EDITOR’S NOTE

NOW that our fashionista finance minister has done the deed we can all continue nursing our Budget blues and hope the retro 1990s VAT he’s brought back will not set a fashion trend for the future.

Some experts agree with Malusi Gigaba that hiking VAT was unavoidable this time (see page 8).

People continue to drift towards homogeneous groups (their own race) when there is no reason to do so, writes Professor Jonathan Jansen in his new book, Making Love in a War Zone (see extract on page 13).

There’s also a review on that page of Tim Noakes’s latest book, Lore of Nutrition, as well as our SAVEKZN profile for this week.

Did you know? The real impact of the 1% VAT increase on consumers’ pockets will only be 0.877%? That should make you feel a little better. It made Ben Trovato want to marry the woman who pointed this out on Twitter. His column may prove to be the medicine you need for your Budget blues (see page 14).

On page 15 we feature the amazing Ammazulu African Palace hotel. If you want to see it with your own eyes, enter our competition for a two-night stay for two.

This week Cyril Ramaphosa continued to walk the talk and lead by example. Our Cape regional executive editor, Gasant Abarder, has some free advice for brand managers about Brand

Cyril (page 16).

The PAC’S Jaki Seroke asks why the classified files on the party’s founding president, Robert Sobukwe, who died almost exactly 40 years ago today, are still kept secret (page 17). Also on this Big Issue page a communications specialist writes about the potential of the captivating #Thumamina or #Sendme phrase.

Imagine everyone responding to this rallying call to action, committing to and actually doing something to make South Africa a new, better place. Imagine.