"I touched the wall and I was in so much pain, it took me about 10 seconds to figure out is that my name in number one? And then just pure excitement... the relief.” — Cameron van der Burgh after winning Olympic gold in the 100m breaststroke, quoted in The Times.
"But I just remember sitting in the call room thinking that Michael Phelps has never lost this race for 10 years in international meets. I remember turning in the last 50 and just looking at him underwater and realising this is my hero, it’s crazy. I can’t describe how I felt. In the last 25 metres I can’t explain what came over me.” — Chad le Clos, quoted by Agence France Presse, after he beat the 200m butterfly champion Michael Phelps.
"What’s this whole rush about?” — Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga responding to calls for her to be fired.
"By Jove, at least the kids could write and read. And many of them understood history and geography.” — Academic and businesswoman Mamphela Ramphele, interviewed on Talk Radio 702, commenting on education during apartheid.
"Our education system is a wreck. It’s a shambles. I can’t believe that three-quarters of the year have gone by and so many of our schools, especially in the rural areas, have been without textbooks.” — Nobel literature prize winner Nadine Gordimer, interviewed on SAFM.
"Show motherly love to the old man [President Jacob Zuma] and resign.” — Congress of SA Students president Bongani Mani on Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.
"Life in prison is better than life in the streets. May I have life in prison?” — Zimbabwean Lovemore Manyika, quoted by The Herald newspaper, pleading for life imprisonment during mitigation of sentencing, after he was found guilty of housebreaking. He got three years.
"We think as a country we should consider changing our working hours. We may offer companies special fees and rates to use electricity from about 10 at night to 4 o’clock in the morning.” — Eskom chief executive Brian Dames considering ways of cutting down on demand during peak times.
"You would not wear jeans to your wedding, so you should not wear them to court.” — An unnamed lawyer, after some KwaZulu-Natal judges complained about men arriving for court cases casually dressed, quoted in The Star. - Sapa
