LATEST NEWS FROM
Yet another White farming couple
has been brutally murdered by blacks on their farm. On Good Friday, the bodies
of the 63-year-old farmer and his 60-year-old wife were found by their son. "It
is alleged that the farmer was killed when he was milking his cows. He
sustained a big wound on his head. His wife had several wounds on her upper
body. They both died at the scene," said a police spokesman. As usual,
police are "investigating", and the killers have not been found yet.
A suspected gang of Black bogus
cops and soldiers has been targeted in police raids in and around
South African bank clients have
been warned, once again, to guard against armed gangs robbing them after
biggish cash withdrawals. In a publicisd case, In September last year,
Armed Black gangs have been on the
rampage across
- Southern Cross
A farmer and his wife were killed on their farm in Boschkop,
outside
- AfricanCrisis,
The City of
- AfricanCrisis,
Imagine how you would react if Gordon Brown opened and
closed his election rallies by bursting into a song called “Bring Me My Machine
Gun”, swaying and jigging to the hypnotic chorus of this menacing ditty. And
how would you feel if the Prime Minister were alleged to be taking campaign
money from Colonel Gaddafi; faced 783 counts of fraud, racketeering, tax
evasion and corruption which somehow never came to court; and had been
acquitted of rape while his fearsome supporters mobbed the courthouse? Then
ponder how you would despair if, despite all these things, Mr Brown's party was
certain to win the election whatever he did or said. If you can picture all
this happening here, then you have an inkling of the horrible process
although almost nobody believes this - from a 15-year
sentence imposed in 2006 for fraud and corruption, including a payment to Zuma
himself. Jackie Selebi, the National Police Commissioner, is famous for asking,
'what's all the fuss about?' when taxed with the country's appalling levels of
crime and violence. He is currently suspended, accused of having - yes - a
'generally corrupt relationship' with a convicted drug smuggler and also 'defeating
the ends of justice'. The once-admired Scorpions, a police anti-corruption
squad symbolising the country's determination not to follow the rest of Africa
into corrupt squalor, have been disbanded. So the approaching enthronement of
this sinister, populist one-time Zulu herd-boy really ought to mark the moment
when South Africa has to stop dreaming about
ainbows and miracles, and recognise that experience is usually a better
guide to the future than hope. Zuma is attractive in some ways. He has made his
way up from utter poverty. He is a fighter, a keen and hypocrisy-free lover of
women and a cunning charmer. He makes no pretence of being Westernised, and
delights in wearing traditional Zulu dress, leopardskin, loincloth and all. He
has an excellent singing voice, as I can testify. He comes from the deep heart
of Zululand, where his home is surprisingly modest but guarded by a modern
security fence. It lies in the Nkandla district, in the lovely Zulu highlands a
morning's drive from the Victorian battlefields of Isandlwana, where the Zulus
destroyed a British army, and Rorke's Drift, where a small British force
survived against enormous odds. South Africa's largest tribe are a proud
fighting people, and Zuma will not be a mild leader, as Mandela and Thabo
Mbeki, his two forerunners, were. This, not the far-off world of Cape Town, is
the real South Africa. It is currently tense and frightening, as well as
obviously poor and ravaged by AIDS. Young men, brought up in the warrior
spirit, wander in angry and resentful groups, strikingly unlike the more
peaceful Xhosas to the south. My Zulu guide, Emmanuel, is afraid I might be
mistaken for a policeman or rival political campaigner, so he lends me his
jacket so I'll blend in better, and is pleased when our car is caked with red
mud, as he is afraid it looks too much like a police vehicle. This area is
generally run by the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Party, and opponents have died at
their rallies. Interlopers are unwelcome. There are Zuma posters, but the ANC -
mistrusted here as a mainly Xhosa party - has to come into these districts
under heavy police escort. The posters are nailed on electricity poles about
15ft up, to stop Inkatha militants tearing them down. 'People around here will
vote for Zuma because he is a Zulu, but in spite of the fact that he is from
the ANC,' one local explains. The idea that tribal loyalty doesn't matter any
more in South Africa, spread for years by blinkered optimists, seems absurd
here - and tribal rivalry might well play a part in the more troubled future,
as it has everywhere else in Africa. This is also a very old-fashioned place,
where the price of a wife is still 11 cows, and polygamy is normal. Zuma has
already considered how to cope with this tricky detail when working out which
of his wives will be his First Lady. He explains: 'There is no First Lady. If
there is an occasion, one day we will have the wife we are with, another day we
will have another one.' He defends his domestic arrangements by saying of his
more conventional critics: 'Many of them have wives, girlfriends and children
that they try to hide. I love all my wives and children and I'm proud of them,
so I'm completely open about it.' Several of his wives praise Zuma as a family
man. Alas for him, another has indicted him from beyond the grave. Kate
Mantsho, mother of five of his children, killed herself with an overdose in
2000, and left a devastating suicide note denouncing him. In one harrowing
passage she said: 'I hope it is true we will meet again - but not as husband
and wife. I dare not take that chance again due to the bitter and most painful
24 years of married life I have gone through.' South African coverage of this
event was muted, and many journalists denounced the small newspaper that broke
the story. Zuma himself has carried on as if Kate's note had never been
published. He is above all a Zulu, a man who holds to ancient traditions and
customs. Whatever he can be accused of (and it is quite a lot) he is not an
urban liberal. He once spoke of how, in his youth, he would knock down any
'pansy boy'. He has also said same-sex marriage was a 'disgrace to the nation'.
He has hinted he might restore the death penalty. He is keen on traditional
medicine men. He thinks teenage unwed mothers should have their babies taken
away; that school prayers should be compulsory and that there is too much sex
on TV. He completely lacks the Westernised polish and smoothness of Mandela and
Mbeki. His political party, the African National Congress, sometimes seems
aghast that it has chosen him as leader. Too late. The ANC's gruesomely
Stalinist communist faction, the most powerful communist party outside China,
thought they could use him as a battering ram against the more cautious Mbeki,
a cold and solitary academic. Mbeki sought above all to keep Western investors
happy, thus disappointing the communist radicals who wanted to invest in
socialist projects. They hoped they could control Zuma or perhaps push him
aside after he had done their dirty work. But he is far cleverer than he looks.
At first sight he is the jovial double of the Michelin man, bald, bespectacled
and widemouthed. As he campaigns, he wears a Nelson Mandela T-shirt (his aides
sport Jacob Zuma shirts) and a bizarre black leather cowboy hat. I watched him
electioneering in and around the bleak and stony town of Springbok, in South
Africa's remote and conservative North West. He arrived for a carefully staged
visit to Elizabeth Cloete, a 49-year-old who dwells on an arid hillside in a
hovel made of plastic sheets, and lives by scrabbling through rubbish dumps
looking for saleable scrap - a trade that brings her about £6 a week. Her
neighbourhood is the bitter end of rural South Africa, many of whose
inhabitants exist, in a permanent haze of cheap drink or drugs, defeated and
without hope. Zuma must know that places like this, and their still crueller
and more violent urban equivalents, are evidence of the ANC's failure, in 15
years of unrestricted power, to keep its ambitious promises to the poor. He
actually admitted later that day: 'We came here to see the conditions. The
conditions are extremely bad.'But when I tried, courteously, to speak to him on
the spot, having failed to obtain an interview over several weeks, he brushed
me aside. Worse, I was menacingly reproved by an ANC apparatchik, outraged that
I should dare to question the next President. I was also upbraided by a smug,
dreadlocked member of the Johannesburg
Press corps who sneered at me, 'This is Africa, man, we do things differently
here.' They certainly do. Zuma's admission that conditions are dreadful was
about the only truthful thing in his speech, made to a few thousand listless
supporters in a bleak rugby stadium on the edge of town, after efforts to work
them into a frenzy had failed. 'Viva ANC!' shouted the master of ceremonies. No
response. 'Viva Zuma!' No response. And you can't blame them. Speaking in
English, the future President has all the charisma of an ashtray. The scripted
slogans fall from his lips like blobs of cold porridge. He talks of the fight
against crime as if he were not himself overshadowed by criminal charges and
the unabashed friend of convicted crooks. As he drones, the chatter from the
audience becomes almost deafening. Most of them do not speak English anyway. He
wins a little applause for claiming that corrupt officials will be removed. One
departing member of the crowd openly sniggers as Zuma declares: 'We don't want
people to say that the ANC is a corrupt organisation because of corrupt
individuals.' But the multitude springs back into life when Zuma switches to
his native Zulu and, in a rich and powerful baritone, begins to sing the song
with which he will always be associated, dancing and swaying as he does so.
“Bring Me My Machine Gun” is surprisingly catchy, and easy to join in. It only
has two lines, and the second goes, rather politely, 'Please bring me my
machine gun.' What is he doing here, in this arid dorp halfway to Nigeria? The
truth is that the ANC faces a rebellion, and is trying to quell it with a
mixture of power and pay-outs. A breakaway, called the Congress of the People
(COPE), has just scored surprisingly well in council by-elections near
Springbok. Zuma's allies, furious that for the first time they face serious
opponents, have let their rage show in ways which have rightly scared many
peaceful South Africans. The ANC youth league chief Julius Malema, a portly
young loudmouth with a gift for rabblerousing, has declared that his movement
was ready to 'take up arms and kill for Zuma'. He has since been made to
apologise, but many are unconvinced. Another ANC youth league militant said
COPE 'behave like cockroaches and they must be destroyed'. The word
'cockroaches' leaves a specially nasty taste in Africa. Hutu fanatics
repeatedly used the same insult to describe their Tutsi neighbours in Rwanda,
shortly before the 1994 massacres that horrified the world. No African is
unaware of this. Allan Boesak, a leading figure in COPE, told me the ANC tries
to silence his party by the crudest methods. He warns that a Zuma government
will mean 'far more concentration of socialist power, less democracy, new laws
to curtail the Press'. He also claims the ANC tried to recruit him as a
parliamentary candidate, assuring him it had plenty of money for his campaign -
including cash from the Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi. 'They think they own
democracy,' he says, and adds that public officials who endorse COPE are
harassed and denounced by colleagues: 'When we try to book a venue, the hall is
always "under repair", or if that fails they organise discos next
door to drown out our speakers.'In Springbok, the COPE offices are just down
the road from the ANC headquarters. Painted on the side of the COPE building is
a large arrow pointing directly at the ANC building, and the words: 'Tell no
lies'. The ANC response has been cynical beyond belief. Ever since COPE did
well in local polls, ANC officials have been promising free food parcels to
those who stay loyal to them. Regrettably, the tactic has already won back
significant support.
Judging by the Springbok rally's warm response to Jacob
Zuma's sing-song and the food parcel strategy, the ANC steamroller will triumph
here and almost everywhere else. The one place most likely to resist is the
Western Cape, the area round Cape Town itself and the heartland of Helen Zille,
the popular and effective mayor of Cape Town and leader of the Democratic
Alliance. She knows the Alliance must break out of being nothing more than a
white liberal party. But alas she is a white liberal, albeit a very impressive
one. I caught up with her at Stellenbosch University, where she was speaking to
an almost wholly white student audience, switching easily from English to
Afrikaans. Unlike Zuma, she is a witty, fluent orator. She does not break into
song, and critics joke that if she did it would be 'Bring me my cappuccino'
rather than 'Bring me my machine gun'. Her aides, however, point out that she
also speaks fluent Xhosa, Nelson Mandela's language, and that many of her
meetings are full of black and brown faces. But her cogent message really
appeals only to the well-educated, who are not influenced bytribal loyalties,
or open to bribery. Her words are heavy with fear for the future. 'The closed
crony system,' she warns, 'leads to power abuse and eventually to a criminal
state.' She urges her supporters to concentrate on reducing the ANC's vote and
get it used to the idea of real democracy. Otherwise it will misuse its
excessive power - something she warns 'inevitably leads to Zimbabwe'.
Liberation movements such as the ANC, she says, make bad democratic governments
because they believe their goal is to seize power. The diagnosis is impressive,
cool and clear. The cure: a real law-governed democracy, is attractive. But the
prognosis - a rigged and menacing election, a government founded on lawlessness
and an uneducated, cunning new leader, an African 'Big Man' with his roots in
tribe and tradition - is not so good. How distressing to think it might never
have come to this if the world had been more critical, and more interested,
during the long wasted years of Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.Wide-eyed
idealism has let us down again, as it always does. It was not, as the
fashionable people claimed, a fairy story. History did not stop when Nelson
Mandela ended his long walk to freedom. They are not all going to live happily
ever after.
- Peter Hitchens, The Daily Mail,
Three men
were arrested after a man was shot dead during a robbery at a house in
Honeydew, Johannesburg on Wednesday, Gauteng [sic] police said. "The man
woke up after hearing noise around 3am and saw two men breaking into his
neighbour's house," said Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo. The man, armed
with a gun, walked out of his house towards the robbers but was hit over the head
with a brick by a third robber who had been hiding. The man was disarmed and
then shot with his own firearm. The three stole various items from the
neighbour's house including electrical appliances, jewellery, an electric
guitar and an amplifier. "The stolen property was loaded into the vehicle,
belonging to the sister of one of the robbers. They fled the scene. The man was
certified dead by paramedics."
-
AfricanCrisis,
The
biggest joke so far this year is the ANC's pledge to fight corruption. The
ruling party's election manifesto lists crime and corruption as one of the five
priority areas for the next five years. The problem is that the ANC wouldn't
know corruption if it bathed in it. And it has been soaking in it. Yet, the
chaps at Luthuli House want voters to believe they will fight corruption. It
can't be. The ANC is the source of the problem; it has become a parasite
feeding on the state. To understand how Luthuli House has been financing its
multi-million rand election campaigns since 1994, just follow the money trail.
Those who give generously to the ANC's election machinery are hoping to collect
their rewards when government contracts are handed out. For such a system to
work, the ANC needs to appoint loyal cadres into strategic positions in
government and other state institutions. These appointments serve another
purpose: they enable ANC leaders to maintain control and keep discipline within
the ranks by dangling these positions as inducements for loyalty - in cash or
in kind - to the party. Julius Malema's loyalty to the ANC is not without its
price. The young man is not straining his vocal chords for nothing. Nor are the
people who are hanging onto Jacob Zuma's coat-tails. They expect to be
rewarded. The businessmen and women who have been swelling the ANC's coffers
all these years all did so because they were salivating at the prospect of
getting a slice of government contracts. There is now an even bigger price: the
government's R750 billion capital expenditure programme. The ANC will be able
to deliver on these expectations because of its control of the political and
administrative arms of government. As Pranab Bardhan, a professor of economics
at the University of California, Berkeley, has pointed out, there is usually a
distinction between bureaucratic and political corruption. But in communist
countries or one-party authoritarian regimes where there is not much of an
effective boundary between the ruling party and the state, this distinction is
almost completely blurred. For more proof that the ANC sees no difference
between itself and the state and its institutions, look at the launch of the
China-Africa Development Fund early this week. ANC treasurer-general Mathews
Phosa was accorded official status on the podium, alongside the Deputy Minister
of Trade and Industry, Elizabeth Thabethe, and the Chinese ambassador to South
Africa, Zhong Jianhua. One gets a sense that when the ANC says it wants to
fight corruption it means that it wants to fight independent corruption. It
means corruption that is not under its control. The spread of corruption that
is not controlled or sanctioned by Luthuli House threatens the ANC's grip on
power and its ability to raise money for the party's upkeep. Ask the Mafia
dons, they will tell you the same thing. The ANC would prefer corruption to
remain centralised; a proposition that would appeal to some businessmen because
centralised corruption is easy to deal with - efficiency is the word.
Decentralised corruption means more palms to grease, mostly of people who are
very far from the table where the decisions are made. Unfortunately, when the
general public good collides with the interests of the ruling party, there is
only one winner. The decision by the ruling party to buy the debtor's book of
one of the travel agencies involved in the Travelgate saga is a manoeuvre aimed
at protecting the ANC from another embarrassing episode, especially ahead of an
election. It would have been one thing - not that it would be acceptable - had
the ANC used one of its funders to buy the debtors book. No, it had to use
public money - my tax rands and yours - to cover up the fraudulent trail of its
members. That is from the same party that pledges to fight corruption. LOL -
that's laugh out loud; the ANC is in the house.
- The Star (Johannesburg),
Natal churches are increasingly
becoming soft targets for brazen criminals who rape and rob congregants during
church services, the province's churches said. "Criminals are now
targeting churches because they know that congregants are not armed. We need a
co-ordinated approach which will see police working closely with churches to
deal with this issue," said Pastor Vusi Dube of the eThekwini Community
Church. Police top brass have also admitted that churches have become soft
targets for criminals. "We have had a number of incidents where
churchgoers were terrorised by criminals. Women were raped while attending a
night vigil in northern Zululand and congregants were robbed of their valuables
in Hammersdale recently," said provincial police spokesperson
Superintendent Vincent Mdunge. Mdunge said the recent armed robbery at the
Roman Catholic Church monastery in Mariannhill outside Durban was another
incident. The church was forced to close its viable commercial dairy farm because
brazen criminals kept robbing it. The farm, which is a stone's throw away from
the Mariannhill monastery, had been robbed ten times in the past few years. The
last robbery in January was the final straw, the church said. A group of about
10 gun-wielding criminals assaulted Konrad Diethei, a monk responsible for the
farm, and stole more than R10,000 in cash. The robbers also entered the
monastery demanding cash and valuables such as laptops from the priests. Mdunge
urged churches to report crime incidents so that perpetrators could be traced
and brought to book. "We also urge them to inform us if they are going to
have big events so that we can patrol. We have seen that criminals target big
events because they know that they attract many people," he said. Branches
of the Durban Christian Church had been robbed a number of times. "Our
computers were stolen a few weeks ago and the traumatic incident of them was
when criminals robbed us of our offerings of more than R10,000," said the
church in a statement. The church now has 24-hour security. Dube said members
of his church had been robbed outside the church a number of times. "We
also caught criminals stealing our sound system worth more than R30,000.
"They were caught red-handed by our security guard who alerted the
police," he said.
- AfricanCrisis,
A Northern Cape woman was murdered
in a farm robbery, and her partner died later while being held hostage in a car
that the robbers stole and then crashed, police said on Wednesday. Captain
Cherelle Ehlers said three men broke into a house on their farm in Brandvlei
and assaulted the couple's housekeeper on Tuesday. When the couple got home at
about 5pm the robbers emerged and shot dead the farmer's partner, Loudine van
Blerk. They tied up the farmer, Willouw de Klerk Cilliers, and the housekeeper,
whose name was not immediately available. They were bundled into the farmer's
Toyota Corolla, but while speeding away the robbers rolled the car on the way
to nearby Williston. While two of the robbers kept watch over the farmer and
the housekeeper, the third robber went back to the farm and stole the farmer's
Toyota Hilux bakkie. He drove it back to his accomplices and their captives and
when everyone was in the bakkie they set off again. However, they crashed the
bakkie too, and Cilliers died on the scene from his injuries.Police arrived on
the scene after receiving a report of an accident and attended to the
housekeeper and arranged for two of the robbers to be taken to hospital, then
went to the farm and found van Blerk lying dead in the ransacked home.
- AfricanCrisis,
The Durban South Beach area where
local beach football is played is being polluted by large storm water pipes in
the sand on either side of the site. Also the beach football field is
disappearing because of devastating beach sand erosion. There is also another
pipe a few hundred metres south of the site on the beach. At high tide the muck
from these pipes is washed up onto the beach sand. An example of what enters
the pipes from pavements, roads, gutters and the rubbish bin areas of buildings
in the catchment area behind the beach: human and animal faeses - human and
animal blood - dead vermin - rotten vegetable peelings, meat, poultry, and
other foodstuff - used condoms and tampons - plastic, polystyrene cups and
plates - raw sewage - used syringes and broken glass etc.. It must be noted the
International Beach and sea "Blue Flag" status has been withdrawn
from Durban and Umhlanga beaches because of the poor quality of the sea water
and beaches caused my various kinds of muck and pollution. Bathers and surfers
have and are still suffering from ear, eye, nose infections and there have also
been incidences of Hepatitis B and Diarrhea. The Durban Metro manager Dr Michael
Sutcliffe should be held responsible for the serious predicament and shocking
state the area is in,
most probably because of the ignorance or stubbornness for not effectively
addressing and eradicating the totally unacceptable pollution problem. Recent
C.S.I.R. laboratory test results found there was a steep increase in the level
of human or animal sewage pollution at beaches during the last week of January
2009. Half of the municipalities 43 beaches were classified as being "very
poor" or unacceptable for swimming during that period. If the authorities
do not attend to the "Pollution Crisis" immediately they will get a
wake-up call if there is an outbreak of cholera or any other serious water-born
diseases that humans and animals could suffer and die from. I personally do not
swim in the sea or walk on the beaches barefoot that are polluted and also warn
my relatives and friends likewise. It would be encouraging to get a rapid
response from F.I.F.A and hopefully display this letter and the reply on their
website.
- letter sent by Mike Bloxham
(Durban),
One football stadium in South
Africa is unlikely to be completed in time for the Confederations Cup, the FIFA
World Cup Committee said this week. In a development likely to spur more questions
about whether South Africa will be prepared to host the 2010 World Cup, the
Port Elizabeth Stadium will not be used for the Confederations Cup, a test
tournament to be staged in the country in June. FIFA secretary-general Jerome
Valcke cited technical problems with the roof in Port Elizabeth, but said that
the venue would be ready for the World Cup. Port Elizabeth acting mayor Bicks
Ndoni objected, saying in a statement that his stadium would be ready in time
for the Confederations Cup. Two weeks ago, FIFA president Sepp Blatter
confirmed for the first time that a plan exists to move the World Cup in the
event of a national catastrophe. Valcke would not comment on where the World
Cup could be moved. He said a "Plan B" was particularly necessary because
cancelling the tournament at the last minute would prevent FIFA from raising
World Cup funds necessary to hold other tournaments. "If something happens
in a country that is out of your control... then you must somehow have a way of
saving the event and saving the value of the event," he said. The 2010
tournament has been plagued by stadium construction delays, transport problems,
the possibility of power outages and security fears, leading to concerns the
first World Cup set in Africa might have to be shifted to another country. More
than 50 people are killed every day in South Africa, according to government
statistics. Last week in Pretoria, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula
said levels of crime "continue to be unacceptably high".
- AfricanCrisis,
Rape survivor Jessica Ford has
urged other rape and abuse victims to speak out about their ordeal. The
22-year-old was gang-raped near Shongweni Dam west of Durban while walking her
dogs with her father in March last year. Ford, who addressed community members
at the St Agnes Church in Kloof says to relive a rape on one's own, is
horrendous. Her comments come amidst the 16 Days of Activism against Women and
Child abuse campaign. She says if rape victims don't speak out nothing will be
done. She advised that the only way to scare rapists away is to be vocal so the
perpetrators can be caught and convicted. While one of Ford's assailants has
been convicted to a 17 year sentence, four other minors will stand trial on
March 2, 2009, exactly a year after the incident.
- Report sent by Snowy Smith,
Durban,
Moments after telling his heavily
pregnant wife that his biggest dream was to hold his unborn daughter, a
Pretoria father-to-be, Johan Boshoff, 28, was gunned down in front of her.
"That’s the last thing he said to me. Those were his last words,"
said an emotional Grazietta Boshoff, 29. Johan, who owned the company Hand-O-Man which designed and developed
sporting fields, was shot dead on Saturday night in his Pretoria East home in
Savannah Hills Country Estate - described by residents as the safest security
complex in the capital. The couple had only hours before completed their move
into their new home, built close to Silverlakes Estate. As the two prepared to
go to bed, Grazietta, who is nearly seven months’ pregnant, was alerted to a
group of men breaking into their house by the barking of their dogs. The men,
who were armed with guns and knives, apparently dug a tunnel under the
perimeter wall near the N4 highway to gain access to the complex, which is
surrounded by high voltage electric fencing as well as CCTV cameras. Looking
out of the window, Grazietta spotted two men climbing through a window.
Screaming for her husband to lock and barricade their bedroom door, Grazietta
watched in horror as the robbers opened fire, shooting him twice as he tried to
keep their attackers out. After kicking open the door, the gunmen continued to
shoot, hitting Johan again as he lay bleeding to death on the floor.
As she hid in a corner to protect
herself and her unborn child, one of the gunmen tried to rip her wedding ring
off her finger. Unable to do so, the man tried to bite her finger off to remove
the ring. He was stopped by one of his accomplices as Grazietta pleaded with
him to leave her alone and allow her to take the ring off.
Grazietta managed to suck her ring
off her finger and give it to her attackers. As she tried to move towards her
dying husband, the men beat her before ransacking her house, stealing mobile
phones, jewellery and other valuables. Describing her husband as the most
adoring man in the world, a distraught Grazietta on Sunday said all he wanted
to do was hold his unborn daughter. Grazietta said the attack had felt like it
was never going to end. "I tried so hard to help Johan but they would not
let me. They kept on stopping me, " she said "It is clear that your
life is never safe no matter where you live. There is no such thing as a safe
place in South Africa. The proof is that I am a widow at the age of 29 and that
my child is fatherless because of crime."
- News24,
The owner of a lodge was shot dead
during a robbery in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg, Gauteng [sic] police
said on Wednesday. Four armed men entered the Malangeni lodge and conference
centre in Voortrekker Street at around 8pm on Tuesday and held up the owners
and staff, said Constable Teboho Lephoto. "They ordered everybody to lie
on the ground and demanded mobile phones and cash." It is believed that there
was a scuffle between the robbers and staff, during which a shot was fired,
killing the lodge owner Paulus Langa, 54. One of Langa's relatives, a man in
his 30s, was shot and wounded. When police arrived, they managed to catch one
of the alleged robbers, who was hiding in the house. The other three fled with
mobile phones and cash and were still at large.
- SAPA report, February 18, 2009
Racial tensions fuelled by drugs,
alcohol and gangsterism exploded on the Bluff last weekend, resulting in stabbings,
rape, alleged drink-spiking and the imminent death of a 24-year-old man who was
hit on the head with a bottle and declared brain dead earlier this week. This
is yet another incident highlighting the violence in the Durban club scene,
where alcohol and testosterone have resulted in the deaths of innocent people.
Four men were killed at the Merseyside Pub in September after an argument
centring on penis size, while problematic Wentworth club DaFlava@Revolution had
its liquor licence revoked late last year after being linked to murders, rapes,
drugs, stabbings and gangsterism. Also last year, a gang of men trashed the
Frankie Bananaz pub in Hillcrest, leaving two seriously injured and causing
damage of thousands of Rands. Bok Town patrons reported another two
confrontations where people were stabbed, one in the face. Another young woman
claims her drink was spiked. Police confirmed that a woman was raped and
abandoned on Brighton Beach, allegedly by someone who was first at Bok Town and
had then moved on to another pub in the road, Hot Shots. A suspect has been
arrested. Bok Town manager Sid McLuckie said the incident could have happened
anywhere. Others claim it is a far more widespread problem.
- AfricanCrisis, February 7, 2009
Gangs of
armed robbers have besieged a Pretoria suburb
in a spate of attacks in which two people were shot, a domestic worker raped
and dozens more terrorised. The five-day reign of terror in Pierre van Ryneveld
which began on Monday continued on Friday when business owner and mother of
two, Marina Bosch, was shot in the leg. Bosch was cashing up during the early
hours of Friday morning when three gunmen stormed her home shooting her driver,
Charles Smit, twice in the chest, critically injuring him before opening fire
on her. The gang escaped with cash, mobile phones and stock. The attack on her
Fury Street home came hours after a foiled attack on another woman in her home,
and shortly after robbers stormed the home of Cynthia Uren, attacking and
terrorising her and her children in a three-hour ordeal. The attack in Uren's
security complex home ended when she leapt from her car as the four gunmen
raced off with her and household appliances. "I was not going to let them
take me. I was rather going to be shot than dragged off somewhere terrible and
raped," she said. The gunmen are believed to have returned hours later to
attack another homeowner in the same complex where they held him and his family
up, robbing them of jewellery, money and mobile phones. The gang, according to
local community police forum members and police sources, is also believed to be
responsible for the attack on Neels Kruger and his children during the early
hours of Tuesday morning. The gunmen surprised Kruger's children as they were
saying goodbye to friends. Opening fire on Kruger's children when one of their
friends spotted them, the gunmen chased their victims into their Spitfire
Street home where they continued firing
indiscriminately before fleeing empty-handed when the house alarm was sounded.
Security guards who spotted the robbers fleeing along the R21 were forced to
abandon their chase when the gunmen shot out their vehicle's tyres. Less than
24 hours before the attack on the Kruger family, two gunmen, who may be
involved in the other attacks, attacked a domestic worker in her Collyer Avenue
home during the early hours of Monday morning taking turns to repeatedly rape
her at gunpoint. Bosch's husband Christo, who managed to hide his children
under blankets as the attackers rampaged through his house, said his family was
terrified. "These guys shoot without asking any questions. They don't care
whether you live or die," he said describing how his wife had pleaded with
them not to shoot her.
-
AfricanCrisis,
With the 2010 FIFA World Cup just
over a year away, police have uncovered a new fraud syndicate that targets
wealthy visitors staying in luxury hotels and guest houses. And they have
already exposed more than 400 ticket scams. Senior superintendent Kishor Harri,
the acting head of the Western Cape commercial crime branch, said police
believed syndicates were paying hotel staff for information on foreign guests.
Harri said police had arrested three suspects found with card- skimming
devices, which were used to capture data off the magnetic strip of a bank card.
"They then use the information for online purchases," he said.
- AfricanCrisis,
Whenever
farmers are attacked on their farms, or when members of public have problems to
be attended to by police officers, they have to put their trust on the
integrity of the local police officers. The Minister of Safety and Security now
has confirmed that many members of the SAPD cannot be trusted, with the effect
that members of the public cannot ask them for help. Of greater concern is
the fact that members of the police who could be corrupt, are
involved in the firearm re-licensing application process. TAU SA is also very concerned about the fact
that some of these corrupt police officers may enter law abiding citizens’
homes to inspect safes, and in this process could gain access to
sensitive information, which could be passed on to criminals. Can the public be
blamed for not being too willing to welcome members of the SAPD in their homes?
- TLU
SA/TAU SA Media Release,
A two-year-old girl was raped at
Zingqayi Village in Butterworth on Christmas day, Eastern Cape police said on
Friday. "The child went missing after playing with a one-year-old
boy," said Captain Jackson Manatha. "Her cries were then heard by her
next-door neighbour, who went into the house next door to check what was
happening... when she opened the door she saw a 22-year-old man zipping up his
trousers... the man then ran away when he saw the neighbour." Manatha said
he was not sure if the man was related to the child. The girl was in a stable
condition. Meanwhile, a 17-year-old girl was also gang raped at a party at
Xilinxa Village on Christmas day. "It is alleged that seven suspects
entered through a window, and found the girl in a room in the house the party
was at. "They then gang raped her and ran away... her parents then found
her in the room," Manatha said. No arrests were made and police were
investigating. Police also arrested a man for the murder of a 46-year-old woman
that took place on Friday at Mboya Village.
- AfricanCrisis,
A string of stabbings on Durban's
Marine Parade left three people dead on Tuesday night. Their bodies were found
along the same stretch of road within five hours. A paramedic, who would not be
named, said he attended to the first incident at 10pm when a 25-year-old man
sustained stab wounds to his chest. The man was declared dead at the scene.
Soon after midnight, paramedics were dispatched to the same location. "One
hundred metres from the first scene we found an 18-year-old male who had also
been stabbed several times. He was declared dead by paramedics at the
scene." Early in the morning, police and paramedics faced the third grim
discovery of the night when they were called to attend to a teenager who had
been stabbed. Her body was found several metres from the second. Point police
Captain Thembeka Mbele said the girl, thought to be from Verulam, was with her
boyfriend when two men attacked them around 3.30am. The men fled without taking
anything after stabbing the teenager twice. She died at the scene. Police
Director Phindile Radebe would not say whether the three stabbings were
related. "We are investigating at the moment," she said. In another incident,
a man stabbed a woman at Warwick Junction, in central Durban, on Wednesday.
Radebe said the woman sustained a single stab wound to the face and was treated
by paramedics. The man was arrested. Also on Wednesday, several people, mainly
teenagers, were bundled into police vans and confined to a shelter for four
hours after trashing areas around the Durban beachfront. Metro police
Superintendent Joyce Khuzwayo said officers removed many drunken teenagers in
the early hours. "Most of the people that were removed were taken to a
temporary shelter from where they could be transported to their homes if they
did not have money to get back home," she said. An irate visitor to the
Elangeni Hotel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the manner in which the
teenagers behaved was "appalling".
- AfricanCrisis,
Three people were injured in two
farm attacks at Dargle, near Howick, on Wednesday. Clive Shippey and his partner,
Shirley Bishop, were assaulted and seriously wounded. They have been admitted
to hospital. Police Inspector Joey Jeevan said Shippey and Bishop were
approached by two armed men when they arrived at their Northington Farm home in
their white Isuzu bakkie at 10pm. The men demanded jewellery and firearms. The
couple were then assaulted with hammers and spanners, and stabbed with knives.
The men fled in the couple's bakkie (registration ND 253129), taking jewellery
and R2,500 in cash. Earlier that day, Linzi-Anne Smith, 62, was assaulted on
her Freeland Farm. Jeevan said three men with pistols entered through the
unlocked front door and held her up. Moments later Smith's husband, Robert
Melmoth Smith, 65, and her two friends - Sandra McKenzie, 60, and Marina
McKenzie, 62 - entered the house and were also held up. "The men searched
all the victims and ransacked the house. The suspects then assaulted Smith,
hitting her head several times with a firearm, and afterwards tied up all the
victims' hands and feet with cable ties, and forced them to lie on the bed in a
bedroom. "The suspects then fled from the scene in McKenzie's vehicle,
taking with them a shotgun, mobile phone, jewellery and cash," said
Jeevan.
- AfricanCrisis, December 13, 2008
The
so-called training of "right-wing child soldiers" is basic defence
training, which has been approved by the police. "If there is something
wrong with that, then every adventure camp and weapon's training course is also
suspicious," said an upset 'commander' Franz Jooste, executive head of the
Commando Corps on Tuesday. One of the organisation's members appeared in the
Pretoria Magistrate's Court on a charge of kidnapping after a 15-year-old boy
was apparently abducted from his parents' home in Pretoria last Thursday and
taken to a training camp. It was alleged that children were being trained for a
war against Black people. They were apparently shown how to make bombs and use
firearms. Jooste said these allegations were rubbish. According to him, the
past weekend's camp at Mookgopong (Naboomspruit) was entry-level where basic
discipline such as drilling was taught to the boys. There was no firearm
training at all and the only kind of explosives used at the camp were crackers
used with fishing line to rig booby traps. The Commando Corps was registered as
an Article 21 company and according to Jooste, the idea was that it in a way
would replace the now defunct army commandos. The structure and training of the
corps was approved by the army and the police. "We teach the children -
all high school kids - how to react in certain situations where their or their
family's safety is being threatened. "We are not that irresponsible that
we'd straight away put weapons in children's hands. Only after the fourth
weekend camp, we give them certain defence-orientated weapons training.
"Nobody is taught to attack certain groups and at the beginning of each
camp, we make it very clear that we will not tolerate any talk of illegal
actions," said Jooste. "We teach the kids and adults to defend
themselves better and not be vulnerable to criminals. Nobody is forced to do
anything." According to him, the children's parents give permission for
them to attend the camps. The particular 15-year-old boy slipped away from his
home under false pretences, said Jooste. He also lied about his age. In future,
parents will have to sign letters of permission for the camps in the presence
of witnesses rather than faxing them. There were 29 other children at the
weekend's camp and 10 instructors supervised. Jooste denied categorically that
any of them were abducted. The boy's parents called the organisers and asked
them to bring back their son. A drill instructor, "sergeant" Wentzel
Laubscher dropped off the boy on Sunday evening, but he wasn't chased away as
was earlier reported, said Jooste. Laubscher was arrested for abduction after
the boy's parents laid a charge with police. National police spokesperson,
captain Dennis Adriao, confirmed that Laubscher had appeared in court for
alleged abduction. "The case has been postponed to December 17 for a bail
application. Police are aware of the camps. Until now, there has been no reason
to link anything illegal to the camps. But police are investigating all
allegations."
-
Beeld, December 10, 2008
South Africa is rated 111th out of
124 countries for service delivery and "this is a cause for concern",
a tourism gathering was told. Addressing the launch of Tourism KwaZulu-Natal's
(TKZN) annual service excellence awards last week, South Africa Tourism's
director in human resource development, Nozuko Ngozi, said South Africa had
done a skills audit and was developing a service excellence strategy. The
country faced a massive challenge when it won the 2010 Soccer World Cup bid and
woke up to the fact that when it came to service and customer excellence, it
was not ready. "But we will get there," Ngozi predicted. "It
does not help when the first experience a visitor gets is a bad one. We can
really create an impact and we all have got to work harder. People have to
understand that tourism is gold," she said. Ndabo Khoza, the chief
executive of TKZN, said some people would be coming to South Africa in 2010
just to prove themselves right that South Africa could not deliver a good World
Cup. He told of an overseas businessman he had met recently, who had
"stared me straight in the eye and said Africa is not ready it is up to us
to prove them wrong". Every year, TKZN received countless complaints
during the festive season from visitors who had paid for holidays, only to find
there was no accommodation waiting for them.
- report sent by GDS, December 3,
2008
70-year-old Mrs Hannetjie Benade
was found murdered in her smallholding by a neighbour. The neighbour, Hans
Hendricks, noticed smoke coming from her homestead on Saturday and, noticing
that her garage gate was standing open, went to investigate. He knew she was
very security-conscious, Hendricks told the journalist. He alerted the Midvaal
fire department and after rushing home for tools to break into her home open
with, believing she was trapped. However emergency workers from Netcare 911 and
Midvaal fire department discovered that she had been murdered. Her face was
burnt. Police Constable Teboho Lephoto says she was either stabbed or shot in
the chest. Traces show that she was attacked in her garage and dragged to her
bedroom. "Her body was found on her bed in the bedroom."There's no
motive: "We could not determine whether anything was missing,' he said.
Her son Johan, 48, of Kliprivier, was at an auction when a friend called him
with news of his mother's murder. "My mother believed and trusted that she
was safe at the smallholding and I went to check up on her many nights to make
certain she was alright,' the son said. Their parents were divorced and his father
Gerrie died of a heart-attack earlier this year. Mrs Benade also leaves son
Gerhard of Louwsburg in Natal, and a daughter Marina du Plessis of Meyerton.
- AfricanCrisis,
Two Port Elizabeth sisters who were
robbed and raped in their high-security home early on Sunday are still battling
to come to terms with the horrifying ordeal, their mother said yesterday.
Nothing could ever have prepared the mother of the two women - aged 25 and 21 -
for the pain she would endure over not being able to shield her daughters from
being raped at their St Augustine townhouse in Mangold Park. "I feel sick
to my stomach, "she said. "They didn't only rape my kids; they raped
my soul. "I wish I could just lock the girls up in a room with me and
protect them from everything and everyone. "The attack came on the eve of
the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender
Violence which began yesterday. "It shows that these men have no
respect for the campaign," said the mother. Her daughters were held at
knife-point and raped at 1am on Sunday in the television room of their home,
where they had fallen asleep. Police spokesman Captain Sandra Janse van
Rensburg said the two assailants had gained access to the complex - which is
surrounded by a 22-strand electric fence - by forcing a gate bar open and
squeezing through the gap. They first searched the house for valuables before
raping the women. Their mother said: "They entered through the sliding
door in my room, which didn't have a security gate."They told my daughters it was their fault
that they didn't have jobs,
because the girls are White. "The two women have decided to leave
town for a while to try to come to terms with what happened. "They're
petrified," said their mother. "Their body language has changed
completely. One is a closed book, like she's lost her soul." Her daughters had refused to return
to the townhouse and had even asked her to remove the couches in the television
room.
- report sent by GDS (Port
Elizabeth),
Johan Nell, the White teenager who
ran amok after a series of attacks on and killings of, family members by
Blacks, has been sentenced to 169 years in jail. The sentence includes
four life terms. The 19-year-old earlier this week pleaded guilty in the
Mmabatho High Court in Mafikeng to shooting and killing four Black people,
including a baby, and wounding several others in a January 14 shooting
spree in the Skierlik informal settlement near Swartruggens in the North West
[Western Transvaal]. Two of the White boys found guilty and sentenced to 12
years in jail for killing a Black vagrant while they were still at school -
Reinach Tiedt and Gert van Schalkwyk - have summarily been moved from Pretoria
Central Prison to the notorious maximum security facility C-Max. Normally
C-Max houses highly dangerous criminals and those who pose a flight risk. Van
Schalkwyk and Tiedt are neither, according to their legal representative. Other
White prisoners have alleged that the Black-ruled prison department simply
wants more Whites inside C-Max, since the vast majority there are Blacks,
and that the two White youngsters were seen as unlikely to offer any resistance
or gain much sympathy if they complained.
- Southern Cross Africa News,
The Presidency and the Jewish Board
of Deputies have expressed dismay at the appearance of President Kgalema
Motlanthe's name on an advertisement decrying alleged
"apartheid-style" brutality meted out by the Israeli government. The
advertisement, presented in the form of a petition, was first published in
advance of the state of Israel's 60th birthday in May. It was also signed by
dozens of prominent South Africans in protest against Israel's alleged
"colonial oppression" of Palestinians and the incarceration,
banishment, massacre and torture of political dissidents. But the advertisement
appeared in the South African press again this week - this time including
Motlanthe's name, in his capacity as "the President of the RSA",
raising immediate concerns about South Africa's relations with Israel.
- AfricanCrisis,
Echoing other former Rugby-playing
Afrikaners, legendary Frik du Preez expressed his disgust at what he called the
“constant moaning” about the Springbok emblem by Black rugby officials and politicians.
He said that rugby bosses should rather take away the Springbok completely. The
Springbok became a well-known and beloved symbol of South African sport
excellence in the days when the country was ruled by Whites, and Whites
represented a White South Africa. Ever since the country was handed over to
Black rule, this had rankled with radical Black politicians and officials who
were put in charge of still predominantly White sports organizations
- Southern Cross Africa News,
Two policemen were shot dead and
two others injured on Monday during a cash-in-transit heist in Natal, police
said. Police admitted that four officers, who were travelling in their own
vehicle, were escorting a CPS vehicle carrying pension pay-out funds when they
were 'cornered' by 16 armed Black men on the road between
Kranskop and Stanger around 8am. "The armed men, who were in two cars,
stopped the police and CPS vehicle with a hail of bullets", the
astonishingly frank police statement said. The policemen who were not
shot dead ran away, and the robbers simply took two pistols and three R5 rifles
from the police vehicle. They also took 6 pistols and an undisclosed
amount of money from the CPS vehicle, and then drove off in the two vehicles. A
recent report claimed that the 'new' South
African police are scared of Black robbers, who under Black rule have easy
access to weapons and ammunition from the 'transformed' army and police. The increasing number of 'easy' robberies and lack of effective resistance by mainly Black
policemen has confirmed this assessment, according to journalists covering the
rampant terror and crime.
- Southern Cross Africa News,
A farmer was stabbed to death and a
robber was shot dead during a robbery at a farm in Coligny on Friday,
North-West police said. Three men broke a window at 4am, went straight into the
man's bedroom, and stabbed him several times. He died at the scene, said
spokesperson Superintendent Lesego Metsi. His wife, who had been sleeping in a separate
bedroom, woke up on hearing the noise. With a gun in her hand, she started
firing randomly, hitting one of the robbers. She then ran back to her room,
said Metsi. The woman had hoped that this would scare them. However, they came
after her demanding money and the gun. She managed to run through the back
door, after which the robbers took her cellphone, an undisclosed amount of
money and a shotgun before running away. The wounded robber collapsed and died
150m from the house. Next to his body, were the stolen items, including the
money. His two accomplices got away. Metsi said police were investigating the
case.
- AfricanCrisis, November 8, 2008
"It's time you Whites packed
your bags and f**ked off." With these words a black police inspector from
Tembisa on the East Rand allegedly scolded the victims of an armed robbery and
hijacking attempt in Kempton Park on Monday night. This officer, whose name is
known to Beeld, apparently refused to
arrest a Black suspect on the scene. He also refused to open a case after Nic
Lubbe, 51, from Kempton Park West, his daughter, Antoenet Cronje, and her two
sons, Morne, 11, and Kyle, 3, were assailed by robbers on Monday night. He
ostensibly also refused to allow white members of the Norkem Park police to
search the suspects' car and called them "White dogs". Lubbe said he
was on his way to drop off his daughter and grandchildren at their house in
Terrenure at about 23:00 when he saw a grey Corsa bakkie next to the road in
Orange River Street. Suddenly the Corsa bakkie's headlights went on to blind
Lubbe. Then it was driven into Lubbe's bakkie from behind. Three armed men
jumped off the back and grabbed Cronje's handbag. Lubbe sped away and later
returned to the scene with his wife, Mara, 49, and members of the Norkem Park
police office. A Black inspector from the Tembisa roadblock task team was
already there with one of the suspects (the driver of the Corsa). The other
three got away. "The inspector said we were White dogs and he told a White
policewoman that he would see to it that she was shot dead in a robbery.
"Then he cocked his R5 (rifle) in my face and said it was time that we
Whites packed our bags and f**ked off out of the country." An eyewitness
apparently heard the inspector's offensive remarks: "I saw how these
people were robbed, but he protected the criminal."
- Beeld,
One of the world's top experts on
genocide, Dr. Gregory Stanton of "Genocide Watch", who issued his first warning in 2002 that the Boers
[Afrikaners] of South Africa were facing a "secret
genocide", says all the signs are there for an all-out genocide
against what is generally seen as the White Tribe of Africa. As the
slaughter of Boers [Afrikaners] in South Africa escalates under Black
rule, commentators sympathetic to the plight of the Boers [Afrikaners]
have warned that what was filmed in East Africa by an Italian film crew
of the organised genocide of the muslim-Arab minority in Zanzibar is, in fact,
beginning to happen in South Africa. The film "Africa
Addio", with its graphic images of Black atrocities aimed against
both Whites and Blacks, remains one of the most haunting visual documentaries
of what happened when White rule was replaced by Black. Back in South Africa,
some 1,000 Boer [Afrikaner] smallholders at Kameeldrift, north-east of
Pretoria, held an emergency meeting at their local Dutch Reformed Church. They
claim they are being targeted by genocidal Black attackers, who have robbed,
raped and killed many White residents in what appears to be an orgy of violence
these past few months. During the meeting at the overcrowded church,
emotions ran so high that residents demanded that the local police station
commander, Superintendent Edwin Lelaka, be removed from his post. This past
year, the local church had to set up a family trauma clinic to deal with the
terror of the surviving victims of all these attacks.
- Southern Cross Africa News,
Blokkies lay dead on the lawn, his glassy
eyes staring blankly into space. The fox terrier had fallen victim to a
disturbing phenomenon in! crime-plagued South Africa - the poisoning of dogs by
criminals intent on gaining access to people's property. "Imagine what
bastards would do this," said Tom van Rooyen, Blokkies' owner, as a police
detective dusted for fingerprints in the garage of this farm 140km (87.5 miles)
south-west of Johannesburg. Glaring income disparities
Blokkies was poisoned by thieves who stole a pick-up lorry from van Rooyen.
Another family dog, a 20kg mongrel, survived but spent almost a week recovering
at a veterinary clinic. South Africa has some of the world's highest rates of
violent crime. In the affluent suburbs of the main cities, residents live
behind high walls, often topped with electric fences or razor wire. Homes are
protected by big dogs such as rottweilers or small ones like Jack Russell
terriers which make a lot of noise.
This heavy protection feeds a vicious cycle as the desperate resort to
increasingly brutal methods to commit their crimes. "The obstacle is the
dog and so they neutralise it," said Boyane Tshehla, the head of the crime
and justice programme at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies.
Poisoning dogs makes many people see red in South Africa, where the White
middle class is hugely fond of pets and animal welfare groups get lots of
financial support. According to the police and animal welfare organisations,
the poison of choice used by South African burglars is a pesticide called aldicarb.
"It is also known as 'two-step' because when an animal ingests it, it
takes two steps and then goes down," said Christine Kuch, spokesperson for
South Africa's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
"The motive for poisoning in most cases is to commit a crime," she
added. The poison is usually mixed with maize or meat and thrown over fences or
pushed through gates. There is no hard data on poisonings as they often go
unreported. "It happens on a daily basis in South Africa, that I can
assure you," said police Superintendent Johan Scott, who has trained
detectives in how to investigate such cases."It (dog poisoning) was very
high a couple of years ago but seems to have stabilised but at very high
levels." Police have made some progress in cracking down on those
responsible. A few months ago, a gang of Mozambicans was arrested in Benoni
after a spate of dog poisonings and robberies. Police say burglary syndicates
tend to target certain areas and then move on. Blokkies' death is shot through
with a poignancy that exposes the tragedy of South Africa's wider crime
problem. The fox terrier was the last surviving dog of van Rooyen's brother
Michael, who was murdered a few years ago in an attack on his farm, just a
short walk down the road.
- AfricanCrisis,
Three Blacks tried to mug me today.
Across the road from the Main Post Office Durban. Durban is the Mugging Capital
of the world. I collected my post from the Post Office. I noticed three Black
scumbags paying a lot of attention to me then start following me. I crossed the
road immediately. They were about 18 years old. They split up, two sped up on
the other side of the road to get in front of me and the other one crossed the
road behind me. I knew they were coming. The two crossed the road in front of
me and came walking towards me. The other one was behind me. I have two Swart Pepper Sprays in my pockets.
Direct stream.
Swart can spray
approximately 5 metres (5.5 yards) depending on the wind. These were
professional muggers. Obviously do this every day. The two coming towards me
were smiling at me. When they were 2 metres (2.2 yards) away I pulled the two Swart sprays out of my pockets and let
them have it. I got the one in the face and continued spraying until they turned
around and ran away. I shouted very loudly "Fu*k off you Black
bastards". Without stopping the sprays I turned around and sprayed the one
behind me. I then chased him spraying him all the time. Not one Policeman in
sight. Never a Policeman in sight. All the Black Security just watch and do
nothing. All the other Blacks in town just looked on and did nothing. I have
been mugged 6 times and 11 attempted muggings. I have been robbed at gun point
and lost approximately R2, 5 million to Black thieves. At that exact same spot
were they attacked me today there was lots of blood on the pavement two weks
ago. Obviously these Black scum operate in that area all the time. There are
lots of muggers around the Post Office, City Hall to the Bus Depot and the Workshop Shopping Centre. All Whites are
in extreme danger in Durban. South Africa is a country of thieves. South Africa
is a criminals' paradise.
We have the highest crime rate in
the world. We all have a duty and an obligation to warn the public and tourists
of the dangers and White genocide in South Africa. Never go into Durban.
- report sent by Snowy Smith
(Durban),
A 16-year-old White girl thought to
have been raped by Blacks during the umpteenth attack on White families in the
Kameeldrift area north-east of Pretoria is believed to be suffering from shock
and refuses to say anything. According to police, the attack happened yesterday
morning at about 04:00 hrs on a smallholding in Boekenhoutskloof, Kameeldrift.
"Four armed men entered the house, tied up the family of five with
shoelaces in the main bedroom and fled in the family vehicle, taking mobile
phones, computers and laptops," a spokesman said. He said the robbers had
apparently raped a 16-year-old girl in another room while the family lay tied
up in the main bedroom.
- Southern Cross Africa News,
Another White policemen serving in
the Black-led "new" South African police force has been shot and
killed next to a Black colleague. Inspector Andries van Tonder, 42, father of
two children, was shot six times, including in the head. Police spokesperson
Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini, said van Tonder and 'another policeman'
arrested a suspect on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Fifth Street in
Bezuidenhout Valley, Johannesburg. They had found an AK-47 assault rifle on
him. En route to the police station a green Audi started pursuing the
police vehicle. The occupants of the Audi opened fire on the police, van Tonder
was hit and lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree on the
pavement. An eyewitness who didn't want to be identified for fear of the Black
robbers who control large areas of the country, said the White policeman
still opened the car door, but then he just collapsed. Van Tonder's Black
killers freed their mate in the police vehicle and fled the scene. The 'other'
policeman was not injured, and either ran away or simply watched the killers
without doing anything, according to residents.
- Southern Cross Africa News,
He had always been the heart and
soul of a party, but now Clint Kerr, 44, from Johannesburg is blind and deaf
and his family is desperate to get him to communicate again. "He wants to
know why we won't talk to him. He really doesn't seem to realise that he has
become deaf and blind," his son Darren said on Thursday. After robbers
tortured Clint at his house in Glenvista in March and hit him on the head with
a hammer, he contracted meningitis and lost his sight and hearing. "He
asks us all the time to speak up or to turn on the lights," said his
ex-wife, Sandy. His fiancée, Andrea Hatton-Jones, is now taking care of him,
but is said to be severely traumatised and has stopped answering her phone.
- Beeld,
Yet another elderly White man has been
murdered. The body of 69-year-old Barry Killeen from George was found in
the house he was renovating in Wilderness, Cape Province. Police said it
appeared he had been beaten to death but could not confirm the method used
to kill him. As is so often the case in these killings, it is alleged that the
Black man working with the victim is the main suspect. The man, known as
"Soweto", had been seen driving Killeen's bakkie earlier. He seemed
not to be able to drive the vehicle. The neighbour approached the worker but
the worker got into a taxi that happened to be there at that time and left,
leaving the bakkie he was driving unattended. A case of murder has been opened.
- Southern Cross Africa News,
Four
women were raped in the Vulani church in Ophaphasi near Kwamsane on Wednesday,
Natal police said. Captain Jabulani Mdletshe said the incident happened early
on Wednesday morning inside the church. The women were part of the Nazareth
Baptist church and were attending a night-over service usually attended by
female members. Some of the women were asleep and others preparing to sleep
when a group of men entered and demanded mobile phones and money. Seven mobile
phones were taken. Four of the women were then raped. Four cases of rape and seven
cases of armed robbery were being investigated, Mdletshe said.
- SAPA
report,
The
release on parole of 72-year-old Clive Derby-Lewis, who has been incarcerated
for 15 years for the killing of Communist terrorist leader Chris
Hani, is being opposed by Hani's widow and the SA Communist Party. Clive
Derby-Lewis is supposed to walk out of prison a free man on October 15,
following the recommendation of the all-Black parole board, with, according to
his attorney Marius Coertze, everything done according to the rules and
regulations governing the granting of parole to prisoners of his age serving a
life sentence. Coertze said the board's recommendation (to release
Derby-Lewis), under the chairmanship of Victor Sepeng, was then forwarded to the
regional commissioner of correctional services. Derby-Lewis was told by the
parole board on September 22 that "the commissioner requested that the
Hani family be informed of the coming parole. "The parole board did not
have the contact details of the Hani family. Mr Derby-Lewis - yes imagine that
- supplied them with the information," said Coertze. Derby-Lewis then
appeared again before the parole board last week and was told that the week's
notice given to the Hani family was insufficient. The e-mail sent to Chris
Hani's widow, Limpho, to inform her of the parole hearing, has sparked an angry
reaction from the SA Communist Party, the Young Communist League and the ANC
Youth League. The SACP claimed that the e-mail (to Hani's widow)
constituted a "serious act of provocation, not only to the Hani family,
but to the SACP, the alliance and the overwhelming majority of the people of
South Africa. Derby-Lewis, 72, and the Polish-born Walus, 55, were sentenced to
death for the shooting of Hani on April 10, 1993. Their sentences were commuted
to life imprisonment in 1995. While communist supporters have vowed to keep
Derby-Lewis and Walus in prison as long as possible, these two prisoners
are seen by many conservative Whites as heroes, who took action against a terrorist
leader who gave the orders for many atrocities against civilians, White and
Black, in the so-called Old South Africa.
-
Southern Cross Africa News,
An elderly farmer was killed and
another kidnapped and injured in a farm attack in Garies, Kimberley police said
on Saturday. Spokesperson Cherelle Ehlers said the attack happened on Friday
evening when two armed men confronted 69 year-old farmer Nick Engelbrecht as he
was arriving at his farm. The men threatened Engelbrecht with two firearms
stolen from his farm, forced him into his vehicle and made him ride to a nearby
farm. Engelbrecht then ran towards the house of another farmer, 67 year-old
Stefanus Kotze and his wife. The men then shot and wounded Engelbrecht in his
upper left arm and shot Kotze in the face. Kotze died on the scene.
- AfricanCrisis,
Two police
inspector brothers involved in an Umbilo pub shooting, in which three people were
killed, have been suspended without pay. The shooting at the Merseyside pub on
September 10 where Shawn Strydom, 33, Nick Jansen van Rensburg, 57, and Rory
Menzes, 40, were killed took place after an argument and a jibe about penis
sizes and racist insults. Two men were injured.Five men were arrested
afterwards. After internal investigations were completed, the two SAPS
inspectors, Samuel Steven of the Mayville station, 39, and Leon Steven, 33, of
the Point police station were served their notices of suspension this week.
SAPS spokesperson Superintendent Muzi Mngomezulu said the decision was taken to
suspend the two officers after the conduct of both officers were investigated.
- AfricanCrisis,
In South Africa there is a rumour,
a general belief that has sort of reached a consensus amongst Whites that
following the death of Mandela, the Blacks will launch a country wide attack on
all Whites, killing them en masse and purging them once and for all from the
country. This attack has been dubbed "Uhuru – Night of the long
knives". The origin of this rumour has several sources. Siener van
Rensburg mentioned it, The Daughter of Sion group as well as the Suidlanders.
Further mention was made by the Black ANC consultant, Mzukizi Gaba, who told a
police officer who arrested him for driving on the wrong side of the N1 in the
Cape: "The day Mandela dies, we will kill you Whites like flies!"
Certain signs are quoted, such as stickers on the back of Black Mini-bus taxis
that reads "Not, Uhuru Yet", and the sale of 38,000 Machetes to
Blacks by a hardware shop in Pretoria (in one month). I have for a long time
not believed that the Blacks would actually be so stupid as to attempt such an
attack, mainly, because it would give Whites a reason for a massive backlash
that will lead to a racial civil war that Blacks, despite their superior
numbers cannot win. Details I won't disclose here. I believed that the Uhuru
rumour was created by the Marxist ANC and the Communist Party to keep Whites in
a state of anticipation while they picked them off one by one in their homes
and on the farms. 3000 White farmers have been killed by blacks under the
banner of "ordinary crime" since the ANC took control of South Africa
in 1994. There is however one incident in our history that made me never
discard this rumour completely and so I have been keeping an open mind. In
January 1949 thousands of Blacks descended on the Indian community of Cato
Manor in Durban. In an orgy that lasted four days, Blacks burned down Indian residences
and businesses, raped and murdered the Indian community. One of the ironies of
that attack was that it left more Blacks dead and injured than Indians. I
suppose one can argue this statistically, but nevertheless, one would have
expected more that 87 Blacks and 50 Indians killed after four days. So what
made me rethink the possibility of a Rwandan style genocidal attack against
Whites by Blacks in South Africa? First of all it is important that we always
keep an open mind and think about all the possibilities. Never get bogged down
on one train of thought or discard opposing ideas out of hand. Recycle it in
your mind and think about it carefully. Open your eyes to what is happening in
the country and keep a close eye on what the Black masses are doing. Recently
we had horrific xenophobic attacks by South African Blacks against foreign
Blacks from Somalia, Congo, Mozambique, etc. The question was then raised:
"What is a foreigner?" How long before they start redefining
"foreigners" to include Chinese, Indians and Whites? Many said it was
the Blacks training for "Uhuru". Whenever COSATU organizes mass
marches, Whites mumble that they are training for "Uhuru", but hardly
give it a second thought and carry on with their jobs or whatever they are
doing. Whites are waiting for the day Mandela dies...or shall I say the NIGHT
afterwards…"The NIGHT of the long knives". But what if this attack
comes during the DAY? Think about it. Recently COSATU marches have been growing
in size, spread countrywide and their causes have become more and more trivial
(food prices, fuel prices, etc). They arrange these marches with hundreds of
thousands of demonstrators for seemingly insignificant causes. What the hell is
going on? If the attack comes during the night, people will be at home with
their families behind security walls and close to their weapons. It will be
relatively easy for Whites to gather their families and flee or re-group and
fight back. If the attack comes during the day, where will you, your wife and
children be? Probably in three different locations at the time. You at your
work, wife at her work or home, and kids at school. It will be a lot more
difficult to gather your family and flee. Further, most employers do not allow
weapons on their premises. The men will be grouped together in buildings
without weapons, like sheep in a pen, ready to be slaughtered. Building exits
can be closed off and entire buildings set alight. It will make the Twin Towers
of 9/11 look like a minor incident.
- report sent by Snowy Smith
(Durban),
The South African Navy wants to
spend billions more of taxpayers' money on patrol ships - because the hugely
expensive corvettes they bought to monitor the country's seas are not ready or
up for the job. This has emerged from a staff paper commissioned on behalf of
Chief of the Navy, Vice-Admiral Johannes Mudimu from the SA National Defence
Force's (SANDF) Legal Services Division, which states that the navy
"urgently and critically" requires the 85m-long multi-purpose hull patrol
boats to replace its aging vessels. The paper also states that the navy's lack
of ability to patrol South African waters has led to the plundering of the
country's marine resources. The document, which the SANDF on Wednesday insisted
had no official status, also reveals that the navy expects to face strong
resistance to its mooted purchase of the "indispensible" ships,
because of the backlash that followed government's previous R30-billion arms
deal. However, it suggests that government could partially fund the purchase of
the hulls - the estimated total cost of which runs into billions of rands -
with money saved from the "decommissioning of old ships". The
corvettes cost about R6-billion. Each hull is expected to cost a minimum
R300-million. Defence spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi on Wednesday claimed the
document, which was sent to Mudimu from SANDF Chief of Legal Services Major
General SB Mmono in June this year, was a 2003 "academic study"
conducted by a legal services staff member "in his personal capacity".
But the document, which is in possession of Independent Newspapers, includes
numerous references to events, papers and conferences which occurred well after
2003. It also confirms that the document was commissioned on behalf of the
chief of the navy. Mkhwanazi claimed, however, that the reference to
"commissioning" might be as a "result of a misunderstanding of
that word". Mkhwanazi declined to respond to questions about the document,
including its statement that the corvettes and submarines purchased as part of
arms deal would only come into service in 2012, six years after the 2006 date
given by government for when the corvettes would be "operationally
ready". At the time that the corvettes were purchased, government claimed
that they would be used, among other functions, to conduct "regular
patrols for the protection of our marine resources against poaching and
pollution in our Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ)". The staff paper now
states that the limited budgets experienced by the navy, as a result of the
huge arms deal costs, had left it unable to patrol this 1.3 million sq/km.
According to the SANDF's legal services department, given the area's size and
"massive potential in terms of fish, mineral and fossil wealth, the
failure to patrol (one cannot control without patrol) is a departure from
international trends verging on dereliction of duty". This lack of control
had led to "the unrestricted plundering of valuable resources like the
Patagonian tooth fish", the document stated.
- AfricanCrisis,
White South Africans would like to see the 2010
Soccer World Cup flop, says Essop Pahad, Minister in the Presidency. Pahad is a
member of the country's 2010 Local Organising Committee. "Although they may
be in the minority, there are still many White people in South Africa who do
not support ‘Bafana Bafana’. "They also do not really care that the Soccer
World Cup will take place in South Africa. "All you have to do is to read
their sentiments about it on websites," Pahad said.
- report sent by JGK (Pretoria),
Fatally wounded Amanzimtoti hijack
victim, Jennifer-Rae Hall, crawled under a bus shelter to hide from the gunman who
shot her and died minutes later in a friend's arms. The only uninjured occupant
of the hijacked car, Amy Landsell, and a passer-by carefully pulled the
bleeding Hall out from under the bus shelter, and Landsell desperately tried to
stem the blood from Hall's side, while cradling her in her arms. "Someone,
who may have been a nurse, tried to give Jennifer CPR," said Megham
Renwick, spokesperson for the victims on Monday. But their attempts proved
futile, and Landsell, who was uninjured in the tragedy, held her friend until
she slipped away. The horror hijack which cost 22-year-old Hall her life,
happened on Saturday afternoon as Hall, Landsell and another friend, Kate
Flemming, were on their way to watch the sardines in Scottburgh. They had
stopped in Amanzimtoti to swop drivers. Flemming was shot in the pelvis and is
in St Augustine's Hospital in a stable condition. Landsell was uninjured. Toti
detectives arrested two suspects on Sunday, but no charges have been laid yet.
It is understood they were arrested in Umlazi. Residents in Winston Park and
Amanzimtoti are still in shock at the hijacking, with Quinton Rutherford, the
founder of Amanzimtoti's Community Crime Prevention Organisation, saying it was
"absolutely disgusting that such an innocent girl should be shot at by an
armed man". The three friends had been on their way to a Scottburgh
caravan park and were travelling in Flemming's VW Polo when they stopped to
change drivers because Flemming had a problem with her wrist. They pulled into
a parking area near a nightclub which they knew and Hall climbed into the
driving seat, with Flemming next to her and Landsell in the back. Suddenly, as
Hall put the car into first gear to pull away, she noticed a man approaching
her and screamed. He fired a shot and Hall was hit in the side. The gunman,
aged about 20, with a very round face, then screamed at the others to get out
of the car, which they did. Flemming was shot in the pelvis in the commotion,
but it is still unclear if her wound was from the same bullet that hit Hall or
from a second bullet. Flemming and Landsell ran to a nearby bottle store to get
help, even though Flemming did not know she had been shot. Landsell returned to
the crime scene and saw that the bleeding Hall, who had been thrown out of the
vehicle, had crawled under a nearby bus shelter. "She did not know if the
attackers were still around," explained Renwick. It was only when the
hijacked car was being driven away that the survivors realised that a second
suspect, who was sitting in the stolen car, was involved.
- report sent by Snowy Smith (Durban),
Hundreds
of angry commuters commandeered buses on Monday morning, smashing them into
others to form a barricade across a main road before setting them alight. The
rampage occurred at the Big Tree transfer station on the busy Moloto Road in
Cullinan, north of Pretoria. More than 20 Putco
buses were torched. Thick black smoke could be seen for 20km (12 miles) as
emergency workers battled for hours to douse the fire. Dozens of bus drivers
who had been forced out of their buses were seen milling around as the police
moved in to quell the violence. A bus driver who did not want to be named said
commuters were angry because they had no tickets. He said the trouble started
at about 5:30am and the first bus was set alight about an hour later. "The
ticket-sellers were supposed to be here on Sunday to sell weekly tickets to
commuters, but they did not arrive. When the ticket-sellers did not arrive the
commuters got angry and started burning the buses," he said. The driver
said he explained to the passengers that they would still be able to transport
them to the city although they did not have tickets, but the passengers were
concerned about how they were going to get home in the afternoon. "They
wouldn't listen to us. They forced everyone off the buses. Some drove them into
the road and set the buses alight," he said. Putco spokesperson Matlakala Motloung told The Star on Monday morning that 21 buses were torched because of a
communication breakdown between the company and commuters. "Putco sells
weekly and monthly tickets to commuters and two weeks ago, we suspended 17
ticket-sellers after we discovered that money had been misappropriated. We got
in replacement sellers, but at the weekend they were intimidated and could not
sell tickets."
-
AfricanCrisis,
Bridget Oppenheimer is doing "absolutely
okay" after being held at knifepoint and robbed at her La Lucia estate,
Milkwood Lodge, early on Thursday morning. Three men, one armed with a knife,
threatened Oppenheimer, the widow of De
Beers diamond mining magnate Harry Oppenheimer, and fled with a flat screen
television and a small amount of money. Oppenheimer, who was in her bedroom at
the time, was unhurt during the incident. Her vast sub-tropical garden which
boasts duck ponds, a stream and indigenous milkwood trees, has a night watchman
and a guard on duty. Police spokesperson Superintendent Jay Naicker said the
men got past the security and gained access to the house through a bathroom
window. James Teeger, managing director of E
Oppenheimer and Son, which legally represents Oppenheimer, said she was
doing well and was not feeling uncomfortable about staying home alone after the
incident. He said she was a "very resilient woman" and was
unfortunately one of the many victims of crime in South Africa. Naicker said no
arrests had been made yet.
-
AfricanCrisis,
People
begging at traffic lights have become as synonymous with South Africa as
biltong and braaivleis. The car guard you absent-mindedly tip might once have
been a teacher or a businessman. The beggar at the traffic light never intended
standing in the sun, holding a placard reading: "Two children, no money,
Help please. God bless". Poverty among all races has become a major social
issue - and there are few places where it can be seen increasing so rapidly as
among Whites in Pretoria. White squatter camps were barely heard of in the
past. Poor Whites tend to hide their suffering for two main reasons. Firstly,
they fear eviction or ejection from their squalid settlements and, secondly,
they fear that social workers will take away their children. "The welfare
people are like wolves to us. They say the place isn't fit to raise a
child," one mother said. "But, just because we are poor does not mean
we don't love our children," one said. Dirk Hermann of Solidarity said there were about 38
White shelters in Pretoria and thousands others living in communes or behind
someone's yard. "These are the down and out people, defeated by life. No
glimmer of humanity or self-esteem. It's soul-destroying to spend one's days in
the sun or freezing winter, trying to earn a pittance as a car watch or
begging," he said. Kobus Horn, who often takes donations to camps for the
poor, said women and children suffered the most. "There is a lot of abuse
in these camps. The people suffer emotionally and physically. Mothers go hungry
and cold just to give their children an extra bite of bread. They don't see the
welfare as help, they fear them," he said. "Bad things can happen
behind the zinc or canvas shacks. There are many good people, but their morale
is low," Horn explained. He felt these people had to be helped to survive
on their own. He suggested working communities where they could learn skills,
such as planting vegetables, to feel worthy again and so break the cycle of
poverty. Reverend Barbara Louw of Inter
Trauma Nexus said poverty in Pretoria was a problem in almost every suburb,
as some people still lived in nice areas, but have no food to eat. Traditional
White Afrikaner churches have also noticed a greater need among members of
their congregation for aid, in the past, the congregation mainly helped others.
The Freedom Front Plus plans a
poverty conference on August 29 at which experts will address the poverty
issue.
-
AfricanCrisis,
The thousands of holidaymakers
expected to flock to Durban’s beaches could be exposed to disease because of
sewage pollution along the coastline. Four of Durban’s main tourist beaches -
North Beach, South Beach, Ansteys on the Bluff, and Addington - have lost their
Blue Flag status in the past 12 months because of high levels of faecal
pollution in the water. International Blue Flag spokesperson Alison Kelly told The Times that the water along Durban’s
entire coastline contains high levels of bacteria from sewerage. ’This is
worrying because of the health implications and the effect it will have on
Durban in 2010, when South Africa hosts the World Cup,’ she said.
- report sent by JGK (Pretoria),
More fed-up Black South Africans want to
emigrate to escape the crime and economic pressure on jobs in South Africa. The
number seriously considering emigration has shot up by 20% since 2000, a researcher
revealed on Thursday. "We are now seeing a tipping point for an exodus,
but this time across the board in terms of race," said Future Fact
researcher Debbie Milne at a conference in Johannesburg. "It is motivated
more by the sense of cynicism than real violent political turmoil." More
than one in three South Africans now say they are seriously considering
leaving, as opposed to 18% in 2000, according to the survey conducted in the
second half of last year among 2,500 adults. The surprise was that the increase
was now reflected across all races. In 2000, 22% of Whites, 18% of Blacks, 12%
of Coloureds and 26% of Indians said they were considering emigration. But in
2007, sentiments had changed with 41% of Whites, 38% of Blacks, 42% of
Coloureds and 30% of Indians thinking of leaving the country. "It does
show the sense of dissatisfaction," said Milne. "South Africa as a
society has a number of unhappy people who feel helpless and hopeless about
their future. Many social ills contribute to an exodus mentality among our
citizens." High crime rates and job security were deciding factors for one
Coloured Eastern Cape couple in the process of emigrating to Australia. The
couple, who now live in Port Elizabeth, said they had had enough of horror crimes
and feared their two toddler girls would be exposed to the country's
brutalities. Both professionals, they said that although their roots were in
South Africa, it was not worth dying over patriotism. One, a 32-year-old
teacher, said: "Our nanny was robbed and mugged just a few houses away.
They took her cellphone and punched her a few times. The thugs were arrested,
but released the following day and nothing has come of the case." Being
hijacked was one of her worst fears. "Every time I drive around with my
daughters, I double check to ensure that everything is locked. I think of all
these hijackings and rapes ... I'm not being paranoid, but this is
reality," she said.
- Daily Dispatch (East London),
A Richmond Hill (Port Elizabeth)
mother and her two children were held for the weekend in the Humewood police
cells after they apparently assaulted an alleged mobile phone thief. They appeared briefly in
the local magistrate's court on Monday on charges of assault with the intention
of causing grievous bodily harm. Cheryl Burger, 48, her son Shaun, 23, and her
daughter Tania, 20, were each released on bail of R500. Their lawyer, Mark
Rossouw, said the Burger’s had gone for a walk at King's Beach on Saturday
afternoon. "When they got back to their car, Miss Burger realised her
mobile phone had been stolen," said Rossouw. They immediately informed
police officers who were passing by in a police vehicle, and then helped them
search for the suspect in the Summerstrand area. During the search the Burger’s
heard a woman "scream terribly". They ran towards the woman, who
pointed at an unknown man. The Burger’s charged at the man and took a knife
from him. They also suspected that he had stolen the mobile phone. More police
were sent to the scene. The Burger’s were taken into custody as they allegedly
beat the man unconscious. He was taken to hospital by ambulance. According to
Rossouw, the Burger’s, who were still barefoot, were held over the weekend in
the cells. "They wanted to lay a charge of theft at the police station,
but they were not allowed to do it," said Rossouw. Police spokesperson
Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said police were not allowed to accept such a
charge unless the mobile phone was already blacklisted and an ITC number had
been submitted. The case was postponed to September 26 for further
investigation.
- www.news24.com report,
By any
standards, the crime statistics are shocking. But for an up-and-coming nation poised
to host one of the world’s great sports events, they are a national
embarrassment. On a typical day in South Africa there are 50 murders, 51
attempted killings, 99 rapes, 324 robberies, 575 assaults, 651 burglaries and
39 car-jackings. The figures will be about the same tomorrow and the day after
- and there are just 692 days left before the troubled nation hosts football’s
World Cup finals. South Africa’s shameful crime record is triggering alarm
bells at football’s governing body, FIFA. Should South African security chiefs
fail to convince him they have the situation under control, FIFA president Sepp
Blatter could ask another country to host the tournament with just one year’s
notice.
- The
An Afrikaans co-worker of mine told
me a most strange story about 2 weeks ago. She was telling me about another
Afrikaner who was also planning to leave South Africa. (She and her husband are
in the process of emigration). Her Afrikaans friend has a Black friend whom he
trusts a lot. This Black friend went to an ANC Youth League rally about 2 weeks
ago. Afterwards he told his Afrikaans friend (who is planning to leave the
country), that at the ANC Youth League rally they spoke about the killing of
Whites in South Africa when Nelson Mandela dies. He therefore thought it was
best that his Afrikaans friend was leaving the country.
- message sent by Jan Lamprecht,
The current levels of criminality
and violent crime is still a serious threat to farmers and their families. The
murder of Mr Tienie Nel (33) near Leslie serves to prove that criminals do not
consider the age or gender of their victims when using violence. The fact that
Mr Nel’s wife and minor children were able to escape the violence was nothing
less than an act of providence. The President of TAU SA, Mr Paul van der Walt
conveyed his condolences to the late Mr Nel’s family and friends. He renewed
his call on farmers not to underestimate the seriousness of the current crime
threat. Life is increasingly becoming cheap and criminals have no empathy with
their victims. The fact that available information indicates that Mr Nel
stopped next to persons ostensibly in need, emphasizes the tendency that it is
increasingly becoming difficult to distinguish between criminals and law
abiding citizens.
- report sent from the Transvaal
Agricultural Union,
I had some disturbing news over the
weekend. My friend Bernadene Jenkins lost her father; he was murdered on
Sunday night at Carrington Heights in Durban. He was stabbed to death in
his home. She ‘phoned him on Saturday as it was his 88th birthday.
Bernadene's mother is in Nazareth House as she has Alzheimers. Her father
Robbie Roberts went to celebrate his birthday with his 2 sons and their
families. He went to see his wife earlier on that day, his one son picked
him up from Nazareth House, and took him to his other son's house for lunch and
a bit of a birthday celebration. He was dropped off at Nazareth House at 5pm
because he left his car there. He spent a bit more time with his wife and left
there around 6pm. It looks like he was attacked shortly after arriving
home that evening. He did manage to push the panic button, but by the time the
alarm company and the police arrived 15 minutes later it was too late to save
him.
- report sent by ALE, Canada, July
2, 2008
George and Berni Rossouw were brutally attacked in their
home on Monday morning 9th June 2008 at 4am. They are both in Unitas Hospital in
Pretoria, George in ICU and Berni in High Care. The attackers cut off George’s
ear, stabbed him numerous times cut off 2 of his fingers and stabbed one of his
eyes out, his ear has been sewn back on, his eye he has lost as well as his 2
fingers. Berni has been stabbed in the back and face and hit with a hammer and
crowbar, broken all her ribs and punctured both lungs. They have both had
numerous operations to save their lives.
- report sent by Snowy Smith (Durban),
20% of South Africans are planning
to emigrate, or are seriously considering it, according to the results of a
survey released yesterday by global market research company Synovate. Spokesperson Jake Orpen said
600 respondents were interviewed in all nine [sic] provinces of South Africa,
using face-to-face interviews. The results were weighted to ensure
representation across province, age, gender and race. "South Africans are
not in the best frame of mind lately, due to the obvious political uncertainty,
economic instability and electricity problems," Orpen said. The option to
emigrate was most popular among young and middle-aged South Africans (18 to 44
years). This was of concern because this age group represented South Africa's
current and future skills set. Rand Merchant Bank Senior Economist, Ettienne le
Roux, said: "The obvious negative for any country experiencing high levels
of emigration is the loss of skills and the future income these skills would
have generated. If emigration is not matched by immigration of people of at
least the same skill, the country will no doubt be worse off." Some 27% of respondents believed that they
would be able to emigrate successfully, would have the required funds and that
they were well qualified. According to a recent FNB survey, emigration has been
cited as the biggest single reason for selling upper-end properties. The
USA emerged as the most popular choice of destination, followed by the UK,
Australia and New Zealand. The main
push factor for emigrating from South Africa was violence, crime and
corruption, 55% of respondents said. Other push factors were South Africa's
volatile economy and the cost of living (19%), governmental problems (13%) and
infrastructure concerns (6%).
- report
sent by Jan Lamprecht, May 22, 2008
At
least 12 people have been killed and 50 injured in Johannesburg after mobs
using guns, knives and iron bars attacked immigrants from neighbouring African
countries. The violence began last week and was directed at houses and
businesses owned by foreigners in the city’s Alexandra township. The assaults
have spread to other parts of the city, where properties have been looted and
set on fire. Hundreds of immigrants are sheltering from the violence in police
stations and churches where the Red Cross is distributing food and blankets.
More than three million Zimbabweans have fled violence at home to settle in
South Africa alongside many Mozambicans and Malawians. They are often accused
of accentuating unemployment, a housing shortage and high crime rates.
-
The Daily Telegraph,
A 76-year-old woman was raped in
her house in Queenswood, Pretoria, on Saturday night after she and her husband
were set upon by three intruders, police said on Sunday. Inspector Klaas van
der Kooi said the three escaped with the elderly couple's car, personal
belongings and firearms. The couple were in their lounge watching television
when the robbers entered their house through the kitchen door which was
unlocked at that stage. "The suspects assaulted the couple badly,"
said Van der Kooi. "They then started collecting valuable property in the
house. They also took three firearms out of the couple's safe. One suspect
raped the 76-year-old lady afterwards in the bedroom." After the rape the
three took the couple's white Audi 500 and fled. Police responded to the scene
and were "shocked to find the couple in such a terrible state."
- AfricanCrisis,
Already the country has no agricultural land left
in the legal sense since all agricultural land now falls under the jurisdiction
of municipal boundaries countrywide. In 1994 when SA still exported
agricultural products on a massive scale, it had 85,000 farmers using less than
7% of the total land surface. At the moment, less than 10,000 commercial
farmers remain, raising crops on less than 0.75% of the total land surface. The
country is now facing serious food shortages for the first time in its entire
recorded agricultural history since the mid-1600's.
- report from Rapport translated by
AfricanCrisis,
I hear that Port Elizabeth was
completely without power for 4 days the other day. A friend tells me that all
of Kempton Park (which is really a city), is currently without power. A friend
who lived there, told me that in the western part of it where he lives, they
have been without power for up to a week at a time during the last 2 years.
This new situation in this country is scaring people like hell. People are
selling houses and fleeing like crazy. It was reported today, by First National
Bank I think, who keep the best house sales statistics, that so many people are
fleeing the country that the market is just overloaded with houses for sale.
Houses also stay on the market these days for up to 3 months before being
bought. Furthermore, the last I saw, 80% of houses are sold for less than the
asking price - which for South Africa is most unusual. They say that among
average houses, 13% of the houses on market are being sold because the people
are leaving the country. Among the wealthy the situation is even worse.
18% of upper end houses on the market are being sold because the owners are
leaving the country.
- report sent by Jan Lamprecht,
The rampant terror and crime in
Black-ruled South Africa is continuing. Police confirmed that a 36-year-old
woman was stabbed to death by two blacks in Stanford near Hermanus in the
Western Cape on Tuesday. A 31-year-old man was gunned down by a Black gunman
over a wallet containing R110 in Durban's Umlazi suburb. Near Delmas, a woman’s
father was shot dead by Black killers during a hijacking - only hours after
she, the woman, had died in a car accident. A gang of Black gunmen broke into a
house inside a so-called security estate north-east of Pretoria robber, raped a
White woman in front of her six-year-old son and got away with mobile phones, two plasma-screen televisions
and R5000 in cash. The gang broke in shortly after midnight inside Pebble Rock
Estate in Leeufontein, north-east of Pretoria. First they attacked husband and
wife in their bedroom. After the man had given them cash, the robbers woke the
couple's children in their rooms and took them to the main bedroom. They took
the girl to her father in the bathroom and made the boy lie down next to his
mother. Then one of the robbers raped the mother in front of the boy. Another
couple were attacked by five robbers in their home on the ‘secure’ estate in
December last year. They managed to keep their bedroom door closed for long
enough until their neighbour came to their rescue with his shotgun. The ruling
regime has put legislation in place which makes it so much harder for civilians
to own firearms and be able to defend themselves against the reigning Black
terror. Three Black men have been arrested for the murder of a White
Pietermaritzburg hotel manager, one of the men an employee, police said.
Thistle Hotel manager Mark Turner's body was found by cleaners in his hotel
room on Wednesday morning. The 38-year-old's hands and feet had been bound and
he had plaster taped over his mouth. Initial investigations had revealed that
Turner had retired to his room shortly after midnight on Tuesday after cashing
up the day's takings. The keys to the hotel safe were missing as was an undisclosed
sum of money. It appears that Turner had been suffocated as he had no visible
injuries.
- Southern Cross Africa News, April
7, 2008
Stanford
Dutch Reformed Church was packed to capacity on Friday with people who had come
to bid farewell to businesswoman, Christine Kotze, 36, who was murdered in the
coastal village near Hermanus this week. Relatives comforted her husband,
Hennie, and their 13-year-old daughter, Maretha, who wept throughout the
service, held in the church just across the road from the family's business,
Hennie's Pub and Grill, where Kotze was killed. Police spokesperson Billy Jones
said Kotze was stabbed several times and her throat was slit. Four men were
arrested but one was later released. During the funeral two of the suspects -
Sibusiso Ndamane, 20, and Thamsanqa Matinise, 23, - appeared in Hermanus
magistrate's court. A third man, aged 40, will appear in court on Monday. They
face charges of murder and robbery. Villagers were still reeling in shock at
the murder that has rocked the quiet community. Many people who moved to
Stanford to escape crime and hustle and bustle of the rest of the country said
they could not believe something like this could happen in one of the few quiet
villages left in the country.
- AfricanCrisis,
Here are various statistics,
summarised from various newspapers today which show where this country is
heading. Firstly, with respect to bankruptcy. In January 2007, 25,139 people
were served with papers for Civil Debt. In January 2008, the number was 86,461
- more than triple from a year ago! Those figures come from Stats SA. An auctioneer was quoted as
saying that the number of sale-in-executions had gone up by 50% in 2007 and he
expects it to climb by 75% in 2008. Car sales dropped by 9.9% in 2007 and are
expected to drop by 8% in 2008. Volkswagen in South Africa has even shut its
plant down because it can't sell the cars it already has. So they've stopped
their production of new cars until those already produced can be sold. People
are leaving this country in vast numbers and we are losing our most skilled
people. Half of 1,700 medical professionals who were polled said that they
intend leaving this country in less than 5 years! One removals company which
says that it handles 10% of the family removals of those leaving the country,
says that business has tripled in the last 3 months! (This is no doubt due in
part to the electric power chaos). Other information is that visas processed
have doubled. Others say that enquiries to leave the country has increased
between 3 fold to 5 fold. In short, people are suffering and we are losing the
top skills in the country at quite a pace.
-
AfricanCrisis,
The daily terror attacks by
well-armed Black gangs on homes, shops and civilians continue unabated.
In one of the latest hits, Blacks armed with AK47’s and pistols ‘cleaned
out’ Radiokop Spar supermarket on the West Rand, walking out with a
quarter of a million Rand in cash. As usual, there was no resistance and no
effective reaction from the police or the myriad of private security companies
engaged by the desperate public. And as usual, there were indications
pointing to collaboration between the gunmen and insiders among the
‘transformed’ staff, since the attackers homed in straight away on the manager,
called him by name, knew exactly where the safe was, and avoided the shop’s
cameras. During the hit, the Black robbers also punched and kicked
some staff and customers, and robbed them of their money. While terrified
cashiers were hiding behind the tills and lying behind counters, the eight
gunmen left after only three minutes with a bag full of notes, climbed
into a white Ford Bantam bakkie with its registration plates removed, and drove
off. Management and staff counted themselves lucky that no one was
injured or killed, - a rare occurrence in Black-ruled South Africa nowadays.
The wife of a White lodge owner,
Hennielene Botha, 46, has been abducted by Black robbers on Saturday night after
they broke into Iketla Lodge about 5 miles from Ohrigstad in the Eastern
Transvaal. When her husband got home he found everything in disarray, drawers
emptied, signs of a struggle - and his wife gone. By coincidence, a party of
tourists stranded next to the road near Graskop were able to confirm that Botha
was still alive - though locked in the boot of her car. The 13 tourists -
from Britain, Canada and the US - were standing around their vehicle on Easter
Sunday, when the same Black gang stopped next to them, held them up and robbed
them of money, cameras and mobilephones.
While the Black gunmen, armed with shotguns and a rifle, were busy, the
tourists heard a woman's cries for help coming from the boot of the car the
robbers were driving - which turned out to be the one they had stolen from
Botha’s lodge. As usual, the gang got away and police said they were still
‘looking’.
A White Pretoria teenager, Taryn
Vermaak, 18, has been attacked and robbed for the umpteenth time, this
time in Menlyn Park, a popular shopping mall in Pretoria East. In what is
seen as a typical example of how frequent Black-on-White attacks and robberies
have become, it has been reported that the girl and her family had been
attacked, tortured and robbed by Blacks in their home only three months ago.
Last year, her mobile phone was pick-pocketed from the Menlyn shopping centre,
and a few years ago, she was stabbed on her arm and robbed by Blacks while
walking from school. Vermaak and her boyfriend Sheldon Kearney, 18, were about
to leave Menlyn shopping centre last week when they were approached by six
‘unknown men’. They were kicked and punched and Kearney was pushed
towards the escalator on the third floor where they attempted to throw him off.
"I was screaming for help and everyone was just looking. I screamed for
security but there was no-one. I just stood there feeling helpless as they all
ganged up on him. It was terrible," said Vermaak who sustained bruises to
her leg, arms and stomach. Finally, security officials pulled the gang off.
-
Southern Cross Africa News,
An elderly White couple have been
found murdered in their home in Somerset West after an apparently botched
robbery by Blacks. Anita and Stephanus Joubert, 75 and 77 respectively, were
found by police on Sunday morning. The elderly woman was found dead, but her
husband was reportedly still alive when police arrived. He died later at
Vergelegen Medi-Clinic. Reports suggested that the pair had been brutally
bludgeoned to death with a blunt object.
-
Southern Cross Africa News,
A woman, a wife and mother of two young daughters, was
attacked last week by an unknown man during daylight. Mrs. Jana Boonzaaier was
walking with her one and a half year old daughter to go fetch her grade-one
daughter from a local primary school in Sasolburg. The man walked passed her,
then he suddenly turned around and stabbed Mrs. Boonzaaier in her back with a
knife in front of her youngest daughter. The attacker’s intention was to hurt
Mrs. Boonzaaier, as he did not even give her the option to hand over her mobile
phone before he attacked her. After the brutal attack the man took Mrs.
Boonzaaier’s mobile phone and fled the scene as if nothing had happened. Mrs.
Boonzaaier is currently in hospital at the Medi-Clinic in Vereeniging, where
she is treated for severe injuries to her spinal cord and lung caused by the
knife attack. Mrs. Boonzaaier was paralysed due to the spinal cord injury, but
she is doing well and according to her doctor, she might even be able to gain
the use of her legs back in time. No arrests have been made so far.
- report sent
by OSN, South Africa,
A middle-aged woman has been raped
and murdered in her home in Ottoshop, near Rustenburg, police said on Friday.
Superintendent Lesego Metsi said the woman's body was found on Thursday
afternoon. "It appears the attackers came through an unlocked back door.
They raped and tortured the woman before murdering her." Metsi said the
woman had burn marks on her stomach and arms which appeared to have been made
by steam-iron burns. The cause of death will be revealed by an autopsy. No one
was arrested.
-
AfricanCrisis,
Hundreds of angry Hillcrest residents
bayed for the blood of five rape suspects outside the Hillcrest Police Station
yesterday. Initially, the crowd staged a protest outside the Pinetown
Magistrate's Court where the suspects were due to appear for the rape of a
young Kloof woman. Seven men accosted Jessica Foord and her father at a nearby
dam on Sunday and repeatedly raped her in a field. The Foords had been walking
their dogs when they were attacked. Five suspects were arrested on Wednesday
after intense investigations.The suspects were due for their first court
appearance yesterday, but police found out about the planned protest and
brought the suspects to court on Thursday. Lindani Maphumulo, Thabani Ntinga,
Siyabonga Ntinga, Mbotho Msomi and Nthuthuko Chili were denied bail and were
remanded into custody at Durban's Westville Prison until their next court
appearance on March 20. This "deception" further angered protestors,
many of whom had taken time off work and school to attend the protest. It is
believed that protestors were also riled by the rape of a six-year-old girl in
the area. Fed up with the high crime rate in the area, residents then moved to
Hillcrest Police Station, where they demanded to see the suspects.Residents
moved to the area just outside the station's holding cells and shouted threats
at the five suspects inside. Foord's relatives were among the protestors.
- report
sent by SSH (Durban),
Five men robbed a family at
Hennopsriver in the Erasmia area, burning the mother and father with an iron,
Johannesburg police said on Thursday. "Five men, four of them armed
entered the house through an open window on Wednesday night into a room where
four children were working on a computer. They took them to the living room
where the father was and tied then up," said Constable Patricia Simelane.
The mother who was sleeping at the time was also tied up. Simelane said the men
demanded money saying that they had been told there was money in the house -
and "they burnt the mother and father with an iron three of four times on
the upper body" to force them to reveal where the money was kept.
"The men ransacked the house and took R200, two TV's, a DVD player, an
M-Net decoder and stole the family's Toyota bakkie," she said. Police have
opened a docket on the house robbery and the assault with grievous bodily harm.
-
AfricanCrisis,
I rise
to mourn Julian Lap, well known architect and resident of my constituency who
was brutally murdered in an armed robbery at his home in Parktown North on
Sunday night. The life of his wife, prominent businesswoman Marilyn Visser, who
was critically wounded in the head in the incident, hangs by a thread. Their 16
year old son lies injured in hospital. Mr. Lap was an active member of the Ward
90 Committee of Councillor Ian Ollis - always involved, always willing to
assist. He is the tenth prominent murder victim in this hardest hit area of the
ward since Councillor Ollis was elected two years ago. Others include:
o Sandy Staats of Craighall Park, who was tied
up and boiled in hot water;
o Mike Thompson, father of two of Craighall who was stabbed, shot and thrown
into his swimming pool in front of his young son;
o Terry Smith, also of Craighall, highjacked and shot dead the very next day;
o Theresa Goldworthy of Craighall Park, shot and killed while sitting in her
car;
o Barbara Harrison of Beaufort Avenue, who was brutally attacked and died;
o Ian Giles of Giles Restaurant in Craighall Park - brutally murdered;
There are more I could and should list if I had
the time. Last November Councillor Ollis and I visited the Provincial
Commissioner Perumal Naidoo about this spate of murders and we were promised
more patrols, more roadblocks, more staff at Parkview Police Station but little
appears to have been done. MEC for Safety and Security in Gauteng Fivoz
Cachalia is claiming some success but the bottom line is that the police in
Johannesburg are not coping with the rapidly rising rate of brutal murders and
robberies at private homes - they lack the leadership, the capacity and the
resources to cope, and for this the government must take the blame.
-
statement made by Sheila Camerer MP in the South African Parliament,
Basic
infrastructure and services across the country are crumbling. Water, sewerage and
local roads are all casualties of neglect and lack of forethought, and there is
a critical shortage of skilled professionals who could turn the situation
around. A survey conducted by the South African Institution of Civil Engineers
shows that municipalities in South Africa had
on average fewer than three qualified civil engineers per 100,000 households.
The ideal, they say, would be 20 municipal engineers per 100,000 households.
“Municipalities are not doing condition assessments and officials cannot say
for sure what state the infrastructure is in," TT Innovations engineer
Justin Spreckley said on Sunday. The repair of water and sewerage piping alone
will likely cost billions but the biggest worry is the nation's overloaded
roads. The department of water affairs and forestry's report for the 2006/2007
financial year cites the lack of technical expertise at municipal level as
"a significant area of concern". Local authorities in Natal have already experienced serious sewerage spills and,
according to a government study of municipal treatment works, these spills are
the result of badly maintained and poorly-run treatment works, especially in
small municipalities.
- AfricanCrisis,
Affirmative Action (AA) , Black
Economic Empowerment (BEE) and now recently Black Apartheid (BA) is alive and
well. !! If you are White you are screwed. The monopoly of ANC in government
and the state departments is total, and nevermind what skills you may have or
what good you can offer the country, you are still screwed. If your skin is not
Black, you wil not be employed. Big private business are huge whoosy's and
basically spineless, as they sheepishly follow government instructions to
employ unskilled uneducated people with the correct skin colour. We all know that
our education system is the worst in the world and that our matric certificate
is not worth the paper it is written on. Our labour laws make it all but
impossible to get rid of under performing employees. Now dont get me wrong, I
am not anti black. There are great Black people in SA, well educated, sensible
people. However our one party state does not allow them to speak freely. Even
the poorest of the poor can see that the ANC is not delivering on their
promises and in their own mass action way they protest and destroy the little
bit they have. They the ANC, have even shut-up Bishop Tutu, a man
that acted as the moral voice of the people. Black Appatheid (BA) has now
blatantly raised it's head with ANC approval. Recently the Black Journalist
Forum invited Zuma to a meeting and openly excluded white journalists on the
basis of skin colour. It poses the question, what about the Black
journalists that did not attend? (or did not want to attend) and what was the
agenda of the meeting, what was the message that was given to the BJF?. How
much do they have to influence the Black vote in preperation for
next year’s elections? BEE has massively enriched the Black elite
with millions. Often you hear people say that the Nats stole 20% but at
least they delivered 80%. Now it is the other way round. Amazing how
history repeats itself, instead of a small group of Whites that manipulated the
country, we now have a small group of Blacks doing exactly the same. The
Auditor General report states that 12% of national, 4% of provincial and 0% of
municipal authorities were given a clean financial report. Well done, keep on
stealing! There is not a single government department (other than SARS) that is
not corrupt and inefficient. They inherited all the corrupt practises from the
NATS and perfected it. What will happen if the ANC wins the next election? The
current Mbeki clans will be cleansed out of government and the new clans will
start enriching themselves. What will happen if they loose or maybe land
up in a coalision government - the masses of ANC supporters (read
Xhosa) that sit in nice jobs will be booted and will go on the mass action
route. Shame the poor soccer guys - they even have to resort to calling
journalists "k@ffirs" on public TV, just to make a statement.
The message - South Africa is no
different to the rest of Africa. Don’t waste energy, get the hell out. If
you can’t now, then focus on making enough money so that you can in the future.
- “Born White in Africa”,
Benoni,
An Afrikaans woman I know is busy
preparing to go to Australia. She and her husband sat in the English exam which
foreign countries force South Africans to take before allowing them in. (I have
no problem with this). She said her husband counted the rows and number of
people present at the exam. It was an English exam (to prove that people are
fluent in English) for people who are going to Canada, Australia and New
Zealand. She said that the vast majority of people taking the test in the hall
were WHITE. There were a handful of Asians and only one Black guy. Her husband
estimated there were 400 people in the hall. Other friends of hers had
mentioned that about a year ago, there were only 250 people attending this
test. Now it is 400. So it would appear, from this anecdotal evidence that it
is disproportionately WHITES who are leaving this country in droves. Of course
the English exam is a clever concept by these other countries since it may help
to reduce the number of non-Whites going. I will tell you, this Afrikaans lady
and her husband were studying English thoroughly before doing the exam. So
perhaps it will also have benefits as it will make Afrikaners who leave the
country become more Anglicised and it will make it easier for them to fit into
the wider world and to progress there. It can only be for their benefit.
-
report appearing in AfricanCrisis,
Yet another child will now grow up
without a Mother. She was murdered, during this week, in her home, in front
of her 14 month old baby son. Once again the gardener is a suspect. They will
probably not make too much of an effort to find him. The one who murderd
the mother in Sunningdale a few months ago has still not been found. Most of
our useless, lazy, corrupt police officers have better things to do. Like
sleep on duty, or go shopping in their police cars.
-
report sent by A.C. Durban,
What exactly is going on in South
Africa? We know the state power company, ESKOM, has called for a 10% reduction
in industrial and commercial usage indefinitely. It says the rationing of
electricity may not be far off, and that the crisis will last at least six
months. Coal stockpiles to run South Africa's generating facilities are low.
And in the mining industry, a 10% reduction in power means a 20% reduction in
output owing to all the systems (ventilation, pumping) that must be in
operation for a mine to operate. Platinum group metals, of which South Africa
is a major producer, should continue to benefit. But what in the world will
happen to South Africa as an economy and a country? "South Africa has been
flung full tilt into a Premature Long Emergency," Jim Kunstler's
correspondent writes. "In the up market suburbs, not least to say generally
all over the urban landscape, there is not a 1km (5/8 mile) strip of tarred
road that is not full of potholes (huge gapping holes, across which vehicles
cannot drive), the roadside curbs are disintegrating, the road maintenance
programmes over the last 10 years have failed to maintain the roads in a
serviceable and passable state. “The nation is gripped in a crisis of rolling
power outages caused by the incompetence of highly paid government ministers
and their charges. The news of the weekend is that the nation is in dire
straits with the supply of clean, drinkable water to households and business
alike. We are faced with unusual weather patterns, floods at the moment, high
rain fall for the summer, the expectation of an early, long cold winter.
"The rolling power outages are resulting in about a 25% national power
outage per month. The ramifications of this can be related directly to an
income loss of the same amount, retail supplies are being interrupted and from
a security point of view it is dangerous to shop in malls. The Electricity
Supply Commission - ESKOM are indicating a forced reduction on power usage by
10%, further, the mines have been told not to work on Fridays. "There are
revenue and cost implications here that extend beyond the obvious monthly figures.
What of the power saving measures that may in turn lead to greater problems,
the mines are unable to pump excess ground water from the shafts, the
maintenance programmes are due to suffer. And what of the safety indications,
miners are protesting the possibility of being caught under ground or in lift
shafts as the random power cuts hit the service grids. "It is not only
that ESKOM have not maintained or expanded their operations in the last 15
years, but the next big whammy is that there is no coal to keep the power
stations running...at most times, there is a couple of months supply of coal
on-site for electricity operations, today there is hardly a few days supply.
Incidentally the reason given for this catastrophe is that the trucks
delivering the coal have been unable to get to the power stations as the road
infrastructure has deteriorated- potholes again. In the Afrikaans language:
'slaggate' - a direct translation to 'slaughter holes'. As this is written, we
wait for the next couple of days to see the effect of the 'coal
emergency'. "At some point the
effect of the power emergency on water and sanitation supply should be
considered and this would be part of the roll out of unexpected events
resultant of the collapse of the power supply, but the water board have usurped
the power supply with homegrown problems of their own... "So here we have
it, 43% of the dams have safety problems and are in danger of collapsing.
Further to this, the ground water in “Gauteng”, the province of Johannesburg, has
radioactive contamination from mining operations. "Now, as a matter of interest,
Johannesburg is one of the few cities in the world that is built on a hill and
water has to be pumped up into the city! "And what of the people's
reaction? Complacency does not even come close, the nation is either brain-dead
or ignorant, or just plain 'frog in a pot' of water with the temperature
rising. "The first reaction to the power emergency took the form of a rush
for candles, refilling of gas bottles and the purchasing of generators (if you
could get them). Then the complacency set it, business learnt to sit through
power outages, retail shops were forced to close their doors for a few hours a
day. There was and is a shortage of food supplies, food went bad in the fridges
and had to been thrown away. It was kind of charming in a strange kind of way,
to eat dinner by candle light and forgo the 'soapies' on TV. Traffic lights
were out over a large number of suburbs and delays in getting to business
meetings became the norm. "The schools are unable to teach a full day's
lesson. The internet service providers and the mobile phone companies'
frequently have service delays or are just plain 'off line'. The battery runs
out on your laptop and that's the days productive work is over until the power
is back on...Patients in ICU or undergoing operations, as the power grid went
down, were at risk of and did, die.
- Dan
Denning, Editor of “The Daily Reckoning” Australia,
South Africans today are deeply
demoralised people. The lights are going out in homes, mines, factories and
shopping malls as the national power authority, Eskom - suffering from mismanagement, lack of foresight, a failure
to maintain power stations and a flight of skilled engineers to other countries
- implements rolling power cuts that plunge towns and cities into daily chaos.
Major industrial projects are on hold. The only healthy enterprise now worth
being involved in is the sale of small diesel generators to powerless
households but even this business has run out of supplies and spare parts from
China. The currency, the Rand, has entered freefall. Crime, much of it
gratuitously violent, is rampant, and the national police chief faces trial for
corruption and defeating the ends of justice as a result of his alleged deals
with a local mafia kingpin and dealer in hard drugs. Newly elected African
National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma, the state president-in-waiting,
narrowly escaped being jailed for raping an HIV-positive woman last year, and faces
trial later this year for soliciting and accepting bribes in connection with
South Africa's shady multi-billion-pound arms deal with British, German and
French weapons manufacturers. One local newspaper columnist suggests that Zuma
has done for South Africa's international image what Borat has done for
Kazakhstan. ANC leaders in 2008 still speak in the spiritually dead jargon they
learned in exile in pre-1989 Moscow, East Berlin and Sofia while promiscuously
embracing capitalist icons - Mercedes 4x4s, Hugo Boss suits, Bruno Magli shoes
and Louis Vuitton bags which they swing, packed with money passed to them under
countless tables - as they wing their way to their houses in the south of
France. It all adds up to a hydra-headed crisis of huge proportions - a perfect
storm as the “Rainbow Nation” slides off the end of the rainbow and descends in
the direction of the massed ranks of failed African states. Eskom has warned foreign investors with
millions to sink into big industrial and mining projects: we don't want you
here until at least 2013, when new power stations will be built. In the first
month of this year, the Rand fell 12% against the world's major currencies and
foreign investors sold off more than £600 million worth of South African
stocks, the biggest sell-off for more than seven years. "There will be
further outflows this month, because there won't be any news that will convince
investors the local growth picture is going to change for the better,"
said Rudi van der Merwe, a fund manager at South Africa's Standard Bank.
Commenting on the massive power cuts, Trevor Gaunt, professor of electrical
engineering at the University of Cape Town, who warned the government eight
years ago of the impending crisis, said: "The damage is huge, and now South
Africa looks just like the rest of Africa. Maybe it will take 20 years to
recover." The power cuts have hit the country's platinum, gold, manganese
and high-quality export coal mines particularly hard, with no production on
some days and only 40% to 60% on others. "The shutdown of the mining
industry is an extraordinary, unprecedented event," said Anton Eberhard, a
leadin g energy expert and professor of business studies at UCT. "That's a
powerful message, massively damaging to South Africa's reputation for new
investment. Our country was built on the mines. "To examine how the
country, widely hailed as Africa's last best chance, arrived at this parlous
state, the particular troubles engulfing the Scorpions (the popular name of the
National Prosecuting Authority) offers a useful starting point. The elite unit,
modelled on America's FBI and operating in close co-operation with Britain's
Serious Fraud Office (SFO), is one of the big successes of post-apartheid South
Africa. An independent institution, separate from the slipshod South African
Police Service, the Scorpions enjoy massive public support. The unit's edict is
to focus on people "who commit and profit from organised crime", and
it has been hugely successful in carrying out its mandate. It has pursued and pinned
down thousands of high-profile and complex networks of national and
international corporate and public fraudsters. Drug kingpins, smugglers and
racketeers have felt the Scorpions' sting. A major gang that smuggle platinum,
South Africa's biggest foreign exchange earner, to a corrupt English smelting
plant has been bust as the result of a huge joint operation between the SFO and
the Scorpions. But the Scorpions, whose top men were trained by Scotland Yard,
have been too successful for their own good. The ANC government never
anticipated the crack crimebusters would take their constitutional independence
seriously and investigate the top ranks of the former “liberation” movement
itself. The Scorpions have probed into, and successfully prosecuted, ANC MPs
who falsified their parliamentary expenses. They secured a jail sentence for
the ANC's chief whip, who took bribes from the German weapons manufacturer that
sold frigates and submarines to the South African Defence Force. They sent to j
ail for 15 years a businessman who paid hundreds of bribes to then state
vice-president Jacob Zuma in connection with the arms deal. Zuma was found by
the judge to have a corrupt relationship with the businessman, and now the
Scorpions have charged Zuma himself with fraud, corruption, tax evasion,
racketeering and defeating the ends of justice. His trial will begin in August.
The Scorpions last month charged Jackie Selebi, the national police chief, a
close friend of state president Thabo Mbeki, with corruption and defeating the
ends of justice. Commissioner Selebi, who infamously called a White police
sergeant a "f***ing chimpanzee" when she failed to recognise him
during an unannounced visit to her Pretoria station, has stepped down pending
his trial. But now both wings of the venomously divided ANC - ANC-Mbeki and
ANC-Zuma - want the Scorpions crushed, ideally by June this year. The message
this will send to the outside world is that South Africa's rulers want only
certain categories of crime investigated, while leaving government ministers
and other politicians free to stuff their already heavily lined pockets. No
good reason for emasculating the Scorpions has been put forward. "That's
because there isn't one," said Peter Bruce, editor of the influential Business Day, South Africa's equivalent
of, and part-owned by, The Financial
Times, in his weekly column. "The Scorpions are being killed off
because they investigate too much corruption that involves ANC leaders. It is
as simple and ugly as that," he added. The demise of the Scorpions can
only exacerbate South Africa's out-of-control crime situation, ranked for its
scale and violence only behind Colombia. Everyone has friends and acquaintances
who have had guns held to their heads by gangsters, who also blow up ATM
machines and hijack security trucks, sawing off their roofs to get at the cash.
Last week 18-year-old Razelle Botha, who passed all her A-levels with marks of
more than 90% and was about to train as a doctor, returned home with her
father, Professor Willem Botha, founder of the geophysics department at the
University of Pretoria, from buying pizzas for the family. Inside the house,
armed gunmen confronted them. They shot Professor Botha in the leg and pumped
bullets into Razelle. One severed her spine. Now she is fighting for her life
and will never walk again, and may never become a doctor. The gunmen stole a
laptop computer and a camera. Feeding the perfect storm are the two centres of
ANC power in the country at the moment. On the one hand, there is the ANC in parliament,
led by President Mbeki, who last Friday gave a state-of-the-nation address and
apologised to the country for the power crisis. Mbeki made only the briefest of
mentions of the national AIDS crisis, with more than six million people
HIV-positive. He did not address the Scorpions crisis. The collapsing public
hospital system, under his eccentric health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang,
an alcoholic who recen tly jumped the public queue for a liver transplant,
received no attention. And the name Jacob Zuma did not pass his lips. Last
December Mbeki and Zuma stood against each other for the leadership of the ANC
at the party's five-yearly electoral congress. Mbeki, who cannot stand again as
state president beyond next year's parliamentary and presidential elections,
hoped to remain the power behind the throne of a new state president of his
choosing. Zuma, a Zulu populist with some 20 children by various wives and
mistresses, hoped to prove that last year's rape case, and the trial he faces
this year for corruption and other charges, were part of a plot by Mbeki to use
state institutions to discredit him. Mbeki assumed that the notion of Zuma
assuming the state presidency would be so appalling to delegates that his own
re-election as ANC leader was a shoo-in.
- Sunday
Herald (Glasgow), February 9, 2008
Beeld newspaper
published this close-up picture of the strangulation marks on the throat of
Lydenburg rape victim Mariska Louw, 22 - ambushed in her flat in Lydenburg on
Friday evening, raped and assaulted by a Black man who only took her mobile
phone and keys, and then tied her up and locked her into her barricaded flat.
Neighbours, who had gone to fetch the police after hearing her screams, were
unable to reach her and police did nothing to rescue her.
Ms Louw already is a badly traumatised woman::
she had also found her fiancee Werner van Jaarsveldt murdered in September 2007
in Midrand. He had spotted her car -- hijacked ten days earlier -- had phoned
the police on his cellphone and then given chase. He was gunned down. They had
planned to be wed in November. Her latest ordeal started on Friday-night when
she returned to her flat at around 2am. A man ambushed her inside her own
bathroom. "The security downstairs front door was locked when I arrived at
the building and I locked it again behind me and went up to my flat. When I
opened the bathroom door a (black) man stood there, naked. He attacked
me", she said. He said "Shut up or I will kill you", tore my
clothes into strips and gagged me, and tied my hands and legs. She put up a
fierce fight while he was doing this, and Beeld
describes her body as being covered in numerous scratches, bite-marks and
bruises.She hit him at once point with an ash-tray, she said. However she had
to undergo the ordeal of rape and afterwards he tied her to the drainpipe of
the bathtub."I heard him close the door to my room. I couldn't get my
breath,' she said. Her dad Pieter Louw said what bothers him the most is that
the police failed to turn up after neighbours - who had heard her screaming and
fighting off her assailant - had called them on Friday-night. They had heard
her screaming - but the door was locked. The neighbours finally went to the
police station themselves and went and fetched the police. However the cops
just walked around the building lighting around themselves with torches and
left again. The rapist at that point was still inside her flat.
-
AfricanCrisis,
The violence-ravaged South African
Indian community of Chatsworth outside Durban has declared a “state of
emergency” and has called for the urgent intervention of the South African army
to restore law and order in their town. Angry residents, businessmen and
religious organisations this week asked for the deployment of troops in the
area after 15 extremely violent armed robberies targetted their community
within just three weeks. They held a meeting on Wednesday to map out an action
plan against criminals.Dr Paul Lutchman, chairman of Community Against Crime, said the meeting resolved to declare a
state of emergency and to ask for SANDF reinforcements to flush out criminals.
-
AfricanCrisis,
Diamond, gold and platinum mines were
shut for the weekend owing to an electricity shortage that has crippled the
sector and left thousands of miners without work, officials said. The country's
major mining companies, such as the world's biggest diamond producer De Beers,
were in a crisis meeting on Saturday with public electricity company Eskom. The
electrical provider had obliged the mines to suspend their operations the night
before as it could not guarantee a steady supply. "At the moment, things
are as there were yesterday," De Beers spokesperson Tom Tweedy told AFP.
"There is no production. Our six mines are closed." De Beers produces
nearly 16 million carats per year and employs 5,100 workers in the country. The
situation is similar for gold mines in South Africa - which produces the most
gold in the world. "Our mines are still closed. We are in ongoing
discussions with Eskom," said Steve Lenahan, spokesperson for AngloGold
Ashanti, which employs 35,000 people in seven mines. Harmony Gold spokesperson
Amelia Soares said "we are all in the same boat. All of our 20 gold mines
are closed". "We didn't take the night shift underground," she
said. "There was a meeting with Eskom this morning to try to see how to
take the operations forward on
Monday." No Eskom spokesperson was available on Saturday.
-
AFP report (forwarded by RHGE, Johannesburg),
Graaff Reinet - Residents of this
historical town were shocked by the cruel murder of an Afrikaner police
instructor. Senior superintendent Erika Heunis, 36, was apparently also
gang-raped before she was beaten to death with stones. She was married and has
two teenaged daughters. There were supposedly three attackers, but by late on
Tuesday police still refused to reveal any facts. According to a source at the
police academy where she worked, she was running as usual with police students
along Mountain Avenue, a well-known hiking trail outside the town. Local
residents say other women have also been attacked along that trail. She was
attacked and murdered about 3km from the turn-off to the road. It's not known
why the students did not protect her. Apparently they had returned to the
academy without her. Her attackers apparently laid in wait for her. "When
she failed to return to the academy after a while, two police officers
investigated," said the source, who wanted to remain anonymous. These
officers found her semi-naked body under a bush along the dirt road. Forensic
specialists arrived at the crime scene from Port Elizabeth on Tuesday afternoon
to investigate the murder. Police inspector Wena Theron also was unable to
explain why the police specialists at Graaff Reinet did not investigate the
crime scene. "A full report will be issued on Wednesday morning," was
all she said. Heunis's family was too shocked to comment on the incident.
-
News24.com report,
About 900 people were stranded at
the top of Table Mountain on Monday night after yet another of the country's
many "rolling blackouts" by the country's parastatal
electricity-supplier ESKOM. The last passenger was finally brought down in the
early hours of Tuesday morning. The power supply had cut out at 19:49 Monday -
and the last passengers were finally brought down only by 01:30 the next
morning.
-
AfricanCrisis,
The New South Africa - the crime
capital of the world !
· Former president – jail bird and
terrorist
· President to be – awaiting trial
· Commissioner of the Police and chief of
INTERPOL – awaiting trial
· Previous Whip of the ANC – paroled
· Minister of Defence – convicted
criminal
ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
-
report sent by P.R., Transvaal, January 19, 2008
White unemployment has nearly
doubled since 1995, according to the Institute
for Security Studies. Today 430,000 Whites, of a total White population of
4.5 million [NB the total White population was approximately 6 million in 1990
- Ed.] , are “too poor to live in traditional White areas” and 90,000 “are in a
survival struggle”, says Lawrence Schlemmer, director of the Helen Suzman Foundation. Of these,
305,000 are Afrikaans-speaking and 215,000 speak English. Since 1998 these
figures have increased year-on-year by 15%. According to a survey by the South African Institute of Race Relations,
White unemployment increased by 74.4%, using the expanded definition, between
1998 and 2002, compared with the national average over the same period of
39.8%. It is important to note that the growth of White unemployment is off a
much lower population base than Black unemployment. A key goal of the National
Party in the heyday of apartheid was to uplift poor Whites by using the state
and semi-state sectors to provide them with jobs and housing, reserving certain
jobs for Whites, favouring their trade unions and shoring up the farming
sector. But for the first time in the mid-1970s, there were more white-collar
than blue-collar Afrikaners, and the policies of the NP shifted accordingly.
Poor Whites were increasingly abandoned by the state. The 1994 election and the
advent of majority rule has accelerated the downward precipitation of Whites
without capital or marketable skills.
-
AfricanCrisis,
Hundreds of policemen are being
murdered in armed violence which are targetting them under the ANC's rule in
South Africa from 1994 than ever died before. The death-toll among South
African police indeed is 64% higher than it was in the eleven years preceeding
South Africa's political transition. This finding was made by the South African Institute of Race Relations.
"Between 1983 and 1993 about 1,152 policemen were murdered. Between 1995
and 2005 a staggering 1,894 policemen were murdered" the Institute said. The
death-rates among South African police during 2006 and 2007 have gone up even
higher. This is an increase of 64 %" said Kerwin Lebone, the Institute's
researcher who compiled the statistics. "If there were any South Africans
that had to date failed to grasp the seriousness of criminal attacks on South
Africa these figures should shock them out of their complacency".
-
AfricanCrisis,
A British father of six has been
shot dead in front of his wife and children as he pleaded with armed robbers
not to harm them in his heavily fortified home in Pretoria. Fred
Picton-Turbervill, 46, originally from Bridgend in South Wales, was shot in the
head at close range before two robbers escaped with a laptop, four mobile
phones and £80. He was taken to hospital but died soon after admission. His
widow, Ursula, 41, said last night that her husband had been shot in the eye by
one raider despite complying with their demands. She said: "It's just so
pointless. Fred was doing what they said and was no threat to them. “It makes
no sense at all to me. They are not even animals for what they have done to me
and my children. Was it really worth a few mobile phones and some cash?"
Mr Picton-Turbervill, the director of a South African furniture manufacturing
business, was watching television with his wife in their home on Pretoria's
upmarket Waterkloof Ridge area when the robbers struck on Saturday night. The
couple's four children, Samantha, 10, Bryony, nine, Natasha, six, and Gregory,
three, were with them at the time. His eldest son, Jamie, was celebrating his
21st birthday in Britain. Mrs Picton-Turbervill said the robbers, who spoke
poor English, held pistols and shouted "Sleep, Sleep!" and
"Money, Money!" at the family. She said: "Fred asked them not to
harm the children but they didn't respond. Then one of them shot my husband in
the eye. I didn't see it because he was behind me but my two older girls saw it
and were traumatised. He collapsed against me. Samantha closed little Gregory's
eyes because she did not want to him to see his father bleeding to death. The
other two just lay dead still. They took me through the house into our room
where I gave them my jewellery box and my husband's wallet. After the robbers
left, I put the children in the car and drove to my friend's house for help.
Gregory was saying 'the doctors are going to fix my daddy up, he's going to be
okay' but I'm not sure he realises what's happened yet." Hugo Minnaar, a
paramedic rescue worker, said Mr Picton-Turbervill was found lying on the
floor. "We immediately put him on a life-support system and rushed him to
hospital where he died," he said. Waterkloof Ridge is the favoured
residence of many foreign diplomats and senior South African officials. The
Picton-Turbervill house has 8ft walls topped with electric fencing. Neighbours
said it was hard to see how the robbers could have gained access. The Pretoria
police said they men were investigating "promising leads" but had as
yet made no arrests. "We are investigating a case of murder and robbery
with aggravating circumstances," he said.
-
Daily Telegraph,
Internationally-known Natal
birder/geologist Robin Guy, 75, was shot and killed during an attack by two armed
Black men at a Bryanston home last night. Nothing was robbed - but police refer
to it as a 'failed robbery'. He and his wife Bella from rural Underberg, Natal,
had been in Bryanston on a festive season visit when two attackers disturbed a
dinner on the verandah of his brother-in-law's home. A shot went off and he
died instantly. Guy was the father of South African Press Association
journalist Duncan Guy, creator of the children's newspaper "The Times I Am
Living In"; and the award-winning environmental film maker Donald Guy.
Robin Guy leaves his wife Bella; daughter Jane; sons Robert, Duncan and Robin;
six grandchildren.
- AfricanCrisis,
Tanzania’s ambassador to South Africa was beaten and his wife stabbed in
a robbery during his farewell dinner in the capital Pretoria. Seven people were
admitted to hospital after the attack, which left ambassador Emmanuel
Mwambulukutu unconscious and his wife with a knife wound to the head.
- Sunday Telegraph,
Singer Sonja Herholdt was injured
after being robbed on Christmas Eve. Herholdt, who has entertained South
Africans for decades with her songs, suffered slight cuts to her chin and hands
after a thief smashed the passenger window of her almost brand new VW Golf 5.
She was on her way home to Randburg after visiting Carel F Cronje, her
autobiographer and his partner, Cornell Boshoff, in Pretoria. According to Mike
Wannenburg, Herholdt's partner, she stopped at the Malibongwe exit on the N1
highway at about 22:00 when the attacker hit. Three to four cars were waiting
at the same traffic light when the man suddenly appeared on the passenger side
and smashed the window. He took her handbag, containing her identity document
and driver's licence, which was lying on the front seat. "She is angry
because she should have known better (than to leave her handbag on the
seat)," said Wannenburg. Her purse and mobile phone were not stolen, as
these were hidden elsewhere in the car. According to Wannenburg, Herholdt
suffered slight cuts to her chin and hands due to glass shards caused by the
window being smashed. Wannenburg was shocked because the windows were supposed
to have been covered by a protecting layer to prevent such attacks. "One
pays a lot for these things, which don't work. It was especially included in
the package when she bought the car," he said.
-
Beeld report,
This
year's 21st
- Southern Cross Africa News,
In the Durban High Court, a self-confessed Black killer described how he
shared a meal with seven-year-old Vuyani Nqulunga, - before cutting the Black child's
head off and removing his genitals. The 17-year-old Black killer, whose
name may not be published because he is still a minor, said a bricklayer who
employed him told him in August or September that he needed a boy's head, - and
offered him R20,000 for one. Using children's body part as 'muti', medicine, is
a common practice among Black witch-doctors, and has been ostensibly given new
impetus by the ruling regime's official granting of recognition and
respectability of witch-doctors as 'health practitioners'
- Southern Cross Africa News,
Only four lifts out of 21 are
operational at Johannesburg Hospital, the hospital's chief executive said on Thursday.
Extra staff had been employed to carry patients up and down the stairs, said
Sagie Pillay. "If we have to carry the patients, then that is what we will
do. We have signs posted that the lifts are not working and apologise for any
inconvenience caused. "The matter is receiving our highest
attention," he said. According to the Democratic Alliance's provincial
health spokesperson, Jack Bloom, the Department of Public Works was to blame
for the problem. "They (the Department) cancelled all contracts with lift
companies earlier this year. "Since then there has been constant problems
getting contractors mandated by the Public Works Department to service and
repair lifts," said Bloom. He said he had received reports from hospital
staff saying that they were experiencing difficulty in getting patients from
operating theatres to the intensive care unit. "With so many lifts out of
order, this has turned from an inconvenience to a crisis. Action should be
taken immediately," said Bloom.
- SAPA report forwarded by RHGE,
A 21-year-old man sustained
serious injuries in an attempted hijacking in Weltevreden Park on Sunday,
Johannesburg paramedics said. ER24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak said the attack
took place at a housing complex in Without Street around 02:00.
"Paramedics that arrived on the scene found the 21-year-old lying in the
house at the time. He sustained serious injuries to his face, head and possible
fractures to his hands and wrists," Vermaak said. It was understood that
the man had been visiting a friend in the complex and was about to leave when a
group of men tried to hijack his Toyota Corolla outside the complex. "The
21-year-old put up a vicious fight," he said. It was believed that
hijackers fled the scene. The severely beaten man was found lying next to his
car by his friend who dragged him into the house.
- SAPA report forwarded by RHGE,
Robbers used pruning shears to
lop off four fingers of an elderly Limpopo [Far Northern Transvaal] woman and
her husband's life is hanging by a thread after he was repeatedly struck on the
head with a panga. The horrifying attack and plunder of the couple's home
lasted for about eight hours. When Theuns Janse van Rensburg, 72, lost
consciousness, his attackers undressed him and placed him on the couple's bed.
One of the attackers lay next to him, watching television for several hours.
Tienie Janse van Rensburg, the couple's shocked son, told Beeld : "They hacked my father and left him for dead, and my
stepmother is shattered." Tienie said his father's dentures were found on
the floor of the passage. One of Hettie's fingers was also lying in the house.
His father had heard a noise outside the 7th Street house about 20:00. "My
dad went to see what was happening and that's when the attackers must have
slipped in at the front door." One attacker slashed at Janse van Rensburg
repeatedly with his panga. Hettie tried to fight back, but four of the fingers
on her left hand were severed with a pair of garden shears. Her right arm was
also broken.Bleeding profusely, she ran to the main bedroom's en-suite
bathroom, where she locked herself in and used a towel to stem the flow of
blood from her hand. Her unconscious husband was dragged through to the main
bedroom, stripped naked and placed on the bed. Janse van Rensburg was moved to
Unitas Hospital in Centurion [Verwoerrdburg] by helicopter on Monday morning.
He was still unconscious on Monday evening. Kate Cvitanic, a spokesperson for
the hospital, said he was in a serious, but stable, condition. Another son,
Pierre Janse van Rensburg, said his stepmother looked terrible and was
confused. "My father has a fracture of the skull, where he was hit on the
head with the panga." Dries Joubert, the president of TLU SA North, said the number of attacks on elderly people in
Limpopo in recent times had amounted to a low-intensity war. In another
incident on Monday, a woman was attacked in her farm stall in the Mokopane
district and had serious facial injuries.
- Beeld
report forwarded by RHGE,
A German-born White South African, Franz
Richter, owner of Aloe Ridge Lodge
and Heia Safari Ranch in Swartkops
near Krugersdorp, was gunned down in an armed robbery by Black killers on
Wednesday morning. The elderly Richter was an 'iconic character' of the South
African tourism industry, according to the Southern
African Tourism Services Association, which 'condemned' his murder. Until
his death, Richter was optimistic about the so-called ‘new’ South Africa, and
had been involved in developing tourism to the area for the last 35 years. He
believed in selling Africa as an ideal tourist destination to the world. The
murder of Richter followed soon after the recent murders of the owners of the Wartburger Hof Hotel early in November.
- Southern Cross Africa News,
An 85-year-old Afrikaner
farmer, Barend Jonker of the Geyser area near Usterberg, was attacked while
milking cows yesterday. This is the area's sixth farm attack since 26 October -
and during which two farmers were murdered and two seriously injured and still
fighting for their lives in local hospitals. The local Transvaal Agricultural Union (TLU) president Dries Joubert warns
South African farmers that based on this rapid increase and the high level of
ferocity shown in these latest farm attacks, this holiday season will be
'bloody, violent and extremely cruel' for South Africa's commercial
agricultural farmers once again. Mr Jonker survived the attack but is in
critical condition in Polokwane hospital. The old Afrikaner was milking his
cows at about 6am on his farm Rietvlei near Ysterberg when he was attacked from
behind by someone with an axe. It's not known whether anyone else was involved.
A Netcare paramedic said Jonker's
face and head sustained 'very serious injuries'. A small amount of cash
apparently may have been robbed but this is not yet certain.
- AfricanCrisis,
University of Pretoria professor
Margaret Slabbert was heartbroken and fighting back tears after she saw her
unarmed husband shot in the heart in front of her at their home in Nicolson
Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria, on Wednesday. Gerhard Slabbert, 53, a consulting
engineer, died shortly afterwards. On Saturday night, a 13-year-old girl had
also been shot in the leg in the same street in an attack by armed men.
Professor Margaret Slabbert, 51, of the university's visual arts department
spoke of her sorrow on Thursday as she recounted what had happened at about
22:00 on Wednesday. The Slabberts had returned after taking their sons's car to
him. She said: "When we turned into the drive of our property, a man was
climbing over the wall. I was driving. My husband got out of the car and asked
the man what he wanted. When my husband asked him a second time what he was
looking for, I saw the man take something out of his pocket. It was a firearm.
Unfortunately, my husband realised it too late. The moment he saw what was
happening, he tried to jump back into the car. The guy shot him in the
heart". With her husband on the seat next to her, Slabbert reversed up the
driveway and sped to a nearby hospital. Slabbert said: "There was no
reason for the man to shoot my husband. He could have just run off. Gerhard was
a wonderful person. Everyone was mad about him. All that I know is that my
children must get out of here (South Africa) as soon as they can," she
said.
- AfricanCrisis,
Only 10% of all the reported
28,828 countrywide livestock thefts ended up in a first-court appearance of the
farm attackers - 2% less than the previous year, and armed attackers against
South African farms have increased by 24.8% this year. Ryno King, Democratic
Alliance spokesman said “we are now paying for Mbeki's unilateral decision to
end the commando systems, which were specialised in chasing down
livestock-poachers and farm attackers.” The Democratic Alliance was supplied
these farm-attack statistics after raising the issue in Parliament this week.
The largest number of livestock thefts occurred in Natal, with 7,256 animals
looted from the fields by organised, armed criminals. This includes wildlife, cattle, sheep and goats
Jan Vorster, the 79-year-old retired farmer of
Nelspruit whose body was so badly mutilated by a panga-attack on Friday that
his survival was doubtful, has died. The life-support machines were turned off.
He was attacked and badly mutilated by two armed attackers with pangas - who
only stole a radio, which was later found discarded. Beeld newspaper reported
his son-in-law Kobus Greyvenstein as saying that “Vorster fought to the end.”
His widow Hannatjie was slightly injured in the attack. He is survived by his
widow, daughter Ivy, 40, five grandchildren and two stepsons Cornelius, 50 and
Jan Viljoen, 54.
Six armed attackers stormed into an Asian family's
Erasmia home on Monday and gunned down all the male family members present
there. Two family members, Ali Janoo, 17 and his brother-in-law Mohammed
Lambad, were killed instantly. Family patriarch Moosa Janoo, 67 and his
24-year-old son Akhter Janoo are in the intensive-care unit of Kalafond
hospital at Atteridgeville in unknown condition. A shocked Mr Rizwan Kahn, a
member of the sector policing forum who arrived shortly after the attack, said
the large group of armed attackers fled in two vehicles, a white Toyota Corolla
and a white minibus. The family's 13-year-old daughter and the matriarch also
were in the house during the murder spree.
- News24 reports,
Fears over security
overshadowed the draw for the 2010 World Cup yesterday after it emerged that a
former Austrian goalkeeper, a close friend of Franz Beckenbauer, had been shot
dead on a golf course near Durban. Although the FIFA president Sepp Blatter dismissed
any direct link to the draw for the tournament – the first big test for South
Africa in the countdown to 2010 – news that Pieter Burgstaller had been
murdered sparked fresh concerns over the country's deadly crime rate. Austrian
and German Football Federation officials confirmed that the 43-year-old events
manager was on holiday in South Africa, but had been invited to attend
yesterday's draw by Beckenbauer, the former German international who is now a
vice-president of FIFA. Burgstaller was found shot dead with a single bullet
wound to the chest on Friday evening on the 12th tee of a golf course at the
exclusive Selborne Hotel, Spa and Golf Estate in Pennington, an hour's drive
from Durban. Police believe the motive was robbery. Blatter said: "We deplore
that a tourist from Austria was shot dead yesterday on a golf course.” In a
separate incident, Oliver Bierhoff, the German team manager, had his briefcase
stolen on Sunday on his way to breakfast at his hotel in Durban. It contained
his passport and two mobile phones as well as paperwork relating to the draw.
- Daily Telegraph,
According to security experts, the
isolation and helplessness of Whites in Black-ruled South Africa have been
illustrated by a White couple having been attacked and shot and lying dead and
half-dead for three days before anybody even knew about it. Beaten up by Black
gunmen and semi-conscious, Martina Stocker lay next to her husband's bloody
corpse from Wednesday till Friday before being discovered when their company
raised the alarm. The Black gang had shot her
husband Jürgen, 66, in his upper body at their Bryanston home on Wednesday
night, and simply tied up and left his body in his own blood where he had
collapsed in the passage. Martina lay in the same passage from the time of the
attack until 9am on Friday, when Inspector Hein van Heerden, from Randburg
police station, found her. Detectives said at first they thought the viciously
attacked Martina was also dead, but, after confirming she was alive, they
called the paramedics.
-
Southern Cross Africa News,
Another White man has been shot and
killed by Blacks in his house in Northern Natal. Late on Friday night, Herman Strydom
of Vryheid, who was in his forties, returned home with his wife after closing
their shop in town. When he opened his security gate he was callously shot
dead. His wife activated the alarm and the attackers fled. A White University
of Cape Town commercial law professor, Mike Larkin, was stabbed to death by
Black robbers as he walked down Rosslyn Road in Rondebosch on Friday. Residents
claim that attacks and muggings by Blacks are an almost everyday occurrence. An
angry Johnny Johnson, who lives in Roslyn Road, said he and his wife Nina had
come home on Friday to find the road cordoned off. "There was a body lying
in the road outside our house, under a sheet soaked in blood... [ANC] Safety
and Security Minister Charles Ngcula called us whingers, but who wants to come
home to find a dead man in front of your door?" He said muggers would
seize bags and then flee into the Liesbeeck River and then run to the station
where they would jump on to a train. Larkin, believed to be in his late 50s and
divorced, joined UCT as head of the department of commercial law in January
last year. He had been associated with the leftist University of Witwatersrand
for 35 years, most recently as deputy dean of the faculty. His area of
specialisation is corporate law. Most English-speaking formerly White
universities were at the forefront of the campaign to topple the White
government and establish Black rule over the whole of South Africa. Since then,
many of them have turned around and criticised the ruling ANC. Larkin was one
of the signatories to a letter written by members of UCT law faculty to
question whether ANC stalwart John Hlophe, who was made judge president of the
Cape, should stay on in his position after having been found out taking a
R10,000 monthly 'retainer' from the Oasis
Group.
-
Southern Cross Africa News,
Murders and rapes are forcing women
to abandon their homes in five villages outside Mthatha in the Eastern Cape
Province, the SABC reported on Friday. The residents of Skhobeni, Xhongora,
Sigubudwini, Bozwana and Tabase villages claim that this violence against women
has been going on since 2003. Nine people have been killed and eleven women
raped since last September, the SABC said. The situation has forced some
families to abandon their homes and seek refuge with neighbours or to live in
the bush. Nobangile Mtirara - a female traditional leader in the area - told
the SABC: "Government must take care of us and get policemen to look after
us. People are not safe as they say they are sleeping outside their
homes."
-
AfricanCrisis,
Helene Kerkhof, 21 - who had just
returned to South Africa after two years in Taiwan - was tied to her dying
father Rian by four armed attackers in Pretoria and terrorised. Her father was
shot in his Moreleta Park cottage on Thursday - the day of her return to South
Africa. "I begged them to take everything and go so that I could take my
father to hospital, but they shook him, laughed and said he was okay." A
dazed Ms Kerkhof said the four armed men had stormed into her unarmed dad's
cottage on Thursday and gunned him down at once. They then terrorised her and
her seriously injured dad for more than an hour for no particular reason.
Helene was asleep when the armed men gunned down Kerkhof inside his home in De
Villebois-Mareuil Street. "I woke up hearing voices and a shot. I knew we
were being robbed and called my father. Four men stormed into my room, picked
me up, hit me and threw me down next to my father. He was seriously wounded. "They
tied us to each other and kicked me several times. One of them tried to pull up
my shirt, but I laid curled up and asked him not to," she said. "I told them to take everything and go.
My father was shot through the right side and was bleeding to death. He was in
a lot of pain, but kept asking if I was okay." Helene and her father had
to watch for more than an hour how the robbers searched the house and ate from
the fridge before they eventually left with two laptop computers, a digital
camera, DVD-player, iPod and two mobile phones at about 00:30 Kerkhof was taken
to Pretoria East Hospital by ambulance, where he underwent emergency surgery.
He died on Friday morning shortly before his wife and children arrived at the
hospital. "I looked forward to
returning to South Africa, but I cannot live in a place where such pigs are
terrorising the community. "Nobody is safe. It's not enough to rob. They
want to kill," said Helene. "I am angry. Is nobody going to do
something about the senseless gruesome acts?" she wanted to know. Police
inspector Paul Ramaloko merely commented that 'nobody has been arrested in
connection with the incident.'
-
AfricanCrisis,
More policemen were murdered in the
eleven years after 1994 than in the eleven years preceding South Africa's
political transition, the South African
Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Monday. "The research
found that between 1983 and 1993, about 1,152 policemen were murdered. Between
1995 and 2005, a staggering 1,894 were murdered," the Institute said. This
indicates an increase of 64%," said Kerwin Lebone, the Institute's
researcher who compiled the statistics. Lebone said that if there were any
South Africans that had to date failed to grasp the seriousness of criminal
attacks on South Africa "these figures should shock them out of their
complacency". He said the murder of many policemen before 1994 was
allegedly politically motivated, because ‘liberation’ (i.e. terrorist)
movements regarded the previous government as ‘illegitimate’, and encouraged
attacks on that administration's personnel and institutions. "There seemed
to be no political motivation for the continued attacks on policemen after the
political settlement of 1994," said Lebone. He said the increase in the
number of murdered police and the huge leap in aggravated robberies were of
serious concern. Criminals seemed to be showing more disdain for the security
forces of the present government than they did for the previous one.
-
AfricanCrisis,
The images
of Thabo Mbeki being hoisted by ANC state-appointed officials with the William
Webb Ellis Cup in his hands was a contravention of the very essence of the
game. What part had he played in the Springboks victory? What was he even doing
on the podium? If England had won would the English squad have lifted Gordon
Brown into the air in triumph? Not bloody likely. Nobody seems to consider this
inappropriate . . . well I bloody do . . . political hi-jacking of sporting
occasions an anathema to most peoples' notions of sport. Why it was done with
the tacit approval of the IRB is not beyond me though. They realised South
Africa and South African rugby is going down the toilet and this pathetic
gesture might do some good to assuage forces and opinion back there that this
victory was for everyone in South Africa. Jake White deserves immense credit
for his single-minded bravery in attaining his objective. It was difficult
enough to beat what was in front of his team (actually not really) but the team
had to stay focused. What was even more difficult was to stay on course as he
was put under huge political pressure to include a significantly higher
proportion of Black players than he had been up to and including the
Tri-Nations. To howls of protest, White only picked six non-White players in
his squad, the same as in 2003; they might have been the unwritten rules. White
kept his head and won in the end without having to carry players who were not
up to the grade. Butana Komphela, a senior and powerful ANC member suggested that
the Springboks should have their passports revoked by the government. White,
after winning the World Cup, will not get a second term. Komphela has declared
that the ANC will never support Jake White if he bids for a second term . . .
the point being that he would rather see a losing multi-racial side based
purely on political quotas, not merit, represent South Africa than see a
predominately White team based on merit. From the new season onwards the
Springboks will by law have to have 10 Black players in a squad of 22
irrespective of whether the 10 are of international quality or not. How come a
political party can dictate this? Surely it is an act which circumvents the
fundamental principles of sport . . . pick your best team and compete to win.
It is amongst other things an act of overt racism and an act where the ruling
Black ANC party would take huge satisfaction if not glee from diluting and
destroying one of the last bastions and passions of the former White ruling
class. The ANC recently passed another resolution that the Springbok title and
emblem be scrapped. I recently read Martin Meredith's “The State of Africa”,
and it is a stunning read. It charts the history of every state in Africa since
accession or independence. It is also depressing as it charts literally the
same dismal cycle of misgovernance, corruption, greed, death, tyrannical
leadership etc. But there is a recurring theme of racial hatred. Sometimes we
lose the real sense of what racism is about in our politically correct and
appropriately sanitised society. Calling someone a sambo as they walk down
O'Connell Street [Sackville Street] might now be considered a heinous crime
here, but everything is a question of scale. Witness the Hutus and the Tutsis
in Rwanda . . . genocide on a grand scale . . . two million dead inside a year.
The Biafran War, 1-2 million dead, Darfur . . . the list is endless. Black
people hating Black people and willing to kill wantonly . . . you talk of scale
then this is point blank. But no matter how deep seated the indigenous people's
hate for each other is; it pales into insignificance for the dislike of the
White man. Already it has manifested itself in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe's
government decides this course of action on a daily basis, overtly racist. So
remind me why, when Ireland played Zimbabwe in the recent Cricket World Cup,
that nobody said a word? As in the '60s and '70s in the sporting
protests/boycotts against South Africa, why weren't there people flour-bombing
the cricket crease from crop-dusters or rushing barbed wire fences or holding
all day sit-ins outside the Zimbabwean hotel? If I wanted to register my
disgust at Ireland playing sport against such a racist regime how would I do
so? I tried to ring the Irish anti-apartheid movement but no such organisation
exists anymore. Now that Kader Asmal is happily ensconced in power in South
Africa, I haven't heard him come back to Ireland and condemn Mugabe and his
oppressive regime. Thabo Mbeki and the ANC give encouragement, economic help
and friendship to Mugabe and his regime . . . I find that objectionable. Mbeki
has serious issues to deal with in his country. An Interpol report stated that
the annual murder rate in South Africa is in fact twice the reported rate of
23,500 (actual 47,000); 95% of that is Black killing Black. Hunger,
inertia, political unrest and poverty are powerful catalysts for further
change. The White man's prosperity and capital are what are required and slowly
but surely it will be acquired. Quite possibly the first step is to take the
White man's rugby team away from him . . . that will really hurt! It is my
experience of South Africa that the Black man plays soccer almost exclusively
and the White man plays rugby. On one weekend in Johannesburg years ago I went
to watch the Blue Bulls play in Ellis Park on a Saturday, the following Sunday
the Kaiser Chiefs played a game of football. On Saturday there were no Black
faces in the audience, on Sunday my slightly pink visage and that of my
companion were the only White people in attendance. Out of a population of 48
million, 38 million are Black and 4.3 million are White [N.B. In 1990 there were 6
million Whites in South Africa - therefore a net 1.7 million have either
emigrated or have died (a disproportionate number having been murdered) in 17
years - ed.]. The minority play a minority
sport within that country . . . there is no bar at school, university, club,
provincial or international except that you be good enough. The South African
international soccer side has only one White man in its squad. There is
no bar on participation. The composition of the team is overwhelmingly Black
yet there is no need for state mandated quotas. Why? If the Black political
class are serious about multi-racial rugby it should not start from the top down
but from the bottom up. The reason I was opposed to Thabo Mbeki appearing on
the pitch in Paris is that he is the president of a party which has imposed
sanctions on a sporting body, ones which I think are overtly racist. The spine
of the Springbok side realise it and well before their time they are leaving
and going to Europe. It's hard to gauge how weak South Africa will be in 4
years. It is a worrying trend for rugby and things in general in that country.
Have we lost sight of the real meaning of racism or are we afraid to say it.
South Africa steps up in 2010 to host the soccer World Cup. If they win, will
the White minority rejoice even though they have practically no representation?
In the meantime will our moral guardians be as swift to act as they were in the
60's and 70's if there are further discriminatory shifts in sport policy.
Should we call for a boycott in 2010 if things deteriorate more? Racism cuts
both ways, don't be afraid to sound your voice.
- Sunday Tribune (Dublin),
Shoppers fled in panic at the
Kolonnade Shopping Centre north of the city [Pretoria] on Tuesday afternoon,
when robbers went on a shooting spree and robbed two jewellery stores. Netcare
911 spokesperson Nick Dollman said a security guard had been shot in the
buttock and a woman had to be treated in hospital for shock. Three shots were
fired through the display windows of the Truworths clothing store on the top
floor of the centre.
-
report sent by RHGE (Johannesburg),
Power failures hit parts of the
country on Friday morning after "unplanned outages" at Eskom.
"Eskom started implementing load shedding this morning after losing
electricity imports from the Cahora Bassa [hydroelectric project in
Mozambique]," said the company. Eskom said the problem was being
investigated. South Africa relied on about 1,400 megawatts of power from the
station. Power had also been lost when several generation units went on
"unplanned outages". Load shedding would be rotated, with areas being
without power for about two hours at a time. Eskom said they were using all
their emergency energy resources at hand, including gas turbines and buying
back power from large industrial customers. "However, this was not
sufficient to address the shortfall," said the company. Residential
customers are asked to switch off geysers during peak hours from 07:00 to 10:00
and from 18:00 to 21:00. Business are asked to turn off all non-essential
lighting and equipment.
-
SAPA report,
Crime has again come knocking -
literally - at swimming ace Ryk Neethling's door in Lynnwood, Pretoria. Someone
really has it in for the Neethling family: this was the third time he himself
was robbed in the past 12 months - and his family members have also recently
been targetted by attackers. On June 6 2007, his mum San-Marié was punched in
the face and threatened with a knife during a smash-and-grab robbery in
Johannesburg - but the only thing looted in the end was a cheap mobile phone.
This happened when the Neethling family were in town to support their
journalist-daughter Elsje Neethling in her battle with cancer. The family - his
father Ryk Neethling snr, his wife and their daughter the swimmer Jean-Marié -
were attacked at a traffic light in Beyers Naudé Drive. And a year earlier, also in June 2006, the
Olympic champion's house was burgled and many of his cherished medals stolen,
including Commonwealth and World golds. Yesterday, only a spur-of-the-moment
decision to travel to Bloemfontein to watch the Currie Cup semi-final, probably
saved him from coming face-to-face with the burglars at his home in Lynnwood,
Pretoria. Police spokesman Lucas Sithole said the burglars had kicked down a
door to gain access to the house at about 13:00 on Sunday. Beeld was told that Neethling hadn't had any plans to go to
Bloemfontein for the match between the Bulls and the Cheetahs. But on Saturday
morning, he and his housemate, Neil Cloete, had decided on the spur of the
moment to drive there after all. A person close to the family said it was a
"blessing" that they were not there when the burglars struck, because
their lives could have been in danger. Apparently a TV set, a DVD player and a
laptop were taken. Sithole said the police were still waiting for Neethling to
confirm what had been stolen this time. No-one had been arrested yet, he added.
-
AfricanCrisis,
There was bedlam when five armed
robbers struck at a church in Witbank on Friday. An elderly woman was stabbed
and several shots fired at about 30 children
and adults who were at the church at the time. Some of the children were also
beaten with firearms and a stick and shoved around. The 29-year-old youth
leader of the Congregation of Christ church, Marius Louwrens, said he was still
telling pastor Kiewiet van Staden about the robbery when the confused robbers
burst in and ran around in front of the pulpit. The incident occurred about
21:00 at the church in De Waal Street. The robbers first overpowered teens
outside the church and robbed four of their mobile phones. Tiekie Kruger, 14,
who was also outside the church, was hit on the back with a firearm. "They
also tried to hit me in the face with a stick, but I protected myself with my
hands. "One of the robbers asked for a
mobile phone and when I said I didn't have one, he body-searched me all
over. I didn't like it, because he was touching me everywhere," she said.
Selwyn de Lange, 15, was struck on the head with a firearm. Meanwhile, the
robbers had overpowered Maggie Cooks, 70, in the church's kitchen, and threatened
her with one of the church's knives. "The robber stabbed me in the side
and badly scratched my hands and arms as he shoved me around," Cooks said.
Another robber meanwhile ran into the church hall yelling, "keep quiet and
lie down flat". He pointed his firearm at Louwrens and then at
seven-year-old Annie van Niekerk.
-
report sent by RHGE (Johannesburg),
The
viciousness of the Blacks who seem incapapable of human emotion continues. It seems
that practically every one of them walk around armed waiting for an opportunity
to arise. So many people whose cars break down, or stop for some reason or
another, are attacked within sometimes minutes. A few months ago
a mother, her daughter, and the daughter's baby, broke down one
evening on their way home. Within a few minutes they were approached by
Blacks, who held them up at gunpount and robbed them of their mobile phones and
money etc. They then casually walked away, but true to form had to be more
disgusting and vicious, and turned back. They walked up to the car
again and fired shots at these helpless people. Once again they
just walked away. The baby of about three months old was shot during this
incident. He fought for his little life in hospital for weeks after that. Thank
God he survived. But for all this lot cared, he could have died. A few weeks
ago in upper Glenwood, which is a respectable residential area, a 40 year-old
man and his friend broke down late one Saturday evening. While waiting for a
tow truck, they were approached by some armed Blacks who attempted to hijack
them. The driver told them they were waiting to be towed. What did these
disgusting excuses for human beings do? They put the gun in his mouth and shot
him! They then grabbed the keys from the ignition (for what reason?) and
walked off. He also fought desperately for his life, but lost the battle
on the Monday. This poor soul had come to Durban from up country somewhere
especially too, and had just proposed to his girlfriend. Last week, about
mid-morning, in a well-to-do suburb of Sunningdale, near Umhlanga Rocks, a
young mother was stabbed 19 times, as well as bludgeoned with a spanner, while
holding her two month-old baby. She had tried to protect the child while being
murdered, they found the crying baby sitting next to her body. He had injuries
to his head but was alive. Her poor husband is devastated, and now an
innocent child will never know his mother. The horror goes on and on and our
ANC government ignore it all. Mbeki is so like Mugabe, we fear for this
country. Anyone who goes against him is fired or removed from office. His true
colours are really beginning to show now. He protects and defends idiots (such
as our Health Minister) as well as dishonest, racketeering gangsters (our
National Police Commissioner). This country is on an express train to hell, and
there is nothing we can do about it. Where are all the big mouths who
shouted and condemned Apartheid now? All those voices are very quiet,
no condemnation now, as they live safely in their First World countries far
removed from the nightmare we are having to live in.
-
report sent by ACS (Durban),
A 31-year-old woman was airlifted
to the Johannesburg hospital on Friday after she was shot in the chest while
walking near Sandton, paramedics said. Netcare 911 spokesperson Mark Stokoe
said two men shot the woman near Sandton at around 15:00 before they snatched
her bag and fled. "She was in serious conditions and had to be airlifted,"
he said.
-
SAPA report,
South Africa being the third least
safest place out of 48 countries on the African continent, indicates that South
Africa is critically unsafe, the Democratic
Alliance said on Tuesday. The party's spokesperson on Safety and Security
MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said that the Mo
Ibrahim Index of African Governance, which ranked South Africa as third
most dangerous after "war zone" countries, Sudan and Burundi
indicated that what citizens of this country had been crying out for years, was
the truth. "South Africa's safety and security performance is utterly
abysmal. The fact that we are just 30 points above the most dangerous country
in Africa, and right now, probably the world, must act as a loud wake-up call
to the Minister of Safety and Security." She added that countries
including Congo, Angola, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe Rwanda and Liberia
were far safer in terms of safety and security. "Although the government
will continue to throw money at the crime problem, such an approach has had
only limited success," Barnard said. She said it was likely that companies
and individuals would continue
protecting their own security themselves. "This threatens to spawn a
vigilante environment ... if a spate of violent robberies and killings of
foreigners is repeated during the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the negative
consequences for future tourism and foreign investment will be severe."
Bernard said the DA had made suggestions to government to address the shortage
of detectives, and to increase facilities and equipment for the South African
Police, in order to combat crime.
- News24/SAPA report,
A Cramond vegetable farmer was
found shot dead on his farm on Monday morning. Police spokesperson Senior
Superintendent Henry Budhram said that 52-year-old Andy Main, from the farm
Gilmore, was shot several times as he returned to the farm late on Sunday
night. Main lived alone at the farm. Budhram said Main's Mazda bakkie was
stolen in the attack and was later found abandoned in sugar-cane fields on a
neighbouring farm six kilometres away. Although Main's attackers entered his
house, it could not yet be ascertained if anything else was missing, said
Budhram. Main is survived by two daughters, Nicky and Kate. Koos Marais from the
security desk at Kwanalu ([KwaZulu-]Natal Agricultural Union), said Main was
the 11th KZN [Natal] commercial food producer murdered this year, according to
his records. Fifteen more have been victims of criminal attacks.
-
AfricanCrisis,
A security guard was shot dead in
Durban on Saturday morning, police said. Spokesman Daniela Veldhuizen said the
ADT security guard was parked in his car on Station Road in Durban's Isipingo suburb
around 4am when the incident took place. Veldhuizen said details were sketchy
but it is believed that the gunman approached the car and shot the 30-year-old
guard in the head. She said it was believed that robbery was the motive for the
attack as his service pistol had been taken.
-
AfricanCrisis,
A man was shot dead while a woman
was seriously injured after four prisoners escaped from police custody at the
magistrate's court in Brits, Beeld reported
on Saturday. Captain Aafje Botma said the four who are facing charges of murder
escaped from police custody while at the court in Brits on Friday afternoon.
They attacked a police officer and took his firearm before running away. They
then attempted to hijack a 42-year-old woman. The gang then shot and killed a
motorist who had been waiting for the robot to turn green at the intersection
of Van Velden and McLean streets. The
four were in court in connection with the murder of a Constable Mabasa in
Letlhabile.
-
AfricanCrisis,
Durban's acclaimed gardening guru,
Arthur Vernon Rippon, hailed by friends as "the
salt of the earth", has been murdered at his home in Moore Road.
There is some confusion over whether Rippon was attacked
at his home and then later died or whether his attackers returned to his home
to finish him off. "This is a great, great tragedy for the horticultural
world. It is very, very sad," said Christopher Dalzell, curator of Durban
Botanic Gardens. "He was the doyen of horticulture in Durban and brought so many people into the gardening world. He was
an inspiration and gave so much”. The country's gardening fraternity has been
left reeling as details of the murder quickly spread, said Sheila Astill,
president of the Durban and Coast Horticultural
Society. "We are absolutely devastated," she said, adding that he was
"Durban's Mr Gardening". She said he
was "a botanist, ecologist, gardener, landscaper, nurseryman, floral
artist, designer, decorator, lecturer, photographer and traveller". Police
said on Wednesday that Rippon, 77, who lived alone, was found dead in his home
with severe head injuries. He had been struck several times with a blunt
object. It was not clear exactly what time he was attacked, but it is known
that Rippon spent Tuesday evening having dinner with friends in New Germany. He
had an arrangement with the friends to telephone them to confirm he had arrived
safely back home, but the usual single ring did not come. Police believe Rippon
was attacked in his house and was hit over the head with a blunt object and
that his car was then stolen. Kay Montgomery, the editor of SA Gardening, said
Rippon had been a contributing writer for many years. She will come to Durban
for his funeral. "He was an expert on palms and
the father of sub-tropical gardening in Durban."
Rippon was president of the Durban and Coast
Horticultural Society, patron of the Association of Garden Judges and was
instrumental in starting the Garden of the Year. After working in Holland
and in the Channel Islands, he headed home to Durban where "he was
snapped up at the age of 28 by the Durban Parks department, later gaining his
national diploma in horticulture. He wrote and edited the book “Gardening Made
Easy” and was honorary life member of some 12 gardening clubs. He also wrote
for the Daily News.
- AfricanCrisis,
Helen Zille, the leader of the
Democratic Alliance and the Mayor of Cape Town, will appear in court today. She
is expected to be charged with breaching the "Gatherings Act" by
joining an "illegal demonstration". Mrs Zille, who became opposition
leader in May, is the most prominent critic of the ruling African National
Congress (ANC). Last year, the ruling party responded to her election as mayor
by trying to remove all her executive powers and reduce her job to a ceremonial
figurehead. Although this ploy failed, the ANC has tried to undermine Mrs Zille
and re-take control of Cape Town ever since. On Sunday, she led a demonstration
against the drugs trade through a poor area of the city. Mrs Zille told The Daily Telegraph that police arrested
one member of her party for no apparent reason. She and her followers went to a
nearby police station to ask why this had happened. "While I was getting
the names and addresses of witnesses, the police came over and arrested people.
They dragged people along the ground and pulled them across the road," she
said. "The people were doing absolutely nothing and the police came and
dragged them across the road." Mrs Zille added: "I haven't seen
anything like that since the 1980s when I took part in protest marches."
She was held in the police station and told that she would be charged with
joining an illegal gathering, before being allowed to leave. Mrs Zille said:
"The last time I was taken in like this was under apartheid." During
apartheid, Mrs Zille, 56, wrote for the Rand
Daily Mail, an independent newspaper fiercely critical of the White [NP]
government. She believes that her arrest was part of the ANC's campaign to unseat
her as mayor. "It's the action of a government which is intolerant of its
critics," said Mrs Zille. "It does show that the government is
becoming more authoritarian and less tolerant of criticism and it regards our
constitutional rights as being privileges, not rights." The ANC argues
that its dominance arises from genuine popular support rather than any attempt
to suppress criticism. While Mrs Zille's party is the largest opposition force,
the alliance won only 12.4% of the vote in the last general election in 2004.
-
Daily Telegraph,
Doctors at Groote Schuur hospital
warn that "patients often die waiting for an operation" - in the wake
of a R30-million budget cut six months ago, a sharp decline in specialists and
a dramatic increase in demand. So great is the increase in patient numbers, and
so severe the budget cuts, the health department is projecting a R201-million
shortfall for the financial year 2007/08, says Bongani Mayosi, University of
Cape Town's Medical Faculty head and Joint Chief Physician at Groote Schuur.
"There has been an increase of 228% in Xhosa-speaking patients (from the
Eastern Cape), and people (from other parts of Africa) looking for good
healthcare. "At any time, refugees would make up about 10% of people in my
wards," Mayosi said on Tuesday in a briefing to parliament's Portfolio
Committee on Health, “They often die waiting for an operation”. He was
accompanied by the head of surgery at UCT, Del Kahn, who said another
consequence of budget cuts was that secondary hospitals like Green Point's New
Somerset would be downscaled to regional hospitals, where surgical procedures
would be scaled back. "The major concern is that there won't be theatre
time at Groote Schuur," said Kahn. This would have an adverse effect on
the teaching of under-graduates and registrars. Mayosi said admissions had
increased because of migration, the HIV and AIDS pandemic, heightened levels of
violent crime and "diseases of lifestyle" like high blood pressure
caused by a poor diet. Mayosi said there had been a drop in the numbers of
specialists from 49 to 30 at Tygerberg, Red Cross and Groote Schuur hospitals.
-
AfricanCrisis,
A nine-year-old girl was raped by one
of the robbers who broke into her mother's house in Monument Park on Monday,
Pretoria police said. Captain Tessa Jansen said two men in their 20s broke into
a 35-year-old woman's house at around 1am. They gained access by breaking a
window and once inside they threatened the woman at knife-point. "One of
the robbers forced the woman into her car and made her drive to a nearby ATM to
withdraw money. However, it is not known if she did withdraw any money,"
said Jansen. "While the robber and the woman were at the ATM, the other
robber raped the woman's daughter and when the two returned from the ATM, the
robbers loaded electrical appliances into the woman's car." She was forced
to drive the two to a spot in Monument Park where the robbers left the car with
the stolen appliances. Police were investigating charges of rape and house
robbery, said Jansen
-
AfricanCrisis,
For R200 and a couple of rings,
Justin Browne died in a pool of blood in his home in front of his young
children. Browne, a general manager for the event company Strike Productions,
died after assailants slit his throat in his Northwold, Randburg, house on
Saturday night. According to Geordie, Justin's wife, the family were in their
bedroom when their dogs started barking. Geordie and Justin went to investigate
but were confronted by two armed men. "One had a gun and another a knife.
The one carrying a knife confronted me while the other went for Justin. They
pushed us back into the bedroom," Geordie recalled. The couple tried to
shield their children from the attackers, who demanded guns, jewellery and
money. The attackers also took Geordie's wedding and engagement rings off her
fingers. She said the assailants tied them up and again demanded guns from
them. As they did this, Justin told her that he loved her and then kissed her.
"You are a police officer - where is your gun? Our tip told us you have a
gun. Where is the (Toyota Corolla) RSi," Geordie recalled the men saying.
Two more armed men arrived and they started loading a plasma-screen TV and
computers into their car, an Audi A4. They then took R200 from her purse and
removed her husband's wedding ring. Geordie managed to free herself and ran to
another room to press a panic button. It was only later that she realised she
had been shot in an arm during her escape attempt. While she was in the room,
her two children, Daniella, 7, and Robin, 4, came running to her shouting
"Mommy, mommy, daddy is dead". She didn't believe her children and
called a friend, a nurse, who rushed to her home and attempted to resuscitate
her husband, whose throat had been slit.
-
AfricanCrisis,
Well-known
Jacaranda Radio journalist, newspaper
freelancer and long-time Pietersburg resident Peter Cassidy, 68, was murdered in
his Savannah Mall, Flora Park house on Tuesday morning. His body was found on
the floor of his bedroom in his house in McDonald Street in Flora Park. A rope
was twisted around his neck and his hands and feet were tied when police found
him. He was lying on his stomach.
![[2 Pics] SA: Journalist Tortured to
Death Farm Murder Style](news_files/image004.jpg)
This
graphic illustrates this particularly gruesome killing-method also frequently
carried out against many of the 2,200 South African farmers already murdered
since the start of the Xhosa-hegemony of South Africa. The journalist was found
by police after they had discovered his old red Fiat bakkie abandoned in the
Mankweng area about 30km from Pietersburg about 03:00 on Tuesday and had gone
to his house to report the find, said provincial police superintendent Ronel
Otto. Police said they weren't 'immediately clear whether anything had been
taken from the house." The Northern Review, one of the two
local newspapers Cassidy worked for on a free-lance basis, had recently
received threats for writing about an earlier murder, their editor said on
their website.
- report sent by JLT, Pretoria,
An Australian tour group holidaying in KwaZulu-Natal (i.e.
Natal) will leave with bitter memories of their visit after R20,000 in foreign
currency belonging to four members of the group was stolen.They were staying at
the Protea Hotel Umfolozi River, near the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve in
northern KwaZulu-Natal (i.e. Natal), when the cash, meant to have been secured
in the hotel safe, was mislaid by staff and later stolen last Thursday. Sid
Fassler, one of more than 30 holidaymakers on the organised trip, said he and
three other tourists had entrusted foreign currency valued at R20,000 to hotel
staff, who had assured them their money would be placed in the safe. The money
had been placed in bags which were sealed and removed to be placed in the safe.
However, when the visitors returned the following day to fetch the cash, the
management said there had been a "problem with the money". "They
said they had been very busy at the front desk and the bags containing the
money had not been placed in the safe, and were instead left on a counter top in
a back room," said Fassler. "On Monday our guests sealed their
personal belongings in our seal bags. The MOD (manager on duty) was supposed to
lock it up in the cupboard and then lock the cupboard key in our safe," he
wrote. "Things got busy and the MOD left the bags on a back office table.
A while later when the receptionist walked into the back office, she had
realised the seals had been broken." Darlington said the bags had been resealed, with nobody realising that
the money had been pilfered. "We gave the bags back to the guests and
explained that the seals had been broken, but we replaced it. They opened the
bags to find the money had been stolen." Fassler was unimpressed with the
hotel's response. "The hotel staff were absolutely hopeless. Only on our
insistence did they call the police, who took two hours to respond. This is
really an unfortunate reflection on your tourist industry," he said. He
added that the hotel had agreed to reimburse the four affected tourists with
R400 each. He said the theft had devastated them and placed a dampener on their
holiday. "It has affected the way we feel about the country." The
manager of the hotel was unavailable for comment.
- AfricanCrisis,
The Table Mountain
National Park has called on people planning hikes on the mountain to stay in
groups and not carry valuables, after another three mugging incidents. On
Wednesday two British tourists, an elderly couple and a local man were robbed
in three separate incidents. Table Mountain National Park communications
manager Phumeza Mgxashe confirmed the incidents on Wednesday. According to
Mgxashe the victims were an elderly couple on Maclear's Beacon, two female
British touristsm, and a man who was hiking alone at Skeleton Gorge. Mgxashe
said: "They were all held at knifepoint and robbed of their valuable
possessions." She said the park had a team of 52 visitor safety rangers,
who were responsible for the safety of the mountain visitors. However, none of
the rangers had been in the area when the muggings took place. "They have
to patrol a big, open access mountain, and can't be everywhere at the same
time. "We have safety volunteers to help the rangers, but they only help
out on weekends," she said. Mgxashe said the incidents were
"regrettable" but urged hikers not to wear valuable items and to
always hike in groups.
- AfricanCrisis,
A
41-year-old man, one of six people wounded when five robbers opened fire in a
supermarket in Hercules, Pretoria, has died, police said on Thursday. "The
man was confirmed dead an hour ago," Inspector Paul Ramaloko said. The man
had been in a critical condition in hospital, and had lapsed into coma. On
Wednesday, five armed men in their 20s entered a Lucky Seven supermarket around
7pm. The men were in the process of robbing the store when they were disturbed
by noises. They then fired random shots inside the store, wounding six people.
Of these, four were male customers, one was the owner's wife and the other was a
male supermarket teller. "Two were critically injured," Ramaloko said
on Wednesday. All six were taken to hospital. The robbers fled empty handed
from the store after the shooting. No arrests had been made, Ramaloko said.
- AfricanCrisis,
The Natal
farming community has been shocked by the brutal
murders of a retired Swartberg farming couple at the weekend. Raymond Fitch,
78, and his wife, Yvonne, 79, were killed just a week after another farmer at
nearby Cedarville, David Southey, 79, survived a horrific attack. The mother of
one of the men detained for the Fitches' murders works on their farm. The
Fitches were severely beaten and possibly stabbed, and their farmhouse was
ransacked in an apparent search for guns on Friday night. Their telephone, farm
radio and alarm system were disconnected, indicating that the attack had been
planned and that the assailants knew their way around the farm. Police said
some firearms were among the items stolen along with the couple's old
Mercedes-Benz. Southey was dragged bleeding around his home and was eventually
left tied up with ropes and barbed wire by three assailants who threatened to
pour boiling water over him. He was robbed of seven firearms, jewellery, cash
and his Isuzu bakkie. Police arrested one man for that attack at Cedarville
last Thursday and the second in Pinetown the next day. The latter was wounded
during a shootout with police after he and two companions driving in Southey's
stolen bakkie rammed into a police van when confronted. Two of the men escaped.
The bodies of the Fitches were found on their farm, Two Springs, on Saturday by
their son, Jeff, who lives 5km away on a second family-owned farm. A friend,
Peter Cloete, said the brutality of the assault on the elderly couple was
"shocking and dreadful". The Fitch family had lived in Swartberg for
more than 30 years. The President of the Natal Agricultural Union, Robin
Barnsley, said the violence and brutality accompanying the most recent attacks
on farmers was troubling. He said he and the presidents of other agricultural
unions were concerned at the apparent degeneration in moral standards in rural
areas and were exploring an initiative to address this issue.
- AfricanCrisis,
get_video_1.wmv (1.74 MB)
… and they want to host the World
Cup - what a laugh, and the world stands and watches, quickly heading the way
of Zimbabwe!
-
info’ sent by MH-GE, Sussex,
An elderly man was murdered in a
supposedly secure block of flats at Bedfordview on the East Rand, a paramedic
said on Thursday. Netcare 911's Mark Stokoe said paramedics were called to a
block in Bedfordview on Wednesday at about 7pm. On arrival they found a man in
his sixties lying on the kitchen floor. He hands and feet were tied, and a
towel had been shoved into his month and tightly fastened with a tie. He had
been beaten and the flat was ransacked. Stokoe said it seems the man had been
dead for some time because his family had been unable to make contact with him
for a number of days. His two sons arrived at his 9th floor flat on Wednesday,
and found that he had been killed. The incident took place at a block of flats
where visitors are required to sign in for security reasons.
-
AfricanCrisis,
The Western
Cape has the highest rates of murder, indecent assault
and common assault in the country. According to crime statistics for the period
April 2006 to March 2007, released on Tuesday by the national department of
safety and security, the murder rate in the province is 61 people per 100 000,
indecent assault is 59 and the common assault rate 739. One has 12 times more
chance of being indecently assaulted in the Western Cape than in Limpopo {Far
Northern Transvaal]. Nyanga had the highest number of reported murder cases in
the country, with Khayelitsha, Harare and
Gugulethu taking the fifth, sixth and seventh spots.
Of the 19,202 murders committed nationally, 303 were
reported at Nyanga, up from last year's 284. Drug-related crime in the province
has increased by 205.8% to a rate of 865
crimes for every 100,000 people. Nearly two-thirds of the contact crimes that
involve bodily harm occurred in the Western
Cape, Gauteng [PWV}
and Natal. The national statistics reveal
alarming increases in 12 categories of crime. Up from last year's national
statistics are murder, by 2.4%, aggravated robbery (4.6%), bank robberies
(118%), business robberies (52.5%), residential robberies (25%),
cash-in-transit heists (22%), truck-hijackings (8%), car-hijackings (6%),
commercial crimes (13%), drug-related crimes (8%) and illegal possession of
firearms (6%).
- AfricanCrisis,
A 44-year-old man was killed and
robbed in his driveway at Strandfontein in the Western Cape Province, police
said on Saturday. Constable Siphokazi Mawisa said four armed men attacked the
man and robbed him of an undisclosed amount of money when he stopped his car in
his driveway on Corvette Road. The incident took place around 12.20pm on
Saturday. "The victim had been coming from the bank when these unknown
suspects hit his car's window at gun point demanding the money," she said.
Mawisa said the men then fired several shots wounding him in his chest. They
then robbed him of an undisclosed amount of money. "He died on the
scene," she said. The robbers fled the scene in a vehicle and are still at
large.
-
AfricanCrisis,
A man was killed when a grocery
shop at Kuils River in the Cape Peninsula was robbed on Monday afternoon,
police said. Inspector Bernadine Steyn said four men entered the shop in Van
Riebeeck Road, and held staff and customers at gun point. Said Steyn:
"Several shots were fired, wounding a bystander, a man believed to be in
his 30’s from Elsies River, fatally in the head." The victim's licensed
firearm was also stolen by the robbers. "No one else sustained serious
injuries during the incident." The men ran away and were still at large
with an undisclosed amount of cash.
-
AfricanCrisis,
Its vast deposits of gold and
platinum helped turn it into Africa's most developed nation, but South Africa's
latest metal export risks doing exactly the opposite. Cities are being brought
"to their knees" by unprecedented pilfering of copper and aluminium
cables, which has caused extensive blackouts and power cuts as organised gangs
plunder miles of the country's electricity and telephone lines to sell abroad
as scrap. Officials believe that up to 100 miles of cables may be going missing
every year, destined for markets such as China and India where booming
economies have created insatiable demand for copper and aluminium. The thieves
generally work by night, armed with trucks, winches, industrial cutting
machines and tractors to flatten the pylons and poles that carry their booty.
The result has been entire suburbs plunged into darkness, thousands of train
passengers stranded, and frequent chaos on the roads as traffic lights fail.
Backed by a network of unscrupulous dealers who smelt their spoils down, many
gangs are also stealing water meters, taps and even ladders, said Cape Town
councillor Pieter van Dalen, a member of a 15-strong "cable theft task
team" set up to fight the problem. Such is the economic damage being
caused by the new "gold rush" that last week the mayor of Cape Town,
Helen Zille, held a crisis meeting with scrap metal merchants. "Nobody
will invest in a city if you can't rely on something as basic as an electricity
supply," she said. "The entire infrastructure, from sewerage
substations to electricity generating points, are being vandalised for the sake
of a few bucks." In fact the stakes are much higher than a few bucks. The
Western Cape Investment and Trade Promotion Agency estimates that the province
exported 77 million rand (£5.5 million) worth of copper to China last year - no
mean feat for an area that has no copper mines. South Africa spends R500
million on replacing stolen cables every year, while the cost to firms whose
power has been cut or phone lines stolen is perhaps 10 times that. The massive
increase in cable thefts in the past year is in large part due to the fact that
the price of copper has tripled over the same period. Lorinda Nel, the National
Project Manager for Non-Ferrous Metals Theft at South Africa's Business Against
Crime group, said "It would seem as if the high copper price is driving
this - not only for the organised crime syndicates, who tend to export, but
also in terms of subsistence thieves who steal a metre or two a day just so
they can feed themselves and their families." Miss Nel said the gangs were
highly sophisticated. "They have trucks with pulleys on them so they can
roll the material while they are cutting and they are experts at blocking the
electricity so they can work on the cable without getting electrocuted."
For inexperienced thieves, though, the risks are high. In January last year two
men were electrocuted after apparently trying to steal cable from an
electricity substation. One of the difficulties of combating cable theft is
that it is very difficult to identify its origins once it has been stripped of
its plastic surround. As a result, scrap metal merchants caught with stolen
cable are often charged with being in possession of "suspected"
stolen material, a lesser offence than theft for which the penalty is a maximum
of one year imprisonment.
-
Sunday Telegraph,
An 85-year-old man was murdered in
Durban on Wednesday night, Natal police said on Thursday. Spokesperson
Constable Lungi Jama said "Charles John was murdered in his car opposite
the Amanzimtoti taxi rank at about 8.45pm on Wednesday." He was stabbed on
the neck. It appeared that his killers had been trying to steal items from the
car. Police found the car radio was missing. No arrests had been made and the
case was still under investigation.
The body of a Camps Bay woman has
been discovered in a yard in Maitland - four days after she was last seen
dropping her daughter off at a prestigious girls' school in Cape Town. Interior
decorator Rene Vermeulen's body was found under a black bag in Church Street,
Maitland on Tuesday morning. She had several open wounds to the head.
Vermeulen's 13-year old daughter, Bianca Oosthuizen, last saw her mother when
she dropped her off at St Cyprian's in Oranjezicht on Friday. That night,
Bianca spent an arranged sleep-over at the home of a school friend. Her mother
was to pick her up the following day. But when they tried to call her later,
her phone was switched off. Bianca stayed on with her friend's family, as they
became more anxious by the disappearance. On Monday morning Bianca's father,
Peter Oosthuizen, who is Vermeulen's ex-husband, was alerted at home in
Johannesburg, and he flew down to Cape Town. On Monday night Vermeulen's car,
an A180 A-Class Mercedes, was found in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. Then
late on Tuesday afternoon, police issued the news. "At approximately
10.45am the body of a 40-year-old woman was found by police in the yard of a
house in Church Street, Maitland. "The body was found under a black bag
with several open wounds to the head," said police spokesperson Bernadine
Steyn. It has since been confirmed that the woman is Vermeulen. A friend of
hers, Juanita Pacheco, said on Wednesday morning: "She was an amazing
person. No matter what trouble you were in, she would help you. And she was a
fabulous mother." Vermeulen had been health conscious and had formerly
been a personal trainer - and had also been exceptionally cautious. Pacheco
said Vermeulen had recently bought a church hall in Brooklyn with her mother
and had planned to develop it. It is understood that money may have been drawn
from ATMs in Brooklyn on Saturday morning.
-
AfricanCrisis,
On our way to join Zimbabwe …
Bryanston
In
about Feb 2007 a family was help up at gun point by armed attackers. They were
tied up and the house ransacked. The family car was used to transport the goods
from the house. This family has decided to relocate to which ever country will
take them because this is the third attack on them in the past two years. We
will loose an extremely clever and successful businessman who was responsible
for some very successful projects. We will also loose their children who are
highly skilled and trained and would have been a valuable asset to the country.
Bryanston
In
about April 2007 a prominent surgeon and his family were attacked and help up
at gun point. Their house was ransacked. Their property was packed into one of
the family vehicles and removed.
Bryanston
In
beginning of June 2007 another prominent surgeon and his family were attacked
at gun point. Their vehicles and possessions were stolen.
Bryanston
9th
June 2007 a couple on their way to a dinner party in Bryanston were caught in
taxi cross-fire near The Wilds. Both died of bullet wounds.
-
report sent by “Steve 34”, Transvaal,
Two police
officers were shot and killed while responding to a burglary in Cape Town on
Monday, police said. Captain Randall Stoffels said Inspector Martin van der Heyde,
42, and Student Constable Johnny Botha, 30, arrived at a house in Conquest
Street, Crawford at 10.45am, and noticed a window had been broken. Van Der
Heyde entered the house, and found a burglar inside the kitchen. A struggle
occurred, and the burglar overpowered Van Der Heyde, taking his service pistol.
He shot Van Der Heyde several times, and then began shooting at Botha, who at
the time was in the backyard. Botha was hit in the head. The man then fled the
scene with both service pistols, taking the police vehicle which was found
abandoned later near Hanover Park. "A case of murder has been opened for
investigation and we have launched a search for the perpetrator," said
Stoffels. He said that seven Western Cape police officers had been killed in the
line of duty since last year.
- AfricanCrisis,
Residents
of the northern Zululand trading and tourism town of Mtubatuba are in shock
over the murder of local community leader and businessman, the retired South
African Airways pilot Ken Anders - gunned down at point-blank range by
'robbers' outside his small business in the Central Business District on
Sunday. Anders was shot dead at close range by a gang of armed attackers - even
though this former SAA pilot also was very crime-aware, having escaped two
other attacks in the last three years, and surviving a hijacking and a shooting
last year when he was tailed on his way home to St Lucia. Anders, 65, became
the latest murder statistic in a town where residents say they are living in
fear of increasingly violent well-organised armed criminal gangs who seem
intent specifically on killing them during their attacks. The local town
council this year has put the out-of-control crime epidemic in their once so
sleepy trading town high on their list of issues which have to be urgently
addressed, and formally noting that: "The high levels of crime taking
place in Mtubatuba in businesses, shops, along the roads, at the beach and
farms, which detract from development opportunities, the growth of tourism,
alienate organised business and commerce and negatively impact on local
economic development, municipal financial stability and sustainability and the
overall attractiveness of Mtubatuba as a location...". The town council
also warned that the local South African police had to “address the totally
inadequate handling of women and girl victims who have been raped and/or
battered and abused, and address the police's inadequate policing facilities”.
- AfricanCrisis,
One bank
cash-point a day is being blown up by armed robbers in South Africa - with 60
such attacks during the first two months of this year alone and 400 in the
previous two years, spreading much fear throughout the community.
- AfricanCrisis,
A
Bloubergstrand resident has come under fire in his home early on Friday when he
confronted armed intruders who had managed to break through electric fencing to
gain access to a security complex. The burglars broke into the house in Sandown
Estate in a smash-and-grab style raid at about 3am. A neighbour said the
robbers did not seem concerned about noise when they
broke through a patio door window and ransacked the house.Mark Susdorf, a
spokesperson for Star Rapid Response who reached the scene within minutes, said
the homeowner and his wife, their two children and another family member were
sleeping upstairs. One robber fired at least two shots at the homeowner when he
went to investigate. His wife called the armed response company and police from
her bedroom when the shots rang out. The intruders grabbed a laptop computer
and electronic testing equipment and fled on foot, firing another two shots at
the resident as he peeped through a window. Susdorf said he was concerned that
the men had apparently "come prepared to shoot"
- AfricanCrisis,
David Canning editor of
Durban-based newspaper The [Natal]
Mercury was shot in an arm and a leg in an attempted hijacking outside his
Kloof home, The Star newspaper
reported on Wednesday. The incident happened late on Tuesday night. Canning was
treated by paramedics at the scene and was reported to be in a stable
condition. He telephoned his newspaper's newsroom from inside an ambulance. It
was unclear whether he had been struck twice by the same bullet or whether two
shots were fired in the attack.
-
AfricanCrisis,
Just hours after saying "I do", Mark
Sandmann, 27, died in his bride's arms. He was gunned down by intruders in the
honeymoon suite of the luxury Kievits Kroon Country Estate north-east of Pretoria.
The tragedy happened at about 1am on Friday as newlyweds Mark, an assistant manager at
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Nina, 28, an announcer at Montecasino, were dozing off.
Hours earlier they had celebrated their love for each other during an intimate
family wedding. The wedding presents were still stacked unopened in their
bedroom when Mark was shot and died shortly afterwards on his way to hospital.
Friend Nicole de Walbon Holmes said it was the wedding presents which led to
his death. "Nina told me she believed the intruders knew there were
wedding presents and that was why they tried to gain entry to the room.”
- AfricanCrisis,
A family who live in ‘Toti (and own
a jewellery shop there), were attacked in their home on Tuesday night, and the
husband was shot and died. The wife heard a noise upstairs and when she
went to look the murderers were coming down the stairs! She ran out the
house to get the neighbours to call the police. Her husband was shot in
the chest and in the face - he was only 55. When the police got there they said
they can't stand it anymore - they are going to murders every day!
-
message sent by Sandy, Cape Town, April 19, 2007
The 27-year-old son of a
Vanderbijlpark optometrist died after being shot in head during a robbery at
his Sasolburg home in the Orange Free State early on Tuesday morning. Police
identified him as Pieter de Lange. He had encountered three armed men in the
house around 4am while they were threatening his father, Johannes de Lange. The
trio, who had a firearm and a knife between them, fled with two mobile phones
and jewellery from the house, said Free State police spokesperson Motantsi
Makhele.
-
AfricanCrisis,
I have taken a decision today that
it is time to tell you all what has happened to my daughter and her friend so
that you can warn your friends, as the police are not making any attempt to
warn the public. On 8 February Jenny-Lynn and her friend went to Pine Lodge in
Summerstrand (about 2 miles from our home). As they turned into the off-road
from Marine Drive, a car suddenly came to a halt in front of them. To make it
short, 3 Nigerian men forced them down to the "Patty" a common place
where our sons and husbands fish, and mugged and robbed them, taking their
belongings, getting their pin numbers of their bank cards. One went to draw the
money from the cards while the other two kept them hostage with knifes, telling
them constantly that "you know we're going to kill you, hey!".
Eventually they managed to get away and I can only thank God that they are
alright. The bad thing is, the same ritual happened to numerous other people,
but the police or no-one has warned the public. So much for public safety! This
happened on 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5 and 6 February before Jenny-Lynn and her friend on
the 8th. It continued to a total of 20 robberies until this month. Maybe some
could have been prevented if I sent this e-mail out sooner! Please warn your friends
and family about this in order for them not to go to this area alone at night,
and to be prepared for this type of robbery by allowing enough space between
cars in front of them. Please take this serious.
-
message sent by CvdR,
South Africa's Springbok rugby
squad faces the threat of having their passports confiscated unless more Black
players are picked for this year's World Cup, media reported on Tuesday. The
influential chairperson of the country's parliamentary sports committee, Butana
Komphela, warned that this "worst-case scenario" would be necessary
if there were not at least six Black players in the World Cup squad. "In
principle, we can't allow a team that does not reflect the South African
picture, to represent our country," Komphela was quoted as saying in the
Beeld newspaper. "My fear is that rugby won't see the World Cup. We will
try to convince the Minister of Home Affairs to confiscate their passports if
the team is not representative." The relationship between the sport and
the South African government has been strained for years due to the lack of
Black players in the national teams. Komphela said a good start would be to
have six Black or Coloured players in the team. "Six out of thirteen [sic]
is not representative but it's a good start," said Komphela. The president
of the South African Rugby Union, Oregan Hoskins, said Komphela's comments
should not be seen as idle threats. "We must take what he says
seriously."
-
AfricanCrisis,
One in four
children between 11 and 15 are raped, according to Statistics South Africa
figures. According to police figures 43% of the 54,926 rapes in 2005/2006 were
of children. Experts say the true number is even higher. Samantha Waterhouse of
Resources Aimed at the Prevention of
Child Abuse and Neglect said a survey had found only one in six victims
went to the police. The abuse of boys and girls, especially by people of the
same sex, was extremely poorly reported, she said. "Most rapes (of)
children are not reported. The Medical Research Council says only one in nine
rapes is reported, which means that if 22,500 child rapes are reported, there
are at least 202,500 such rapes a year. It is likely, however, that the rate of
under-reporting is even higher than this." In Khayelitsha, one third of
the abused children referred to the Simelela Centre are girls younger than 14.
Society was becoming increasingly tolerant of people who sexually abused
children, she said. Only 5% of reported cases of sexual assaults on children and
9% of rapes of adults lead to criminal convictions.
- AfricanCrisis,
Two men have appeared in the
Rustenburg magistrate's court for allegedly burning down the home of a
prophetess in Ramochana near Rustenburg. Ben Bees and David Moleleki were
remanded in custody on Monday and had their case postponed until May 11 for
further investigations. Dikeledi Njusa's house was burnt down last Friday after
irate community members disputed her prophesy that a massive tornado would hit
Rustenburg and its surrounding areas unless every one paid a R2 coin to
"the water snake". She claimed the water snake had come to her in a
vision. On Thursday night the local radio station held a talk show about her
prophesy. Church ministers and traditional healers were invited to the talk
show and all dismissed her prophesy as false. Police said about 800 people
gathered at her home demanding their R2 back and her house was torched. Bees
and Moleleki were charged with public violence, assault, arson, malicious damage
to property and theft. They were not asked to plead. Njusa was under police
protection at the Rustenburg police station as community members were baying
for her blood.
- AfricanCrisis,
Drugs, gangs, and bullets. That's
what the gang war in Chatsworth is all about. Another drive-by shooting in the
Durban South suburb has claimed the life of a tow-truck owner and has left an
innocent bystander seriously injured. Chatsworth police and residents say the
gangs have completely taken over the streets and "a full-scale war has
begun". They say drugs and revenge killings are at the centre of the turf
war. The latest shooting at the weekend comes just days after a firearm dealer
and his friends were shot in a similar incident. Police said on Friday the
deceased - whose identity has been withheld - allegedly had an altercation with
a nightclub owner last week and the incident is believed to be related to the
murder. The nightclub staffer is believed to be a member of one of the
drug-dealing gangs in Chatsworth.
-
AfricanCrisis,
Every year
more than 1,500 children disappear in South Africa without a trace. More than
200 of these children come from Pretoria.
- AfricanCrisis,
It is always an easy headline, but there
is no getting away from South Africa's crime. Some newspapers lead with it most
days and it is brutal stuff: car drivers shot dead, women raped and children
molested. At times it seems like criminals kill for petty goods like mobile
phones and wallets. To a lesser degree another subject is also getting media
coverage – the 2010 Soccer World Cup and whether the
violence will force FIFA, the world soccer body, to take the tournament
elsewhere. In the past two weeks the topic of criminal activities, or more
accurately how to control them, has been pushed under the nose of Mbeki. Some
of his opponents have been scoring political points by saying that if he does
not control the problem the World Cup will be given to another country like
Brazil.
-
The Press,
On the 18th November 2006, the
South African public was shocked by the images on the front-page of their
newspapers or the evening television news of Norman Reeves, being led
handcuffed from his home and Combat Force
Security headquarters and placed in the back of a waiting police van. The
media and television crews, who had been called in advance to the premises to
record this media-fest, were told that “Storming Norman” was being arrested for
possession of “a large quantity” of unlicensed weapons. Although this has
transpired to be without a shred of truth, prominent clients of Combat Force reflexively terminated
longstanding security contracts. Reeves - a zealous crime-fighter - was
portrayed to the public as a criminal. The objectives of those who engineered
the raid had been successfully achieved. The so-called “raid” was conducted by
PSIRA - The Private Security Regulatory
Authority - supported by members of Durban Metro. All of the weapons
removed from Reeves’ premises were fully and lawfully licensed, all had been
securely housed upon the premises. A stale warrant on a “fraud” charge, upon
which the State declined to prosecute Reeves, was used for “backup” by Metro
Police. The defunct warrant was subsequently confirmed invalid and set aside
with speed. Although licenses for the weapons removed from Reeves were tendered
to PSIRA and the police, the latter refused to accept them.
-
AfricanCrisis,
This
victim was car-jacked in Johannesburg, the murder capital of the world. Robbers
beat him and then tied him down and dragged him behind his own BMW until the
police pulled them over and arrested the suspects. The victim lived to tell his
story, and is recovering slowly at our local hospital. While police crime statistics
show that there were 21,683 murders in South Africa in the year 2000, the
Medical Research Council puts the figure at 32,482. The MRC’s estimate is close
to the figure from the Department of Home Affairs, which is 30,068. This is a
third more murders than reported by the SAPS, a discrepancy of more than 10,000
murders. So, while the Democratic Alliance leaflet “Fight Crime” puts the
average daily murder rate in South Africa at 55 murders every day, the Medical
Research Council’s statistics reveal that 89 murders are committed, on average,
every day in South Africa.
-
report sent by C.Benadie (ex-Transvaal, now London),
Last
year there were over 18,500 murders in South Africa as well as 55,000 rapes and
120,000 violent robberies.
- Sunday Telegraph,
This past Friday saw one of the
most shameful events in recent South African history. First National Bank
(FNB), the institution who bankrolls the reprehensible Homecoming Revolution website, showed some laudable courage and
initiative, and launched an R25 Million media campaign aimed at pressurising
our criminal regime into acting against crime. The FNB initiative was designed
to be a highly visible cry for help. FNB printed almost four million full
colour newspaper inserts detailing the shocking anarchy and rampant lawlessness
in this country, and paid a fortune for having them distributed in the major
weekend Rapport, Sunday Times and Sunday
Independent newspapers. The inserts included an exhortation to the ANC regime to make
crime its first priority, and also featured a pre-printed letter
addressed to Mbeki. Readers could sign the letter, add their own comments and
crime experiences and then mail it off in a postage prepaid envelope. On
Tuesday (30 January) Derek Cooper, the chairman of “Business Leadership” (a
lobby group representing the biggest South African corporate conglomerates) got
wind of the FNB anti-crime campaign. Cooper, (who is also the chairman of
Standard Bank, a major competitor to FNB) mustered all his influence by
contacting other corporate honcho’s belonging to “Business Leadership” and
together they applied huge pressure on FNB to withdraw their planned anti-crime
ad campaign. Paul Harris, a senior FNB executive and the brains behind the
anti-crime initiative, bravely resisted the massive pressure brought to bear
against his brainchild. Derek Cooper and the merry men of “Business Leadership”
(SABL) howled, pleaded, threatened and cajoled Harris, but amazingly it fell on
deaf ears. On Thursday 1 February, Cooper sent a confidential letter to all the
members of SABL, in which he questioned the “wisdom” of FNB’s brave anti-crime
campaign, and exhorted them to pull out all the stops in ensuring that the FNB
campaign be silenced. Michael Spicer, an executive of SABL then contacted
senior ministers in the ANC regime, to enlist their help in silencing FNB. Then
on Friday morning a senior delegation of ANC officials, including Communist
Party member & Minister of Safety & Security, Charles Kaka Koola and
various other ANC ministers marched into the FNB head office in downtown
Johannesburg. They demanded a meeting then and there with Anthony Vorster (FNB
chief of Corporate Communications) and insisted he immediately withdraw the
“unpatriotic” and “anti-South African” campaign. Minister Kaka Koola threatened
FNB, saying that “relations between the ANC government and the bank will be
seriously damaged” as a result of FNB’s anti-crime campaign. Allusions were
made to the fact that FNB were the bankers of the S.A.Parliament, Trevor
Manuel’s Department of Finance, the S.A.Revenue Service, Telkom, Transnet, the
S.A.Post Office and various provinces. The inference was, despite assurances
that FNB was not being threatened, quite clear for anyone with an IQ higher
than room temperature. It didn’t take long for FNB to realise that it would be
massively damaging to the bank’s business interests to continue with the
anti-crime campaign, and it was immediately halted. Once FNB management cracked
under the pressure they were instructed in crystal-clear terms that under no
circumstances were the already printed material to reach the public domain.
That very same afternoon, trucks were sent out to collect the glossy 4 page
inserts from the presses of various newspapers, with the Rapport newspaper alone handing back 1.5 million copies. These were
taken away for immediate destruction, with a further 2.8 million collected from
other newspaper press offices. FNB’s Anthony Vorster was quoted as saying “under great political pressure, FNB was put
in an untenable position where we were FORCED to withdraw from this campaign.
The government is not happy about this. Two minutes ago, we had a meeting with
the minister of Safety and Security, as well as other ministers. We were
ordered to ensure that the campaign did not reach the public domain”.
- report sent by “Andy”,
Ettienne van Wyk, the top South
African cyclist, has been found bludgeoned to death in his home in Nelspruit. High-profile
Whites are being murdered almost daily now. This is not just crime, they're
killing people for effect. I think that they are murdering high profile Whites
to send a message! Never before have so many high-profile Whites been killed.
What is also bizarre is none of them are right-wingers or Conservatives -
they're pretty a-political or, if anything, "White Liberal types".
Could it be that there is a reason these people are being taken out? Are they
being killed because they are
liberals? I don't think these are just criminals. I think there are politicians
behind the murder of all these high-profile Whites. I think we are watching a
new type of "Racial Terrorism" aimed at us.
-
AfricanCrisis,
21,000 people were murdered in South
Africa last year, and the rest of the world turns a blind eye! An 8-month-old
baby girl was raped to death by 5 men in Cape Town as they thought it would
"cure their AIDS". A 24-year-old pregnant woman was repeatedly raped
in her home in Birch Acres, Kempton Park on January 8th. A five-month pregnant
woman, her husband and their five-year-old daughter were relaxing at home when
four unknown men entered the house. The husband (32) was tied up and held at
gunpoint while the suspects raped his wife in the dining room. The suspects
then ransacked the house and took electrical appliances, household goods and
clothing valued at about R20,000.
-
message sent by JAN (ex-Cape Town, now USA),
David
Rattray, 48, a friend of Prince Charles and a world authority on the Zulu War,
was shot dead after a six-strong gang burst into his home at Rorke’s Drift in
Natal. His grieving widow, Nicky, said that this murder highlighted the
lawlessness engulfing South Africa, where 20,000 people are murdered every
year. “This famous son of South Africa now joins the unacceptable list of
citizens who have lost their lives to senseless banditry,” she said. The murder
is likely to renew international attention on the country’s high levels of
violent crime. Michael Tatalias, chief executive of the South African Tourism
Services Association, said the tourism industry had been jeopardised by such
crimes. A spokesman for the Democratic Alliance said that criminals were
“perceived to be running rampant” in the country. According to a Natal police
spokesman the robbers entered the lodge office asking for Mr. Rattray by name.
Mr. Rattray’s body was found in a bathroom with gunshot wounds to his chest,
shoulder and hand. An unnamed friend of the Rattrays told a local newspaper
that Mr. Rattray pushed his wife to the ground shortly before the first shot.
- Sunday Telegraph,
The Traffic Department of the town
of Brits aren’t just lounging under trees to catch traffic offenders anymore … they’re
having full-blown meetings under trees as well! They were kicked out of their
offices three weeks ago, due to non-payment of rent. Mr. James Moche, spokesman
for the North-West Department of Traffic yesterday confirmed that the Brits
Traffic Department was kicked out of their offices owing to the non-payment of
rent. Mr. Moche also denied any knowledge of the fact that the Brits Traffic
Department had had no telephone service, water or electricity due to these
utilities being cut off, also due to non-payment. He is quoted as saying that
the department getting kicked out of their offices is “no great shakes” since
the traffic officers are supposed to spend most of their time out on the
streets. Meanwhile, they are looking for alternative accommodation but this is
not too urgent. Allegations have been made that the rent fell into arrears
because of an official who failed to make payments timeously. Moche described
the situation as “complex” and said that alternative offices may have been
found 20 km (12.5 miles) out of town, but that traffic officers aren’t happy to
travel so far, and for the foreseeable future will happily be meeting under
trees. Now
project this situation into the future by eight, ten maybe fifteen years. It is
precisely this type of regression which turns Africa into the anarchic
shit-hole that it is – first, central government stops paying rent, utilities
and then in the advanced stages of decay, salaries. Meanwhile, “primates” who
have been kitted out with uniforms, hide behind their badges to extract instant
fines and bribes from those motorists they prey on. They feel entitled to
collect bribes and fines, as it is payment in lieu of their regular salaries.
In return, central government ignores them completely, only too glad to be free
of this liability. The logistical link between a government department and its
subordinates then ceases to exist, and the loose cannons in the field
increasingly do as they please. They next form gangs, arm themselves, elect
warlords and a struggle for power ensues, with the endless civil conflicts
escalating to the levels of complete chaos, as seen in Liberia, the Congo and
elsewhere in Africa.
- “South Africa sucks” blog-spot,
An East London High Court judge yesterday sentenced
a gang rapist to life imprisonment, describing the "arrogant" attack
at knife-point as "one of the worst offences". The 25-year-old victim
- on holiday from England - was walking along the beach between Bonza Bay and
Gonubie on March 23 when she was attacked by Monde Jack, 22, and a 15-year-old
youth. A third man watched. Handing down sentence, Judge Themba Sangoni told
Jack "Rape is one of the worst offences, especially when it is committed
by a large number of people ... particularly if a knife is used to subdue a
victim. There is a stigma to it and it undermines women. From the evidence
brought forward there was an element of premeditation because you followed the
complainant for a while”, and, he added, as they carried out their attack in
broad daylight it was clear that they had acted “with arrogance". The
prosecutor, Advocate Glenn Turner, asked for the life sentence saying it was
"serious gang rape". He said the psychological damage caused to the
victim would take a long time to heal, "unlike an open wound that will
heal quickly". In addition, the attack put South Africa in a poor light
internationally, he said. "The woman lives in England, walks on a South
African beach and gets gang-raped. What message does that send to the world,
especially since we are hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup."
- report
sent by Nick Maine, Queensland, Australia, December 31, 2006
South African cricketers
found themselves involved in controversy yesterday, after The Sunday Times reported that vice-captain Jacques Kallis refused
to sing the [ANC version of] the national anthem. Cricket South Africa (SA)
will discuss with Kallis what the player describes as “good and valid personal
reasons” why he does not sing the [ANC] national anthem when it is played
before international matches.
- Daily Telegraph,
Here in sunny South Africa, you can
say "How long before South Africa disintegrates". The
treacherous Whites have given our thriving communities on a plate to the
"Blacks" who don't have a clue how to run a country, let alone build
a building on their own. They previously needed White leadership - even
the TV has four or five channels and at times there are only Blacks on each
channel....leaving the Whites out completely!!! The radio seems to thrive
on talk shows and the subjects are always related to "Black
problems". Previously we could go out at night and walk home
afterwards in a group. Now nobody goes out if they can help it - and we
have to use our own cars for transport. The buses are also minimal
now. Trains are not safe for Whites at all.
-
report sent by Nick Maine, Queensland, Australia,
A 34-year-old attorney died in
Natalspruit Hospital after being shot by three armed hijackers at Thokoza, in
full view of his wife and baby daughter. Eddie Barnard died a few minutes after
being admitted to hospital on Saturday night with bullet wounds in his chest,
stomach and back. Barnard, his wife, Rena, and their nine-month-old daughter,
Carli, were overpowered by three armed hijackers in front of their house in
Vanderbijlpark about 20:45 on Saturday night. They were forced into the rear
section of their 4x4 Toyota and covered with blankets. The hijackers headed for
Thokoza on the East Rand. Rena told friends afterwards that the men had
stopped, thrown her husband out of the vehicle and fired two shots. They then
threw the baby out and fired another shot. A shocked Henk Scheepers,
chairperson of the Vanderbijlpark Chamber of Commerce, who was a friend and
colleague of Eddie said "Rena thought the men had first killed Eddie and
then their daughter." A traumatised Rena told Scheepers at the hospital
that she had sat under the blankets the whole time, and heard three shots. She
thought the men had killed her husband and daughter. The robbers then threw her
out of the vehicle and drove off at high speed. At the hospital there was
"chaos" because of a shortage of staff and the doctor on duty asked
Scheepers and a friend to help him in theatre to wash the blood from Barnard's
body. Scheepers said it was terrible to have to hold his friend's body while
the blood was being washed off. Scheepers said: "The crime in our land is
repugnant and unacceptable." There have been no arrests yet.
-
AfricanCrisis,
- report sent by Nick Maine (Queensland,
Australia),
The ‘anti-apartheid’ novelist André
Brink has shocked many of his politically correct countrymen by warning that
football's World Cup, coming to South Africa in 2010, threatens a
"potential massacre which could make the Munich Olympics of a few decades
ago look like a picnic outing". Brink, who has twice been nominated for
the Booker Prize and short-listed several times for the Nobel Prize for
Literature, is no everyday scaremonger. In one of a number of articles he has
written about the crises facing South Africa, he said "I went out of my
way to assure people inside and outside the country who had doubts about the
‘new’ South Africa that we were moving in the direction of democracy, truth and
justice, and that the darker by-products of the change were temporary and
superficial accidents. I can no longer do that." While South Africa has
bathed in the accolade of the ‘Rainbow Nation’ since the end of apartheid in
1994, a torrent of commentators and swathes of the general public now say that
the rainbow's end has been reached and the nation is sliding back into the
storm. Like many South Africans, Brink is appalled by violent crime levels that
are seemingly out of control - he finally felt impelled to speak out when his
own daughter, son-in-law and their children were caught in a restaurant hold-up
of the sort that has become a near-everyday occurrence. Five men armed with
pistols stormed the Cape Town restaurant where his daughter's family were
dining; ordered everyone to lie face down on the floor and strip themselves of
rings, jewellery, watches, mobile ‘phones and wallets. The men then emptied the
safe and cash register and beat up and kicked the customers before herding them
into a small back room, locking it and making their escape. Apart from a single
paragraph in a small community newspaper, the incident was not reported.
"It is too insignificant," said Brink, "too banal, too
commonplace in the ‘new’ South Africa." South Africa now ranks alongside
Colombia, Chechnya and the occupied Palestinian Territories as among the most
violent places on earth. In a new report, the South African Institute of Race
Relations said that one million Whites have left the country in the past
decade. This is partly because of the escalating violence, but also because
they see no future in a country once proclaimed as ‘non-racist’ but which has
implemented a damaging raft of ‘reverse-racist’ policies. Most of those
quitting are highly skilled people such as doctors, nurses and engineers and
young people. More Whites began packing their bags for Europe, North America
and Australasia when justice minister Charles Nqakula, responding to a question
about the scores of daily murders and hundreds of daily rapes, told parliament
that those who complained about crime were "unpatriotic moaners". He
went on "They can continue to whinge until they're blue in the face or
they can simply leave this country." The justice minister's implication
was that only Whites "whinged" about the rampant violence. But most
of those raped, mugged and killed are Black. One woman, who had been gang-raped
and mugged by fellow Blacks, and who lives in a paralysis of fear in her
township, wrote to a newspaper asking "Where, honourable minister, do you
suggest I go?"
-
report by Fred Bridgeland, Johannesburg,
Nearly one million White South
Africans - almost a fifth of the population - have left the country in the past
ten years. This figure was released last week in a report from the South African Institute of Race Relations
(SAIRR). Frans Cronjé, who compiled the report, said it was especially crime
and affirmative action which had driven a fifth of South Africa's White
population out of the country. He did an analysis of Statistics South Africa's
Household Surveys between 1995 and 2005, emigration figures and other reliable
estimates on population numbers. Cronjé said the results left himself and his
colleagues dumbfounded. "When we drew the graphs we saw that almost a
whole generation of White South Africans are not here anymore." The
SAIRR's population pyramid of White South Africans show a definite loss of
young people and children under the age of ten. The figures for 2005 put the
number of White South Africans in the country at 4.3 million, 841,000 fewer
than the 5.2 million of 1995. Cronjé predicts that the White population would
continue to shrink, and, he said, the situation would have a far-reaching
impact on the economy. "The White population is getting older, which means
the White taxpayers are only going to contribute to the economy for the next
twenty years. There would have to be a huge influx of skilled workers to fill
this gap. This, unfortunately, is not the case." The education of most
Black children is not on par to fill these gaps. Last year, for example, only
3,000 Blacks passed matric with higher grade mathematics, said Cronjé. Most of
the White emigrants are economically productive people, said Marco Macfarlane,
co-author of the report. However, in the last decade the Black economically
productive population grew by 81%. Some
of these people have slot into the high-income group, where Black people make
up a third of the top earners. Whites, however, still account for half of this
group, where Indians and Coloureds make up 7% and 6% of the high-income group
respectively. The rest of the Black entrants to the labour market are busy in
the informal sector, which do not necessarily contribute to the tax income.
"Black people are entering the economy at a stiff pace, but of the
economically active middle class (the country's biggest tax contributors),
Blacks only account for 1%." Macfarlane said crime and affirmative action
are the top reasons for the exodus of Whites, "and because the crime
figures are not going to decline rapidly and affirmative action is to continue,
more Whites are going to leave. "The young people reckon they are being
punished for what happened in the previous dispensation. They are furious,
because they feel they had no part in it," said Macfarlane. According to
the report the emigrants are between 20 and 40 years old. "This is the
group that have children and help grow the population, but now they're getting
their children overseas, and they don't come back. That means the White
population is going to continue to shrink." The decline in the White
population in the decade to 2005 is estimated at 16.1%.
-
AfricanCrisis,
Another live shootout occurred in
Jo`burg: passers-by having to take cover from AK47 bullet fire. 4 cash in
transit staff killed in one heist, 1 guard shot and 3 burned to death in the van
which the gang had poured flammable liquid over. Another elderly couple were
hijacked and robbed at their farm. 3 cash in transit heists in 1 day in Durban,
Gateway Centre in Umhlanga, La Lucia Mall and Westville Pavilion centre, again
rounds fired and fatalities. 3 middle-aged ladies from the UK robbed at
gunpoint in Jo`burg for their belongings. Today riots and violent assaults in
universities. A Free State judge has recently said the death penalty should be
brought back.
-
report sent by P.T. (South Africa),
The
[Muldersdrift] area bore witness to its 96th farm attack this year when Belgian
national Mattias Noack, 58, who survived another attack on his life last
November, was murdered by five attackers at his Lindley, Muldersdrift, home on
Thursday night. Raising more than a few eyebrows among neighbours is the fact
that Noack and his wife Susan were witnesses in the criminal trial of a police
inspector, from Muldersdrift police station, arrested in recent weeks over last
November's attack. West Rand police spokesperson Inspector Solomon Sibiya told
the Saturday Star that the suspect,
who can't be named until he has pleaded, appeared in the Krugersdorp
magistrate's court this week and had his case postponed until October 26. He
was released on R2,000 bail. Shockingly, the policeman is still on duty and has
been transferred to Norwood police station pending an internal disciplinary
hearing on October 10. Sibiya said the suspect would be charged with attempted
murder and robbery. The inspector was arrested after being identified by
Noack's wife at the Douglasdale police station, where she works as a
receptionist. Noack retired to South Africa three years ago to set up a
nursery. Last year, the couple were attacked in their driveway, along with two
German tourists, by four men. Noack was shot in a leg before the attackers
fled. On Thursday, the couple returned home at 8.30pm to find five attackers
waiting for them. Noack was shot at three times and died on the scene. Money,
mobile ‘phones, a revolver and the couple's Nissan Almera were stolen, but
Noack's wife was not harmed. Muldersdrift, with an average of more than 10 farm
attacks a month and eight murders this year, has been labeled a national crime
hotspot by the Transvaal Agricultural
Union (TAU), which says it is by far the most violent farming area in the
region. Trevor Roberts, the owner of a Muldersdrift security consultancy, Conserv Security, said the attack on the
Noacks was the fifth "double attack" on a farmer in the area, and,
like the others, looked suspiciously like a revenge attack.
- report sent by Sheena Adams,
Owen
Potterton was murdered in Durban Sat 9th September. He was attacked as
he returned home approx 10 pm by a burglar or burglars. There was a
considerable fight (heard by neighbour who took no action) during which he was
stabbed and left bleeding on carpet. They ransacked his house looking for gun
cupboard keys which they eventually found, and took his guns (he was into
combat pistol club and skeet shooting). He died around dawn, Sunday but was
only discovered on Monday by the same neighbour when he noticed the gate was
open.
- report sent by ORAFs,
An elderly
farmer was killed and his wife and was assaulted at Albert Falls, near
Pietermaritzburg, on Tuesday morning, police said. Inspector Joey Jeevan said
Eric Podolski, 71, had been tied to a tree and hit on the head in a field where
he was later found dead. Initial investigations indicated that three men had
arrived at his farm asking for temporary work, which he gave them, doing bush
clearing about 400m from his house. Shortly after Podolski was attacked, the
men entered the house asking Podoloski's 62-year-old wife, Miriam, for a grass
cutter. They then tied up and gagged Miriam Podoloski and ransacked the
farmhouse, leaving with R1,200 cash and possibly the farmer's firearm. Miriam
Podolski broke free and alerted the police. As usual, no arrests have been
made.
- report sent by J. Marx,
An armed gang forced Prince Harry's
girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, to lie on the kitchen floor of a Cape Town restaurant
before robbing her at gunpoint. Five thieves posed as customers when they
entered the Cubana Latino Cafe,
overlooked by the crags of Table Mountain in one of the most affluent areas of
South Africa's oldest city. Miss Davy, 20, was in the cafe with a friend and
four other diners. Leal Kleingeld, the owner of the restaurant in the suburb of
Claremont, said the five men ordered drinks then drew guns and knives.
"They made everyone lie down on the kitchen floor at gunpoint and
knifepoint," said Mr Kleingeld, 44. "Everybody was very shaken up.
They took everyone's wallets, money,
mobile phones and car keys." Five staff were on duty at the time
and they, together with Miss Davy and the other customers, were herded into the
kitchen at the rear of the restaurant. The red and yellow neon signs of the Cubana Latino Cafe overlook a main road
and a robbery in the dining area would have been easily visible to passers-by.
But the manager, De Villiers Nienabar, did not lie down on the kitchen floor
speedily enough for the gang. "Our manager got kicked in the face,"
said Mr Kleingeld. "They told him to lie down and if he didn't do it,
they'd kill him." Staff and customers alike were ordered to keep their
faces pressed to the floor while they were robbed with guns and knives pressed
against them. The gang fled shortly after 11pm last Sunday. Miss Davy, who was
not hurt in the incident, studies at the University of Cape Town, whose campus
is a short drive from the Cubana Latino
Cafe. South Africa has the world's highest rate of violent crime. More than
19,000 murders were recorded in 2004 and armed robberies are frequent.
Restaurants in the affluent quarters of Cape Town and Johannesburg are regular
targets.
-
Daily Telegraph,
At 9 a.m. this morning on the
N2 Freeway Durban a driver pulled over (it is one of the rules of the road here)
to take a call on his mobile phone. While he was talking two Blacks walked up
opened the door, shot him stole his phone and money, then fled from the
scene.
-
report sent by MAC,
- picture sent by JDT (London),
Norwich Union has warned clients
and citizens of Western countries that a holiday in (Black-ruled) South Africa
could be very dangerous. A survey said travellers to South Africa were the most
likely to suffer violent robberies or lose their belongings in transit. South
Africa has been earmarked as the country where the most crimes take place and
where tourists' luggage goes missing most often. South Africa was also high on
the list for food poisoning and road accidents. David Ross, senior media
relations manager at Norwich Union, said "We are the UK's largest
insurance company. For the first time we looked at the claims we received from
our customers and identified which countries and types of claims cropped up
most frequently. South Africa was highest for claims made as a result of
robbery with violence." Warnings have also been sounded elsewhere in the
Western world. In the past week, the British Foreign Office warned Britons who
travel to South Africa about the high levels of crime in the country, including
rape, murder, hijackings, muggings, theft and fraud. Hillbrow and Berea in
Johannesburg, which has been taken over by Blacks, are described as high risk,
and travellers are warned against driving at night when visiting Northern Natal,
as there have been incidents of hijackings and robberies, particularly on
lonely secondary roads. Isolated beach and picnic spots are also listed as
dangerous, as well as Table Mountain in Cape Town. The Australia Tourist
Commission also warns its citizens visiting South Africa to maintain high
levels of personal security awareness and remain vigilant. "Car-jackings,
muggings, theft and pick-pocketing are common. Murders and rapes involving
foreign tourists have been reported," the commission said.
-
Southern Cross Africa News,
Eleven
British schoolchildren have received trauma counselling in South Africa after
they were robbed by an armed gang. The children, from Bishop Stopford School
near Kettering, Northamptonshire, were attending a party at a family home in
Johannesburg when the robbers broke in armed with shotguns and crowbars. One
girl was dragged by the hair into a room where all the pupils were forced to
hand over cameras and mobile ‘phones at gunpoint. They had to listen as their adult
host, Pierre Francois Boote, was beaten up in the garden of his home. The
children, all aged 16 or 17, were members of Bishop Stopford’s rugby and
netball teams. They were among a party of 42 pupils and five teachers on a
sporting tour of South Africa. South Africa suffers one of the highest rates of
violent crime in the world. Armed robberies are commonplace, especially in
Johannesburg, and 19,824 murders were recorded in 2004.
- Daily Telegraph,
In this one month alone, nearly 100,000
people came in legally from Zimbabwe alone - where Black rule has run
the country into the ground and caused an economic melt-down. Observers have
said that the number of illegal immigrants could be far higher, leading to
speculation that the total number of Black Africans streaming into South Africa
could be more than 2 million per year. Independent analysts have said that the
economy of South Africa has no chance to absorb this number. This will
inevitably lead to even greater terror and crime as unemployment increases and
more and more of the ‘masses’ turn to stealing, robbing and eventually murder.
At the previously efficient and highly regarded 1
Military Hospital in Pretoria, which has been ‘transformed’ and taken over by
Black staff, an elderly White, Ralie Treptow (69), has died due to ‘gross negligence’ on the
part of Black staff. Her daughter,
Tereza Zwarts (37), told of the harrowing ordeal her mother was subjected to,
which included being deprived of life-saving heart medicine for two days, being
allowed to slip into a coma without attendance, and having a drip put up which
did not reach any vein. In the end, after she had died, a Black doctor
allegedly slapped the dead woman four times through her face, said “oh, she’s
dead!”, and walked out.
- Southern
Cross Africa News,
Mike Beeson was walking his dog on
the beach near his home in Pennington (Natal) when he was attacked and stabbed
seven times. One stab in the neck resulted in paralysis and he was in Scottburgh
Hospital until his death on 25th May 2006.
-
report sent by PW & JG,
Yet another White family has been
brutally attacked and tortured by Black killers. Daleen Pieters, 33 and her
husband Frans, 44, were first assaulted and beaten up in their own home on
their smallholding just outside Swartruggens - while her children, Gideon, 10
and Anuscka, 3, were forced to watch. Pieters, a mineworker, had a prosthetic
leg - but this did not stop the Black from pouring boiling hot water on him and
slashing open his forehead, and
afterwards strangling him using a shoelace. Daleen Pieters said that she
was watching television when the Blacks broke in and attacked her with a knife.
They cut her leg to the bone in two places, and then went to fetch her husband
and children and tied up all of them in the television room. "They melted
a plastic bag and dripped the melting plastic on my son. They battered his nose
and his eye is black and blue. They hit my little girl once." She added that
one of the killers pushed the barrel of a 9mm pistol into her mouth and
blindfolded and gagged all of them. "They tortured my husband first before
they killed him….” Altogether, the Blacks tortured the White family for four
hours.
-
Southern Cross Africa News,
In
four years time, the new (soccer) world champion will be determined on the
African continent. But South Africa could still be removed from holding the
tournament. The country is far behind in its schedule and already alternative
venues are being discussed. Behind the scenes during the world cup final game
in Berlin, serious discussions were held to find an alternative venue for South
Africa in 2010. One candidate put forward was the USA, which held a World Cup
in 1994. In addition, Germany, as a venue for the extremely successful World
Cup 2006, was also mentioned as an alternative host. The chances of that
happening are however classified as small. In South Africa, the preparations
for the pageant are running at anything but full speed. That applies to the
building and the modernization of the stadiums, but particularly to the
country-wide improvement of the traffic infrastructure. Although the South
Africans already received the official notice of the hosting on 15 April 2004,
no building has even started on any of the four planned stadium buildings. In
Cape Town, it is still not even clear where the stadium will even be built. In
addition, there is a severe lack of planning with regard to the accommodation.
There is not enough accommodation in existence for the 31 country delegations
and the expected 500,000 World Cup tourists. The extent of the financial
subsidy by the government has also not yet been fixed. "I am a bad
computer [sic], you must ask our Minister of Finance. But we will keep our
promises,” assured South African president Thabo Mbeki. FIFA president, Joseph
S. Blatter, continues to publicly support South Africa. "The world trusts
them. The FIFA family stands behind them ", he said past Friday with the
unveiling of the official logos for 2010. In the meantime, however, there is
increasing doubt as to whether South Africa is suited as a host country. FIFA
vice-president and Africa federation boss Issa Hayatou said: "I know, what
is spoken on the corridors and courses of the FIFA", he meaningfully
explained. Therefore, many view the USA as being able to stage, within a few
years, the cost for a tournament of this extent. The stadiums are already in
existence, and the infrastructure is present. That applies also to the know-how
for the organization of the ticket arrangements, and for the safety
requirements. Germany, on the other hand, is an unlikely host because Germany
will not be able to demand that it is the host again in four years’ time. It is
however unlikely that a decision will be made one way or the other in the near
future. Blatter is aiming for a third term of office, and to be re-elected in
2007 in Zurich, he will need the support of the Africa representatives.
- Der Spiegel (translation),
German
organisers believe they could be called in to help FIFA stage the 2010 World
Cup, which is due to be held in South Africa. The Germans think they have
staged the best World Cup yet and have already expressed grave doubts about the
African nation’s capacity to do likewise. In 1986 Mexico had to step in and
host the tournament when Colombia proved unable to fulfil the requirements and
German newspapers have been bombarding Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president, with
questions about South Africa’s ability to stage the event. Some have even
suggested that, if they do not have the resources Germany should take over as
hosts in four years’ time. “In South Africa there are problems,” Blatter
admitted this week. “Will the stadiums be built? Will they be on time? We are
perfectly aware of the great task that is required for staging the World Cup
and South Africa needs help. We have established our own secretariat in
Johannesburg and we shall take charge of ticketing. South Africa is a
multi-cultural country where you have different tribes and you require a
certain kind of intelligence to bring these forces together.” Despite the
support of Blatter and his entourage, however, there are still sceptics within
FIFA who believe South Africa are not capable of being 2010 hosts.
- Daily Telegraph,
A
"frightening" number of policemen have died in Gauteng (the PWV area)
so far this year, with almost as many slain in the first six months of 2006 as
in the whole of last year, said the office of national commissioner Jackie Selebi.
The deaths of four policemen in a bloody siege in Jeppestown last Sunday
brought the tally to 19 since the start of the year. There were 23 police
killed in the whole of 2005. Another policeman, inspector Calvin Bongani Myeza,
40, was shot dead while walking to his house in Dobsonville, Soweto, on Friday
night.
- News24 report,
A White
Matie student died after being assaulted by Coloured players on the rugby field.
He was apparently ‘stiff-arm’ tackled to the throat, and then kicked in the
head during a vicious, brutal rugby game between the traditionally White
Rawsonville Rugby Club and the Coloured Delicious club of Ceres. Riaan Loots, a
BCom student at the University of Stellenbosch, was declared brain-dead
after paramedics tried to revive him
without any success and he was rushed by ambulance to the Medi-Clinic in
Worcester. According to a White policeman, a charge of murder was being investigated. Many Whites
have lost interest in the sport after it was forcibly integrated under the
ANC/NP alliance. In rugby, non-White players and spectators frequently start
assaulting White teams when they start winning. Rawsonville chairperson,
D.P.Spannenberg, said he was threatened with a knife and a beer bottle after
the match. He said that "it was the worst case of naked hatred," he'd
ever seen among spectators.
- Southern Cross Africa News,
South
Africa’s Olympic gold medallist Ryk Neethling has lost 20 gold medals from
various competitions, including the Commonwealth Games [BE&CG], which were
stolen from his northern Johannesburg townhouse. Neethling, a member of the
South African 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay team that won gold at the 2004
Athens Olympics, is currently in Sweden.
- South Africa Times,
An Afrikaans priest, Leon de Kock,
stopped to help a "motorist in distress". He was then attacked and
stabbed several times and left for dead. When he fell down, the criminals threw
him into the bushes by the side of the road, and he heard them drive off in his
car. He lay unconscious in the bushes by the side of the road for 2 hours. Then
he managed to crawl to the roadside where a car stopped and someone helped him.
As a result of his stab wounds he cannot talk properly, and they say chances
are slim that he will ever be able to again. Apparently the Priest had a good
singing voice, but they say there is a 95% chance that his voice will never be
the same again.
-
Die Beeld,
Helen Suzman, once the most
strident leftist voice in the White South African Parliament, has publicly
expressed her disgust at what she called the ruling Black regime’s
"anti-white" attitude, and criticized it for abandoning the country's
poorest Blacks. In an amazing turn-about, Suzman even went so far as to say
that parliamentary democracy was healthier under what she called “the apartheid
regime”. The veteran campaigner indicated that she was disappointed by the ANC
Government for which she had worked so hard to get into power. "I had
hoped for something much better" said Suzman, 86. "The poor in this
country have not benefited at all from the ANC. This Government spends like a
drunken sailor. Instead of investing in projects to give people jobs, they
spend millions buying weapons and private jets, and sending gifts to
Haiti." She also attacked President Mbeki's failure to curb the excesses
of his friend and neighbour, President Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Suzman was a
lecturer in economic history before beginning her political career in 1953 with
the United Party. Six years later she founded the Progressive Party and for 13
years was its sole MP. She was a regular visitor to Mandela and other ANC
terrorist leaders during their incarcerations on Robben Island. However, like
many other leftist White South Africans, Suzman has seen her children move
overseas, away from the rampant Black terror and crime they helped to empower,
and away from the system of discrimination against Whites and labour laws that
force employers to hire less qualified Blacks on the basis of their skin
colour.
-
Southern Cross Africa News,