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Jul
19
2022
By The African Mirror
Ladysmith Black Mambazo shrug off power cut to sing for Mandela

Ladysmith Black Mambazo shrug off power cut to sing for Mandela

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
TIM COCKS LADYSMITH Black Mambazo sang their warm-hearted choral harmonies in honour of peace icon Nelson Mandela, with a 45-minute forced intermission caused by one of the power cuts that have become a part of daily life in South Africa. The concert in Johannesburg's main theatre, a day before U.N.-declared Mandela Day, his birthday, celebrated the life of the man who steered South Africa from the manacles of apartheid to multi-racial democracy while narrowly avoiding a civil war. "Madiba has been an inspiration for us," Sibongiseni Shabalala, band member and son of the band's late founder Joseph Shabalala, said, using…
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Jul
17
2022
By The African Mirror
Tributes for late ANC leader Jessie Duarte

Tributes for late ANC leader Jessie Duarte

NEWS
THE ANC, South Africa's governing party, has led South Africans in paying tribute to leading political activist Jessie Duarte, the organisation's deputy secretary-general who has passed on after a battle with cancer. Duarte, stepped down from her ANC duties to focus on her health. She passed away on Sunday and was buried later in the day, in line with Muslim rites. The South African government honoured Duarte by declaring an official funeral for her. SA President Cyril Ramaphosa paid tribute to Duarte, whom he described as a long-time anti-apartheid activist who served as a special assistant to former President Nelson…
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Jun
06
2021
By The African Mirror
From apprentice to fashion icon: Ivory Coast’s Pathe’O, 50 years on

From apprentice to fashion icon: Ivory Coast’s Pathe’O, 50 years on

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY WHEN 20-year-old Pathe Ouedraogo left his Burkina Faso village in 1969 in search of a better life in neighbouring Ivory Coast, his dream was to return with a bicycle and a transistor radio to prove he had made it. He was too thin to work on a cocoa farm, so took the chance to learn how to make clothes instead - a decision that propelled him to fashion stardom. "The most accessible job at the time was to be an apprentice tailor," said Ouedraogo. The man mostly known as Pathe'O is now celebrating a 50-year career during which…
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May
08
2021
By The African Mirror
South Africa losing cultural landmarks

South Africa losing cultural landmarks

NEWS
MFUNEKO TOYANA A pair of boxing gloves worn by Nelson Mandela at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa lies under a thick layer of dust in a darkened room, the silence broken only by the thud of moths nose-diving onto the glass display case. The gloves were once one of the most popular exhibits at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, one of dozens of heritage attractions and art galleries around the country forced to close their doors due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We had to let go of all of the staff. About 30…
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Feb
12
2021
By The African Mirror
Mandela funeral graft: MEC faces the chop

Mandela funeral graft: MEC faces the chop

NEWS
AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER EASTERN Cape MEC for Health, Sindiswa Gomba, the highest ranking politician to be arrested for embezzling millions meant for Nelson Mandela’s funeral faces serious political consequences. Following the appearance in court of Gomba and 10 others, her boss, the Eastern Cape Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane, expressed his concern and said he was applying his  mind. Mabuyane said: “I view criminal charges against our Health MEC very seriously. Now that she has been charged by the NPA & was released on bail, I will look into this matter & will soon communicate my decision to the people of…
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Nov
13
2020
By The African Mirror
‘Elders’ group of ex-leaders founded by Mandela urges Trump to accept defeat

‘Elders’ group of ex-leaders founded by Mandela urges Trump to accept defeat

NEWS
Nelson Mandela THE Elders, a group of prominent former world leaders, voiced concern at U.S. President Donald Trump's refusal to concede electoral defeat, saying it showed disrespect for the integrity of American democracy. The group was founded by late former South African President Nelson Mandela and is now chaired by former Irish President Mary Robinson. It includes Mandela's widow Graca Machel, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Nobel Peace Prize-winning former presidents of Colombia and Liberia, and an array of other former world leaders. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is an emeritus member. Trump's position was "putting at risk the functioning…
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Sep
13
2020
By The African Mirror
Book reveals new, surprising nuggets about Nelson Mandela’s last years in jail

Book reveals new, surprising nuggets about Nelson Mandela’s last years in jail

LITERATURE
GAVIN EVANS TWENTY years ago the South African academic Jan-Ad Stemmet met the apartheid era justice minister Kobie Coetsee, who announced he had transcripts of 13,000 pages of recordings of Nelson Mandela’s time in prison. These transcripts of the anti-apartheid struggle icon contained, he said, “bombs, atom bombs” that would blow everything up. The pair began to discuss a book deal but only two days in the 69-year-old Coetsee died of a heart attack and the moment passed. Then, 14 years on, this trove of documents reemerged in an archive at the University of the Free State, where Stemmet taught…
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Sep
12
2020
By The African Mirror
Remembering Steve Biko, who died 43 years ago today, in police custody

Remembering Steve Biko, who died 43 years ago today, in police custody

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
MATTHEW GRAHAM, Lecturer in History, University of Dundee WHILE Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, and Desmond Tutu are rightly venerated for their role in opposing and ending white minority rule in South Africa, another leader of the liberation years has been remarkably overlooked: Bantu Steven Biko, who led the enormously influential Black Consciousness Movement. Four decades after his death in police custody on September 12 1977, he deserves to be recognised as one of the towering heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle. Black Consciousness re-energised black opposition to apartheid and helped draw the world’s attention to the brutality of South Africa’s white…
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Sep
12
2020
By The African Mirror
The versatile George Bizos!

The versatile George Bizos!

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
KHULU MBATHA Standing trial for having left the country illegally and so on, Nelson Mandela used the court’s platform to pronounce on principle and policies that his organisation stood for. After explaining his motives for joining the struggle of the African majority against a white minority oppressor group, Mandela stated: “The African National Congress further believed that all people, irrespective of the national groups to which they may belong, and irrespective of the colour of their skin, all people whose home is South Africa and who believe in the principles of democracy and of equality of men, should be treated…
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Sep
12
2020
By The African Mirror
Special official funeral for Mandela’s lawyer, George Bizos

Special official funeral for Mandela’s lawyer, George Bizos

NEWS
AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER GEORGE Bizos, the late human rights lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela and many other freedom fighters, has been given the ultimate honour by a government he helped install. The South African government has announced that Bizos, who died this week aged 92, will be accorded a special funeral. The honour is given to individuals who have contributed to the struggle against apartheid and the building of a new South Africa. South Africans, African and others around the world have paid warm tributes to Bizos, a powerful and fearless legal eagle famous for his commitment to social justice.…
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