South Africa

South Africa gained its third first lady on Monday when President Jacob Zuma married Tobeka Madiba, his fifth marriage and third concurrent spouse. With another fiancee in the wings and rumors about a possible future engagement, the country may have five or more first ladies before Zuma's presidency is over. Zuma's polygamy sits uneasily with the ruling party's commitment to gender equality and has been criticized by women's rights and AIDS activists. But despite the disquiet in some quarters, Monday's wedding passed without media controversy.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A South African art gallery that displayed a controversial painting showing the country's president with his genitals exposed announced Tuesday that it was closing its doors temporarily because of threats. The decision came after vandals defaced the artwork earlier in the day. Lara Koseff, spokeswoman for the Goodman Gallery, said there had been numerous threats made against the gallery after its display of "The Spear," by Cape Town artist Brett Murray.

This is the birth of a South African movie, at a kitchen table in suburban Johannesburg. Two black men and a white woman work a comic moment. Their voices compete, louder and faster. They backtrack and rework the scene, exhilarated, laughing. Kenneth Nkosi and Rapulana Seiphemo, screen stars in South Africa, spark as if they're lightning charged. Jann Turner sits at her laptop, eyes dancing, fingers tripping over the keyboard, trying to keep up. The film's called "Fifty Coffins.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A 29-year-old farmworker was convicted Tuesday of the murder of South African white supremacist leader Eugene TerreBlanche, but his teenage companion was acquitted in the killing, which had sparked fears of racial violence. Chris Mahlangu was found guilty of killing TerreBlanche, his employer and longtime advocate of a separate state for white Afrikaners. Patrick Ndlovu, 18, who was 15 and present at the slaying, was found guilty of housebreaking with intent to steal.

No Time Like the Present A Novel Nadine Gordimer Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 423 pp., $27 With the title of this novel, her 16th, Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer once again shows her preternatural capacity to take a slangy catchphrase and make it right to the point. And one that is absolutely appropriate to her novel's milieu and, beyond that, to its subject matter in general. To read "No Time Like the Present" is to plunge into the caldron that is South Africa today, a chaotic now which cannot avoid the dark shadow of a heavy past: "There was a Pleistocene Age, a Bronze Age, an Iron Age. "It seemed an Age was over.

Ryan Appell stood on an isolated stretch of highway on the outskirts of an old South African mining town dressed like Betsy Ross' worst nightmare. He worn a bandana and a scarf made from a U.S. flag, had a flag tied around his neck and carried another in his hands. "This," he said with a smile, "is me." And apparently it's a lot of other Americans too because the U.S. soccer team's fan base, which once consisted primarily of friends and family members, has swelled into one of the largest contingents at this World Cup. According to FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, only South Africa bought more tickets to this World Cup than the U.S. And though some of the 136,500 tickets sold in the U.S. — more than the number sold in Germany, Italy, France, Mexico and Brazil combined — were undoubtedly purchased by fans who came here to root for one of the 31 other teams in the tournament, Appell was hardly the only fan who had traveled halfway around the world to come root for America.

Koos Botha is a burly, bull-necked man who wears thick, wraparound mirrored sunglasses and a gruff demeanor. On his wall, he proudly displays a 1990 newspaper photo that shows him punching a local official in the face. But the former Conservative Party member of Parliament doesn't exhibit the far more disturbing pictures of his once private war to preserve apartheid and a white-ruled South Africa. It began at 2 a.m.

A dispute between South African President Thabo Mbeki and Nobel laureate Desmond M. Tutu has opened up divisions over a key government policy meant to redistribute wealth to blacks. Under the Black Economic Empowerment strategy, aimed at redressing apartheid-era inequities, companies with substantial black ownership and management get preference in government contracts.

World Cup 2010: SOUTH AFRICA FIFA ranking: 88 Overall World Cup record: 1-2-3 Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira Best performance: First round, 1998, 2002 Overview: South Africa finds itself in the same situation the U.S. was in back in 1994 -- playing host to a World Cup and expected to perform but without a legitimate star or even much of a team. The U.S. reached the second round, and Parreira's squad will be desperate to avoid the ignominy of being the first Cup host in history not to make it out the first round.

Sixteen years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is at a crossroads. The country that was ushered into black majority rule by African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela has held four free and fair national elections since 1994, conducted a pioneering truth-and-reconciliation process, established a respectable multiracial judiciary and maintained a robust free press. The competence and integrity of successive ANC governments have been called into question, but not their fundamental legitimacy.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Africa's rapid economic growth has helped change the stereotype of a hopeless continent of starving people waiting to be rescued, but it has also created an intense need for strong managers, according to a report released Tuesday. Poor management is hurting the effectiveness of global multinational corporations, major local companies, governments and charitable foundations in many African countries, says the report by the African Management Initiative, a nonprofit organization focused on training managers to help business development on the continent.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - For a Soweto boy, he had a lot of sneakers. He remembers the joy of that first pair. They had to be red. Walking out of the shop carrying a cardboard box with the sneakers, Sifiso Dlamini, at 12, took the first steps on a long journey in search of the soul of a shoe. "Having a pair of sneakers in Soweto meant a lot. You were cool and every kid on the block wanted to have their pair of sneakers. "I had a lot, because I was obsessed" - a dozen pairs, more than anyone he knew in the township.

No Time Like the Present A Novel Nadine Gordimer Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 423 pp., $27 With the title of this novel, her 16th, Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer once again shows her preternatural capacity to take a slangy catchphrase and make it right to the point. And one that is absolutely appropriate to her novel's milieu and, beyond that, to its subject matter in general. To read "No Time Like the Present" is to plunge into the caldron that is South Africa today, a chaotic now which cannot avoid the dark shadow of a heavy past: "There was a Pleistocene Age, a Bronze Age, an Iron Age. "It seemed an Age was over.

  The African National Congress expelled Julius Malema, the president of its youth wing, on Wednesday for sowing divisions and bringing disrepute to the South African ruling party. The controversial Malema clashed with the leadership of the ANC and lost. His problems are not over: Multiple investigations of his alleged financial misdeeds are underway. Wednesday's decision is subject to appeal but, if upheld, would leave Malema little alternative but to start his own party.

Animal rights activists are challenging a decision by South African conservation authorities to auction off a permit to hunt a white rhinoceros, a member of a species increasingly under threat from poachers. Government conservation officials say the deal will actually protect the remaining eight rhinos in the Makhasa Resource Reserve, a game reserve adjacent to an impoverished community whose residents might otherwise be tempted to participate in poachings.

The Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa sounds religious but it's not. The upscale resort near Cape Town, South Africa, derives its name from the nearby mountain range. The mountains stand on one side of the resort; the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Guests can watch whales and dolphins in the ocean and hike the surrounding wilderness trails of Table Mountain National Park. The deal: Cape Town Chic is a well-priced package from Lion World Tours that includes round-trip airfare from Los Angeles, a day in Cape Town on your own and four nights at the Twelve Apostles to enjoy the setting and the spa. Spend a little more and you can add on sightseeing excursions.

First Lady Michelle Obama, her mother and daughters will travel to Africa on an official visit this month, she announced Friday. The first lady, her mother, Marian Robinson, and daughters Malia and Sasha will visit South Africa and Botswana during the trip June 21-26. The focus of the trip will be on youth leadership, education, health and wellness, officials said. "This visit to two critical countries will underscore that the United States has an important stake in the success of Africa's many nations and underscore the historic connections between the American people and those who live on the African continent," a statement from her first lady's said.

Eben Sadie jumps barefoot into a vat of grapes like a boy on a beach leaping into the surf. He tramps until the liquid runs purple up to his shins. Jumps out to fix a recalcitrant motor. Scoops fermenting grapes, bucket by bucket, into a basket press. Unloads a truckload of grenache and verdelho grapes with three of his employees, and wheels the load into a cool room. Scurries back to the basket press to extract the juice. Buckets the straw-colored liquid into a steel vat.

The ruling African National Congress pushed a secrecy law through Parliament on Tuesday over the objections of Nobel laureates, opposition politicians and editors who complained that it will have a chilling effect on whistle-blowers and investigative journalism in a country rife with corruption. Critics said the law, which makes it illegal to reveal state secrets, lacks a provision allowing a legal defense for acting in the public interest by exposing criminality, corruption or incompetence.

The Bay Atlantic Guest House is a little gem, with gorgeous sea views, away from the madding (tourist) crowd in a suburb about 2 miles from Cape Town. The staff is very friendly and helpful, and the rates are reasonable. Rooms from about $43 per person. Bay Atlantic Guest House, 3 Berkley Road, Camps Bay, Cape Town, 011-27-21-438-4341, http://www.thebayatlantic.com Jane Cozzo San Gabriel