South Africa P.I.G.: MURDER

Showing posts with label MURDER. Show all posts

MOB JUSTICE - Innocent Man Bludgeoned to Death

Warning: This video contains graphic scenes of violence. Surrounded by a jeering mob, a 26-year-old Zimbabwean man was bludgeoned to death in Diepsloot, his horrifying final moments captured on a video that thrust South Africa's violence back into the international spotlight. This footage has never been released in South Africa, but made headlines in one of the world’s most influential newspapers. <iframe id="nyt_video_player" title="New York Times Video - Embed Player" height="373" marginheight="0" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/bcvideo/1.0/iframe/embed.html?videoId=100000000845074&playerType=embed" frameborder="0" width="480" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> Farai Kujirichita was still alive when a man in a white cap methodically destroyed his face and skull with a heavy wooden plank. He was probably dead or dying when another man grasped his belt and punched him repeatedly in the groin and a grinning teenage girl raised a large chunk of cement above her head. His "crime"? - Being Zimbabwean! His murder in January this year in Diepsloot - a community of 150 000 in northern Johannesburg, where instances of mob violence are commonplace and growing ever more so - was quickly forgotten. It would have remained that way but for a New York Times Magazine cover story last weekend and the grainy cellphone video of his final moments, excerpts from which were published for the first time on the paper's website. The article appeared just days after UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Jorge Bustamante, highlighted xenophobic attacks in South Africa and called on the government to implement more stringent hate crime legislation. The story of Kujirichita's killing made international headlines last week, including in newspapers in Zimbabwe, Taiwan and New Zealand. In Diepsloot, the killings continued. Two weeks ago, two Zimbabweans were kicked and beaten to death after being accused of robbery. In another incident, a suspected thief narrowly escaped with his life when police arrived just in time to prevent a mob from killing him. See full story here: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/magazine/watching-the-murder-of-an-innocent-man.html?_r=2&ref=magazine">http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/magazine/watching-the-murder-of-an-innocent-man.html?_r=2&ref=magazine</a> <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Horror-of-a-mob-murder-20110612">http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Horror-of-a-mob-murder-20110612</a> <a href="http://www.news24.com/Galleries/Video/Videos/South%20Africa/Mob%20murder%20in%20Diepsloot/0210ab51d67e469f9b3cbae65c6d7394/Mob-murder">http://www.news24.com/Galleries/Video/Videos/South%20Africa/Mob%20murder%20in%20Diepsloot/0210ab51d67e469f9b3cbae65c6d7394/Mob-murder</a>

MOB JUSTICE - Innocent Man Bludgeoned to Death

Warning: This video contains graphic scenes of violence. Surrounded by a jeering mob, a 26-year-old Zimbabwean man was bludgeoned to death i...

1:42 PM

Farmer Brutally Murdered, body dragged behind bakkie

North West police have confirmed that a farmer was murdered and his corpse dragged behind his bakkie outside Ottosdal on Saturday night. <div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw97n6mhv-sdNqO2skhj2UiNSpfs50crX0arAXZfoIFNKf0M3juzA-kQ6lfLZAtJJgWtNwZcs7k6soXONrfJLH_hwbBw0zaUVN339Q-OMvYSyZ_27-CJJsZvxMS0v1MtKIvorUmn_S2S9T/s1600/farm%252520murders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw97n6mhv-sdNqO2skhj2UiNSpfs50crX0arAXZfoIFNKf0M3juzA-kQ6lfLZAtJJgWtNwZcs7k6soXONrfJLH_hwbBw0zaUVN339Q-OMvYSyZ_27-CJJsZvxMS0v1MtKIvorUmn_S2S9T/s320/farm%252520murders.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>According to police : "At about 8pm three suspects entered a 49-year-old farmer's house... They held him at gunpoint while they ransacked the house for money. "They shot him in the chest, the back, and in the head, then used [the farmer's] bakkie to drag him for about 1.2km before the bakkie rolled." When police arrived on the scene the farmer's body was still tied to the Toyota LDV which was on the Ottosdal-Delareyville road. One of the alleged murderers was arrested there and led police to his two accomplices. It was suspected that some cattle may have been stolen in the attack. Cases of murder, house robbery, theft of motor vehicle, stock theft and illegal firearm possession had been opened against the three arrested men.

Farmer Brutally Murdered, body dragged behind bakkie

North West police have confirmed that a farmer was murdered and his corpse dragged behind his bakkie outside Ottosdal on Saturday night. Acc...

7:43 AM

Extreme Police Butality - Killing of Defenceless Protestor

South Africa “the protest capital of the world” - The beginning of the end for the ANC! As the ANC turns into an aggressive kleptocracy - and confronts an ongoing country wide revolt from poor communities - the politicians have made themselves the enemies of their own people. As one of its members said: “The ANC regards their own people — not the other official political parties — as their true opposition, because they are closer to the pain on the ground.” <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOx9f7BkdDjYzKofBlNkSEIVnrxXXFrOZb33o-B6tiZK_00UtRwvw1C6jTMwWH8k9F2ZilFT47oiV1AkdaEg7S0Bdb_Il9RoeKBUTiNOp-dfXi38tTnvDGmpVmpCtBqOguMhFDj6819gGE/s1600/BhekiCele+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOx9f7BkdDjYzKofBlNkSEIVnrxXXFrOZb33o-B6tiZK_00UtRwvw1C6jTMwWH8k9F2ZilFT47oiV1AkdaEg7S0Bdb_Il9RoeKBUTiNOp-dfXi38tTnvDGmpVmpCtBqOguMhFDj6819gGE/s1600/BhekiCele+copy.jpg" /></a>The ranting against Boers and ugly women is to take attention away from the multitudes of protesting people whose life is a nightmare under the rainbow-nation mirage. The very convenient return to anti-apartheid songs calling for whites to be shot.. and their harping on ‘struggle songs’ as they were sung in the past, is not a reflection of how attached they are to the struggle, but an attempt to get the people to believe that all they have is remnants of the old order against whom their anger should be vented. In this way, the political elite sidetracks the people from singing about the current dislocation of water and electricity, the ruthless and violent evictions of shack dwellers, the vicious police attack on service delivery protesters, and the kleptomaniac proclivities of the new political and economic elites. They raise race not to confront racism but as a card to render themselves immune from criticism and also to find a slice for themselves in the economic cake. It is a weapon of mass distraction. They want to focus the people on imaginary fights with the Boers while the filthy rich black political and economic elites are involved in equity deals with the stinky rich whites, strolling half-naked with them in exotic beaches and exclusive resorts.</div> The brutal killing of an unarmed protestor, attacked simultaneously by six policemen - viciously beaten with batons and fired on at close range with rubber bullets. Tatane was a school teacher, a councilor, a husband and father of one child, a rolemodel in his poor community where he was a volunteer teacher helping learners to improve their marks in Science, Math and Afrikaans. He rescued a helpless old man from being sprayed down by a water cannon. He took his shirt off to draw attention away from the old man, telling the police to rather spray him. The cops then attacked him. Anybody with sense will recognise brutal, excessive force by ill-disciplined cops. The ANC Militia, masquerading as the SAPS, are now clearly and assuredly completely out of control. Shocking images of the police brutality were broadcast to the nation on television yesterday - they showed an unarmed man being viciously beaten and shot to death by a mob of policemen.  <div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pictures of the attack on the 33-year-old man by at least six policemen simultaneously, during a service delivery protest at Setsoto, in Ficksburg, eastern Free State, were shown on all SABC news bulletins last night. </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The visuals of the chilling and sad scene show how the armed policemen cornered Andries Tatane, striking him with their batons and kicking him in an assault that lasted for a few minutes. </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tatane, from Masaleng township, Ficksburg, is seen holding his hand against his chest after the assault. He collapsed and died before an ambulance arrived.</div> Click on image below to watch SLIDESHOW <a class="photo" href="http://multimedia.timeslive.co.za/photos/2011/04/ficksburg-killing/" target="_blank">Ficksburg killing </a>  <object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="412" id="soundslider" width="470"><param name="movie" value="http://multimedia.timeslive.co.za/photostory/flicksburgsz/soundslider.swf?size=1&format=xml&embed_width=620&embed_height=533&autoload=false&autostart=false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><embed src="http://multimedia.timeslive.co.za/photostory/flicksburgsz/soundslider.swf?size=1&format=xml&embed_width=470&embed_height=412&autoload=false" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" width="470" height="412" menu="false" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object> We are all Andries Tatane - By An Anonymous Reader South Africa is far from what Tunisia was like pre-revolution (for one it is not governed by a one-party police state), but the parallels of small-town <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/protester-beaten-to-death-by-cops-report-1.1056538" target="_blank">cops beating to death</a> (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omWi5PayXiM">here</a>‘s video footage from the South African state broadcaster SABC news) a South African Everyman because he was angry with poor or non-existent service delivery (water, electricity, roads, housing) is eerily reminiscent of a certain <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/201111684242518839.html">fruit vendor in southern Tunisia</a>.   Again, the differences between South Africa and Tunisia are too many to mention. But if you asked someone in Meqheleng (yes, I did look up the largest township in Ficksburg in the Free State Province) if they are as frustrated as your typical Tunisian circa 2010, I wonder what they would say? Would the ANC’s proper electoral mandate and liberation credentials outweigh the impression that those in power–<a href="http://concernedafricascholars.org/bulletin/84/" target="_blank">Jacob Zuma</a>, <a href="http://mg.co.za/person/tokyo-sexwale" target="_blank">Tokyo Sexwale</a>, <a href="http://mg.co.za/person/sicelo-shiceka" target="_blank">Sicelo Shiceka</a>, and <a href="http://mg.co.za/person/siphiwe-nyanda" target="_blank">Siphiwe Nyanda</a>, etcetera–are amassing wealth and governing just like Hosni Mubarak and Ben Ali? I worry that a few years from now they won’t care how legitimate the ruling party’s mandate is: poor service delivery is poor service delivery. You know at least for now in further Tunisia parallels the people of Ficksburg have <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article1020872.ece/Ficksburg-protesters-set-buildings-alight" target="_blank">ratcheted things</a> up a bit. That leads me this: Does that 18-year old in Meqheleng know the basic dynamics of what is happening in North Africa or the Middle East? Are vernacular radio and local papers giving the “Arab spring” coverage, at least to the point that that 18-year old realizes how crap Mubarak was and, closer to home, how dismissive the ANC leadership has been to their demands the last 17 years, basically the span of his or her entire lifespan? Trevor Manuel, former finance minister, said in the aftermath of the Paris riots that Cape Town  is treading water. Meanwhile, Moeletsi Mbeki, brother of Thabo, drew a picture for the country following the events in Tunisia. We shouldn’t be surprised when in the absence of meaningful political representation and mediation, the atrophy of social change, and in a context of socially acceptable and government sanctioned accumulation through nepotism, cronyism, and political-connectedness, the structural violence of South African life finds vivid and widespread expression. “Service delivery” protests (a misnomer if there ever was one), or what passes as xenophobic, domestic, interpersonal violence, wanton brutality on the part of security apparatus, all these are all <a href="http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=140341" target="_blank">symptoms of the greater malaise</a>. <div class="comment-text" dir="ltr">Sky news propaganda. Dramatic footage of the whole clip was shown on the <a href="http://youtu.be/0iz2_pP7UTk">e News Channel</a> (Warning - shocking and disturbing) where the man was just verbally challenging the police while they were threatening the crowd with a water cannon telling the protesters to go away. He was unarmed and posed no threat to the police. The man was first attacked by a cop with a batton, then he started fighting back... THEN <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Krh0k-tYFY&feature=related">Sky cut the clip</a> in where you see him fighting the cop. They make it look like he was violent to begin with, leaving out the beginning. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMSHm3mph3U&feature=related">Another Police Beating</a>  <h3 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s7W2M4vnEc&feature=related">Police Beating</a> </h3></div> Death in Ficksburg shows how we value life By : ITUMELENG MAHABANE A MAN died this week. He died with his arms clutching his chest, trying to stop the blood spilling out of a gaping bullet hole. His crime? In a country in which nearly 50% of the people live in poverty and where nearly 50% of black people are unemployed — most of them without the prospect of ever finding a job — he died because he wanted a better deal for his community. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In a country in which miscellaneous items worth hundreds of millions of rand are consumed each year by politicians, where people become instant multimillionaires supposedly providing public goods, goods that rarely materialise, this man died because he wanted his government to do its job.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">There is no official finding. Early indications are that he was killed, possibly murdered, by the system that is meant to protect him. He was beaten viciously by a group of police officers. Then he was shot. Probably as he was lying on the ground, hurt and defenceless.</div> By the the middle of this morning, there had not yet been a statement of sympathy, of outrage, of a call for an investigation, from a member of the Cabinet. A country with three Nobel Peace Prize laureates, a government ruled by a party once described as having the most genteel armed wing in the world, and this is what we have been reduced to? The public, vicious deaths of citizens at the hands of the people entrusted with protecting our lives seemingly leaves us cold. In Andries Tatane’s death we have shown, unequivocally, how we value life in a country with a constitution that is supposed to be the most progressive and enviable in the world. This is not simply about police brutality. This is about national brutality. The police are simply a reflection of the society we are. It begins with the acceptance of the brutality of poverty and economic injustice. Former President <a href="http://www.blogger.com/" id="popupAnchor" style="color: #b30616; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: underline;">Thabo Mbeki</a> described SA as a country with two economies, a first economy and a second economy. Between 70% and 80% of South Africans live in that second economy and it is a place of humiliating and incapacitating poverty. The overwhelming majority of our country survives on a household income of less than R2500 a month, most will spend between R500 and R1500 a month on accommodation because there is a shortage of pro-poor housing stock. That is ignoring for a moment that even R1000 will simply get you a makeshift room. These households must then feed, clothe and send their children to school. These poor people must survive in an economy in which pricing is determined by the need to satisfy the earning expectations of first-world citizens and their price-fixing and where their government has failed to provide functioning public infrastructure. The poverty in which vast numbers of South Africans live can make places such as Alexandra seem like places of privilege. We have people who have been on housing lists for more than a decade, many of them the supposed recipients of supposed houses built by people who live it up at bling parties, hobnobbing with the political and business elites of the first world. Meanwhile, provinces are rushing to outlaw shack settlements. We seek instead to criminalise the poor for being poor. They must know their place and sit in the dust bowls that apartheid shipped them out to until the rest of us have eaten. We cannot have them scarring the vistas of our first economy. The maladministration and poor governance is tolerated, rewarded even. The unequivocal message from the reaction to the death of Tatane in Ficksburg is that not only do we do not value the lives of our people, the government has a minimal sense of accountability to its citizens. If it does not care about their lives then how can it possibly care about its duty to them? This is not simply about poor governance and delivery, it is about economic and social justice. There is something repugnant, for instance, about the ease with which we demonise workers in our battle against inflation, when the problem is multifaceted. In a country of bread-price fixers, officials who steal from children and pensioners, and crass chauvinistic materialists, the ease with which the working class has become the enemy of the country is a reflection of the society we have become We can comfort ourselves and tell ourselves that we have a democracy and a constitution and that there will be no violent uprisings in this country. Yet democracy is not a piece of paper. It functions only if people believe they have a real choice, and many do not think they do. In that context, the combination of extraordinary inequality, material excess, poor political accountability and responsiveness, and debilitating, brutalising corruption will eventually spread the flames engulfing poor, black SA into our comfortable little first world. We are becoming tribes at war. We need to find our way back to prioritising an inclusive and just society. • Mahabane is a partner at Brunswick.

Extreme Police Butality - Killing of Defenceless Protestor

South Africa “the protest capital of the world” - The beginning of the end for the ANC! As the ANC turns into an aggressive kleptocracy - an...

7:03 AM

If I move overseas, must I shut my mouth?

It seems there is a prevailing opinion that once you have emigrated, you lose your right to read the news in South Africa. And God forbid you dare comment, which has become a popular feature of most news websites. Should you do so, you are frequently met with hostility, ridicule, threats and insults which range from the hilarious to the downright disturbing. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjIagZKoFCClNtgtdgdBu3a-nJzb4ccveOD0ABYWe2ADQJvZP3r1qsQ-oXsutE3PVTmPKk4SyFbHIgjF_GRs_pbQIWB1sKnFS1xQju9Brvm7thavj0I4vQFXQjAj2pNnqrEy97to_Byc-/s1600/World-Map1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="344" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjIagZKoFCClNtgtdgdBu3a-nJzb4ccveOD0ABYWe2ADQJvZP3r1qsQ-oXsutE3PVTmPKk4SyFbHIgjF_GRs_pbQIWB1sKnFS1xQju9Brvm7thavj0I4vQFXQjAj2pNnqrEy97to_Byc-/s640/World-Map1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> Now, why does one leave a country? Is it because you’re a coward? Is it because it is easy? Is it because it is financially advantageous? Who knows? Leaving, for me, was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. And I say “had to do”, because I have this very well honed sense of self-preservation. I no longer felt safe in SA. I didn’t like living in a prison called home. The hijackings of cyclists really put me off. Erratic bills from the Joburg City Council and zero recourse (I had to pay R32 000 for a “clearance certificate” on selling the house, promised a refund, nothing six months on), we’ve been victims of crime too many times, crumbling roads, deteriorating water quality (we used to wakeboard on the Vaal river – no more), absurd police force, even more outrageous and absurd “government”. You know all the reasons; having experienced them in person, and increasingly understanding that there was a gaping chasm in my personal moral and ethical makeup and that of South African society, it was clear that getting out was the only option. Why is it hard? Emigrating is very disruptive. More than that, it is a mountain of admin and paperwork. And it is expensive. It requires commitment, perseverance and nerves of steel. And lots of money. Once you arrive on the other side, you want to look forward and get on with it. However, if you are someone who likes being informed, plugging in takes time. The political landscape is murky, the issues are almost trivial compared to what we have become accustomed to in SA, the personalities are unknown. And, frankly, the news here lacks entertainment value - it is comparatively boring. Add to that the fact that no matter who you are, you will have plenty of friends and family in South Africa. If you are like me, you feel strongly about why you had to leave (you’d have to – see the paragraph about why it is hard). When I feel strongly about something, I tend to want to proselytise others into my way of thinking. To me, getting out was a matter of life and death. So if I think it is in your interests to look at emigration because it might improve your chances of living to be an old coffin dodger, believe me I will try and convince you to do it. Then there is the issue of confirming to oneself that the right decision has been made (who wouldn’t want to, right?) Well, that’s not difficult, now is it? Look at top stories in SA news right now: TheTimes, News24, Moneyweb, City Press. You get the idea – hell, of course you do, you live there. And this is before we start digging into the shenanigans of government, you know, Bheki and the lease, Jacob and the 783 charges, Schabir and the “terminal illness”, Nomvula and her now deceased son, Shiceka and the fake degree, Motshekga and whatever the hell she is doing with education, Kgalema and the dodgy deals, the Guptas, Radovan Krejcir, Lolly Jackson, Joey Mabasa, and on and on it goes. And yes, it is a psychological reality that individuals will seek out information which confirms their world view (and their drastic decisions). It is comforting. There, I admit it. People, what you are accepting IS NOT NORMAL. It is NOT ACCEPTABLE. None of it. But it becomes the norm and acceptable in SA. You are a part of that society which permits it, like it or not. I am no longer, because I found myself incompatible with that society. Are you compatible with it? Do you like what you are becoming as a consequence of being a member of that society? Anyway. What are your thoughts? Now that I have left, is reading and commenting on SA news verboten? Should we prevent people from commenting on, say, USA news if they aren’t resident? Should I not share with the world, in this age of social media, the things that I find here which I find strange and wondrous? (You know, like getting your phone line connected in less than two hours, electricity connected in a two minute visit to the power company, having no fence or burglar bars around my house, and, yes, having to do my own dishes and mow the lawn.) Or should I refrain from comparing, shut the hell up, and let the South Africans I love carry on thinking that they have it the best in the world. Go on then. Over to you.

If I move overseas, must I shut my mouth?

It seems there is a prevailing opinion that once you have emigrated, you lose your right to read the news in South Africa. And God forbid yo...

1:38 PM

A Promise to the South African Government

Hacktivist group Anonymous has released a video calling on the people of South Africa to rise up and “take their country back” from corrupt and inept rulers. <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/53tCd4jusxo" title="YouTube video player" width="640"></iframe> The video, posted to YouTube on March 18, begins with grainy footage of wind sweeping over Table Mountain, evoking the famous Winds of Change speech by Harold Macmillan which foreshadowed the end of the colonial era. The now-infamous Anonymous mask breaks in and a computerized female voice begins to list off a set of injustices being done to the people of South Africa; how the country has one of the largest rich-poor gaps in the world while Anglo-American and the Oppenheimer family have gotten wealthy from the country’s mineral resources; how, over the last six years, more people have been murdred in South Africa than in the Iraq War; and how crime runs rampant “while the police are rendered impotent by the very laws that govern South Africa.” “Throughout all of this, Jacob Zuma and the rest of the South African government are telling the rest of the world that South Africa is a Rainbow Democracy,” Anonymous says. “How long, people of South Africa, will you allow this to go on?” “The winds of change are blowing across mother earth and the time is now to take a bold stand against the government because they lost all legitimacy the day the first child was killed under their watch,” Anonymous says. Anonymous then calls on the people to “take their country back.” “We are Anonymous and we support you. We are Black and we are White, we are Coloured and we are Indian.”

A Promise to the South African Government

Hacktivist group Anonymous has released a video calling on the people of South Africa to rise up and “take their country back” from corrupt ...

3:59 PM

Cele and his SAPS criminals vs Jesus and His 12 Apostles

No this is not an April Fools joke <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnXIAZ1V4lQjZzy08lLT4EenZqm2GG7Bln5wn2mPfTMQy_piAVkAxrPsH99FpEFsFE8bezCkp8p5wm19OxCQ1aj8ncW_7w3rKVrTjnWD5y9Qj4dZeAAc3_Z07Omnmndr4iPDD5AVI4Dms/s1600/shitforbrains+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwnXIAZ1V4lQjZzy08lLT4EenZqm2GG7Bln5wn2mPfTMQy_piAVkAxrPsH99FpEFsFE8bezCkp8p5wm19OxCQ1aj8ncW_7w3rKVrTjnWD5y9Qj4dZeAAc3_Z07Omnmndr4iPDD5AVI4Dms/s400/shitforbrains+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">National police chief <a class="tips" hoverintent_t="undefined" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/bheki-cele-8977" jquery1509375304565641562="15" rel="/Handlers/WhosWhoTooltip.ashx?url=http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/hover.php?uid=8977" title="">Bheki Cele</a> has likened the SA Police Service to Jesus Christ and his 12 <strike>apostles</strike> disciples. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(The term apostle means one who is sent forth as a messenger while a disciple is a follower or a student who learns from a teacher. Is the blundering,  loose-tongued, self-styled "general" police <strike>clown</strike> chief Bheki Cele even aware of the difference?)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">He said that if even Jesus and God had criminals in their midst, it was to be expected that there would be criminals in the 193 000-strong police force. "Jesus Christ had an organisation of 12 people... among those 12 there was a criminal who sat with Jesus every day," Cele was quoted saying at a police cars handover ceremony in Pretoria on Friday. "Even when Jesus berated him [Judas], he denied that it was him who was a criminal. "In the Garden of Eden, there were two people. God himself did an inspection every morning. One day, He could not find them. They were hiding, because they had committed a crime," he said. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(Which begs the question what did God do? Did He condone corruption within the organisation? Did He reward the criminals with a promotion, big bonuses, deployment, suspension with full pay? Adam and Eve chose the way of disobedience and were banished from the Garden for one mistake-just one <strike>crime </strike>sin, no second chances.  We all understand choice and consequence. God warned them that if they should eat the fruit of this tree, in the same day they would die. Sure enough, this is what happened. All of creation was subject to death as a result of their choice.) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"If you will find criminals amongst two people, then you will find criminals in an organisation with 193 000 members," Cele said. Beeld said that in the past seven months, some 254 police members in Gauteng were arrested for alleged involvement in robberies and corruption. Top cop <a class="tips" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/richard-mdluli" jquery1509375304565641562="19" rel="/Handlers/WhosWhoTooltip.ashx?url=http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/hover.php?uid=48558" title="">Richard Mdluli</a> and several of his colleagues were arrested this week for their alleged involvement in a murder that was committed in the late 1990s. This is not the first biblical comparison used in SA politics. President <a class="tips" hoverintent_t="undefined" href="http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/jacob-zuma-927" jquery1509375304565641562="20" rel="/Handlers/WhosWhoTooltip.ashx?url=http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/hover.php?uid=927" title="">Jacob Zuma</a> was criticised a few years ago for saying the African National Congress will rule until Jesus comes. In 2008, a provincial ANC leader likened Zuma's suffering in the then corruption case against him to what Jesus had gone through.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/" id="ctl00_ctl00_MainBodyPlaceholder_Column1Placeholder_articlePaged_lnkArticleAccreditationName" target="_blank">- SAPA</a></div><div align="center" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

Cele and his SAPS criminals vs Jesus and His 12 Apostles

No this is not an April Fools joke National police chief Bheki Cele has likened the SA Police Service to Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles ...

8:04 PM

Justice in South Africa? It's a sick joke

More than 20 000 firearms <strike>sold to criminals</strike> lost by SAPS since April 2004 <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikln7qWciJdCXfkPhyphenhyphenTe6bmpeA8PW6iAs5KW-C1ZYXpQqCu4yBtKaSR6_8k4CvqS13rxAbi9Gra24IF0F3EJ6tbOjBORXT6o7FZcVX4wHXEAwKalXpdmU6bSG8tmGYp2qBsfJ_sdRfpzPc/s1600/cele-journalist.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582242645305933938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikln7qWciJdCXfkPhyphenhyphenTe6bmpeA8PW6iAs5KW-C1ZYXpQqCu4yBtKaSR6_8k4CvqS13rxAbi9Gra24IF0F3EJ6tbOjBORXT6o7FZcVX4wHXEAwKalXpdmU6bSG8tmGYp2qBsfJ_sdRfpzPc/s400/cele-journalist.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 278px; CURSOR: hand" /></a><a href="http://www.thestar.co.za/mps-warn-cele-and-top-brass-1.1038485?pageNumber=2">MPs GUN for SAPS top brass</a> Embattled national Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele and his top brass have been warned by MPs that lying to Parliament was a criminal offence as the department was grilled on its chaotic firearm controls. MPs came out guns blazing against police bigwigs for claiming, during previous committee meetings, that their management of firearms was under control. This followed a senior SAPS commissioner admission that there was really no system in place to monitor and safeguard firearms. Cele was not present during Tuesday’s meeting with the National Assembly committee on police. Chairwoman Sindi Chikunga said he had excused himself. Commissioner for visible policing at the SAPS, Joel Mothiba, said: “We really don’t have control of the environment (firearm controls) … we must point out that we do not have a system.” In response, angry MPs accused the police management of lying to them during previous meetings. ANC MP Annelize van Wyk said the committee’s patience with the department was wearing thin as it was not the first time information that had been provided was questioned and earlier statements disputed. “It’s a criminal offence to lie to Parliament. There will come a time when this committee has had enough of these half-truths.” DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said: “The absolute top structure (of SAPS) had sworn to us on stacks of Bibles that a system was in place. Now you mean there’s no system? “Why have we been listening to top structure saying everything (was under control) … I don’t know how you even manage to apprehend criminals. I’m absolutely gob-smacked,” Kohler Barnard said. The SAPS on Tuesday presented its report on the safeguarding of firearms to the committee. Over the past seven years, 20 429 firearms were reported lost despite 12 control measures put in place. To date, the SAPS has recovered 4 810 of the guns and no steps have been taken against any officers. The department has 264 845 firearms. On the report, Chikunga said: “The report today, if you look at it and really think about it, it’s somewhat a fatal report.” Members expressed their concern about the statistics in the report because the national department had relied on the provinces to provide the numbers, with very few actual inspections of police stations. Van Wyk said, if the figures relied on information from the provinces, “I can say without a doubt that they are wrong”. Earlier, SAPS divisional commissioner of supply chain management Gary Kruser said he had only been notified of the meeting the day before the department was scheduled to appear before the committee. “So we had to put the presentation together in a rush.” Chikunga took issue with this, saying the SAPS had been handed the committee’s schedule in October. “It’s surprising that only yesterday people were told. I’m not sure what this means … I have a problem with the document being prepared one day before the meeting. Even if the national commissioner (Cele) could not come he should have prepared the people who came. (That it was) only prepared yesterday talks to the disorganisation on that level.” - Political BureauClick on link to see reader comments: <a href="http://www.thestar.co.za/mps-warn-cele-and-top-brass-1.1038485?pageNumber=2">http://www.thestar.co.za/mps-warn-cele-and-top-brass-1.1038485?pageNumber=2</a> 91,216 REPORTED MURDERS 2005-2010 - ONLY 27,648 IN PRISON FOR MURDER - 20 429 FIREARMS have been 'lost' in the police force since April 2004 and no steps have been taken against any police officers! Politicsweb note: The total number of reported crimes, according to the SAPS, between 2005 and 2010 for the following categories are: Murder, 91,216; Sexual crimes 335,941, Robbery 327,633, Robbery with Aggravating circumstances 599,743; residential burglary 1,253, 246. <a class="read_more" href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71656?oid=225314&sn=Detail&pid=71616">Read more</a> Source: <a href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/">http://www.politicsweb.co.za/</a>

Justice in South Africa? It's a sick joke

More than 20 000 firearms sold to criminals lost by SAPS since April 2004 MPs GUN for SAPS top brass Embattled national Police Commissione...

3:50 PM

Business owner stabbed and stoned to death

The owner of a garage in Shannon in the Free State was stabbed and pelted to death with stones, police said on Tuesday. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOYMTqADsTtfg5F18XfshVW0v53PCkuiOFYmdu9QSPAD_ilzByH456Qj2w0ElHG1tHzbZ6CyqnxZdA6btOiJ0yK98MzK182jOt1zvpY7y3nBxiSHLi6FcYIgmuVTVQr1czUVQGzRL-J6rS/s1600/free-state-murder.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555899069755085122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOYMTqADsTtfg5F18XfshVW0v53PCkuiOFYmdu9QSPAD_ilzByH456Qj2w0ElHG1tHzbZ6CyqnxZdA6btOiJ0yK98MzK182jOt1zvpY7y3nBxiSHLi6FcYIgmuVTVQr1czUVQGzRL-J6rS/s320/free-state-murder.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>BLOEMFONTEIN. – Mr Hennie Viljoen was ambushed on Monday December 27 2010 and bludgeoned to death by armed black men who were waiting for him at the entrance to his Bloemspruit smallholding near Bloemfontein shortly after he had withdrawn cash from a nearby cashpoint. He had stepped from his Peugeot 407 to open the entrance gate to the homestead when he was killed. He was stabbed in his arm and his chest; as well as hit with stones on his head and died on the scene. The assailants fled with an unknown amount of cash and the man's Peugeot vehicle. The car was later found overturned on a road in Bloemspruit. The attackers had fled on foot by the time police got there. No arrests have been made.Anyone with information can contact the investigating officer Warrant Officer Michael Kortman from the Organised Crime Unit in Bloemfontein at 082-554-2729.

Business owner stabbed and stoned to death

The owner of a garage in Shannon in the Free State was stabbed and pelted to death with stones, police said on Tuesday. BLOEMFONTEIN. – Mr H...

2:50 PM

Pretoria Hairdresser found strangled to death

PRETORIA - Well-known Pretoria hair-salon owner Alden Smith, 37, was strangled to death in the passenger seat of his Audi A3, found parked at the Superspar shop in Menlopark on Christmas Day. The businessman had recently exposed the extortion practices of the Pretoria Metropolitan Police on the TV programme Carte Blanche on the Mnet channel in South Africa. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzOZY9aUlY0_0vgL8kFnN9jy__FTqh5zRRxO1EW8a2kal8FQbNjFf5eJJ_aPCe9U2tXSmPQJnQTpY6UDkjdXJuQ_iDe0M9nRrOW6wy83rdC2BFwI21jDIq9hDOIL1uvp5ZJ8z2QbBuLjL/s1600/Smith+Alden+Pretoria+Options+Hair+Design+owner+strangled+to+death+in+car+Dec+25+2010_thumb%255B4%255D.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555893060822236738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgzOZY9aUlY0_0vgL8kFnN9jy__FTqh5zRRxO1EW8a2kal8FQbNjFf5eJJ_aPCe9U2tXSmPQJnQTpY6UDkjdXJuQ_iDe0M9nRrOW6wy83rdC2BFwI21jDIq9hDOIL1uvp5ZJ8z2QbBuLjL/s320/Smith+Alden+Pretoria+Options+Hair+Design+owner+strangled+to+death+in+car+Dec+25+2010_thumb%255B4%255D.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 251px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Hilda Fourie of Beeld wrote that murdered hairdresser Alden Smith had spent Christmas day with his sister Onica Jakob, and her husband Chris, in Wonderboom. He left around 17:15 in his Audi, which according to police had been stolen a month earlier and recovered by the police. Brig André Wiese, the Brooklyn police station commander who heads the investigation said they don’t exactly know the circumstances of Smith’s death as yet. ‘One possibility being examined is that Smith was attacked and kidnapped at his house in Charles Street and then driven to the ATM cash-withdrawal point in Menlopark”. He was seated on the passenger seat, strangled to death, when a police patrol found him. That same Christmas evening at around 22:30 the alarm had gone off at Smith’s hair salon next to his home and the security company had contacted his sister – who also works at her brother’s salon – because the company was unable to contact Mr Smith. Mr Jakob drove to the salon while Mrs Jakob kept trying from home to contact him on his cellphone. “What we didn’t know was that he was already dead by that time,’ she said. "I will never forget how I saw my brother in that car. His glasses were broken and his shoes were stolen off his feet. Through something like this everyone's life is devastated. For me it is not yet true."

Pretoria Hairdresser found strangled to death

PRETORIA - Well-known Pretoria hair-salon owner Alden Smith, 37, was strangled to death in the passenger seat of his Audi A3, found parked a...

2:08 PM

Shrien Dewani And The Murder Of Dr Pox Raghavjee

<a href="http://www.anorak.co.uk/?s=shrien+dewani&submit=" target="_blank">SHRIEN Dewani</a>: At-a-glance look at the murder of Anni Dewani in the news – Mr Dewani has been released on £250,000 bail. <div itxtvisited="1"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFprO-IgOcuVcnCW3Rev9y1_lI1MdFJ9a-b8JiXn58Ie4kL9AuOcWrDY-aQN4z8616Z7_BxD6zYh-wgX55OEYQ0FthDGEW6uUdw1kbWzJx_Pm9Nsifg_G4LKt99V5N50ceMaMtUo1sWMq/s1600/BHEKI-CELE.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549554406511292194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFprO-IgOcuVcnCW3Rev9y1_lI1MdFJ9a-b8JiXn58Ie4kL9AuOcWrDY-aQN4z8616Z7_BxD6zYh-wgX55OEYQ0FthDGEW6uUdw1kbWzJx_Pm9Nsifg_G4LKt99V5N50ceMaMtUo1sWMq/s400/BHEKI-CELE.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 289px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>South African prosecutor Ben Watson tells the High Court, “the net was closing in.” He lobbied against bail “even on the most stringent conditions“.</div><div itxtvisited="1"> </div><div itxtvisited="1">Zola Tongo, the taxi driver already jailed, claims in his statement (<a href="http://www.anorak.co.uk/267523/media/shrien-dewani-zola-tongos-statement-in-full-and-how-annis-death-hurt-south-africa.html" target="_blank">read it in full here</a>), that Dewani paid him to arrange the murder. His claim has seen seven years knocked off a 25 year sentence.</div><div itxtvisited="1"> </div><div itxtvisited="1">The claim states that he got the impression Mr Dewani has done similar before. No proof. Not a shred of evidence. But, still,<a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/dewani-and-the-eastern-cape-link-1.1000090?showComments=true" target="_blank"> IOL</a>, a South African site, introduces the name Dr Pox Raghavjee, a Port Elizabeth doctor murdered in October 2007.</div><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">No motive for the murder was ever established as his cellphone, watch and wallet with R500 were found on the scene.</div></blockquote><div itxtvisited="1">A “source” tells us:</div><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">“Soon after the murder of Dr Pox, his wife went and stayed in Cape Town where she was said to be grieving and it is understood that she had visited the mother city before the murder as well.”</div></blockquote><div itxtvisited="1">The wife is called Heather Raghavjee. The site says she…</div><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">“…has close ties to Dewani and his family. She travelled with King Williams town businessman Peter Dhaya to Cape Town on the Monday after Anni was killed to comfort Dewani.</div></blockquote><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">“Shrien’s father and family were here (King Williams town) last December and that is how Heather came to know and befriend the family because my family hosted them,” Dhaya confirmed to the Saturday Star’s sister newspaper, the Weekend Argus, yesterday.</div></blockquote><div itxtvisited="1">The police chief has already<a href="http://www.anorak.co.uk/267800/media/shrien-dewani-the-gay-monkey-and-anti-british-bias-in-south-africa.html" target="_blank"> labelled Shrien Dewani a monkey</a> and pretty much stated that he’s<a href="http://www.anorak.co.uk/267800/media/shrien-dewani-the-gay-monkey-and-anti-british-bias-in-south-africa.html" target="_blank"> got his man.</a> Now we get to hear from police spokesperson Captain Thozama Solani. Says:</div><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">“The case had always been open and remained a mystery to us because even though there was a R100 000 reward offered there were no leads, but in light of the new information we are putting all we have got in solving the case.”</div></blockquote><div itxtvisited="1">Mr shrien Dewani needs his brief.</div><div itxtvisited="1"> </div><div itxtvisited="1">Clare Montgomery, his QC, says:.</div><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">“It would be grotesque to remand a man like this in custody. It is a flimsy case (against him] that relies on the words of self-confessed robbers and murderers.” </div></blockquote><div itxtvisited="1">Says she:</div><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1"><a href="http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Honeymoon-murder-husband-granted-bail/article-2995516-detail/article.html" target="_blank">His </a>lawyer, Clare Montgomery QC, said he had been accused by a group of “self-confessed robbers and murderers desperate to escape a whole life sentence” and with “everything to gain and nothing to lose” by implicating him in the killing.</div></blockquote><div itxtvisited="1">This is all big news in South Africa. John Dobson <a href="http://news.iafrica.com/features/693536.html" target="_blank">writes</a>:</div><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">This week the nation sighed in relief at the news that Shrien Dewani had been accused of ordering, like the linefish of the day, the murder of his bride, Anni.</div></blockquote><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">Firstly, if the driver’s claims are true, it is sad that we were the destination of choice to arrange this. I suppose it would have been harder to sell Bogota or the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez to your wife than trendy Cape Town as the venue for your honeymoon. </div></blockquote><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">The fact that one could possibly arrange a hit so readily and easily, as did Dina Rodrigues (one trip to Milnerton taxi rank to remove Baby Jordan) and Najwa Pietersen, inter many alia, is a poor reflection on our country. </div></blockquote><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1">And thirdly, what about the amount that was allegedly paid for Anni’s murder? It seems that three, possibly four, people were involved in the murder of Anni for R15 000, which is hardly a life altering quantum and certainly not enough for that sought-after plasma TV.</div></blockquote><div itxtvisited="1">And crime is rife in SA:</div><blockquote itxtvisited="1"><div itxtvisited="1"><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9275324.stm" target="_blank">The </a>crime statistics in Gugulethu are staggering. There have been 700 murders here in the past five years, but many of them happened behind closed doors – they were domestic crimes, not attacks on strangers.</div></blockquote>

Shrien Dewani And The Murder Of Dr Pox Raghavjee

SHRIEN Dewani : At-a-glance look at the murder of Anni Dewani in the news – Mr Dewani has been released on £250,000 bail. South African pros...

11:29 AM

Why are SA cops “shocked” at murder and hijacking of British tourist?

<div align="center">Over 700 people have been murdered in Gugulethu since 2005</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540319033938058642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBcnYYJzd6GAShaP95pCb4Jx959La22si0lRkcpz6_2GZtmNBnhzVGK1hVJREnA8n1J8vhm4LNOQmQJNF9QH8W0SI9GYqOeMaMBBhjIaRgv6LRLwGVzr9pPai32kKR6UENH6-tEbhuh7Ns/s400/cape-gugulethu.gif" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 173px; CURSOR: hand" /> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540315875350663730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI5bf1FFmUJmLLSshLkw0YZcz_NAcz0xxGnewNtU0QTXcixTgkioyurx3ziX22L1X36ElHdUdUV0uzNnFKPBq5NPVE5lmeHh6PPwj0X4foAU0BizflxcIbj5NCqAkiEV3TokL55MQdE_rd/s400/mzoli-meat_1762191i.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 305px; CURSOR: hand" /> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540321530760197650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBd9AO6CnaP4bBVZJer2Gkak5VaAmLSnHuWSyPil-csux5c6j9IChwgx3VwFoRUL0H94z1MSnlPIbEifg4le229mBr3lvnsTDySI8CFn9lafrgSIkVpVxZRsxtFPQ83WL6AfNNyJKQSMy/s400/MZOLI%2527S.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" /> Mzoli's - Gugulethu township in Cape Town an outdoor barbecue restaurant and bar which bills itself as an ‘authentic taste of township life’. Jamie Oliver visited it last year and in a seven-page spread in his magazine, described the food as ‘heaven’ and ‘totally sexy’. He added: ‘In this part of the world, fresh is where it’s at. Just kill it. Gut it. Skin it. Eat it.’ ‘When I go back to Cape Town, I am absolutely going to Mzoli’s.’ The <a href="http://www.sairr.org.za/media/media-releases/Police%20out%20of%20touch%20with%20reality%20over%20Gugulethu%20murder.pdf/view">SA Institute of Race Relations</a> questioned why the South African police were “shocked” at the murder and hijacking of a British tourist. As international and local media agencies have reported a British national and his wife were attacked in the township of Gugulethu on the urban periphery of Cape Town while honeymooning in the city. The couple were kidnapped by armed robbers and the wife was later found murdered. In response to media coverage the <a href="http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71656?oid=211229&sn=Detail&pid=71616">South African Police Force has released a statement</a> expressing "shock" at the murder. The police are out of touch with reality for expressing shock at the murder of a tourist in Gugulethu in Cape Town, the SA Institute of Race Relations said on Tuesday. "Data in the possession of the South African Institute of Race Relations shows that over 700 people have been murdered in Gugulethu since 2005. In the year to March 2010 some 110 murders occurred within the Gugulethu police precinct," the SAIRR said. "This amounts to one murder every two-and-a-half days for five consecutive years. How under such circumstances can the police claim to be ‘shocked’ or surprised at what happened to the British couple?" The SAIRR said if the police were truly shocked, then it suggested that "the police’s senior management is out of touch with the reality of life on the ground for people in areas such as Gugulethu who have been left to run the gauntlet of violent crime on a horrific scale". The institute said it was "revealing" that it took the murder of a foreign national for the police's senior management to take stock of the state of affairs in Gugulethu. 'This murder of a newlywed woman has become the symbol of our country' Many South Africans rightly deserve to feel deeply let down by the performance of their government and insulted when it feigns shock and surprise at violence that has become commonplace in South Africa. We live in a country where human life means absolutely nothing to violent thugs. But this one murder - of a beautiful young woman who had just married - has become the symbol of our country to the outside world. This is evidenced by the British media's coverage of the murder. The Daily Mail report on the tragic death of the British bride ended by concluding: "South Africa has one of the worst crime rates in the world." Similar observations have appeared in other publications with The Telegraph reporting that 46 murders are committed each day in South Africa, "a statistic that led to a substantial rise in security during the World Cup". South Africa is indeed a violent country and far too many South Africans are intimately acquainted with this knowledge. And this murder resurrects the doubts and prejudice that surfaced before the World Cup earlier this year. It also reinforces the idea that the safety foreign visitors enjoyed during the tournament in June was a mirage. This murder then shows how life has returned to normal after the soccer fans departed. Anni Dewani's body will be returned to her home and her widower will leave too. Life, as they say, will go on. But it is a life that has become frighteningly abnormal because of our acceptance of barbaric acts of cruelty and violence as a normal feature of South Africa. *Gugulethu made headlines in 1993 when an American exchange student, Amy Biehl, was stabbed and stoned to death. On August 25, 1993, she was driving black friends home to Guguletu township when the car was attacked by a group of youths chanting "one settler, one bullet" -- urging death to all white citizens. The youths stoned the car and struck Ms. Biehl on the head. She fled, bleeding, but the youths cornered her and stabbed and stoned her to death. She was 26 years old.

Why are SA cops “shocked” at murder and hijacking of British tourist?

Over 700 people have been murdered in Gugulethu since 2005 Mzoli's - Gugulethu township in Cape Town an outdoor barbecue restaurant an...

3:27 PM

British bride abducted and murdered by armed carjackers while on honeymoon in Cape Town - South Africa

UK tourist's killing makes world headlines<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539834008732707282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFrvNVadz9JvrlOl7Q_8I8OrfMRa1v9W17mL8Uyx-Ptfsj8jIkimSXU0G_WFUVngXr-bdwHMXmBcKGjEUw5ZCZ7PgEFzYFAdkEkkOG9NuciZqeUhQZt4TfXRecVBMqRNUCoP9nh5mazyXn/s400/cara_south_af_1164497a.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 194px; CURSOR: hand" /><ul><li>SOUTH Africa is suffering a crime epidemic. </li><li>Last year there were 14,915 car-jackings, 41 a day, and 18,148 murders. </li><li>Most were in townships. </li><li>There were 50,000 rapes. </li><li>Thousands more went unreported. </li><li>And there were 200,000 cases of assault and more than 18,000 house break-ins. </li></ul>Brit newlywed's body found after honeymoon carjacking murderNews of the killing of a British tourist was all over the UK media this morning, with newspapers reminding readers of South Africa's high "carjacking" and murder rates.<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1329361/Newlywed-Britons-wife-shot-dead-robbers-hijack-South-Africa.html">The Daily Mail</a> website announced the story with the headline: "Honeymoon horror: Newlywed Briton's wife is killed after robbers hijack them in taxi".<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/14/woman-killed-honeymoon-south-africa">The Guardian</a> newspaper's website also reported on the story saying "South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world, with an average of 46 murders a day. Last year, there were 13 902 carjackings in South Africa, down from 14 915 in 2008-09. The annual murder rate fell by 8.6% to dip below 17 000 for the first time since nationwide records began in 1995-96," Broadcaster <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11753933">BBC</a> , <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3227667/Bride-butchered-on-honeymoon-in-South-Africa.html#ixzz15NDwc2Cf">The Sun</a> and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8133226/British-wife-of-a-millionaire-businessman-killed-in-South-Africa.html">The Telegraph</a> also reported on the incident, which drew many comments from online readers. <blockquote>"Jules", from California in the United States, said of South Africans on the Daily Mail website: "The bottom line is until these people decide to help themselves, nothing will change." "Austin", also from the United States, added: "Of all the beautiful places in the world, WHY would anyone in their right minds go for a honeymoon in such a vile, god-forsaken place?" Several expats commented out of Australia, saying they left South Africa to ensure safe lives for their children, and that the country was a "mess".</blockquote>Bride butchered on her honeymoon in South Africa A bride on honeymoon with her wealthy British husband has been murdered in a South Africa. Anni Dewani, 28, and hubby Shrien, 31, had just left a restaurant with a driver in a VW Sharan when they were hijacked by two gunmen. The driver was bundled out of the vehicle, which then drove off at speed with the newlyweds inside. An hour later — around 11 miles away — the killers stopped and threw Mr Dewani from the vehicle. He raised the alarm by flagging down a passing motorist. A police patrol later spotted the Sharan abandoned two miles away in the township of Khayelitsha near Cape Town. The blood-soaked body of Mrs Dewani was found on the back seat. She was covered in bruises and is feared to have been raped. Locals told police they had heard shots. It is believed she was hit in the head, but other reports last night said she may have been stabbed. Read more <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3227667/Bride-butchered-on-honeymoon-in-South-Africa.html">here</a> Related Articles <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8134109/South-African-townships-still-dangerous-post-apartheid.html">South African townships remain dangerous</a> 15 Nov 2010 <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8134265/South-African-murder-travel-advice.html">South African murder: travel advice</a> 15 Nov 2010 <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8133635/Police-report-of-South-African-honeymoon-killing.html">Police report of South African honeymoon killing</a> 15 Nov 2010 <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8132687/British-woman-on-honeymoon-in-Cape-Town-killed-by-carjackers.html">British woman on honeymoon in Cape Town killed by carjackers</a> 14 Nov 2010 <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8134397/South-African-murder-highlights-dangerous-side-of-Cape-Town.html">South African murder highlights dangerous side of Cape Town</a> 15 Nov 2010 <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8133226/British-wife-of-a-millionaire-businessman-killed-in-South-Africa.html">British wife of a millionaire businessman killed in South Africa</a>

British bride abducted and murdered by armed carjackers while on honeymoon in Cape Town - South Africa

UK tourist's killing makes world headlines SOUTH Africa is suffering a crime epidemic. Last year there were 14,915 car-jackings, 41 a da...

9:27 AM

Violence top cause of death in Gauteng

Just under one third of recorded non-natural deaths in Gauteng are caused by violence, the SA Medical Research Council(MRC) said. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrk8RU7N9dFZQl0kWUCZhavP03nmMZAyaNrt4VeYwb7DRSr3Tf9wHfU5uj9HvS5sCm_tUvYdvDkJNd5Jkns3TVFFbLrBFRUhXbiVhSqA_T2tEDo-noR3Y4OyL1sHlUo_3SgAZYwRXml7HV/s1600/crime-blood.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535818413967767650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrk8RU7N9dFZQl0kWUCZhavP03nmMZAyaNrt4VeYwb7DRSr3Tf9wHfU5uj9HvS5sCm_tUvYdvDkJNd5Jkns3TVFFbLrBFRUhXbiVhSqA_T2tEDo-noR3Y4OyL1sHlUo_3SgAZYwRXml7HV/s400/crime-blood.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 281px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Violence and homicide accounted for 32.4 percent of non-natural deaths caused by injury, with transport second at 28.7 percent and suicide third at 11.3 percent. The figures were part of a presentation on fatal injuries in Gauteng last year, an initiative by MRC and the University of Johannesburg, supported by the department of health. Of 10 528 non-natural deaths in Gauteng where the external cause was known, firearms were the top cause of death with 1 630 at 15.5%, followed by pedestrian injury at 12.7% and sharp objects resulted in 1 091 deaths at 10.4% and blunt force 1 064. In youth aged 15 and 29 years, adults (30-44 years) and older adults aged 45-59 years, firearms were the leading causes of death. Injuries were the second leading cause of death in South Africa, behind HIV. The figures were based on 11,329 non-natural deaths registered at nine medico-legal laboratories in Gauteng. source - <a href="http://www.timeslive.co.za/">www.timeslive.co.za/</a>

Violence top cause of death in Gauteng

Just under one third of recorded non-natural deaths in Gauteng are caused by violence, the SA Medical Research Council(MRC) said. V iolence ...

2:41 PM

Rising above crime

Inspired by the birds, one man built a thief-proof house without alarms, electric fencing, or security beams in crime-ridden South Africa. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533665835560884002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCI4d8DzP_hDqDTF2rYGrMyPuQFeXIeZ5Uf_fd3yC2sNGN0IdaCqnElyUKWxhVpL-yB2CxtyBfnoS9n018H5RFBJBJJmCiCkg9-IwNWVHSDu_SW4NH43Zf-8ULrr_ZC7LWVFsAnVLFvvHU/s400/HOUSE-CAPE-TOWN-ARCHITECTURE-CRIME_full_600.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 289px; CURSOR: hand" /><div align="center">Eileen Mijlof stands by her burglar-proof home in Cape Town. Her husband came up with the idea for the design after watching squirrels and birds sitting in trees. </div>

Rising above crime

Inspired by the birds, one man built a thief-proof house without alarms, electric fencing, or security beams in crime-ridden South Africa. E...

12:45 PM

How many Blacks died under Apartheid?

BY Vusile Tshabalala (a black journalist) At the start of the year 1900, the number of (Black) African South Africans was found to be 3,5-million according to the British colonial government census. By 1954, our (Black) African population had soared to 8,5-million — and by 1990, there were a full 35-million of us — all carefully managed, closely policed, counted, shunted around in homelands and townships — and all of us chafing and griping under the suppressive yoke of the Afrikaner Broederbond’s rigid racial segregation system. During apartheid, our (black) population grew apace however because we also had the benefit of the Broers’ medical knowledge and their excellent agricultural skills. Our population growth and our average life expectancy in fact showed us (black)Africans in South Africa to be in better than average health when compared to other Africans on the rest of the continent: in the decades prior to the official policy of apartheid, (which was started in 1948), the average life expectancy of black African South Africans was only 38 years. However, during the last decade of the apartheid era from 1948 to 1994, our average life expectancy had risen to 64 years — on a par with Europe’s average life expectancy. Moreover, our infant death rates had by then also been reduced from 174 to 55 infant deaths per thousand, higher than Europe’s, but considerably lower than the rest of the African continent’s. And the (black) African population in South Africa had by then also increased by 50% percent. (source: “a crime against humanity: analysing repression of the Apartheid State”, by Max Coleman of the Human Rights Committee). Deaths due to political violence during Apartheid - from 1948 - 1994Max Coleman’s authoritative book analyses all deaths due to political violence from 1948 to 1994 in South Africa and Namibia. According to the HRC statistics, 21,000 people died in political violence in South Africa during apartheid – of whom 14,000 people died during the six-year transition process from 1990 to 1994. The book lists the number of incidents, dates, and those involved. This includes SA Defence Force actions, for instance the 600 deaths at Kassinga in Angola during the war in 1978. Of those deaths, the vast majority, 92%, have been primarily due to (blacks) Africans killing (blacks) Africans — such as the inter-tribal battles for territory: this book’s detailed analyses of the period June 1990 to July 1993 indicates a total of 8580 (92%) of the 9,325 violent deaths during the period June 1990 to July 1993 were caused by Africans killing Africans, or as the news media often calls it, “Black on Black” violence – hostel killings, Inkatha Freedom Party versus ANC killlings, and taxi and turf war violence. The activities of the Civil Cooperation Bureau as outlined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, were also included in these figures. The security forces caused 518 deaths (5.6%) throughout this period. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533502255176580754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbei9bNekMkHEbgSbf-cCp2jhnTeH2_WQ0EhSKLFhuYB6Im04RugE-UIJ4fiXWRWacMwdIrHorvzp7XJjX5DDlV1YWZgfU7hD33XWKYpVmxdlem0umvp_2XHtnesBZwULxkfavwjL3u1Nl/s400/Apartheid+murders.gif" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 213px; CURSOR: hand" />And again, during the transitional period, the primary causes of deaths were not security forces nor white right-wing violence against blacks, but mainly due to “black-on-black necklace murders”, tribal conflict between the ANC-IFP, bombs by the ANC and PAC’s military wings in shopping centers, landmines on farm roads, etc. After Apartheid: Violent deaths from 1994 to 2000: The SA Police reports that a total of 174,220 people died violent deaths, from crime-related violence, between 1994 and the year 2000. The full report, <a href="http://www.frontline.org.za/articles/murder_southafrica.doc" target="_blank">Murder in South Africa: A Comparison of Past and Present</a> So my question is this: “Did Apartheid ever kill as many Africans as are now being killed?" The Killing Fields of Post-Apartheid South Africa THE SOURCE: August 2001 <a href="http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/321.htm">http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/321.htm</a>

How many Blacks died under Apartheid?

BY Vusile Tshabalala (a black journalist) At the start of the year 1900, the number of (Black) African South Africans was found to be 3,5-mi...

1:19 AM

Murder-Gang slaughter defenceless woman

<div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArGzKM384bwWLEkZdLVQwjLngY382zWB9_Mn5xGXHNhi5_mrCGRxHSxln69zOgi37OzAsZSYB9KGaqch7A5SCH1t0VR4npjK-9MdahNStOuQ3JPG2fP6IvK61O0IECrabzBQaep8lIxQ-/s1600/crime_slitthroat_160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiArGzKM384bwWLEkZdLVQwjLngY382zWB9_Mn5xGXHNhi5_mrCGRxHSxln69zOgi37OzAsZSYB9KGaqch7A5SCH1t0VR4npjK-9MdahNStOuQ3JPG2fP6IvK61O0IECrabzBQaep8lIxQ-/s320/crime_slitthroat_160.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>PROFESSIONAL dog trainer Mandy Pestana was alone when she entered her Linbro Park home and was attacked and viciously murdered by three men who were waiting for her after having broken in through the roof. As she tried to run from them, she was grabbed from behind by a man who used a knife to slit her throat yesterday. The gang then escaped with a stash of goods. Residents of the quiet area, described as a collection of residential smallholdings “where the horses outnumber the people”, are shattered by the violent attack. Nico Nel, treasurer for the Alexandra cluster and former chairman of the Linbro Park Community Policing Forum, said Pestana is believed to have gone out dog training yesterday morning. She returned home and put her eight dogs into the kennels on her property before going out again, probably to do some shopping. She got back home, where she lived alone, just before noon. Nel said the gang of three had targeted her home while she was out. They managed to lift some roof tiles and gain entry to the house. “I imagine they waited for her to come because they needed the doors open to carry the loot away.” When she did arrive, they carried out what Nel describes as “the very efficient slaughter of a defenceless woman”. He said Pestana is believed to have lain dead in her home for more than six hours before she was discovered by her domestic worker. Nel is personally offering a R20 000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers. He has since received numerous other pledges for the reward, which is currently growing. People wanting to contribute towards the reward can e-mail alert@linbro.co.za Anyone with information regarding the murder is asked to contact Crime Line at 32211 or Nel at 084 608 2026. Police communications officers contacted for information regarding the murder this morning were unable to provide any details.</div>

Murder-Gang slaughter defenceless woman

PROFESSIONAL dog trainer Mandy Pestana was alone when she entered her Linbro Park home and was attacked and viciously murdered by three men ...

1:46 PM

Good stats, bad stats

by George Annandale Seems we are really making progress in this great year that saw the great African event of the century, the Soccer World Cup, taking place right here in our country. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrGMTrMY-dmIm4isjuOyaMRCDi4JAb8K8VKniEHzkismE-AUihxbWtAjLbSz2d3NbrwUDozDrMwv9NsYrAw58YvT_Bn39Timo9RkBamecSbxUke4FddTGTlN_4NDiUMMxAt46hsU2Yn-X/s1600/crime-statistics.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515363438867978066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrGMTrMY-dmIm4isjuOyaMRCDi4JAb8K8VKniEHzkismE-AUihxbWtAjLbSz2d3NbrwUDozDrMwv9NsYrAw58YvT_Bn39Timo9RkBamecSbxUke4FddTGTlN_4NDiUMMxAt46hsU2Yn-X/s400/crime-statistics.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 385px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 296px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Hot on the heels of the World Cup, we are told that our murder rate is down. We now, collectively, murder only 46.3 people per day compared to 50.7 in the previous year. That is not all. According to the Minister, all but one of the top ten violent criminals are in prison, the only exception being one Msilikathsi WaAfrica, a violent man who, according to the Minister, fought off an army of policemen and was only subdued once the Hawks, Budgies and Parrots stepped in to lend a hand in subduing him, after which he was brought to court where, unfortunately the case collapsed, probably as a result of corruption in the National Prosecuting Authority and he was released. Happily it is not only the murder rate that is dropping; it seems life expectancy is also dropping rather sharply, from 65 years in 1995 to 47 years currently. It is no wonder then that health workers had to take a few days off, to celebrate this milestone and to demand a bit of monetary recognition for their efforts in controlling a rampant population growth rate. Talking about flagging fortunes, our Universities are putting in some stellar performances in the race to achieve African standards with the highest ranked SA university, The University of Cape Town, dropping in world rankings from number 146 to position 164. No wonder a local professor inferred that, given the current deterioration rate, we should soon have our universities competing with the top high schools of the world. Whilst the universities are making solid progress our basic education system has arrived. We are now officially ranked as the worst in Africa. No mean achievement I have you know. We should however not rest on our laurels. If we can stop the striking teachers from sending their children to functioning former Model-C schools, we can still aim lower. Let us however not deny these teachers their just deserved praise; without their dedication to cultural pursuits such as strikes and boycotts and the commitment of several education ministers and the ANC to transform to African standards, we would never have reached this great point in our history. However, like all great champions, this title should not be allowed to go to our heads. If we can get rid of the remaining Model-C dinosaurs and the private schools with their haughty teachers and all we can plunge depths never seen before. As in all things, everything revolves around money. Money obtained from selling and trading things; things that have to be manufactured and produced competitively. Well; we shall not be disappointed. Our efforts over the last 15 years are also being rewarded with the exhilarating, but not unexpected, news that South Africa has dropped nine places, from position 45 to 54, in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Ratings. For a few years now we have just seemed to have gotten ourselves stuck around 45; unable to achieve that critical break through. Now finally – thanks to our remarkable education system, the relaxed disposition of our workers and a shift away from old western styled business leadership, we have finally dropped through that barrier that, to some, must have what seemed like a solid wall of burning tyres.

Good stats, bad stats

by George Annandale Seems we are really making progress in this great year that saw the great African event of the century, the Soccer World...

10:41 AM

Mean Streets

Mean Streets

This is South Africa

3:23 PM

HIDDEN SIDE OF THE RAINBOW NATION

By Bill Coles AS Nelson Mandela swept into power on a wave of euphoria 16 years ago, South Africa was optimistically dubbed the Rainbow Nation. But on the eve of the first World Cup ever to be staged on the African continent, the colour is fast fading from this rainbow dream. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidc55y6pZIzoTbXxD-3lhV24nLfxiLMLBm8RBY0h6cFehZaOQxppOailch8qoS8uzQhTzGMGkm9OqL4qoXox0u7xNvg3KPl2QKJfKm8EvoeCjVTadmqhRE3jml14z0yxdIUjgjtbM9u3vm/s1600/mandela-violence.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHG3cbLbT7k0rojIpk32W1P7Sp_FhaVpre1gMhNG9g2cVpprEEXQxIRpP0_x5bqdnuDb2FcPiFgWP-qrQIFWpwcD0UINKnJ0oGfZrFHgIXqP9Pvdf9UzbiD4ouZu-_eeSbby6e9fgb5DmJ/s1600/anc-terrorists.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471927275638931586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHG3cbLbT7k0rojIpk32W1P7Sp_FhaVpre1gMhNG9g2cVpprEEXQxIRpP0_x5bqdnuDb2FcPiFgWP-qrQIFWpwcD0UINKnJ0oGfZrFHgIXqP9Pvdf9UzbiD4ouZu-_eeSbby6e9fgb5DmJ/s400/anc-terrorists.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 289px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Crime is now so rampant that more than 50 people are being murdered in South Africa every day. These brutal killings – often accompanied by rape – are so rife that they merit only a few paragraphs in the local papers. On top of this, the richest country in Africa is being swept by an Aids epidemic, with some 11 per cent of its 48million population now infected with the HIV virus. Average life expectancy is just 50 years. The tensions are also beginning to show in the much-trumpeted harmony between black, white and coloured, as it was revealed this month that more than 3,000 white farmers have been murdered since President Mandela took power. Retired journalist Brian O’Hanlon, who has lived in scenic Hermanus, near Cape Town, for the past eight years, said: “I would not go near a black township and I would not expect the people from a black township to come in to the white areas. “There are murders every day but if you’re a resident you become inured to it. If you didn’t, you would probably have to go back to England or my native Ireland.” With the World Cup just four weeks away, many believe the organiser Fifa is now practically running the country in order to ensure that South Africa presents a clean, wholesome image to the rest of the world. Thousands of beggars and street children have been shipped out of Johannesburg and Cape Town and crammed into tin-hut settlements. An army of 44,000 police officers – more than a quarter of South Africa’s entire force – is dedicated solely to ensuring the safety of World Cup spectators. Some 8,500 of these officers will be wearing full body armour shipped in from France. Meanwhile football fans are being blitzed with advice on how to stay safe, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office warning of “a very high level of crime”. Yet despite all the fanfare, even Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 78, was this week lamenting how crime and corruption were ruining his homeland. The Nobel Peace Prize winner said: “Something happened to us. It looks like we have lost our pride. It is not because of poverty. “We are prisoners in our homes. Look at what is happening to the farmers. But it is not only the farmers. You read something horrific almost every day. We should ask ourselves: ‘Hey, what is going on?'” For some, the constant menace of crime has become so traumatic that they’ve had no option but to quit the country. Since the end of apartheid, some 800,000 white South Africans out of a total of 4.4 million have emigrated, abandoning hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. Mr O’Hanlon said: “You have to box clever and you mustn’t put yourself in a situation where there might be trouble. You mix with your own.” Almost every South African has some horror story to tell that has either occurred personally to them or to friends and family. These crime stories range from car-jackings at gunpoint – which are now so common they don’t even get a mention in the papers – to being pistol-whipped in your own home. Philip Oliver, 41, left South Africa three years ago for work reasons and now can only marvel at how free and easy life seems in the UK. Performance coach Mr Oliver, a father of one, says: “In South Africa you have to be constantly aware of the dangers of crime. I have to pinch myself now that I’m in Britain. It may sound perfectly normal but here I can walk from my car to my hotel without a care in the world. It’s an absolute delight. You could never do that in South Africa where you live with this kind of shadow of crime over your life.” He adds: “In Cape Town you can be living in an incredible apartment which looks over Table Mountain but you’re aware that it’s risky to walk there. It’s a heavy price to pay in South Africa but if that’s all you know, you accept it.” The most notorious of South Africa’s cities is Johannesburg, which is one of the hubs of organised crime. In the run-up to the World Cup, dealers are stockpiling huge quantities of cocaine and the amphetamine “tik”. Just near Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium is the lawless ghetto of Diepsloot which is seeing four murders every week. A taxi driver was recently shot dead because he refused to hand over the equivalent of 50p in change. Vigilante squads now roam the streets while kangaroo courts dispense violent and summary justice. One British expat moved to Cape Town after seeing his Durban home ransacked for the third time. During one of these robberies he was tied up and blindfolded. The expat, speaking anonymously, said: “When South Africa won the right to host the World Cup, we thought this was gold but now we learn that for six weeks Fifa will run this country. The informal traders who thought they would make a killing cannot go anywhere near the stadiums. “Of course security is a priority, with the crime and theft rates the highest in the world. Petty crime will be at a high level. The other day in Cape Town and without any announcement, 250 police and armoured cars drove through the streets in a show of strength. It was laughable. The police in the cars were all overweight, their beer bellies hanging over their belts. They couldn’t have run 50 metres.” Seraj Jones, a senior sports writer with Media 24 in Cape Town, was equally dismissive of Fifa: “They are throwing their weight around this country, especially in terms of monitoring the ticket allocations. Nothing moves here without Fifa’s approval. But I’m not at all sure that the infrastructure is going to be finished on time. I can see it all as I come in to work every morning and I’d be amazed if the transport system was ready in four weeks.” Since 1994 the murder toll among South African farmers has been alarming, with 3,000 dead including recently white supremacist Eugene Terre’Blanche. Almost all were white Afrikaners and many were tortured before they were killed. One farmer, Manie Potgieter, was seconds from being shot dead by three armed raiders. Mr Potgieter, 30, was attacked at his farm in Vredefort, south of Johannesburg. He was tied up and forced to watch his wife Helena, 28, being stripped. “She was telling me in Afrikaans not to worry,” he said. I just prayed. The man said: ‘Listen you white b******. I have Aids. We are now going to rape your wife and give her Aids too. Then, we kill you.'” Luckily the attackers were disturbed and fled. Race relations have now deteriorated so much in South Africa that Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of the ANC’s Youth League, has been whipping up rallies with an old anti-apartheid struggle song which includes the words, “Shoot the Boer”. He caused further outrage by telling a BBC journalist: “Don’t come here with that white tendency” before throwing him out of a press conference. Mr Oliver, who moved from South Africa to Edinburgh, said: “You just get used to hearing about the violence and sometimes if you’re unlucky you experience it yourself. Of course you do all the usual things to stay safe. You’ll have burglar bars on the doors and windows as well as alarms and you’ll hire a private security firm to provide an armed response. “You’re also on constant alert when you’re out of your house, when you’re driving or parking your car. You have this natural awareness of what’s going on around you. But sometimes it’s not enough. “A couple I know from Johannesburg had five youths break into their house and their daughter was home alone. She was very distressed. That was the last straw. They were out of the country within weeks and ended up in the UK.” He added: “I don’t know many South Africans who are not schizophrenic about their love and hate for the place. If you could wave a magic wand and remove the crime then I’d go back there because it’s God’s own country.”

HIDDEN SIDE OF THE RAINBOW NATION

By Bill Coles AS Nelson Mandela swept into power on a wave of euphoria 16 years ago, South Africa was optimistically dubbed the Rainbow Nati...

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South Africa P.I.G.