Riots engulf South Africa's townships By Benjamin Joffe-Walt in Cape Town (Filed: 05/06/2005) Happy Valley does not remotely live up to its name. A shabby collection of makeshift homes that is half township, half rubbish dump, its crime-ridden alleys erupted into violence this week as part of a nationwide wave of rioting that threatens to engulf South Africa. Across Cape Town, township residents have been fighting with riot police armed with rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades in scenes that echo the anti-apartheid riots of the 1980s. This time, though, the focus of anger is the ruling African National...
