How South Africa confronts symbols of its difficult past are being discussed in newspaper columns, television talkshows and mainstream politics. A 112-year-old statue of Queen Victoria has become the latest colonial or apartheid-era monument to be vandalised in South Africa, raising fears that a racially charged debate over the country’s heritage could spiral out of control. Splashes of green paint... 

Racist “president” Robert Mugabe’s apparent disgust at seeing a “white face” has elicited mixed reactions from people on social networking site Twitter. Mugabe was in Soweto on Thursday visiting the Hector Pieterson Memorial. Exiting the museum, he was cheered by locals. In a video clip taken by the SABC, Mugabe is seen walking past the crowds when the national broadcaster’s television...