The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union will go on strike this Friday, demanding a forensic investigation into corruption and nepotism at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa. Prasa’s group CEO, says the union, is ignoring the allegations and must be suspended. But until details are revealed, the strike will be a fruitless and costly exercise. By GREG NICOLSON.

Many NGOs are on the brink of financial collapse and they’ve laid the blame squarely at the feet of the department of social development and the new Lottery Board. Now they’re turning to the media and public at large, hoping somebody will finally pay attention. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

We all know the ANC and the Press (the capital is deliberate) have had a rough ride together over the years. And we know that there are parts of the ANC that seem to be hell-bent on using its power as the majority in Parliament to make sure the press is brought to heel. Some see it as a deliberate campaign to stop freedom of speech, and to get rid of those pesky front-page exclusives featuring the word "corruption". Others think the ANC has a point. On Tuesday, in front of the Press Freedom Commission's members, the ANC had its say. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

Over the years, a three-word phrase came to symbolise virtually the entire foreign policy framework of the Bush administration. The “Axis of Evil” and similar derivations has become shorthand for international bad behaviour, writes J BROOKS SPECTOR.

As Dlamini-Zuma and Ping slugged it out to head the African Union Commission, Benin’s President Thomas Yayi Boni was quietly chosen as chairman of the AU itself. He’s a decent choice to take on the largely ceremonial role – certainly better than the dictators and autocrats that preceded him. By SIMON ALLISON.

South Africa has almost 3.7-million orphans, more than half as a result of Aids-related deaths. Local NGO Noah is trying to offer them an opportunity to grow into healthy adults but, like many others across the sector, it’s hustling for funding. By GREG NICOLSON.

The message that the AfriForum Youth delivered to the department of higher education and training was erudite enough: make more space available at the veterinary faculty of the University of Pretoria so that academically gifted white students aren’t left out in favour of black students. What wasn’t as clear is why they chose to protest using “blackface”. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

A highly anticipated election for the position of African Union Commission chairperson petered out into a stalemate after four rounds of voting failed to conclusively reveal a winner. But it wasn’t quite a damp squib. Quite the contrary, actually: the election served up all the drama of a World Cup semi-final. By KHADIJA PATEL and SIMON ALLISON.

‘Tis been the season for ANC politicians in general, and those of a younger (but not Malema persuasion) in particular to have been quiet about internal ANC politics. It's also been a season of silence on policy issues from our Cabinet ministers – particularly those in charge of the ministries with the most problems. But one impeccably dressed man has been consistently bucking the trend. Wherever there's been a controversy, particularly around those hot button issues such as mine nationalisation and parastatals, Malusi Gigaba has been wading in, where many fear to tread. And it seems, he's surviving very well thank you. How? And what does the future hold for him? By STEPHEN GROOTES.

Americans will soon begin to groan under the weight and information overload of politically-charged advertising, broadcast media commercials, Internet-based messages and targeted, automated phone calling in favour of candidates and policies. The superPACs are taking the presidential campaign trail by storm. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

Rumours wafting out of African Union HQ in Addis Ababa have given Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma a slight edge over Jean Ping going into the secret ballot on Monday morning.  South Africa has reportedly had pledges of support from 35 of the 51 countries eligible to vote. But many leaders have derided South Africa’s ambitions for the AU’s top job as an attempt to reinforce its hegemony over the rest of the continent. By KHADIJA PATEL.

AfriForum Youth is planning to protest before the headquarters of the department of higher education to highlight its disapproval of racial quotas imposed at the Veterinary Science faculty of the University of Pretoria. By painting themselves black. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Less than a month before Senegal’s elections, the country’s top court decided who was and wasn’t allowed to run for president. In was incumbent Abdoulaye Wade, term limits be damned; out was singer Youssou N’Dour. Senegalese opposition reacted furiously, but it’s going take a much more coordinated response to unseat Wade. By SIMON ALLISON.

To run through the big debates within our politics is to look at issues around our past, our possible futures and our very different presents. To look at the headlines, you will see and hear issues around leadership (which seems to get the bigger fonts) and internal dissent and public spats. It's all good normal politics. But take a slightly wider view, and it's becoming apparent that both our major political parties are sometimes grappling with very much the same issues. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

It's not every day that one gets to inaugurate a building with some of the most murderous mofos in the not-so-free world. Welcome, then, to the new African Union headquarters, a very shiny building that came wrapped in a bow. On 28 January, we learned how proud we should be of this wonderful facility. Indeed. It has taken the African art of begging to new heights. By RICHARD POPLAK.

Since the Organisation of African Unity was formed in 1963, most of the gatherings of our pan-African institution—now known as the African Union—have been characterised by empty speeches and grandiloquent (often self-serving) back-slapping. But at the inauguration of the new AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, built for free by the Chinese, one head of state spoke a trenchant truth. KEVIN BLOOM was there to hear it.

The end of January marks the culmination of the holiday travel period in China in which as many as 300-million or so people, attempt to get to their ancestral village, or from their village to family members in big cities. This year, however, the usual chaos and overcrowding for the holiday period was supposed to be over through a magical intervention of internet. Wrong. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

In a fit of pique, South Sudan has completely shut down its oil production and announced grand plans to build a new pipeline to Kenya. This is designed to minimise its reliance on Khartoum, but it’s an overly drastic measure which only raises tensions in the already volatile region. By SIMON ALLISON.

Last week Salman Rushdie cancelled a planned appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival in the face of reported threats to his life – Indian police could not assure him of their protection. Then on Tuesday, organisers of the festival were forced to drop a video-linked interview with the Indian-born author after a crowd of protesters massed outside the venue. This most recent episode in L’affaire Rushdie dredges up the age-old debates about the limits of freedom of expression, but it also casts fresh scrutiny on the place of Muslims in political life in India. By KHADIJA PATEL.

After months of preparation, Corruption Watch has finally come alive. It is a civil society organisation that will crowdsource and uncover incidents of corruption, mainly in the public sector. A speech by justice and constitutional development minister Jeff Radebe suggests that government is very happy about this new project, but both Cosatu and the minister failed to appreciate that policies like the disbanding of the Scorpions made the corruption atmosphere freer. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Maybe it’s not meant to be arrogant, but that’s how it’s perceived. South Africa’s bid to install Dlamini-Zuma as AU chief will only solidify the negative opinions of South Africa on the continent. The problem is we’re becoming a lot like America – and it’s too late to stop now. By SIMON ALLISON.

A lot has been said, and will continue to be said about Cosatu's big push against corruption, and in particular about the establishment of Corruption Watch. It's a good idea, and it's clearly a project whose time has come. But the fact that the biggest union federation in the country, a member of the "ruling" Alliance nogal, feels the need to take this step, tells us many things. It talks about a lack of capacity in government, about how corruption really is the thing that will kill us all. But what it really says is that no one believes government has the capacity, or the will, to fight it. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

In the second instalment of Street Life, GREG NICOLSON speaks to Sizwe, a 14-year-old boy who lives on the streets after being told to “make a plan” when evicted three years ago.

It is amazing that a picture of two people holding each other sans clothes, in a clinch that denotes either love or lust – or a mixture between the two – can spark such comment, and even outrage. Really, what is the issue? There is no act of violence, or aggression, or hate speech or evil intent. Instead there is an expression of affection. And yet there's outpourings of anger, frustration and irrationality. Why? By STEPHEN GROOTES.

Yada yada yada yada yada. Talks about talks about talks about talks. So far, the World Economic Forum in Davos, which kicked off on 25 January, seems to be more of the same. Except this time, there really doesn’t seem to be much of a “forum” to speak of—mainly because the “world” part isn’t being bought by the 99%. By KEVIN BLOOM.

It’s a modern-day murder mystery like few others: a dozy policeman, a mysterious companion, strange blue flames and a war hero found dead on his country farm. As the inquest into Solomon Mujuru’s death continues, it’s looking increasingly as if his death was no accident. But who killed him? And why? By SIMON ALLISON.

With just a month to go to the budget speech, we really don’t envy the Treasury budget team – but it’s not just the number crunchers who have been fretting the prospects for 2012. Economy voyeurs, that curious species who thrill at the subtle curvature in a line graph, have also been in heated debate about exactly what this year portends for South Africa. By SIPHO HLONGWANE and KHADIJA PATEL.

The events of 16 June 1976, showed South Africa how the issue of language can become a raging political fireball. Now it’s back in the spotlight, and REBECCA DAVIS reminds us to take it seriously. 

US President Barack Obama delivered a tough, combative State of the Union speech that effectively “kicked-off” his campaign for re-election as president – focusing on jobs, economic growth and readdressing “fairness”, especially the imbalance in tax rates for the common man and millionaires. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.