In a rapidly changing world, for South Africa to meet its challenges effectively will require tough decisions and a commitment to the things that matter.

The South African Weather Service has forecast fog in some parts of the country, particularly in the morning, but later temperatures will heat up becoming fine, and warm to hot in most parts. Isolated showers can be expected along some parts of the coast in the Eastern Cape.

Admittedly, this was a different matter than singing ‘Kill the Boer; Kill the Farmer’. But it did again trigger a dispute regarding freedom of expression versus hate speech of a kind that one would have hoped the Constitutional Court would ultimately have resolved.

Crime is rife and policing is stretched in South Africa. Amidst this, it emerged that a satirist was investigated for a skit about police problems and bribery that the then police minister took seriously. The same minister was later put on special leave over real corruption accusations.

This ‘rope shovel’ underlines several points about the mining sector on both the South African and global stages. One is the constant drive to mechanisation, digitisation and automation — and to bigger and better machines to boost efficiency.

A flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, left Barcelona on Sunday vowing to try to “break the illegal siege of Gaza”, organisers said.

A blunder by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa in approving Eskom’s multi-year electricity increases means consumers will now have to brace themselves for tariff increases even higher than those announced earlier this year.

As one of the biggest and most venomous snakes in Africa, the black mamba often strikes terror into the hearts of people. Somewhat ironically, it could also help to safeguard human health by acting as a novel early-warning tool in pollution hotspots.