Cartoonist Zapiro had a packed lecture theatre in stitches during a rollercoaster cartoon sports commentary that took in events from the 1995 Springbok World Cup victory, to the 2010 World Cup. "I went through about 4 000 cartoons to give this presentation. I've never put my sports cartoons together before - there may be a book in it somewhere," he said.

Bestselling crime writer Deon Meyer, in conversation with Nike Nicol, explained why many of his characters have a drinking problem: "When I started doing research, I spent two weeks with the murder and robbery squad, and discovered that alcohol is a very big part of the detectives' lives. Their jobs are so traumatic, that they're in a permanent state of post-traumatic stress disorder, and they have to find a coping mechanism."

In the same session, acclaimed local crime writer Margie Orford describes the challenges of having a female heroine: "Clare's very flawed. She's got an inability to connect with other people ... and she doesn't drink because, like every women over 30, she knows it will give her wrinkles and she's got to look good in my books for the next 20 years."

Achille Mbembe, of Witwatersrand University, recommended that South Africa become the leader of the continent, to protect African countries against China's rising influence. "We need a strong regional superpower in Africa, to lead the scramble for the continent - and a scramble is on the way," he said, speaking in a forum called South Africa in 2010: Development or Decline?

"Media regulation doesn't belong with government. The judiciary, the Freedom of Expression Institute - all these bodies that have nothing to do with the state, have got to figure media regulation out" - Muff Andersson warned of the dangers of South Africa's draft legislation curtailing the media's access to information, in the forum South Africa in 2010: Development or Decline?

Chris van Wyk discussed his new book, Eggs to Lay, Chickens to Hatch: "Our domestic worker Agnes was great fun. I had many girls who were panpals, and would come home every day and say ‘Any letters for me?' She would say ‘No, nothing' but as she was making lunch, the letters would come dropping out from under her skirt. She was a prankster.

"She would come to work on a Monday and say, ‘There are windows broken in Riverlea. Have you coloured people been drinking again and breaking windows?' - which was the absolute truth."

Internationally bestselling Jodi Picoult, discussing issue-driven literature, said her topics "choose" her, rather than vice versa. "Of all the news stories, these issues are the ones I keep on listening to - the ones I don't understand, and that I run from the kitchen to hear on the news. The more controversial the topic is, the more I have to write about it. My next book is about gay rights, gay marriage, gay adoption."

"I was quite shocked to find that we humans share 50% of our genome with daffodils - can you imagine that - and 98% with chimpanzees. We have to become comfortable with our cousins," said Mamphele Ramphele, former World Bank managing director and former Vice Chancellor of Cape Town University, at the launch of Wilmot Book's new book Nature's Gift.