Farms collapse as land reform fails in South Africa

<p><em><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Looming crisis: </span></strong></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Food production has not kept pace with South Africa’s population growth</span></strong></em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xREMvvSqL2maAPrpG0t1R3AOJqt8ruJhhu4e8-hHDstf8zv_LmkPu84bOGZX7G_-dzWD75vDB2brkR8KFKaTHuEo899DVOdgdLc8mCFIhVw9DVlTQ4pyvCHZ0O9-HDvlxUVDhs7vs3U/s1600-h/bread_food.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308199910983222210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xREMvvSqL2maAPrpG0t1R3AOJqt8ruJhhu4e8-hHDstf8zv_LmkPu84bOGZX7G_-dzWD75vDB2brkR8KFKaTHuEo899DVOdgdLc8mCFIhVw9DVlTQ4pyvCHZ0O9-HDvlxUVDhs7vs3U/s400/bread_food.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 264px" /></a>SA becomes net importer of food as vast tracts of land lie fallow.</span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">South Africa’s food security is threatened by its chaotic rural land reform programme. </span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Thousands of once-productive farms, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape lie abandoned & causing serious shortages of staple foods.</span></strong></span> <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /><br />The country now imports more food than it exports and local production of grain, fruit and vegetables can no longer keep pace with the growing population.<br /><br />Uncertainty about South Africa’s land reform process — the authorities recently extended for the fourth time their deadline to finalise claims — has seen scores of commercial farmers stopping all investments in their properties. Others are leaving for more stable pastures, with many opting for Mozambique’s subtropical fruit and grain industry or stock farming in Botswana.<br /><br />Although there have been success stories in land restitution, the process aimed to improve livelihoods has left scores of communities divided and in debt.<br /><br />A private company appointed by the government as a strategic partner to provide management expertise for newly acquired restitution farms in Limpopo and Mpumalanga has collapsed, leaving beneficiaries owing millions in unpaid debt.<br /><br />This week, the Land Claims Commission said an audit of the struggling projects has been concluded, but failed to provide specifics. But it did say the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs would take the lead in the implementation of a “revival strategy”.<br /><br />The new Land and Agrarian Reform Programme promises to put together support packages, employ project managers, engage strategic partners and landowners, procure investment and redesign farming operations.<br /><br />On a two-week visit to farms around the country, the Sunday Times discovered that:<br /><br /><br /></p></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Twenty top crop and dairy farms in the Eastern Cape, bought for R11.6-million and returned to a Kokstad community, are now informal settlements;<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">A once-thriving potato farm in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands is now a makeshift soccer field;<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Ten thousand people given back 8000ha of prime fruit and macadamia farms in Limpopo are crippled by R5-million debt;<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">A former multimillion-rand tea estate in Magoebaskloof in Limpopo has become an overgrown forest;<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">More than five tons of a macadamia nut crop on a reclaimed Limpopo farm was so poor that it was dumped into the Levubu river; and<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">A R22-million irrigation system built by the government to supply water to new farmers in KwaZulu-Natal lies unused.<br /></li></ul></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">A lack of post-settlement support, with almost no monitoring and evaluation on the ground, are cited as the main reasons for the crisis.<br /><br />Ann Bernstein, executive director of the Centre for Development and Enterprise, a policy think-tank, said its research had shown that the economic viability of many rural regions was under serious threat. Some beneficiaries had no interest in farming but just wanted a secure place to stay, she said.<br /><br />“The issue is that at least 50% of land reform projects have failed, and that means for many of the people involved their circumstances have not improved — and for some, have even got worse. And all this is happening in the midst of a rise in food prices,” Bernstein said.<br /><br />AgriSA deputy president Dr Theo de Jager said the organisation was extremely concerned about collapsing farms.<br /><br />He said “too many decision-makers” in each claimant community had made it difficult for commercial farmers to enter into agreed joint partnership ventures or mentoring programmes.<br /><br />Andre Jooste, a senior manager at the National Agricultural Marketing Council, said they had seen a “relatively big increase” in the demand for food in the country. “The main concern with national food security is the fact that, since the early ’90s, the population has grown by 32% while overall agricultural production has only grown by 10%,” Jooste said.<br /><br />“I think the failures we see in land reform was an opportunity missed to increase food supply in the country. Production has not kept up with population increases and that should be a serious concern to all role players.”<br /><br />Food prices increased when there was restricted supply and big demand.<br /><br />Professor Ben Cousins, director of the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape, said the land reform process had not succeeded in improving people’s livelihoods.<br /><br />“We’ve been measuring success in the wrong way by putting emphasis on speed in terms of meeting deadlines, which is counterproductive,” he said.<br /><br />Despite a co-ordinated revival plan, acting chief land claims commissioner Andrew Mphela said it was too early to measure performance or to talk of failure. He said that contrary to “popular rhetoric and biased reporting from certain quarters”, projects did not collapse but instead experienced “challenges”.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjpSxM6KLVvI4-eL1llIkYDByjv2nPbU5W_CPqddo0cBfnFnnMGSiR4Od4j-w45JGUfBx2gBv_5hqal1u1KF7jfiOO9BX7IJIuQk88CzUXb5g22mR5F7OHxhAmbdhXhNlxxGWPj7raE4/s1600-h/HomelessNotLandless.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308204742645745938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjpSxM6KLVvI4-eL1llIkYDByjv2nPbU5W_CPqddo0cBfnFnnMGSiR4Od4j-w45JGUfBx2gBv_5hqal1u1KF7jfiOO9BX7IJIuQk88CzUXb5g22mR5F7OHxhAmbdhXhNlxxGWPj7raE4/s400/HomelessNotLandless.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 212px" /></a>Mphela said most claims were only at an initial planning stage as far as post-settlement support was concerned.<br /><br />He said the government’s policy envisaged a 10-year period for implementation after claims had been concluded.<br /><br />Mphela described the Centre for Development and Enterprise as “self-proclaimed experts” whose claims were “baseless”, “frivolous” and “vexatious, if not outright mischievous”.<br /><br />He said land reform was not a simple process. “There is a human development dimension to it. There is a cultural dimension to it, which is about constructing the human spirit which was destroyed over decades.<br /><br />“It is precisely this culture of labour that was destroyed by apartheid in our people. In fact, it made them hate labour in all its forms because for them it was not voluntary. This aspect of land reform and restructuring of dignity is never understood.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><br /></span>

Farms collapse as land reform fails in South Africa

Looming crisis: Food production has not kept pace with South Africa’s population growth SA becomes net importer of food as vast tracts of la...

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Is Obama A Communist Plot?

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGA0Ut3yaOw_WOhgQvRrh47QMfIq1fC5rngiQFQVG7sGEc0QkMUVfyTEWerwHQJOxXPg3Hp0_Kp0fBXb8yWk8rD0CaWBKn47Zl6e_e-Ms0Cz7BsQ8TMPd7Pu687zID-3QSRtE2S62D_TQ/s1600-h/Obama_Lenin_01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308184611577854722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGA0Ut3yaOw_WOhgQvRrh47QMfIq1fC5rngiQFQVG7sGEc0QkMUVfyTEWerwHQJOxXPg3Hp0_Kp0fBXb8yWk8rD0CaWBKn47Zl6e_e-Ms0Cz7BsQ8TMPd7Pu687zID-3QSRtE2S62D_TQ/s400/Obama_Lenin_01.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">The Tom Fife Interview</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Tom Fife recounts </span><a href="http://www.rense.com/general84/brck.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em>his 1992 experience in Russia</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> when a Communist tells him of person named "Barack" who is being groomed to take over America. Is the "Barack" the Communist spoke of now the President of the United States? Listen to the interview and decide for yourself!</span> </p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The following is an excerpt from Friday's show, listen to the entire show <a style="FONT-STYLE: italic" href="http://therightperspectivepodcastblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/is-obama-communist-plot.html">here</a>.</span></span></span></p><p><a style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold" href="http://www.therightperspective.org/Audio/2009/TRP_2009.02.27_Tom_Fife.mp3"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Right Click and "Save As...." to Download</em></span></a></p><p></p>

Is Obama A Communist Plot?

The Tom Fife Interview Tom Fife recounts his 1992 experience in Russia when a Communist tells him of person named "Barack" who is...

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Madlala-Routledge a "ticking time bomb".

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeKDmYQ6u8oncSh9XFrfbAl10JXkdkffmBFXcbx-5GHEmxSq91rzlnx4S7Yui9gOe8akhYAWYhxyjCBUlYcdQpuZCJan5wYPuu71_fLnLJPeYLY7x4mNWj-OEi_4Vw2vNUhryrfTYIXM/s1600-h/Madlala-Routledge-02.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308176556678095826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeKDmYQ6u8oncSh9XFrfbAl10JXkdkffmBFXcbx-5GHEmxSq91rzlnx4S7Yui9gOe8akhYAWYhxyjCBUlYcdQpuZCJan5wYPuu71_fLnLJPeYLY7x4mNWj-OEi_4Vw2vNUhryrfTYIXM/s400/Madlala-Routledge-02.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 290px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">When news broke that the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, planned an allegedly unauthorised R93 000-trip to Vietnam last weekend, it was like deja vu for those who know her well.</span></strong><br /><br />In 2006, she was lionised after then President Thabo Mbeki fired her over an unauthorised R160 000-trip to Spain.<br /><br />She however denied guilt, claiming authorisation was withdrawn when she was already in Spain.<br /><br />The whole issue became lost in the war of words between the pro- and anti-Mbeki factions in the cold war that was raging to discredit and unseat Mbeki.<br /><br />Recently, Madlala-Routledge said she did not need authority from National Assembly Speaker Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde as she was on a Working Group on Inter-Parliamentary Union business.<br /><br />She also claimed she had informed Mahlangu-Nkabinde at least a week earlier, and not the Friday before as Mahlangu-Nkabinde alleged.<br /><br />A closer look at the story however revealed a string of last-minute travel authorisations from her superiors, a well-connected Zulu woman with a royal mien, and a history of strained relations with seniors.<br /><br />Some former colleagues even claim she is a "ticking time bomb".<br /><br />As was the case with former ANC spokesperson Carl Niehaus, they claim the party would make a huge mistake of judgement to elevate her to any public leadership position.<br /><br />Madlala-Routledge features 14th on the party's candidate lists for Parliament and there is talk of her becoming the next Speaker.<br /><br />The 56-year-old shot to fame after her election to the ANC's December 2007 National Executive Committee in Polokwane.<br /><br />She made a name for herself by speaking out against Mbeki's denialist stance on HIV/Aids and then Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's bizarre utterances on garlic and beetroot, while she was her deputy.<br /><br />She became heroine of the anti-Mbeki lobby after being sacked in what was widely considered an unfair move.<br /><br />The trip to Spain was the end, rather than the beginning of a string of allegedly unauthorised trips Madlala-Routledge had planned while she was in Cabinet.<br /><br />An insider said then Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota caught her more than once while on her way on unauthorised trips, each time denying rules required her to seek the minister's approval.<br /><br />More than once presidential permission for trips as deputy minister was sought while aboard the plane because she did not regard authorisation as necessary.<br /><br />At the time of her dismissal she retorted at a Press conference that it was not uncommon for ministers to travel without approval from the Presidency, because they often left at short notice.<br /><br />It is however difficult to get a clear picture of Madlala-Routledge, as she seems to have two very different faces.<br /><br />The sympathetic describe her as a plain talker who does not take kndly to excessive bureaucracy, who has a lot of integrity and who cannot bear incompetence or injustices.<br /><br />Others claim she is a "very difficult person" and a "continual embarrassment" to her superiors.<br /><br />They also claim she has no financial savvy and tends to spend more money than she has.<br /><br />The Aids NGO, the Treatment Action Campaign, helped her raise money after her sacking after she claimed in a newspaper report that she struggled to make ends meet.<br /><br />This was despite the fact that she retained her job as an MP.<br /><br />Could power and money lead to her downfall as someone who has known her for long suggested?<br /><br />She is perhaps a little undiplomatic; more of an NGO-style activist as her background suggests, than someone who is comfortable with the smooching and pretence that accompanies politics.<br /><br />Madlala-Routledge comes from a humble home in KwaZulu-Natal.<br /><br />However, due to royal associations of her clan, she is treated like a queen when she goes home on official visits.<br /><br />Her KwaZulu-Natal links have ingratiated and kept her in favour with the ANC leadership of the day.<br /><br />It is said she is very close to ANC leader Jacob Zuma.<br /><br />She was appointed caucus chair in 2008 as part of the realignment of ANC structures in Parliament after Mbeki was ousted as party president.<br /><br />Barely 10 months later she rose to the powerful position of Deputy Speaker after then speaker, Baleka Mbete was appointed Deputy President in the wake of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's resignation in solidarity with Mbeki.<br /><br />Buoyed by her SACP background, her high intelligence and charm, Madlala-Routledge appears steadfastly set on the path to the top.<br /><br />The question on many lips, however, is if this is her time to shine, why was she not appointed Health Minister after Tshabalala-Msimang was moved to the Presidency in October last year?<br /><br />Madlala-Routledge has told friends that she was approached by Zuma to fill the position, but declined because she had made too many enemies in the administration due to her outspokenness.<br /><br />She claims to have been bullied by her former minister, but other sources claim Tshabalala-Msimang and some officials were in fact "terrorised" by her.<br /><br />Although it is said she performed very well as caucus chair, insiders say, like with Lekota and Tshabalala-Msimang before, relations between Madlala-Routledge and her boss at Parliament, Mahlangu-Nkabinde, are strained.<br /><br />Madlala-Routledge reportedly denied this.<br /><br />Mahlangu-Nkabinde, whose office would not comment on the matter, is not an easy person to work with either.<br /><br />Those who have worked with her expressed reservations on her commitment and competence.<br /><br />As Deputy Speaker there was mistrust between her and Mbete that there was no official handover when Mbete was moved up.<br /><br />Mahlangu-Nkabinde occupies the safe number 62 on the ANC's election lists, but as she is regarded as a Mbeki sympathiser, her chances of a powerful office are small.<br /><br />Some people say the latest spat between her and Madlala-Routledge is a result of the current election list process, and that Mahlangu-Nkabinde, like those before her, can be outshined by her junior.<br /><br />Some however expressed sympathy with Mahlangu-Nkabinde, believing Madlala-Routledge was in the wrong with regards to the trip.<br /><br />Legal opinion is being obtained on what parliamentary rules say.<br /><br />As in her previous disputes with ministers, when she approached either Zuma or Mbeki, Madlala-Routledge has allegedly asked for ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe to intervene.<br /><br />Mantashe did not deny this, but said: "I do not feed rumours."<br /><br />Madlala-Routledge's office yesterday said she had no comment on the allegations.<br /><br />Whether the latest spat is due to Madlala-Routledge being a serial offender or a serial victim, it is almost a certainty that she will see controversy again - sooner rather than later.</span> </p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><em><span style="color:#000099;">Related Article</span><br /></em></span><a class="feedlink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20090224110118127C635883"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Madlala-Routledge slammed for Vietnam trip</em></span></a> </p><p><br /></p>

Madlala-Routledge a "ticking time bomb".

When news broke that the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, planned an allegedly unauthorised R93 000-trip to Vietnam ...

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ANC Built on Lies and Deceit

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8sVzz9OnAnO6gfREFQGsA4nreJa5sk8LcoOXvGet6kIVfjRY_1fRidzMNZlDYrGeu18qx9ZddMAFZO4w18F4IPyZJtTj5tJLCE1LHNOUt6YGv7Zugmx5I74PYX45fm1lmpBrULTrKnU/s1600-h/kgalema+motlanthe.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308219590793636514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8sVzz9OnAnO6gfREFQGsA4nreJa5sk8LcoOXvGet6kIVfjRY_1fRidzMNZlDYrGeu18qx9ZddMAFZO4w18F4IPyZJtTj5tJLCE1LHNOUt6YGv7Zugmx5I74PYX45fm1lmpBrULTrKnU/s400/kgalema+motlanthe.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 248px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">QUOTE OF THE WEEK</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#cc0000;">"ANC was built on truth and it lives by the truth"</span> <span style="color:#000099;">— <em>Motlanthe.</em></span></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Priceless!!!</span></span> <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#cc0000;">"We must do more this time around. We want to invest on education to make sure that all the children go to school."</span><br /><br />Motlanthe said they would invest resources in creating bulk infrastructure and towards maintaining it, in order to provide people with water, lights and paved roads.<br /><br />He said there was no need for potholes in the country's roads <span style="color:#cc0000;">"when there are people without jobs".<br /><br />"As we said in this year's budget, we will invest more into bulk infrastructure and create more decent jobs for our people."<br /></span><br />He said the ANC would win the upcoming elections because it had worked hard towards it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>see full story - </em></span><a class="l" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','res','1','&sig2=UUTZx3EoFYetxa6EBBKYIA')" href="http://www.pretorianews.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=nw20090221151628223C187785"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Pretoria News</em></span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#000000;"><em>......more Motlanthe lies</em></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><a class="twelveblackBold" href="http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_2477953,00.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em>'Vote for leaders with morals'</em></span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em> — Motlanthe<br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">'I oppose corruption'</span> — Motlanthe</em><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Kgalema Motlanthe urges South Africans to vote for public representatives with good moral values during the upcoming elections.</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Motlanthe said his party is totally against public representatives who are involved in corruption.</span></span> <p></p>

ANC Built on Lies and Deceit

QUOTE OF THE WEEK "ANC was built on truth and it lives by the truth" — Motlanthe. Priceless!!! "We must do more this time a...

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Revealed: The horror of everyday life in Zimbabwe

<p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Starving children eat rats, families turn on each other and farmers kill their own livestock to survive. Smuggled film brings Mugabe nightmare to world's attention </span></strong></span><br /><center><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bvJNpkLxyzg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bvJNpkLxyzg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><div align="left"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">A Guardian film smuggled out of Zimbabwe brings home the economic devastation and deprivation Robert Mugabe has wreaked upon his own people.<br /><br />Sam Chakaipa, at considerable risk to himself and as an act of resistance, returned clandestinely to his village, 125 miles from Harare, to document the plight of his former neighbours.<br /><br />The opposition activist has produced extraordinary footage of what Zimbabweans have to do in order to survive in a wrecked economy. As </span><a title="" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/30/zimbabwean-currency-worthless-patrick-chinamasa"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">money is worthless</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> – Zimbabwe is plagued by the world's highest inflation rate – the villagers are reduced to panning for gold in rivers. Instead of attending school, youngsters from the village scrabble knee-deep in muddy water or dig ever deeper holes in a desperate search for a few grains of gold.<br /><br />These small supplies of the precious metal have thus become a crucial commodity Zimbabweans can trade for food; a loaf of bread is worth 0.1 grams. But only the young have the strength to dig and pan for gold; the village elders must go hungry, unless they have friends or relatives they can rely on. Some parents have been forced to feed rats to their children, and hunger has turned family members against each other.<br /><br />In a particularly wrenching scene in the video, a 15-year-old girl with a swollen face describes tearfully how her grandmother beat her to drive her away as she was an extra mouth to feed. She says she has not eaten for three days.</span> </div><center><br /></center><div align="left"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/" name="&lid=" lpos="{contentTypeByline}{2}"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>guardian.co.uk</em></span></a></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><P>

Revealed: The horror of everyday life in Zimbabwe

Starving children eat rats, families turn on each other and farmers kill their own livestock to survive. Smuggled film brings Mugabe nightma...

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Africa scores 7 of 'Top 10' Crises Spots in the World.

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVk-8J4khzL1yrJJpCTmduUjL_koJjz2m0fxXa3tqem_u_jzqDckYmuzlIQfyb16PH9Rn8hzF1OX9NWnzDKbgSLcVErOlzLBZCUpBzyrbsL-HtI4PCqNlMIyN5ggyTy9-YSP9CVxjNOc/s1600-h/africa-chains.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307945893992266242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSVk-8J4khzL1yrJJpCTmduUjL_koJjz2m0fxXa3tqem_u_jzqDckYmuzlIQfyb16PH9Rn8hzF1OX9NWnzDKbgSLcVErOlzLBZCUpBzyrbsL-HtI4PCqNlMIyN5ggyTy9-YSP9CVxjNOc/s400/africa-chains.bmp" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#000000;">Corrupt African politicians, their cronies, the business elite and the well connected, have hijacked and exercise full control over all resources including land, labour, capital and revenues from all economic activities in Africa today. In this alarming 'top 10' crisis spots in the world, alongside Iraq and Pakistan, Of the 'Top 10' list of most needy countries judged by violence, poverty and medical needs, Africa holds 5 out of 8 on the list, plus a further 2 for 'out of control situations', thanks to these corrupt African politicians and their associates who are holding the people captive with their ill-conceived economic policies and programmes. Poverty in Africa today is the modern version of the slavery that took place five centuries ago. <em><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#000099;">See also</span> </span></em><a href="http://southafrica-pig.blogspot.com/2009/02/poverty-africas-modern-day-slavery.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Slavery in Africa today</span></em></a> </span><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">The annual ranking from Doctors Without Borders of the world's Top 10 Humanitarian Crises. They've looked at violence, grinding poverty and unmet medical needs in 70-plus countries -- more than a third of the global total -- where desperate conditions prevail, and they've come up with a list of eight, plus two out-of-control situations that are as bad as it gets.</span></strong><br /><br />They are:<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">- Somalia:</span></strong> With more than a million people forced from their homes, many in the face of extreme danger, this country has "seemingly limitless humanitarian needs," says the Doctors Without Borders website. Yet targeted attacks, including assassinations and kidnappings, against aid workers "make it an almost impossible place to administer aid." So unmet needs continue to multiply, as does the death toll while people take greater and greater risks to try to flee.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">- Myanmar:</span></strong> Maybe Cyclone Nargis did one good thing when it devastated the country last May. It finally put Myanmar into the international spotlight. With a government that annually spends just 70 cents per capita on health care, and with foreign aid totalling just $3 a head, it's about time. But with a suspicious government interfering with aid delivery, problems -- especially health problems -- abound. In particular, HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria -- all treatable, and often preventable -- run rampant.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">- Zimbabwe:</span></strong> Rampant HIV/AIDS and other killer diseases, a dysfunctional economy with inflation running at 231 million per cent, a population desperate to flee the country, repression of political opposition and outside humanitarian groups -- the bottom line is reflected in one horrifying statistic: Life expectancy in the country that was once Africa's bread basket has plummeted to just 34 years.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">- DR Congo:</span></strong> Failure of yet another ceasefire in North Kivu region means more of the fighting that has gone on for years, more violence directed at civilians, and hundreds of thousands more refugees. They flee in all directions, but most don't even find a place to provide clean water, food or basic health care. The International Rescue Committee estimates that, throughout the Congo, violence and deprivation have killed 5.4 million since 1988.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">- Ethiopia:</span></strong> Caught between warring rebels and government troops, and beset by drought, the nomadic people of Ethiopia's Somali region are losing their livelihoods, if not their lives. Treatable diseases run rampant in the absence of medical help. They are worsened by malnutrition, especially in children. Meanwhile, too few aid workers are further hampered by bureaucratic hurdles.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">- Pakistan:</span></strong> Fighting between government and anti-government forces combined with U.S. bombing of suspected terrorist strongholds have resulted in massive displacement of refugees. "In just a few days, hundreds of thousands of people fled fighting that broke out in the tribal area of Bajuar Agency," said Fabien Schneider, the Doctors Without Borders head of mission in the region. "In the camps we visited, we were told about bombings and people who died."<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">- Sudan:</span></strong> "Media attention and political involvement in Darfur means that everyone knows about conflict here," says Banu Altunbas, the agency's head of mission in South Darfur. "But in the last four years, the situation has not improved. In fact, for most people, things are worse." There's also a continuing, decades-old civil war in the south of the sprawling country.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">- Iraq:</span></strong> Since the U.S. invasion in 2003, Doctors Without Borders maintains, "Various military and political actors have sought to use and abuse humanitarian action for political purposes and in so doing have made humanitarian organizations a target for violent attacks." This has complicated the always-difficult task of addressing acute civilian needs in the country. It got so bad that Doctors Without Borders withdrew from violence-affected regions of the country, but it is now cautiously starting to return.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiejQg5IfewNSAHI2_cQNRIOwxBExoB1FsKfyxQ847FXvKR0Sbe73TYIzhHQk7-_nuhqbI_vl88FgnVlC5vYuyxPQZv-6fS9ZRkDR3RQrp24KTlsfT9IZjjcs1zEcBCvsIO4f2PDiu_Kc0/s1600-h/poverty_Food_riots_farm_bill_2008.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGceyGitDNFJfGcbp6ha1AtpT4EnOTZdgK5j7O9UN0h2fTVxmjIUaG56DC91XJkIIywDLP74ZGXzQfl2qPwz9eV9Diw0OzJxsvDaYkzTO5Hn6hIPKtD7YgumZHYPII27YO3RYrXPCm7DE/s1600-h/poverty_Food_riots_farm_bill_2008.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguFEbpZWh_NEziYT-xYgpYTZkUmyBzSxO8o6khaAFVQJYwiZJeeu_0NRuvc9ci-fhL5CBtIQCQjN_NWJZ0OYMxYNfFevErdidE-Jttimi2s9IukZOYKIiAdvSC6u1N6oINFzR1EIsgkys/s1600-h/poverty_Starved_girl.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzNP6XF6EFUqed1iBab_b3AfSnpw9SuykRV7WW8FNH6RYTWMY0dG7s_yHcNKiHRQqlFhOfSxjAPUK5fYWMQfAQ5pZOsVTG_a7BbbCiKSPqZ-ZulNJZUsG47CcsqwUTLK_hqznSojVhFw/s1600-h/child_starving.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3dmMBhBVRCHqlsmZc-ChXqHB9O_iVEuJWpQGrfJwbKnDuorEIKE4d-JjsoReQoPcJ071lFIDtysxgc-IKHnhl2i6MsLUYvzc1e7G6chrhy1MWbmBQdC1xMQ2fmv1IIpaTBINL7hFq5E/s1600-h/AFRICA04.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRDWyPVLhqK_johQmSqMJ3KMuTawuHNAqTJE1cOONGnhA2g08c9A5Yh7Qy0WE-q8t82nX0zqwANhkk3hWAds5sexW6wm5RgvyPvXF1p12odCESJJe4PiIyf2qiD5ERX54-dTu9VVrPy3g/s1600-h/africa2.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8oGbT3NraGnb8EvNnkoe6RwY-ou-u_Xpyp4ZNloPYAL1NxGW3Ace4_fTwF8BzQQqL0tUBxz6cNKXpkCHrPgNuUUK6-319TBlq897XU0v16bkrDcK7zcsKTBjx-l6evlYflvJXInOIpc/s1600-h/Africa1.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307985520942834258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ8oGbT3NraGnb8EvNnkoe6RwY-ou-u_Xpyp4ZNloPYAL1NxGW3Ace4_fTwF8BzQQqL0tUBxz6cNKXpkCHrPgNuUUK6-319TBlq897XU0v16bkrDcK7zcsKTBjx-l6evlYflvJXInOIpc/s200/Africa1.gif" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 188px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-3dmMBhBVRCHqlsmZc-ChXqHB9O_iVEuJWpQGrfJwbKnDuorEIKE4d-JjsoReQoPcJ071lFIDtysxgc-IKHnhl2i6MsLUYvzc1e7G6chrhy1MWbmBQdC1xMQ2fmv1IIpaTBINL7hFq5E/s1600-h/AFRICA04.jpg"></a>- Childhood malnutrition:</span></strong> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLKO4abZMKwowGGZKxkBukaz7xUfGnL2rtT23arOAQlUcLDgYvQjOXZdEu2XspeNSGPmkxkVPB1haxBMM7pkuK7wqtGJCVd7QG42pHvlXQkFPrKzhS5rNdp82V3yljIOAOB0r4CiQrpJY/s1600-h/poverty-starving-boy.jpg"></a></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcUDeYJORd-Qo0h2or5U7gT0EkagFLOudBIN34lRqYEtNQm7MdF_683znSRzZH7etssMgWZGFU_WZAIFQElzsAPHg-kfIyDng2SFlFa2bURncD9g5QtXrqV9du4vOzVJIfJVXorKQ5eyg/s1600-h/AFRICA04.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl3hn_QxKsfpJNCN0wDBdRyqIZQyvjVjP4sN7vIuY0JCTRbmx1lCHTcaD_1hJE1R0VCXajNrsuPTLIFawPhUk89M6ym7E_ziyv4i2ROHwTnq2OTQ65dNZUc4pudefoJqqSNeuWwFRf-g/s1600-h/POVERTY-hunger01.jpg"></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Food riots early in 2008 put a spotlight on the impact of price increases on the world's poor. But a less visible disaster -- 178 million malnourished children worldwide -- continues largely under the radar. The World Health Organization estimates that malnutrition contributes to the deaths of 3.5 million-5 million children a year. UNICEF also reports that child hunger is getting worse in 16 countries around the globe.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif_mfas0KBvqJdV7B11SlZRpUqHg6h7B7Eu1S4yscbzdfik8WusTmTAlhEbNLyUHYcgsitgdIMAZlenkUG1bzEeKgX-a1uSb4DtcdLq4TUm8dBgzvnG8jKVnYC3W8QysbPl4jGgKnhMX4/s1600-h/Aids_orphans_front.gif"></a><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8bPzWPWJNhEu2o6OeHPfx_TB2PayUUfoH2oah9Gkm72Ql3SPiVNzT185KoO0-wstmMiiDclWaH-jBooWrOrGj4swyzrUuERRrn3srZ5egHxGnNiV-zKZ1z1zX_5aIu8CD3zjH55CW66Y/s1600-h/africa-disease.jpg"></a>- HIV/AIDS and TB:</span></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNY8HYAx6l_89Qe7jfyEgYtKy2oLKPiG0BzAUJyXyxpCT5B6hU3pcHLCIM6TwfgMIL-EglpSFiZz6JO_x0E4KXcov_lJguw_Gk3RUwNOzsk7_DacKWYUVyG-uQYqGqcKpkQbhlxrK7Gb4/s1600-h/africa-disease.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9vdJqB3oxNgfYkiXPXUl6hNrg6JNZf127Y0oi4kieQRVqeZaxix11zBeJhb6fVNOGgMqdZl-ZqhaYB6tNkNxg0eXK-natny4daiFpJhg6yaTIGPxGgUlnT6wbEoyxikBol5tBIuFp14I/s1600-h/Aids_orphans_front.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307970635511166802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9vdJqB3oxNgfYkiXPXUl6hNrg6JNZf127Y0oi4kieQRVqeZaxix11zBeJhb6fVNOGgMqdZl-ZqhaYB6tNkNxg0eXK-natny4daiFpJhg6yaTIGPxGgUlnT6wbEoyxikBol5tBIuFp14I/s200/Aids_orphans_front.gif" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 129px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">TB is on the rise -- nine million new cases and 1.7 million deaths a year. Most of the new cases and the deaths are in the regions and among the populations that are hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. TB can kill an AIDS patient in just a few short weeks, and people with suppressed immune systems are 50 times more likely to develop TB. Yet less than one per cent of the people living with HIV/AIDS are tested for TB.<br /><br />So there you have it -- a distressing Top 10 list, if ever there was one.<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#000099;">Ref;</span><br /></span></em></span><a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/GlobalReport/2008/2008_Global_report.asp" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>UNAIDS 2008 Report of the global AIDS epidemic</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em> </em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><span style="color:#000099;">'Nigeria 3rd Highest Infested Country' ... after South Africa and India,</span></em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><span style="color:#000099;"></span></em></span><a class="l" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','res','1','&sig2=hp5m9nKESq74RUqo3LzxaA')" href="http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1014-hunger.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>33 countries face "alarming" levels of hunger</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:#000099;"><em>The index measures global hunger by ranking countries on prevalence of child malnutrition, rates of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient. The Democratic Republic of Congo scored the worst on the Index, followed by Eritrea, Burundi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ethiopia.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.mg.co.za/section/article/2009-02-28-zims-horror-on-film">Zim's horror on film</a> <span style="color:#000099;">.....millions of impoverished, half-starved Zimbabweans fearing their own drinking water...... what Zimbabwe's autocratic leader does not want seen: the stark reality of life and death.......</span></span></em></span></p><p></p>

Africa scores 7 of 'Top 10' Crises Spots in the World.

Corrupt African politicians, their cronies, the business elite and the well connected, have hijacked and exercise full control over all reso...

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EC Dept of Education boss runs up R1.4m hotel bill

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSF8HQb-g3OEm74Uy8-4l-mCTx40P8FDpyX_HQ8zlAuHv2lsJYz7-wrQePccIMftIWpjcweloEizEu2-QCsDhd7BjgM_BCqa-ZpHVZ7vz7iOtBLX5WKDN1bdsMEYbSOk_4DcNTaU5-8KQ/s1600-h/Education-Ngonzo.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307631929426618274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSF8HQb-g3OEm74Uy8-4l-mCTx40P8FDpyX_HQ8zlAuHv2lsJYz7-wrQePccIMftIWpjcweloEizEu2-QCsDhd7BjgM_BCqa-ZpHVZ7vz7iOtBLX5WKDN1bdsMEYbSOk_4DcNTaU5-8KQ/s400/Education-Ngonzo.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 290px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 235px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;"><span style="font-size:180%;">T</span>HE head of the provincial Education Department has racked up an astonishing bill of R1.4million for a hotel stay that stretches back to 2007</span></strong>.<br /><br />Mthunywa Ngonzo has enjoyed the comforts of the local Holiday Inn since November 2007, where he has lived while occupying the posts of acting deputy director-general (DDG) and acting education superintendent-general (SG). His full- time job is education director for Cofimvaba district and he owns a home in Queenstown.<br /><br />A spreadsheet leaked to the Dispatch shows that he cost the department R783 000 from April to September 2008 for accommodation. That amount would buy a three-bedroom family home in Amalinda, with change to spare for transfer fees.<br /><br />But education officials said his bill was at least R1.4million, taking into account the full duration of his stay at the Holiday Inn.<br /><br />His hotel room costs R1149 a night on a bed and breakfast basis; laundry R500 a month; dinner R120 a day; and a daily lunch pack, R95.<br /><br />Several travel agencies are used to make the bookings and facilitate payments.<br /><br />The expenditure is despite the financial problems facing his department, including under- equipped schools, insufficient teachers and a disastrous school nutrition feeding programme.<br /><br />Ngonzo confirmed the expenses and said he had grown weary of hotel life. “Yes, I am staying in the Holiday Inn and as a visitor in town one has to book a hotel. I am not full-time employed in these positions so the employer should find me accommodation.” Ngonzo was asked if he thought the expenditure was justified. “Well, I am also tired of staying in hotels. I am talking to the Public Works Department to see if they can assist me in finding a house. Otherwise my employer is the right person to speak to.”<br /><br />Departmental spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani said the arrangement was in line with standard department policies regarding the accommodation of seconded officials.<br /><br />He said the policy allowed the department to use hotels with no higher than three star grading to ensure that “proper and equitable accommodation is secured for all seconded officials”.<br /><br />“The department had previously advertised the positions, but because of legal disputes lodged by some of the applicants, it was felt that, in line with practices of good governance, equity and fairness, the process be started from scratch.<br /><br />“That process is now at an advanced stage, in fact shortlisting will be finalised by next week.”<br /><br />One concerned senior official said a DDG was only entitled to annual accommodation and travelling expenses limited to R260 000. “Where is this budget coming from, because all we know is that not a single official qualifies for such expensive accommodation from any financial year budget? In a few months Ngonzo has used close to a million rand.”<br /><br />Another official said the money would have been better spent elsewhere. “This money is supposed to build schools, feed hungry school children and educate the poor but a person who is supposed to be looking after corruption as the SG in the department doesn’t care.”<br /><br />Insiders said MEC Mahlubandile Qwase was aware of the situation but had failed to address it. “This is happening under his own nose. He knows about this. Millions of rands will vanish if Ngonzo remains in these expensive hotels,” said one official.<br /><br />SA Democratic Teachers’ Union’s Mxolisi Dimaza said they were aware of the vacant positions currently being filled in an acting capacity by Ngonzo. “We know quite well what is happening and we’ve proposed to the MEC to quickly come up with a plan of employing people in those positions,” he said.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">Everything paid for Ngonzo</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><p>HOW Mthunywa Ngonzo’s bill at the Holiday Inn in East London is made up:<br /></p><ul><li>R1149 a night for a room and breakfast;<br /></li><li>R500 a month laundry;<br /></li><li>R120 for dinner every night;<br /></li><li>R95 for a daily lunch pack; and<br /></li><li>R24 for a soft drink.<br /><br /></li></ul></span>

EC Dept of Education boss runs up R1.4m hotel bill

T HE head of the provincial Education Department has racked up an astonishing bill of R1.4million for a hotel stay that stretches back to 20...

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490 People Died in Police Action during 2007/2008

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVM6Sd10jSmzKuSw52Mz373ZDbRgeB1944JmLAijJFAxaty5Wgf1CyUP3GFZY2MaORXVBYgYXNxONwMw3bw_Tck1dSr3a_g2trimZBRELB5Is6s63nJB2G06ADEfWW48o4OzjHroGOJc4/s1600-h/police-crime.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307622273195846770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVM6Sd10jSmzKuSw52Mz373ZDbRgeB1944JmLAijJFAxaty5Wgf1CyUP3GFZY2MaORXVBYgYXNxONwMw3bw_Tck1dSr3a_g2trimZBRELB5Is6s63nJB2G06ADEfWW48o4OzjHroGOJc4/s400/police-crime.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">The South African Police Service has always endured harsh criticism for being ineffective, but lately, that seems to be changing. Have they had enough? We track the gory trail of dead perpetrators.<br /><br />According to Business Day, 108 police officers were killed during the 2007-2008 financial year. Many people questioned the competency of the police, while simultaneously decrying the cold-heartedness of the killers.<br /><br />Some are fortunate enough to escape, but many aren't so lucky, such as 38-year-old police officer Oupa Masilela, who was gunned down outside his home in December 2008. His 7-year-old daughter said he had instructed her to lie down in an attempt to shield her.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">Taking back the streets</span></strong><br /><br />This year has seen a turnaround, however, with many suspects being blasted in a hail of gunfire.<br /><br />On 21 January 2009, five suspected robbers were killed and four arrested after they reportedly opened fire on police in KZN. The Western Cape was not exempt from these incidents. On 28 January 2009, two robbery suspects were killed and one wounded in Kraaifontein following a police chase.<br /><br />The most recent shooting to raise eyebrows was that of eight robbery suspects killed in a shoot-out with police in KwaZulu-Natal on 30 January 2009. This shoot-out also resulted in three bystanders being wounded.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">A tough question</span></strong><br /><br />Reactions are strongly divided, with one group supporting the killing of criminals and the other condemning it. But one has to ask the question: is this justice? Is this gung-ho approach, as advocated by Deputy-Minister of Safety and Security Susan Shabangu in April 2008, worth it? In a country where 20 000 people are murdered each year, it's easy to see why this approach is being advocated.<br /><br />Criminals get away on technicalities and sentences are short, resulting in many criminals spilling into society once again.<br /><br />The ineffective justice system, high incidence of violent crime and poorly-resourced police force results in spiralling crime rates – so perhaps this really is the only solution to the problem.<br /><br />In the age of criminal lawsuits against the Saps, many police officers are asking, "Why should I follow the rules if criminals have more rights than what I do?" This raises the issue of criminal rights – why should police officers have to fire a warning shot when criminals can get away with shooting a cop in the head? Is a criminal's life really more important than an officer of the law?<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">A complicated situation</span></strong><br /><br />But it is not as clear-cut as you may think – Sure, you could "shoot the bastards" but doing so raises a number of not-easily-ignored ethical questions.<br /><br />One concern is that the police force could become judge, juror and executioner all rolled into one. While many people are desperate enough to rely on this strategy, questions will undoubtedly be raised when their children are killed whilst "resisting arrest" or are caught in the cross-fire. An incident in Mpumalanga where a pupil was killed by a policeman's ricocheting bullet on 30 January 2009 serves as an unfortunate example of this.<br /><br />The 30 January shooting in KwaZulu-Natal also serves as a stark reminder that not everyone is an enemy. In this particular instance, the eighth suspect is believed, by forensic experts, to have been an innocent worker.<br /><br />More eyebrows would be raised if would-be shoplifters were found riddled with bullets as a result of police abusing the declaration. Giving police carte blanche to kill opens society up to the potential of brutality reminiscent of the Apartheid security forces.<br /><br />This directive could also potentially create a more favourable breeding-ground for corruption and violence within the police force, with officers potentially silencing each other and civilians over money, drugs and information. Surely there are more viable solutions to this issue…<br /><br />Questions are often raised about the possibility of alternative solutions. Non-lethal weaponry is often no match for the high-powered assault rifles and pistols employed by these pseudo-paramilitary thugs. Perhaps police officers need to be better equipped and trained. Perhaps paying police officers and security guards more than what they're currently earning will reduce the need for them to seek cash elsewhere.<br /><br />After years of enduring their colleagues being killed, the South African Police Service has turned the tables on criminals. With 490 people dying in police action during the 2007/2008 financial year, according to the Sunday Tribune, it looks like the current solution simply leads to more bloodshed. </span><p>

490 People Died in Police Action during 2007/2008

The South African Police Service has always endured harsh criticism for being ineffective, but lately, that seems to be changing. Have they ...

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SAA staff 'offered huge amounts of money' to swop flights

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTcu87nURViaBlwQWZoH5E-O57aoL7V_bhgUE0fh2d5bC_h71e6ccLznCNCwdoGpeNurhkk2h7ev0IuB0BS6iUrb0hy5T-LbrBjearmubZHCK6ZQT-EYrP_2xQRZ4kx5BnYW09dMyZi0M/s1600-h/SAA-flyhigh.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307486382724240050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTcu87nURViaBlwQWZoH5E-O57aoL7V_bhgUE0fh2d5bC_h71e6ccLznCNCwdoGpeNurhkk2h7ev0IuB0BS6iUrb0hy5T-LbrBjearmubZHCK6ZQT-EYrP_2xQRZ4kx5BnYW09dMyZi0M/s400/SAA-flyhigh.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 251px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Staff of South African Airways tried to warn management of suspicious activities involving flight crew before the recent drug bust in London, but their bosses "just shrugged their shoulders".<br /><br />The staff's warning was given to management after some of them had been offered huge amounts of money to swop flights with others. </span></strong><br /><br />This has been disclosed by the Aerospace Aviation Sector manager of the United Associations of South Africa, which represents SAA staff, Willie van Eeden.<br /><br />Van Eeden made his disclosures when taking part in SAfm Radio's After Eight Debate on the recent arrests of SAA flight crews in London and the steps now being taken to improve airport security.<br /><br />He said: "We have evidence our staff were offered huge amounts of money to change rosters to ensure other employees, crew members, got on to aircraft flights."<br /><br />Van Eeden said this was reported to management. "They just shrugged their shoulders and said it was not their problem. We feel that is serious and should be investigated."<br /><br />He said this swopping of crew could have been going on for some time. "But they have never offered this amount of money to swop a flight."<br /><br />There was, he said, a serious lack of trust between cabin crew and their employers, the management of the company.<br /><br />Van Eeden said his staff were extremely proud of SAA and had been greatly upset by the arrests in London. "This sort of thing had not happened in the past. And suddenly in the past couple of months it has occurred twice."<br /><br />He said he was pleased to hear that the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) had now taken over the security checking of SAA flight crews. This had previously been done in the local crew centre by security staff appointed by SAA. "I found it a little strange that you would appoint your own security, saying you can check all people but us as a crew. We are privileged not to be checked."<br /><br />Acsa's director of operations, Bongani Maseko, said his company's core mandate was to check on the security of the aircraft and its passengers, but it had co-operated with the authorities in the search for drugs.<br /><br />Maseko said drug smuggling was very common at airports. "At the Johannesburg Airport just in 2008 we had more than 500 incidents of drug smuggling detected, that is about 1.5 incidents a day."<br /><br />He said some of the drug hauls taken in Johannesburg made the 5kg detected at Heathrow - however distressing - look small. "We had an incident of 132kg of cocaine detected, coming from Brazil."<br /><br />He said people of many nationalities had been arrested in Johannesburg. "We have had British nationals. We have had Brazilians, Indians, Thais, Portuguese, Kenyans, Ruandans, Russians, Bolivians, all caught at OR Tambo Airport.<br /><br />"It is internationally accepted that airline crew are targeted by drug dealers to smuggle drugs just because of their ability to handle them."<br /><br />Maseko said security at all airports had been tightened. "We have started with the practice of sniffer dogs. Unfortunately we do not have enough sniffer dogs, but we have procured equipment that will help us to identify narcotics."<br /><br />A third panellist, Annette Hubschle, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, said smuggling on air routes was one of the most common forms of drug trafficking. "SAA is not the first airline affected by flight attendants being involved in such activities," she said.<br /><br />Hubschle believed the information that led to the Heathrow arrests had come from the authorities in South Africa.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000099;"><em>See also </em></span> <a class="articleheadline" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20090227122313768C639020"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>SAA staffer faces hearing over shift bribe</em></span></a></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><em><br /></p></em></span>

SAA staff 'offered huge amounts of money' to swop flights

Staff of South African Airways tried to warn management of suspicious activities involving flight crew before the recent drug bust in London...

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Regular American traveller to S.Africa writes about horrific experiences on SAA

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsQPCaEpksIJkhdi3xDalqI-_DXX0s1Trc3n235zZbARMlQs0I_7sCbhr6PqxyDt-1jp9eyu4iYjiqCU2Oejp-kjwXIYhimHVahqFjKWX1YwfOOmwtnYVKdujW0uGwJc_eUyZKjB91SI/s1600-h/SAA01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307529395479135010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsQPCaEpksIJkhdi3xDalqI-_DXX0s1Trc3n235zZbARMlQs0I_7sCbhr6PqxyDt-1jp9eyu4iYjiqCU2Oejp-kjwXIYhimHVahqFjKWX1YwfOOmwtnYVKdujW0uGwJc_eUyZKjB91SI/s400/SAA01.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 304px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Letter from Dr Brown in California about his experiences on SAA</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em>I have been coming to South Africa since 1994 and in all cases of travel; I have used South African Airways (SAA) exclusively.<br /><br />On the 30th April 2007, I travelled in the New First/Business class on flight, SAA 208 from Washington DC to Johannesburg at the huge sum of R47,110.00 + receiving THE MOST HORRIFIC SERVICE I HAVE EVER RECIVED on any airline in any class of service – EVER! In spite of prior notice through their authorized Travel Agency and myself directly, SAA served me food that I’m deadly allergic to that required immediate medical attention. To date, SAA refuses to take any responsibility for it.<br /><br />This incident required that the on board medical kit to be opened and medication taken and used or I could have died. I suffered a raw throat, as if I had swallowed molten metal for three days after and have suffered indigestion for my entire trip. The seriousness of this incident has been belittled and ignored by SAA Customer Service and NO responsibility or jest of regret has been forthcoming. It was left to me to seek medical attention while in South Africa, from an injury caused at the hands of SAA staff. Yet, I have to pay and there wasn’t even a gesture of concern to ever come from SAA, nor a follow-up call to even ask how I was doing or if there was something they could do. Customer Service totally absent- A Joke!<br /><br />Additionally, male cabin crew attendants on this flight (at least in the Business class galley behind row 7) did not seek to assist passengers, choosing rather to sit or eat behind the curtain the entire flight – making other-more diligent staff less able to assist the needs of the passengers. In one case when I got up to seek assistance going behind the curtain, I was grabbed by one of these male attendants by both of his hands at my shoulders and told “I should have rung the bell rather than coming there”. He then proceeded to speaking to me in a language I did not understand but the tone and inflection was other than cordial. I was truly fearful of what else these “Cabin Crew Thugs” could and would do. I therefore choose at that time to keep quite, knowing that I had to retune on SAA and did not want to set myself up for an ambush from the same crew or other cabin crew friends.<br /><br />I’m now home and have no fear of reprisal.<br /><br />A few realities from this SAA experience are noteworthy. In that I have family in flight crew status, I have an advantage in assessing crew performance over the average tourist.<br /><br />1. Incompetent and unqualified staff are working on SAA flights, chosen by<br />who they are and not their ability!<br />2. How dramatic has the in-flight service with SAA declined in four years!<br />3. How insensitive and unconcerned have customer service reps. become!<br />4. What will service be like in the next four years?<br />5. Will the World in 2010 have similar experiences?<br /><br />Upon my exiting of South Africa, I needed to go to the SAA counter. While waiting, I observed the following poster on the wall behind the counter. How ironic it reads.<br /><br />SAA – Our Values<br />People First<br />Safety & Security<br />Proudly South African<br />Accountability<br />Integrity<br />Reliability<br /><br />In relation to my flying experience, there was “People First”, how-be-it only when it applied to the Cabin Crew. And as to pride, there was a lot of it articulated at the Customer service office. They were so proud that they could not conceive the need to assist me or believe that there was a problem from their staff. In fact, all they did say was that I could write Ballai Mabena to voice my complaint - but that was what I was doing at the time, wasn’t it? Could it be that this meant that they did not want to handle my complaint? After repeated call to customer Service there was no “Accountability” and “Integrity” was on vacation!<br /><br />In reflecting on this posted - yet hollow value statement, even this is very flawed.<br /><br />In the aftermath of 911, Safety and Security should always be at the top of any list for an airlines company. And though I understand the need for pride in one county it should never come at the expense of or before accountability, integrity or reliability.<br /><br />By their actions or rather - lack of, SAA doesn’t get it!!! AND BTW Never to Fly SAA again!<br /><br />Dr. Ron Brown<br />Oroville, California</em> </span><p></p>

Regular American traveller to S.Africa writes about horrific experiences on SAA

Letter from Dr Brown in California about his experiences on SAA I have been coming to South Africa since 1994 and in all cases of travel; I ...

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ONE IN A MILLION 3 - RESULT AND PERFORMANCE ON 27-02-09

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhel6Us3rIc8gFK8t6kR1EPJsLy2tKH-AOtljyOPwEXirJA7N-XHG-xgIYC07UTrID8SSG60GvQcwaNE4jpxMqz1wXUSg0LexhrEhety74ICL5xMCTtjQY3EFCELZEbsugPONiNjSso/s1600-h/banner.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297048959273956722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhel6Us3rIc8gFK8t6kR1EPJsLy2tKH-AOtljyOPwEXirJA7N-XHG-xgIYC07UTrID8SSG60GvQcwaNE4jpxMqz1wXUSg0LexhrEhety74ICL5xMCTtjQY3EFCELZEbsugPONiNjSso/s400/banner.jpg" style="width: 400px; cursor: pointer; height: 86px;" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;">THE TOP 12 CONTESTANTS</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapiBbh9k0Fsob4b15_ynWY1Lyq8deMj5QzmFggDKT_cjoIWat8s7wWxtVjh6hAqjT0rVqGWy6Pn8FB3-pgyADNbuLZ6mt6DnDOFmDpAG74mFdN7jLmmC1tGfDGR78KeiFplQaGGhh/s1600-h/TOP+12.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302574095912520770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiapiBbh9k0Fsob4b15_ynWY1Lyq8deMj5QzmFggDKT_cjoIWat8s7wWxtVjh6hAqjT0rVqGWy6Pn8FB3-pgyADNbuLZ6mt6DnDOFmDpAG74mFdN7jLmmC1tGfDGR78KeiFplQaGGhh/s400/TOP+12.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 387px; height: 400px;" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;">ELIMINATION ON 27-02-2009 (PENYINGKIRAN PADA 27-02-2009)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br />The bottom three were Ayu, Amylea and Pija. Finally the contestant has been eliminated is Ayu.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PENYINGKIRAN - ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - AYU TERSINGKIR 27/2/09</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DJYOYTnPuHg&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DJYOYTnPuHg&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PERSEMBAHAN AYU - ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - 27/2/09</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nVjCMeFqlbw&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nVjCMeFqlbw&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - TOMOK</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/om9PXubIdNU&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/om9PXubIdNU&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - ESTER</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nsU_5HzXzLE&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nsU_5HzXzLE&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 0NE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - NINE</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wXAbU7mdlog&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wXAbU7mdlog&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - HAN</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KJGd0PiPst8&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KJGd0PiPst8&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - AMYLEA</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uw0TQNPcuvQ&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uw0TQNPcuvQ&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - SIMON</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/b2R7tw19AtE&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/b2R7tw19AtE&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - RIZU</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wpJ0SceczPU&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wpJ0SceczPU&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - ANITH</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5WoSOXpZB5Q&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5WoSOXpZB5Q&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - PIJA</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/azlS1ukhfI4&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/azlS1ukhfI4&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - AWEERA</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q-EuPgpe2FM&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q-EuPgpe2FM&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION SEASON 3 - FIFY</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ppPNLcwXBDs&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ppPNLcwXBDs&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">27/02/09 ONE IN A MILLION 3 - PEMENANG IMMUNITY: AMYLEA</span><br /><br /><object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BLsu7tgPkx0&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BLsu7tgPkx0&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Courtesy of 8TV</span>

ONE IN A MILLION 3 - RESULT AND PERFORMANCE ON 27-02-09

THE TOP 12 CONTESTANTS ELIMINATION ON 27-02-2009 (PENYINGKIRAN PADA 27-02-2009) The bottom three were Ayu, Amylea and Pija. Finally the co...

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National Library of South Africa going up in smoke

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQDCzYQpBzqv4CQ0FNhepxXVhgVWHQQQUhe2IJhTqoSP2WcmBaGMudgfE0D8PxNcgf1SauDL4LI4aDg35uE5u-ARhzG_BSfoo_O75BA1q2Su-qH6NPpyqfwE3SECN-Hrpm_XS2uBJauE/s1600-h/Library_falling-apart.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307235747087049234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQDCzYQpBzqv4CQ0FNhepxXVhgVWHQQQUhe2IJhTqoSP2WcmBaGMudgfE0D8PxNcgf1SauDL4LI4aDg35uE5u-ARhzG_BSfoo_O75BA1q2Su-qH6NPpyqfwE3SECN-Hrpm_XS2uBJauE/s400/Library_falling-apart.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 360px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 271px" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">The management and finances of the leading national library and information centre of excellence in Africa and the world (the National Library of South Africa) are in such utter shambles that two prominent members of the board's finance committee have resigned in protest.</span></strong><br /><br />Employees tell a disturbing story of neglect and abuse at one of the prime symbols of South Africa's intellectual heritage. They tell of a chief executive who spends every possible moment travelling the world on freebies and proclaims that he is 'not an operational man'. They tell of a marketing manager who does almost no marketing, and simply disappears on an important day from his institution; of a chief financial officer who does very little financial management.<br /><br />The two board members who have resigned are its former chairperson Andrew Mestern, BP South Africa's treasury manager, and Dr Martie van Deventer of the CSIR. Mestern had served on the board for five years. The two confirmed that they have written to Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan, giving reasons for their resignations, but refused to discuss the affairs of the National Library any further.<br /><br />Minister Jordan's office tells noseweek that, after receiving the two resignation letters, the minister intends launching an investigation into the affairs of the NLSA.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXjkxLl1NpDLK049oHCjhE8xm_EMg_d_0gXm0I4QYJPupsHeQIh4cOVNmmLHF3pwyF8bOFSgy9BIo_MSlkKtOHd2p4OleitAFYlVxEtwJWofXOy3y9O0cvn3_9Gmx3ZmxffntDCvHCpw/s1600-h/HO-Moloi+Khehla.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307246739667756578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXjkxLl1NpDLK049oHCjhE8xm_EMg_d_0gXm0I4QYJPupsHeQIh4cOVNmmLHF3pwyF8bOFSgy9BIo_MSlkKtOHd2p4OleitAFYlVxEtwJWofXOy3y9O0cvn3_9Gmx3ZmxffntDCvHCpw/s400/HO-Moloi+Khehla.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 171px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 243px" /></a>Approached for comment on criticism made by staff at the Library, chief financial officer Khehla Moloi says the allegations could only come from “white racists” (in fact most of noseweek’s sources are not white). Says Moloi: “People who make this allegation represent the old order which subjected our people to iron rule and discrimination, but since the arrival of the new CEO, management of the NLSA has been transformed to represent the demographics of SA. There are some people who think if an institution is run by Blacks everything collapses. These sinister forces have tried unsuccessfully to sabotage the normal operation of the Library but have failed; they have now run to the media as dying horses.”</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><a class="state-published visualIconPadding" href="http://www.nlsa.ac.za/NLSA/images/ho_moloi.jpg/view"><em>HO-Moloi Khehla</em></a><br /><br />In terms of the National Library of South Africa Act, the Library is controlled by a board, whose members are appointed by the Minister of Arts and Culture, from a shortlist drawn up by an advisory panel after a call for public nominations.<br /><br />Its chief executive officer, known as the National Librarian, is an ex officio member of the board. Minister Pallo Jordan appointed the present board for the period 1 October 2006 to 30 September 2009.<br /><br />According to the Act the board has a large degree of autonomy; it formulates the policies of the Library (in consultation with the minister); approves its budget; appoints the chief executive officer, management team and other employees; and determines the remuneration and benefits of its employees.<br /><br />Yet, despite the central role envisioned for it, and a huge responsibility for ensuring the Library’s efficient functioning, the board did not meet at all between July 2007 and August 2008. (There was a meeting in December 2007, but not enough members attended to form a quorum.) Before the present board was appointed, the National Library was without a board for a full eight months.<br /><br />When the board finally met in August 2008, Mestern and Van Deventer had resigned in protest. Noseweek was told that board members spent most of the meeting discussing backdating honoraria, and new cell phones and allowances for senior managers.<br /><br />The new chairman of the board, Professor Gessler Moses Muxe Nkondo, is the disgraced former vice-chancellor of Venda University, who was forced to pay back money he spent on a credit card he had obtained illegally. He also lied about his PhD.<br /><br />The National Library consists of two “campuses” that became one entity in 1999 – the former State Library in Pretoria and the National Library in Cape Town. The huge new R375m Pretoria library building, opened by Minister Jordan on 1 August 2008, can accommodate 1300 visitors at a time and houses two million books, with the capacity for another three-and-half million. Presently only half of the building is operational, and it is seriously understaffed.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDUjPM5jL0SvS5CfxEUFKGsJcj0hYZRIhU-v31ZIt8FID5KtBYP3jMt5dV6wITZaIjfZOcq8yVM_67CMtJuSS0vEVvy_LYAWyq690k4-6skihJZBICoIuplf0_YJucPeobET9sm81iZg/s1600-h/HO-Tsebe+John.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307248004397914930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDUjPM5jL0SvS5CfxEUFKGsJcj0hYZRIhU-v31ZIt8FID5KtBYP3jMt5dV6wITZaIjfZOcq8yVM_67CMtJuSS0vEVvy_LYAWyq690k4-6skihJZBICoIuplf0_YJucPeobET9sm81iZg/s200/HO-Tsebe+John.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 140px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a><a class="state-published visualIconPadding" href="http://www.nlsa.ac.za/NLSA/images/JTsebe.jpg/view"><em>HO-Tsebe John</em></a>, former librarian at the University of the North, became the National Librarian, as the CEO is called, in 2004. “He came charging in on his shining horse, proclaiming how things were going to change,” a senior employee tells noseweek.<br /><br />“He told staff we were going to do great things. ‘My door is open, the buck stops with me’, he said. But that horse broke all its legs. Tsebe has become a self-important man, more interested in scoring free trips to China, Iran, Malaysia and elsewhere than in running the NLSA. He is outside of the country more than at his desk.”<br /><br />Another senior employee adds: “Tsebe likes to say he is responsible for the vision and strategies and not for operational issues. We now know what that means – he hobnobs with the elite and jumps on a plane whenever he can. He has taken the concept ‘hands-off management’ to new extremes.”<br /><br />Staff at both campuses of the National Library complain of the almost complete collapse of administrative structures over the past two years. Things have fallen apart to such an extent that management meetings hardly ever take place, a staff member tells noseweek. Absenteeism is rife, and an outrageous number of people at managerial level are on sick leave at any given time.<br /><br />“The staff morale is at an ultimate low; people clock in and out, simply waiting for their pay cheques. One can see it in service delivery. There is a culture of fear among employees – no-one wants to make a stand: we know what Tsebe, Andrew Malotle (head of marketing) and their cabal will do if we speak out.”<br /><br />Staff and library users tell of more and more books, documents and papers (some extremely valuable) simply disappearing – either stolen or misfiled (among millions of books, wrongly filing one means it goes more or less permanently missing). And the vitally important procurement department is no longer ensuring that all books published in the country are deposited with the library – researchers are increasingly having to visit university libraries to consult new works.<br /><br />It’s apparently the financial mismanagement of the National Library that led to the recent resignations. One of chief financial officer Khehla Moloi’s own colleagues says that, for 2007/2008, Moloi didn’t even draw up a proper budget with new financial forecasts – he simply used the previous year’s budget and added 10%.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjQr5UfJF7HngykX0UqKhNDtFpLq3S69U6APvfVp15wcat_MALX0v3I8uVXL_ly2boALVTkh4cnSDS79S5kIBW4J4moFYo-nqVKCqQMQtWPyG3164wGgUkXblHG61dFYpSgD1FlAK6K4/s1600-h/Library_Pallo.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307257925075161442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjQr5UfJF7HngykX0UqKhNDtFpLq3S69U6APvfVp15wcat_MALX0v3I8uVXL_ly2boALVTkh4cnSDS79S5kIBW4J4moFYo-nqVKCqQMQtWPyG3164wGgUkXblHG61dFYpSgD1FlAK6K4/s400/Library_Pallo.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 360px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 274px" /></a>When the financial committee complained about his work, Moloi sent an angry email to board members and senior management saying the chairman of that committee had an axe to grind. He asked the board chairman’s “protection” from the committee and declared defiantly: “I own and drive this process.” </span><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000099;">National Librarian John Tsebe (left) and minister Pallo Jordan</span></em></p><br />The Auditor General’s report in the Annual Reports of the National Library since 2004 proves that all is not well. Each year since 2003/2004 the AG has reported that “an accounting policy addressing the classification, disclosure and valuations of the book collections has not been approved by the board.” The AG also declared that “...an audit of the book collections at the National Library revealed that books are in a poor condition and that the storage facilities utilised for book collections appear to be inadequately equipped to ensure proper preservation of book collections”.<br /><br />In 2006/07 the AG declared that he couldn’t express an opinion on certain expenditure as some documentation was missing. The AG also pointed out that the National Library did not have the required level of funds to match the liability of post-retirement medical aid benefits, which amounted to R14.8m. The annual report for 2007/08, which includes the Auditor General’s report, has been given to the minister but not released for public consumption.<br /><br />In 2006 a senior member of the financial management team was accused of stealing R25,000 by transferring Library funds into his own account and drawing the interest on it. The matter is still being investigated by the police.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnVMUSSYvaafUu5DarX5OnIvjCjxfVpPYKhzQltnXtKe1CPX83CcJqf7QSSRI3zePIIiKXrKvoFrB-qbbihzsObyT5oEU-jJQ0aUOKqB3JdkoOHA_cHDiFK0jfoM9SA-ZmkigTIeGGkr8/s1600-h/ho_malotle.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307250541854507890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnVMUSSYvaafUu5DarX5OnIvjCjxfVpPYKhzQltnXtKe1CPX83CcJqf7QSSRI3zePIIiKXrKvoFrB-qbbihzsObyT5oEU-jJQ0aUOKqB3JdkoOHA_cHDiFK0jfoM9SA-ZmkigTIeGGkr8/s320/ho_malotle.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 95px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 131px" /></a>Senior employees are also scathing about the performance of Andrew Malotle. He barely changes his annual marketing reports from year to year: he only changes the dates, they say – and then tell the bizarre story of how a man employed as a driver had to stand in for him at an official function.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000099;">Andrew Malotle</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Dear Pallo<br /><br />When we met 21 years ago, you were still in exile and I thought that one day you would make a brilliant minister in charge of our arts and culture.<br /><br />Well, with the evidence before me, I have to say I was wrong. I have to say you have become just another arrogant politician who rewards his cronies with jobs – to the detriment of the people of this country. I’m sorry to say it, but you have been a lousy guardian of our arts and culture.<br /><br />When I started investigating the decay at the National Library, I was certain that if you knew what was going on you would be shocked into drastic action. But then I began to see that you were part of the problem: it was you, after all, who allowed this precious asset and storehouse of our country’s intellectual and literary heritage to operate without a board for eight months; it was you who then appointed a totally discredited and dishonest man as chairman of that board...<br /><br />And, as my investigation progressed, I discovered that you had learned about the gross mismanagement of the National Library in July – but have yet to do anything about it. What exactly are you waiting for?<br /><br />I wouldn’t be surprised if, like the men who have mismanaged this precious resource, you round on the whistleblowers as “racists”. But I have news for you, my dear comrade. The people who came to me and asked me to investigate the National Library were not “old-order whites”. It’s time for you and your party to wake up to the fact that there is no “racial” slant as to who is concerned about our heritage, and good governance.<br /><br />I hope you can still fix things at the National Library. I have spent hundreds of stimulating hours at the two libraries, tracking down stories of our people and our history for my books. I know how precious these spaces are.<br /><br />By the way, when I approached you and your office for comment on the allegations I report on in these pages, the apparatchik who poses as the “spokesperson of the Ministry of Arts and Culture”, Sandile Memela, refused my request. Instead of giving you a chance to comment on the situation, Memela sent me a confused lecture on my journalistic ethics and capabilities.<br /><br />The man was clearly incapable of understanding that the allegations of National Library staff that I had forwarded to your office were not my own report on the matter, and declared: “It is blatantly obvious that this is a one-sided story with preconceived ideas. As a result, we distance the Ministry of Arts & Culture from anything to do with the said story until we are convinced that you have engaged in an exhaustive investigation, site visit and one-on-one interviews with some of the people who will be adversely damaged by the allegations you raise in your story.”<br /><br />Memela concluded that the quotes from library staffers that I had forwarded, “makes us wonder about what has happened to the quality of journalism in the country. There are, always, two sides of the story. Until you demonstrate that you have done your homework to get the ‘failed National Library’ side, it will be difficult for us to help. Thus the office of the Minister of Arts & Culture will not have nothing (sic) to do with scurrilous poorly researched journalism”.<br /><br />In other words, a civil servant refuses to do the job he’s paid for because he doesn’t accept the questions asked.<br /><br />I then had a telephone conversation with Mr Memela, during which I asked him whether he had consulted you on the matter, or if you were aware of his response to my request for your official comment on these very serious allegations. All he could do was tirelessly repeat that he wrote to me in his “official capacity”, and declare that he couldn’t understand that I didn’t know what that meant.<br /><br />Fire the fool, Pallo. This is banana republic bullshit.<br /><br />Better; why don’t you do the honourable thing and fire yourself. It’s time to ride into the sunset with that other great intellectual who appointed you.<br /><br />Yours sincerely<br />Max du Preez<br /></span></em><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">A fish rots from the head</span></strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV500Y5ZYXk1G6p9DTdTLlV9M9hyphenhyphenZO7oGDkkh9wusDLBqSsx1BEHJzBPcCsvo9E9U1iKCS2xFormbcmKlpehtgN-uz1o3xgKtlI88DfADKoj7vEQlYYiv8Vw6ltfbZ1V5hVW5TJD57bv0/s1600-h/pallo-jordan.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307254140924066738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV500Y5ZYXk1G6p9DTdTLlV9M9hyphenhyphenZO7oGDkkh9wusDLBqSsx1BEHJzBPcCsvo9E9U1iKCS2xFormbcmKlpehtgN-uz1o3xgKtlI88DfADKoj7vEQlYYiv8Vw6ltfbZ1V5hVW5TJD57bv0/s200/pallo-jordan.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 192px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a>Senior managers at the National Library have strongly denied every allegation by a whole range of people about the leadership and management of the institution.<br /><br />The National Librarian, John Tsebe, was recovering from hospital treatment when noseweek approached him, so the head of marketing, Andrew Malotle, spoke on his behalf: “Since Mr John Tsebe joined the National Library of South Africa, much has been achieved, including realisation of the dream to build the new National Library.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em><span style="font-size:100%;color:#000099;">Minister of Arts & Culture, Pallo Jordan</span></em><br /><br />“Mr Tsebe focused on strategic plan and diversity management workshops in order to turn the staff into a unified force. Staff of the old dispensation who resisted change became disgruntled and started trying to destroy the National Library with malicious statements to the media.”<br /><br />Malotle’s reaction to criticism that Tsebe regards himself as above operational issues? “Indeed, there is a strong executive management team responsible for operational issues in their own respective divisions.”<br /><br />Regarding accusations that instead of writing new annual reports each year all he does is change the date on the old one, Malotle says: “Not true, although the Library units do not change their key performance areas, activities change from time to time and the contents of the Annual Report therefore changes accordingly.”<br /><br />The chief financial officer, Khehla Moloi, responded to allegations of mismanagement thus: “The financial management and control of the Library are in a sound position wherein monthly expenditure is controlled against the budget per each division. The surplus for 2006/2007 amounted to R4.6m with committed funds amounting to R2.8m, leaving us with a sound liquidity of around R1.8m. There has not been any cent which the AG found unaccounted for. The AG could not express an opinion on balance sheet items which they audited in the previous year and gave a thumbs up but lost documentation to that effect to verify their carried out audit the next year.”<br /><br />On the allegations that there was no proper financial forecast and comprehensive budget for 2007/2008 budget: “There is a fully-fledged comprehensive budget which managers use to allow them to operate on daily basis. Managers obtain their financial reports monthly or anytime they want them.”<br /><br />Concerning management collapse and allegations that management meetings are not held regularly: “Management meet regularly, not even monthly as is the norm, to discuss and plan operational and strategic issues.”<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Track-record of disgrace</span></strong><br /><br />When will South Africans learn not to appoint people who have already blotted their copy books?<br /><br />The current chairperson of the board of the National Library, Professor Moses Gessler Muxe Nkondo, is the disgraced former vice-chancellor of Venda University. As far back as 2000, six years before he was appointed to the Library board, the Heath Special Investigating Unit found that Nkondo, without permission, had a credit card issued to him in the university’s name – and then spent some R200,000 on it. Some of the transactions were cash withdrawals.<br /><br />In 2000, an investigative reporter at the Dispatch, Eddie Botha, revealed that Nkondo was lying when he made a sworn statement on 1 September 1993 that he had graduated with a PhD in English and literature at Yale in 1979. The thesis for his doctorate was “Nature, God, Man”. Botha quotes Yale spokesperson Tomas Appelquist as declaring: “Moses Gessler Nkondo was awarded the PhD following acceptance of his dissertation. The PhD was withdrawn by formal action of the Yale Corporation in 1990, with Mr Nkondo’s acquiescence.”<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">DA throws the book at the minister</span></strong><br /><br />The official opposition’s representative on the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture, Desiree van der Walt, says the department has failed dismally to look after and preserve the country’s national assets.<br /><br />“The minister keeps ducking his responsibilities with regard to the management of various entities under his jurisdiction, including the National Library of South Africa.<br /><br />“It is high time Minister Pallo Jordan replaced his personal political appointees with qualified people who can look after all these important entities belonging to all the people of South Africa, and of which he is only a temporary custodian.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><span style="color:#000099;">Source -</span> </em></span><a href="http://www.noseweek.co.za/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Noseweek</em></span></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><p></p>

National Library of South Africa going up in smoke

The management and finances of the leading national library and information centre of excellence in Africa and the world (the National Libra...

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Blue-light terror on the highway

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEhyphenhyphenGUhVykzC36gkjtfm439vqYP_EsRBij1lXMU8hNehwxcRbKG6uuxQC-APccnGDKqHHBs2HQfUCvTH09uBYzbYdiaVDqVqEQBoYYLx6eiiS7-DlxeBFZv6dJ80aGyu5TVoFUgyYSa8/s1600-h/blue-lights-protection-unit.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307215828115633410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEhyphenhyphenGUhVykzC36gkjtfm439vqYP_EsRBij1lXMU8hNehwxcRbKG6uuxQC-APccnGDKqHHBs2HQfUCvTH09uBYzbYdiaVDqVqEQBoYYLx6eiiS7-DlxeBFZv6dJ80aGyu5TVoFUgyYSa8/s400/blue-lights-protection-unit.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Despite a stern warning from police top brass, the blue-light brigade continues to terrorise motorists on Gauteng highways.<br /><br />The latest incident saw a cavalcade of Mercedes Benzes and BMWs try to push a Pretoria woman driver off the road. She was also allegedly threatened with a firearm.</span></strong><br /><br />Police management have reacted with outrage at the latest incident, barely a week after VIP Unit national commander Mzondeki Tshabalala issued a directive with strict guidelines for the use of blue emergency lights, warning of retribution for those who failed to adhere to the rules.<br /><br />On Tuesday afternoon shortly after 3pm attorney Kim Lovegrove was travelling along the N1 towards Pretoria after seing a client in Sandton when she saw the blue lights approaching fast in her rearview mirror.<br /><br />Lovegrove told the Pretoria News she could not move over as there was no gap in the adjacent lane and traffic was really busy. Instead she was forced to pick up speed, now travelling above the 120km/h limit.<br /><br />She finally managed to force her way into the next lane, eliciting a furious response from another motorist.<br /><br />The lead VIP car, a black Mercedes Benz, pulled up beside her and made as if to ram her vehicle, she said. Alongside Lovegrove, the passenger and driver of the VIP protection vehicle both hurled profanities at her - "telling me to get the f*** out the way" - before the passenger pulled back his jacket to reveal a holstered gun. "I was shaken. They were brash and very rude," said Lovegrove.<br /><br />She said the second car in the convoy was also a black Mercedes with tinted windows and it was followed by two big black BMWs, all with lights on and travelling at 140 to 160km/h.<br /><br />The VIP Protection Unit, which protects the President, cabinet members, MECs and a host of other dignitaries has repeatedly been cited for abuse of power with motorists at times forced off the road even when the principal was not in the vehicle.<br /><br />In an incident along the N12 last year Chase van der Walt was allegedly shot by an officer when he drove too close to the presidential motorcade.<br /><br />On February 1 this year a vehicle escorting ANC president Jacob Zuma allegedly hit and killed a pedestrian in Ulundi.<br /><br />In November last year a driver for KwaZulu Natal MEC Meshack Radebe was arrested and charged after he allegedly shot out a tyre of a motorist on the N3 highway. The driver is currently facing eight counts of attempted murder and one of malicious damage to property.<br /><br />Last month Safety and Security Minister Nathi Mthethwa admitted there were 111 charges faced by members of the VIP Protection Unit, including murder, attempted murder, rape, armed robbery and the abuse of power over the past four years. Over the past five years two members of the unit were dismissed and five suspended.<br /><br />Over the past two weeks Tshabalala has held meetings with the top management of the VIP Protection Unit, bodyguards and drivers, making it clear that the abuse of the blue light will not be tolerated.<br /><br />The DA plans to lay a charge with the Independent Complaints Directorate. They have also called on the immediate dismissal of Tshabalala, describing his recent directive to VIP protectors as "nothing more than window dressing".<br /><br />"Tuesday's incident reveals a simple, tragic truth; that instead of protecting people, officers in the VIP Unit are actively putting lives at risk'," said DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard.<br /><br />Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo said the police would not hesitate to institute criminal or disciplinary action against members of the VIP Unit who abused their position.<br /><br />"Our members are not encouraged neither do we condone or tolerate such behaviour by our members across the board in the police," said Naidoo.<br /><br />"I don't want to know who it was or what the vehicle registration is. I am not even interested in who was being transported. It's not important," the superintendent added.<br /><br />The bottom line was that a meeting had been held by Tshabalala to address the matter and had now seemingly been ignored, he said.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><em><span style="color:#000099;">Related Articles</span></em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><em><a href="http://iafrica.com/news/sa/1313095.htm">Deal with VIP driver: FF+</a><br /></em></span><a class="feedlink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20090202002539402C683325"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Blue-light car blamed as pedestrian killed</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><em><br /></em></span><a class="feedlink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20081121171125319C183460"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Zille slams 'blue-light bullies'</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><em><br /></em></span><a class="feedlink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20081119181308128C879349"><span style="font-family:arial;"><em>Scolding for blue-light drivers?</em></span></a><br /><br /></p>

Blue-light terror on the highway

Despite a stern warning from police top brass, the blue-light brigade continues to terrorise motorists on Gauteng highways. The latest incid...

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390 Air Crash Reports Incomplete

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqsmdjR_Yo_KkbnvJAqZTUO8C2HXjCgFL9md3NS_n8JmgpoCTyDpu2hDdLXAuhqcuyMbCbokCZVJCjCCdHBTqPBw4itwmNq2accSnC3ziDs6wwzRTfevK35GbOM_VvHdS03M4Qv-_nkQ/s1600-h/horror+flight.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307210904429401362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqsmdjR_Yo_KkbnvJAqZTUO8C2HXjCgFL9md3NS_n8JmgpoCTyDpu2hDdLXAuhqcuyMbCbokCZVJCjCCdHBTqPBw4itwmNq2accSnC3ziDs6wwzRTfevK35GbOM_VvHdS03M4Qv-_nkQ/s400/horror+flight.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 312px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">Although there were a total number of 190 reported flying accidents during 2008, including a total of 94 fatalities, no final reports into any of them have been completed as yet.<br /><br />Transport Minister Jeff Radebe revealed this in a written answer to a Parliamentary question on Wednesday.<br /><br />He added a note from his department which explained that in addition to the 190 accidents in 2008, there are another approximately 200 reports from previous years which are still not completed.<br /></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">Backlog dates back to 2000</span></strong><br /><br />"There is a serious challenge to the SACAA (Civil Aviation Authority) to overcome," the note says. "This backlog dates back to the year 2000."<br /><br />The department adds that medically related issues cannot be excluded as a possible cause in any fatal accident, so there is a need for the investigator to review the relevant post mortem and toxological report of the autopsy.<br /><br />"A fatality in an aircraft accident is classified as an unnatural death which requires an autopsy to be conducted by a pathologist of the Department of Health," it continues.<br /><br />"The results of the autopsy are formally made available to the investigator through the South African Police Services office dealing with the unnatural death investigation.<br /><br />"Lack of a speedy process in the provision of the autopsy is the major cause of the delay of the completion of the final report."<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">Five investigators employed</span></strong><br /><br />Another five investigators have been employed during last year to diminish the backlog, and the department adds that good progress is being made in the process of completing the outstanding reports.<br /><br />Radebe told his questioner that a preliminary review of the 2008 accidents identifies human factors as the primary cause.<br /><br />"These can be categorised as mainly poor decision making, error of judgement and lack of skill and experience," he said.<br /><br />"Mechanical defects and maintenance are involved as a minority causal factor."<br /></span><p></p>

390 Air Crash Reports Incomplete

Although there were a total number of 190 reported flying accidents during 2008, including a total of 94 fatalities, no final reports into a...

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