Crime: how safe are you?

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0uVqfW45tzxJGCJRnF8WEMgpHa8dejhDNcqA-O-cM8edRLj7Zq6_pGYM9zxcIS2Tr3Iux0nplgo3zJElIOmC2M1MBHjCz8NZgLJjjiuT2kUzdZg1AT2GGGdA0dFlMkOeelTnO-6ngf6k/s1600-h/bhekicele-nathimthethwa.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387411337938321426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0uVqfW45tzxJGCJRnF8WEMgpHa8dejhDNcqA-O-cM8edRLj7Zq6_pGYM9zxcIS2Tr3Iux0nplgo3zJElIOmC2M1MBHjCz8NZgLJjjiuT2kUzdZg1AT2GGGdA0dFlMkOeelTnO-6ngf6k/s400/bhekicele-nathimthethwa.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a> </p><p><a href="http://news.iafrica.com/sa/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>http://news.iafrica.com/sa/</em></span></a></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">The police have (finally) released the new batch of crime statistics. By now, most of us know that murders are down (by 339 cases) and sexual offences are up (by 6696 cases), but beyond that — let's be honest — the numbers get a little vague.</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:85%;color:#000099;">Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa (left) and National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele.</span></em><br /><br />The fact that the Northern Cape had 171 more cases of arson than cases of carjacking (a mere seven), whilst somewhat peculiar, matters little to those who live outside the Northern Cape. The fact that the Western Cape had almost half the nationwide tally of drug-related crimes is, well, interesting. And not just because we're based in the Western Cape...<br /><br />We've trawled through the numerous tables spewed forth by the government in the hopes of compiling an account of crime that is relevant to you.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;color:#990000;">Murder: 18 148</span><br /><br />Your chances of being murdered are greatest if you live in the Eastern Cape, where the ratio per 100 000 of the population is 49.5. However, KwaZulu-Natal had the highest body count, with 4747 murders. The safest place to be is Limpopo, which only recorded 751 (ratio of 14.2: 100 000) murders. The Western Cape boasted the greatest decrease (17.4 percent) in the number of murders.<br /><br />Interestingly, there was an almost equal number of attempted murders nationwide (18 298) and distribution followed a fairly similar pattern. Culpable homicide (the unlawful, but also unintentional killing of another) accounted for 12 571 deaths, with the highest number of deaths occurring in Gauteng (2833). However, your chances of dying in an incident of culpable homicide are greatest in Mpumalanga, where the ratio is 37: 100 000.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;color:#990000;">Assault: 396 615</span><br /><br />Assault can be divided into two major categories: assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm (203 777) and common assault (192 838). In the assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm category, Gauteng had the highest tally (47 208) followed by the Eastern Cape (31 428) and KwaZulu-Natal (30 119). Taking populations into account, however, the Northern Cape is the most dangerous place to be (with a crime-to-population ratio almost double that of Gauteng).<br /><br />Gauteng also tops the list when it comes to common assault (57 711), but it is followed by the Western Cape (31 680). In this category, the Free State is the most likely place for you to become a victim, if you take population size into account.<br /><br />In both categories of assault, Limpopo emerges as the safest province, with the lowest crime-to-population ratios and a combined tally of 22 974 cases of assault.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;color:#990000;">Burglaries and robberies: 512 060</span><br /><br />For police categorization, there is a difference between a robbery (when someone is at home) and a burglary (when someone isn't).<br /><br /><strong>Residential</strong><br /><br />Highest number of robberies: Gauteng (8122)<br />Highest number of burglaries: Gauteng (68 090)<br /><br />Fewest robberies: Northern Cape (45)<br />Fewest burglaries: Northern Cape (5416)<br /><br />Most likely to be robbed in: Gauteng (77.7: 100 000)<br />Most likely to be burgled in: Western Cape (815.7: 100 000)<br /><br /><strong>Business</strong><br /><br />Highest number of robberies: Gauteng (6216)<br />Highest number of burglaries: Gauteng (17 295)<br /><br />Fewest robberies: Northern Cape (121)<br />Fewest burglaries: Northern Cape (2058)<br /><br />Most likely to be robbed in: Gauteng (59.5: 100 000)<br />Most likely to be burgled in: Western Cape<br /><br />Not surprisingly, Gauteng also topped the carjacking list with 7626 cases, followed by KwaZulu-Natal (4062). At 698 cases (fifth on the list), the Western Cape's carjacking count was surprisingly low. However, with a mere seven hijackings, the Northern Cape is, on all counts, the safest place to drive your car.<br /><br />It is not, however, the place where your car is least likely to be stolen (although it reported the fewest stolen vehicles) — that honour goes to Limpopo, where only 20.6 cars are stolen for every 100 000 people. Gauteng, with 38 600 cars reported stolen, is the most likely place for you to be relieved of your transportation.<br /><br />Street robberies (muggings) followed a similar pattern, with Gauteng (27 853) a good 13 407 attacks ahead of the next province, KwaZulu-Natal (14 446).<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;color:#990000;">Sexual offences: 71 500</span><br /><br />Sexual offences have risen by 6696 cases from the previous year. Police have indicated that a possible reason for this is the broadening of the definition of sexual offences. Even if this is the case, the number of reported cases (and it is believed that the unreported cases far exceed this number) is unacceptably high.<br /><br />As is the case with much of the crime in South Africa, you are most likely to be the victim of a sexual crime if you live in Gauteng, which boasts the highest number of cases (19 106) as well as the highest crime-to-population ratio (182.9: 100 000). The Northern Cape had the fewest reported cases (1907), but you are least likely to be the victim of a sexual crime if you live in Limpopo.<br /><br /></p></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><p></p>

Crime: how safe are you?

http://news.iafrica.com/sa/ The police have (finally) released the new batch of crime statistics. By now, most of us know that murders are ...

Read more »

Mall robberies: "It's worse than you thought"

<p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">25 mall robberies a month in South Africa</span></strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghi0Rs2D5AsGQWYBIZOjGWuEBgWR-cFoomBDtEUB69gTqXu5C0q8qjcIAMXThkAb4f5siNVuSL5svDjUoMb6sCjNTLp8e1t6asYg_lNuYxJPAaP9CvRcelKO8dYA0WRzFCzbl6YZHVIuo/s1600-h/AK47.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387404975594300434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghi0Rs2D5AsGQWYBIZOjGWuEBgWR-cFoomBDtEUB69gTqXu5C0q8qjcIAMXThkAb4f5siNVuSL5svDjUoMb6sCjNTLp8e1t6asYg_lNuYxJPAaP9CvRcelKO8dYA0WRzFCzbl6YZHVIuo/s400/AK47.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 251px" /></a>AK47-wielding gangs, terrified shopkeepers, worried landlords - the scary truth.<br /><br />South Africans love shopping malls, not just for buying stuff but as places to relax and hang out with friends. Until now, they have been seen as relatively safe compared to the other options. There are seldom beggars and thieves loitering in parking areas and pick-pockets are relatively few and far between, unlike many public areas in our crime-infested country where it has become normal to anticipate a confrontation with a dangerous criminal armed with a knife, gun or other weapon.<br /><br />But shopping centres have had their reputations as safe havens smashed in recent weeks, thanks to the ruthless armed gangs who have moved into their shiny, air-conditioned hallways, shooting those who get in the way of their spoils.</span> <p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Gauteng malls have been hardest hit, but shopping centres elsewhere haven't escaped this growing trend of robberies. At Canal Walk, Century City, in Cape Town, a mall employee was shot and wounded by robbers </span><a href="http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2498463,00.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">in April</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> and a restaurant employee was </span><a href="http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2514400,00.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">shot and injured in May</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> in a robbery.</span></p><p><a href="http://www.realestateweb.co.za/realestateweb/view/realestateweb/en/page197?oid=46399&sn=Detail"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Earlier this month</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> two security guards were shot and wounded at the Trade Route Mall in Lenasia.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">In the first week of August </span><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13&set_id=1&art_id=vn20090807125650283C467563"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">there were at least five</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> incidents involving armed gunmen at Gauteng shopping malls including at the Bracken City Mall, Alberton, where a gang of about 20 robbed a Pick 'n Pay supermarket, a bottle store and a pharmacy within a few minutes. The robbers, apparently armed with handguns, worked through tills and ordered customers and shop attendants onto the ground, before getting into a shoot-out with Ekurhuleni Metro police officers as they were making a get-away. One officer was injured. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Tragically Jaco Pretorius, managing director of Protea Coin Security's guarding division, died in hospital after allegedly being shot while trying to stop three robbers who had just hit a Sterns jewellery store at the Irene Mall Village, Centurion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">And, so the list goes on, of one shopping mall "hit" after the next.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">How worried should shoppers and shop personnel be about the likelihood of getting caught up in a robbery? In </span><a href="http://www.realestateweb.co.za/realestateweb/view/realestateweb/en/page197?oid=46869&sn=Detail"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Gauteng in particular</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> visible law-enforcing has been stepped up by the South African Police Service and mall security officials with a view to deterring robbers from trying their luck. "Police will be given more firepower and more visibility after a spate of robberies at shopping malls, the Gauteng Department of Community Safety has said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">"The SA Police Service has resolved to increase police visibility at the crime hotspots, including shopping malls. The SAPS has also promised to arm policemen and policewomen tasked with curbing business robberies with heavy calibre automatic weapons. This will help to match and outmatch the firepower of criminals," it said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Michael Broughton, director of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa and SA Council of Shopping Centres, </span><a href="http://www.realestateweb.co.za/realestateweb/view/realestateweb/en/page197?oid=46869&sn=Detail"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">told Moneyweb's editor-in-chief Alec Hogg on the SAfm Market Update with Moneyweb this week</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> that similar steps were being taken elsewhere. He reckons that, from a shoppers' perspective, " statistically your chance(s) of being involved in one of these (incidents) are very, very small - 4 800 malls throughout South Africa open 365 hours a year, 12 hours a day".</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">A different picture, however, was painted by Des de Beer, managing director of listed property fund Resilient </span><a href="http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page296058?oid=2221&sn=2009%20Detail&pid=296058"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">(JSE:RES)</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> - which owns shopping centres - to a group of investment analysts in Cape Town this week. Responding at question time, De Beer admitted robberies have become a big headache for the country's large retail property landlords and that many of the incidents have not even been reported in the media.<br /><br />De Beer said he was having a cup of coffee in a mall when a gang of about eight people "came through" the centre wielding AK-47s. In another incident, recounted to him by another listed company boss, a gang drove into an upmarket Johannesburg mall in an unsuccessful bid to rob a jeweller.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">He said shopping centre owners have been talking to each other about the problems and it seems jewellery stores have become a major magnet for violent criminals.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">"The big problem is jewellery stories. It's the high-end jewellery stores. It is just not worth having jewellery stores," he commented to analysts. De Beer said shopping centre owners are working with police on ways to curb violent crime at malls and understand that when it comes to security "we'll have to keep upping our game".</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">SAPS spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman confirmed to </span><a href="http://www.realestateweb.co.za/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Realestateweb</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> - Moneyweb's property news site - that not all shopping mall robberies have been reported to the media.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">In part, this is because there is a theory in some quarters that successful robbers given other criminals ideas to follow suit. And, police don't want to give too much of the game away when it comes to apprehending culprits and preventing other robberies. Criminals, says Opperman, "read newspapers and plan accordingly".</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">It is likely too, though, that landlords discourage police officers from disclosing robberies to the media as it does not reflect well on them in the eyes of their tenants in terms of their crime prevention measures. And, retail landlords often receive a percentage of shops' turnover. Violent incidents must surely be a deterrent to consumers.</span></p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/30-Sep-2009/165402-20-man-gang-hits-mall.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">20-man gang hits mall</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/29-Sep-2009/165312-twenty-gunmen-storm-shopping-complex.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Twenty gunmen storm shopping complex</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/16-Sep-2009/160206-gunmen-flee-after-mall-raid.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Gunmen flee after mall raid</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/16-Sep-2009/160173-armed-gang-25-robs-shopping-centre.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Armed gang of 25 robs shopping centre</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/30-Sep-2009/165431-cops-launch-manhunt-17-gunmen.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Cops launch manhunt for 17 gunmen</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/02-Sep-2009/153780-cops-arrest-suspected-mall-robbers.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Cops arrest suspected mall robbers</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/30-Sep-2009/165551-a-four-year-old-girl-was-kicked-face.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">'A four-year-old girl was kicked in the face'</span></a><br /><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/17-Apr-2009/98679-gang-15-hits-shopping-centre.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Gang of 15 hits shopping centre</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/17-Sep-2009/160510-25-strong-gang-robs-mall-shops.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">25-strong gang robs mall shops</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/07-Aug-2009/143417-mall-robbery-plague-continues.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Mall robbery plague continues</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/30-Sep-2009/165787-gunmen-on-run-after-mall-robbery.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Gunmen on the run after mall robbery</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/africa/30-Sep-2009/165586-south-africa-police-launch-manhunt-armed-robbers.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">South Africa: Police Launch Manhunt for Armed Robbers</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/03-Sep-2009/154533-gang-pepper-sprays-brakpan-man.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Gang pepper-sprays Brakpan man</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/23-Jul-2009/136655-4th-robbery-4-months-mall.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">4th robbery in 4 months at mall</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/09-Apr-2009/95854-staff-reeling-after-robbery.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Staff reeling after robbery</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/08-Apr-2009/95405-armed-robbery-canal-walk.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Armed robbery in Canal Walk</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/11-May-2009/107786-man-shot-canal-walk-robbery.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Man shot in Canal Walk robbery</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/07-Sep-2009/155961-man-killed-ct-armed-robbery.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Man killed in CT armed robbery</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/24-Jul-2009/137126-mall-raiders-favour-jewels-currency.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Mall raiders favour jewels and currency</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/08-Jul-2009/130149-canal-walk-guard-didn-t-flee-during-robbery.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Canal Walk guard 'didn't flee during robbery'</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/09-Apr-2009/95772-traumatised-staff-reeling-after-robbery.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Traumatised staff reeling after robbery</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/23-Jul-2009/136700-canal-walk-robbed-again.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Canal Walk robbed again</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/23-Jul-2009/136579-cape-town-mall-robbed-again.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Cape Town mall robbed again</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/19-Jul-2009/134700-jewellery-shop-robbed.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Jewellery shop robbed</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/19-Jul-2009/134701-menlyn-robbers-grabbed-taxi.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Menlyn robbers 'grabbed a taxi'</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/17-Apr-2009/98588-gunmen-storm-woodmead-shop.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Gunmen storm Woodmead shop</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/22-Apr-2009/100328-three-custody-after-armed-robbery.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Three in custody after armed robbery</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/02-Apr-2009/93234-man-nabbed-armed-robbery.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Man nabbed for armed robbery</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.360news.co.za/south-africa/19-Jan-2009/63674-cops-hunt-clothing-store-gang.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">Cops hunt clothing store gang</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></p>

Mall robberies: "It's worse than you thought"

25 mall robberies a month in South Africa AK47-wielding gangs, terrified shopkeepers, worried landlords - the scary truth. South Africans lo...

Read more »

Murder victim ‘made killers sandwiches’

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSNfVMvbcfk0g2egLKdsRrCWa6vbEOMMwpajw44YbAMu8UVSA2oLfikHAGOc5agqXl_P1cnH2d8_IbgseRznIon7HgdvHnUgHxCb-YnhGOce23Erwnb4Ygnp_zqxtyz9u9mjiJs4I_Tw/s1600-h/JOHANNA-BLIGNAULT.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387417692159680482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSNfVMvbcfk0g2egLKdsRrCWa6vbEOMMwpajw44YbAMu8UVSA2oLfikHAGOc5agqXl_P1cnH2d8_IbgseRznIon7HgdvHnUgHxCb-YnhGOce23Erwnb4Ygnp_zqxtyz9u9mjiJs4I_Tw/s320/JOHANNA-BLIGNAULT.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 197px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">TWO teenagers arrested for the murder of a 78-year-old librarian in Wittedrift, Plettenberg Bay, apparently stabbed her to death after she made them sandwiches.<br /><br />Wittedrift Dutch Reformed Church pastor Chris du Preez said the two boys, aged 16 and 17, from the adjoining township of Green Valley, had frequently visited Johanna Blignault at her home, where she gave them food.<br /><br />Police who found Blignault’s blood- soaked body outside her back door also found evidence suggesting she had made them sandwiches in her kitchen on Saturday afternoon. A bloody knife was found at the scene.<br /><br />The boys were ordered to remain in custody when they appeared briefly in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Police said their case was postponed to Tuesday next week for a bail application.<br /><br />Evidence was also found to suggest Blignault had been raped, but police said a post-mortem would be conducted today to establish the facts.<br /><br />The two suspects used R150 they allegedly took from her purse to buy alcohol and were drinking at the home they shared with the grandmother of one of the boys in Green Valley on Saturday night when police arrived to arrest them.<br /><br />A DVD player was found with the two youths after police earlier found a radio and frozen chicken, also allegedly from Blignault’s home, in bushes outside the grandmother’s house.<br /><br />Both youths had previous brushes with the law. One was out on bail and was to be sentenced yesterday on a charge of housebreaking, while the other was serving a suspended sentence for stealing a car.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><a class="TopStoriesBar_Item" href="http://www.theherald.co.za/article.aspx?id=478492">‘Trouble’ ultimatum over teen murder duo</a></span> </p>

Murder victim ‘made killers sandwiches’

TWO teenagers arrested for the murder of a 78-year-old librarian in Wittedrift, Plettenberg Bay, apparently stabbed her to death after she m...

Read more »

SA's crime - British tourists warn 2010 soccer fans

<p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:180%;color:#990000;">Tourists plan to warn 2010 fans</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">Robbed couple want to appear on British TV to take wraps off crime in SA</span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#990000;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYbvJRx17BxUH36OqbPBUUW0h7rg01dfdmcSRdvrlNKivEZTFOtwCwVRaZO3sFr9UHyS5PcIUfXKB6Na3LmmtM8vV2-BnjfbcCbLBrvngz_744rrYui38jXIw8N66Kken9vaGW7ZZcjg/s1600-h/crime_2010_soccer_world_cup.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386095200736807954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYbvJRx17BxUH36OqbPBUUW0h7rg01dfdmcSRdvrlNKivEZTFOtwCwVRaZO3sFr9UHyS5PcIUfXKB6Na3LmmtM8vV2-BnjfbcCbLBrvngz_744rrYui38jXIw8N66Kken9vaGW7ZZcjg/s400/crime_2010_soccer_world_cup.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 390px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a>A British couple robbed by a bogus cop near Johannesburg will head home this week to warn 2010 soccer fans about South Africa's crime wave.</span></strong><br /><br />Retired British Airways manager David Gunner, 70, and his wife, Vivienne, were robbed of almost R14 000 by a plain-clothes "policeman" in a BMW soon after leaving OR Tambo airport this month. The robber waved as he sped off.<br /><br />Now the seasoned travellers from Berkshire in the south of England plan to approach two British television talk shows, including Watchdog, the BBC's consumer advocacy programme, to warn British soccer fans to be vigilant during next year's World Cup.<br /><br />"There are plenty of football fans very keen to come to South Africa next year. I want to tell them they must come at their peril," said Gunner from his Ballito hotel yesterday. The couple fly home on Wednesday. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color:#990000;"><blockquote><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">"You have to be on your guard all the time and really be alert ... South Africa is quite a violent society,"</span></strong> <em><span style="color:#000000;">he said.</span></em></span></span></blockquote></span><span style="font-size:130%;">The couple arrived in Johannesburg earlier this month and hired a car to drive directly to Ballito on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast. Five minutes after leaving the airport, Gunner noticed three men in a BMW driving close by.<br /><br />Gunner said a well-dressed and courteous man in his early 30s flashed him a "star badge", indicated that he was a policeman and asked the tourists to pull over.<br /><br />"He said he was a policeman and showed me his badge. It's similar to the one the police have in Europe. He told me there was a problem with guns and drugs and asked to search our car.<br /><br />"His badge looked authentic and he was very convincing."<br /><br />While the other two men remained in the car, Gunner said, the man searched his wife's handbag, took out their traveller's wallet, removed R10000 in cash and then left the money on the dashboard.<br /><br />"My wife thought it was suspicious, so she took the cash off the dashboard and put it away, not back in her handbag."<br /><br />Gunner said the man searched the handbag again and found another wallet "stuffed full of notes", including rands, dollars and euros. "He went through the charade of checking it and suddenly he scampered off to the car and that was it."<br /><br />Gunner tried to give chase but the man made a U-turn on the freeway - and then waved at him as he sped off.<br /><br />Gunner reported the incident to the Bedfordview police station, which confirmed a robbery docket had been opened.<br /><br />"It really put a damper on our holiday. We couldn't stop thinking about it.<br /><br />"It's a wonderful country, really beautiful and dynamic. But as you go around you see these lovely houses, each one topped with razor wire and electric fences and then you realise the enormity of the problem," Gunner said. </span></span><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>source - </em></span><a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article129434.ece"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article129434.ece</em></span></a></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><br /></p></em></span><p></p>

SA's crime - British tourists warn 2010 soccer fans

Tourists plan to warn 2010 fans Robbed couple want to appear on British TV to take wraps off crime in SA A British couple robbed by a bogus ...

Read more »

Grace Mugabe, her 'stolen' farm and how she supplies Zimbawean milk to Nestle food giant

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCAlPcMaVuqXlzpX6tYYftz_mFll5qt-fdmS_lh5jVEd61p-tp6lXsZVJ4rZT74Dg4zH3VSvL-K2eHMC7YoScZQiTdIpodNB72ma-YWWuiynapyNlVbhLz6rIKxGstoGHJKnLbBd2QRQ/s1600-h/zim-nestle.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386267055531950754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCAlPcMaVuqXlzpX6tYYftz_mFll5qt-fdmS_lh5jVEd61p-tp6lXsZVJ4rZT74Dg4zH3VSvL-K2eHMC7YoScZQiTdIpodNB72ma-YWWuiynapyNlVbhLz6rIKxGstoGHJKnLbBd2QRQ/s400/zim-nestle.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 253px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/6235334/Grace-Mugabe-her-stolen-farm-and-how-she-supplies-Zimbawean-milk-to-Nestle-food-giant.html" target="_blank">The Sunday Telegraph</a></em></span><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">features this shocking story today. Why would Grace Mugabe be using an unmarked tanker? Why is her farm enjoying big investment. Shame on Nestlé! I certainly won’t be buying any of their products from now on, and I hope others will boycott them too!</span></em><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Robert Mugabe's wife, Grace, who has taken over at least six of Zimbabwe's most valuable white-owned farms since 2002, sells up to a million litres of milk a year to Nestlé.<br /><br />Mr Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, his wife and a number of other figures linked to his administration are the subject of European Union and US sanctions as a result of their controversial 29-year rule over the once-prosperous country.<br /><br />Nestlé, the multinational food company which is the biggest customer of Mrs Mugabe's dairy farm, is not obliged to comply with those sanctions as its headquarters are in Switzerland, but the country has its own set of measures, including against Mrs Mugabe, among which it "is forbidden to make funds available to persons mentioned, or put them, directly or indirectly, at their disposition". Nestlé denies that it has violated Swiss law.<br /><br />Mr Mugabe, </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/6231765/Robert-Mugabe-has-built-up-10000-acre-farm-of-seized-land.html" jquery1254084432665="66"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">The Daily Telegraph </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">disclosed, has built a secret personal farming empire comprising at least five white-owned farms from which the owners were forced out during his regime's evictions of about 4,000 commercial farmers.<br /><br />Mrs Mugabe's properties total about 12,000 acres, but her most important is Gushungo Dairy Estate, formerly known as Foyle Farm. It is in Mazowe, about 30 miles north of the capital Harare.<br /><br />Other dairy farmers, who have also been forced off their land, said that the previous white owner of Foyle faced a campaign of violence over several months in 2003 until he was forced to sell his property to the state's Agricultural Rural Development Authority (Arda). The price was set at about a quarter of independent estimates, they say, and the former owner received only 40 per cent of that amount.<br /><br />Mrs Mugabe became a regular visitor as soon as the previous owner departed. Workers at the 2,400-acre property say it is now her farm, managed by Russell Goreraza, her son from her first marriage. She married Mr Mugabe in 1996, after his first wife died.<br /><br />She visits the farm several times a week, according to workers at the dairy. Under her occupation, the farm has become one of the few in the country to benefit from investment in recent years and has been lauded in <em>The Herald</em>, the state-controlled newspaper.<br /><br />Mrs Mugabe has built a new residence on the farm, remodelled the original farmhouse and constructed an office block, workers said. The dairy produces 6,500 litres of milk a day, The Herald has said, which is only about 35 per cent of its output under the previous owner, who produced 6.5 million litres a year, more than any other dairy in Zimbabwe.<br /><br />Her biggest customer, according to her staff and other industry insiders, is Nestlé Zimbabwe, the local subsidiary of the Swiss company. The plant, in an industrial area in Msasa on the outskirts of the capital, manufactures powdered milk and cereals for the local market and for export to East African countries.<br /><br />Mrs Mugabe uses an unmarked £100,000 tanker and trailer combination dedicated for her use to deliver milk three times a week to Nestlé's plant on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Harare, according to workers at the plant.<br /><br />The dairy's only other customers, according to farm staff, are personal callers at the premises, and when <em>The Sunday Telegraph</em> visited, the milk cost $1 (62p) per litre. <em>The Sunday Telegraph</em> was unable to locate any documentation for the tanker – registration number AAF 2381 – at Zimbabwe's central vehicle registry.<br /><br />It has a capacity of 30,000 litres, but sources in the dairy industry and Nestlé itself say that it carries only 6,500 litres per delivery, which would amount to about one million litres a year in sales.<br /><br />A spokesman at Nestlé's global headquarters in Switzerland was unable to confirm a precise figure, but said that the estimate was "reasonable".<br /><br />He said: "At the end of last year we found ourselves operating in a market where eight of our 16 contractual suppliers had gone out of business.<br /><br />"As a result, in early 2009 the company started purchasing milk on the open market from various suppliers on a strictly non-contractual basis. In certain instances the milk available in the market would be from Gushungo Dairy Estate." Such milk would be bought on a "cash on delivery" basis, he said, adding: "Nestlé has no direct engagement whatsoever with this estate." But when asked to clarify whether it was bought directly or through a third party, he said: "We bought Gushungo Dairy Estate's milk through Dorkin Dairies until that firm collapsed last February, then we bought the milk directly."<br /><br />Nestlé has spent years protecting its reputation amid other scandals, particularly allegations over the improper promotion of formula milk to nursing mothers in the Third World, which it denies, but which have led to consumer boycotts in the West.<br /><br />American and European officials said that if Nestlé was subject to their rules it would be committing a criminal offence by trading with Mrs Mugabe.<br /><br />Mrs Mugabe is one of a number of people individually targeted by international sanctions.<br /><br />In July 2002, she was first included on an EU list, and she has been on Washington's list since it was created in 2003. On the Swiss list she is described as "spouse of the head of government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law".<br /><br />A spokesman for Nestlé said it had “absolutely not” broken Swiss law.<br /><br />“The legislation is internal to Switzerland,” he said. “In any case, Nestlé Zimbabwe and any commercial transactions it engages in within Zimbabwe are subject to Zimbabwean law.”<br /><br />Asked if it thought that it was doing anything wrong by doing business with Mrs Mugabe's operation, Nestlé said: "During the recent crisis Nestlé has not considered moving its operations out of the country. By providing basic food products to Zimbabwean consumers, Nestlé aims to meet the needs of the local population, many of whom are vulnerable and disadvantaged."<br /><br />The company's code of conduct, according to its website, states: "We condemn any form of bribery and corruption." It also says that Nestlé "supports and respects the protection of international human rights", and adds that its suppliers should also adhere to its code.<br /><br />Asked to explain its dealings with Mrs Mugabe in that context, it said: "Nestlé does not provide any support, financial or otherwise, to the Gushungo Dairy Estate or to any political party in Zimbabwe.<br /><br />"Nestlé is a truly global company which operates in almost all countries in the world, and therefore its products are found in widely diverse political settings."<br /><br />No response has been received to <em>The Sunday Telegraph's</em> requests for comment from Mrs Mugabe at State House or through her husband's spokesman, nor from the agriculture ministry.<br /><br />Pay and conditions for workers at the dairy are meagre. A 25-year-old worker, with a child to care for, said she could not afford to buy the milk at $1 (62p) a litre.<br /><br />"Do we ever get enough money? No, I get $40 (£25) a month, yet we sell lots and lots of milk," she said.<br /><br />"We do get cabbages returned from the market and 25kg of maize meal twice a month, but there is no electricity in our houses, only for office staff and managers. Mrs Mugabe is here a lot, but doesn't talk to us, just the managers."<br /><br />Many Zimbabweans blame Mrs Mugabe for her husband's descent into misrule and fixation on financial gain. Mr Mugabe's first wife, Sally, a Ghanaian, died of renal failure in 1992 and four years later, aged 72, he married his former typist Grace, 40 years his junior.<br /><br />The couple had begun their relationship and had two children even before Sally's death, with a third child born in 1997.<br /><br />With a penchant for lurid dresses, often from expensive European designers, and matching head gear, Mrs Mugabe is famous for her extravagant shopping trips abroad – during one of which, in February, she was approached by a press photographer outside a hotel in Hong Kong, and responded by smashing her jewel-encrusted fist into his face. Gushungo Dairy Estate is not the only farm controlled by Mrs Mugabe.<br /><br />In 2002, she personally ordered John and Eva Matthews, both in their seventies, out of their 29-room house on the nearby 2,500-acre Iron Mask Estate, giving them 48 hours to leave.<br /><br />Farmers in the area said that she had also taken over Sigaro farm from Joe Kennedy, a major seed producer who has now left Zimbabwe and did not want to comment.<br /><br />Sources said that last year she took over the neighbouring property, Gwebi Wood, which had been bought by Washington Matsaire, the chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank's Zimbabwe subsidiary, in 2001.<br /><br />He did not want to comment, but neighbours said the farm was now "a mess".<br /><br />Mrs Mugabe also has properties in Banket, about 50 miles north of Harare.<br /><br />In December last year, Ben Hlatshwayo, a high court judge who had evicted Vernon Nicolle from the 1,445-acre Gwina farm in the area, was in turn forced out by alleged "unlawful conduct" on Mrs Mugabe's part, according to court papers he reportedly filed.<br /><br />His legal action was later abandoned, however Robert Mugabe has built up 10,000-acre farm of seized land er, and when asked about the events he would not comment.<br />According to Mr Nicolle, who has emigrated to Australia, Mrs Mugabe has also taken over the nearby 1,740-acre Leverdale farm, which used to be owned by his brother Piers until he was forced out by Arda in 2002.<br /><br />Last month Mr Nicolle visited both properties.<br /><br />"Anything that could be vandalised and sold has been destroyed," he said.<br /><br />He added that some of his former workers found him during his visit. "It was very emotional," he said. "They thought I was returning to take the farm back and were disappointed when I said I was just visiting."<br /><br />Mrs Mugabe's farm management is, nonetheless, celebrated in <em>The Herald</em> newspaper.<br /><br />At a ceremony at the Gushungo Dairy in June, Mr Mugabe referred to the dairy repeatedly as Mrs Mugabe's "project", saying she had invested "determination and dedication" to it. "It's now her project," he said. "I would like to congratulate her. Today you see this monument. It is a result of her efforts and time."<br /><br />Mrs Mugabe herself told <em>The Herald</em>: "Today has been a wonderful day for me. When we came here it was in a bad state. I had to work hard to transform it to what it is today. I went into dairy farming because he [Mr Mugabe] wanted it. I did it especially for him."</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>url - </em></span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em> </em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em></em></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>related:<br /></em></span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/6235566/Nestl-the-worlds-biggest-food-company-and-one-of-the-most-boycotted.html" jquery1254085464880="60"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Nestlé: the world's biggest food company and one of the 'most boycotted'</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><br /></em></span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6235648/Grace-Mugabes-milk-sales-to-Nestle-sparks-human-rights-groups-to-call-for-action.html" jquery1254085464880="61"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Grace Mugabe's milk sales to Nestlé sparks human rights groups to call for action</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><br /></em></span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/6231765/Robert-Mugabe-has-built-up-10000-acre-farm-of-seized-land.html" jquery1254085464880="62"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Mugabe builds up 10,000-acre farm of seized land</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em> </em></span><br /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/4447091/Robert-Mugabes-wife-Grace-seizes-Zimbabwe-farm.html" jquery1254085464880="65"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Robert Mugabe's wife Grace seizes Zimbabwe farm</em></span></a><p>

Grace Mugabe, her 'stolen' farm and how she supplies Zimbawean milk to Nestle food giant

The Sunday Telegraph features this shocking story today. Why would Grace Mugabe be using an unmarked tanker? Why is her farm enjoying big i...

Read more »

Speedster Malema won't pay

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2NoGp5mwpliZPbXhNOHRYsZZVf_vfupTtT7zjWq57Joc8JH8_PRUnF2zs_iBNjfyC7fsJvPIv3MgjChdQYrtMxCABg9Y3Y6kyENwkf-K_bbkNCEKMZfVH6huqCSwAmuJG8nnsFM2h6TI/s1600-h/malema-huggies.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386144109137188850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2NoGp5mwpliZPbXhNOHRYsZZVf_vfupTtT7zjWq57Joc8JH8_PRUnF2zs_iBNjfyC7fsJvPIv3MgjChdQYrtMxCABg9Y3Y6kyENwkf-K_bbkNCEKMZfVH6huqCSwAmuJG8nnsFM2h6TI/s400/malema-huggies.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 322px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">Julius Malema is just as fast on the road as he is to open his mouth – and he does not believe in paying his speeding fines.<br /><br />The president of the ANC Youth League, renowned for his hard-partying, love of fast cars and glib comments – has notched up thousands of rands in unpaid speeding fines in the Johannesburg metro alone.</span></strong><br /><br />His explanation: “I only know revolution, I don't know anything about driving.”<br /><br />With 14 traffic offences worth more than R5 000 to his name, he is ahead of the Youth League leadership pack. His nearest rival is ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu who has managed to rack up a dozen unpaid fines in the city since August last year amounting to R2 625. In contrast, Malema's predecessor as ANCYL president, Fikile Mbalula - now deputy minister of police - has no fines in Johannesburg.<br /><br />Malema's top recorded speed was 169km/h in a 120km/h zone on 21 September last year as his jet-black Mercedes Benz C350 sped along the N1 near Midrand. He has yet to pay the R1 100 fine. The previous day he was also photographed as he braked hard and slowed to 146km/h, just seconds too late to evade the speed camera.<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">Currently in the US</span></strong><br /><br />Malema's most recent infringement on September 6, netted him a R750 fine.<br /><br />Contacted on his cellphone in America where he and Mbalula were taking part in a controversial junket to “promote South Africa” and “encourage Americans to invest” - Malema once again pulled out the race card.<br /><br />“Let me tell you my friend, I have defeated you and your apartheid regime and I'm going to defeat you again, once and for all!"<br /><br />“All of you combined, you can't do anything. You are wasting your time."<br /><br />“I am a child of heroes and heroines of the struggle. I am not a child of cowards and oppressors. I am not a child of an imperialist. I have defeated colonisers. I am going to defeat the children of colonisers.”<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">Could face arrest</span></strong><br /><br />Johannesburg metro police spokesperson, Inspector Edna Mamonyane, said normally a warrant of arrest was issued once a fine remained unpaid for 90 days and the offender failed to appear in court “although it can sometimes take a bit longer”.<br /><br />She declined to comment about Malema.<br /><br />The JMPD's head spokesperson, Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, said that “any person will be accountable for any traffic fine, whether they are a judge or whoever they are”.<br /><br />Contacted on Friday, Shivambu professed ignorance about both his and Malema's fines.<br /><br />“I think you are very bored, honestly. I don't know what you are talking about...We can't comment on useless things because we must first verify where you got the information from because you might have made it up in your own mind.”<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#999999;">Jealous</span></strong><br /><br />He then cut the call.<br /><br />Contacted again, he responded brusquely: “I don't want to talk to you about that. Why do you even want to look into that thing? Don't call me, I'm going to drop the phone.”<br /><br />Earlier this month, amid the national furore over cabinet ministers' and premiers' waBenzi frenzy, Malema said that critics were “jealous” and that top government officials should be allowed to drive expensive cars at taxpayers' expense. He said he would never be a cabinet minister because then he would have to explain why he drove a luxury car.<br /><br />“What is corruption? Driving a Mercedes Benz? Driving a Mercedes Benz cannot be corruption. If that is how you define corruption, then you are jealous,” Malema reportedly said.</span><br /><br /><em>- Rapport</em> </span><p><br /></p>

Speedster Malema won't pay

Julius Malema is just as fast on the road as he is to open his mouth – and he does not believe in paying his speeding fines. The president o...

Read more »

Who's paying for Malema's lavish life?

<p><a class="storylink" href="http://www.tios.co.za/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>The Independent on Saturday</em></span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema is living way beyond his means ... the question is how can he afford it - or who is paying for it.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><p align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000099;"><strong><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386157598632595442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWTkK93UspppTAOwvVyo0AdBDaT9nkOXY8Ust1d0PZeJW3k3vU2LsJZEQR0WJQApihyQjg_XlWFA6zWHyqMLJWSEPAPmflMDUxxVhN7SGc0q_-qvCeDCXGw__w6EraSlVsBckQnm-55w/s400/Malema's+House+in+Limpopo.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Julius Malema's Home in Limpopo?</strong></span></em></p><p align="left"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386157008214573282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5YFL4R4Y-6eiYdriIoZDKfDuqEeMLyOMELUYO_t6OWNrIbIbnIVr1Ys597LR5WSmC3fZiM3VWPvEgpmR7PHElGhGnSdQAmn-oYnKNtP-odlQYNioE0AuIlb3Shyznt_skseYsDe2QexE/s400/juliusmalema_P1010036.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /></p><p align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000099;"><strong>Malema's Range Rover sport in the room upstairs?</strong></span></em></p><p align="left"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386157014867111730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGsI_l69HSq1QoYuIByIO1iTrE882z1vFh90PcvanaqyBDvVgOojKp7mz7K1q2ZnXzfliOn0pUDpGsiEoOALrsdYESxeKySlGePkevo9DXpw2QBvxPGKXT67eUndbiSPi81Cf7NXJ2WwY/s400/juliusmalema_rangerover.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /></p><p align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000099;"><strong>Note the REGISTRATION - DOG-Limpopo</strong></span></em></p><p align="left">With a luxurious Sandown Estate home in Johannesburg's northern suburbs and a C63 Mercedes-Benz, Malema would need to earn more than R50 000 a month to qualify for these expenses. <em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000099;"></span></em></p><p>But highly placed sources within the ANC this week said that Malema earns a salary of just over R20 000 a month from the Youth League.<br /><br />This would include his car allowance and medical aid, but not a loaned executive car from the organisation.<br /><br />Malema found himself splashed all over newspapers this week after his lavish housewarming party last weekend got out of hand.<br /><br />He allegedly attacked a police reservist neighbour who interrupted the party after 3am to complain about the excessive noise.<br /><br />In turn, Malema accused people who spoke to the media about the incident of being Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille's spies.<br /><br />The reservist said Malema's bodyguards threatened to take away his cellphone and wallet when he tried to call the police.<br /><br />He was rescued by a guest at the party, who pulled him away from Malema and his bodyguards. The reservist then managed to lock himself inside his car while Malema and his crew banged on the car's roof and windows as he drove off.<br /><br />Media reports this week suggested that Malema had been charged with assault after the early morning incident at his house.<br /><br />But provincial police Senior Superintendent Eugene Opperman said investigations were still continuing. He would not confirm whether Malema or his bodyguards were facing charges.<br /><br />Several residents, however, said Malema had been a troublesome neighbour ever since he moved in.<br /><br />At his latest party, the upmarket bash had a live band and plenty of booze, a string of visitors with Harley-Davidson motorbikes and others with bling cars.<br /><br />But the question is, how did Malema qualify to rent the house in the first place?<br /><br />He lives in Silvela Road in Sandown Estates. Firzt Realty estate agent Beverly Feinblum said that a cluster home in or around that area could cost anything from R18 000 to R23 000 a month in rental.<br /><br />A free-standing house in a complex would have three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, two reception areas, staff quarters, a pool and a double garage.<br /><br />Malema drives a black C63 Mercedes-Benz AMG, which retails at R734 000.<br /><br />It is rumoured that he also drives an Aston Martin and has a Range Rover.<br /><br />He also has two bodyguards.<br /><br />Malema is believed to employ Coin as a private security firm.<br /><br />Security specialist Mike Bolhuis said bodyguards could cost anything from R500 a shift to R5 000 a day. A permanent bodyguard could cost anything between R30 000 and R60 000 a month.<br /><br />"Bodyguards just make you feel important, like you have a standing. It's a vain move more than a necessary one. I know a couple of government employees who just have bodyguards because there is extra money floating around.<br /><br />"The price does increase as the levels of risk increase and how well known the person is."<br /><br />But ANC spokesperson Lindiwe Zulu said no one should compare what Malema did in his private life with the youth league. If someone wanted to know what Malema earned, it was best to ask him directly.<br /><br />"I don't think people should walk around saying what other people earn."<br /><br />Defending Malema's lavish bash, Zulu justified it with the area he was living in. "You have to look at where he lives... he doesn't live in a shack."<br /><br />When The Independent on Saturday spoke to Malema, he was unrepentant.<br /><br />"Write your story, I don't owe you or your bosses or your paper any comment, I owe you nothing."</span></p><p><em><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></em></p>

Who's paying for Malema's lavish life?

The Independent on Saturday African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema is living way beyond his means ... the question i...

Read more »

We don't need no education

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zbDjUIb9ezbaxp-7qt5-L7XPIpn7XxAcS8rlGt9Y2DE0DMtp7X6ME6C0JqnOfQpzCnD8Ww0DKZ-hagxk8s6745F4of5esNUZR2TOpDu1cXwQ8bhwrEcrh-i8SjgbrymcNCsR_43iRaA/s1600-h/malema-education-books.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386107240488230322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zbDjUIb9ezbaxp-7qt5-L7XPIpn7XxAcS8rlGt9Y2DE0DMtp7X6ME6C0JqnOfQpzCnD8Ww0DKZ-hagxk8s6745F4of5esNUZR2TOpDu1cXwQ8bhwrEcrh-i8SjgbrymcNCsR_43iRaA/s400/malema-education-books.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><em><span style="font-size:78%;">Article By: The Point</span></em><br /><br />The Point has been dabbling in a little mathematics. And by dabbling I mean groping aimlessly in the dark and by mathematics I mean numbers generally... and the Fibonacci sequence specifically.<br /><br />Ah, you see how I casually threw that out there — the product of a misspent youth. Or, to be more honest, far too many episodes of 'Criminal Minds'.<br /><br />So, back to those Fibonacci numbers. This is the sequence:<br /><br />0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55...<br /><br />Basic principle: each number is the sum of the two previous numbers. This brings me to the point — a South African Fibonacci sequence for the week.<br /><br />0: John Hlophe (call ups to the Constitutional Court bench);<br />1: SA police (the number of times crimes stats have been released in the past year);<br />1: Jacob Zuma (maiden speech at the UN);<br />2: Julius Malema (current count of charges against him);<br />3: Wives of Jacob Zuma (well, that's pretty self-explanatory);<br />5: Springboks (number of games won in the Tri-Nations);<br />8: Pius Langa (number of years since he was appointed deputy chief justice);<br />13: Blade Nzimande (number of times he has insisted he is, in fact, a communist);<br />21: Helen Zille (the number of times she uttered Jacob Zuma's name this week);<br />34: Leonard Chuene (number of lies told about Caster Semenya);<br />55: Michel Hulley (the number of times he's tried to get JZ out of trouble).<br /><br />Okay, okay... I confess, from 13 down they're all just approximations. But hey, who said journalists could count?<br /><br /><strong>WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION </strong><br /><br />So, he pops up at spot number four in my sequence, but, really, you could probably put him anywhere. Yip, I am talking about the invaluable Julius Malema. The consistency with which he provides fodder for humour is truly remarkable.<br /><br />If mention of the chubby-one's name causes you to break out in a sweat, froth at the mouth and start biting the furniture, I advise you to simply skip over this section. If the symptoms continue, then you may have rabies. There's nothing I can do about that.<br /><br />Right, back to this week's double whammy of Malema-madness. Yip, not only was he in court, he also threw a big bash at his Sandton home and may or may not have assaulted a grumbling neighbour.<br /><br />Let's begin with that </span><a href="http://news.iafrica.com/sa/1715238.htm" target="new"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">court appearance</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">.<br /><br />In his testimony, Malema whined (like a petulant child) that instead of helping to educate him the women's rights organisation dragged him to court.<br /><br />"They should have seen an opportunity to educate a young man... I must say I am highly disappointed... the first opportunity they saw to educate a young man, was to rush to court."<br /><br />Ah, yes, but Malema assumes that the young man in question can actually be educated.<br /><br />"I'm not an expert. I'm a layman who can only respond to the utterances I've made. On statistics… it's something you have to argue with your learned friend [his lawyer]. I know nothing about statistics. That's why I didn't even bother myself to read this document… which I would not (have) the capacity to do."<br /><br />I think that proves my point. But, just in case you're not convinced, here's what he had to say after his </span><a href="http://news.iafrica.com/sa/1937664.htm" target="new"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">party</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">.<br /><br />"If there was going to be any beating surely it was not going to be done by me. It is really unfair to try and paint us as a wrong picture. "<br /><br />Hmm… that's a little ambiguous. Is he suggesting that he, the former child-soldier, is incapable of beating someone, or is he suggesting that now he gets his henchmen to do his dirty work?<br /><br />"Even after the party, we cleaned up everything so there should not be any accusations that there were bottles all over and there were condoms."<br /><br />Well, I think we can take a positive out of this: condoms reduce the chances of procreation.<br /><br /><strong>WELCOME TO GANGSTA'S PARADISE</strong><br /><br />When she wasn't sending her cronies to spy on Malema (yes, he really said that), the Zillenator was frothing at the mouth over JZ's <a href="http://news.iafrica.com/sa/1930880.htm" target="new">lawyer's</a> latest attempts to pervert the course of justice. There is also the possibility that she had just read a newspaper containing the most recent tidbits from Malemamunchkin.<br /><br />"The latest move by President Zuma's lawyers demonstrates once again how important it is not to be beguiled by the president's personal charm. His public relations will not protect the Constitution. In fact, it is a convenient smokescreen behind which the assault on the Constitution continues unabated."<br /><br />Ah, see, she's falling for his personal charms. Zumilla: you read it here first.<br /><br />"We are sinking into a kind of gangsterism when the decisions of the state justice system depend not on the law but on party intrigue."<br /><br />Despite the impending descent into gangsterism, Zuma seemed to be pretty firm on the rule of law.<br /><br />"The extreme manner in which some of our citizens tend to express their grievances lately is totally unacceptable. We cannot continue to loot shops, burn tyres, throw garbage on our streets, blockade roads, damage property, or, most disturbingly, march in violation of court orders, to voice your dissatisfaction."<br /><br />Perhaps this is the smokescreen.<br /><br /><strong>MISSING THE IRONY</strong><br /><br />Earlier this week, the US shut down its embassy and consulates in the face of some mysterious threat. The South African government, worried that this would scare tourists and investors off, issued the following statement.<br /><br />"Obviously, the closure of the embassies is not something that is a good thing because it creates an impression that we are not a safe country... We want to reassure the public that South Africa is indeed a safe country."<br /><br />This in the week that they finally released the crime statistics. I suspect the fact that 50 people are murdered every day will hold a little more sway than the temporary closure of the embassy of a country paranoid about national security. </span><p></p>

We don't need no education

Article By: The Point The Point has been dabbling in a little mathematics. And by dabbling I mean groping aimlessly in the dark and by mathe...

Read more »

It's JZ, leave a message...

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvXZ5yh6aqa18OZo96cgjx8qn4iS7Z3Fb_MqoAuLfjnHI2kW7SLkubhdSNz-YjlcZxlqftxuK0ndflCAlKmZqFrXKnJikmGKHVBlrLmdnLQuJ28lMT2Vt1VNMC5qxCaJ8-XMXOHeGJoo/s1600-h/ZUMA-HOTLINE.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386111821575727298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLvXZ5yh6aqa18OZo96cgjx8qn4iS7Z3Fb_MqoAuLfjnHI2kW7SLkubhdSNz-YjlcZxlqftxuK0ndflCAlKmZqFrXKnJikmGKHVBlrLmdnLQuJ28lMT2Vt1VNMC5qxCaJ8-XMXOHeGJoo/s400/ZUMA-HOTLINE.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Article By: Rebekah Kendal</em></span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Go on, admit it... you tried calling 17737. Nope? Not even to check if it was working? Erm... well... we may have. It was engaged. Yip, one day up and running and already JZ's hotline is inundated with calls. </span><br /></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Either that or (a) every other journalist in South Africa was doing the same thing (b) the JZ hotline team took a lunch-break and left the phone off the hook or (c) one of these guys was calling... </span></p></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>President Zuma's hotline, how can I help you?</strong><br />Ah Jacob... it's Bob. I noticed that you've been having a spot of trouble with your military. Personally, I found that free farms and foreign conflicts do wonders in quelling discontent. The DR Congo worked well for me. And, before I forget, next time you pop over for a visit, you simply must try the new English Breakfast tea I had imported from Sri Lanka.<br /><br /><strong>I'm sorry I can't take your call right now... I'm busy running the country. Please leave a message at the beep.</strong><br />JZ, it's Schabir. I've made a booking at that restaurant you like on Florida Road for Wednesday night. I know we said 6.30pm, but something's come up. Do mind if I swing by and pick you up at 7pm instead?<br /><br /><strong>Hello, this is your president speaking. How can I help you?</strong><br />(Heavy breathing)<br />Hello? Terror… is that you again?<br />(Heavy breathing)<br />Hello? Hello? Really, Terror, I can see your caller ID...<br /><br /><strong>Hi, this is Zuma. You know what to do. No, no... not the machine gun. Leave a message.</strong><br />Msholozi, Floyd here. Can I ask you a personal question? What does 'sleeping around' mean to you? Okay, sure, we know all that stuff about kangas, but do you think 'sleeping around is sleeping around' is a solid argument? DJ Redi Direko didn't. She really needs to grow up. Anyway, I started this cool new group on Facebook, check it out...<br /><br /><strong>President Zuma is here to serve the people. If you leave a message at the tone, you will be the 6759th person to do so today. Beep.</strong><br />Um… President Zuma, this is Lee calling from the South African Table Tennis Board. Just a quick reminder about paying your annual subscriptions and your friendly against Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Thursday afternoon.<br /><br /><strong>You've reached the home of Jacob, Sizakele, Nompumelo, and Thobeka. We can't take your call right now, but if you leave a message, we'll get back to you...</strong><br />Jacob... it's Winnie... again. I think your wives may be deleting my messages. I can't stop thinking about that kiss... call me.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>This is President Zuma's hotline. What would you like to complain about today?<br /></strong>With all due respect, Mr President, the country...<br />You can email my spokesperson; befriend me on Facebook; tweet me on Twitter; or read my weekly newsletter. No, really, do. It's a good read. In fact, if you read it regularly, you could probably just scrap this hotline altogether — we've pretty much got the complaints covered.<br /><br /><strong>You have reached the JSC hotline... ah, wait, no. Er... call again. Hello, you have reached JZ's hotline.</strong><br />Zuma... it's Hlophe. John Hlophe.<br /><br /><strong>It's JZ, you know the drill.</strong><br />Polka dot shirt or leather jacket? You know what it's like Msholozi — the ladies, the cameras, the jealous imperialists. Anyway, you've been to a few more of these shindigs than me, so thought I would seek your advice. In case you can make it: the Equality Court on Wednesday.</span></span> <p></p>

It's JZ, leave a message...

Article By: Rebekah Kendal Go on, admit it... you tried calling 17737. Nope? Not even to check if it was working? Erm... well... we may have...

Read more »

Athletics SA have known for years Caster Semenya is a HE

<p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">An Australian newspaper, <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/semenya-has-no-womb-or-ovaries/story-e6frexni-1225771672245');" href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/semenya-has-no-womb-or-ovaries/story-e6frexni-1225771672245">The Daily Telegraph</a>,</span></strong><strong><span style="color:#990000;"> has published a story online saying that tests done reveal the South African world champion has no womb nor ovaries according to a source who has leaked confidential medical information.</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><blockquote><em><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380310339153725666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd99AZ5EaNeROMvtwOHDqkhDAGFuEMVcPYFM4SsfUbNNUqCj-3sb_F_LHCTbI-rJf3ZYlQGp9y8Pm6Nk-2kbRp14I5kJXUfluut3G67yP5lxrHTgDYWjOQIdWjf3mL9UC8dcIUbiLrDEA/s400/caster-semenya-medals.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 343px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is ready to disqualify Semenya from future events and advise her to have immediate surgery because her condition carries grave health risks. They have also not ruled out stripping Semenya of her 800m world championships gold medal.</em></blockquote><p>This morning the IAAF told The Times that they had the test results from Germany but these would first be interpreted by a panel of experts before discussing the matter with Caster, and then making a public statement. Well that didn’t happen.</p><p>The anonymous source familiar with the IAAF enquiry says that the two parties at fault for the debacle are “the IAAF and especially Athletics SA. The South Africans have got a massive responsibility, but no one seems to be attacking them. Basically they (ASA) have known for months, for years, that she’s not normal. They could have set in process these kind of tests if they had been more responsible.”</p><p><strong>Testosterone<br /></strong><br /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380310349803577250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiqkgu3ydtkQWJrgfpeOx3N4Yf1wsgg758jZ2g-9ZhnW0hfety_de3BzVChOjiCHCWlzV1aXdBaZuMHIT2gaD5jiUrRHfQW0iuFpyJ8CkdxlMIZGMTIIeKEYtA2MbznfUc2SAfSN6o-qs/s400/caster-semenya-makeover-athlete-gender.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Semenya is claimed to have NO womb or ovaries — and has internal testes, the male sexual organs which produce testosterone.<br /><br />The row over Semenya's biology has caused huge divisions — with South African politicians calling slurs she is a man "racist and sexist." Her birth certificate has the teen listed as female and urine tests showed that, despite her having higher than average male hormone levels, they are within the official limits for a woman.<br /><br />But an IAAF source was today quoted as saying: "There certainly is evidence now that Semenya is a hermaphrodite.<br /><br />"But the trouble is the IAAF now have the whole ANC and the whole of South Africa on their backs.<br /><br />"Everything is going to have to be done absolutely by the book, no question of a challenge to our findings.<br /><br />IAAF spokesman Nick Davies was not immediately available to comment on the story.</p><p></span></p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOz1ka4MbowV6HAD3PhB6XnghCV8xFv7UKBdr9QMMoJF9W6WNosC4nE7pNMX0covFvXG6JraZVOtDQZJX6Jufzoc3c3DG71pUGvuf7ZCs55ueqSg4ni9SJiPysJrl5ZNHdrRB8dzxF5XM/s1600-h/caster_Main-pic.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379906545854505458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOz1ka4MbowV6HAD3PhB6XnghCV8xFv7UKBdr9QMMoJF9W6WNosC4nE7pNMX0covFvXG6JraZVOtDQZJX6Jufzoc3c3DG71pUGvuf7ZCs55ueqSg4ni9SJiPysJrl5ZNHdrRB8dzxF5XM/s400/caster_Main-pic.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 195px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 232px" /></a>The organisation confirmed this morning that it had received the test results back and was processing the data.<br />Semenya was ordered to take tests straight after her 800 metres gold at the World Championships in Berlin.<br /><br />The athlete received a heroine's welcome when she arrived back home in South Africa following the backlash.<br /><br />And Semenya's family have slammed the claims, saying: "It is God who made her look that way but she IS a girl."<br /><br />The runner was last week given a make-over by YOU magazine — and called the row over her gender "a joke" as she posed in make-up and a dress.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><a class="l" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'news_result','','res','2','&sig2=2YuRBBQKIi9T5qBkIm9Jbw')" href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2631482/Runner-is-a-hermaphrodite.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Runner is a 'hermaphrodite'</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;">‎ - The Sun</span></em></span><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><a class="l" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'news_result','','res','1','&sig2=etz8UXKp3DvbIJMY82L99g')" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-1212568/Gender-row-runner-Caster-Semenya-hermaphrodite-womb-ovaries-claims-Australian-newspaper.html">Gender-row runner Caster Semenya 'is a hermaphrodite with no womb ...</a>‎ Daily Mail </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Caster is a hermaphrodite. <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/semenya-has-no-womb-or-ovaries/story-e6frexni-1225771672245');" href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/semenya-has-no-womb-or-ovaries/story-e6frexni-1225771672245">The Daily Telegraph</a></span></span></em><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /><em><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#000099;">See:-</span> <span style="color:#990000;">H</span></span></em><a href="http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022346801664170"><em><span style="font-size:100%;">ermaphroditism occurs quite commonly in South Africa</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#990000;">n</span> black people: A disproportionally high incidence of true hermaphroditism is seen among the South African black people, constituting 51% of children in local study on all intersex types.</span> </span></em></span><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Click on link to see full story </em></span><a class="l" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','res','2','&sig2=79dxSVW5Fasd5FgdP3a3Hw')" href="http://bornagainredneck.blogspot.com/2009/08/semenya-south-african-hermaphrodite.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Semenya the South African hermaphrodite runner</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em> </em></span></p><p></p>

Athletics SA have known for years Caster Semenya is a HE

An Australian newspaper, The Daily Telegraph , has published a story online saying that tests done reveal the South African world champion ...

Read more »

More black pupils failing matric

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsmtOAQGM8acjlyCIR_q1D9uFigvJroaugJQeGHgt5fpykFSdpudDXGYd9GbqouUeKaWxb9a25zKSdZ9YQz1b4JMzzyPFQduZNKIyYsl4MWtxsOalx4JbD3vtPRpprRTJqcGOip86dFw/s1600-h/edu_computers_nigger_racist.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379926543172416802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsmtOAQGM8acjlyCIR_q1D9uFigvJroaugJQeGHgt5fpykFSdpudDXGYd9GbqouUeKaWxb9a25zKSdZ9YQz1b4JMzzyPFQduZNKIyYsl4MWtxsOalx4JbD3vtPRpprRTJqcGOip86dFw/s400/edu_computers_nigger_racist.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">The statistics confirm what everyone knows, but they look grim in black and white: Barely half of South Africa's black schoolchildren passed matric last year, while nearly every white pupil who wrote the exam sailed through.</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.thetimes.co.za/PDFs/MatricpassesRNW665-090908.pdf">DOCUMENT: Matric race data by province</a><br /><br />The damning figures were published by the minister of basic education, Angie Motshekga, in response to a question from the Democratic Alliance.<br /><br />The Eastern Cape fared worst with only 45% of black candidates passing matric at any level.<br /><br />Limpopo, with a black pass rate of 49.3% was the other province to fail more than half the cohort.<br /><br />The figures, which were published without any comment from Motshekga, underline the handicap facing black children trying to break out of the cycle of poverty and the challenge facing the department of education.<br /><br />With a budget of R140-billion for this year, education takes the biggest single slice of government spending, but has failed over the first 15 years of democracy to make any inroad into the inherited backlog in traditionally black townships and rural areas.<br /><br />Educationist Mamphela Ramphele was the first to acknowledge that apartheid actually gave black pupils a better deal than they get now, but the refrain has been picked up by cabinet ministers.<br /><br />The figures show that in the Eastern Cape, 52 998 black pupils wrote matric and 28 878 failed, while only 33 of 3 130 white pupils who wrote the exam failed.<br /><br />In Limpopo, 40 190 of the 87 171 black candidates failed, while seven of the 1 386 white pupils didn't make the cut.<br /><br />Gauteng managed to pass 70.4% of the 71 687 black candidates and all but 136 of the 15 291 white candidates, while the Western Cape graduated only 60% of the 11 767 black candidates.<br /><br />Only 32 of the 8408 white pupils who wrote matric failed.<br /><br />In total, 56.6% of the 460 828 black matric candidates passed.<br /></span><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Brendan Boyle</span></em> </span><p></p>

More black pupils failing matric

The statistics confirm what everyone knows, but they look grim in black and white: Barely half of South Africa's black schoolchildren pa...

Read more »

Taxi driver knocked down school girl off scooter, then drove over her

<p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">Taxi driver guilty of killing schoolgirl</span></strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dL4riHZwUXiVuwprq2NCYcthY-4-_pY6VGeLeD9MPfBjkeXk_fQdZnn5sWTI9UieoDNK8wD7cJqaHAqMxX_MW22fAQArP-u5Z3RnmT0kjzKIr82kXLAMpFZ-j6rqu2lmxOYaWkwLjj0/s1600-h/taxi-driver+percyval+matji+31.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379936150452837394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3dL4riHZwUXiVuwprq2NCYcthY-4-_pY6VGeLeD9MPfBjkeXk_fQdZnn5sWTI9UieoDNK8wD7cJqaHAqMxX_MW22fAQArP-u5Z3RnmT0kjzKIr82kXLAMpFZ-j6rqu2lmxOYaWkwLjj0/s400/taxi-driver+percyval+matji+31.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 348px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 342px" /></a>A taxi driver who in February knocked down school girl Bernadine Kruger off her scooter and then drove over her, was today found guilty of murder. The 16-year old victim’s family says they hope the judgment acts as a deterrent to other drivers.</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:85%;color:#000099;">Taxi-driver Percyval Matji, 31, found guilty of murder in the traffic-death of 16-year-old Afrikaans pupil Bernadine Kruger in </span></em><a title="This city was founded and built by the Voortrekker Boers..." href="http://www.radiopretoria.co.za/" target="_blank"><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000099;">Pretoria</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#000099;"> on 23 February 2009</span></em>.<br /><br />The court found that 31-year old Percyval Matji followed Kruger, in a loaded taxi, between lanes as she drove her scooter to school along a Pretoria road. He hooted continuously, drove at an excessive speed behind her in a road that was otherwise clear of traffic, and struck the schoolgirl's scooter right from behind.</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:85%;color:#000099;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWci9zlpY4LwoBerzBJPz6saabbv-MkshQzbuteDdecHJydwWKRQ8kDfmS12dZTHjYLVSGO0vm2QlTAiRmho6EGk8MnfgEYlegEWQXDgdEyJPGZKKY2PrDJW6xiKl3MNgI8Le7QPmEfA/s1600-h/bernadine-kruger.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379937688907251650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWci9zlpY4LwoBerzBJPz6saabbv-MkshQzbuteDdecHJydwWKRQ8kDfmS12dZTHjYLVSGO0vm2QlTAiRmho6EGk8MnfgEYlegEWQXDgdEyJPGZKKY2PrDJW6xiKl3MNgI8Le7QPmEfA/s400/bernadine-kruger.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 264px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 393px" /></a>Picture: Bernadine Kruger, who was killed by a taxi-driver while riding to school on her scooter on a near-empty eastbound dual-carriageway in Pretoria. He hit her scooter at such a high speed that Bernadine flew several metres through the air – and then he ran over her.</span></em> </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">It was heard that Matji never reduced speed, took no evasive action and placed himself in a position where he was unable to avoid a collision with the girl. Passing judgment which lasted several hours, Magistrate Edmund Patterson said Matji's speed and his laden vehicle, made the taxi a lethal weapon. A single yes resonated in the court room as he subsequently found Matji guilty of murder, with Patterson calling Matji an evasive witness and finding that his version of events could not reasonably possibly be true.<br /><br />Bernadine’s mother Elsabé Homa, says although the judgment offers her painful experience little relief, it’s better to know that the person responsible for her daughter’s death is now behind bars.<br /><br />Civil rights group AfriForum supported the family and monitored the case throughout. AfriForum’s Nantes Kelder believes that the judgment will have far reaching consequences, and will serve as a deterrent to the general public. Matji's bail was increased and he now has to report to the police daily. He will be sentenced next week. </span></p><p><a class="feedlink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20090901040044643C865902"><em><span style="font-family:arial;">Racial issues in scooter death case - lawyer</span></em></a></p><p></p>

Taxi driver knocked down school girl off scooter, then drove over her

Taxi driver guilty of killing schoolgirl A taxi driver who in February knocked down school girl Bernadine Kruger off her scooter and then dr...

Read more »

Gran murdered for bicycle

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqv9kOSW-dgBwrkXRhEvkzY0FzaL3JM2nFcZvw3IwUzQd4vTGYeFB_bsiuqQdk1WphMxLrDvKrIg0g08Jt9JFyrtEZGlEWssD6jte_HK1UoUBbz2Z2RvFjqtu8RZxvXUUqqtrFRWy4wM/s1600-h/nancy-norton+82.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379951047820066978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqv9kOSW-dgBwrkXRhEvkzY0FzaL3JM2nFcZvw3IwUzQd4vTGYeFB_bsiuqQdk1WphMxLrDvKrIg0g08Jt9JFyrtEZGlEWssD6jte_HK1UoUBbz2Z2RvFjqtu8RZxvXUUqqtrFRWy4wM/s400/nancy-norton+82.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 283px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">A DEVASTATED Port Elizabeth pensioner told yesterday how his wife of 46 years was murdered for her bicycle in Redhouse village.</span></strong><br /><br />Nancy Norton, 82, was found half naked at 6.30pm on Monday in bushes near the Redhouse golf course.<br /><br />Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge said she had been stabbed in the neck.<br /><br />Her bicycle was missing and her three loyal mixed-breed dogs were found waiting at her side.<br /><br />Speaking from his Redhouse home last night, Michael Norton, 72, said his wife had gone out on her bicycle to exercise her dogs at about 5pm.<br /><br />“I got frightened when she wasn’t home by 5.30pm because that’s the time she would normally be back.<br /><br />“I got into my car and checked around the village but I couldn’t find her.<br /><br />“Then at about 6pm, I went to Nick van Deventer, who lives in the neighbourhood, and alerted him. He went to look for her and found her body near the bushes at the edge of the village.”<br /><br />Norton added: “The dogs wouldn’t leave the body.” <br /><br />Nancy’s daughter, Lucy, said her mother, who had once backpacked in Europe, had “led an adventurous life”. <br /><br />Shocked neighbours described the murder as “heinous”.<br /><br />“I feel that thugs are targeting the elderly in this village because they can’t protect themselves,” said Debbie, who did not want to give her surname. “There are lots of old people living in this neighbourhood. That’s why all these criminals are coming here.”<br /><br />“We seriously need to do something about security in the area as this was the second attack on an elderly person in the village this year,” she said. <br /><br />Beetge said: “We have opened a case of murder. However, there are no suspects as yet. Anyone with information should contact detectives at the Swartkops police station.”<br /><br />Nancy is survived by her husband, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. </span></p>

Gran murdered for bicycle

A DEVASTATED Port Elizabeth pensioner told yesterday how his wife of 46 years was murdered for her bicycle in Redhouse village. Nancy Norton...

Read more »

Man swims away from robbers

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibW91A6NiyxOrgBO4s9jstfkDBeZE-QWmv6S7pcbcmQrXr-4n2wovyU15UwAtXZqO-1vHaoGvoFuvTUplLGUQ5mhKdHjZY7kr28BXWTRnAz7luTm-KVwdX58rfIGDmyEXmof7iT6CNPf0/s1600-h/crime-beach.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380157812209180098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibW91A6NiyxOrgBO4s9jstfkDBeZE-QWmv6S7pcbcmQrXr-4n2wovyU15UwAtXZqO-1vHaoGvoFuvTUplLGUQ5mhKdHjZY7kr28BXWTRnAz7luTm-KVwdX58rfIGDmyEXmof7iT6CNPf0/s400/crime-beach.bmp" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 290px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 193px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Port Elizabeth - A businessman and triathlete says he saw his life flashing before his eyes when he was attacked near the Willows resort.<br /><br />Eldon Leonard, 33, had gone to take photos of a whale carcass on Wednesday afternoon when he suddenly found himself at the mercy of four robbers.<br /><br />Keeping a cool head, he managed to free himself and swam 5km in the sea to his freedom. He has taken part in the Iron Man competition.<br /><br />Leonard - who owns Ubuntu Hygiene Cleaners - had been taking photos of the carcass because he had wanted to remove it from the rocks on behalf of the city council, due to the unbearable stench and health dangers it posed.<br /><br />While taking photos, he noticed the men walking towards him. He suddenly had an uneasy feeling about it, and phoned a colleague.<br /><br />The men grabbed him and took his phone, upon which he freed himself from their grip and fled up a dune. They followed him, grabbed him yet again, and took his car keys from his pocket.<br /><br />Leonard said: "I kept thinking, 'Here we go again', because I also experienced an armed robbery three years ago."<br /><br />Three of them waited with Leonard, while the fourth ran to fetch the car.<br /><br />They shoved him into the car and sat on top of him so that nobody could see him.<br /><br />They drove about 10km with him, to the nudist beach on Cape Recife road, and then turned off onto a small gravel road.<br /><br />While on this road, they encountered a VW Golf. They hijacked the young couple in the Golf as well, shoved them in the car, and drove to the parking area at the beach with the three victims and two cars.<br /><br />"It was there that I really got scared. They constantly threatened to shoot and kill us and made a joke about it.<br /><br />"They tied me and the other man up with shoelaces and slapped us until our ears were ringing." Leonard said the robbers then demanded that they give the PIN numbers of their bank cards, so that they could withdraw all the money in their accounts.<br /><br />Then, all of a sudden, an army helicopter happened to fly over their heads and gave the robbers a huge fright.<br /><br />That gave the three victims a chance to escape. The couple fled up a dune and Leonard jumped in the ocean and swam away.<br /><br />About 5km further, at the Main Right look-out point in Cape Recife, he climbed out of the water and ran to the main road. That's where his worried colleagues found him.<br /><br />Inspector Johan Raubenheimer of the Humewood police station said the robbers have not been caught yet, but both vehicles have been recovered.<br /><br />"If you really must go and visit that area, just make sure you're in a group of friends. The robbers check you out thoroughly, they want your money," was Raubenheimer's warning to the public.<br /></span><br />- Die Burger<br /></span><br /></p>

Man swims away from robbers

Port Elizabeth - A businessman and triathlete says he saw his life flashing before his eyes when he was attacked near the Willows resort. El...

Read more »

Minibus gang attacks Dutch student

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjR4d4WDLONAfCSX06JE_RgMRkwZMASVihJhwsnh-Dr0dlinBR6REIMAM1_B3F750NuFFV5f5jlRCRu6Cg8Fmr1gSgrBcwlUmqF6UPxwTtq2HzYeJGIVfMFMlcgkyEoSXorfQORMxL58/s1600-h/taxi-minibus.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379251683393350402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjR4d4WDLONAfCSX06JE_RgMRkwZMASVihJhwsnh-Dr0dlinBR6REIMAM1_B3F750NuFFV5f5jlRCRu6Cg8Fmr1gSgrBcwlUmqF6UPxwTtq2HzYeJGIVfMFMlcgkyEoSXorfQORMxL58/s400/taxi-minibus.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 360px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 270px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">"I love this city, I love the people and I love the opportunities," says the Dutch student who was recently abducted, severely beaten and robbed by a taxi driver who still operates in the city despite being reported to the police.<br /><br />Adam Hijner, a 24-year-old student from The Netherlands who has lived in Cape Town since April 2007, said yesterday that his time in the country had been a "contrasting experience", with the "stunning scenery, great atmosphere and professional opportunity" being marred by "government inefficiency and a lack of general safety, social infrastructure and public amenities".<br /><br />Hijner, after months of trying to get a driver's licence appointment, has to rely on public transport.<br /><br />Last month, after boarding a minibus taxi in Sea Point Main Road, Hijner was taken against his will to an alley in Woodstock, where the taxi driver, his guard and a companion robbed him of his cellphone and R600.<br /><br />A "brutal" struggle ensued, with the taxi guard choking Hijner and a gun-wielding assailant repeatedly striking Hijner's face.<br /><br />"I was almost immediately out of breath.<br /><br />"After a few moments, I lost my strength and was pulled backwards towards the door."<br />Hijner said he experienced a "moment of clarity", as he blocked off the pain and tried to escape.<br /><br />"The driver was punching me in the face and the third guy was going through my pockets. Eventually, I used my left leg to push myself out against a bench. I fell, losing my right shoe, still being held by the guy who was pulling my leg."<br /><br />Head bleeding, face swollen, he staggered to a nearby home as the taxi sped off.<br /><br />Hijner said he remembered the taxi's licence plate number and included it when laying a charge at the Cape Town Central police station.<br /><br />Last week, Hijner boarded another taxi in the same area.<br /><br />After recounting his ordeal, he said the taxi driver also knew of the gang.<br /><br />"I was shocked to hear the licence plate number, (the driver said) the same three guys had previously raped a girl, and two months ago they had assaulted and robbed another guy, (before) running him over."<br /><br />After more than a month, Hijner said he had seen the taxi and his attackers "at least six times", operating on the same route.<br /><br />After repeated SMS messages to the investigating officer, Hijner has yet to get a reply.<br /><br />Police could not comment by the time of going to press. </span></p><p></p><p></p>

Minibus gang attacks Dutch student

"I love this city, I love the people and I love the opportunities," says the Dutch student who was recently abducted, severely bea...

Read more »

'Crooked cops cannot stop crime'

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIwKCBdBmlx5Q8G8Z9EXr44cXsZPJkKYSu7O6C4fc7pj031kxeJa3fkXRcMxkKn6fNgPweImkCcKomPVpaAi832ToWDY4wGObWJhnMaahEPT3ZK8LYxV72sglYpo-jAnY5u6AA3aWqLY/s1600-h/police-20tape.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379234598649920194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxIwKCBdBmlx5Q8G8Z9EXr44cXsZPJkKYSu7O6C4fc7pj031kxeJa3fkXRcMxkKn6fNgPweImkCcKomPVpaAi832ToWDY4wGObWJhnMaahEPT3ZK8LYxV72sglYpo-jAnY5u6AA3aWqLY/s400/police-20tape.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#990000;"><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/widgets/rss_redirect.php?artid=5156076&setid=0&sectid=3225&url=capetimes&vne=1&csect=Cape+Times">Over 500 police officers found guilty of crimes</a> </span></strong><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#990000;"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#990000;">538 police officials out of the 669 charged were guilty of crimes such as murder, rape, theft and corruption in the 2008/09 financial year alone</span></strong></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;color:#990000;"><a href="http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/Politics/1057/60339600e63e4ba2a2dc7a82d54cfe09/08-09-2009%2010-23/Dozens_of_killers_in_Saps">'Dozens of killers in Saps'</a></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#990000;">The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) found 38 policemen "guilty" of murder, 33 of attempted murder and 30 of rape. The highest number of offenses was for theft, with 108. </span></strong></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">More police officers in the Western Cape have been found guilty of crimes than in any of the other provinces, with 182 officers convicted for a range of crimes in the 2008/09 period.<br /><br />Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said it was unacceptable that police officers should commit crime, but there was only so much the SAPS was allowed to do about it.<br /><br />This after revelations 538 police officials out of the 669 charged were found to be guilty of crimes such as murder, rape, theft and corruption in that period. Mthethwa said these officials had no excuse as they knew the law and the difference between right and wrong.<br /><br />"We can't talk about uprooting crime in society when those responsible for doing it are involved in crime," he said.<br /><br />But he said police officers, like any other citizen, were protected by the constitution as well as "the human rights culture", which meant police authorities could not act any more harshly against them than other criminals.<br /><br />He said the upside was that the police officials mentioned in the statistics were exposed by colleagues, which shows that there are officers who act against crime.<br /><br />"We always commend such actions," he said.<br /><br />Mthethwa, however, said the police were not overly concerned about recording what happened to officers accused of crimes once convicted, as such officers were no longer regarded as part of the police, but as part of the criminal world.<br /><br />He said administration to follow up such cases took officers off the beat at a time when the SAPS was trying to improve visible policing.<br /><br />Mthethwa said although those wanting to become police officers went through a strict vetting process, there was talk of ongoing vetting processes and training for police officers.<br /><br />Mthethwa last week refused to provide FF+ MP Pieter Groenewald with the statistics of police officers charged with crimes from 2005 to 2007, as they were "not readily available" and "would necessitate the redeployment of police employees to verify every case that is relevant to the period in question", which would be "to the detriment of other essential duties or service delivery in the community".<br /><br />The statistics provided to Groenewald showed that most of the cops convicted of crimes after SAPS disciplinary hearings were in the Western Cape (182), while Gauteng had the fewest convictions (18).<br /><br />In KwaZulu-Natal 26 of the 34 officers charged with crimes were convicted, while the number in the neighbouring Eastern Cape was much higher, with 81 convicted out of 107 charged. In the Free State, 74 were convicted out of 93 charged. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">In the Western Cape theft (41 charges), assault (41), reckless driving (33) and driving under the influence (18) were the most common crimes committed by police officers, while in KwaZulu-Natal corruption (10) was the most common crime committed by police officers, followed by theft (7), assault (4) and murder (3). In Gauteng, five officers were charged with aiding an escapee.<br /><br />Nationally, 38 cops were "charged with or convicted of" murder, 33 were charged with attempted murder and 30 of rape.<br /><br />Substance abuse and drunkenness were also popular, with six officers charged with dealing in dagga, 14 with possessing illegal substances, 35 with driving under the influence and five with drunkenness.<br /><br />Some 108 officers were charged with theft, 34 and 89 officers are charged with fraud and corruption on the job respectively, and 31 with defeating the ends of justice.<br /><br />Firearm-related charges include four cases of failing to safeguard a firearm, three of possession of a firearm without a licence, three of loss of a firearm, five of the possession of a stolen firearm, two of discharging a firearm in a residential area, nine of pointing a firearm and two for the handling of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">One police officer was charged with hijacking and another one of stock theft, and five with housebreaking and theft. </span></span></span></p>

'Crooked cops cannot stop crime'

Over 500 police officers found guilty of crimes 538 police officials out of the 669 charged were guilty of crimes such as murder, rape, the...

Read more »

Two shot in Cape Town robbery

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09BrJbFMFxtOk_5dPtAosyUN9a_KFthWwO0TsUXa70edlIXJis1CEM5xp-lPxXIX1udkVR1F1Q7wlxYNuYKqUqyzjqYX-8kV4IGvzuu_w5tAMe3mgp2LL4wJCWFebEIWAQzhANzrxe9M/s1600-h/crime-robber.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379258947905990594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09BrJbFMFxtOk_5dPtAosyUN9a_KFthWwO0TsUXa70edlIXJis1CEM5xp-lPxXIX1udkVR1F1Q7wlxYNuYKqUqyzjqYX-8kV4IGvzuu_w5tAMe3mgp2LL4wJCWFebEIWAQzhANzrxe9M/s400/crime-robber.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">A SECURITY guard and a teller were shot and wounded in an armed robbery at a Shoprite store in Claremont, Cape Town today,Western Cape police said.<br /><br />The male security guard and female teller were taking the day’s taking to the cash office when they were approached by an unknown man when the store, on Main Road, was closing at 5pm, Captain Angie Latchman said.<br /><br />"The man then demanded the cash. When they refused he turned around and started walking away. He then turned around and shot them."<br /><br />The guard was shot in the shoulder and neck, the teller in the upper body. The man took the money and fled. He was still at large.<br /><br />ER24 spokesman Tristan Wadeley said guard was airlifted from the scene. The woman was taken to hospital by ambulance.<br /><br />Both were in a stable condition, he said. </span><p>

Two shot in Cape Town robbery

A SECURITY guard and a teller were shot and wounded in an armed robbery at a Shoprite store in Claremont, Cape Town today,Western Cape polic...

Read more »

Asylum should be granted on race

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhBtjLIO3TVAm_qPSE9xeNC_AcBALijGuz9poGPlyfvaqpoxl_LodRAoobwDdjRVzveqmcOVUCiEWtttxIbOKwS0VyugfB6UIqSa-HfBUY-O1J4Jf-9mrrahT9qBVc5SN2xQ5i23zeiU/s1600-h/brandon%2520huntley%2520white%2520refugee.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378482993210544610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhBtjLIO3TVAm_qPSE9xeNC_AcBALijGuz9poGPlyfvaqpoxl_LodRAoobwDdjRVzveqmcOVUCiEWtttxIbOKwS0VyugfB6UIqSa-HfBUY-O1J4Jf-9mrrahT9qBVc5SN2xQ5i23zeiU/s400/brandon%2520huntley%2520white%2520refugee.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="color:#990000;">I find it indicative of the stupidity of some of the commentators on the issue that accuse Canada of racism in their refugee policies.</span></strong><br /><br />Canada has a wonderful refugee programme that accepts people from all over the world and of all hues. I have known and know of numerous other nationals living as refugees in Canada. All were accepted on a case-by-case basis and never on the basis of their race alone. Some of these may have been false claims, some drain on the social system, but most settle in and work and live as Canadians. We are an immigrant nation and I know few people without recent historic memory of another place and identity.<br /><br />Huntley’s claim that he was attacked seven times without police intervention and that race was a factor is not really surprising. I know a number of people who were assaulted at Umbilo police station for complaining to the police about the prostitution in the Glenwood area. They were told to go back to Europe and even beaten. I personally witnessed one such assault on a small white woman. I know that many people in Glenwood of Durban no longer bother to report crimes unless they are claiming insurance as the police do not investigate or appear to even care.<br /><br />And of course crime is not always race based. The police do not seem to care about anybody regardless of race. What changes the factors in Huntley’s story is that he felt he was targeted because he was white. This is probably true as many people keep pointing out that whites are still largely in economically dominant positions. The perception that Huntley would be a worthwhile target is probably based on his race, given that 99.9% of all crimes in SA are committed by blacks and appear to be racially motivated, whether it was correct or incorrect.<br /><br />Now to add to the global perception that race is all determining in the “New” South Africa think of the hateful comments being made by certain political leaders, high court judges and the fact that there are double standards in South African race politics. If a high court judge makes a racist utterance there is no appropriate response. If Malema makes wild accusations and threatens violence against whites there is no response. Couple such high profile racist remarks with the high crime and violence in South Africa is surely going to trigger race based fears among whites.<br /><br />It has been pointed out that unemployment among whites is at a low of 4,6% compared to 29,7% for black South Africans. Shocking disparity, but it does not take into account the million or so white South Africans who have left South Africa often citing better job opportunities elsewhere, lack of crime and all round better standard of living. Had these million or more stayed what would be the white unemployment rate?<br /><br />To deny that many whites feel persecuted in South Africa is a violent act. It affirms their fears that they do not belong in South Africa and are unwelcome here. Even if their perception is incorrect, and criminals are merely opportunists, their fears and perception should be acknowledged and dealt with. Instead they are accused of racism, told to leave South Africa and have their worst fears confirmed.<br /><br />Another “fact” that is often cited is that black male South Africans are most likely to be a murder victim and black women are most likely to be sexually assaulted or raped. While these are not disputed statistics one should question the rate of murder among whites when you consider the number that live behind large electric fences, gated communities and have private security.</span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /><br />And yes, blacks are also attacked, just not with the same brutality. And brutality is the key word for what's happening to whites in South Africa. Many of the killings are unspeakably brutal. If you look at what [the criminals] do to their victims in these attacks, there is hatred for white people. One wheelchair-bound elderly woman was scalded with boiling water until she died. Both black and white are victims of black crime, but black crime against whites go hand in hand with such extreme violence, that it can only be described as hate crimes.<br /><br />Theft is only a secondary motive in many of the killings. Sometimes the murderers take nothing at all, and even when they do take weapons or money they kill needlessly and viciously. The torture and rape of victims suggests that the attackers do not merely intend to kill the victims, but to inflict pain, humiliation and suffering. It is common for bands of blacks to attack at nightfall and torture their victims until morning. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">South Africa's Whites in general have been disproportionately on the receiving end of the tidal wave of violent crime. What we see is a picture of racial harassment and persecution of the white minority who are being driven out of their land of birth altogether, by a combination of criminal, not to say terrorist, violence and 'affirmative action'.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Clearly all is not well in South Africa. The government’s lacklustre response to crime besetting everyone is appalling. </p><strong><span style="color:#990000;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PKLA_gMPZXrgREn8E_vlDCo_8kRMEP6BC4cveWw66uZ1_gJPdRmbngyRLpypQsokekhkPm5ZkR9tjOgE-KxQc5967AhCQsW_4bY5Zq4W3InhyphenhyphenkHtlYPNVSzWaYUeC3_eM6E6kELISUo/s1600-h/canada_white_Sans.jpg"></a><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378483932977279826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS27-3Qx3Z68lFDfQV3vQk7aOtQcDVtOVxqFV6lQl6CFYMBczG-uLv4bdMlFQBnk8H9x-nJphunDXE4ysHPKN1hf_MqGz5nTVPru_iFnCtzH_EaNqC_Cj-Uv46qt_Rp-aMKiKXLzVTu98/s320/canada_white_Sans.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 184px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Here is the Canadian criteria straight from the Canadian Immigration website</span></strong><br /><br /><strong>Convention Refugee</strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br />Convention refugees are people who are outside their home country or the country where they normally live, and who are unwilling to return because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on:<br /><br />• race<br />• religion<br />• political opinion<br />• nationality or<br />• membership in a particular social group, such as women or people of a particular sexual orientation.<br /><br /><strong>Person in need of protection</strong><br /><br />A person in need of protection is a person in Canada whose removal to their home country or country where they normally live would subject them personally to:<br /><br />• a danger of torture;<br />• a risk to their life; or<br />• a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.<br /><br />And perhaps it will come to naught as Huntley’s claim may yet be rejected. However, it would be wrong to dismiss the claims as without any merit. As long as South Africans are defined by race the very real threat of racial injustice and discrimination against those deemed unacceptable exists.<br /><br /><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeIPI-lfor7W3_g_IlFblb3txIA1CWOWVlhyKKzo2hg3f9tYcSNUrZ5UXRSKEh4_U7peTr8UASYzX8SEOQSrNf9i6QCO5rhOmZmW3brr3WXGdmYM1VEgMcDc-8knNM1h0eII5ZSAq95MI/s1600-h/brandon-huntley-canadian-refugee-ruling-racist.jpg"></a>Readers Comments</strong></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeIPI-lfor7W3_g_IlFblb3txIA1CWOWVlhyKKzo2hg3f9tYcSNUrZ5UXRSKEh4_U7peTr8UASYzX8SEOQSrNf9i6QCO5rhOmZmW3brr3WXGdmYM1VEgMcDc-8knNM1h0eII5ZSAq95MI/s1600-h/brandon-huntley-canadian-refugee-ruling-racist.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFi2xkvynxArtwrrElkQzJIZJNKuNV-Dtb_JOBKcZaXMhi3_jHjKEmPQ_x9WhOCZhxw2NQRsNNmWol5pBIdJPTVz0oYv0apexA2s2v2hUT9vXD9FV0dXSNwfQXCjhyphenhyphenz717sPRHErkORO8/s1600-h/brandon-huntley-canadian-refugee-ruling-racist.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378484879472248690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFi2xkvynxArtwrrElkQzJIZJNKuNV-Dtb_JOBKcZaXMhi3_jHjKEmPQ_x9WhOCZhxw2NQRsNNmWol5pBIdJPTVz0oYv0apexA2s2v2hUT9vXD9FV0dXSNwfQXCjhyphenhyphenz717sPRHErkORO8/s320/brandon-huntley-canadian-refugee-ruling-racist.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 80px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 80px" /></a>A South African man has been granted refugee status in Canada, where an immigration board found "clear and convincing proof" he was persecuted for being white.<br /><br />Most IOL readers thought there was nothing wrong with applying for foreign citizenship on racial grounds.<br /><br />IOL asked its readers: Is applying for foreign citizenship on racial grounds justified?<br /><br />Of the 1 064 people who participated in the 65 percent (691 votes) said "Yes", and 35 percent (373 votes) said "No".<br /><br /><strong>Here are some of the comments posted online:</strong><br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Susan:</span> I voted 'Yes'. Cannot understand the bleating from the ANC that the decision by Canada is racist! During the days of apartheid, many of those now in government here were afforded 'refugee status' because of their colour and political affiliation. What a load of crapiola!<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Champagne:</span> Yes it is justified. Being white in South Africa makes one a target for being attacked and reporting to the police gets a shrug of the shoulders. The attack is not criminally motivated but retribution for the past. Applying for a job gets a "don't be stupid you're white" attitude. EVERYthing in South Africa is about skin colour.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Liz:</span> The ANC wants a country without discrimination yet they are perpetuating discrimination with BEE. People should be judged on merit, not on the colour of their skin. Well done Canada for seeing what is actually happening here.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Anonymous:</span> Why shouldn't he seek asylum if he feels that his life is going to improve? He is entitled to a good life as we all are. Of course, more blacks are victims of crime than whites, they constitute the majority of the population of the country. We are all sick of crime, black and white alike. Colour has nothing to do with it. All decent people would like to normal, peaceful like which one can get in any 1st world country!!! Why should the government condone his citizenship of another country. If one wants to immigrate the application is made to the other country, not to the local authorities.<br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;">Marc:</span> Is applying for foreign citizenship on racial grounds justified? Of course it is - after all, it used to be in the supposedly bad old days. Now that we have crime at least 20 times more likely to happen with nothing to stem it, with murders and unspeakable urban and rural violence rampaging on, of which 95% is completely unreported, and a host of laws deliberately calculated to sideline and disadvantage whites, it's actually way more applicable than ever before.</span>

Asylum should be granted on race

I find it indicative of the stupidity of some of the commentators on the issue that accuse Canada of racism in their refugee policies. Canad...

Read more »