Grip

Writer Lauren Beukes has made literary history by becoming the first South African to capture the Arthur C Clarke Award in the 25-year history of the prestigious science fiction accolade.
• Arts festival with an edge 

South Africans united as never before during the 2010 Fifa World Cup - and Bafana Bafana weren't the only object of our flag-waving, vuvuzela-blasting enthusiasm. Ghana felt the love, too, as did every foreign visitor to the Rainbow Nation in its finest hour since 1994. One year later, the memories live on.

Pretoria Metal Pressings, a division of South Africa's Denel Group, has won a R93-million order for ammunition components from Global Combat Systems Munitions, a unit of BAE Systems in the United Kingdom.

Less than a day away from the biggest gig of his career, opening the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa, international R&B star R Kelly joked that he was so delighted to have his song chosen as the tournament's official anthem, he would have been happy to walk to Johannesburg, let alone fly.

Bafana Bafana’s recent wins in World Cup warm-up matches have whipped South Africans into a frenzy – especially in Pretoria, where the national football team secured a nail-biting victory over Denmark on 5 June.
• SA buzzing with World Cup spirit

It was a case of mission accomplished at Edgbaston on Saturday as South Africa claimed victory in the third test over England to secure an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

Intensive talks between Zimbabwe's ruling party and the main opposition party over the next two weeks, brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki, have inspired hope that the country's political landscape is on the verge of an about-turn.

A Copa do Mundo FIFA 2010 tera lugar na África do Sul. Quer planeie assistir aos jogos num estadio ou num parque de diversoes na ponta sul de África, ou sentado a ver televisao la em casa, eis alguma informaçao rapida acerca do campeonato e do pais anfitriao, para que a sua experiencia seja ainda melhor.

Describing South Africa as "a country enjoying the benefits of high commodity prices, solid growth and low interest rates", a special report by London's influential Financial Times has expressed qualified praise for SA's economic successes.