The foul-mouthed Floyd Shivambu finally received the dressing down he’s been courting for years now. From the ANC, no less! Take that, Floyd! By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

The Democratic Alliance ’s messaging still exhibits the same tone-deafness that keeps a key demographic wary. The best example of this must be the  “Eish, Thabo” campaign introduced by the party’s Gauteng legislature leader. By OSIAME MOLEFE.

Back in the 19th century, American philosopher/mathematician Charles Sanders Peirce defined semiotics as "the formal doctrine of signs." So far at least, the Barack Obama re-election campaign, even if it has only gone into a full press offensive against Mitt Romney for the past two weeks or so, has been winning the semiotics battle, if not yet the election. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

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.

First the South African National Roads Agency tried the carrot approach, luring motorists with discounts and fancy advertising campaigns. Now it seems to have revealed the stick, pounding it menacingly against its palm. ALEX ELISEEV examines the growing anger and asks where this road leads.

The week that was(n't) in beloved South Africa. Seriously. By JOHN VLISMAS & DUNCAN HARLING.

What a difference a fortnight makes in politics. Just two weeks ago, it seemed like we were wondering how Mitt Romney was going to capture his party's nomination. Now, just 14 days later, it seems like we're already deep into the mutual-accusation stage of a bad marriage. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

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.

“Scathing” is how the government described Media Monitoring Africa’s assessment that reporting on the Protection of State Information Bill has been poor and one-sided. Unsurprisingly, that was taken as an affirmation that media in this country operate with an anti-government bias. OSIAME MOLEFE takes a more in-depth look at the issue.

Is the ongoing Luthuli House fracas a fight between the ANC Youth League and the ANC, or is it just a small faction, with everything to lose, using the name of the league and its current leader to cling on to power? By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

In a contest for the most hated organisation in SA, it would be hard to beat the South African National Roads Agency. Only weeks before Gauteng drivers will have to pay e-tolls to use their highways, the opposition has picked up on an unannounced price spike. By GREG NICOLSON.

Once again, it’s the anniversary of the Swazi constitution, which allows King Mswati III to rule by decree. Protests are gathering momentum and 15 unionists affiliated to the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland  have been arrested. South African unions have spoken out in solidarity with the protestors. The government has not. By GREG NICOLSON.

President Jacob Zuma turned 70 on Thursday, and he marked his birthday with a simple cake and champagne ceremony at Luthuli House. That’s the one where the media was invited. As this rather momentous milestone passes, so does the image of a dancing, giggling man of the people. The man once dubbed ‘The Lothario of Nkandla’ has become very serious. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

It seems like a sound and flawless system for choosing political leaders has yet to be developed. While the extremes of father-to-son succession in North Korea and the US’s electoral college system make a mockery of the citizenry, ours  of Westminster-style proportional representation has its relative merits. South Africa’s big headache right now, however, is the absurd way the ruling party chooses its leaders. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

It’s been 10 years since the madness that gripped the north-western state of India razed homes, destroyed businesses and stole more than 2,000 lives. These days Gujarat boasts a flourishing economy, yet for those who lost so much this progress has been clouded by an impotent legal system. By KHADIJA PATEL.

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.

A thoroughly chastened Rick Santorum threw in the towel, heard that fat lady and her swan song, gave up the ghost, ran up the white flag, but went out with a bit of class in his unlikely quest to become the Republican Party’s standard-bearer in the 2012 presidential race. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

Well, well, well. Right on cue, the SABC has enmeshed itself in ANC intra-party politics. The head of news, Phil Molefe, has been suspended for apparently granting too much airtime to Julius Malema. The ANC Youth League’s response to the statement indicates that they enjoyed the attention. It all has a very familiar ring to it. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Because of the ANC’s ubiquity in South African politics, it would be foolhardy to ignore a document that assesses the health of its internal democracy, since that reflects the country’s democracy as a whole. Judging from the party’s most recent assessment, democracy’s been bedevilled, and money is at the root of the evil. By OSIAME MOLEFE.

The ANC this week released an organisational renewal document, aimed at addressing weaknesses in the party. CHRIS GIBBONS argues that in its present form the document  will do just the opposite. That is,  entrench those weaknesses rather than change them.

On eve of the 19th anniversary of the assassination of Chris Hani, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi tweeted: “[His] passion & hatred of injustices serves [sic] as a great inspiration. Strongly believe that SA would be a better place if he was around”. It’s part of a trend to acclaim the former SACP general secretary as the eternal champion of South Africa’s disenchanted. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

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.

Anyone who’s played chess will know the agony of an opponent who takes too long to make a move. There’s a line between careful calculation and helpless procrastination. With the suspension of its president, Julius Malema, the ANC Youth League now needs to play to break the perception that it’s been completely outmaneuvered. Alex Eliseev reports.

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.

When the Malawian government dithered in announcing President Bingu wa Mutharika's death on Thursday, anxious citizens feared the worst. A struggle for power would plunge Malawi even further into turmoil. But now as Joyce Banda assumes Mutharika’s mantle – and with it the country’s woes – she is also tasked with managing the expectations of Malawians. By KHADIJA PATEL.

It is 20 years since a peaceful demonstration in Sarajevo turned ugly and marked the beginning of a brutal, four-year war. Yugoslavia turned on itself and we watched it tear itself apart on TV every night. A peace accord was finally brokered, but have the changes been all for the good? By J Brooks Spector.

Regulating the private funding of political parties will once again be the elephant in the room at the ANC’s 2012 policy conference. Any legislative and regulatory changes on the issue, stalled since the 2007 Polokwane conference, will be determined by how the debate unfolds in June, if it unfolds at all. By OSIAME MOLEFE.

ANC chairman in Mpumalanga David Mabuza was elected unopposed in the party’s congress over the weekend. Yes, in the same way that Malema was elected unopposed last year. The ANC clearly has no appetite to kick another troubling leader out. You’d think the lesson of waiting too late to ostracise such a man would have been learned. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.