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/ 5 September 2006
Thabamoopo Psychiatric Hospital in Polokwane has a split personality. Its sparkling new wing houses acute patients and state patients. But then there is the darker side of the hospital — the wings where chronic, long-term patients and the mentally retarded are kept.
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/ 5 September 2006
Jeannette, a slender young woman with a squint, tries to shuffle out through the security gate behind us, but is roughly restrained by a stocky woman who puts a heavy forearm around Jeannette’s neck and pulls her back. When I remark that the security guard seems unnecessarily zealous, I am told that the stocky woman is an auxiliary nurse.
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/ 5 September 2006
A critically ill awaiting-trial prisoner at Durban’s Westville prison has been denied anti-retrovirals (ARVs) because he does not have an identity document, a prisoners’ rights group said on Tuesday. Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Manelisi Wolela denied the claims, however.
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/ 5 September 2006
Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on Tuesday decried a government move to bring mutilated war victims to peace talks in southern Sudan, suggesting it is a propaganda stunt. LRA spokesperson Obonyo Olweny said there is no point in having disfigured people at the peace talks in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba.
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/ 5 September 2006
The police unveiled a R75-million robotics system at a brand new forensic-science laboratory in Pretoria on Tuesday, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported. The police have been strongly criticised recently for the delays in forensic analysis for court cases and the police commissioner in charge of the forensic unit, Piet du Toit, said the new facilities will soon reduce this.
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/ 5 September 2006
Students at the University of Limpopo went on strike on Tuesday following deadlocked negotiations with campus management, the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania said. Spokesperson Mametlwe Sebei said in a statement that black students were ”unjustly treated” by university management.
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/ 5 September 2006
The right to peaceful protest and demonstration is widely suppressed in South Africa, a report by the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) said on Tuesday. ”There is a widespread violation of the right to demonstrate in South Africa. Demonstrators are denied their constitutional rights to freedom of expression and assembly,” the FXI said.
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/ 5 September 2006
Insurance industry figures show car hijackings in South Africa have hit new highs, says the Democratic Alliance. ”Insurance firms and tracking companies have indicated car hijackings have increased from 12Â 434 in 2004/05 to over 15Â 864 so far this year — exceeding highs last recorded in 2001/02,” DA safety and security deputy spokesperson Ryno King said in a statement on Tuesday.
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/ 5 September 2006
Natal Sharks utility back JP Pietersen will make his Test debut for South Africa in the Tri-Nations match against Australia in Johannesburg on Saturday. The 20-year-old was at fullback throughout the Springboks’ training session on Tuesday and coach Jake White said the time was now right to give some of the up-and-coming talent in his squad a chance.
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/ 5 September 2006
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday he hoped for word on the lifting of an Israeli blockade on Lebanon within two days as the shape of a carefully orchestrated deal involving France, Italy and Germany emerged. In Egypt Annan said he hoped the next 48 hours would bring ”positive” news on the lifting of the Israeli embargo.