. MANDY DE WAAL speaks to William Poundstone, who’s just written the book on what it takes to perfect an interview with the search-engine leviathan.

Most democratic societies consider themselves, constitutionally at least, to be gender-equal. But while legislation may not discriminate against women outright, equality is still a long way off in even the most liberal societies. And the answer to greater empowerment and more profitable leadership may lie within women themselves. By MARELISE VAN DER MERWE.

It seemed a strange moment to downgrade South Africa’s economic outlook from “stable” to “negative”, and critics have attacked Standard & Poor’s decision as the rand, JSE and government bonds took a hit following Wednesday’s announcement. By GREG NICOLSON.

In any democracy it's important to have a close relationship between business and government. It's vital that the right playing field is put in place, to allow business to do its thing. Without business being able to get on with it, nothing happens, your economy stagnates. Which is what's happening in South Africa. At the moment, business is deeply worried its playing field is going to get worse, not better, in form of the new labour laws which are being put to Parliament. While Big Business has seriously upped its political game in the last year, it is time to sharpen that scalpel. By STEPHEN GROOTES.