HE WAS one of the great statesman of the latter half of the 20th century. But Nelson Mandela was also a hugely significant cultural figure.

South Africa’s finance minister resigned along with most leading Cabinet members today in the wake of president Thabo Mbeki’s departure.

ARCHBISHOP Desmond Tutu has warned that South Africa has failed to sustain the idealism that ended apartheid and its people seem to have lost their sense of right and wrong.