South Africa P.I.G.: TOURISM

Showing posts with label TOURISM. Show all posts

The world's least safe destinations

Online MSN Travel UK asked nearly 3,000 British holidaymakers where they feel most and least safe, based on holidays over the last three years. Read on for the countdown of top 10 places that most travellers felt least safe in. After you've finished, discover which hotspots made in onto the list of places people felt most safe in. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573357527852890818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizziK8ccgh4HC1w5mBDEWCYrdWLnxNFyhcVon6IygSHln9A1PDDuiWOgn1BU1EZ9fpPDZBe8IuooIJdSs-284Ufh14LlVhlV3vjionx6Vh1mMc43kgCGw-6T5N03c8Kczkeww6gY_9WIz/s400/bigfive-crime.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 282px; CURSOR: hand" />The countries that made it onto the top 10 list of the world's least safe destinations 10: Dominican Republic Rating: 3.9 Why: Incidents of crime and violence, credit card cloning and fraud are common. 9: Cuba Rating: 3.8 Why: Opportunistic theft is common. 8: Tunisia Rating: 3.6 Why: Recent political unrest and protests 7: Thailand Rating: 3.6 Why: Political upheaval 6: Egypt Rating: 3.5 Why: Current political turbulence 5: Dubai Rating: 3.4 Why: Cultural differences 4: Jamaica Rating: 3.2 Why: High levels of crime and violence 3: Bulgaria Rating: 2.5 Why: Over-charging and robberies 2: South Africa Rating: 2 Why: High level of crime, many fatal road accidents. 1: Mexico Rating: 1.8 Why: High level of drug-related violence, criminal activity, armed robberies & theft. The countries that made it onto the top 10 list of the world's safest destinations 10: Switzerland - Rating: 7.1 9: Singapore - Rating: 7.4 8: Italy - Rating: 7.6 7: Florida - Rating: 7.9 6: Australia - Rating: 8 5: Denmark - Rating: 8 4: New Zealand - Rating: 8.3 3: Cyprus - Rating: 9.4 2: France - Rating: 9.5 1: Spain - Rating: 9.8 WHY? For all reasons South Africa is NOT! <ul><li>safety and wellbeing are of prime importance </li><li>...has one of the world's highest personal and property safety records. </li><li>crime rates are low, good healthcare, efficient transport, multilingual locals, violent crime is virtually unheard of. </li><li>clean, organised and civil unrest is almost unheard of </li><li>relatively uncrowded streets, clean and orderly, streets and pavements are well-lit at night and muggings are rare </li><li>easy to travel around, has a stable economy and low crime rate </li><li>hospitals and airports are modern </li></ul>Source - <a href="http://travel.uk.msn.com/inspiration/adventure-activities/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=156067311">http://travel.uk.msn.com/inspiration/adventure-activities/photos.aspx?cp-documentid=156067311</a>

The world's least safe destinations

Online MSN Travel UK asked nearly 3,000 British holidaymakers where they feel most and least safe, based on holidays over the last three yea...

2:07 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

Tourists mugged on top of Table Mountain

Three South African expatriates and a Canadian were robbed at knifepoint at the top of Table Mountain. The Lewis family, originally of South Africa, moved to Canada in 1998 to avoid becoming victims of crime. However, their fears became a reality when they were attacked on top of the mountain during their brief return to South Africa for a family visit. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLcDwGYmUFxhUxrpXQLjGnQ60NRjpIAOpAsFP6wnGBLS3q1MHkz23hwLwyhMxbNXFAn7IqzOAxlwi8h4YokeO7da1BATQ7HI31ZfvLl2SDJWiJ0GY81Gpxmn-KgmlfgbUZn57ZSKArjDX/s1600/crime-T+Mountain.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536156741402873682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLcDwGYmUFxhUxrpXQLjGnQ60NRjpIAOpAsFP6wnGBLS3q1MHkz23hwLwyhMxbNXFAn7IqzOAxlwi8h4YokeO7da1BATQ7HI31ZfvLl2SDJWiJ0GY81Gpxmn-KgmlfgbUZn57ZSKArjDX/s400/crime-T+Mountain.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>(pic right) Richard Lewis, his daughter Bronwyn and her boyfriend Harrison Boyse recall how two men attacked them at knifepoint at the top of Table Mountain. “I know this could happen to anyone but what gets to me is that it was on a national heritage site, supposed to be one of the safest places in the country. It was brazen and during the day. It was on a walking trail with no warning and no security to prevent something like this. It is very disappointing,” Richard Lewis, the father of the family, told the Cape Argus. Lewis, his wife, Barbara, son Gareth, 24, daughter Bronwyn, 23, and her Canadian boyfriend, Harrison Boyse, 22, decided to take the cable car up Table Mountain early on Tuesday morning. At about 9am, Barbara decided to rest at a shop on top of the mountain while the rest of the group made their way towards Maclear’s Beacon, where two armed men attacked them. “They both carried switchblade knives which they kept waving around saying: ‘Do you want to die here?’, and ‘Don’t make us stab you’. We decided to just give them what they wanted instead of risking our lives,” Lewis said. The group handed over their backpacks, wallets, cellphones, watches and camera. Still not satisfied, the robbers searched their pockets and demanded their passports. Boyse said the thieves became agitated but were willing to return passports and a memory card if someone took it from the camera. "They were getting really edgy and as soon as we got the memory card we began running back to the cable car.” When the group looked back, the robbers were moving up the mountain and going through the backpacks. The family managed to alert police, park rangers began to search the area immediately and a helicopter scanned the area, but found no signs of the robbers. Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz described the incident as “absolutely absurd”, adding that the option of increasing security should be seriously considered. “We can’t have tourists coming and being mugged at a national heritage site.” Table Mountain National Park spokeswoman Merle Collins said that they were aware of, and disturbed by, the incident. This is an edited version of the article from the Cape Argus/IOL <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/">www.iol.co.za/</a> - 29 September 2010

Tourists mugged on top of Table Mountain

Three South African expatriates and a Canadian were robbed at knifepoint at the top of Table Mountain. The Lewis family, originally of South...

12:42 PM

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...

9:25 AM

Say NO to GENOCIDE - BOYCOTT the World Cup!

<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/AVvXsEhCqdydYqtulhjNKLrHaKBaM1eP8wHhyfEjOF0JlMo0nkzwgmcUWAyL-ARymT9C6T8BuAXpnzJaGOd6f1GhNYC4TUUGbNL-onxYCjgPLL50-w8EdV_2IXrt9c2EPICltr8UHGdyVHF-svEt/s1600/boergirlplacard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqdydYqtulhjNKLrHaKBaM1eP8wHhyfEjOF0JlMo0nkzwgmcUWAyL-ARymT9C6T8BuAXpnzJaGOd6f1GhNYC4TUUGbNL-onxYCjgPLL50-w8EdV_2IXrt9c2EPICltr8UHGdyVHF-svEt/s640/boergirlplacard.jpg" tt="true" width="332" /></a></div>Say NO to GENOCIDE! BOYCOTT the World Cup! David Duke Urges Boycott of the World Cup! Dr. David Duke has issued a call for Europeans and people of European descent around the world to boycott the World Cup being held in South Africa. Not one iota of support should be given to South Africa, a nation that is not acting to stop the genocide of thousands of White people. Over 3,000 White farmers and their family members have been killed since the fall of Apartheid and upwards of 40,000 additional White South Africans have been murdered and hundreds of thousands robbed, raped or assaulted! Genocide Watch, the leading anti-Genocide organization on earth says Whites are facing Genocide in South Africa! There is far more reason on the basis of human rights to boycott South Africa today than there was during the Apartheid Regime. Under Apartheid, Black people were not being butchered in their homes and on the streets of the country. South Africa went from one of the safest nations on earth to one of the most deadly. South Africa even leads the world in rape and the rape of children and babies. Under its European founders South Africa had a 5 percent unemployment rate for Whites and Blacks, now it has unemployment exceeding 50 percent. South Africa is heading toward the murderous and oppressive conditions of Zimbabwe and Mugabe. By attending the World Cup, Europeans are saying YES to GENOCIDE! Say NO to GENOCIDE BOYCOTT the World Cup! Furthermore Europeans attending are putting themselves and their families in great danger. <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/167653/Racists-vow-to-rape-and-kill-white-World-Cup-fans">The Express newspaper of the UK</a> has recently exposed the fact that Black youth leaders in South Africa are promising to rape Whites and “burn white children!” Say NO to Genocide Boycott the World Cup!

Say NO to GENOCIDE - BOYCOTT the World Cup!

Say NO to GENOCIDE! BOYCOTT the World Cup! David Duke Urges Boycott of the World Cup! Dr. David Duke has issued a call for Europeans and peo...

2:05 PM

Black Racists vow to “Rape & Kill” White World Cup fans

A VILE Facebook campaign to incite race hate ahead of the World Cup in South Africa in June is being investigated by police. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUPTl5YpslETYk05xfRYaWAwYRcekJ-7MpbtyaXmTs9W9bO0HeAJWhnvygGeKozA9Jg1f4nTxcMijTmrsPZ4fZTHHbo3ktXIcfDqzoFCk_Vn76LzMqV2IEjomVhztxa_3dmczzN7RocjUe/s1600/2010+chaos.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk52Yj_YttFlXsVH3gD0kId3nGO3qHdKhse48ySZu3ygKMxR5XaapYDMGLMlVUMxh4FOz6Q3uomJkuWEW6ERzPpFRWWRPFaq6Zv75Cpj6-c5JJiqpC5SiwiydMq1vhwcfqKbCJqFttd6S5/s1600/WCTshirt1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466680820338604242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk52Yj_YttFlXsVH3gD0kId3nGO3qHdKhse48ySZu3ygKMxR5XaapYDMGLMlVUMxh4FOz6Q3uomJkuWEW6ERzPpFRWWRPFaq6Zv75Cpj6-c5JJiqpC5SiwiydMq1vhwcfqKbCJqFttd6S5/s400/WCTshirt1.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 295px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>The official probe was launched into a group set up by alleged supporters of firebrand politician Julius Malema. One entry, emailed to football fans around the world, calls for the “rape and slaughter” of whites and the murder of President Jacob Zuma. In a chilling message a Malema “fan” called Thato Mbateti Mbateti warns: “Every trespasser, namely white whores, we will rape them and kill them… White kids will be burned.” The Facebook page, which attracted more than 15,000 followers, has been shut down. Malema and the ANCYL insisted it was not an official supporters’ page. Lawrence Schlemmer, vice president of the South African Institute of Race Relations, said: “There is no reason why these things, as tragic as they are, should affect the safety of fans or players at the World Cup. The World Cup and sport, as it is supposed to, channels passions and reconciles conflict.” The article has appeared on Express.co.uk but they have deleted it so the article is now available only on <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:sVWoQUVEF8QJ:www.express.co.uk/posts/view/167653/Racists-vow-to-rape-and-kill-white-World-Cup-fans+http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/167653/Racists-vow-to-rape-and-kill-white-World-Cup-fans&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a">Google Cache</a> and in the following screenshot. UPDATE: Express.co.uk probably realised it was lame to remove their article so they have added it back again. Here’s the <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/167653/Racists-vow-to-rape-and-kill-white-World-Cup-fans">source</a> link. <div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN6enctnHVn6fUuOaOsALhjHmHbXe6_2mWmOg47J3QtZarsSEZdJv6z4yG29wcfS5hkA32qWr7kusUopoMnkAjBo-qTCEGxA_CIkkla_C__93DAAwr1XED30F2AsG4fZWMZLwJJjnjUPN/s1600/express-vow-to-rape-and-kill-white-world-cup-fans.png" imageanchor="1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em"><img border="0" height="588" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN6enctnHVn6fUuOaOsALhjHmHbXe6_2mWmOg47J3QtZarsSEZdJv6z4yG29wcfS5hkA32qWr7kusUopoMnkAjBo-qTCEGxA_CIkkla_C__93DAAwr1XED30F2AsG4fZWMZLwJJjnjUPN/s640/express-vow-to-rape-and-kill-white-world-cup-fans.png" tt="true" width="640" /></a></div> Related posts: 1.<a href="http://www.eutimes.net/2009/07/south-africa-world-cup-2010-why-going-to-south-africa-for-the-world-cup-terrifies-me/">South Africa World Cup 2010: ‘Why going to South Africa for the World Cup terrifies me’</a> 2.<a href="http://www.eutimes.net/2009/06/south-africa-world-cup-2010-anc-government-does-nothing-to-prevent-black-looting-and-murdering-white-africanerboers-have-defend-themselves/">South Africa World Cup 2010: ANC Government does nothing to prevent black looting and murdering, Whites Africaner/Boer have to defend themselves</a> 3.<a href="http://www.eutimes.net/2009/07/dont-go-to-the-world-cup-2010-in-sa-world%e2%80%99s-top-security-company-refuses-to-work-in-south-africa-too-dangerous/">Don’t go to the World Cup 2010 in SA: World’s top security company refuses to work in South Africa – Too Dangerous</a> 4.<a href="http://www.eutimes.net/2010/03/zumas-heir-blamed-for-inciting-racist-attacks-on-south-africas-white-farmers/">Zuma’s heir blamed for inciting racist attacks on South Africa’s white farmers</a> 5.<a href="http://www.eutimes.net/2009/07/in-south-africa-rape-is-linked-to-manhood/">In South Africa, rape is linked to manhood</a>

Black Racists vow to “Rape & Kill” White World Cup fans

A VILE Facebook campaign to incite race hate ahead of the World Cup in South Africa in June is being investigated by police. The official pr...

7:08 AM

Gunmen open fire on Soccer World Cup shuttle buses

Nine people were injured in two separate attacks when gunmen opened fire on Rea Vaya buses in Soweto -- wounding four in Orlando West -- and left one of them in a critical condition. In the second incident a driver and four passengers were injured when a bus was shot at in Moletsane. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEG7uTsRyCvwxCg4kibpwUGpYQnUYkN7CPa2jjIUKk-ZJA14ti5SujMPz7kJl5v0bXgcMcGlYWbmB7umSmnA-PLkPBw1n9c6vb7UvNvy324j517q857Z1GjGmxxzpnydPbbN5V_JFC4CXc/s1600/BRT+buses+in+Jhb.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466640384637217106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEG7uTsRyCvwxCg4kibpwUGpYQnUYkN7CPa2jjIUKk-ZJA14ti5SujMPz7kJl5v0bXgcMcGlYWbmB7umSmnA-PLkPBw1n9c6vb7UvNvy324j517q857Z1GjGmxxzpnydPbbN5V_JFC4CXc/s400/BRT+buses+in+Jhb.png" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 385px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 253px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>The network of shuttle buses link Soweto with central Johannesburg, making stops near the downtown Ellis Park, and Soccer City, venue for the June 11 opening of the Soccer World Cup and the July 11 final. The Rea Vaya bus rapid transit (BRT) system which aimed to break the monopoly of black minibus taxis on public roads, was introduced in August last year. At each step, SA's famously aggressive taxi drivers have protested violently against the programme, burning tyres to obstruct roads and firing shots at BRT buses. Two people were injured by gunshots during last year's protests. A Rea Vaya driver, whose house was petrol-bombed last month, claimed he was targeted because he left his job as a taxi driver to work for BRT. - Sapa

Gunmen open fire on Soccer World Cup shuttle buses

Nine people were injured in two separate attacks when gunmen opened fire on Rea Vaya buses in Soweto -- wounding four in Orlando West -- an...

12:34 AM

2010 FIFA World cup - preparing for it... by striking & trashing the streets of Johannesburg...

Welcome 2010 World Cup Soccer tourists. A spectacle like the world has never seen. "We are more than ready". You won't be disappointed. The government has spent R33-billion on the tournament, building stadiums and improving infrastructure such as roads, telecommunications and transport. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0dZc3aVaoyo6WvWKZpEyqYNSZLXzIiyCIRVWY5t3UM4SdDS1BimmVjo8lBy6LvJWZQTFaDxfgj7qCof-G4R-LKPh0ItRiKvUAbFJomOZpLeZzRa-0rkEaAepD3zwi05R73H3DB7_IIu1/s1600/2010_FIFA_World_cup_-_preparing_for_it1__by_striking_trashing_the_streets_of_Johannesburg1__image0011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0dZc3aVaoyo6WvWKZpEyqYNSZLXzIiyCIRVWY5t3UM4SdDS1BimmVjo8lBy6LvJWZQTFaDxfgj7qCof-G4R-LKPh0ItRiKvUAbFJomOZpLeZzRa-0rkEaAepD3zwi05R73H3DB7_IIu1/s640/2010_FIFA_World_cup_-_preparing_for_it1__by_striking_trashing_the_streets_of_Johannesburg1__image0011.jpg" tt="true" width="640" /></a></div>Visitors to SA can learn all about our traditions and culture. Strikers throwing trash across the streets in the cities. Come join in the fun Enjoy the mess. Nice hey! The perfect way to invite tourists to come half way around the world.

2010 FIFA World cup - preparing for it... by striking & trashing the streets of Johannesburg...

Welcome 2010 World Cup Soccer tourists. A spectacle like the world has never seen. "We are more than ready". You won't be dis...

4:04 AM

Tourist tells of rape ordeal in Cape Winelands hotel

Dutch woman on antiretrovirals after horrifying ordeal in four-star hotel A Dutch tourist has vowed never to set foot in South Africa again - unless it is to give evidence against the man who gagged, robbed and raped her twice in the Cape Winelands. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8bP_E4eq59ajVT1ECmj-4cJslBFkO3Aw16f7juvoqpjZn1wVW72eNYL12bUiX8BBunVpPw12PR_rZ_0ckNFRRPN-mNZSSCy49QZnWq3JElE6JrAvT6WSA5efUzNG3EKl5CdDfYDToa_o/s1600/dutch_tourist_rape_ordeal.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464109427343896738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8bP_E4eq59ajVT1ECmj-4cJslBFkO3Aw16f7juvoqpjZn1wVW72eNYL12bUiX8BBunVpPw12PR_rZ_0ckNFRRPN-mNZSSCy49QZnWq3JElE6JrAvT6WSA5efUzNG3EKl5CdDfYDToa_o/s400/dutch_tourist_rape_ordeal.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 220px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Yvonne Petronella Den Hollander, 62, is suing the four-star Lord Charles Hotel for failing to keep her safe and is claiming R1.7-million in damages for the terrifying ordeal she endured. Den Hollander, a divorced mother of two, was brutalised within hours of checking into the luxury hotel. She was put on antiretrovirals after the attack, and underwent psychological counselling for trauma. Two years after she was raped and robbed of R3600 at the hotel on March 9 2008: <blockquote>•Police have yet to arrest a suspect in the case;•The hotel says it is not liable to pay damages because guests signed a disclaimer protecting it against claims for loss, damage or injury; and •Den Hollander is being asked to put up R200000 as security for court costs before her lawsuit can proceed against the hotel, because she is a foreigner.</blockquote>In court papers, she accused the hotel of negligence and failure to put in place measures that could have prevented her ordeal. Speaking to the Sunday Times this week through her lawyer, Luuk Rijnen, she said she would never again set foot in Africa, except to face her attacker in court. The trip to South Africa was a dream come true after she had saved up to pay for an affordable 17-day holiday package which included a trek in the Drakensberg mountains, a visit to Swaziland, a trip to the Kruger National Park and KwaZulu-Natal. It was shortly after arriving at the Lord Charles Hotel, ahead of a tour of the Cape Winelands, that the trip turned into a nightmare. In the statement to the police after the incident, she said she was convinced she would be killed by the rapist. "He made me lie on the bed with my face down. He took the telephone wire. With this he tied my ankles. I was lying on my belly with my hands and feet tightly tied to my back. "I remember that he made this quite tight. After this he put blankets and pillows over me, so I was afraid now he would shoot me because of all this noise-insulating material." Her assailant had been hiding behind the bathroom door when Den Hollander returned to her room after a few drinks with her tour group. The hotel, however, is defending the claim and in turn said Den Hollander was negligent with her own safety by not properly locking her room door despite written warnings. The hotel said it had taken "reasonable steps to guard against harm to guests by among other things, engaging the services of an independent contractor". Group chief executive officer for Command Security Services, Shaffie Mowzer, said on Friday that what had happened was both unfortunate and tragic but the company could not comment. The hotel further stated in court papers that Den Hollander had, upon arrival at the hotel, signed a disclaimer absolving it of any liability. It read: "The Lord Charles accepts no responsibility for any loss, damage or injury that may occur on our premises." The hotel has applied to the court to compel her to pay R200000 in security for costs. But Den Hollander has vowed to fight on and says she refuses to be bullied. Den Hollander told the Sunday Times via e-mail: "Did they change anything? Or do they just try to push me away so no one finds out how unsafe it is?"

Tourist tells of rape ordeal in Cape Winelands hotel

Dutch woman on antiretrovirals after horrifying ordeal in four-star hotel A Dutch tourist has vowed never to set foot in South Africa again ...

9:03 AM

World Cup Soccer Survival Kit

Due to the huge (apparently?) numbers of not so <strike>intelligent</strike> streetwise foreigners due to arrive on our shores, obviously their health and safety is top priority as if they get dead or something, they might say bad things about us. Yes? <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443454153097519874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-_OMIM8em4OXTVFWB1KZZ-hgLgPLKTWKB7ii1oQb0c0L-KQyGkB1p5Th76BXLKrzQFr_HwQZhbhWyxpN0emXSQCkV1X6xd6ehDof14eNiR7Pr7SdjLT052WteX2k8C93oKECkFisVl_q/s400/ghettolandbus17jw.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 139px; CURSOR: hand" />So in light of this fact before me I have decided to put together a WCSSK or WCSSK for short, to assist visiting soccer tourists survive our land of <strike>crime and corruption</strike> milk and money. Upon arrival at the chosen point of entry into SA the naïve foreigner will be able to purchase the WCSSK package at a nominal price. All WCSSK’s shall include: (Hopefully, because good hard working staff are hard to find) *1 condom, with instructions stapled to it for ease of use, there is only one coz the tourist will probably get mugged, raped or sold into the slave trade during his first sexual encounter with an SA horizontal pleasure hostess. *1 Nato type Flak Jacket for those chilly late night walkabouts in down town Jozie. The flak jacket will allow said tourist to carry large sums of foreign currency, expensive camera, and passports all whilst leaving his hands free to hold them above his head during the real African experience of being robbed at gun point by a drugged up xenophobic Nigerian refugee. (They tame and don’t kill as easily as our locals) *1 B23T Heavy armour military Kevlar vest as worn by Pope John Paul the 5 during his unexpected fall from the motorcade after being shot fifteen times by a deranged hit man. This Kevlar vest will stop all incendry rounds and lesser threats if fired at by suspected hit men during violent street protests due to poor service delivery. Ballistic helmets will be sold separately. *1 Old South African Map Book, containing all the old street and town names as some towns have failed to partake in the new unabridged renaming process. For an extra thirty five hundred dollars you can purchase a GPS to support the navigational process of getting horribly lost in the middle of Alexandra or Kayelitsha. *1 Tin of spray on Tan for those German tourists that may just wish to wear sandals WITHOUT socks whilst wandering along coastal promenades. If the German tourist wishes he might also buy an African language translation dictionary should he wish to sample the wares of a Horizontal Pleasure Hostess? *1 Duncan Fernley Willow Wood Cricket bat as used by that gay spin bowler during the last ashes five-day test, AND a complimentary 5L tin of New Improved Doom with Dphen to keep glue sniffing street kids at bay while you withdraw money from the ATM or happen to be standing around after your hire car has been hijacked. *1 Hostage Negotiation Manual with relevant phrases in all eleven official languages just in case you happen to be in the Home affairs office or Banking institution when a crazed customer loses the plot after waiting close on 5yrs for what ever document and decides to make front page news to get his story heard. *1 Stainless Steel and Titanium Vuvuzela Look a like, to put an end to the demented fool sitting next to you’s constant drone about how bad (Insert Team Name Here) have been playing. These fine works of art have been lovingly crafted by orphaned Somalian refugees that swam the Limpopo river during the 2009 floods, to look like a Vuvuzela but are in fact deadly weapons that can be used to beat blubbering soccer louts from Britain to a pulp with out looking suspicious. Obviously they can be painted in your favourite team colours. *1 Get out of Jail free card (its actually a visa gold card loaded with R1000000 credit) this can be used to bribe police officers, government ministers, and obtain highly profitable government tenders. The card can also be used at roadblocks when faced with drunk driving, driving under the influence of mind altering substances and of course driving while under a Horizontal Pleasure Hostess. (SAPS don’t take kindly to anybody getting screwed more than they do) *1 free, Anc/ Inkatha/ Cope/ DA/ Ancyl/ T shirt, a food parcel and a forced bus ride to the nearest city centre just like the ones used to bribe millions of Impressionable South African voters during the 2009 National Elections. *1 10kg bag of stones, a high-powered catapult, a box of matches, and 2 litres of unleaded petrol (depending on current fuel prices of course, it may only be 1liter, please check web site before ordering) so the tourist can also partake in South Africa’s newest national sports of Poor Service Delivery Protesting and or Violent University Fees Objection protest. The tourist will be allowed to return fire when shot at by the Police, upturn vehicles and burn all the buildings he may deem necessary to feel satisfied. (This is our top seller; do not be with out it!) *1 Pack of Long life Long Burning Candles and a top quality flint. So the tourist can make light of the expected black outs due to our national power suppliers inefficiency to comprehend that we might have just a few extra visitors. They will of course claim they were not aware of the problem. *1 Pot hole repair Kit, this ingenious package includes, 50kgs of wet tar to fix that ghastly pot hole, as soon as the vehicle recovery team have managed to extricate your vehicle, 2 free tyre and rim repairs, one R10,500 insurance excess, a two night stay in a state hospital and a complimentary front page news paper headline if you manage to roll your vehicle after hitting said pot hole at speed. *1 Parliamentary Handbook, so the tourist can figure out who is who in Government, to allow for intercontinental business dealing should said tourist have some sort of valuable merchandise to palm off into the illegal import market. Drugs, diamonds, gold and weapons are highly sought after commodities now days. Chinese tourists will not be legible for a handbook as they are in bed with the enemy and are already on first name terms with MP’s This wonderful package has been loving put together by MISA Enterprises and will be selling faster than a smash and grab artist running from an intersection, Place your orders early to avoid delays in receiving your very own WCSSK or WCSSK for short. But that’s Not All! If you order one now, you will NOT get two WCSSK’s but only one, for the price of two WCSSK’s, so don’t order it NOW!

World Cup Soccer Survival Kit

Due to the huge (apparently?) numbers of not so intelligent streetwise foreigners due to arrive on our shores, obviously their health and s...

2:45 PM

Warning to motorists - Hijackers 'trick victims with number plates'

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XeWjlRpi_o2AF7K8XK0GoVJ1iK3dDVbdb2ID8wtavLcj_Z_iUKbZrBZZxs9oHBQN8vsoPis9QkiugtwXyIr7giN8FvWLSn0Zau3Mw9DrA9aXq4wXwzjTWoSXjmo9IZMkiJN6SUtEVsft/s1600-h/crime_be_aware-large.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440737190719128306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XeWjlRpi_o2AF7K8XK0GoVJ1iK3dDVbdb2ID8wtavLcj_Z_iUKbZrBZZxs9oHBQN8vsoPis9QkiugtwXyIr7giN8FvWLSn0Zau3Mw9DrA9aXq4wXwzjTWoSXjmo9IZMkiJN6SUtEVsft/s400/crime_be_aware-large.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>If your number plates are being flashed to you from another car, resist the urge to stop - they might be hijackers. According to an e-mail doing the rounds, hijackers are removing motorists' number plates in an attempt to get them out of their cars. They "stalk" motorists to a parking lot or mall, wait for them to park and leave their car before removing the plates, the e-mail says. The hijackers wait for the victim to return, follow them on to the road and then overtake them while displaying the number plate at their window. This makes the victim think they have lost the plate and that the hijackers want to give it back. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnAIt5FmUyIZWYLMzHBPwcfZz3-ud7Mkm0sr_EmnGNrlF4Wq4MN9iPHC4yewF1P4baysw3q2W-YGHBuKT6fqqNc2s8qVMMT6sUai7aJDe134jDqDDcpxDV-LAvJwcIUJS6V1eDyVwC9ICn/s1600-h/crime-hi-jacking-crime-alert.jpg"></a>"Shocked that your number plate has fallen off your car, you bring your vehicle to a halt to get it from them. This is all they want you to do, and by the time you realise what has happened, it is too late - your car was hijacked or you could have been raped or killed," the e-mail reads. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440739795566365026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXO2KISIOrb8ZBcqsUKN4kENpDQmAz0cQaaUv7UpVCLqZ-NPndXTRzIVr6mQpBqi_ljLoMF6ThKvkehBGjuY7G8Dd0OFxEQ6ycUjNxLqLn66aJ1YZu9jTafeEKhlf1ZMUtgni-py6Fx3Ua/s320/crime-alert-road-sign.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 213px; CURSOR: hand" />It warns motorists against stopping for anything, because their lives are more valuable than a number plate. "Think about what is happening before you react to it. Criminals are clever and cunning but are ruthless in getting what they want." Gauteng police spokesman Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said that while he thought the e-mail was a hoax, one should never underestimate the lengths to which potential hijackers were willing to go. "There's a possibility for anything, but it's the first time I've heard of it," he said. Tips for protecting yourself against hijackings: <ul><li>Have your key on you, but not visible. </li><li>Inspect the outside and inside of the vehicle before unlocking. Check the tyres, number plates and the other side of the car. </li><li>Know your destination and directions to it, and be alert if you get lost. </li><li>Always drive with your windows closed and doors locked. </li><li>Make a mental note of any police stations in the area. </li><li>When stopping behind another vehicle, leave at least half-a-car's length in front of your vehicle so you can make an emergency escape if necessary. </li><li>Never open your vehicle window or door for any stranger.</li></ul><ul><li>If a suspicious-looking person is near your unoccupied vehicle, don't approach it.</li></ul>

Warning to motorists - Hijackers 'trick victims with number plates'

If your number plates are being flashed to you from another car, resist the urge to stop - they might be hijackers. According to an e-mail d...

2:24 AM

Ten heavily armed robbers hit Sun City casino

Sun City casino in Rustenburg was robbed of an undisclosed amount of money by ten heavily armed men on Thursday night, North-West police said on Friday. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxVXMu4I3omx5muTsD3PE6MU6gbyZ852O_-EN9Vx0ff5-jN7ELmch5Q4VQSg1SgqhcSgTsY21TxJeXzwOJjsKQHNFmHCMkF__fozm6F00LJFC9zWB1Wwnz85R-Cs8sc5y6qzoGnEty_EK/s1600-h/SunCity1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434808207210039154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxVXMu4I3omx5muTsD3PE6MU6gbyZ852O_-EN9Vx0ff5-jN7ELmch5Q4VQSg1SgqhcSgTsY21TxJeXzwOJjsKQHNFmHCMkF__fozm6F00LJFC9zWB1Wwnz85R-Cs8sc5y6qzoGnEty_EK/s400/SunCity1.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 266px" /></a>"They entered the casino at 11.50pm and ordered the cashier to give them money from the till and a small safe... they then fired two shots and fled," Inspector Wilmarie Van der Merwe said. As the men drove towards the gate, a security guard barricaded the exit but they managed to drive through. They allegedly shot at another security guard on a motorcycle, wounding him. The man was in a stable condition in hospital. "As the men drove off on the Sun City — Pretoria road, other security guards chased after [them], the men stopped and opened fire at them. A shoot-out ensued... then the men fled. No-one was injured in that shoot-out," she said. Two of the four vehicles allegedly used in the robbery were found abandoned on the road. No arrests have been made.

Ten heavily armed robbers hit Sun City casino

Sun City casino in Rustenburg was robbed of an undisclosed amount of money by ten heavily armed men on Thursday night, North-West police sai...

8:55 AM

South Africa is extremely dangerous

THE AGE OF DENIAL is upon us with the ANC spearheading the movement. It is the latest remedy used by the ANC to denounce and rebuff anything that has a negative impact on their not so squeaky clean reputation abroad and their tolerance of criminality and mediocre methods of dealing with it. With the Soccer World Cup on its way this tactic has gone into overdrive. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBdZsavenSGgN-wvO5gt4nM17aFS0Hp-kiFk43-7sElp62fcmBsk4W-Vt5ihFBwB3Evd1b_WTO_zrhZKb6b3CMwCjSRaaF1BooNuumR0_rs_nxg4ZV3MHpd-8OgZWEeSkS_Z4ek4Obrk3/s1600-h/WC2010_lies_SA_is_dangerous.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433415568367890018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgBdZsavenSGgN-wvO5gt4nM17aFS0Hp-kiFk43-7sElp62fcmBsk4W-Vt5ihFBwB3Evd1b_WTO_zrhZKb6b3CMwCjSRaaF1BooNuumR0_rs_nxg4ZV3MHpd-8OgZWEeSkS_Z4ek4Obrk3/s400/WC2010_lies_SA_is_dangerous.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 370px" /></a>The lies about the international misconception of violent crime in South Africa are oozing out of the mouths of our politicians like drunken dribble. We have suddenly become a “safe country” with very little violent crime or criminals. Maybe back in the Stone Age you could have got away with denying the facts around a violent criminal attack or robbery because witnesses were scarce, recording equipment was non existent and lawlessness was the order of the day. What our current government needs to understand is whether they admit to it or not, guilt is assessed on its merits and the proof around the alleged actions. You cannot simply say “I didn’t do it”, or “it didn’t happen” or “I don’t know” if there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you did do it, it did happen and you do know. The problem is in South Africa you can say it and get away with it. There is however evidence that can substantiate that this country is extremely dangerous and the likelihood of you getting robbed at gun point is a betting mans dream the odds are so good. What amazes me most is how easily journalists can find these violent criminals to interview them yet they evade police for years. The latest furore is around the SWC and overseas companies selling self defence items such as bullet proof vests, stab proof vests and other protective gear to tourists coming to the world cup. Good for them, prevention is better than the cure and if criminals were malaria mosquitoes South Africa is a high risk area where Anopheles Gambiae are as thick as thieves and anti-violent attack precautions are critical. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXh5EwK7RvDEvKWj-9_LFM32_ylZr-naDK-rA9owf2jKtHZCSEJYa9olOr_J3rd_VSIlQ90Px5VXUiYj-h1j7kjkBN8BVkmuaAqKfHM2Fba3SR6kHiGKNodpsHzSXpkrzzLQNTCMz56JqQ/s1600-h/SWC2010_pic05.jpg"></a>Unsuspecting tourists are sitting ducks for our hardened free roaming thugs. According to our government these protective items are not necessary because we don’t have a crime problem and we are being falsely represented on the international stage. Wake up ANC, we live in a dangerous country in comparison to Europe and America where the majority of international soccer tourists live. They can be forgiven for feeling a little insecure when visiting a country with 50 murders a day, daily violent armed robberies, countless rapes, car hijackings and other violent attacks. It is time the ANC stop using denial tactics to brainwash the masses and desensitise them from reality. It doesn’t work, just because they vote for you don’t be so naïve as to think they believe everything you say. It is clearly evident that the majority of the voters vote with their hearts and gratitude for the ANC’s endurance through the struggle and not with their brains. These same citizens live amongst the killers, rapists, robbers and psychopaths and it’s difficult for all of us listen to the hogwash bleated out by our ministers and SAFA leaders who say we are safe and crime is over exaggerated. Surely there must be a problem when you are a deputy minister of self enrichment, minister of luxury procurement or a youth leader of woodwork protected from crime and threat with 10 body guards each. Please then explain to a tourist why wearing a bullet proof vest is wrong if someone as unimportant as Malema has body guards 24 hours a day and most people live in prisons created around their homes to keep the evil out. When confronted with the overwhelming evidence that South Africa is an often lawless dangerous hunting ground for hardened violent criminals who will kill you for a cellphone or less it is understandable that tourists may feel a little frightened and want to protect themselves. It is their right, and if they want to wear protective clothing then that’s ok. Don’t slam their choices because of our problems and inability to deal with violence. We live in the global village and information travels fast and bad news even faster. Western countries value life a lot more than Africa does and that shows in the way they deal with violent crime and murder. Violence is not tolerated and is not swept under the carpet to protect their image. The West has their fair share of white collar fraud and corruption, but it’s the senseless uncontrolled violence and death that scares them for obvious reason. Maybe its time we put human rights for criminals on hold until we have a country whose citizens respect life and have rooted out this violent disease that is killing our country and holding it to ransom. Botswana has a zero tolerance approach to violent crime and if you compare our tragically high violent crime stats with theirs the proof in their approach to dealing with violent crime would be evident. I think most tourists when given the facts would prefer a world cup in Botswana. It’s a lot safer and criminals are dealt with swiftly and strictly unlike our country where criminals share our rights regardless of their crime. I’d feel happier if my taxes were buying rope to hang these animals with instead of feeding and housing them .Maybe then tourists would come here without having to buy stab proof vests and just enjoy our beautiful country without fear of attack. I guess just living here makes you a denial expert which is a huge part of our defence mechanism which justifies living amongst some of the most psychotic criminals in the world. Those who do wake up from the utopia of denial usually pack up and immigrate to Australia, Canada or New Zealand where you are more likely to die from old age than a bullet, knife or other home made weapon used by one of our “imagined criminal attackers”. Until the ANC stop denying the facts we are destined to be passenger’s onboard a downward spiral. Source:News24 <a href="http://www.news24.com/Content/MyNews24/YourStory/1162/5159acbb37794f7ead345bc3be8452e4/20-01-2010-07-37/Age_of_denial">http://www.news24.com/Content/MyNews24/YourStory/1162/5159acbb37794f7ead345bc3be8452e4/20-01-2010-07-37/Age_of_denial</a>

South Africa is extremely dangerous

THE AGE OF DENIAL is upon us with the ANC spearheading the movement. It is the latest remedy used by the ANC to denounce and rebuff anything...

2:15 PM

What you won't read about in your World Cup holiday brochure

<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1192088/South-Africa-World-Cup-2010--shootings-started.html" id="/home/moslive/article-1192088/South-Africa-World-Cup-2010--shootings-started.html">SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: The secret race war in South Africa that threatens to overshadow the World Cup</a>South Africa World Cup 2010... and the shooting's already started Only 70 miles from a 2010 World Cup football stadium, a farmer's wife and a boy aged 13 learn to defend themselves with lethal weapons. They say thousands of white landowners have been killed by Zimbabwe-style marauders; their black rulers accuse them of belligerence and right-wing tendencies. <a class="author" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Aidan+Hartley" rel="nofollow">Aidan Hartley</a> reports on the war of words you won't read about in your World Cup holiday brochure. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433427673775215570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKciQCUYYfEQRFVzMzk9Cuw9vr6Yt8xwUFDOAwpGEZvYxjsV8rWFNinxg1tZqPng3FbWmFsJz-hhZaQkd-5zTW9J-2f3RQSWxANXrsHEHJwD0pgvJLz1SOEU-d10106c7ChcegQA6czagJ/s400/2010WCS01.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Farmers' wives learn how to defend themselves on a farm-attack prevention course near the Zimbabwean border in South AfricaBella wakes. She hears a strangled, gurgling sound. It’s the dog, she thinks. ‘Peter, there’s something wrong,’ she says to her husband. Noises emerge from the room of her mother-in-law, who’s 98 and confined to a wheelchair.It’s 1am. Bella gets up and walks out of the bedroom. In the hall she sees a young man who at first she thinks is her son. Except he’s black, wears a balaclava and is pointing a gun at her.‘He comes for me,’ says Bella, her hand before her tear-stained face. ‘He’s going to shoot me! I trip as I run back to the bedroom. Peter comes to the door but he has nothing in his hand, no pistol. I hear a gun go off. I hear my mother-in-law screaming. I lock the door and telephone my son. I tell him: “I think they shot Pa!”’ Two men are outside the bedroom window with a rifle. She loads the pistol Peter keeps by the bed. ‘I take the gun and say, “Come on! I’ll shoot you!”’Back in the hall she finds Peter dead, a trail of blood across the kitchen floor. Her mother-in-law Gerda is bruised and beaten. ‘I can’t tell you how hopeless I felt,’ Bella says. ‘I will see it in front of me for weeks, months, years.’ <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433427675821219666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpl-r0y8bPEeYNA25kpuUIu0F_ZgQ3MBeCoj7B7RzF755fIO3W-WN_GkEZ-X2Ffyv61c0nAjl1COEFWCl0rU37hTwCovG4SUeFp8YpjgCjlcqZVc0vFP_FEBEO_C16qC0EsYtef-jdKj7m/s400/2010WCS02.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Vet's son Barend Harris (right), 13, learns to shootDays after Peter is cremated, the attackers return. The survivors are sleeping elsewhere by now, so the gang finds only the dogs in the house. They torture the animals with boiling water before soaking them in petrol and setting them on fire.I ask Bella for a motive and she says a group of black South Africans who are squatting on their farmland have repeatedly threatened them. After the family find the dogs, Bella’s son Piet calls the police. Weeks later the attackers are still at large; police arrested one man in connection with the killing but he was later released. I am in her home. The bullet holes are still clearly visible. I ask her what she is going to do. ‘If we stay here they will kill us. You can’t say this was a dream, or rewind what happened. They want our land. ’ This is Bella’s account of an attack that happened last month in South Africa, in the north-east of the country. Her home is a long way from the vineyards and beaches of Cape Town, but South Africa is to host the 2010 World Cup and five of the centres for players and the hundreds of thousands of tourists who will come with them are here in the north. Preparations are in hand but this is against the backdrop of a country gripped by ultra-violence. Officially there are about 50 murders a day, and three times that number of rapes. Most victims are poor blacks in South Africa’s cities: reported deaths last year totalled more than 18,000. But among the casualties of the violence are white farmers, whose counterparts in Zimbabwe are singled out for international press coverage; here in the ‘rainbow nation’ their murders, remarkable for their particular savagery, go largely unreported. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433427681968620274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1pAmRZpDxzaRnlBXWYn3d12Ry5lW6eIE7BoLt8_wfCRvmUwIcEIXNmkeaRQkuWtJ9IaUSFwUaKyNVyQ7T9r263_B80tzvZ1C4Q4SHt-O_2mHKLAoi4bXchbWNjnubVkPalq8nLvBEpdf/s400/2010WCS03.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 249px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Farmer's wife Ida Nel learns how shoot an AK-47 and a pistol on a 'farm protection weekend'There are no official figures but, since the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994, farmers’ organisations say 3,000 whites in rural areas have been killed. The independent South African Human Rights Commission, set up by Mandela’s government, says the number is 2,500. Its commission’s report into the killings does not break down their figures by colour; but it says the majority of attacks in general - ie where no one necessarily dies - are against white people and that 'there was a considerably higher risk of a white victim of farm attacks being killed or injured than a black victim.' It states that since 2006, farmer murders have jumped by 25 per cent and adds: 'The lack of prosecutions indicates the criminal justice system is not operating e ffectively to protect victims in farming communities and to ensure the rule of law is upheld.' I have lived and worked in Africa for 20 years, reporting from countries all across the continent. I know that the truth is very hard to find here. Stereotypes are everywhere. Blacks give no credit to successful white businesses. Whites give no credit to the black populace, refusing stubbornly to acknowledge that they themselves are physical reminders of a brutal colonial past. What is certain is this: since the mid-Nineties, 900,000 mainly white South Africans have emigrated from South Africa - about 20 per cent of the white population - most of them due to soaring crime rates. In an eerie parallel with Zimbabwe, farms have been reclaimed by unqualified workers. The police say don't fight back. You must fight. It's the bullet or be slaughteredCommercial agricultural production has taken a massive hit where land reform has occurred. And as the attacks on white farmers continue, the police seem increasingly powerless and ineff ective, and farmers are turning to vigilante behaviour as their way of life comes under violent assault. The ANC government's response to this has been largely defiant. As Charles Ngacula, Safety and Security Minister under the previous administration of Thabo Mbeki, said: 'They can continue to whinge until they're blue in the face, be as negative as they want to, or they can simply leave this country.' Ida Nel is learning to shoot an AK-47 and a pistol on a 'farm protection weekend'. The course is being held only 70 miles from the 2010 World Cup venue of Polokwane. Ida is married to farmer Andre. They farm guavas and macadamia nuts near Levubu in Limpopo province. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxElNZuzFRBxPds8AuLxt1SUnO7i96bpjlE5RgVj6qDxoD5lnqtR_IGeaOcqHU1PgVmOf7KiOW_lPmrHQoJ0sHfLiB2vWz_qWFbE9GeH097W8NJ1K8RKMvlWXUvVpgbfZqeKAvhsqjZ0I/s1600-h/2010WCS04.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433430977690409170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxElNZuzFRBxPds8AuLxt1SUnO7i96bpjlE5RgVj6qDxoD5lnqtR_IGeaOcqHU1PgVmOf7KiOW_lPmrHQoJ0sHfLiB2vWz_qWFbE9GeH097W8NJ1K8RKMvlWXUvVpgbfZqeKAvhsqjZ0I/s400/2010WCS04.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 293px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a>'I'm used to guns,' she says. 'My dad taught me how to use one when I was a kid but I need to get confident and to know what warning signs to look out for in a farm attack.' On the course with her are farmers, and their wives and children. Among the children is 13-year-old Barend Harris, the son of a vet, who brought his family 9mm gun. Those taking part in the weekend courses for about 50 people at a time learn to leopard-crawl with a gun and are taught self-defence (with knives and guns), how to look for signs that their homes are being targeted, bush tracking and how to shoot from a moving vehicle. They are given target practice with AK-47s, pistols, R4 and R5 assault rifles and 308 hunting rifles.(Pic right) Sonette Selzer a violinist, on her farm near Ermelo. She is trained to use a variety of guns and always carries a rifle over a shoulder and a pistol on her belt Driving around Mpumalanga Province, east of Johannesburg, in what used to be the Transvaal, I found myself called by the farmers to a string of grisly murder scenes. In some the blood was still drying on the furniture or the street. In others, witnesses gave me accounts of killings involving rituals of extreme brutality: of victims boiled alive, forced to kneel and shot execution style and tortured in ways so unimaginable they are too horrendous to print. The same goes for the many pictures I have been shown of the barely identifiable corpses and horrific crime scenes. Sonette Selzer, who lives on a forestry holding with her husband Werner, has made sure that she and her two boys are weapons-trained. At home in Mpumalanga province, Sonette, who is a trained medic, claims she usually gardens with a pistol at her side and a rifle strapped to her back. She is fully armed as I arrive - rather conveniently, I think. 'It's very tiring but even in the garden you have to be alert to what's happening around you all the time. You can never, ever relax your guard,' she says. When she hears of a man who got into a gunfight with three robbers she shakes her head: 'I'd hate to get into that situation. You need to finish it quickly.' She gestures to her vicious-looking Ninja knives and I realise the chilling intent behind her words - you need to finish 'them' as quickly as possible. She says she and Werner sleep in separate beds at either end of the house, with their guns and knives within easy reach. Their children Francois, 18, and Jaques, 16, are at boarding school in the nearby town. 'When they were very small they learned how to use guns and how to reload,' Sonette says of her boys. Each dawn and evening the Selzers check in on the VHF radio with other members of the Farm Watch organisation, neighbours whom they find more reliable than the South African Police Service (SAPS). The couple are heavily armed, but what good will that do them if a group of attackers assault the house in the dead of night? The home is an ill-fortified outpost 40 minutes' drive from the nearest Farm Watch neighbours or SAPS station that could respond in the event of an attack. 'You must carry your gun and your Bible together at once,' says Werner Selzer. And at the farmers' houses I visited, when grace was said at table, a semi-automatic rifle or pistol with extra magazines was prominently on display. (Once again, it's hard to say if they are just placed there for effect.) Werner is adamant that only he can protect his family: 'The police say don't fight back. But you must fight back. It's the bullet or be slaughtered. If you're going to rape my wife and kill my children you must understand I have nothing to lose. But you can run away. And if I shoot back you will run away.' Since the 19th century, Boer farmers were organised into farm militias known as Commandos. These defended rural communities from assault and, just over a century ago, they formed the vanguard of the rebellion against the hated British Empire. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433429198958160834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-luKcmOdQijMOESC-ipF43BvCmGei2xLIRLf93d7SKzRvX2vUaYhWLqj7_QLG8HPNEkbZfzTzl8Y_OKrONFswSqx_h0fSKvnM3GjZWRSk-A5STjHjykIh_GElhqe0CQe0HOGXqRYSfWbu/s400/2010WCS05.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 393px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />'We kept the British busy until they killed our women and children in the concentration camps,' one man told me. The two Boer wars were as much of a catastrophe in their minds as the crisis now facing them. 'The Afrikaner Boer doesn't like war but we will fight if we have to - and the Africans are scared of us.' Such right-wing sentiments have done the Boers no favours under the ANC, which suspected them of links to white extremist groups such as the neo-fascist AWB. In recent years the government has moved to disband the Commando units as part of a security plan to improve policing nationwide. The Commandos had been accused of brutality towards black farm workers; indeed, there have been reports of belligerence and abuse by white farmers, leading to a sense of reciprocity about some of the recent attacks. Danzel Van Zyl, a senior researcher at the Human Rights Commission, says: 'There is a feeling among black people that many white people have not come to the party yet. Reconciliation has only come from one side, and this is felt especially with regard to the farming communities. They are perceived to be conservative, with a block of them voting right-wing and for parties like (the ultra-right wing) Freedom Front Plus. 'Old ways still play out in a lot of rural South Africa, where you will see farmers keeping the seat next to them in their truck for their dog, while workers sit in the back. A lot of farmers were killed by disgruntled farm workers who had been maltreated by them.' Even in the garden you have to be alert to what's happening around youHe adds: 'The increase in farm murders is also due to the removal of the Commando system. They were notorious and feared by farm workers. But the problem is, nothing came in place of them.' He insists there is no concerted political campaign to drive out white farmers; but all parties agree on one thing: land ownership is the burning issue. Twenty years after the end of apartheid, whites still own about three-quarters of the country's agricultural land. The ANC has sought to redistribute land to black South Africans by legal means. In this it has followed a radically different path to that of Robert Mugabe in neighbouring Zimbabwe, where the rule of law collapsed in the last decade as gangs of state-sponsored thugs drove off 6,000 white families. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIvGGpHaso0LbT-e0fsNjLtMCZA_6x4g91avnu4mCao9ilh9Zz4QWBDRlC6R60k1TS1LvwPz2F_nbCqTrgRgoJjCIvEoY9I_ZjF_4eQYX2c7aIYcxJ4F3Q6Aqt4gPaBYHyfyk_OpPpQG8/s1600-h/2010WCS09.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433432197341514082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIvGGpHaso0LbT-e0fsNjLtMCZA_6x4g91avnu4mCao9ilh9Zz4QWBDRlC6R60k1TS1LvwPz2F_nbCqTrgRgoJjCIvEoY9I_ZjF_4eQYX2c7aIYcxJ4F3Q6Aqt4gPaBYHyfyk_OpPpQG8/s400/2010WCS09.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 306px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 244px" /></a>In Mpumalanga, black South Africans are lodging hundreds of legal 'land claims' in which they must prove their rights to property based on family historical records. The land claims are adjudicated in court and, if successful, the state buys out white farmers at what the property owners themselves told me was a fair price.(right) The family of murdered farmer Nico Boonzaier at his funeral But as a tribe of farmers, the Boers are resisting the loss of their land because, they say, it spells the end of a way of life for a community. And this is what they claim has sparked bloody violence that they say is politically motivated all the way to the top of the ANC. The TAU, or Transvaal Agricultural Union, draws a link between land claims and attacks. 'When there is a farm claim I say "Look out!" because attacks may follow to scare the farmers,' says TAU regional director Piet Kemp. This after all is the country where the President, Jacob Zuma, used as his election campaign song an old war chant from his days in the ANC's military wing, Mshini wami - 'Bring me my machine-gun'. And where YouTube posts include footage of Mandela singing another song, 'Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer'. Mugabe may be a pariah across the world but in South Africa he has long been given standing ovations and rapturous applause at ANC events. Widow Tracey Pemberton is 41 but looks 20 years older and appears to be malnourished. She dreams of emigrating to the UK but her British husband died five years ago and she lives on a 200-hectare farm in a ramshackle cottage. The area, set among huge forests of planted pine, is so dangerous that on the main road outside Tracey's gate there are big signs that warn CRIME ALERT - NO STOPPING! 'I'm stupid to stay but I don't know where to go,' she says. 'It's awful to have to say "Who's that over there? What's that noise?" I definitely want to go. Because you're a woman and alone they take advantage of you. My husband had a British passport when he passed away. He'd had enough of struggling and failing in this country...' By the eve of the elections that brought Zuma to power earlier this year the family had already been robbed six times over the years. Then one night Tracey was woken by noises from her mother Yvonne's room. She found a man sitting on top of the 65-year-old woman. 'I can't get that picture out of my mind.' <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433427723488743506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjURh7ApHau4ulnC0l4_wfqF4UJB6u_JU3qpT-1pVg5xO68G7flr84Ilmdugyn4HE9u72iakK3x5eLxDYQYbij2LqP54S-_bra9fAZxn4cKkR1j5K4Qgzzy_dC5Os_tT31uYIT1moNjlmig/s400/2010WCS07.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 264px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Farmers learn rural survival techniques on the farm-attack prevention courses The attacker stabbed her mother 17 times, but miraculously she survived. Sonette Selzer rushed to the scene to help save her. But, insists Tracey, the harrassment continues. 'They switch on all the taps outside in the middle of the night to try to persuade you to go outside.' And she thinks they climb about on the roof, although it could be the branches from the oak tree brushing against the tiles. My visit to Mpumalanga came immediately after crossing the frontier from Zimbabwe and what struck me was how similar the landscapes were after redistribution had taken place. Once productive maize fields now grow only weeds. Citrus orchards are dying, their valuable fruit rotting on the branches. Machinery lies about rusting. Irrigation pipes have been looted and farm sheds are derelict and stripped of roofing. Windbreak trees have been hacked down and roads are potholed. Few of those being resettled on former white farms are qualified to work them. Commercial properties are becoming slums where the poor live a hand-to-mouth existence in mud huts, surrounded by subsistence patches of maize. Meanwhile, black workers are put out of their jobs without compensation. 'Now we are in big trouble,' says Messina, a black foreman at what was Figtree farm. He says his employers had to sell, 'because their lives were in danger, definitely. This place is not safe any more.' Messina says the land resettlement on his employers' property was orchestrated by black elite figures from town, not people close to the land. 'If you look at them they are driving smart cars. They want to look big in their four-by-fours. They say they will help us - but nothing. No job. We are su ffering.' For all South Africa's aims to be following the rule of law, there are comparisons here with Zimbabwe and other calamitous reforms under the banner of 'Africa for the Africans'. 'I saw people with heads cut off, horrible things,' says farmer Ockert van Niekerk as he sits his toddler daughter on his lap at home. Cops tracking cases lack experience. Dockets vanish and criminals get out'The aim is to scare white people. The attacks are not just crimes. They're political. You don't wait for a farmer for eight hours, kill him and steal a frozen chicken. In warfare you learn to soften the target, and the aim is to break us mentally and spiritually.' But he then tells, in alarming detail, how he would respond to an attacker: 'I will cut in seconds all the main arteries: the neck, gut and groin.' He whips out two knives from either pocket. 'I feel quite safe with these.' What the farmers dub 'hit squads' are well armed with AK-47s, deploy in gangs and if they are ever arrested they are allegedly found to be from outside the district - 'recruited', the farmers say, from cities hundreds of kilometres away. At a farmers' day, or Boerdag, in a marquee tent surrounded by maize harvesting machinery, I meet a string of farmers with attack stories. One elderly man too scared to be identified tells me how a gang broke in at five in the morning, tied him and his wife up, then got an angle grinder from the workshop and sawed into the flesh of his legs with the blade, demanding, 'I want money! You must talk!' One of the gang picked up the couple's mobile phone and inadvertently called their daughter, who then had to endure hearing the robbery unfold in screams and shouts.The more brutal and incredible the stories, the more doubt creeps in: are they over-egging this for political impact? Are they perhaps deeply racist at heart? But then I remind myself: I have seen the pictures and read the local newspaper reports. I've been to the funerals. It is said that the signs always lead down a road to the farmstead: bunches of long grass knotted like corn dolls, the strands of wire fences twisted into cat's cradle configurations, and stones, tin cans and plastic bags stacked in circle and arrow patterns. These 'attack signs', which can supposedly warn if trouble is coming to your farm, are a macabre coded language. Farmers widely believe in their existence; they have been decoded by Special Forces veterans. At first I wondered if the 'attack signs' story was a result of mass hysteria. But the hairs on the back of my neck stood rigid when I began to see what appeared to be sets of signs outside farms near where attacks had already occurred. Each sign is said to mean something: a forked stick signifies a woman in the house, the corn dolls map out the farm buildings and signs dubbed 'triggers' are set to either 'off ' or 'on' - meaning 'attack'. White farmers read these runes and arm themselves because they have nothing else. New police units promised to substitute the old Commando system have yet to be formed. And people isolated on remote properties are worried by the fact that licenses for their firearms are not being renewed. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433427684416801202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzMRGtw-QjtKMRdR-j19CVgD0RJwgWQp0gA8OXlRjyoDhIgfPTYqN6IeF3ChtZ0-RCUOC7CzLdclW8RXMJsehFadZXaA6DbT0FHlD18sWVFxLo343vUCO2UV24Hde76KBRe4uC6467Pq-R/s400/2010WCS08.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 216px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Two suspects involved in the murder of a white farmer in the North West province are arrestedAs a South African Police Service (SAPS) offiIcer, Derek Jonker investigated 52 separate farm attacks and he says, 'There has been a decline in the abilities of the police. There is a power struggle in the police and investigators are not qualified.'Crime prevention has collapsed totally,' he adds. 'And cops tracking cases lack experience and resources to gather evidence and arrest o enders. Dockets vanish and criminals get let out of jail.' In the provincial town of Ermelo, I meet a policeman who's tired and angry. He says SAPS can't be bothered to fight crime any more. Only four out of 16 police vehicles at the station are still in working order. I ask what happens with the vehicles that are in working order. He shrugs and points across the street to Ermelo's main supermarket. And there they are: four police prowlers parked in a row. The police are inside doing their shopping while at a street corner crime scene that we've just come from, the blood still glistens wetly in the sunshine. And at that murder scene I met another police o fficer who dismisses the idea that the ANC was involved in a conspiracy against white farmers. It is much worse than that for South Africa as a whole, 'It's worse among the black people - all those rapes and killings,' he says. 'I feel sorry for these people. Everybody suff ers, not just white people. 'You can buy an AK for a bag of maize meal. This causes hatred between blacks and whites - and this is boiling up to what? Every time it's very emotional because it's black against white, but you must think with your head and not your heart.' As we talk I'm looking at the blood on the ground. It's the policeman's brother-in-law who just got shot. 'The whole criminal system is a balls-up for white and black people,' he says. 'We just don't need this.' South Africa's proposed new law and order plans include better policing for those urban areas expecting visitors during the World Cup next year. It will be the most heavily policed World Cup in history, with 200,000 specially recruited officers and equipment ranging from surveillance cameras to water cannon. But it will remain unnerving for those who travel that these brutal killings are happening within just a couple of hours' drive.

What you won't read about in your World Cup holiday brochure

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: The secret race war in South Africa that threatens to overshadow the World Cup South Africa World Cup 2010... and the...

1:33 PM

Tourist tied up and robbed

A German tourist was robbed in a Camps Bay, Cape Town guest house on Tuesday morning, Western Cape police said. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhraRAwFxHACGKwNTJpz0psO1CPdfQvhbvR5prvKr51BOiiYWEicu31B-HS1creJPaaNN8dZpQrQaVB9mdVhYYQ8eHQ3SC2sChfocglSpgAOhBLJDw-FUkGsOJZpLZLixEMY3kyKke5u78x/s1600-h/south-africa-exodus.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEKMgHIkaWFqfDgr3k5PsMCFlp-ra5dosn1-8KLEbLNEoONYLW4D2256u4h_6KciuzCt3RSqDqfll-jwVbg7GGyd_QAayr14PTcw_Zz9jhtSbCzCaqt22LyKT1_vh2FzjPcwvYNowresH/s1600-h/crime-dangerous-sa"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431949844294696370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEKMgHIkaWFqfDgr3k5PsMCFlp-ra5dosn1-8KLEbLNEoONYLW4D2256u4h_6KciuzCt3RSqDqfll-jwVbg7GGyd_QAayr14PTcw_Zz9jhtSbCzCaqt22LyKT1_vh2FzjPcwvYNowresH/s400/crime-dangerous-sa" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 250px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 278px" /></a>"The complainant alleged that he woke up and found two unknown men in his bedroom. The one suspect was armed with a firearm and the other with two knives," Captain Frederick van Wyk said in a statement. The 32-year-old man's hands were tied and 100 euros and R3000 in cash stolen, along with a laptop computer, video camera, digital camera and two cellular phones. "It appears that the suspects gained access to the house through a kitchen window." His three companions slept through the robbery.

Tourist tied up and robbed

A German tourist was robbed in a Camps Bay, Cape Town guest house on Tuesday morning, Western Cape police said. "The complainant allege...

7:50 AM

Gauteng local government website hacked

Gauteng's department of local government's website was hacked on Wednesday morning by what appeared to be a radical Islamic group. The department was unaware of the problem when the Mail & Guardian sought comment on Wednesday and said they would be calling in IT crime investigations team. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431395059770569858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrpdSLWWAGhHsqO9I1oiRVyf25akfgcj4eK8k70hCtNILVOtBby2J6YRNihvUzpFRhkRetnG0-BQ9UbgYs7MPonadmlxetZXknNceAO-b5yjN1jrII2fHxLIb9K0FyGcfQnN9TnpSgL48g/s400/ANC-hack1.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 382px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Alongside a photograph of local government minister Kgaogelo Lekgoro was the headline: "Hacked by CeCen Hack Team". This is followed by images of a child without legs and an unidentified man sporting military attire emblazoned with Arabic writing. There is also the slogan of "ALLAHU EKBER !" followed by: "denmark israel asshole Americas 45 thousand people will give account Hooray Chechnya" An accompanying track also played upon visiting the website. The group's website could not be accessed as the IP was banned. Fred Mokoko, spokesperson for the department, said a new website would be launched in about a month. "The new site will integrate the housing and local government sites," he said. "We will speed up its launch as it is all ready anyway." This follows a glitch on the South African Airways website on the weekend. Visitors to flysaa.com were met with a message saying that the website had expired on January 17 2010 and was "pending renewal or deletion", News24 reported.

Gauteng local government website hacked

Gauteng's department of local government's website was hacked on Wednesday morning by what appeared to be a radical Islamic group. T...

4:22 AM

Security Facts - South Africa

<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428929526577575778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpiKfeYcHzUALh31kAfrVWrVMWihFeSoCNFENsHsFMGSPxH-VgVO_v55Ke-5Y-Yv3AHHngHkvZjHESn_txBA2KBDJocKu6GM71vaGuE8P07vMZZWxV3SCdiGF7KS4r1TtLiJXjDT_coARd/s400/Crime%2520Crime%2520Statistics.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 385px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 296px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> <ul><li>During 2008/2009 a total of 72,194 (59.5%) of all aggravated robberies were street/public robberies. In 38% of street robberies, knives were used. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428938860945934498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi63G9lsRw6TiMJ3NEvLMraFNZGYulUr4XIDYpD-w1a6o8PaLudIVGWc6PHcRkisk17DPRrT0au8HCktT7GDpRuiUKYBidJMr1MQpoL_yWcGdknWDQ5AqMpzQxkEH8Km8oF0anIY5cmfKL/s400/crime-killed.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /></li><li>Knives and other sharp objects were the most common instruments used to kill victims (52,2%), followed by firearms (28,8%) and blunt objects (12,7%) according to a new analysis of a representative sample of 1 348 murder dockets linked to cases reported nationally over the period 2007/2008. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428929545606032802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYLYYYII_lJEmjQIeS1TL0voQMOb3Jgnv1OGXus_rPCPacZBc8WmXbXgOUSl_UPy3g2LUyZAEcfMo_W4s5wEZSgdT4E8-0UXHMNVTl5f1FfA9OMwq5CKbDdEFhkbsWeck_SLlwvsnqxR8o/s400/crimes-10million.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /></li><li>During 2008/2009 a total of 2,098,229 (approximately 2,1 million) serious crime cases were registered in the RSA </li></ul><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428938867055210946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkR8pQPkeZlgZze3uY1crA8qYOD6krRxtfRv_bOwlQgjAamFujmU3B0nLJ6QuH3Zyngti88Sb_vbE33_N2SgR2fB6e23wBJAN7ZIf48CJp5XeSbBeMzr6wwSSv4JU10xE45xPOIZxX7XCX/s400/AfrikanerSoccerFanGenocide_DnSA_480.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 257px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /><ul><li>Of the approximately 2,1 million cases, roughly 686,120 (32.7%) were contact crimes and 551,000 (26.3%) were other serious crimes. </li></ul><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428929535321108242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwHb_bbrX24Tq5Y_usok-EFCgfIeP8W3iLzraMEM0xoOQ39X6l86FCJxPeb31RFFOIJiuDDaC-b8K40vKLGArznDNyYVYM21zmuOPP9lcX4De8nxIUr46SANgzgagyQOmKt1f9OdNn3HJq/s400/crime_sa_reality.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 249px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Source: <a href="http://www.protektorvest.com/res/2_crime_situation_sa.pdf" target="_blank">View the official "Crime Situation South Africa" PDF</a> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428929533359569746" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Sd7GqVf5lPeM4wNa_e8skAc0PWeqyeS1b69Sx303YyDM7FLuVVXe3EYQSlIGz0dAq-u9g6HxNLXcJjOqAjO7UPNu8n7jFkZltp7hIx7QDkY39tEESZQFg8GBHp9CuMXKijoAdBylocMI/s400/crime_2010_soccer_world_cup.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 390px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />

Security Facts - South Africa

During 2008/2009 a total of 72,194 (59.5%) of all aggravated robberies were street/public robberies. In 38% of street robberies, knives wer...

12:44 PM

South Africa P.I.G.