The South African government welcomes the good work of the fire fighters that were deployed to Canada to assist that country fight wildlands fires.

The South African government welcomes the good work of the fire fighters that were deployed to Canada to assist that country fight wildlands fires.

"We remain immensely proud of our well-trained firefighters who have done excellent work over a number of years, which has been recognised by the international fire fighting community," says Minister Molewa.

The successful team was instrumental in fighting the fires in our country and saved lives, especially during the worst-recorded veldfires that ravaged the Western Cape last year.

South Africa: The Class of 1976 - Reflections From the Cape

In the winter of 1976, the storms that battered the Cape brought more than rain and hail - they also stirred up the seditious idea of freedom in young minds all across the Cape Flats. I was sixteen years old at the time and attended Alexander Sinton High in Athlone, Cape Town - a school that was known for its political activism. In fact, a year or two earlier we had chased away some officials from the puppet 'Coloured Representative Council' who had planned to use our school as a voting station for their forthcoming elections. Little did we realise that our school would soon become one of the key focal points of an unprecedented student uprising across the Cape Flats.

It started during our first break, one morning in early July, when we decided to hold a placard demonstration in solidarity with the youth of Soweto who were shot by the police some weeks earlier. This simple, non-violent act of protest, unthreatening as it was, elicited a complete over-reaction from the riot police.

In no time, the riot police invaded our school with their rifles and their dogs, their truncheons and their tear gas. If only those camouflage-clad Neanderthals realised at the time how their acts of brutality would speed up the cause of liberation! Thanks to them, ordinary school children were turned into hard-eyed, angry, impatient young militants, practically overnight.

We decided to abandon our classrooms and took to the school hall every day where we sang our freedom songs and dreamt of a new country yet to be born. Banned material, considered innocuous by today's standards, became our prescribed reading material. I remember the liberating power of the Black Consciousness Movement that empowered us to shake off the ambivalence that had beset many in the coloured community, and to identify ourselves as black.

We accused our parents of not having done enough to challenge the apartheid regime. Our parents in turn, bewildered by the new-found militancy of their children, simply didn't know what to do with us. We had flatly rejected the logic of gradualism and the 'old school' style of patient persuasion. We demanded freedom in our lifetime and were no longer prepared to wait for a softening of attitude on the part of the white establishment.

I remember our wise school principal, Mr Desai, who had the incredibly difficult task of keeping his young charges safe from the clutches of the police (as ironic as that sounds!). In retrospect, I believe that our principal, through his calm and patient demeanor, probably diverted many a tragic show down between angry pupils and trigger-happy cops.

That was a time of political innocence. To my young mind, the narrative of 'us' and 'them' could not have been clearer. We were the victims and 'they' were the villains. We were the wronged and they were the perpetrators of that wrong. We were on the side of justice and righteousness and all they had was the ignominy of being on the wrong side of history. We would never give up the fight, but one day they would have to relinquish power. In my wildly exaggerated vision of the future, our liberators would one day cross the Limpopo River, vanquish our oppressors and usher in a society in which the people would govern. Life was wonderfully uncomplicated then!

Forty years later and twenty two years into democracy the dominant narrative of white privilege and black exclusion stubbornly persists. However, the 'pure' narrative of white guilt and black victimhood is difficult to sustain. Other narratives are vying to take center-stage. There is the narrative of the unprincipled pursuit of wealth and its corrosive effects on the souls and values of the oppressed. There is the narrative of the billions that could have been spent on uplifting our people but have instead been flushed down the sewer of corruption and political connections. There is the narrative of poor governance and mismanagement of public institutions. There is the narrative of missed opportunities, 'own goals' and the squandering of our political fortunes post-1994. There is the narrative of new patterns of advantage and disadvantage. There is the narrative of renewed and vitriolic forms of racism. In short, the South African narrative is no longer one-dimensional. Perhaps it never has been. It is a complex narrative that defies finger-pointing in one direction. It is a narrative that forces us to take collective accountability for the state of our land and collective responsibility for fixing it.

Our country is again on the cusp of major social change. There is a new generation of angry and defiant youth, who have become impatient with explanations that justify social exclusion. For them, the dream of substantive equality can no longer be deferred. We can only hope that they will draw lessons from the past. We hope that they have seen what happens to freedom fighters when they are catapulted into positions of power and privilege. We hope that they have seen how easily noble pursuits are set aside by the allure of sudden wealth.

We hope for a new generation of leaders, less obsessed with the Party and more devoted to developing this land and all its people. We hope for a new parliament, one that understands that it is not an assembly of praise singers, but a critical and courageous watchdog of democratic values. In short, we hope for smart, ethical, inclusive and responsible leadership. Unfortunately, judging by the calibre of some of our 'future leaders', there isn't much reason for optimism. But we still hope.

South Africa Remembers June 16 Protest Killings

June 16 marks the day when students were gunned down by Apartheid police during protests against Bantu education in 1976.

The Day Nyerere Refused to Meet Ali

Muhammad Ali's only trip to Tanzania was 36 years ago. But he wasn't here for boxing. The outspoken personality was on a diplomatic mission. He had suddenly been thrust into the cold war politics played out in Africa at the time.

On February 2, 1980, Ali landed in Dar es Salaam for his three-day mission: To convince Tanzania to boycott the 1980 Summer Moscow Olympics.

US President Jimmy Carter had sent the boxer, who was at that time on a tour of India, to five African countries to convince them to boycott the Moscow Olympics in retaliation against Russia's invasion of Afghanistan.

Hundreds of enthusiastic Tanzanians, who had turned up at the airport to greet the great sportsman, ignored barricades and mobbed Ali when he emerged from the plane, according to reports.

But the excitement ended at the airport. The visit was a failure. Not only did Tanzania refuse to boycott the Olympics, President Julius Nyerere also refused to meet with the boxing legend despite multiple efforts and intense lobbying by US embassy officials.

Africa Mourns Muhammad Ali

From heads of state and the United Nations to editorial writers and sports columnists, Africa was as one in remembering "The Greatest".

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali, the Greatest, Dies At 74

Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74 in Phoenix, Arizona. He had been in hospital since Thursday to be treated for a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson's disease.

"I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."

Those words, uttered before the one of the most famous bouts in boxing history, the 'Rumble in the Jungle' in Kinshasa in 1974, perfectly characterize Muhammed Ali. And indeed, full of self-confidence, he went on to knock out George Foreman, of who he said before the fight: "I've seen George Foreman shadow boxing and the shadow won."

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Ali shot to fame by winning light-heavyweight gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Nicknaming himself "The Greatest", he won his first world title in 1964 by beating Sonny Liston. He later became the first boxer to capture a world heavyweight title on three separate occasions.

He eventually retired in 1981, having won 56 of his 61 fights.

Ali was noted for his pre- and post-fight talk and bold fight predictions, just as much as his boxing skills inside the ring.

He was also not shy of roundly mocking his opponents, such as Joe Frazier, whom he called "so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head," and "so ugly he should donate his face to the US Bureau of Wildlife."

But Ali was also a civil rights campaigner and poet who transcended the bounds of sport, race and nationality.

Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said: "As a man who never sold out his people. But if that's too much, then just a good boxer. I won't even mind if you don't mention how pretty I was."

Heavyweight champion at 22

Ali turned professional immediately after the Rome Olympics and rose through the heavyweight ranks, delighting crowds with his showboating, shuffling feet and lightning reflexes.

British champion Henry Cooper came close to stopping Clay, as he was still known, when they met in a non-title bout in London in 1963.

Cooper floored the American with a left hook, but Clay picked himself up off the canvas and won the fight in the next round when a severe cut around Cooper's left eye forced the Englishman to retire.

In February the following year, Clay stunned the boxing world by winning his first world heavyweight title at the age of 22.

He predicted he would beat Liston, who had never lost, but few believed he could do it.

Yet, after six stunning rounds, Liston quit on his stool, unable to cope with his brash, young opponent.

Nation of Islam

At the time of his first fight with Liston, Clay was already involved with the Nation of Islam, a religious movement whose stated goals were to improve the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of African Americans in the United States.

But in contrast to the inclusive approach favored by civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, the Nation of Islam called for separate black development and was treated by suspicion by the American public.

Ali eventually converted to Islam, ditching what he perceived was his "slave name" and becoming Cassius X and then Muhammad Ali.

In 1967, Ali took the momentous decision of opposing the US war in Vietnam, a move that was widely criticized by his fellow Americans.

He refused to be drafted into the US military and was subsequently stripped of his world title and boxing license. He would not fight again for nearly four years.

Reactions to Ali's death

"It's a sad day for life, man. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die. Like Martin Luther King his spirit will live on, he stood for the world." - Don King, who promoted many of Ali's fights, including the Rumble in the Jungle

"Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest human beings I have ever met. No doubt he was one of the best people to have lived in this day and age." - George Foreman, Ali's friend and rival in the Rumble in the Jungle

"There will never be another Muhammad Ali. The black community all around the world, black people all around the world, needed him. He was the voice for us. He's the voice for me to be where I'm at today." - Floyd Mayweather, world champion boxer across five divisions

"Everybody wanted to box because of him. He was just so amazing in every way. More than anything else it was how humble and how brilliantly charismatic he was. He was a beautiful-looking man, a beautiful-looking individual and he had so much compassion. He was the greatest sportsman there has ever been and we were very lucky that he chose boxing." - Barry McGuigan, former world featherweight champion

"We lost a giant today. Boxing benefitted from Muhammad Ali's talents but not as much as mankind benefitted from his humanity." - Filipino six-weight world champion Manny Pacquiao

Rumble in the Jungle

After his conviction for refusing the draft was overturned in 1971, Ali returned to the ring and fought in three of the most iconic contests in boxing history, helping restore his reputation with the public.

He was handed his first professional defeat by Joe Frazier in the "Fight of the Century" in New York on 8 March 1971, only to regain his title with an eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) on 30 October 1974.

Ali fought Frazier for a third and final time in the Philippines on 1 October 1975, coming out on top in the "Thrilla in Manila" when Frazier failed to emerge for the 15th and final round.

Six defenses of his title followed before Ali lost on points to Leon Spinks in February 1978, although he regained the world title by the end of the year, avenging his defeat at the hands of the 1976 Olympic light-heavyweight champion.

Parkinson's

Ali's career ended with one-sided defeats by Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick in 1981, many thinking he should have retired long before.

He fought a total of 61 times as a professional, losing five times and winning 37 bouts by knockout.

Soon after retiring, rumors began to circulate about the state of Ali's health. His speech had become slurred, he shuffled and he was often drowsy.

Parkinson's Syndrome was eventually diagnosed but Ali continued to make public appearances, receiving warm welcomes wherever he travelled.

He lit the Olympic cauldron at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and carried the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Games in London.

Compiled from BBC, agencies

   A poster for the legendary title fight between George foreman and Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa in 1974.