'Chair man' Nene appointed Manuel's deputy

Newly appointed Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla . Nene has developed an understandable but strange, phobia for chairs, it seems, having hesitated a little to sit during his swearing-in ceremony until Chief Justice Pius Langa ordered him to "sit down!".
Langa's comment triggered rapturous, hearty laughter from President Kgalema Motlanthe, cabinet ministers, government officials, family members and journalists who came to witness the swearing-in of Nene, new Deputy Education Minister Andre Gaum and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Fatima Hajaig at the Union Buildings in Pretoria yesterday. Nene shot to fame when he fell from his chair during a live television broadcast, with comical video clips of the incident becoming an instant hit on a website.
While everyone was in stitches over Judge Langa's instructions to Nene, an SABC journalist sarcastically asked who made the chair the deputy finance minister was so hesitant to sit on. He mockingly said he hoped that the chair wasn't an artistic product of ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, who failed woodcraft in matric.
While political parties have welcomed Nene's appointment, some needed the "chair man" reminder to remember the new finance deputy minister, who replaces Jabu Moleketi. Having waggled their memories, opposition MPs were full of praises for the work Nene has done as chairperson of the finance committee.
Cosatu also backed Nene, saying he has "proved himself to be positive, open-minded and willing to debate issues rather than trying to impose a rigid ideological view".
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi told The Star that he was "very satisfied" with Nene's appointment after they were "extensively consulted".
And lest Nene forgets which side his bread is buttered, Cosatu reminded him of working towards "implementing the economic policies adopted in the resolutions of the ANC's Polokwane conference and the alliance summit meetings".
The Democratic Alliance's Kobus Marais noted that Nene has "always gone out of his way to accommodate opposition party views during committee deliberations".
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said the appointment of Nene was a good move. "He (Nene) seems to know his stuff and he is sure to keep cabinet entertained in the remaining months of its term."
Independent Democratic leader Patricia de Lille said although the appointments were for a "very short period", she hoped they would provide a much-needed "boost to service delivery in these important portfolios, particularly in education".

By Deon de Lange

The Love That Was Not Returned

There are times when I ask myself if I wasted my time with her, or if it is what got me to where I am n0w. The fact that I wanted something so badly even though I knew it was next to impossible to get. Until this day, I still hate the day I first met her, the day I fell in love in love with her.
She was the sweetest girl I've ever met, her voice drove me wild. I could have listened to her forever. She had this way of calling my name, and the way she looked at me... Enough of that now. So I fell in love with her, and I fell hard. In no time at all, it was all over campus, everyone seemed to know how I felt about her.
We got to be best of friends, and she'd come to my flat (apartment) almost daily. We mainly talked about school and friends, but most of the time we'd spend looking at each other silently. It was during those times that realised that I loved her more than I thought. I started thinking about her, and there was no avoiding that since we had the same classes and always hung together with our other friends.
This got to be a problem when it started affecting our friendship, I could not help it, but let her know how I feel. And her avoiding the topic by all means did hurt. A lot. When ever we met, it was like I never said anything, accept for the fact that she'd barely say anything to me, or respond to anything I say. It confused me because our friends always said that she loved me, but she would not touch the topic. Was that because she loved me, or hated me for loving her?
Then she disappeared, and no one knew where she had gone to. She had changed her phone number and flat. She was nowhere to be found on campus.
I learned a couple of years later that she got married and has a daughter with someone I know, but everyone is afraid to tell me who. The girl who didn't love me back.