Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for narrative songs about her personal life, which have received widespread media coverage. At age 14, Swift became the youngest artist signed by the Sony/ATV Music publishing house and, at 15, she signed her first record deal.
Her 2006 eponymous debut album was the longest-charting album of the 2000s in the US. Its third single, "Our Song", made her the youngest person to single-handedly write and perform a number-one song on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Swift's second album, Fearless, was released in 2008.
Buoyed by the pop crossover success of the singles "Love Story" and "You Belong with Me", it became the US' best-selling album of 2009 and was certified diamond in the US. The album won four Grammy Awards, and Swift became the youngest Album of the Year winner.
Historic Pretoria rainbow crossing under threat
mambaonline.comThe rainbow crossing in Pretoria may not be there for much longer (Pic: Malcolm De Klerk) The fate of what’s said to be Africa’s first rainbow crossing is unclear just days after it was painted in Pretoria to mark Pride month. MambaOnline was on Tuesday evening contacted by DA City of Tshwane Councillor Malcolm De Klerk advising that lane markings and a zebra crossing in Church Square in the Pretoria CBD would be painted in the rainbow colours on Wednesday morning. “I’m super excited to announce after three years of pushing and getting things done, we shall be painting Africa’s first rainbow crossing tomorrow.
Proud to have started this and leave our queer mark on the City of Tshwane in South African Pride month,” De Klerk said. On Wednesday, as planned, he and other City of Tshwane Councilors and Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs) gathered at Church Square to help paint the designs on the walkways.
Soon, after, however, De Klerk notified us that “we have been ordered by the Heritage Council to remove what we painted”. He said he’d been told by the Chief Whip of the City Council that “the Heritage Council has more or less said it’s against the heritage of the area and it almost points to an attack on Afrikaans heritage with encroachment on Paul Kruger’s statue, which is 50 metres away.” De Klerk noted that the area was part of a recently renovated City of Tshwane pavement.
MambaOnline contacted the National Heritage Council to confirm if it had indeed ordered the removal of the rainbow designs. Danny Legodi, Head of Communication & Stakeholder, told us over the phone that this was the first he’d heard about the matter.
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