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When the gods created Madagascar, they panned the universe for things weird and wonderful, flung them to the heavens and let them fall willy-nilly to the island below. Anything that couldn’t or wouldn’t fit, it seems, was shoehorned into the capital Antananarivo — a place so obscurely cobbled together it has the appearance of a jigsaw puzzle roughly assembled from random bits.
The 30th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising provides an occasion to reflect on the legacy of these remarkable events. Many believe that the 1970s initiated a new phase in the struggle against apartheid. In his book <i>Citizen and Subject</i>, Mahmood Mamdani argues that this period marked a shift from the exile-based armed resistance to a broad internal popular struggle.
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England stuttered into the second round of the World Cup in Germany on Thursday after late goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard handed them a flattering 2-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago. Crouch, who had missed a series of chances throughout the match, finally made amends seven minutes from time.
Gauteng police on Wednesday nabbed 600 people linked to rape, murder, hijacking and robbery cases. ”At least 43 suspects can be linked to outstanding rape cases and 10 hijackings. The rest were arrested for crimes such as murder, armed robbery, drug dealing and other crimes,” said Senior Superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht on Thursday.
Squatters living next to an East Rand aerodrome robbed an aviator after his Rans S10 aircraft landed in a dam, Beeld reported on Thursday. Flight instructor Mirek Zalewski told the Johannesburg daily that he was forced to perform an emergency landing in a Brakpan dam this week because shacks had been erected too close to the airstrip.
Former South African rugby boss Brian van Rooyen has been barred from serving in any capacity on the general council and committees of the South African Rugby Union, the union said on Thursday. It said Judge Joos Hefer imposed this penalty after finding Van Rooyen guilty of contravening the union’s code of conduct on six of the 11 charges that were brought against him.
The African National Congress parliamentary caucus has publicly backed the decision of the forum for the minister of housing and provincial housing ministers to remove the Democratic Alliance-led City of Cape Town from the N2 Gateway Housing Project ”with immediate effect”.
Gauteng local governments are owed R17-billion for unpaid services, provincial minister Qedani Mahlangu said on Thursday. Mahlangu said, while delivering her budget speech in Johannesburg, that the debt, which was incurred due to unpaid services, was hampering service delivery in the province.
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union on Thursday warned of a possible national strike by its 200 000 members should they reject a proposed 6% wage increase. The South African Local Government Association is also considering the proposal, made by the facilitator in the wage negotiations that started in March.