The view of most commentators is that the De la Rey song is a call to mobilise Afrikaners against black people in general and the government in particular. High-powered editors, columnists, radio and television hosts read the lyrics as ”right-wing exclusivity” and a ”whining for lost power”. A government minister yawned and warned.
Following a dream run at Ellis Park this season, with three victories in four games, the Lions were brought down to earth on Saturday by a charged-up Brumbies outfit which beat the home side 14-9. The visitors’ fullback Julian Huxley led their crusade, scoring all 14 points, which included a try, two penalties and a drop goal.
Nine opposition activists who were to be arraigned on charges of attempted murder and illegal weapons possession all required medical attention for injuries sustained since their arrests, doctors said. One of the activists collapsed in the courthouse, and the judge agreed to lawyers’ appeals to adjourn Saturday’s hearing and allow them to get medical treatment.
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Australia pace bowler Glenn McGrath profited from some rash shots by the youthful Bangladesh batsmen in a rain-shortened Super Eights match on Saturday to set a record for World Cup wickets. McGrath (37) took three for 16 to break Wasim Akram’s previous mark of 55 as Bangladesh limped to 104 for six from their 22 overs.
A Manhattan art gallery cancelled on Friday its Easter-season exhibit of a life-size chocolate sculpture depicting a naked Jesus, after an outcry by Roman Catholics. The sculpture My Sweet Lord by Cosimo Cavallaro was to have been exhibited for two hours each day next week in a street-level window of the Roger Smith Lab Gallery in Midtown Manhattan.
Diego Maradona is expected to remain hospitalised for more than a week while doctors treat health problems ascribed to excess alcohol consumption, overeating and smoking. Routine tests detected some ”alterations” affecting Maradona’s liver, his personal physician Alfredo Cahe said on Saturday.
Mortar rounds crashed into central Mogadishu on Sunday in a fourth day of battles between Islamist insurgents and allied Ethiopian and Somali government troops that have killed scores of civilians. Locals living near the main soccer stadium said bombs fired from the south of the capital started striking around 9.30am, spreading panic as fighting resumed.
The Gautrain project fell victim to April Fool’s Day in two Sunday newspapers. The Sunday Times reported that low budget airline Kulula.com had announced a bold plan to take on the Gautrain by launching a flight service between Pretoria, Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport.
Twelve people were killed when a minibus taxi overturned on a highway in the Western Cape, South African Broadcasting Corporation radio news reported on Saturday. Five people were seriously injured in the accident, which occurred as members of the same family were taking a corpse to the Eastern Cape province for burial.
If a South African ”footballer of the year” for the 2006/07 season had to be nominated now, it would not need a soothsayer to predict that the choice would be Godfrey Sapula. And on Saturday night at a seething Loftus, the dynamic 33-year-old midfielder demonstrated exactly why this accolade is almost certainly heading his way.