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/ 27 February 2006

Rethink the early childhood development policy

Results of the education department’s literacy and numeracy survey reveals that Grade 3 pupils are not up to scratch. Some are not even at Grade 1 level, and many pupils are falling far short of what is required at school. That this situation is untenable is not disputed. What is disputed is the solution. Fortunately, a proven programme and sustainable solution is at hand.

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/ 27 February 2006

Quaking in their beds

Ten-year-old Zimbabwean Dianna Matika, who had a heart ailment, is one of the confirmed fatalities after an earthquake measuring 7,5 on the Richter scale hit Southern Africa in the early hours of Thursday morning. The girl from the eastern Zimbabwean city of Mutare died three minutes after the quake struck.

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/ 27 February 2006

Kibaki on borrowed time

If corruption was the lubricant that in the past oiled Kenya’s politics, it is now the enfant terrible that gobbles up its progenitors. Three weeks ago, this horrible child of Kenya’s politics strolled into town, scalping no less than three of President Mwai Kibaki’s ministers and his personal assistant.

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/ 27 February 2006

How Gary lost his glitter

British former pop star Gary Glitter, charged with committing "obscene acts with children" in Vietnam, has fallen a long way since his 1970s heyday as the leader of the glam-rock gang. Glitter (61) was the dazzling king of the glam era, characterised by performers in sequinned dress and extreme make-up.

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/ 27 February 2006

Any room for the poor?

Sizwe Mathabula (not his real name) lives in a high-rise building in Hillbrow. He works as a nightwatchman, guarding an inner-city office block three nights a week. He supplements this income by selling vegetables on the city’s pavements. In a typical month, he clears about R800, which he uses to support his wife and their two young children.

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/ 27 February 2006

SAA sucked into strike

Unions protesting against Transnet restructuring plans will intensify their mobilisation for the March 6 strike action by bringing on board workers from South African Airways and other business units in the parastatal previously unaffected by the strike.