On the legal front, veteran lawyer - Nelson Mandela's defence lawyer - George Bizos, told the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) that the Protection of State Information Bill ('the secrecy bill') is unconstitutional on several counts. Now, will those in favour of the bill actually listen to what he is telling them? Probably not.

Still on the legal front, following a comment by Jacob Zuma that dissenting judgements mean court rulings cannot be absolutely correct, acting deputy chief justice Zak Yacoob has said that dissenting judgements are actually a good thing - and not something to question. He is reported to have said that "the fact that judges differ with each other is not surprising, nor is it something to bemoan". In fact, he would be somewhat perturbed if judges always agreed with each other.

On the motoring front, our tame motoring editor Henrie Geyser has a report on just the car to dull the pain of paying those e-tolls - any one of the new BMW 3 Series. He reckons they add up to three steps closer to motoring heaven.

Travelling to Mauritius from Durban and you're flying Air Mauritius? No, you're not - well, pretty soon you won't be, anyway. As of 28 October this year Air Mauritius will close its Durban route. To make up for it the airline is to put in a second daily flight from Joburg to provide additional capacity during the peak holiday season.

So if you've booked a direct Durban-Mauritius weekend away from post-28 October, contact the airline to make alternative arrangements.

Finally, given that we presently have one police chief on suspension and his predecessor in jail, it's not surprising the South African Policing Union has no confidence that serious consideration was applied when the two were originally appointed.

Well, join the club, guys - nor do a great many of us.

Rod Baker, general manager: content

Submit your company news to manufacturingnews@bizcommunity.com. Exclusive contributions may be sent to contributors-manufacturing@bizcommunity.com.