10. Martin Williams' opinion piece in The Citizen on the way in which ANCYL President Julius Malema is trying to drive a wedge between black and white journalists:

Williams notes that, "Shortly after leading the gathered intelligentsia in a tuneless rendition of "shoot the boer" (dubula ibhunu)," at the University of Johannesburg "Malema urged black journalists not to align themselves with their white colleagues. He did the same in his so-called Human Rights Day speech in Mafikeng on Monday. White journalists are undermining African journalists, he said. Particularly insulting is his claim that black journalists don't actually write the articles that appear under their names. These are penned by white editors, he reckons."

9. Gill Moodie's analysis, on her Grubstreet blog, of the appointment of Ray Hartley to the position of editor of the Sunday Times, and the "promotion" of Mondli Makhanya to the position of Avusa editor-in-chief:

Moodie notes: "Ray's appointment is an excellent one: he knows the Sunday Times inside out as he was their very smart political editor and head of news for years before he took over at The Times when it was launched a few years ago. Ray is also a strategic thinker and plays his cards close to his chest so I think we will see the battle for the Sunday broadsheet readers hotting up. For Mondli, I'm not so sure it's a promotion.... I'm skeptical that he will have much to do in his new role. He no longer has a title of his own and the publishing responsibilities of Avusa's newspapers are taken care of by CEO Mike Robertson, also a former editor of the Sunday Times, along with various operations chiefs."

8. Ferdi Greyling's opinion piece in Beeld on why the efforts to draw a moral equivalence between the singing of the Marsellaise and ‘shoot the boer' are wrong-headed:

Greyling notes that the first and important difference between ‘shoot the boer' and the French national anthem is that the ANC song targets a particular group:

"Dit is ook moeilik om die twee ANC-liedere anders te interpreteer as dat mense wat op plase boer, doodgemaak moet word. Dit is 'n frase wat baie ernstiger gemaak word deur die feit dat die betrokke groep wel die teiken van 'n vlaag van plaasmoorde en -aanvalle is. Die "Marseillaise" is ná die Franse Revolusie as 'n gevaarlike en opswepende lied beskou en was 35 jaar verbode in Frankryk. Dus: In die eerste plek lyk dit nie of die Franse en ANC-liedere goed vergelyk nie omdat die een in die algemeen teen invallers en onderdrukkers opsweep en die ander twee teen 'n spesifieke etniese minderheid - en nie teen onderdrukkende swart tuislandleiers of swart kapitaliste óók nie, maar net teen ‘Boere'."

7. Raymond Louw's critique in Business Day of the Supreme Court of Appeal's recent ruling in favour of Robert McBride in his defamation action against The Citizen:

Louw points out that having interpreted the law "to mean that, following the granting of amnesty, that McBride could no longer be branded a murderer. His conviction [for murder] had been expunged from all criminal records. But the law then enters the realms of the absurd by stating that the conviction ‘be deemed not to have taken place'....But the judges went further and decreed that, as the conviction was deemed not to have taken place, the Citizen's statement that McBride was a murderer was ‘false'. So here we have the extraordinary circumstance where the law - which normally is expected to pursue the truth so that it can be presented for all to see - not only expunges all record of a conviction and sentence from the criminal records and prevents any further publication of those facts, but goes further. It turns truth into falsehood."

6. The Times report that vice-chairman of the General Council of the Bar of South Africa Advocate Seth Nthai had resigned from the Pretoria and Johannesburg Bar councils at the start of a disciplinary hearing into allegations that he tried to extort a R5-million bribe from an Italian mining company:

Sally Evans reported that "a council member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Times that Nthai quit at the start of his hearing, chaired by retired Judge Kees van Dijkhorst and two senior advocates. Although Nthai, the first black chairman of the Pretoria Bar Council, admitted he met Marcenaro, he did not admit to soliciting the R5-million bribe. Before he resigned and left the hearing, Nthai gave permission for evidence against him to be led in his absence. Judgment was reserved."

5. The Star report on how Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane owes the Johannesburg traffic department R17,250 for unpaid fines:

According to the newspaper: "Mokonyane has 50 speeding fines registered under her identity number on the metro police's data base. The fines, which range in cost from R100 to R1 500, were incurred over four years with the earliest recorded in July, 2005, for an offence committed in Ontdekkers Road and the latest committed in December, 2009, on the M2 east. Thirty-seven of the fines are linked to three vehicles - a blue Mercedes-Benz W202, a black BMW X-5 and a red Volkswagen Jetta - registered in Mokonyane's name, while 13 are linked to her identity number, but to three vehicles which are not listed as registered by the premier.... Two of the premier's fines show that a warrant of arrest is pending, which means a magistrate has decided to issue a warrant of arrest, but he/she has not yet signed the order. Once the order is signed the premier can be arrested."

4. The Sowetan exclusive on how on the recently arrested widow of murder victim Patrick Maqubela had approached the newspaper three weeks before his death with allegations that he was cheating on her:

Cecil Motsepe and Thobeka Magcai report that Thandi Maqubela had unsuccessfully tried to convince the Sowetan "to expose her husband's infidelity. She accused him of bonking a galaxy of women, young enough to be his granddaughters. She supplied us with names and addresses of the young ladies. She further furnished documents that included SMSes and cellphone records of conversations between her, the judge and his lovers as well as hotels slips where he allegedly had sex with them."

3. The Daily Dispatch story on the punitive sums Fleet Africa is charging the Eastern Cape government for the rental of vehicles:

Mayibongwe Maqhina and Ntando Makhubu write that: "From March 1 departments who order new vehicles will pay up to: R12 615 a month for a basic 1300 sedan (compared to R9214 for the same car currently in use); R19 278 a month for a 4x4 double-cab bakkie (compared to R17620 at present ); R22713 a month for a 16-seater minibus (compared to R13 717) and R36 495 for an eight-seater minibus (compared to R12 835 ); R36 495 a month for an ambulance (compared to R26422 ); and, R49476 a month for a 35-seater bus (compared to R20 893) and R66 935 for a 65-seater bus (compared to R28 009)."

2. RW Johnson's opinion piece in Business Day warning of the dangers of the proposed marriage of the opposition:

Johnson describes the efforts to forge a pre-election coalition between the DA, COPE, ID and UDM as a "wholly mistaken strategy." He points out that the DA should have learnt - from the horrendous experience of merging with the NNP, and its later failed coalition with the IFP - that such an approach simply does not work. But it apparently hasn't. Johnson argues:

"Anyone who has studied PR systems in Europe down the years knows that electoral coalitions or mergers are to be avoided at all costs for they generally damage all those who make them. The reason is obvious: in a PR system one maximises one's vote by offering the widest possible portfolio of options to the voters, who are thus able to vote for their first choice, unclouded by compromise deals. Moreover, any pre-election deal has to rest on mere guesses of the strength of the various parties. Instead, in European PR systems, party leaders make such deals only after an election, when compromise deals cannot offend the voter, and when the exact strength of each contracting party is known."

1. The Beeld story on how the chief prosecutor on the West Rand, Andre ‘Lampies' Lambrecht, was demoted after ignoring an order from NDPP Menzi ‘Trousers' Simelane not to oppose the bail of Julius Malema's friend, Molemo ‘Jub Jub' Maarohanye:

Sonja Carstens en Daniëlla du Plooy reported on Friday that Lambrecht was informed on Tuesday that he had been "relieved of his managerial duties and told to work as a prosecutor in court." This followed his refusal to obey a verbal instruction from Simelane on the Jub Jub case. The newspaper states:

"Gladstone Maema, acting director of public prosecution (DPP) in Gauteng, phoned Lambrecht twice to say Simelane had given the order. Maema repeated the order to Lambrecht for the third time in person. Lambrecht refused to execute the order unless he received it in writing, which he did not receive. Lambrecht didn't respond to Simelane's verbal order, and the State did oppose Jub Jub's bail application."

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