South African authorities today said they were releasing up to 35,000 inmates to ease overcrowding in the nation’s prisons.

South Africans today celebrated Nelson Mandela’s birthday by planting gardens, painting clinics and calling for unity.

Charges against a Sunday Mirror journalist arrested after a football fan’s intrusion into the England team’s dressing room during the World Cup in South Africa were dropped today.

BRITISH and South African police have thwarted attempts by English hooligans to get to the World Cup and around 3,200 identified trouble-makers have until today to hand in their passports to prevent them travelling.

A South African white supremacist leader was bludgeoned to death by two of his farm workers in an apparent wage dispute, police said, but his followers today blamed a fiery youth leader for a “hate speech” which they claim led to his killing.