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/ 20 February 2005

South Africans clean up in Mauritius

With the exception of the men’s long race, South African athletes made a clean sweep at the ninth Cross Country Championships of Africa’s southern region at Candos Hill, Mauritius, on Saturday. The races, contested in heavy rain on a muddy course, posed a true obstacle test for the runners of seven countries.

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/ 20 February 2005

Mining the depths of history

It is noon in Cullinan, near Pretoria, and the Whispering Oaks restaurant is bustling in preparation for the arrival of a bus-load of international tourists. Cullinan locals like to boast that the famous Big Hole is smaller than the 100-year-old crater of its Premier Diamond Mine. Cullinan’s appeal lies in the glitter of its multi-faceted past.

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/ 20 February 2005

It’s not too late — take a Sho’t Left

If you didn’t take a Sho’t Left last year, the good news is there’s a chance for redemption with the launch last week of South African Tourism’s new R20-million campaign, Sho’t Left 2. Billed as bigger and better, the campaign aims to encourage an emerging market of more than six million South Africans to holiday in Msanzi more often by promoting affordable packages and organised tours.

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/ 20 February 2005

If Durban were in Oz …

If Australia’s cities had to line up for a beauty contest, Brisbane would walk it. Brisbane has basically everything you could ask of a city, without the crushing numbers. The river setting is gorgeous, the vegetation, all palms and frangipani. The food’s great, the people friendly and real estate prices are the best in a country where most properties are beyond the scope of the rand.

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/ 20 February 2005

A small patch of peace

Sharks turn out to be quite shy than dolphins. The water was almost as clear as air, yet only the tips of the coral pinnacles emerged from the depths of a seemingly bottomless ocean. We grabbed our snorkelling gear, and the dolphins swirled around us for ages. Four of them were locked in a bizarre dance. Taking a closer look, it became graphically obvious they were mating, undisturbed by our presence.

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/ 19 February 2005

Forlan: There’s life after United

Diego Forlan is a rare breed. The striker, signed in January 2002 amid much fanfare by Manchester United for £7,5-million from Independiente, who famously took 18 matches to score his first goal for the club, is making a success of his career after leaving Old Trafford. As Paul Ince, Andy Cole and others will tell you, that is not easy.

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/ 19 February 2005

Sam Nujoma lands in the butter

It is the type of retirement package that even those leaders most wedded to their jobs might be seduced by. When outgoing Namibian President Sam Nujoma hands over power to his successor, Hifikepunye Pohamba, on March 21, he will continue receiving the same monthly salary as the new leader of the country.

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/ 19 February 2005

Rare plague kills 61 in northeast DRC

A rare form of plague has killed at least 61 people around a diamond mine in the remote wilds in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and authorities fear hundreds more who fled into the forests to escape the contagion are infected and dying, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.