Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - Sunday 30 December 2001

The horrific events of a single day divide the year, if not our very existence, into distinct parts: before and after September 11. The destruction of New York's World Trade Center, the symbol of global capitalism, and the attack on the Pentagon, the Washington headquarters of the US's military muscle, reverberate around the world - and the shock waves are felt even here.

In the clamour for retaliation, South Africa rules out military involvement in the US war against terrorism but promises its security agencies will co-operate in the investigation into the attacks.

In Cape Town, the offices of the Muslim Judicial Council are firebombed, possibly in retaliation for the attacks, while two brothers, Jaco and Christo Conradie, appear in a Belville court after allegedly sending out hoax e-mails linking SA to the attacks. South African Airways revises its forecasts for 2001/2002 because of increased insurance costs.

Osama bin Laden aside, it is a more ominous killer whose shadow falls across SA: Aids.

A January Department of Education survey finds Aids will be the biggest killer of teachers in 2001, with 20% of teachers and seven to eight percent of school principals HIV-positive. In March the government announces that 4.7 million South Africans are HIV-positive. In August, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference denounces the use of condoms to fight the pandemic. Rather abstain from sex, it argues.

A month later, President Thabo Mbeki returns to the centre of the Aids debate by asking Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to re-examine social policy spending priorities and, in October, the ANC dismisses a Medical Research Council report that Aids is the main cause of death in SA as "not credible". Tshabalala-Msimang says it's "regrettable" the council took a "hostile position" towards the government - but Gauteng and Free State health authorities concede that Aids is a major cause of death.

Not for nothing, though, is it suggested the death of child Aids activist Nkosi Johnson in June may have been in vain.

Mbeki's private life comes in for scrutiny when a letter from Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to Deputy President Jacob Zuma is leaked in January repeating rumours Mbeki has had personal liaisons with five women - including three ministers or deputies.

In April, Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete reveals police intelligence units have been investigating rumours that Mbeki has been in physical danger since last year, and cites three businessmen as plotters against the president. He later apologises for this startling outburst.

Political pow-wow of the year is the UN race conference in Durban at the end of August. US Secretary of State Colin Powell and UK chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks pull out of the conference in protest against attacks on Israel and Zionism. Later, eight prostitutes are charged with the murder of Souhir Mostafa, 33, an Italian delegate to the conference.

It is a miserable year for ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni. Following media investigations into the arms deal and the discount he received on his luxury 4X4, Yengeni resigns in October after being charged with corruption and released on bail of R10 000. German prosecutors launch an investigation into European Aeronautics & Space SA's suspended MD, Michael Woerfel, who allegedly provided Yengeni with the vehicle. In November, Shabir Shaik, brother of the state's arms acquisition chief, Chippy Shaik, is arrested over irregularities in the arms deal. Chippy is suspended.

In other political news, a disillusioned Freedom Front leader Constand Viljoen quits politics in March and former President FW de Klerk joins the DA in May - but not as an active member. In August, thousands of squatters invade Bredell, outside Kempton Park, after "buying" plots there for R25, prompting the government to tighten laws on such land grabs; and, in October, about 85 000 census officials begin visiting South Africa's estimated 10 million homes.

The fight against crime continues with mixed results. Brothels - high class and low rent - are shut down, Mandrax tablets worth R40-million are seized in Durban in January, a ton of Afghan hashish worth R50-million is found in a Benoni warehouse in February and 168kg of cocaine worth R325-million is seized from a cargo vessel in Saldanha Bay in August. A parliamentary committee reveals in March that some $22-billion in "hot money" is laundered in SA each year - $15-billion is local.

Also in March, the president of the SA Prisoners' Organisation for Human Rights, Golden Miles Bhudu, is suspended after allegations of R300 000 in misspent donor funds. The same month, the Appeal Court upholds AWB leader Eugene Terre Blanche's six-year sentence for the attempted murder of a farmworker. In June, the former national Police Commissioner George Fivaz's car is hijacked. It is found a week later at the Beit Bridge border post.

In April Pagad member Mansoer Leggett receives the harshest sentence yet handed down in an SA urban terror case: 11 life terms for 11 murders committed in Cape Town over five years.

The rape of children continues. This month, a five-month-old baby is a victim.

The Pretoria Academic Hospital dispenses with Wouter "Dr Death" Basson's services as a cardiologist in May, shortly before his mammoth murder and fraud trial in the Pretoria High Court.

In June, Judge Willem Heath announces he is to quit the Special Investigations Unit. His replacement is Willie Hofmeyr, who also heads the Assets Forfeiture Unit.

In October, Judge Frans Kgomo of the Pretoria High Court rules that preventing same-sex partners from adopting children is unconstitutional.

The rand starts the year at R7.97 to the dollar and R11.81 to the pound; at the time of writing, it is in freefall. It is judged the second-worst performer against the dollar for the year.

In February, the third cellular licence in South Africa is awarded to Cell C.

In March, Coleman Andrews retires early as chief executive of South African Airways. His golden handshake? R232-million. SAA's pre-tax losses for the year? R735-million.

Rwandan businessman Miko Rwayitare buys the Mont Rochelle Vineyard in Franschhoek, in the Western Cape, for R18-million - and becomes, in July, the country's first black wine-farm owner.

Sports fans have a mixed year. Shaun Pollock's 6/30, against Sri Lanka, in January, is the best ever by an SA captain as the Proteas knock up their biggest yet winning margin: an innings and 229 runs. In September, Gary Kirsten becomes the third batsman in history to score centuries against eight Test-playing nations, and the first SA batsman to score three Test double centuries, in a match against Zimbabwe. Mfuneko Ngam and Makhaya Ntini are the first black sportsmen to be named Cricketers of the Year by SA Cricket Annual.

In June, former Proteas captain Hansie Cronj misses the Pretoria Press Club Banquet, where he is named Newsmaker of the Year.

In August, SA beats Australia 20-15 in a Tri-Nations rugby Test in Pretoria. It is the Boks' only highlight in a miserable year. The previous month, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission finds that radio presenter Martin Gillingham's "bonehead" reference to scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen is inoffensive.

Kaizer Chiefs, meanwhile, end the year with the African Football Federation Cup, the BP Top 8 Cup and the Coca-Cola Cup. In April, however, 43 people die in a stampede at Ellis Park during a Chiefs-Orlando Pirates derby. It is one of the worst soccer disasters in the world.

Outside South Africa's borders, the subcontinent lurches from crisis to crisis. Zimbabwe Ruins? It's no joke. In October, it's reported that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe prays to God to make him live longer so he may finish seizing land from white farmers.

In January, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Laurent Kabila, is assassinated and his son Joseph, 29, is installed as the youngest head of state in the world. In March SA decides to comply with a UN request to send in peacekeeping forces.

In March, Namibia's President Sam Nujoma calls for the arrest, imprisonment and deportation of gays. In August, Swaziland's King Mswati III unveils long-awaited constitutional changes that merely extend his already formidable powers.

An international survey carried out by a condom manufacturer reveals that South Africans have sex on average 116 times a year - third highest in the global lovemaking stakes. The same survey also reveals that SA men are too big for their condoms, a claim supported by Pretoria prostitutes who, in June, complain that government-issued prophylactics are badly lubricated and break easily.

Television as we know it changes at the beginning of September with the start of Big Brother. Not even the troubled relationship between James Small and Christina Storm can distract us from the reality TV show.

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