South Africa: Chickens and Eggs in Ciskei

A dirt-poor, despotically ruled homeland pursues lavish plans

The first time the blue (for freedom) and white (for peace) flag was hoisted in public, the flagpole snapped in two. Ciskei may not be paradise, but it is undoubtedly persistent. When the black "homeland" threw itself a raucous second-birthday party, the flagpole stood firm. As motorcycle teams, tribal dancers and drum majorettes performed in the local stadium, President Lennox Leslie Wongoma Sebe, 57, Homburg-hatted and morning-suited, cruised through the streets of Bisho, his capital city, in a black Cadillac. Then, guarded by a gang of security men in ill-fitting suits and...

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