As News24 reports on a Johannesburg story:
"It was him or me", said Alexi Kyriacou on the East Rand on Tuesday (29 July) after he almost shot off a hijacker's arm.
At about 15h00, four suspected hijackers tried to hijack a truck that was delivering mageu (an energy booster) to the Kyriacou family business, the Cosmos Café.
Alexi, a manager at the café in Third Street in Vorsterskroon, and his father Chris, 61, took on the hijackers.
The station commander in Nigel, Superintendent Yogita Kasaven said that Alexi nearly shot off a hijacker's right arm with a 40-calibre Heckler & Kock [sic] pistol.
A police officer said the man's arm was hanging by a small piece of flesh.
"The man was taken to the Heidelberg Hospital for treatment and is under arrest."
Comment: South Africa, what an awesome country – never a dull moment.
I also note with some humour how we in gun-loving/gun-fearing SA have reached the point where one of Germany's finest brand names H&K aka Heckler & Koch has been bastardised into Heckler & Kock.
Adds a spin to the well-known Southern Baptist reply to an ugly comment: "Suck my Glock" which can so easily be updated to: "Suck my Heckler & Kock"
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The good news about SA?
According to a blog on SA's The Times website, the tide is turning ...
the small picture
1. The petrol price seems to have arrived at some sort of ceiling and may even start falling
2. The Boks beat the All Blacks at the House of Pain (Dunedin, NZ) for the first time ever
THE BIG PICTURE
1. Even eight months after Polokwane's NC conference, the sky has not fallen on our heads .President Thabo Mbeki and Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, appear confident South Africa will hold its economic policy line. The voices of the left are sounding increasingly shrill. Silly rantings about the zero-rating of foods that are already zero-rated and calls for killing in the name of Jacob Zuma are not causing alarm so much as tut-tuts.
2. Zimbabwe is now involved in serious talks aimed at settling that country's political crisis. It has only been a few days, so chickens ought not to be counted. But as soon as there is any advance on this front, the dividend for South Africa and this region will be phenomenal.
Comment: So the score is 2-2. Will we go into Extra Time and if it comes down to a penalty shoot-out, will anybody be able to clearly see the goalposts?
the small picture
1. The petrol price seems to have arrived at some sort of ceiling and may even start falling
2. The Boks beat the All Blacks at the House of Pain (Dunedin, NZ) for the first time ever
THE BIG PICTURE
1. Even eight months after Polokwane's NC conference, the sky has not fallen on our heads .President Thabo Mbeki and Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, appear confident South Africa will hold its economic policy line. The voices of the left are sounding increasingly shrill. Silly rantings about the zero-rating of foods that are already zero-rated and calls for killing in the name of Jacob Zuma are not causing alarm so much as tut-tuts.
2. Zimbabwe is now involved in serious talks aimed at settling that country's political crisis. It has only been a few days, so chickens ought not to be counted. But as soon as there is any advance on this front, the dividend for South Africa and this region will be phenomenal.
Comment: So the score is 2-2. Will we go into Extra Time and if it comes down to a penalty shoot-out, will anybody be able to clearly see the goalposts?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Joe Public Jnr strikes back!
In an online story, IOL reports that a boy has beaten up an armed robber ...
An eight-year-old Centurion boy saved the life of his mother and family after overpowering an armed house robber and beating him up. For the Mothusi family, Ramaeba is their hero.
Virginia Mothusi had been woken up earlier by two men who had walked into the house through the front door which had been left unlocked.
Her screams and the noise of the two wrestling for control of a gun saw Ramaeba racing to his mother's rescue.
Leaping at the gunman Ramaeba gave him several kicks to the stomach before jumping on top of him, hitting and punching him in the face and neck.
Says Ramaeba's mother, "He was screaming and shouting for the man to leave me alone. He jumped at the man and kicked and punched him, taking him completely by surprise. He was like a wild animal.
The startled gunman and his accomplice fled with the few electrical appliances that they had taken outside the house before they were spotted.
Ramaeba and his 11-year-old sister, Bakang, helped direct police in the direction the gunmen had fled.
Comment: Hey awesome dude! Someone I'd like to see become a leader in years to come
An eight-year-old Centurion boy saved the life of his mother and family after overpowering an armed house robber and beating him up. For the Mothusi family, Ramaeba is their hero.
Virginia Mothusi had been woken up earlier by two men who had walked into the house through the front door which had been left unlocked.
Her screams and the noise of the two wrestling for control of a gun saw Ramaeba racing to his mother's rescue.
Leaping at the gunman Ramaeba gave him several kicks to the stomach before jumping on top of him, hitting and punching him in the face and neck.
Says Ramaeba's mother, "He was screaming and shouting for the man to leave me alone. He jumped at the man and kicked and punched him, taking him completely by surprise. He was like a wild animal.
The startled gunman and his accomplice fled with the few electrical appliances that they had taken outside the house before they were spotted.
Ramaeba and his 11-year-old sister, Bakang, helped direct police in the direction the gunmen had fled.
Comment: Hey awesome dude! Someone I'd like to see become a leader in years to come
Josephine Public strikes back!
News24 reports how a local Port Elizabeth ballerina Pasqual Burger, 17, set all thoughts of graceful movement aside to help a friend. She helped to prevent hijackers from getting away with the car of a fellow dancer, Beathe Barnard, on Friday [25 July]. Two armed men attacked Barnard when she got to her car in the parking lot behind the ballet studio in Mount Pleasant after ballet practice.Burger says, "I yanked the man from behind the steering wheel.
When he was out of the car, he threw me to the ground.
I jumped up and grabbed him again - I just didn't want him to get into that car again ... I didn't really take a decision to help Beathe ... it just came automatically."
Comment: You go girl! Womandla and all that ...
Friday, July 25, 2008
Separated at birth? Ebagum & Gollum
In so many ways, this image of Ebagum tells everything of the way in which one man, once revered as 1980s-era Zimbabwe's greatest hope for change. Now, if only a Fellowship of the Ring could band together to unseat this dark lord from power. How long will this piece of colonial collateral damage remain in power, gloating like Gollum over his preciousssssssss ...
Zuma speaks up for poor whities
In an IOL article by Kanina Foss Zuma speaks up for poor whities
The Solidarity trade union says ANC President Jacob Zuma has broken the silence around some of South Africa's forgotten people: poor whites.
On Thursday, Zuma made a return visit to the indigent white community at the Bethlehem settlement in Pretoria North.
Addressing more than 1 000 people from about 40 different white settlements in the Pretoria area, Zuma faced a more subdued South African audience than he's accustomed to. There was silence as he climbed the podium, and a lone ululation as he approached the lectern.
Zuma said: "By working together we will do away with the perception that there are problems that are specifically white and problems that are specifically black."
Zuma first visited the settlement in April, when he took Solidarity up on its offer to show him white people who were struggling. He was shocked by the extent of the problem. Many residents live in wooden Wendy houses without electricity.
"I didn't realise there was a sector that could be referred to as poor whites in this country," he said. "I was shocked and I was surprised when I came here, because here was reality staring at me."
Zuma said he'd been struck by the similarity of the issues in the Bethlehem settlement and the issues in black townships.
Comment: No shite Sherlock! There are indeed humans of all skin colours struggling to deal with the severe bread and butter challenges of liFe (with a capital F) in the almost-as-good-as-new Sarth Effrika.
The Solidarity trade union says ANC President Jacob Zuma has broken the silence around some of South Africa's forgotten people: poor whites.
On Thursday, Zuma made a return visit to the indigent white community at the Bethlehem settlement in Pretoria North.
Addressing more than 1 000 people from about 40 different white settlements in the Pretoria area, Zuma faced a more subdued South African audience than he's accustomed to. There was silence as he climbed the podium, and a lone ululation as he approached the lectern.
Zuma said: "By working together we will do away with the perception that there are problems that are specifically white and problems that are specifically black."
Zuma first visited the settlement in April, when he took Solidarity up on its offer to show him white people who were struggling. He was shocked by the extent of the problem. Many residents live in wooden Wendy houses without electricity.
"I didn't realise there was a sector that could be referred to as poor whites in this country," he said. "I was shocked and I was surprised when I came here, because here was reality staring at me."
Zuma said he'd been struck by the similarity of the issues in the Bethlehem settlement and the issues in black townships.
Comment: No shite Sherlock! There are indeed humans of all skin colours struggling to deal with the severe bread and butter challenges of liFe (with a capital F) in the almost-as-good-as-new Sarth Effrika.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
SA: Ex-Prison Official Hijacked, strangled and left on a dirt road
According to a News24 article headed 'We don't forgive the killers'
22 Jul 2008
Cape Town - The family of a Department of Correctional Services former brigadier, Willie Rousseau, 76, of Jacobs Bay, have described his murder as senseless, barbaric and humiliating.
About 16:20 on Friday, Rousseau drove to buy cigarettes at a nearby café, as he did every day. His wife, Joey, became worried when he was not back at his usual time.
By 04:00 on Saturday, the satellite tracking device in his vehicle showed that the car was in the Malmesbury area.
Rousseau's bakkie was hijacked and he was strangled to death.
[An arrested] suspect then took police to the place where Rousseau's body lay in a pool of water on a gravel road near Hopefield.
The two suspects they arrested, Cedric Lottering and Ricardo Petersen, both of Saldanha Bay, appeared in the Circuit Court in Velddrif on Monday on charges of theft and murder.
[ends]
Comment: I'm wildly guessing this the reason so many people are making plans to leave this crazy, beautiful, gentle and wild country – one of the best and worst life experiences Africa has to offer
22 Jul 2008
Cape Town - The family of a Department of Correctional Services former brigadier, Willie Rousseau, 76, of Jacobs Bay, have described his murder as senseless, barbaric and humiliating.
About 16:20 on Friday, Rousseau drove to buy cigarettes at a nearby café, as he did every day. His wife, Joey, became worried when he was not back at his usual time.
By 04:00 on Saturday, the satellite tracking device in his vehicle showed that the car was in the Malmesbury area.
Rousseau's bakkie was hijacked and he was strangled to death.
[An arrested] suspect then took police to the place where Rousseau's body lay in a pool of water on a gravel road near Hopefield.
The two suspects they arrested, Cedric Lottering and Ricardo Petersen, both of Saldanha Bay, appeared in the Circuit Court in Velddrif on Monday on charges of theft and murder.
[ends]
Comment: I'm wildly guessing this the reason so many people are making plans to leave this crazy, beautiful, gentle and wild country – one of the best and worst life experiences Africa has to offer
Friday, July 18, 2008
Holy Smoke! More bang for your buck?
AUSTRALIA – According to ANATARA News, a brothel offering a special discount during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Sydney says business had more than doubled since the pontiff arrived.
The owner of the upmarket bordello Xclusive said that she had hired extra women to meet increased demand during the July 15-20 World Youth Day events, which have seen hundreds of thousands of pilgrims descend on Sydney.
While the brothel was not targeting pilgrims, a 10 percent discount for people associated with World Youth Day, including the 3,000 to 5,000 media covering the papal visit, had significantly boosted business, she said.
"We put on another five staff and they've all been busy," she says.
The owner said the pope's mid-winter Australian visit, for celebrations designed to rejuvenate the Catholic Church among young people, came at a time when business was traditionally slow.
A curious world we inhabit indeed
The owner of the upmarket bordello Xclusive said that she had hired extra women to meet increased demand during the July 15-20 World Youth Day events, which have seen hundreds of thousands of pilgrims descend on Sydney.
While the brothel was not targeting pilgrims, a 10 percent discount for people associated with World Youth Day, including the 3,000 to 5,000 media covering the papal visit, had significantly boosted business, she said.
"We put on another five staff and they've all been busy," she says.
The owner said the pope's mid-winter Australian visit, for celebrations designed to rejuvenate the Catholic Church among young people, came at a time when business was traditionally slow.
A curious world we inhabit indeed
Thursday, July 10, 2008
SA argument over Durban's Mugabe Street
South Africa's Durban municipality has denied that a road called Mugabe Street is named after Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe, who won disputed polls in June 2008.
Siyabonga Mngadi, chair of the street renaming task team, told the BBC the street was named after a "local hero".
He was responding to complaints from residents quoted in the media, calling for the road to be renamed.
"Why name the street after a leader who does not respect democracy?" one told South Africa's Sowetan newspaper.
Okay immediate thoughts
If it's named after a local hero, can we at least know who that local hero is or was? And if not, can the Durban council at least 'fess up and get rid of the damned thang. In fact, can't we find the biggest, smelliest, most vile rubbish dump or landfill in South Africa and name that in Robert Mugabe's honour?
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
How d'ya say 'Cheers' in Dutch?
On a lighter, fresher note ...
Global brewing giant SABMiller's South African unit, SAB, said the reaction of local customers to the introduction of Grolsch had been outstanding and early sales are "very encouraging".
The first batch of the premium Dutch brew was recently introduced to South Africa in a tightly-controlled distribution plan. The iconic 450 ml "swingtop" bottle and the 330 ml flat-sided crown top are both being made available, imported from the Grolsch brewery in The Netherlands in non-returnable packaging.
LA Times: Zim militia hold women as sex slaves
From the Los Angeles Times
July 7, 2008
Zimbabwe youth militias accused of holding women as sex slaves
HARARE, ZIMBABWE — She has to call the young men her "comrades." She cooks food for the comrades and serves them. She sweeps the comrades' floor and cleans up after them. And whenever any of the comrades want sex, she is raped.
Asiatu, 21, is a prisoner of the comrades at a command base of the ruling ZANU-PF party, one of 900 such camps set up by the party to terrorize Zimbabweans into voting for Robert Mugabe in the one-man presidential runoff late last month and extending his 28-year rule. The election is over, but the terror isn't.
She has been at the base for about 10 weeks, ever since she was abducted in the middle of the night because her mother is a supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
"I'm still at the base. I'm being raped by four or five men daily," she whispers, bursting into tears. "Any time they want, night or day. To me, a comrade is a murderer, someone who's cruel."
She has to stay most of each day and night at the base, a sex slave of the thuggish youth militias unleashed by the government. The Times interviewed her during one of the several short daily periods she is allowed to leave the ZANU-PF base. When asked why she doesn't escape during that time, Asiatu gives a chilling explanation: "They promised me if I run away, my mother will be killed."
Asiatu has given up believing in the possibility of her own freedom, yet she has not lost her belief that the country will somehow be transformed. "If the situation continues like this, the country will remain ashes," she says. But when she expresses her hopes, the fear seems to lift for a moment. Her voice is firm and clear: "There's going to be a change. I feel change coming."
FULL STORY AT URL HERE
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-sexslave7-2008jul07,0,5316697.story
July 7, 2008
Zimbabwe youth militias accused of holding women as sex slaves
HARARE, ZIMBABWE — She has to call the young men her "comrades." She cooks food for the comrades and serves them. She sweeps the comrades' floor and cleans up after them. And whenever any of the comrades want sex, she is raped.
Asiatu, 21, is a prisoner of the comrades at a command base of the ruling ZANU-PF party, one of 900 such camps set up by the party to terrorize Zimbabweans into voting for Robert Mugabe in the one-man presidential runoff late last month and extending his 28-year rule. The election is over, but the terror isn't.
She has been at the base for about 10 weeks, ever since she was abducted in the middle of the night because her mother is a supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
"I'm still at the base. I'm being raped by four or five men daily," she whispers, bursting into tears. "Any time they want, night or day. To me, a comrade is a murderer, someone who's cruel."
She has to stay most of each day and night at the base, a sex slave of the thuggish youth militias unleashed by the government. The Times interviewed her during one of the several short daily periods she is allowed to leave the ZANU-PF base. When asked why she doesn't escape during that time, Asiatu gives a chilling explanation: "They promised me if I run away, my mother will be killed."
Asiatu has given up believing in the possibility of her own freedom, yet she has not lost her belief that the country will somehow be transformed. "If the situation continues like this, the country will remain ashes," she says. But when she expresses her hopes, the fear seems to lift for a moment. Her voice is firm and clear: "There's going to be a change. I feel change coming."
FULL STORY AT URL HERE
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-sexslave7-2008jul07,0,5316697.story
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
The Ebagum Show continues
Yessim, it's been a loooooong while,
but I'd kinda hoped the Zim situation might have untangled itself by now.
No such dang luck.
Uncle Bob Mugabe (aka Ebagum) continues his insane tirade against the gay colonialists and Aunty Grace "Many Funerals" Mirafu keeps digging graves for all her many pairs of designer shoes.
1. In the mean time, a pregnant man gave birth to a bonny baby girrrl on Sunday 29 June. Thomas Beatie, 34, is both a Proud Dad and a Beaming Mother, the best of both worlds perhaps? And his/her daughter? “She’s really cute, really pretty,” a source told ABC News.
2. And today (Tues 8 July) it was confirmed that Simon Mann will prolly spend the rest of his life behind bars for plotting to overthrow the tinpot government of Equatorial Guinea
3. In latest news from the ongoing G8 Summit, it seems Africa's current Class of 2008 Leaders continue to fiddle while Harare burns.
According to The Financial Times:
The only area where we may differ is on the way forward
In other words, when it comes to African Quiet Diplomacy,
we simply don't know how to go forward ...
Or in other words, you might as well fuck me sideways
but I'd kinda hoped the Zim situation might have untangled itself by now.
No such dang luck.
Uncle Bob Mugabe (aka Ebagum) continues his insane tirade against the gay colonialists and Aunty Grace "Many Funerals" Mirafu keeps digging graves for all her many pairs of designer shoes.
1. In the mean time, a pregnant man gave birth to a bonny baby girrrl on Sunday 29 June. Thomas Beatie, 34, is both a Proud Dad and a Beaming Mother, the best of both worlds perhaps? And his/her daughter? “She’s really cute, really pretty,” a source told ABC News.
2. And today (Tues 8 July) it was confirmed that Simon Mann will prolly spend the rest of his life behind bars for plotting to overthrow the tinpot government of Equatorial Guinea
3. In latest news from the ongoing G8 Summit, it seems Africa's current Class of 2008 Leaders continue to fiddle while Harare burns.
According to The Financial Times:
'Leaders from the developed world and Africa yesterday failed to agree on how to deal with the crisis in Zimbabwe, which overshadowed a meeting between the Group of Eight [G8] and seven African heads of state Appearing at a joint news conference with President George W Bush, Jakaya Kikwete, president of Tanzania and chairman of the African Union, said: "The only area where we may differ is on the way forward."'
Somehow that foolishly, fandangled frase gets to me:The only area where we may differ is on the way forward
In other words, when it comes to African Quiet Diplomacy,
we simply don't know how to go forward ...
Or in other words, you might as well fuck me sideways
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