Champion amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius can compete against the world’s best able-bodied athletes while researchers try to determine whether his prosthetics give him an unfair advantage, a spokesperson for the international track authority said.
The -billion pledge by the world’s leading industrial nations to combat the spread of HIV/Aids and other diseases in Africa has fallen disappointingly short of expectations and is a major setback for the fight against the pandemic ravaging the continent, activists and campaigners said.
An eminent South African historian believes he has stumbled on Jack the Ripper. Charles van Onselen said at first he wasn’t sure he wanted to publicise the conclusions he drew when he noticed parallels in the century-old, unsolved Jack the Ripper case and the background of Joseph Silver, a feared international criminal who terrorised women in Johannesburg.
Former South African president Nelson Mandela beamed on Monday as he watched his grandson reclaim a traditional leadership post that Mandela had renounced decades ago to become a lawyer and dedicate his life to fighting apartheid. Mandla Mandela (32) was draped in a lion skin, the symbol of royalty.
Hulks of stepped, golden sand — looking from the air like rows of pre-Colombian pyramids — have long been part of Johannesburg’s cityscape. Now, they are fast disappearing as mining companies cash in on high gold prices and reprocess the mountains of what they once dumped as waste. Even dumps containing the lowest-grade ore are proving to be, well, gold mines.
Kings and royalty from South Africa’s many different tribes will gather on Monday to witness the grandson of former South African president Nelson Mandela reclaim the family’s position as traditional leaders. Mandla Mandela (32) will be installed as head of the Mvezo Traditional Council by the King of the AbaThembu, Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has dismissed claims that his rule was in its last throes, while a longtime critic renewed calls for a peaceful campaign to oust him. Vice-President Joyce Mujuru and South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, meanwhile, met on Friday in what was described as a private visit.
The spokesperson for Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader was assaulted by security forces as he tried to leave the country on Sunday, a party official said. Nelson Chamisa, aide to Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, was assaulted at Harare International airport as he was leaving for Belgium.
United States talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey is to open on Friday an innovative, environment-friendly school she has funded with the South African government to create a model state education facility. This comes as authorities at the exclusive private academy for poor girls that Winfrey opened in January dismissed complaints it is too strict.
Trust in police in Africa’s economic powerhouse is near the lowest on the continent, a researcher said on Friday. Experts at a seminar on crime and public perception said the lack of trust resulted from a failure of leadership and communication in the police force, coupled with a spike in some crimes last year — despite overall decreases.