THE HOUSE THAT FORGOT HOW TO LAUGH

 There was no love missing in our house, because there was no love left to miss.That was our secret. We were not sad. Sad would have been easier.In House 24, 2nd Street, Germiston - the Molefes were perfect.6:00 AM - Alarm. 6:15 AM - Mom in the kitchen. The sound of the spoon against the pot. Same pot. Same porridge. Every day for 7 years. 6:30 AM - Dad at the table. Phone brightness on his face. He nods at Mom. Mom nods back. That's their good morning. 6:45 AM - Me and Junior. We eat with the TV on mute. Mom says TV at breakfast rots your brain, so we watch the pictures move with no sound.No one shouts. No one throws plates. Our neighbors who scream at each other at night - they have more life than us.We just... live. We pay. We eat. We sleep. We repeat.Then Mrs. Khumalo gave us the project."Grade 4s, for Life Skills this week: Record 10 moments your family laughed together."I took my pink notebook home like it was gold.DAY 1 - Monday I wrote the date and waited. Dinner....

First group of Zimbabweans to be deported from UK arrive home

 


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 (Photo by Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images)
(Photo by Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images)

The first group among dozens of Zimbabweans slated for deportation from Britain landed in the southern African country Thursday on a charter flight, an AFP correspondent said.

According to Harare, as many as 150 of its citizens are held in detention centres awaiting removal from the UK after being convicted of crimes.

Fourteen arrived in the Zimbabwean capital on Thursday following what the UK Home Office described in a statement as "a landmark and historic agreement to return foreign national offenders".

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said the Zimbabweans "committed murder, rape and other despicable crimes."

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Last-minute legal challenges against the deportations delayed the removal of many among the 50 scheduled to be on the first flight.

Tendai Biti, vice-president of Zimbabwe's main opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, urged Britain to reconsider.

"The deportation of compatriots from the UK is sad and regrettable" he tweeted.

Zimbabwe "remains an extremely fragile & vulnerable space. Political attrition & human rights abuses are increasing," he added.

But foreign minister Fredrick Shava said the returnees would not be victimised.

"There is no reason for anyone to persecute them unless an individual had a pending case which had not been finalised in Zimbabwe," he told public broadcaster ZBC.

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