There were no fewer than 15 by-elections in wards across seven provinces this week. Much has been made of the losses of three ANC wards to candidates from three opposition parties. How significant are these losses? By PAUL BERKOWITZ.

When the DA received a letter earlier this week inviting it to advertise in Independent Newspapers' special feature on the ANC's centenary, it kicked up a bit of a fuss and laid a complaint with the press ombudsman. But as the special feature is advertorial and, says editorial director Moegsien Williams, advertorial is clearly marked as such, the DA's had no joy on this one. By THERESA MALLINSON.

To watch an angry Thabo Mbeki in full flight is one of the great dramatic scenes of our politics, that huge brain purring away as it works out how to best to respond – the needs for short term reaction and longer term chess-plotting being balanced out. On Thursday he released a statement in response to Special Investigating Unit head Advocate Willem Heath's claims against him. The claims by Heath are startling, Mbeki's response was expected, and probably necessary. But the real actor in this is President Jacob Zuma. And he will probably, in the long run, have to act against Heath. STEPHEN GROOTES looks at the tea leaves.

Last weekend a demonstration was held outside the South African embassy in London to protest against the Protection of State Information Bill. While the event was judged a success, the response of the ANC London branch revealed that party divisions are as alive across the ocean as they are back home. By REBECCA DAVIS.

 If COP17 has demonstrated just how difficult it is to get the world to agree on a common path for the greater good, then it has also emphasised the number of voices clamouring to be heard in climate change diplomacy. By KHADIJA PATEL.

Entrenching South Africa’s democracy. Building a strong government together with a powerful, engaged citizenry. Addressing poverty, education and the challenge of HIV/Aids. Nkosinathi Biko, CEO of the Steve Biko foundation, says we need to stop disengaging and deferring, cease waiting for the government. Instead, we need to get up and build the country we’ve always wanted by embracing the “new struggle”. By MANDY DE WAAL.

This year proved there is no second place in the great game of thrones. We saw the re-emergence of Jacob Zuma as an ANC powerhouse and the defeat of Julius Malema – as well as Fikile Mbalula and Tokyo Sexwale. And, as always, Kgalema Motlanthe remains completely inscrutable. It’s been a revealing year, but mostly one of new questions and possibilities. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

It just had to come to this: the ANC is to start judging and classifying journalists. Not that we're surprised. No surprise that our shy and retiring character, STEPHEN GROOTES, has a strong opinion about it. And more questions, of course.

Last week's ruling by the Western Cape High Court means that Independent Newspapers is one step closer to gaining access to the Nel report (aka the “Rasool report”) from the ANC. What this case illustrates, however, is that – even given the provisions of the Promotion of Access to Information Act – attempting to access information is like trying to get blood out of a stone. And that's before the so-called secrecy bill becomes a reality. By THERESA MALLINSON.

Cabinet has decided to take over a large slice of provincial government. In all, seven provincial departments are being taken over, and two others will have national officials poking over their shoulders. It's an important move. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

The world’s oldest Sunday newspaper turned 220 yesterday. To mark the occasion, The Observer published a retrospective which included suggesting it saved Nelson Mandela’s life. A touch of hubris? By REBECCA DAVIS.

Herman Cain dropped out of the Republican presidential race on Saturday. REBECCA DAVIS takes a look at the rise and fall of the pizza magnate.

As the second week of negotiations at the UN climate change conference in Durban begins, the European Union claims support is growing for a new legally-binding agreement to cut carbon emissions. While opposition from the US, India and China continues to hold, the EU is itself reluctant to be bound to a second commitment period. By KHADIJA PATEL.

Is it a terminal disease, Alzheimer's, kidney failure or audacious hubris? The former national police commissioner is afflicted with something serious, other than denial that he is condemned to spend the rest of his life behind bars. By MANDY WIENER.

Daily Maverick names Public Protector Thuli Madonsela the 2011 South African Person of the Year for serving her role as an ombudsman to the exercise of executive power with unwavering commitment to truth. In the process, she restored the South Africa's faith in democracy and justice for all. By SIPHO HLONGWANE and GREG NICOLSON.

After a long period in which parts of the ANC, government and President Jacob Zuma himself have been on the offensive against the judiciary, the judiciary struck back last week. The ruling on National Director of Public Prosecutions, Menzi Simelane, was a broadside against the Zuma project, which seems to be to protect himself at all costs. Those parts of the ANC (Zuma, Ngoako Ramathlodi, some others) are clear they are tired of judges stopping them from what they are doing. The judiciary, through the Simelane judgment, has hit back. Now that the battle lines have been drawn, how are both sides going to play this game? By STEPHEN GROOTES.

The Zuma government says it’s winning the war against the spread of HIV/Aids. But what of South Africa’s “Marshall Plan” for a society and economy living with the aftermath? By PAUL BERKOWITZ.

The department of sports and recreation recently proposed that a portion of municipal grants should be allocated to the building of sports fields. There are jobs and social cohesion that a greater public sports programme could provide, if it were properly implemented. By PAUL BERKOWITZ.

Jimmy Manyi barred journalists from probing the progress of the South African negotiations at a COP17 press conference on Thursday. Instead the minister of energy Dipuo Peters and minister of water and environmental affairs Edna Molewa responded only to questions about government’s energy projects. By KHADIJA PATEL.

Where has police minister Nathi Mthethwa been of late? Things haven’t been going at all well with the police and its political boss kept his head under cover. He finally emerged at the Institute for Security Studies’ conference in Sandton on Thursday to deliver a meek message. Is all the posturing and bluster of the Bheki Cele era already over? By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Here we go again. The Supreme Court of Appeals has ruled that President Jacob Zuma had a big hand in employing Menzi Simelane – when he shouldn’t have been in the job in the first place. The court found Simelane’s appointment as National Director of Public Prosecutions was “inconsistent with the Constitution and invalid”. By SIPHO HLONGWANE and OSIAME MOLEFE.

There is a certain inevitability to President Jacob Zuma's big decisions. He makes the appointment. The courts overturn it. He turns on them. And the cycle repeats. If it were not a national tragedy, it would be funny. In the way that Waiting for Godot is a comedy. But it really is another of those all too common stark warnings that things are not going well for us, as a constitutional democracy. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

For that wonderful man who gave us the war on Iraq and the hunt for those illusive weapons of mass destruction, getting the world to hate him was the easy part. With his memoirs penned and a motivational speaking career underway, George W Bush needs to do the impossible. Get people to love him. That’s why he’s taking a sojourn to Africa, and will be arriving as the continent’s patron saint. (Heaven help us). By MANDY DE WAAL.

It is common to hear that South Africa is another country from the one which inhabited this geographic space in the 80s. That's true. But perhaps the biggest real change over the last 10 years had nohing to do with race relations, Malema's rise to power and sudden attack of melting-wings syndrome, or even the ascendance of President Jacob Zuma to power. It really is about how Aids has changed as an issue. By STEPHEN GROOTES.

Cosatu, the Right2Know Campaign and the South African National Editors’ Forum have announced a coalition against the Protection of State Information Bill. Though loosely based, the coalition between the groups will pool efforts to lobby the National Council of Provinces and other parties of interest, and if all else fails, will present a united front against the bill at the Constitutional Court. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

The survey results for HIV prevalence among antenatal patients are out, and the good news comes tied up with a lot of very bad news. The general trend is that the prevalence of HIV among mothers who have just given birth has held as it has over a few years, but we’re seeing increases in many spots around the country. Why? Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi will get back to us on that just as soon as his people know. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

Sixteen term Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank, a liberal fixture in America’s House of Representatives, told supporters and the media on Monday that he would not run for a new two-year term in 2012. Which will leave the increasingly ugly and polluted game of US politics much, much poorer. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

On Tuesday, student protesters in the Iranian capital Tehran broke into the UK embassy compound during a demonstration against sanctions imposed by Britain. Suspicion is rife that the attack was supported by the Iranian government, but Iran’s foreign ministry offered a statement expressing regret on the incident and reiterated its commitment to diplomats' safety. By KHADIJA PATEL.