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	<title><![CDATA[iAfrica :: News : Features]]></title>
	<link>http://www.iafrica.com</link>
	<description><![CDATA[All the news that's fit to print.]]></description>
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<pubDate>2016-02-22 09:39:11</pubDate>
<content_id>1021212</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[Ntombiyenhlanhla Thabede]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[EFF the class clowns of Parly?]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[EFF the class clowns of Parly?]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[There is no doubt that the EFF have livened up proceedings in the National Assembly. Ntombiyenhlanhla Thabede, though, wonders if the party's tactics are effective...]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[There is no doubt that the EFF have livened up proceedings in the National Assembly. Ntombiyenhlanhla Thabede, though, wonders if the party's tactics are effective...
The 2016 State of the Nation Address given by President Jacob Zuma was preceded by a lot of skirmishes between the ANC, the EFF and COPE. At the centre of the standoff was the EFF&rsquo;s &quot;Zupta Must Fall chant&quot; directed at Jacob Zuma over his reluctance to divulge to the nation just why he has finally agreed to pay back a portion of the money that was used on the Nkandla upgrades and why he fired former Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene. Much to everyone&rsquo;s surprise, COPE was also involved in the standoff, with Mosiuoa Lekota rising to tell the president that he will not listen to his speech because he has abused the oath of office. There is no doubt that the EFF has shaken up the traditional proceedings in Parliament and have livened up recent SONA speeches. Before their existence, Parliament used to be boring. People would sleep and much of the media's focus for the SONA would be placed on fashion and not on the actual speech and the events which would unfold before, during and after it has been delivered. The EFF has managed to do what other opposition parties failed to do, which is to challenge the ANC. Since their first day in parliament, they have challenged the status quo with their dress code and their behaviour. They do not oblige with the kind of &quot;yes sir, no sir&quot; leadership which we have been witness to for years. With all their antics, what Julius Malema&rsquo;s party fails to understand is that, there is a time and place for everything. Their actions during the SONA showed no sign of respect towards the event, the Members of Parliament and most importantly, the public. If they desperately wanted to raise their point of orders&rsquo; and questions of privilege, they could have waited for the SONA debate, where such behaviour can be tolerated.&nbsp; &nbsp;It was quite shocking when a man like Lekota formed part of the commotion which lasted for almost an hour. However, unlike the EFF he said what he needed to say and when he was asked to leave, he did so without causing a scene. The EFF on the other hand, acted like they were on some reality show. It seemed like they were trying to out-do one another, because every party member wanted their voice to be heard. That, on its own, created unnecessary turmoil which was not appropriate for an event like the SONA.If the EFF has any hope of ever ruling this country, then the following is paramount: a good strategy is needed; they must pick a relevant platform to voice their grievances and they must demonstrate to us that they have what it takes to run the country in a responsible way. The way the EFF is going about things has earned them nothing but criticism. The potential is there but the EFF needs to find a more mature way of handling matters and maybe then, South African citizens will start taking them seriously.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[EFF MPs walk out of Parliament. Credit: AFP]]></caption>
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<pubDate>2015-04-15 16:25:42</pubDate>
<content_id>990318</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[Hadlee Simons]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Check these Eskom rage-tweets]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Check these Eskom rage-tweets]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[If there's one positive to be had about load-shedding, it's that they've resulted in some crazy rage tweets. [NSFW]]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[Eskom might be the most hated company in South Africa right now. Don't believe me? Then just hop on social media.
We looked at some of the best rage tweets directed towards the company - please note that many of these tweets contain foul language.
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@Eskom_SA go fuck yourselves! Useless monkeys! Stage 2 at 6 and now stage 3. Go kill yourselves so competent people can take over!
&mdash; Andrew Van Rensburg (@23d7ce1ccf684b8) April 15, 2015

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@Eskom_SA The only damn thing that is &quot;partial&quot; and &quot;vulnerable&quot; with you assholes is the so-called brain matter between your damn ears!
&mdash; Grant Abbott (@PresidentAbbott) April 15, 2015

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@Eskom_SA voetsek,you are useless and must all be fired and company be sold #Eskom
&mdash; Black and Proud (@ntusit) April 14, 2015

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@Eskom_SA yay your poes man
&mdash; zareef (@Zareef_Osman) April 13, 2015

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@Eskom_SA no you dip shits. ... proper planning and maintenance is a necessary measure to protect the system.
&mdash; Grant Abbott (@PresidentAbbott) April 14, 2015

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Just take us to stage 20 and never turn em back on. We all know thats what you really want @Eskom_SA
&mdash; #CarpenNoctemDBN (@JusCasey) April 14, 2015

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@Eskom_SA shut up idiot fools.
&mdash; Vlad (@UndergroundV8) April 13, 2015

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@Eskom_SA julle mase poes!
&mdash; Jordan (@jonnyjamesSA) April 12, 2015

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@Eskom_SA WHY DO I ALWAYS WAKE UP TO THIS SHIT
&mdash; goblin the god (@c00839ee6cdc456) April 8, 2015

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@Eskom_SA Are you being serious? This account must be hacked. No one can be this fkn stupid.
&mdash; Limpie (@limpieradyn) March 27, 2015

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@Eskom_SA @DA_News You guys had 1 job.Instead you sat back for years and did next to nothing.1 job...1 #Eskom #load_shedding
&mdash; Francis Waso (@FrankfromCPT) April 15, 2015

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@Eskom_SA hey Eskom, it is not with regret that once again I give you the &quot;one finger salute&quot;
&mdash; Gunner (@JohnTheGunner) April 13, 2015

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@Eskom_SA eff should mutilate your powerstations because they are nothing more than monuments from an aparthrid era #loadshedding
&mdash; tasmy (@pietpip) April 13, 2015
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<pubDate>2015-04-02 09:07:23</pubDate>
<content_id>989076</content_id>
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<heading><![CDATA[Four youths who inspired South Africa]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Four youths who inspired South Africa]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[From activism to fundraising, these four inspirational South African youths prove you don't need to be a &quot;grown-up&quot; to change the world.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[Written in collaboration with OUTsurance.
Earlier this month, OUTsurance helped 10-year-old Caitlyn Scholtz from Charterhouse Preparatory to collect over 17 000 Easter eggs to be donated to the less fortunate.
In a speech that Caitlyn gave to her peers, she quoted a line from Dr Seuss's The Lorax: &quot;Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.&quot;
Watch Caitlyn's story here:

This got us thinking about the youths who &ndash; in one way or another &ndash; changed South Africa, whether it was through activism or fundraising. &nbsp;These four inspirational youths prove that you don't need to be a &quot;grown-up&quot; to help change the world.
We've picked four amazing young South Africans for our list &ndash; but who else would you nominate? Leave us a comment below.
Karli Coetzee
When she was 15 years old, Karli Coetzee helped save a no-fee paying nursery school and feeding scheme and turn it into the Mug and Tree Soup Kitchen and Community Centre, started by Trudie Naude in Burgeshoop.
Trudie had been given a plot of land to build a centre, but didn't have the money or resources to start building &ndash; which is where Karli, now 17, came in.
She started a Facebook group called &quot;Hands From Heaven&quot;, which encouraged people to help by donating everything from building materials to bathroom equipment and food. Her contribution helped Trudie open the now paid-up community centre.
Karli was named as Gauteng's Lead SA Youth Hero for January.
Chaeli Mycroft
In August 2004, nine-year-old Chaeli Mycroft, her sister Erin, and close friends Tarryn, Justine and Chelsea Terry raised R20 000 in just seven weeks to buy Chaeli &ndash; who was born with cerebral palsy &ndash; a motorised wheelchair.
And thus, the Chaeli Campaign was born.
The not-for-profit organisation aims to change the lives of children with disabilities, and has in just 10 years assisted over 3000 children with wheelchairs, hearing aids, food supplements and more.
As the face of the Chaeli Campaign, Chaeli has been awarded both the 2011 International Children's Peace Prize and the Medal for Social Activism at the 2012 Nobel laureate Peace Summit.
Chaeli is currently studying at the University of Cape Town.
Jenna Lowe 
In 2012, when Jenna Lowe was 17, she was diagnosed with a rare disease known as Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension &ndash; a degenerative, life-threatening disease that affects the lungs.
After she was diagnosed, Jenna and her family devoted their attention to raising awareness for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and other rare diseases, to help sufferers in South Africa to be diagnosed and receive treatment as quickly as possible.
When she was 19, Jenna was added to the waiting list for a bilateral lung transplant &ndash; something which prompted her to set up the #GetMeTo21 campaign to attract organ donors in South Africa.
Over 8000 South Africans signed up as organ donors as a result, and Jenna received her transplant in December 2014.
Nkosi Johnson
One of South Africa's most famous Aids activists, Nkosi Johnson, was born in 1989 to his HIV-positive mother Nonthlanthla Daphne Nkosi. He was adopted by volunteer worker Gail Johnson and shot into the spotlight in 1997 when a school in Melville refused to accept him because of his HIV status.
The battle became public, eventually paving the way for legislation against discrimination at schools on the basis of a child's HIV status.
Nkosi gained international prominence after he delivered a self-written address, televised worldwide, to 10 000 delegates at the 13th International Aids Conference in Durban. At the time of his death aged 12 in 2001, Nkosi was the longest-surviving child born with HIV in the country.
Nkosi's legacy lives on in Nkosi's Haven &ndash; what was once a shelter for HIV-positive mothers and their children that he founded with Gail, which has now become a village complete with cottages, a library and a clinic.
OUTsurance knows that even the smallest contribution can make a major difference. 
Watch Caitlyn's full story on the OUTsurance website.&nbsp;
Article sponsored by OUTsurance.
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<pubDate>2015-01-14 06:55:41</pubDate>
<content_id>978206</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[Sifiso Mazibuko]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Blog: New Year's Resolutions for White SA]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Blog: New Year's Resolutions for White SA]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[If we are to truly reconcile, Sifiso Mazibuko writes, white South Africans must make an effort to understand other races' lived experiences. ]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[This blog post originally appeared on Sifiso Mazibuko's blog, PrivateSchoolDarkie, and has been republished with his permission. You can follow Mazibuko on Twitter here. Mazibuko is the Social Media Strategist at Juice Content, a division of iafrica.com's parent company, Primedia Online.&nbsp;
I will concede that I'm in no way, shape or form some sort of race relations expert, nor will I ever pretend to be one. I haven't written well-researched highly cited studies on the subject nor am I a highly respected academic. What I write, are simply the thoughts of a regular black South African in his late thirties, with most of my thoughts based on my own personal experience and observations over the almost four decades of my life. I am writing this in some sort of utopian hope that we can at least begin the process of having an honest conversation about the very real racial tensions that, for better or worse, still exist in South Africa today. The reasons for these tensions are obviously multifaceted and are far too complex to explore in one blog post. However, I do believe that there is a fairly simple starting point that could possibly lead towards helping us heal as a country.&nbsp;
2014 was, for various reasons, a year of intense focus on race relations particularly in South Africa and in the United States. In the US, the main catalysts for this focus were the shootings to death of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice and the death of Eric Garner as a result of being put in a chokehold by NYPD police officer Daniel Pantaleo. In all of these cases the victims were black males killed by white police officers that were all later acquitted of any wrong doing under rather murky circumstances.&nbsp;
These events and many others like them, put the abusive experiences of minority communities at the hands of some police officers in the United States into the spotlight in a manner that hasn&rsquo;t been seen since Rodney King was beaten by police officers in Los Angeles in 1991. In that case the police officers responsible were also acquitted of any wrongdoing. These latest incidents have forced people in the United States into a long overdue conversation about race relations in that country and the suspicious manner in which black males are often viewed.&nbsp;
2014's 'black face' incidents
In South Africa the conversation has been an ongoing chronicle with admittedly complex nuances that was brought into stark focus by two incidents of white students at two different universities in what can, at best, be described as a woefully misguided attempt at being funny.&nbsp;
The first incident involved two white students from the University of Pretoria who smeared their faces with black paint, stuffed pillows into their pants and wore clothing meant to stereotypically represent domestic workers, posing for photos with smiles that seemed to indicate that they thought their outfits were a rather humorous joke. Needless to say, their little &quot;joke&quot; resulted in an uproar on social media with the pair of students being expelled from their residences.&nbsp;
Despite the experience of the previously mentioned Tuks students, two more misguided students at the University of Stellenbosch also thought it would be a good idea to pose for pictures with their faces painted in black and wearing wigs and outfits meant to represent tennis superstars Serena and Venus Williams. As anyone with the most basic grasp of South Africa's racial problems could have guessed, the pictures ended up on social media and resulted in a predictably angry reaction from black South Africans and exasperation from white South Africans that seem to possess a more developed sense of awareness than some of our white compatriots.&nbsp;
'I could go on citing many more examples'
Not long after this incident there was the incident outside a club in Cape Town in which some young white men viciously beat a 52-year-old black mother of six for no apparent reason, while hurling racial epithets at her. Then there was the Cape Town man that assaulted his ex-girlfriend's black domestic worker, spat at her and called her a kaffir. And of course who can forget about the white bikers in Witbank that assaulted a petrol attendant after he asked them to move away from the pumps because they were smoking. Their classy response was to beat him while calling him a kaffir and a monkey. Then there was the always classy Steve Hofmeyer who tweeted &quot;Sorry to offend but in my books blacks were the architects of apartheid. Go figure.&quot;
I could go on citing many more examples from the media or from personal experience - examples like when my wife invited friends, on my birthday, for a night out at a Cape Town club. When we arrived at said club, we found one of my friends, who happens to be black, standing outside after being told he could not go into the club because there was a private function, this was of course in no way true. Whenever I have retold this story, I have heard some white people argue that maybe my friend wasn't appropriately dressed, to which I call major bullsh!t. He was very well turned out and there were a number of less well-dressed white guys that were being allowed to go into the club with no hassle. The fact that they automatically feel the need to give the club owner the benefit of the doubt is one of the most fundamental problems we have in this country, but more on that later.
It took my white wife, angrily confronting the manager of the club, to get my friend in and once inside we noticed a severe lack of colour that explained their initial reluctance to let those of a more melanin enhanced hue in.
So where does all of this leave us? I think one of the biggest challenges we face in South Africa is that for a significant portion of white people, there is still a reluctance to acknowledge that this country continues to deal with the ugly reality of racism that was created by decades of Apartheid and colonization before it. There is a belief among some white people that after 1994 we were all automatically made equal and all was made well, so as a result, the past should be left in the past and we should go forward and stop obsessing about it.
The truth is...
The problem with this point of view is that it's much easier for people whose past was not characterized by systematic racial, economic and societal discrimination that was violently implemented by the state's various military, judicial and economic apparatus to simply move on.
It's more difficult for people that, for decades, had their humanity systematically demolished by a violently racist system that was set up to exploit them and protect those of a lighter skin tone. It's more difficult to simply move on for people that were not even allowed to be citizens of the land of their birth because of the colour of their skin, (see pass laws). It's more difficult for people who watched helplessly as their family members and close friends disappeared with no explanation into the police cells of a system that would indifferently explain away almost any death as suicide, and that's if an explanation was even given.
The truth is white and black people in South Africa have experienced and continue to experience the world very differently and there's just no escaping that reality. A few weeks ago my sister was looking for a black doll for her daughter. This turned out to be such a tough assignment that she had to ask people on Facebook if they knew of a toy store where she could buy a black doll. Imagine living in a country where black people are 80% of the population and yet they struggle to find something as simple as dolls that look like them for their children to play with. As a result, black children often grow up playing with toys that don't look anything like them, watching cartoons that have characters that they don't relate to, resulting in so many cases of black children hating the colour of their own skin or the texture of their hair since they find it so hard to find representation of their own blackness in the media. This is not a problem a white child will ever experience.
I remember when we were kids, my sisters and I would shred up newspapers until they looked like a rudimentary representation of what white people's hair looked like and we would tape it to our heads so we could also have long wavy hair like white people because this is what we believed you had to look like to be beautiful. One of the most fundamental problems we have in South Africa is that white people, for the most part, are so unaware of what it's like to experience the world as a black person, it causes them to be totally oblivious of the comparatively privileged way in which they experience the world.
'Black South Africans have largely come to the party'
This brings me to the point of my musings on the topic of race. If South Africa is to truly move forward as a united country, I really think that there needs to be a concerted effort on the part of white South Africans to really interrogate what their experience of the world means in relation to the lived experiences of South Africans of other colours. The reason I think the responsibility falls chiefly on the shoulders of white South Africans is that I would argue that black South Africans have largely come to the party when it comes to reconciliation in South Africa.
We speak the language of white South Africans; we adopted the Springboks, (who were previously viewed by a lot of black people as a white Afrikaaner symbol, so this was a very big deal) and even gave them our own name, Amabhokobhoko. We go to the stadiums to watch them or our favourite Currie Cup team play on a regular basis. We share the same love hate relationship our white countrymen have with the Proteas, (for Pete's sake cricket gods, we aren't asking for much, just give us one major trophy. We needs this!).
After Apartheid ended, the ANC, through the Sunset Clauses proposed by Joe Slovo, agreed to a Government of National Unity that gave concessions to the National Party, including them into the new government. This is the same National Party that kept black people subjugated for decades. In addition to this, the Truth &amp; Reconciliation Commission, that gave Apartheid era perpetrators of violence the opportunity to give testimony about their past violent acts and to request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution was established. They didn't even have to be sorry, all they had to do was come clean and they could walk away scot-free while the victims' families, in many cases, would simply have to accept that they had to give up any hope of justice being served for the greater cause of unifying our country.
We included Die Stem as part of South Africa's new national anthem. Die Stem, the national anthem of the old Apartheid South Africa, which was seen by most black South Africans as a symbol of the Apartheid era Nationalist Party government and yet there we were and still are, singing it proudly at every sporting event.
The list goes on, so like I said, I feel like it could be safely argued that black people have come to the party.
Reconciliation a 'one-sided affair'
Unfortunately I'm not so sure the same can be said for our white fellow South Africans for the most part. Besides a tiny group of exceptions, white South Africans typically don't speak any indigenous South African languages despite being surrounded by indigenous speaking black people. Go to a PSL soccer game and white faces are rather conspicuous in their absence from the stadiums, in fact I would challenge most white South Africans to name a PSL team besides Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. However, based on my experience, I doubt they would have the same difficulty naming English Premiership or Spanish La Liga teams.
The simple fact is that reconciliation in South Africa has largely been a one-sided affair with white people mostly being the beneficiaries of much forgiveness and never having to really confront their complicity about the past and the institutional advantages that Apartheid bestowed on them. They have remained, willfully or otherwise, mostly ignorant of what life for their black compatriots is like. They remain mostly ignorant of the extreme evil that Apartheid was and how they benefited from it and how those benefits and advantages have carried over to the present day.
&quot;According to the 2014 SA Reconciliation Barometer, 47% of white South Africans believe Apartheid wasn't a crime against humanity. Only 53% of whites that took part in the survey agreed with the statement that apartheid was a crime against humanity. This was compared to 80% of blacks, 77% of Indians, and 70% of coloured citizens who agreed with the statement. Whites were also half as likely as black South Africans to agree with redressing the injustice of the past,&quot; (quoted from News24). That is a sad indictment on just how ignorant some white South Africans remain.
So what is the solution? Call me an optimist or a romantic believer in a utopian never land, but I think the first steps towards true reconciliation in South Africa are fairly simple and very achievable. It does, however, require a willingness on the part of white South Africans to truly acknowledge the true situation this country is in, the role they have played in it and the further patience and resilience of black South Africans to bear with our white compatriots.
Four resolutions for white South Africans
My challenge to my white fellow South Africans is very simple. I'm sure many of you have made New Year's resolutions. I would like to challenge you to add four more.
1) No more black face. Seriously, just don't do it. It's just not funny and it's more offensive and hurtful than you will ever understand.
2) Nelson Mandela once said: &quot;If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.&quot;
Learn an indigenous South African language, whether it's Zulu, Xhosa Pedi, Sotho, Tswana or whatever, just learn one. You live amongst millions of African language speakers that will help you if you just try. Really connect with your black fellow South Africans - you'll be amazed at the sublime effect speaking an indigenous language will have on your relationship with your black compatriots. And once you start to learn their languages you will learn so much more than just how to speak a new language, you will also learn the culture and the heart of the person.
3) Find a PSL soccer team to support and get down to a stadium and watch a game. Sport in South Africa has always been a great unifier, you will learn more about us from watching soccer with us than you realize. Do this at least six times this year. If you don't know where to start, ask someone to take you to a game, or at least go a Pirates/Chiefs derby, it's an incredible experience, trust me. (It's an even better experience if you're Pirates fan, I'm just saying)
4) Stop telling black people to &quot;just get over it, it's in the past, can't we just move on?&quot; You have no idea just how raw the pain and humiliation still is for many black South Africans. Instead of being in such a hurry to move on, rather spend some time trying to understand just how bad it was and still is for many black people in this country. Healing starts with acknowledgment and empathy, then we can figure out a way forward together.
I love this country right down to the depths of my soul; with every fiber of my being I love this place. I love its resolve, its character and its ability to overcome any challenge. I love the land, the amazing kaleidoscope of cultures that call themselves South African, from the 100% Zulu boys of KwaZulu Natal, to the regte Afrikaans boytjies of the Free State. From the LaXhosa Nostra in the Eastern and Western Cape, to the Sandton dolls and Musgrave mommies. The Indian aunties and uncles in Durban to the Tannies in the Platteland. The Coloured minibus taxi conductor scrambling for my business as he shouts at the top of lungs, &quot;aweeeeh Sea Pooooiiiiint!&quot;
I love this place, I love the people, and there is no place on earth I would consider as my true home. But to love it is to also admit that we have very real problems that need fixing and I believe I'm not the only one.
I realize that mine is a rather simplistic solution and I'm certainly not na&iuml;ve enough to think that this will solve all of our issues, but I believe it's a good start, and if there&rsquo;s anything I've learned in this life is that sometimes all you need is a good start, where we go from there is entirely up to us.
Ons vir jou Suid Afrika!]]></body_text>
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<pubDate>2015-01-08 10:14:46</pubDate>
<content_id>977428</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[Candace Whitehead]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Je Suis Charlie: Thousands unite in France]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Je Suis Charlie: Thousands unite in France]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[IN PICTURES: Over 100 000 people gathered across France to mourn the deadly terrorist attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. ]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[France began a national day of mourning on Thursday (8 January) amid shock and outrage after an attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo killed 12 people on Wednesday (7 January).
The massacre triggered spontaneous vigils around the globe, with people in France uniting in their tens of thousands under the slogans Je Suis Charlie and Nous Sommes Charlie &ndash; I am Charlie, and We Are Charlie.
People gather at the Place Royale in Nantes to mourn the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo. Credit: AFP PHOTO/GEORGES GOBET. 
More than 100 000 people took to the streets across France, holding up signs, posters and pens to voice their support for freedom of expression.
 Protesters hold up pens at a Charlie Hebdo vigil in France. Credit AFP PHOTO/DAMIEN MEYER
A protester holds up a 'Je Suis Charlie' poster. AFP PHOTO / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT
French president Francois Hollande called the attack by masked gunmen who shouted &quot;Allahu akbar&quot; (&quot;God is greatest&quot;) as they killed two policemen and ten of some of France's most outspoken journalists at their Paris office an &quot;act of exceptional barbarity&quot; and an &quot;undoubtedly a terrorist attack&quot;.
A woman in Lyon lights a candle for the victims. Credit: AFP/JEFF PACHOUD
Hollande ordered flags to fly at half-mast for three days, and a minute's silence will be observed across the country at noon, to be broken by the famous bells of Notre Dame cathedral will sound out across Paris.
&quot;Nothing can divide us, nothing should separate us. Freedom will always be stronger than barbarity,&quot; said the president, who also called for &quot;national unity&quot; after the attack.
People gather in front of the city hall of Rennes. Credit:  AFP PHOTO / DAMIEN MEYER
People gather at the Place de la Republique in Paris. Credit: AFP PHOTO/DOMINIQUE FAGET
US President Barack Obama described the attack &ndash; which took place on the day the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo was published &ndash; as &quot;cowardly, evil&quot; assault, while Pope Francis described it as a &quot;horrible attack&quot; saying such violence, &quot;whatever the motivation, is abominable, it is never justified&quot;.
A woman protests for freedom of speech at a gathering in Marseille. Credit: AFP PHOTO/ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT
Hassen Chalghoumi, the imam of the Drancy mosque in the northern suburbs of Paris, called the gunmen &quot;barbarians&quot; and told AFP: &quot;They want terror, they want fear. We must not give in. I hope the French will come out in solidarity and not against the Muslim minority in Europe.&quot;
A poster of the Prophet Mohammed is accompanied with the caption: &quot;He too is crying&quot;. Credit: AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGET
Editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier, known as Charb and who had lived under police guard after receiving death threats for Charlie Hebdo's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed &ndash; a practice forbidden in Islam, was among those killed, along with the police officer assigned to protect him.
Other victims included Jean Cabut, known across France as Cabu, Georges Wolinski and Bernard Verlhac, better known as Tignous.
A woman holds a poster displaying a quote from Charlie Hebdo editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier (Charb), which reads: &quot;I would rather die standing than live on my knees&quot;. Credit: AFP/BORIS HORVAT]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[A man holds up a 'Je Suis Charlie' poster. Credit: AFP]]></caption>
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<pubDate>2014-06-05 13:45:59</pubDate>
<content_id>942617</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[Hadlee Simons]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Five horrifying kidnapping cases]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Five horrifying kidnapping cases]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Two cases of local men holding their children and wives hostage for years have made headlines recently. We look at others from across the globe.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[This week has seen news break of another father holding their children hostage in South Africa.
The Alexandra man is alleged to have locked his four children indoors since at least 2007, before neighbours decided to act and rescue them.
The father reportedly claimed that he locked the children up because he was afraid of them being killed or kidnapped.
This case follows a report of an East Rand man who held his five children and wife captive for over a decade, torturing them in what has been dubbed the &quot;House of Horrors&quot;.
However, these are far from the only cases of people being held captive for years. We take a look at some of the more prominent cases from around the world.
&nbsp;
Isidro Garcia
Last month, 41-year-old Isidro Garcia was arrested in California for the abduction of a 15-year-old girl in 2004.
It is alleged that the woman, now 25, was kidnapped and sexually abused by Garcia, who was then forced into marriage in 2007. The ordeal resulted in a child being born in 2012.
According to AFP, the woman had opportunities to escape, but &quot;saw no way out of her situation&quot;.
During her decade-long captivity, Garcia allegedly told the woman that her family had given up looking for her and that the family would be deported if she tried returning to them.
The case is still ongoing.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Josef Fritzl
One of the most horrific cases emerged from Amstetten in Austria, when Josef Fritzl was arrested for holding his daughter, Elizabeth, captive in their basement for 24 years.
That's not the most traumatising part however, as Elizabeth was assaulted and raped numerous times over the years, resulting in the births of seven children and one miscarriage.
Fritzl's wife and Elizabeth's mother, Rosemarie, remained unaware of what was happening. as Josef told her that Elizabeth had run off to join a cult.
When Fritzl made the decision to bring three of the children up to live in the home, he told Rosemarie that Elizabeth had left the children in his care.
When the eldest daughter was admitted to hospital with kidney failure, Elizabeth used the opening to reveal Fritzl's crimes.
Fritzl is currently serving a life sentence.
&nbsp;
Ariel Castro
Probably the most high-profile case in the past few years took place at the home of 52-year-old Ariel Castro in Ohio, USA.
Castro kidnapped three women between 2002 and 2004: Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Georgina DeJesus.
Castro assaulted, raped and sexually abused the three women during their decade-long captivity, with Berry giving birth to a daughter (now six) during that time.
Their ordeals came to an end in May 2013, when Berry managed to alert neighbours while Castro was out of the house. He had forgotten to lock one of the doors before he left.
Castro was sentenced to life in prison plus 1000 years &ndash; but he committed suicide a month into his sentence.
&nbsp;
Wolfgang Přiklopil
Austria played host to another case of people being kept in captivity, when Wolfgang Přiklopil abducted ten-year-old Natasha Kampusch in March 1998.
Kampusch was held in a small cellar for the first few months of her eight-year captivity, before being allowed to live upstairs &ndash; although she was always forced to sleep in the cellar.
She eventually made small trips with Přiklopil, saying that during these trips she tried in vain to attract attention. Přiklopil also took her on a skiing trip, but she said she didn't have a chance to escape.
Kampusch was also raped and assaulted by Přiklopil during this time, and he told her that the house was booby-trapped if she tried to escape.
An 18-year-old Kampusch made a dash for freedom in August 2006 when she was vacuuming Přiklopil's van - he was distracted by a phone call.
Upon learning that the police were after him, Wolfgang Přiklopil committed suicide by jumping in front of a train.
&nbsp;
Phillip Craig Garrido
California saw another high-profile kidnapping case when 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted in June 1991 by Phillip Craig Garrido and his wife Nancy.
Garrido hid Dugard at his home, where she was repeatedly raped. Dugard would go on to give birth to two daughters during her time in captivity.
Dugard's ordeal was over when, after 18 years, she and her two children were brought to a university campus by Garrido.&nbsp;
Bystanders noticed their behaviour to be strange, with Dugard and the children being described as &quot;sullen and submissive&quot; to Garrido. He then confessed to his crimes during a subsequent interrogation.
Garrido was sentenced to 431 years in prison, with his wife receiving a 36-year prison term.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Josef Fritzl. Credit: AFP]]></caption>
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<pubDate>2013-12-10 10:57:07</pubDate>
<content_id>890598</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Gallery: Nelson Mandela memorial]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Gallery: Nelson Mandela memorial]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Some of the best pictures from political icon Nelson Mandela's memorial service at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. [Gallery]]]></description>
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<caption><![CDATA[US President Barack Obama pauses while speaking during the memorial service for late South African President Nelson Mandela at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on December 10, 2013. Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, died in Johannesburg on December 5 at age 95. Mandela, who was elected South Africa's first black president after spending nearly three decades in prison, had been receiving treatment for a lung infection at his Johannesburg home since September, after three months in hospital i]]></caption>
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<pubDate>2013-12-10 10:02:22</pubDate>
<content_id>890551</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Live stream: Nelson Mandela memorial]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Live stream: Nelson Mandela memorial]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Not near a TV? Watch eNCA's live stream of Nelson Mandela's memorial service at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[ 
Tens of thousands of  grieving South Africans will sit side-by-side with presidents, priests,  queens and sheikhs on Tuesday at a memorial service for unifying global  icon Nelson Mandela.&nbsp;
Close to 100 world leaders and 80 000 South Africans will gather at a  stadium in Soweto - the crucible of Mandela's anti-apartheid struggle -  to bid farewell to a man whose life story earned uncommon universal  respect.&nbsp;
News of the prisoner-turned-president's death at his home in  Johannesburg on Thursday resonated around the world, triggering a wave  of loving admiration from political and religious leaders, some of whom  agree on little else.&nbsp;
The event is part of an extended state funeral that will culminate in  Mandela's burial on Sunday in the rural village of Qunu where he spent  his early childhood. AFP
Watch the eNCA live stream below:

]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Jacob Zuma arrives to deliver his speech at Nelson Mandela's memorial service. AFP PHOTO]]></caption>
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<pubDate>2013-12-06 07:33:38</pubDate>
<content_id>890120</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Mandela: A YouTube collection]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Mandela: A YouTube collection]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[We've put together a compilation of YouTube clips, featuring several of Madiba's notable moments and interviews. ]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[We've put together a compilation of YouTube clips, featuring several of Nelson Mandela's notable moments and interviews.&nbsp;
 

The struggle icon's first interview, to a British network back in 1961.


An audio recording excerpt of Nelson Mandela's Rivonia Trial speech in 1963.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Footage showing Mandela leaving prison in 1990 after 27 years of incarceration.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Madiba's speech upon his release from prison, at City Hall in Cape Town.
&nbsp;

Madiba's inauguration speech marked a new dawn for South Africa.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

The aftermath of the 1995 Rugby World Cup final is arguably the most pivotal moment in post-Apartheid South Africa, featuring Madiba handing the trophy to Francois Pienaar.
&nbsp;

Madiba's 1998 Harvard University speech may be 20 minutes long, but it's well worth watching too.
&nbsp;

Johnny Clegg sings &quot;Asimbonanga&quot;, with Nelson Mandela joining him on-stage.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Nelson Mandela's 2000 interview with talkshow host Oprah Winfrey was also notable.
]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[A file photo of Nelson Mandela. AFP]]></caption>
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<pubDate>2013-11-06 06:15:57</pubDate>
<content_id>886341</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Welcome to the new iafrica.com!]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Welcome to the new iafrica.com!]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Welcome to the new iafrica.com! It's been a long road, but it's finally here - and we're so excited to share it with you!]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[Welcome to the new iafrica.com. It's been a long road, but it's finally here - and we're so excited to share it with you!
Over the past few months we have been working hard on a site update to make sure that your experience of iafrica.com is improved, and have spent the last few weeks tweaking and re-tweaking to live up to our promise of bringing you only the good stuff.
We've launched with a brand new look - one that is cleaner, simpler, and has a stronger focus on content. Sections are now streamlined and easier to navigate, with all your favourite communities put front and centre.
We have also changed the way we publish news to iafrica.com, and have implemented a &quot;content aggregation&quot; system on our news sections on the site. This means that as well as providing our own news content and articles from some of our partners, we will also be highlighting headlines from other news sources, offering you a convenient place to get all your local and international news.
You will still get all the news you need, but there will be more of a focus on our other communities with Lifestyle, Motoring, Entertainment, Cooltech and Travel taking centre stage. You can look forward to more in-depth analysis and feature content and a better multimedia experience - with bolder images and bigger videos.
We're also taking some time to redesign our newsletters &ndash; and as a result, you may not receive your favourite newsletter this week. Not to worry though: We'll be delivering all your favourite content straight to your inboxes as soon as we can!
And as always, please get in touch if you have any queries about the new site or would like to share your thoughts. We'd appreciate your feedback. And if you spot something unusual, please do let us know - we'll grab our bug spray! You can email Candace Whitehead on candacew@primediaonline.co.za or leave a comment here.]]></body_text>
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