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/ 27 May 2008

Cold weather bites for displaced foreigners

On a vast rubbish-strewn field in a mining area east of Johannesburg, hundreds of destitute Africans who have fled their makeshift homes in nearby slums shiver in the morning cold. The land, covered in white tents donated by aid groups, resembles the all-too-familiar refugee camps seen across this violence-hit continent.

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/ 27 May 2008

Mbeki’s rule in limbo as townships burn

President Thabo Mbeki faces an uphill battle to remain politically relevant in his last year in office after his failure to contain an eruption of violence that has killed dozens of foreign workers in South Africa. Mbeki was already under fire for failing to prevent a crippling power shortage when mobs went on the rampage this month.

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/ 26 May 2008

Minister: Xenophobic violence under control

Xenophobic violence against foreign nationals has been brought under control, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Monday. ”I do believe the situation is under control … the violence has subsided,” he said at a briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria following an inter-governmental task team meeting with President Thabo Mbeki.

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/ 21 May 2008

Court ruling on Scorpions expected next week

Johannesburg businessman Hugh Glenister will likely hear next week whether his court bid to stop the government from disbanding the Scorpions has succeeded. The Pretoria High Court on Wednesday reserved judgement in his case, with Judge Willie van der Merwe indicating it was likely he would deliver judgement sometime next week.

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/ 21 May 2008

‘What kind of nation are we building?’

The South African government is under growing pressure to send troops into Johannesburg’s townships for the first time since the apartheid era as African immigrants continued to flee a wave of killings and violence against foreigners. Several people were killed overnight including two men, believed to be Mozambican miners, who were beaten to death as mobs moved through townships.

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/ 20 May 2008

Govt blamed for violence ‘tinderbox’

As police announced the launch of "specialised units" to combat the deadly xenophobic violence in Gauteng and the National Intelligence Agency confirmed that it was probing the violence, the government on Tuesday stood accused of serious policy failures that "created a tinderbox of unmet expectations which exploded in Alexandra".

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/ 14 May 2008

Zim exiles face new fear and loathing in SA

Having fled the spiralling post-election violence in his native Zimbabwe, Given Sithole never imagined he would now be fearing for his life in what he saw as the safety of neighbouring South Africa. With tears dripping from his swollen right eye, Sithole recounts how he was caught in recent xenophobic attacks in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg.

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/ 13 May 2008

Scorpions Bill tabled in Parliament

The Directorate of Special Operations, or the Scorpions, had another nail hammered into its coffin on Tuesday, with the tabling of the General Laws Amendment Bill in the National Assembly. The draft legislation, now headed for the committee stage, provides for the establishment of a new division in the South African Police Service.

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/ 13 May 2008

Minister: All Scorpions probes will be finalised

Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula on Tuesday gave the assurance that all cases currently under investigation by the Directorate of Special Operations, or Scorpions, will be finalised. ”There is not a single case that was investigated by the Scorpions, which is under investigation now by the Scorpions, that will not be finalised.