Word: umtata
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...normally sleepy town of Umtata (pop. 25,000), the cold and drizzle did not deter the frantic last-minute preparations for independence day. Giant yellow earthmovers groaned through the mud of the Transkei's capital, completing $12 million worth of new paved highways and carving out access roads to the newly completed $14 million airport and a $2.4 million Holiday Inn. The immediate purpose of all the construction is to prepare for distinguished visitors. The only head of state who has so far accepted an invitation to next week's ceremonies, however, is South Africa's President...
...annual operating budget is contributed by South Africa, and 70% of its national income consists of remittances from members of the Xhosa tribe who work "abroad"-in the mines, factories and farms of white South Africa -as migrant laborers. Admits a black civil servant in one of Umtata's new government office buildings, "We are like a puppet show, with the whites pulling the strings as we dance to their tune...
...stay on duty in parts of the Transkei. Fortnight ago, a white family of four were capriciously hacked to death with pangas as they stumbled down the steps of their burning trailer, set afire while parked on a road only 30 miles from the Transkei's capital of Umtata...
...smart brown suit and fedora) and his counselors (one in a gilded top hat, military greatcoat and pajama pants), raised cheers for "Sozizwe"(the Father of All Nations) and prepared to slaughter eight oxen in his honor. "Bring on your enemies," yelled hundreds of Transkei herders in Umtata a few days later, "and we will slaughter them...
...From Umtata, bringing the showers with him, the Royal Rainmaker and his family chuffed northward in their cream-&-gold train to the high plateau of the Orange...