The year in review

Story of the year

Nelson Mandela was never far from the minds of South Africans during 2013. He spent most of the year in and out of hospital, and with every statement from the presidency about his health, our hearts sank or soared. Late on the night of December 5, a visibly emotional President Jacob Zuma broke the news to a shattered nation: Madiba was dead. For 10 days, ags ew at half-mast and the world turned its eyes to South Africa to see how one of the worlds youngest democracies would cope with losing its talisman. There were tears, there was laughter, there was controversy and there were important conversations in every corner of the country

Hamba kahle, Madiba

The year started with a crestfallen Julius Malema walking among his cabbages, complaining that he was a leper . But by November, Malema was the reborn commander in chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The EFFs trademark red berets are everywhere these days and Malema seems condent his party will march into Parliament after the 2014 elections. But hes got a long, tough road ahead. His fraud and corruption trial is set down to begin in September. Will it be from Parliament to prison for Commander Malema? Malemas not the only new kid on the block, politically speaking another party whose launch got people talking was Dr Mamphela Rampheles Agang

The birth of the EFF

On September 21, news broke of gunmen attacking Nairobis Westgate Shopping Mall. Four days later, 72 people were dead and the siege ended. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, calling it revenge for Kenyas deployment of troops to its stronghold, Somalia. It soon emerged that white widow Samantha Lewthwaite had lived in Johannesburg and was spying on foreign embassies in Pretoria

Kenya Westgate

Perhaps President Jacob Zuma was hoping the furore over his private home at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal would die down. He didnt reckon that Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, among others, would stand in his way. First there was a battle surrounding the release of the report once it had been handed to Parliaments security cluster a court battle that had no clear winners and then a leaked provisional report, which the ANC attributed to Madonsela herself and

Nkandlagate (again)

which the Public Protector blamed on the ANC. Madonsela has urged South Africans to wait for the completed report, but were not a patient nation. Nkandlagate has been blamed for some of the boos Zuma received at Mandelas memorial service in Johannesburg

Vavi has long been one of the most outspoken and critical voices in the tripartite alliance. And theres no doubt many celebrated when the news broke that Cosatus general secretary had been caught with his pants down. Vavi admitted hed had sex at the office with a junior employee and has since been suspended from his position at the powerful trade union federation. Nobody knows whether hell be 2014s ultimate comeback kid or top of the Where are they now? list, but Vavi is sure to hog headlines well into the new year

Zwelinzima Vavis sex scandal

It started with reports of a shooting at Pistorius Pretoria home in February and ended with the Paralympian champion facing a murder charge. When his trial begins in March, Pistorius is expected to argue that he did not intend to kill his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, and that he mistook her for an intruder. The state will try to prove that Pistorius is trigger-happy and unstable, and that Steenkamp was, ultimately, the victim of domestic violence

Oscar Pistorius

In the end, it turned out to be the little deance campaign that couldnt. No amount of public unhappiness, boycott threats or court action could stop the inevitable rise of the gantries on Gautengs freeways. At the time of going to press, the gantries hadnt yet collapsed, despite commuters across the province shooting death stares at them on their daily travels

E-tolling

In April it emerged that the inuential Gupta family had commandeered space at the Waterkloof Air Force Base for a plane carrying guests to the wedding of Atul Guptas daughter. Fingers were immediately pointed at the man whose nickname would emerge in military tribunal documents as Number 1 Zuma himself. He was later exonerated by a government investigation and chief state protocol officer Bruce Koloane was demoted as punishment for allegedly masterminding the entire landing. A national debate about power, inuence and the art of name-dropping ensued

Guptagate

The gold, platinum and automotive industry saw some of the biggest strikes this year as unions exed their muscles. Union rivalry also fuelled strike activity, particularly in the platinum sector, where newcomer the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union promised workers a 60% wage increase across the board. The auto industry took a huge investment knock when BMW decided not to bring its new manufacturing plant to South Africa because of protracted strikes, costing the country thousands of jobs

The strike season that never ended

and murdered in the sleepy Western Cape town of Bredasdorp. It was a crime that blasted South Africans out of their comfort zones and brought the realities of sexual violence thudding dully home, particularly coming hot on the heels of a gang rape and murder case in India that saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in protest. Was Anenes violent, senseless death the start of a real discussion about misogyny, power and toxic masculinity? For a while, it seemed that way. But by the time her killer, Johannes Kana, was convicted and sentenced in November, most peoples attention had turned elsewhere

Anene Booysen was just 17 10 when she was brutally raped

Anene Booysen

Heroes

Villains

Daryl Impey became the rst African to don the coveted yellow jersey during the Tour de France

Education activist Malala Yousafzai (16), who received a standing ovation when she addressed a sitting of the UN in July

Swimming sensation Chad le Clos 23 medals and counting

If ever anything proved the old news adage You just cant make it up , it was the endlessly weird and vexing case of Czech businessman and alleged lord of the underworld Radovan Krejcir. His associates died en masse, he survived two assassination Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency leaks and the truth of Americas surveillance state. Angela Merkel wasnt impressed when she discovered Obamas spies had been eavesdropping on her conversations, and public opinion swung viciously against Americas president (he could be a villain, too, depending on your politics) The SABC had another year of spectacularly bad publicity. Banning was back with a bang politically sensitive adverts, a radio show and then an entire booing incident at Madibas memorial. The Public Protectors provisional report, The Blame Game, lambasted the SABCs bosses for unlawful and irregular promotions, and salary hikes

attempts and the odds seemed stacked against Krejcir ever being brought to justice for his alleged crimes. But by the end of the year, his assets were seized and frozen, and he was set to spend Christmas behind bars

On Twitter, Thamsanqa Jantjie trended as #fakeinterpreter after his gibberish sign language at Nelson Mandelas memorial service. He defended his poor performance by blaming his schizophrenia. Everyone scuttled to distance themselves from the man who stood metres from world leaders and made South Africa a laughing stock during a time of national mourning Dina Pule, the sacked communications minister, will forever be remembered as a woman whose taste for expensive shoes was part of her downfall

The police officers who have been arrested and charged with tying taxi driver Mido Macia to the back of a vehicle and dragging him through the streets of Daveyton. Macia later died in a police cell. This was just one example of alleged police brutality that hit the headlines this year

Orlando Pirates, whose march to the nals of the CAF Champions League united soccer fans Public Protector Thuli Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu introduced a school for civil servants and championed a law to prevent civil servants from doing business with the state. But the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. Will these initiatives nally halt the gravy train once and for all? Madonsela, who walks and speaks softly, and carries a big stick

Major General Mondli Zuma was appointed Gauteng police commissioner for a few hours. It then emerged that he had a criminal case pending against him. National Commissioner Riah Phiyega had to backtrack spectacularly. Between that and the polices testimony being ripped apart at the Marikana Commission of Inquiry, the men and women in blue make it on to the 2013 villain list

A Stellenbosch University study had many South Africans swearing off braais and giving vegetarianism a jolly good try. Researchers discovered that many meat labels were lying and your beef patties were just as likely to contain donkey, horse, water buffalo or pork. The researchers initially refused to spill the beans on who was telling porkies when it came to their meats content, but an application by Media24 revealed that some of the countrys biggest retailers were among the worst offenders