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/ 16 December 2007
There are moments in history when the future appears as a series of stark choices between life and death, good and evil, progress and regression. Such is the national mood as the ANC gathers at Polokwane. We might call it the end of post-apartheid innocence — something similar to what other African countries experienced after a decade or more of independence.
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/ 21 November 2007
President Thabo Mbeki’s announcement on Wednesday of a ”window of opportunity” for people convicted of alleged political offences before June 16 1999 has been warmly welcomed by most political parties. Pan Africanist Congress leader Motsoko Pheko hailed Mbeki’s announcement as an act of courage against odds.
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/ 15 November 2007
A new process of presidential pardons for people who have committed alleged political offences appears in the offing, it emerged on Thursday. President Thabo Mbeki has asked Parliament’s presiding officers to convene a joint sitting of the two Houses next Wednesday for him to make an announcement in this regard.
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/ 16 October 2007
Lawyers acting for Chris Hani’s killers said they would proceed with an application to the high court, asking it to compel President Thabo Mbeki to make a decision on their application for a presidential pardon. Janusz Walus and Clive Derby-Lewis unsuccessfully sought amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1999 for the 1993 assassination of Hani.
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/ 16 October 2007
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang plans to speak out about media allegations that she is an alcoholic and a kleptomaniac. ”When the time comes this minister will speak out,” Tshabalala-Msimang said at a press conference at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto on Tuesday.
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/ 14 October 2007
October 15 marks the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Thomas Sankara, the president of Burkina Faso — a stark reminder that we are still in the state Odinga Oginga called Not Yet Uhuru. We will be remembering that if Africa suffers today, it is because yesterday its best political minds, and its most fiery and committed sons and daughters, were assassinated.
Telephone bills and furniture were prioritised over hospital equipment at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the national and provincial health departments said on Thursday. In a joint statement, the departments cited ”deficiencies on the management side” as the reason the hospital did not have required equipment.
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/ 26 September 2007
Tear gas billowed down the street every day as rioters battled police. Enraged protesters believed that even the Communist Party had turned its back on them. One evening, amid the debris of street barricades, I spotted two party officials — famed for their underground resistance — pleading with a group of rioters to renounce violent protest. This was in Rome exactly 30 years ago.
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/ 22 September 2007
A major HIV vaccine trial in South Africa was brought to a halt on Friday after interim results from a sister trial in the United States and Australia suggested it failed to prevent HIV infection. The news came as a major blow to Aids researchers as the vaccine had been billed as the world’s most promising Aids-vaccine candidate.
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/ 12 September 2007
The recent water shortage at Gauteng’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is over after repairs were made to a burst water pipe. Some sections, including the entire theatre block, at the large Soweto hospital had been without water since last week Wednesday.
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/ 3 September 2007
Two men stole a hearse with a corpse to go on a drinking spree in Soweto over the weekend, a media report said on Monday. They were caught after the vehicle ran out of petrol on Sunday morning in the Freedom Park informal settlement, near Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital at around 3am.
Daniel Friedman speaks to Sweat X who take their musical inspiration from just about everything including Chicken Licken, the AWB and Winnie Mandela.
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/ 31 January 1997
Hani assassination: Documents given to the Mail & Guardian point to a conspiracy beyond the right wing.