A good week for Prudence Sekgodiso

A good week for Prudence Sekgodiso

South African athletics has long produced world-class middle-distance stars, from Fanie van Zijl, Dicky Broberg and Danie Malan to Caster Semenya. Marcello Fiasconaro, born in Cape Town, even set a world record in the 800m, albeit for the country of his father, Italy. Last week Prudence Sekgodiso joined those ranks, the first South African woman to reach the podium at a world indoor championship. The 23-year-old from the University of Pretoria won gold at the world indoor championships in Nanjing, China. Her winning time of 1min 58.40 puts her close to Semenya’s national record of 1:54.25.

A bad week for Perlene Bramdhew

Judges, as a rule, are averse to gagging the media. When businessman Zunaid Moti obtained an interdict against amaBhungane journalists, it was overturned by Joburg high court judge Roland Sutherland, who described it as “a most egregious abuse of the court process”. He said the Moti Group could use its right of reply, or sue for unlawful defamation. Apparently Perlene Bramdhew, an acting judge in Durban, had not read Sutherland’s judgment when she granted an order on March 26 preventing Bongani Hans, an Independent Media reporter, from publishing an article on complaints against a KwaZulu-Natal solar panel company.