Soweto - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Six arrested for hijack killing of South African footballer

SIX suspects were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the killing of South African footballer Luke Fleurs who was shot when his car was hijacked in Johannesburg last week, local media reported. The 24-year-old former junior international, who played for the country’s most popular club Kaizer Chiefs, was shot in the chest at a petrol station last Wednesday and the assailants drove off in his vehicle. Police said six suspects were arrested in Soweto in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Fleurs’ vehicle was recovered on Monday. "Police believe that the suspects are part of a syndicate that is responsible…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Police hunt gunmen who fired 137 rounds in Soweto bar shooting

NEWS

NQOBILE DLUDLA POLICE are hunting for five attackers who burst into a bar in Soweto, South Africa and killed 15 customers in a hail of at least 137 bullets over the weekend, the police minister said. Nine other people were wounded in the raid in the early hours of Sunday morning that followed closely on two other shootings in a surge of violence that shocked a nation with one of the world's highest murder rates. "It was such a brutality," Police Minister Bheki Cele told a crowd gathered at the scene in Soweto's Orlando East neighbourhood. "These people really came…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Gunmen kill 19 people in ‘random’ bar shootings in South Africa

NEWS

NQOBILE DLUDLA and TIM COCKS GUNMEN killed 19 people in two apparently random shootings within hours of each other at taverns in South Africa, police said, reinforcing the country's bleak status as a global centre for murder. Attackers armed with rifles and pistols opened fire in the Orlando East bar in the township of Soweto in the early hours of Sunday, killing 15 people and wounding nine, police said. "You can see by the way the bullet cartridges are cast around that they were just shooting randomly," said Elias Mawela, police commissioner for Gauteng province. Sololo Mjoli's two sons, Sthembiso,…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Three days of violent protests

MULTIMEDIA

THREE days of violence started in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal and spread to Johannesburg, Soweto in Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The South African Police have arrested 62 people in connection with criminal acts. Police believe the protests calling for the release of Jacob Zuma, who is serving his 15-month sentence for contempt, has been hijacked by criminal elements. In Alexandra, a police officer was shot and rushed to hospital. Two other officers sustained minor injuries when they responded to information about businesses being looted. The police said 18 people were arrested. [origincode_photo_gallery_wp id="35"]

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Operation Dudula pushes ahead with hateful politics

NEWS

JAN BORNMAN ON the 45th anniversary of the June 16 uprising in Soweto, dozens of people armed with sjamboks and sticks met in Diepkloof, Soweto, under the banner of Operation Dudula. A poster about it had been circulating for weeks online, warning “We will be removing all illegal foreign nationals by force!!!” Similar posters doing the rounds contained even more inflammatory language and images. Flyers had also been hand-delivered to migrant-owned shops in the weeks leading up to Youth Day, which commemorates those who died at the hands of the oppressive apartheid forces on 16 June 1976 while protesting against…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Mismanagement crippled SA basketball

SPORT

LEE NXUMALO BASKETBALL, once the fastest-growing sport in South Africa, now hardly has recognisable leagues or talents. A group of campaigners have come together to get it thriving and growing again. He increased popularity of the National Basketball Association (NBA) on the global front and the presence of African-born players in the league has given basketball cultural currency among the continent’s youth. Even though basketball had a presence in South Africa since apartheid, its popularity reached its peak only in the late 1990s. At one point, it was considered the fastest-growing sport in the country and on track to becoming…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Snakes and sewage: Housing troubles grow in S. Africa’s Soweto

AFRICITIES

KIM HARRISBERG CRUMBLING walls, sewage leaking into homes, dangerous loose wires - and sometimes, snakes. These are some of the myriad issues residents in Soweto, South Africa's biggest township, have been dealing with for decades, as they say, the government continues to deny them title deeds and urgent upgrades to their homes outside Johannesburg. "It was a dream come true when the government allocated us these homes after more than 15 years of living in a shack," said Nkosinathi Khumalo, resident of the Soweto suburb known as Snake Park because of its slithering visitors. His home was built on top…