I am writing this as a white middle-class professional woman, a lawyer, a slightly detribalised Afrikaner from a long line of respected nationalists — racists, by their own admission, also patriots in their own way. One of the lingering questions for me is, why whites, who claim not to be racist, object so vehemently to allegedly false accusations of racism?
Freshly painted in yellow and blue, Kamohelo Preschool in the township of Rammolutse at Viljoenskroon in the Free State, stands out from the row of shacks that surrounds it. This early childhood development (ECD) centre is, like so many dotted around South Africa, struggling to provide an education foundation to preschoolers in the bleak terrain of dire poverty.
When you’re right, boast about it. In my first column for the year, I pointed out how misguided the notion was that the FirstRand deal was ”social investment” rather than black economic empowerment (BEE). The criticism came about because the three BEE participants were all charitable trusts. I argued that one should look beyond this.
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South Africa has to make space for policy-making structures to avoid political unrest over land reform, the executive director of the African Institute of Agrarian studies said on Monday. Professor Sam Moyo was speaking at a farmers’ summit held by the National Farmer’s Union in Pretoria.
Russian authorities have blown up the house where rebel Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed last week in a special operation, witnesses and officials said on Monday. It was unclear whether the explosion was meant as punishment for the family that allegedly gave him shelter, a safety precaution or an attempt to cover up sensitive evidence.
Bantu Holomisa, the president of the United Democratic Movement, has fired arrows laced with poisonous words at the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve. He has accused the reserve of killing the Kruger National Park’s wildlife. But the TPNR’s management is convinced of the reserve’s innocence and is fighting back, even threatening legal action.
Thousands of elephants in Central Africa are killed each year to cater to world consumer demand for ivory, much of which passes through the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, wildlife trade expert Edmond Martin said on Monday in Nairobi. Martin said Khartoum now holds one of the world’s largest markets for illegal ivory.
At least 20 magistrates on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast went on strike on Monday to demand a 1 000% pay hike as the Kenyan justice ministry warned that court officers not reporting for duty will be fired. ”The strike is historic,” said Justus Munyithya, chairperson of the coastal branch of the Law Society of Kenya.
Leaders of the Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) political wing head to St Patrick’s Day events in the United States this week battered by a furore over IRA crime, shut out of talks in Washington and banned from its annual fund-raising drive among Irish-Americans. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been omitted from official events hosted by US President George Bush.