When I first heard the word makwerekwere, I thought I was mistaken for somebody whose name was Makwerekwere. I was having a breakfast on the sunny terrace of Time Square café, a microcosm of the Makwerekwereland that Yeoville, Berea and Hillbrow have become. A man sitting at the next table looked at me and said: ”Good morning Makwerekwere.” He was smiling broadly.
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The South African government is to review finance allocations to public tertiary institutions across the country, with specific attention to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, according to the state news agency BuaNews. It said this is to provide opportunities for higher learning for poor young people.
Israel insisted on Monday that Syria is to blame for a Tel Aviv suicide attack as a car packed with explosives was discovered in the West Bank, casting a shadow over efforts to forge peace in the Middle East. Israeli intelligence briefed European Union ambassadors on its alleged involvement in Friday’s bombing.
Truck drivers ended their six-day strike on Tuesday with the signing of a wage agreement. Supermarket shelves were without many product lines and some petrol stations in Johannesburg and KwaZulu-Natal were out of fuel by the time the truck drivers’ sometimes violence-marred strike entered its sixth day on Tuesday.
Nearly 4 000 members of one of the half-dozen armed bands operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) violence-ridden Ituri region have begun to lay down their arms in a move hailed as a breakthrough. But the United Nations on Tuesday acccused another group of continuing to commit atrocities in the north-eastern region.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa on Tuesday began a three-day state visit to Botswana to develop trade and economic cooperation between the Southern African neighbours. Botswana’s ambassador to Zambia, Zibani Nthakhwane, said the main focus of the visit will be trade and developing the first road link between the two neighbours.
President Thabo Mbeki and Anglo American’s top executives met behind close doors at Mbeki’s home in Cape Town on Tuesday. Anglo American chief executive Tony Trahar, accompanied by Anglo American South Africa’s newly appointed CE, Lazarus Zim, and chairperson Mark Moody-Stuart, requested the meeting to discuss the company’s financial results.
Italy’s foreign affairs minister said on Tuesday that United States troops killed an Italian intelligence officer by accident, but disputed Washington’s version of events and demanded US authorities thoroughly investigate the incident. The minister said the car carrying the officer and an ex-hostage to freedom was not speeding and US troops did not order it to stop.
Local mobile operator MTN announced on Tuesday that it has joined the Proudly South African campaign. As its members, the campaign lists a number of the country’s original initiatives, companies and organisations — both civil and corporate — who have all pledged to serve the citizens of South Africa with the best products and services.