"After decades of stagnation, it is high time to act, " Ms in 't Veld said.

BBC: Euro MPs back quotas to get more women into top jobs

They were packed with images of wide farms, dry riverbeds, windswept veld, frolicking gemsbok and scratching guinea fowl.

ECONOMIST: Eugene Terre'Blanche

Nature crept back, like the veld grass, to restate her original claim.

ECONOMIST: Mike Campbell

MTN, a cellular network, is currently running a campaign in which a young white man's car breaks down in the middle of the dusty veld.

ECONOMIST: Free at last

Dutch liberal MEP Sophie in 't Veld said there was no need for new legislation, and that the focus should be on properly enforcing existing legislation.

BBC: Data protection question

However Dutch Liberal MEP Sophia in 't Veld said that it was the job of the European Parliament to uphold the rights of citizens, rather than states.

BBC: Crucifix debate

The tail end of the car is open to the elements, giving guests an unobstructed view of such spectacular scenery as the escarpment that drops precipitously from the high veld of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

FORBES: Global Life

However, the parliament's negotiator on the deal, Dutch liberal Sophie in 't Veld, said it was "telling and disappointing" that after nine years of negotiations with "our closest friend and ally", the US, "we can only come up with an agreement that commands half-hearted support from a divided house".

BBC: MEPs clash over data-sharing agreement