Word: umtata
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Nelson Mandela is born at Qunu, near Umtata. After his father dies, Mandela is groomed for the chieftainship of Thembuland...
...letters, not in the incomprehensible, upside-down, umlaut- laden code favored by Webster's and American Heritage. Franklin might be less pleased with the OAD because he doesn't appear in it. The editors mysteriously decided to include the spellings of every nation in the world and their capitals (Umtata is the capital of Transkei) but to avoid all personal names except those of the 40 Presidents of the United States. Vice-presidents (too bad for fans of George Mifflin Dallas, Polk's v.p.) don't make it; and Ronald Reagan didn't make press time...
...would legitimize the Transkei nation by recognizing the new government, and most non-African states have announced they will follow the OAU's lead. Even the United States, which kept the world guessing about its intentions until three days ago, said last week it will not send representatives to Umtata, the Transkei capital...
...time farmer who raises cattle and sheep, Matanzima rules in a chiefly style. On state occasions he is preceded by a "praise singer," wrapped in a leopard's skin, who shouts of great deeds, real or imagined, by "Matanzima the Mighty." Among the new buildings being erected near Umtata is a $345,000 mansion for the chief...
Criticism is not welcomed. When the celebrated South African play Sizwe Banzi Is Dead was presented in Umtata, Matanzima was furious at its barbed references to the Transkei's independence as meaningless. Though the play has been hailed both in the U.S. and Britain, Matanzima closed it down and jailed Xhosa Actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona (who appeared in it on Broadway last year) on the grounds that the play was "highly inflammatory, abusive and vulgar...