EDITOR’S NOTE

THUNDERING hooves approaching down the home straight and the roar of an excited crowd is what keeps people coming back to horse racing at a time when many other institutions are fading away. This Saturday thousands will be at Greyville racecourse for the Vodacom Durban July, most more interested in the fashion and champagne than the horses but still contributing to the spectacle of the country’s biggest lifestyle event.

For a look ahead to the July weekend turn to pages 6 and 7. The Tribune team will be there in force. Follow us on social media @sundaytribunesa #tribunejuly.

The good heart of ordinary South Africans was reflected in their response to the recent fire disaster on the Garden Route. On page 4 we look at how the affected communities are rebuilding their lives.

Physicist Stephen Hawking was the guest Mazwi Xaba is on leave speaker at the Starmus science festival in Norway this week where he warned that unless human beings colonise other planets it will be tickets for all of us.

For starters, he said, we need to get back on the moon, then to Mars and finally to some other remote earth-like planet beyond. Hawking’s insights are always worth pondering and we have coverage of the event on page 17.

Political analyst Cyril Madlala is an informed, clear voice on politics. On page 19 he weighs up Kwazulu-natal’s role on the national political stage and assesses who the new actors might be after the ANC conference in December.

On the same page is analysis on the Constitutional Court decision regarding the powers of the Speaker of Parliament to decide whether a vote in parliament should be by secret ballot.

There is never a dull moment as we continue to grow in our new democracy!