I cannot believe this story!
It sounds like something out of the days of apartheid, with policemen bundling someone into a car with a bag over their head and NIA agents raiding their house.
I am so angry! To me, this is the equivalent of flag burning - or even more acceptable - in the realms of freedom of speech.
After recently watching Invictus and marvelling at Mandela's approach to his security in the spirit of reconciliation, this contrast reminds me of the madness of Mugabe.
Frankly, much of Zuma's conduct with respect to corruption, rewarding those who helped quash charges against him, and his sleeping around reminds me of Mugabe.
Man swore at president, says ministry
From Iol
February 16 2010 at 06:20PM
The 25-year-old student arrested for "waving" at President Jacob Zuma's convoy last week swore at the president and resisted arrest, a spokesman has said.
Police Ministry spokesman Zweli Mnisi said Chumani Maxwele had pointed his middle finger at the president. He said this gesture was synonymous with swearing and showing disrespect.
"No person is permitted to use foul language, swear at another individual, especially as such conduct may lead to promoting hate conduct in the Republic," said Mnisi.
The Sowetan reported on Tuesday that Maxwele had been arrested for "waving on" Zuma's convoy while jogging in De Waal Drive, Cape Town.
A black BMW pulled up and three men jumped out, allegedly pointing guns at him. He was then pushed into a car. A bag was pulled over his head and he was then allegedly taken to Zuma's residence before being taken to the Mowbray police station.
Maxwele, an active ANC member, was held for just under 24 hours. He was allegedly interrogated by intelligence agents who asked for, among other things, the names of his friends and the name of the chairmen of his ANC branch.
He said his house had been raided by plainclothes policemen while he was in custody. He was released before appearing in court.
Mnisi said Maxwele had become aggressive on the day of the incident when the police stopped to question him about his actions.
"He became aggressive and began to swear at them. They then arrested him, charged him with crimen injuria and resisting arrest," said Mnisi.
"He was detained and later transferred to Mowbray Police Station, which has jurisdiction over the area of offence."
Mnisi called Maxwele's conduct towards the police "unacceptable".
"It will not be tolerated," he said.
Mnisi declined to comment about allegations that agents of the National Intelligence Agency had raided Maxwele's house or interrogated him.
"We further need to clarify that the matter was handled solely by the police, as it forms part of our mandate of protecting all VIPs," said Mnisi.
He did not answer a question about whether Zuma himself had pressed charges against Mxwele.
Zizi Kodwa, the president's spokesman, declined to comment, claiming it was a "security issue". - Sapa
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
What's the best South African music video ever?
I saw this one by Dear Reader (formerly Harris Tweed) on MK the other night. Wow. What an achingly beautiful song and absolutely brilliant video. The video ranks up there with some of the best music videos I've seen from anywhere.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Will Zuma turn down a R1bn (USD125) donation to fight crime?
Douw Steyn has offered R1bn to fight crime. Wow.
Apparently, Mbeki previously turned down the offer because "We don't have a problem with crime in this country. The problem is, we have a perception of crime."
Let's hope sense prevails.
Apparently, Mbeki previously turned down the offer because "We don't have a problem with crime in this country. The problem is, we have a perception of crime."
Let's hope sense prevails.
Friday, May 15, 2009
So did you vote DA or ANC?
Why might I ask?
The current all out war emphasizes all that is bad about both.
The stupidity of the DA anti-Zuma campaign shows an opposition unable to campaign on policy - but instead is anti-everything. I once suggested this to Tony Leon after another anti-ANC crime diatribe. He looked genuinely hurt. "I thought my speech was quite positive..."
Further, it is actually an indictment on the DA that they are 15 years into democracy and still predominantly white and male. Joe Seramane is used as quota chairman despite his very real struggle credentials. I'm white and male and I don't relate to the DA leadership. My workplaces and social life are more integrated.
On the other hand, the ANC and communist responses have been nothing short of staggering. Particularly the responses of their youth leagues. Grief. I wrote more mature letters at 6 years old.
Frankly, the responses are transparent. The ANC has merely been paying lip service to democracy. Threatening to make the Western Cape ungovernable betrays their inability to countenance opposition and debate. Further, their insistence that Zuma must not be criticized because he is president is immature and dangerous in the extreme. You earn trust - no matter who you are. Further, the essence of democracy is the ability to criticize freely. Would the ANC have insisted that Americans refrain from criticizing George W. Bush?
All that said, whether quoted out of context or not, Zille's reference to Zuma's aids risk to his wives was ill-considered and frankly, naive.
The current all out war emphasizes all that is bad about both.
The stupidity of the DA anti-Zuma campaign shows an opposition unable to campaign on policy - but instead is anti-everything. I once suggested this to Tony Leon after another anti-ANC crime diatribe. He looked genuinely hurt. "I thought my speech was quite positive..."
Further, it is actually an indictment on the DA that they are 15 years into democracy and still predominantly white and male. Joe Seramane is used as quota chairman despite his very real struggle credentials. I'm white and male and I don't relate to the DA leadership. My workplaces and social life are more integrated.
On the other hand, the ANC and communist responses have been nothing short of staggering. Particularly the responses of their youth leagues. Grief. I wrote more mature letters at 6 years old.
Frankly, the responses are transparent. The ANC has merely been paying lip service to democracy. Threatening to make the Western Cape ungovernable betrays their inability to countenance opposition and debate. Further, their insistence that Zuma must not be criticized because he is president is immature and dangerous in the extreme. You earn trust - no matter who you are. Further, the essence of democracy is the ability to criticize freely. Would the ANC have insisted that Americans refrain from criticizing George W. Bush?
All that said, whether quoted out of context or not, Zille's reference to Zuma's aids risk to his wives was ill-considered and frankly, naive.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Did my vote make a difference?
So the ANC got 65,9% of the vote. That means they missed a two-thirds majority by 0,7%. About 20m South Africans voted. That means the ANC missed a two-thirds majority by 140 000 votes. South Africa had almost 20 000 voting stations.
That means, on average, it took only 7 votes per voting station to deny the ANC a two-thirds majority.
Now tell me it is not worth voting because, "What difference can one vote make?"
That means, on average, it took only 7 votes per voting station to deny the ANC a two-thirds majority.
Now tell me it is not worth voting because, "What difference can one vote make?"
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Will you vote based on principles?
It is interesting that for the first time that I can remember, details of South African parties policies are being circulated prior to the election. The Mail & Guardian policy test seems to be spreading like wildfire. It asks a series of questions and provides party policies as answer choices. Based on your responses, it then ranks parties based on their alignment with your choices. The results will surprise you. Of one of my client's teams, we all ended up with parties other than those we had considered. Makes you think, doesn't it?
Another person had sourced the Family Policy Institute's guide to parties' values and that generated huge interest.
Then we began to remark at how interesting the interest in party policies and the appearance of these tools is. It really is encouraging. Instead of listening to the mud slinging that characterizes South African political debate, we can now evaluate parties based on their policy. Surely the voter curiosity and the creation of these tools marks a maturing of our democracy?
We remarked that what we were experiencing is perhaps due to the emergence of a potentially credible opposition in Cope, but most likely the sensation of Obama's campaign and election. A colleague remarked how she had listened to her 17 year old daughter discuss the elections with friends. She asked her daughter who she would vote for.
"Cope, mom," her daughter replied.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because Cope is hope," her daughter recited the party's enigmatic slogan. It sure echoes the Obama, "Yes we can!"
What was also evident is how much damage the DA's Stop Zuma campaign has done to the party's image. People are tired of "anti-" campaigning. Tell us what YOU stand for.
Someone remarked, "What does it matter? If you don't vote DA, your vote against the ANC is wasted."
No dammit! If the Cape Town results of our last local government election proved anything, it was the power of coalition politics. Non-ANC parties were forced to form a coalition to gain control of the Cape. It meant that those that agreed with the Independent Democrats' policies were granted huge power as the ID became the king-makers in their coalition choices. Their initial choice of siding with the ANC probably knocked the party back forever, but the point was proved. Even the third, forth or fifth most popular party can wield tremendous power in the swing vote in coalition formation. Lesson - vote your conscience.
Further history demonstrates this point. Most South Africans know of when Helen Suzman was the only representative of the Progressive Party in South Africa. She stood up against tireless abuse from the National Party and her voice echoed from the one seat her party held in parliament to the corners around the world. Tell me it was not worth voting for her.
On a far lighter note, the Nandos campaign has landed it in hot water with the ANC Youth League. But oh how brilliant:
I really hope you vote tomorrow if you're eligible. It should mean something that people died for the right to vote. Some friends won't vote for a variety of reasons:
Vote for the rational above. It only takes a few thousand votes to obtain one seat based on South Africa's proportional representation system. That means that even if only a couple of people in each town or city vote for your choice of party, together you could add up to a seat in parliament for your choice.
Another person had sourced the Family Policy Institute's guide to parties' values and that generated huge interest.
Then we began to remark at how interesting the interest in party policies and the appearance of these tools is. It really is encouraging. Instead of listening to the mud slinging that characterizes South African political debate, we can now evaluate parties based on their policy. Surely the voter curiosity and the creation of these tools marks a maturing of our democracy?
We remarked that what we were experiencing is perhaps due to the emergence of a potentially credible opposition in Cope, but most likely the sensation of Obama's campaign and election. A colleague remarked how she had listened to her 17 year old daughter discuss the elections with friends. She asked her daughter who she would vote for.
"Cope, mom," her daughter replied.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because Cope is hope," her daughter recited the party's enigmatic slogan. It sure echoes the Obama, "Yes we can!"
What was also evident is how much damage the DA's Stop Zuma campaign has done to the party's image. People are tired of "anti-" campaigning. Tell us what YOU stand for.
Someone remarked, "What does it matter? If you don't vote DA, your vote against the ANC is wasted."
No dammit! If the Cape Town results of our last local government election proved anything, it was the power of coalition politics. Non-ANC parties were forced to form a coalition to gain control of the Cape. It meant that those that agreed with the Independent Democrats' policies were granted huge power as the ID became the king-makers in their coalition choices. Their initial choice of siding with the ANC probably knocked the party back forever, but the point was proved. Even the third, forth or fifth most popular party can wield tremendous power in the swing vote in coalition formation. Lesson - vote your conscience.
Further history demonstrates this point. Most South Africans know of when Helen Suzman was the only representative of the Progressive Party in South Africa. She stood up against tireless abuse from the National Party and her voice echoed from the one seat her party held in parliament to the corners around the world. Tell me it was not worth voting for her.
On a far lighter note, the Nandos campaign has landed it in hot water with the ANC Youth League. But oh how brilliant:
I really hope you vote tomorrow if you're eligible. It should mean something that people died for the right to vote. Some friends won't vote for a variety of reasons:
- "Because all politicians lie"
- "Because the ANC will still win"
- "Because I don't identify with any of the parties"
Vote for the rational above. It only takes a few thousand votes to obtain one seat based on South Africa's proportional representation system. That means that even if only a couple of people in each town or city vote for your choice of party, together you could add up to a seat in parliament for your choice.
Monday, April 20, 2009
How do you vote Liezel van der Westhuizen off Idols?
Holy crap. Without doubt the most useless presenter they could have chosen for Idols South Africa.
The woman drives me crazy with her affectations and complete lack of ability to appear anything close to natural. Compare to the original Pop Idols presenters Ant and Deck. Or Ryan Seacrest.
She changes dresses in between songs on the show!!!! She tears up every week when someone is voted off. She recites the same scripted lines every show. Give me a break woman.
How do we vote the useless woman off air?
As an aside, the results show sucks big hairy ones. Besides Liezel virtually bawling every time, the staged suspense is pathetic. Yeah it is part of the formula, but take a cue from American Idol, bring some former winners in to perform, reduce the time you fill with the crap and get to the point.
The woman drives me crazy with her affectations and complete lack of ability to appear anything close to natural. Compare to the original Pop Idols presenters Ant and Deck. Or Ryan Seacrest.
She changes dresses in between songs on the show!!!! She tears up every week when someone is voted off. She recites the same scripted lines every show. Give me a break woman.
How do we vote the useless woman off air?
As an aside, the results show sucks big hairy ones. Besides Liezel virtually bawling every time, the staged suspense is pathetic. Yeah it is part of the formula, but take a cue from American Idol, bring some former winners in to perform, reduce the time you fill with the crap and get to the point.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Are you one of the missing South Africans?
So South Africans overseas will be voting tomorrow. 16 240 of them.
Anyone else disappointed by this? There are hundreds of thousands of South Africans in London alone. And hundreds of thousands more in Perth. After all the celebrations of the court case victory allowing them to vote, 16 240 seems a very disappointing number.
Anyone else disappointed by this? There are hundreds of thousands of South Africans in London alone. And hundreds of thousands more in Perth. After all the celebrations of the court case victory allowing them to vote, 16 240 seems a very disappointing number.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
So Vavi is quite OK with the LRA protecting lazy incompetent workers?
I can only assume so based on this quote:
Vavi added that Cosatu would ensure that Zuma keeps to his promises that ministers who do not perform will be fired.
"The Labour Relation Act should not apply to lazy ministers. The thing of keeping deadwood in Cabinet belongs in the past."
M&G
Vavi added that Cosatu would ensure that Zuma keeps to his promises that ministers who do not perform will be fired.
"The Labour Relation Act should not apply to lazy ministers. The thing of keeping deadwood in Cabinet belongs in the past."
M&G
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Are you a blind ANC follower?
This week has seen more about the potential dropping of corruption charges against the ANC president and the debacle regarding the refusal of a visa for the Dalai Lama (and here).
It is sad reading the articles quoting Finance Minister Trevor Manuel (and here) and Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma - I believe any objective, vaguely intelligent person would see the glaring hypocrisy in the ANC's stance with regard to the Dalai Lama. A liberation organisation that fought for freedom of speech and the right to disagree - banning a visit because of the SA state's relationship with China and its endorsement of the One-China policy? The ANC continues to ignore the flagrant human rights abuses of China, Burma, Zimbabwe and others. Its position seems dictated by "pro-non-west" policy rather than thoughtful interrogation of what is right.
It would seem that the ANC would rather turn a blind eye to the ZANU murder of thousands and continued state sponsored violence in Zimbabwe than be embarrassed by the failure of an African leader.
Similarly they would turn a blind eye to the oppression of opposition to the Burmese military dictatorship.
And they would ignore the detention and murder of Tibetan activists in China.
The hypocrisy and arrogance is embodied in their leadership by a man (Jacob Zuma) who talks of having "laws that bite" and cracking down on corruption - but has pulled every legal option available to avoid going to court - including threatening to make public tapes embarrassing the former president Mbeki and the National Prosecuting Authority (and here).
Let's make this clear. I am sure I speak on behalf of almost all objective South Africans when I say that all those guilty of wrong should be prosecuted without fear or favour. If Mbeki knew of the arms deal corruption, he too should be prosecuted. If the NPA generally, or Leonard McCarthy specifically, were politically motivated in their actions, they should be prosecuted.
It is only when all believe they will be equally prosecuted before the law that all will equally abide by it. The best example of the consequences of a group believing they deserve different treatment is the behaviour of taxi drivers in South Africa - people who disregard the law because they believe they stand apart.
I can't believe the ANC and their supporters fail to see the hypocrisy. During apartheid they implored the world to give them a voice they were denied at home. Denying the Dalai Lama the same opportunity seems to be in their collective blind spot.
Further, the ANC response lends credence to the rumour that their denial of the visa was ordered by China - an order more weighty through funding of the ANC election campaign by the Chinese government.
Even over the past few months, any disagreement from within their own ranks has conveniently become treasonous. Witness the response to Minister Hogan's criticism of the Dalai Lama scandal and this letter from Duncan Hindle - "The individual should not criticise the collective." Anyone for the return of Stalinism perhaps? Merely a few months back, anti-Mbeki sentiment within the ANC was excused under the headline, "The ANC is a broad church and has room for many opinions." Even more recently, Malema's rantings are excused as being those of a young man who would one day know better.
Sadly it is the ANC supporters that give rise for the most concern. The rabid unquestioning support visible in comments below every article about any of the above-mentioned issues would seem as racist and unquestioning as that of the conservative supporters under apartheid.
It reminds me of the result of the unquestioning support from the West provided to Idi Amin in his rise to power. Murmurings of his abuses were swept under the carpet as the west saw someone they thought they could control. As his power grew, the monster threw off his minders and the result was clear for all to see. Similarly, the Matabeleland murders by Mugabe and his followers were allowed to be covered up. The result is again clear to see.
If we are to enjoy the hard won successes of the liberation struggle, then it is each of our responsibilities to question all leaders and representatives equally. If we call what is right or wrong without partisanship, we stand stronger together. If we have the security to ensure our leaders are defined by us rather than us being defined by our leaders, we need not fear their failure making us less worthy.
It is sad reading the articles quoting Finance Minister Trevor Manuel (and here) and Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zuma - I believe any objective, vaguely intelligent person would see the glaring hypocrisy in the ANC's stance with regard to the Dalai Lama. A liberation organisation that fought for freedom of speech and the right to disagree - banning a visit because of the SA state's relationship with China and its endorsement of the One-China policy? The ANC continues to ignore the flagrant human rights abuses of China, Burma, Zimbabwe and others. Its position seems dictated by "pro-non-west" policy rather than thoughtful interrogation of what is right.
It would seem that the ANC would rather turn a blind eye to the ZANU murder of thousands and continued state sponsored violence in Zimbabwe than be embarrassed by the failure of an African leader.
Similarly they would turn a blind eye to the oppression of opposition to the Burmese military dictatorship.
And they would ignore the detention and murder of Tibetan activists in China.
The hypocrisy and arrogance is embodied in their leadership by a man (Jacob Zuma) who talks of having "laws that bite" and cracking down on corruption - but has pulled every legal option available to avoid going to court - including threatening to make public tapes embarrassing the former president Mbeki and the National Prosecuting Authority (and here).
Let's make this clear. I am sure I speak on behalf of almost all objective South Africans when I say that all those guilty of wrong should be prosecuted without fear or favour. If Mbeki knew of the arms deal corruption, he too should be prosecuted. If the NPA generally, or Leonard McCarthy specifically, were politically motivated in their actions, they should be prosecuted.
It is only when all believe they will be equally prosecuted before the law that all will equally abide by it. The best example of the consequences of a group believing they deserve different treatment is the behaviour of taxi drivers in South Africa - people who disregard the law because they believe they stand apart.
I can't believe the ANC and their supporters fail to see the hypocrisy. During apartheid they implored the world to give them a voice they were denied at home. Denying the Dalai Lama the same opportunity seems to be in their collective blind spot.
Further, the ANC response lends credence to the rumour that their denial of the visa was ordered by China - an order more weighty through funding of the ANC election campaign by the Chinese government.
Even over the past few months, any disagreement from within their own ranks has conveniently become treasonous. Witness the response to Minister Hogan's criticism of the Dalai Lama scandal and this letter from Duncan Hindle - "The individual should not criticise the collective." Anyone for the return of Stalinism perhaps? Merely a few months back, anti-Mbeki sentiment within the ANC was excused under the headline, "The ANC is a broad church and has room for many opinions." Even more recently, Malema's rantings are excused as being those of a young man who would one day know better.
Sadly it is the ANC supporters that give rise for the most concern. The rabid unquestioning support visible in comments below every article about any of the above-mentioned issues would seem as racist and unquestioning as that of the conservative supporters under apartheid.
It reminds me of the result of the unquestioning support from the West provided to Idi Amin in his rise to power. Murmurings of his abuses were swept under the carpet as the west saw someone they thought they could control. As his power grew, the monster threw off his minders and the result was clear for all to see. Similarly, the Matabeleland murders by Mugabe and his followers were allowed to be covered up. The result is again clear to see.
If we are to enjoy the hard won successes of the liberation struggle, then it is each of our responsibilities to question all leaders and representatives equally. If we call what is right or wrong without partisanship, we stand stronger together. If we have the security to ensure our leaders are defined by us rather than us being defined by our leaders, we need not fear their failure making us less worthy.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Should South Africa implement "Three Strikes and You're Out" legislation?
It makes my blood boil when I read about criminals, out on bail or previously convicted, caught after another heinous crime.
I read about how brave shoppers and security guards caught a hijacker in Plumstead Cape Town. He has previous convictions for theft and hijacking.
California implemented some controversial legislation some time back taking away the court's sentencing discretion in the case of a criminal convicted for the third time. They automatically received a long term sentence.
Of course this means that someone convicted of crimes like shoplifting could end up in jail for a long time. Which is why the legislation is controversial.
The following from Wikipedia:
According to the California Dept. of Justice and the California Dept. of Corrections, for the ten years prior to the enactment of the “3 strikes law”, homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, and vehicle theft totaled 8 825 353 crimes, but for the ten years after the enactment of the law, these crimes dropped to 6 780 964. However the decline in crime was a general trend throughout the U.S., even in those parts of the country without three strikes laws.
Rates of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault peaked shortly before passage of the three strikes law.
Another common criticism is that the law puts strain on an already overcrowded prison system. However, for the ten years prior to the enactment of the “3 strikes law,” the California prison population expanded by 400% and for the ten years after there was an overall increase of only 25,5%, a massive decrease in prison population expansion, and three strikes isn't entirely responsible for the 25,5% increase. Thus, though three strikes is a significant factor in California prison overcrowding, other factors are more responsible.
Some have said that there would need to be many new prisons built to house all of these criminals. However, for the ten years prior to the law, 19 new prisons were built in California, while in the ten years after no new prisons were built. Nevertheless, the increase in prison population and lack of additional prisons has added to prison overcrowding; currently, California's prisons are at double capacity.
Finally, there is an idea that criminals on their last strike will be more desperate to escape from police and therefore will be more likely to attack police. This does not reveal whether or not the criminals in question were or were not more desperate and willing to kill."
Frankly, with one of the worst crime rates in the world, it is time South Africa tried something radical. Perhaps "Three Strikes" legislation has the other well known effect - stamp out petty crime and you bring down major felonies.
I read about how brave shoppers and security guards caught a hijacker in Plumstead Cape Town. He has previous convictions for theft and hijacking.
California implemented some controversial legislation some time back taking away the court's sentencing discretion in the case of a criminal convicted for the third time. They automatically received a long term sentence.
Of course this means that someone convicted of crimes like shoplifting could end up in jail for a long time. Which is why the legislation is controversial.
The following from Wikipedia:
According to the California Dept. of Justice and the California Dept. of Corrections, for the ten years prior to the enactment of the “3 strikes law”, homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, and vehicle theft totaled 8 825 353 crimes, but for the ten years after the enactment of the law, these crimes dropped to 6 780 964. However the decline in crime was a general trend throughout the U.S., even in those parts of the country without three strikes laws.
Rates of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault peaked shortly before passage of the three strikes law.
Another common criticism is that the law puts strain on an already overcrowded prison system. However, for the ten years prior to the enactment of the “3 strikes law,” the California prison population expanded by 400% and for the ten years after there was an overall increase of only 25,5%, a massive decrease in prison population expansion, and three strikes isn't entirely responsible for the 25,5% increase. Thus, though three strikes is a significant factor in California prison overcrowding, other factors are more responsible.
Some have said that there would need to be many new prisons built to house all of these criminals. However, for the ten years prior to the law, 19 new prisons were built in California, while in the ten years after no new prisons were built. Nevertheless, the increase in prison population and lack of additional prisons has added to prison overcrowding; currently, California's prisons are at double capacity.
Finally, there is an idea that criminals on their last strike will be more desperate to escape from police and therefore will be more likely to attack police. This does not reveal whether or not the criminals in question were or were not more desperate and willing to kill."
Frankly, with one of the worst crime rates in the world, it is time South Africa tried something radical. Perhaps "Three Strikes" legislation has the other well known effect - stamp out petty crime and you bring down major felonies.
Monday, December 22, 2008
What is your Christmas wish?
If you could have a wish granted for Christmas, what would it be?
I'm sure what we wish for for Christmas is affected by our personal circumstances. If a relative is sick you might wish for their recovery. If you are sick you might wish for your recovery.
Who asks you and where you are asked might also influence your answer. If you were competing in a beauty competition, you might wish for world peace.
I'm so lucky. I have so much. Health, wealth and often happiness. Of course we make our luck and I have worked really hard to achieve what I have. And I hope I am grateful for the simple things like my health. A friend was recently in an accident and at worst may never recover, at best could take a year. Things like that make me think. I hope I appreciate my health in more ordinary times.
Of course unless you're mother Theresa, we probably wish for something that affects us personally. I could wish for some more luck in finding the right people to hire next year. I could wish for continued growth in my client business. I could wish for success for the next step in my studies. I could wish for success with a relationship. Sure I wish for all of those things.
But it will all mean nothing if South Africa does not turn the corner in its fight against crime. There are so many positives for our country at present. The World Cup and the infrastructure build. The new competition in our politics. The relatively healthy state of our economy. Our fantastic rugby and cricketing success.
But if we continue to live under threat and lose people to crime, it will all ebb away. Earlier this year I was presenting to one of my client's boards in Toronto. News came in that one of their South African employee's families had been held up in their house. The shock and anger of the Canadians was palpable. It is one of the reasons they are investing in new opportunities outside of South Africa. Crime costs us investment, skills and lives. I wish that we turn the corner in 2009.
I'm sure what we wish for for Christmas is affected by our personal circumstances. If a relative is sick you might wish for their recovery. If you are sick you might wish for your recovery.
Who asks you and where you are asked might also influence your answer. If you were competing in a beauty competition, you might wish for world peace.
I'm so lucky. I have so much. Health, wealth and often happiness. Of course we make our luck and I have worked really hard to achieve what I have. And I hope I am grateful for the simple things like my health. A friend was recently in an accident and at worst may never recover, at best could take a year. Things like that make me think. I hope I appreciate my health in more ordinary times.
Of course unless you're mother Theresa, we probably wish for something that affects us personally. I could wish for some more luck in finding the right people to hire next year. I could wish for continued growth in my client business. I could wish for success for the next step in my studies. I could wish for success with a relationship. Sure I wish for all of those things.
But it will all mean nothing if South Africa does not turn the corner in its fight against crime. There are so many positives for our country at present. The World Cup and the infrastructure build. The new competition in our politics. The relatively healthy state of our economy. Our fantastic rugby and cricketing success.
But if we continue to live under threat and lose people to crime, it will all ebb away. Earlier this year I was presenting to one of my client's boards in Toronto. News came in that one of their South African employee's families had been held up in their house. The shock and anger of the Canadians was palpable. It is one of the reasons they are investing in new opportunities outside of South Africa. Crime costs us investment, skills and lives. I wish that we turn the corner in 2009.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Is South African violence the thin end of the wedge for the rest of the world?
It's not difficult tying the violence we see in South Africa to the horrific upbringings many poor kids have in South African townships.
But to think that our problems with violence are unique is to ignore the growing trend of mob mad kids in the UK, US, etc. Whether it's the uprisings against Lebanese in Sydney, the anarchy on the streets of Paris, or the kid who makes a UK teacher's work impossible, The kids aren't alright as The Offspring song goes.
Read the horrific article in today's Sunday Times about the chav kid mobs in the UK who are running amok and beating adults to a pulp.
Are we headed for a Lord of the Flies culture? The problem is global. And the solution is not locking up a lost generation as is happening in the US and UK. Certainly many kids are monsters and possibly beyond redemption. They belong in jail.
But ultimately, we have to intervene to ensure no parents are allowed to create psychopathic monsters. How do you do that? Prophylactic injections to stop people convicted of domestic violence from having kids? Reworking social welfare to incentivize fewer and not more kids? Better institutions for orphans?
With an estimated 2 million aids orphans in the care of relative or village elders in South Africa, it is not difficult to see why we are not different, merely worse off.
The Kids Aren't Alright - The Offspring
When we were young the future was so bright (whoa)
The old neighborhood was so alive (whoa)
And every kid on the whole damn street (whoa)
was gonna make it big in every beat.
Now the neighborhood's cracked and torn (whoa)
The kids are grown up but their lives are worn(whoa)
How can one little street
Swallow so many lives?
Chorus:
Chances thrown
Nothing's free
Longing for
What used to be
Still it's hard
Hard to see
Fragile lives
Shattered dreams
Go!
Jamie had a chance, well she really did (whoa)
Instead she dropped out and had a couple of kids (whoa)
Mark still lives at home cause he's got no job (whoa)
Just plays guitar, smokes a lot of pot
Jay commited suicide (whoa)
Brandon OD'd and died (whoa)
What the hell is going on?
Cruelest dream reality
Chances blown, nothing's free
Longing for what used to be
Still, it's hard, hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams
Go!
Chances blown, nothing's free
Longing for what used to be
Still, it's hard, hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams
But to think that our problems with violence are unique is to ignore the growing trend of mob mad kids in the UK, US, etc. Whether it's the uprisings against Lebanese in Sydney, the anarchy on the streets of Paris, or the kid who makes a UK teacher's work impossible, The kids aren't alright as The Offspring song goes.
Read the horrific article in today's Sunday Times about the chav kid mobs in the UK who are running amok and beating adults to a pulp.
Are we headed for a Lord of the Flies culture? The problem is global. And the solution is not locking up a lost generation as is happening in the US and UK. Certainly many kids are monsters and possibly beyond redemption. They belong in jail.
But ultimately, we have to intervene to ensure no parents are allowed to create psychopathic monsters. How do you do that? Prophylactic injections to stop people convicted of domestic violence from having kids? Reworking social welfare to incentivize fewer and not more kids? Better institutions for orphans?
With an estimated 2 million aids orphans in the care of relative or village elders in South Africa, it is not difficult to see why we are not different, merely worse off.
The Kids Aren't Alright - The Offspring
When we were young the future was so bright (whoa)
The old neighborhood was so alive (whoa)
And every kid on the whole damn street (whoa)
was gonna make it big in every beat.
Now the neighborhood's cracked and torn (whoa)
The kids are grown up but their lives are worn(whoa)
How can one little street
Swallow so many lives?
Chorus:
Chances thrown
Nothing's free
Longing for
What used to be
Still it's hard
Hard to see
Fragile lives
Shattered dreams
Go!
Jamie had a chance, well she really did (whoa)
Instead she dropped out and had a couple of kids (whoa)
Mark still lives at home cause he's got no job (whoa)
Just plays guitar, smokes a lot of pot
Jay commited suicide (whoa)
Brandon OD'd and died (whoa)
What the hell is going on?
Cruelest dream reality
Chances blown, nothing's free
Longing for what used to be
Still, it's hard, hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams
Go!
Chances blown, nothing's free
Longing for what used to be
Still, it's hard, hard to see
Fragile lives, shattered dreams
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Is Zuma our OJ Simpson?
Not for the first time, I was reminded today of the parallels between Zuma in South Africa with OJ Simpson in the States.
I read the rather excellent Guardian piece reprinted in the Mail and Guardian.
The psychology behind popular black support for heroes on trial by what is seen as white establishment is obvious. It is the same warped sense of indentity that causes otherwise reasonable whites to support a white Skierlik murderer or a depraved set of white boys making fun of black workers old enough to be their parents in their Reitz hostel video.
The Guardian article says of the original OJ Simpson Los Angeles trial: "The trial became less about the killings and more about a city's terrible relations with its black population. Occurring not long after the Rodney King riots of 1992, Simpson became a symbol for black power in the face of white authority."
It is not difficult to understand the support for Zuma of those with nothing to lose in South Africa on similar grounds. To them, he represents the black masses marginalised by first the whites and then the connected black elite who appear to have got rich with little regard for those who put them in power. Zuma's guilt of rape or corruption is secondary to the symbolism of taking back power by those in the majority.
This is of course alarming to those who somehow avoid the politics of race and condemn equally the crimes of those who commit them. The reality of a justice blind to race and popularity seems endangered - if it ever existed. The inequality of its application under apartheid would suggest not, and that it is rather an aspiration people hoped for in 1994.
The tale of OJ Simpson offers hope to those. The Gaurdian states: "There has been a fundamental shift in racial attitudes to Simpson. Once, 71% of black Americans believed he was innocent. That's fallen to 40%. It is likely to have collapsed further in the wake of his book. 'A lot of black people have changed their minds. Afterwards he did not try to reach out to them. He just moved to Florida and played golf,' says Manny Otiko, a black cartoonist and comedian."
Already it seems Zuma's support has questioned his willow-bend-in-the-wind poltical posturing.
Perhaps we too are moving towards a day where voters will choose between a woman and a black man based on issues rather than a left / right split.
I read the rather excellent Guardian piece reprinted in the Mail and Guardian.
The psychology behind popular black support for heroes on trial by what is seen as white establishment is obvious. It is the same warped sense of indentity that causes otherwise reasonable whites to support a white Skierlik murderer or a depraved set of white boys making fun of black workers old enough to be their parents in their Reitz hostel video.
The Guardian article says of the original OJ Simpson Los Angeles trial: "The trial became less about the killings and more about a city's terrible relations with its black population. Occurring not long after the Rodney King riots of 1992, Simpson became a symbol for black power in the face of white authority."
It is not difficult to understand the support for Zuma of those with nothing to lose in South Africa on similar grounds. To them, he represents the black masses marginalised by first the whites and then the connected black elite who appear to have got rich with little regard for those who put them in power. Zuma's guilt of rape or corruption is secondary to the symbolism of taking back power by those in the majority.
This is of course alarming to those who somehow avoid the politics of race and condemn equally the crimes of those who commit them. The reality of a justice blind to race and popularity seems endangered - if it ever existed. The inequality of its application under apartheid would suggest not, and that it is rather an aspiration people hoped for in 1994.
The tale of OJ Simpson offers hope to those. The Gaurdian states: "There has been a fundamental shift in racial attitudes to Simpson. Once, 71% of black Americans believed he was innocent. That's fallen to 40%. It is likely to have collapsed further in the wake of his book. 'A lot of black people have changed their minds. Afterwards he did not try to reach out to them. He just moved to Florida and played golf,' says Manny Otiko, a black cartoonist and comedian."
Already it seems Zuma's support has questioned his willow-bend-in-the-wind poltical posturing.
Perhaps we too are moving towards a day where voters will choose between a woman and a black man based on issues rather than a left / right split.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Is Zuma's election a disaster?
The man is a moron. Let's not beat around the bush. Anyone who states on the witness stand that he took a shower to avoid getting AIDS after unprotected sex is clearly in no shape to run a country.
There is little doubt in my mind that he's also a crook. The courts have already found that Shabir Shaik solicited bribes from arms deal bidders on Zuma's behalf. Shaik has been in jail for some time.
Zuma's supporters say that if there is a case against Zuma, why has he not been jailed? This is a disingenuous defense by a group of left wing proponents who care less about the man they support than those against who he stands. Zuma's lawyers have fought every attempt to get the man in court. Surely if the man is innocent, he would welcome the Mauritian diary of the head of Thint in court? Surely he would not worry about the seizure of his personal documents? After all he has nothing to hide?
Further, the man is an out and out bigot. He explained to an adoring crowd that if a gay man had stood before him when he was young, he would have knocked him out.
Finally, Zuma is a bumbling populist. Don't ask him his policies - just state your desires and beliefs and he'll agree. At this rate South Africa will be the only Capitalist Communist country in the world.
But I do not believe that having Zuma run this country will be a disaster in itself. His political masters are far more frightening. The day after his election, the ANC voted to reintegrate the Scorpions (South Africa's version of the FBI) into the South African Police. This despite the obvious difficulties posed by the current Scorpion investigation of the chief of police for involvement in organised crime. Of course the ANC freely admits that logic had nothing to do with this decision - the Scorpion's investigation of Zuma for corruption had everything to do with it. Apparently their investigations have been manipulated by Mbeki to further his political battles. How will their integration into the police help prevent their manipulation when the head of the SA Police is a political appointee and not a professional policeman?
The Scorpions decision is one thing. Economics is another. The antagonism to inflation targeting by Cosatu (the Congress of South African Trade Unions) and the SACP (the South African Communist Party has followed swiftly on the heels of the election of their man to the head of the Tri-Partite alliance. They have pronounced that inflation must be managed in the context of broad developmental goals and not as an end in itself. This is all well and good, and there is much that can be written about what the inflation targeting range should be based on the factors driving inflation increases in South Africa. But South Africa adopted inflation targeting as a methodology precisely because the fuzzy interpretation of multiple objectives resulted in continued misalignment with the markets and wild swings in the key economic indicators.
Most economists will appreciate that cost push inflation cannot be targeted by interest rate adjustments. Fine. Then modify the targeting metric (CPIX - consumer price inflation less interest) to also exclude oil/petrol. What I am saying is don't through the baby out with the bath water.
Further there is some debate as to whether the 3% to 6% inflation target range is too low for South Africa - a developing country. The Philips curve demonstrates a trade off between inflation and employment. The lower the inflation rate, the higher the rate of unemployment. The precise relationship varies from country to country. Again, this is all well and good, but then debate the range, don't through out the most successful inflation management methodology yet seen in the world.
But the most frightening news was that of a debate that took place yesterday on nationalisation. Delegates to the ANC conference raised the possibility of nationalising Mittal Steel. Mittal bought ISCOR - an old parastatal - and gradually rebuilt an inefficient dirty apartheid era entity. Since then they have been found guilty of anti-competitive behaviour, charging import parity prices and benefiting from a monopoly position. However, they are now a top quartile low cost steel producer. The competition watchdog found them guilty of price fixing and fined them a substantial amount. That's how markets should work. Workers want them renationalised however. This together with the debate on shopping malls and their impac on traders in the townships. The focus here is jobs - or more specifically the mandate of Cosatu and the SACP.
And to me this is the danger of Zuma's presidency. He is beholden to the left. They voted him in and the ANC executive is now loaded with their sympathisers. There is almost a conflict of interests here. Cosatu and the SACP's focus is jobs for their members and the highest wages they can get. This is one part of the economy and has all the potential to ignite a wage price spiral. On a productivity / skill equivalent basis, South Africa has a tragically uncompetitive labour force. In order to create growth, grow exports, reduce the current account deficit, etc we have to increase output per rand of wages. To focus merely on the jobs and wages side of the equation ignores the prices paid by the consumer and the inevitable loss of competitiveness. Our textile industry offers the perfect case study. Which is more valuable - low price clothing for the poor or higher wages for textile workers? The first part of that debate is consistently ignored by trade unions. However, the impact of rising prices and the need for further increases in wages is not. Hence the wage price spiral.
In fact, unions prefer higher inflation as it allows them to negotiate higher nominal wage increases and they are then seen as having achieved more by their members. Witness the mass hysteria about single figure percentage increases in wages in the low inflation environment of the past decade. This illustrates perfectly why it takes many years to decrease wage push inflation.
One remarkable quote from that the above article:
A delegate to the commission said the minister and other senior leaders in the economics sphere do not explain why they do not agree with delegates’ suggestions for the re-nationalisation as well as a national state-owned mining company.
“The delegates felt it is needed because it would enable them to redistribute resources. But Mphalwa did not explain their reasons for opposing it properly. They might have access to information and obviously know more about international trends, but they don’t explain it to us.”
This is the legacy of the Mbeki years. Decision making in an aloof manner that has done nothing to build a shared understanding of good economic practice. If we are to recreate the South Korean miracle, there is much work to be done in educating the masses and aligning the nation.
The following sensible conclusion demonstrates that this is possible:
“People are seeing the mushrooming of shopping complexes coming up in townships and that is a negative thing because it is pushing out the small businesses and general dealers. But now there are Chinese and Pakistani people, coming in and taking over the small businesses and making a success of them.
“Where does the problem lie? Obviously there is a lack of skills and that might rather be the problem, not the fact that the big shops are coming up. Also, people these days don’t want general dealers, they want specialised shops, so that also takes them away from the general dealers,” the delegate said.
There is little doubt in my mind that he's also a crook. The courts have already found that Shabir Shaik solicited bribes from arms deal bidders on Zuma's behalf. Shaik has been in jail for some time.
Zuma's supporters say that if there is a case against Zuma, why has he not been jailed? This is a disingenuous defense by a group of left wing proponents who care less about the man they support than those against who he stands. Zuma's lawyers have fought every attempt to get the man in court. Surely if the man is innocent, he would welcome the Mauritian diary of the head of Thint in court? Surely he would not worry about the seizure of his personal documents? After all he has nothing to hide?
Further, the man is an out and out bigot. He explained to an adoring crowd that if a gay man had stood before him when he was young, he would have knocked him out.
Finally, Zuma is a bumbling populist. Don't ask him his policies - just state your desires and beliefs and he'll agree. At this rate South Africa will be the only Capitalist Communist country in the world.
But I do not believe that having Zuma run this country will be a disaster in itself. His political masters are far more frightening. The day after his election, the ANC voted to reintegrate the Scorpions (South Africa's version of the FBI) into the South African Police. This despite the obvious difficulties posed by the current Scorpion investigation of the chief of police for involvement in organised crime. Of course the ANC freely admits that logic had nothing to do with this decision - the Scorpion's investigation of Zuma for corruption had everything to do with it. Apparently their investigations have been manipulated by Mbeki to further his political battles. How will their integration into the police help prevent their manipulation when the head of the SA Police is a political appointee and not a professional policeman?
The Scorpions decision is one thing. Economics is another. The antagonism to inflation targeting by Cosatu (the Congress of South African Trade Unions) and the SACP (the South African Communist Party has followed swiftly on the heels of the election of their man to the head of the Tri-Partite alliance. They have pronounced that inflation must be managed in the context of broad developmental goals and not as an end in itself. This is all well and good, and there is much that can be written about what the inflation targeting range should be based on the factors driving inflation increases in South Africa. But South Africa adopted inflation targeting as a methodology precisely because the fuzzy interpretation of multiple objectives resulted in continued misalignment with the markets and wild swings in the key economic indicators.
Most economists will appreciate that cost push inflation cannot be targeted by interest rate adjustments. Fine. Then modify the targeting metric (CPIX - consumer price inflation less interest) to also exclude oil/petrol. What I am saying is don't through the baby out with the bath water.
Further there is some debate as to whether the 3% to 6% inflation target range is too low for South Africa - a developing country. The Philips curve demonstrates a trade off between inflation and employment. The lower the inflation rate, the higher the rate of unemployment. The precise relationship varies from country to country. Again, this is all well and good, but then debate the range, don't through out the most successful inflation management methodology yet seen in the world.
But the most frightening news was that of a debate that took place yesterday on nationalisation. Delegates to the ANC conference raised the possibility of nationalising Mittal Steel. Mittal bought ISCOR - an old parastatal - and gradually rebuilt an inefficient dirty apartheid era entity. Since then they have been found guilty of anti-competitive behaviour, charging import parity prices and benefiting from a monopoly position. However, they are now a top quartile low cost steel producer. The competition watchdog found them guilty of price fixing and fined them a substantial amount. That's how markets should work. Workers want them renationalised however. This together with the debate on shopping malls and their impac on traders in the townships. The focus here is jobs - or more specifically the mandate of Cosatu and the SACP.
And to me this is the danger of Zuma's presidency. He is beholden to the left. They voted him in and the ANC executive is now loaded with their sympathisers. There is almost a conflict of interests here. Cosatu and the SACP's focus is jobs for their members and the highest wages they can get. This is one part of the economy and has all the potential to ignite a wage price spiral. On a productivity / skill equivalent basis, South Africa has a tragically uncompetitive labour force. In order to create growth, grow exports, reduce the current account deficit, etc we have to increase output per rand of wages. To focus merely on the jobs and wages side of the equation ignores the prices paid by the consumer and the inevitable loss of competitiveness. Our textile industry offers the perfect case study. Which is more valuable - low price clothing for the poor or higher wages for textile workers? The first part of that debate is consistently ignored by trade unions. However, the impact of rising prices and the need for further increases in wages is not. Hence the wage price spiral.
In fact, unions prefer higher inflation as it allows them to negotiate higher nominal wage increases and they are then seen as having achieved more by their members. Witness the mass hysteria about single figure percentage increases in wages in the low inflation environment of the past decade. This illustrates perfectly why it takes many years to decrease wage push inflation.
One remarkable quote from that the above article:
A delegate to the commission said the minister and other senior leaders in the economics sphere do not explain why they do not agree with delegates’ suggestions for the re-nationalisation as well as a national state-owned mining company.
“The delegates felt it is needed because it would enable them to redistribute resources. But Mphalwa did not explain their reasons for opposing it properly. They might have access to information and obviously know more about international trends, but they don’t explain it to us.”
This is the legacy of the Mbeki years. Decision making in an aloof manner that has done nothing to build a shared understanding of good economic practice. If we are to recreate the South Korean miracle, there is much work to be done in educating the masses and aligning the nation.
The following sensible conclusion demonstrates that this is possible:
“People are seeing the mushrooming of shopping complexes coming up in townships and that is a negative thing because it is pushing out the small businesses and general dealers. But now there are Chinese and Pakistani people, coming in and taking over the small businesses and making a success of them.
“Where does the problem lie? Obviously there is a lack of skills and that might rather be the problem, not the fact that the big shops are coming up. Also, people these days don’t want general dealers, they want specialised shops, so that also takes them away from the general dealers,” the delegate said.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Who is to blame for South Africa's power crisis?
Very few people aren't hot under the collar about load shedding in South Africa. Load shedding occurs when power supply cannot meet demand and customers are cut off to prevent brown outs and black outs.
As someone who has worked as a consultant to the industry I've had to bight my tongue as to the real reasons behind the problems. But it seems the government is now admitting to the problem (see the article below and more here).
Indeed the government did ignore Eskom requests to build more generation capacity. And as such the country will be short of capacity for at least another 4 years.
Further, the reason they ignored the requests was due to consultants who sold the government on the idea that the South African market should be liberalised (open to competition). Until that happened, Eskom's right to build was taken away. New entrants would build the power generation capacity in a market with the lowest electricity prices in the world - prices that could not cover their costs of capital.
Further, the government then adopted an inflation targeting regime. Applications for electricity price increases outside of the government's inflation targeting range were greeted with howls of protest and derision.
Further still, we have a de facto industrial policy that exports electricity though high energy input manufactured items such as aluminum smelting and mining. One aluminum smelter consumes as much electricity as a city the size of Port Elizabeth. The recent efforts to get an aluminum smelter as anchor tenant for the Coega industrial complex in the Eastern Cape completely ignored the fact that our power prices need to rise substantially to cover the costs of capital of new power stations and the supply crunch we currently suffer.
Neither liberalisation nor inflation targeting are bad policies. However, as with most things in life, adopting a polar position ignores the realities. Overzealous liberalisation contributed to power outages all over the world, including the California and US East Coast crises. Investment decisions are typically based on 5 to 10 year paybacks. Electricity planning requires at least a 20 year horizon. A major power station takes from 10 to 15 years to plan and build. For this reason, private enterprises seldom invest enough or in time to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply.
I have sympathy for the guys at Eskom right now. It will continue to be a thankless task working there over the next 5 years. Their planners knew we were running out of electricity but were held back from building new capacity.
Many who love to criticise anything post-apartheid have been joined by millions of other suffering South Africans pointing fingers and claiming that only morons could have got us into this situation.
I'd point directly at the various consultants who earned hundreds of millions promoting new build policies that ignored the coming supply crunch. Of course the decision makers at the Department of Mineral and Energy (DME) aren't much further behind in the blame queue - they listened.
In the mean time, this is costing the economy and me a fortune. I shelled out about R7000 (US $1000) for a UPS a while back to keep my business computer server going during interruptions. Given the duration of interruptions (this week two scheduled interruptions of 2 and a half hours each), the UPS is not enough. I've been busy with a project to extend my pond and pumphouse and so have built a generator room. My next expense is to rewire my house for automated power switchover to generator on a power outage and a generator itself. That is going to cost a fortune. The next expense will be for diesel to keep the thing running.
Goverment ignored Eskom pleas
Dec 12 2007 11:25 AM
Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki has acknowledged that government under-investment is to blame for a growing number of power cuts that have plunged large parts of the country into darkness.
Addressing a fund-raising dinner for the ruling African National Congress night, Mbeki said his government should have heeded pleas by state power utility Eskom several years ago to invest more in electricity generation to keep up with country's economic growth.
"When Eskom said to the government: 'We think we must invest more in terms of electricity generation', we said no, but all you will be doing is just to build excess capacity," Mbeki said in comments broadcast on public radio.
"We said not now, later. We were wrong. Eskom was right. We were wrong."
Mbeki's rare public apology comes at a time when the country is experiencing the worst power cuts in years, forcing Eskom to start rationing electricity this week as part of a programme that should last until the end of the week.
The rationing has led to a raft of complaints from businesses and retailers in the build-up to Christmas, while traffic jams are a common sight with many traffics lights out of action.
- AFP
As someone who has worked as a consultant to the industry I've had to bight my tongue as to the real reasons behind the problems. But it seems the government is now admitting to the problem (see the article below and more here).
Indeed the government did ignore Eskom requests to build more generation capacity. And as such the country will be short of capacity for at least another 4 years.
Further, the reason they ignored the requests was due to consultants who sold the government on the idea that the South African market should be liberalised (open to competition). Until that happened, Eskom's right to build was taken away. New entrants would build the power generation capacity in a market with the lowest electricity prices in the world - prices that could not cover their costs of capital.
Further, the government then adopted an inflation targeting regime. Applications for electricity price increases outside of the government's inflation targeting range were greeted with howls of protest and derision.
Further still, we have a de facto industrial policy that exports electricity though high energy input manufactured items such as aluminum smelting and mining. One aluminum smelter consumes as much electricity as a city the size of Port Elizabeth. The recent efforts to get an aluminum smelter as anchor tenant for the Coega industrial complex in the Eastern Cape completely ignored the fact that our power prices need to rise substantially to cover the costs of capital of new power stations and the supply crunch we currently suffer.
Neither liberalisation nor inflation targeting are bad policies. However, as with most things in life, adopting a polar position ignores the realities. Overzealous liberalisation contributed to power outages all over the world, including the California and US East Coast crises. Investment decisions are typically based on 5 to 10 year paybacks. Electricity planning requires at least a 20 year horizon. A major power station takes from 10 to 15 years to plan and build. For this reason, private enterprises seldom invest enough or in time to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply.
I have sympathy for the guys at Eskom right now. It will continue to be a thankless task working there over the next 5 years. Their planners knew we were running out of electricity but were held back from building new capacity.
Many who love to criticise anything post-apartheid have been joined by millions of other suffering South Africans pointing fingers and claiming that only morons could have got us into this situation.
I'd point directly at the various consultants who earned hundreds of millions promoting new build policies that ignored the coming supply crunch. Of course the decision makers at the Department of Mineral and Energy (DME) aren't much further behind in the blame queue - they listened.
In the mean time, this is costing the economy and me a fortune. I shelled out about R7000 (US $1000) for a UPS a while back to keep my business computer server going during interruptions. Given the duration of interruptions (this week two scheduled interruptions of 2 and a half hours each), the UPS is not enough. I've been busy with a project to extend my pond and pumphouse and so have built a generator room. My next expense is to rewire my house for automated power switchover to generator on a power outage and a generator itself. That is going to cost a fortune. The next expense will be for diesel to keep the thing running.
Goverment ignored Eskom pleas
Dec 12 2007 11:25 AM
Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki has acknowledged that government under-investment is to blame for a growing number of power cuts that have plunged large parts of the country into darkness.
Addressing a fund-raising dinner for the ruling African National Congress night, Mbeki said his government should have heeded pleas by state power utility Eskom several years ago to invest more in electricity generation to keep up with country's economic growth.
"When Eskom said to the government: 'We think we must invest more in terms of electricity generation', we said no, but all you will be doing is just to build excess capacity," Mbeki said in comments broadcast on public radio.
"We said not now, later. We were wrong. Eskom was right. We were wrong."
Mbeki's rare public apology comes at a time when the country is experiencing the worst power cuts in years, forcing Eskom to start rationing electricity this week as part of a programme that should last until the end of the week.
The rationing has led to a raft of complaints from businesses and retailers in the build-up to Christmas, while traffic jams are a common sight with many traffics lights out of action.
- AFP
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
What should South Africa do about unskilled migrant labour?
I'm doing some renovations on my pond at the moment. Which has been a nightmare and story in itself. It took 4 months to find a contractor. In a city of 8 million people, you'd think finding a koi pond contractor should be relatively easy. After all it's hardly rocket science. However I fired many potential contractors before I even got their quotes. Others told me they had a six month backlog. And others apparently don't bother unless your koi pond has multi-million rand potential. But finally I found someone who is apparently reliable and available. So now I have a two metre deep hole in my garden.
The labourers working on the hole initially consisted of one South African and two Zimbabwean refugees. The Zimabaweans could hardly speak English and were hardly productive. And they lived in Krugersdorp which meant it took them about 3 hours to get to work in the morning.
With over 40% of South Africans unskilled an unemployed, should we be taking on Zimbabweans or any other refugees? They are typically exploited and many building contractors pay them less than R20 (US$3) per day. They can't afford transport on these wages and end up squatting on vacant land or river banks in the cities. R20 will buy you a loaf of bread and a litre of milk.
While all this is going on, our world cup stadium workers have been striking for bonuses double their current level. I understand they earn R2 200 per month (just over US $300) and have demanded bonuses of R1 500 per month. This may not seem like a lot. However, in a global economy, we're competing with Chinese workers earning less than a third of that. Which is why our textile industry just cannot compete.
Of course one might argue that Chinese markets are distorted by human rights abuses, etc. While this might be true, every cent inflated due to protectionism comes out of the South African consumers' pockets (illustrated through the economic concept known as a deadweight loss).
South Africa's only long term solution is to raise levels of skill. The short term solution of deflating the Rand will merely result in inflationary pressures due to imported goods and thereafter a potential wage price spiral. Sadly it takes generations to move from uneducated unskilled labour to sophisticated engineering and manufacturing economies like those of Korea. Although the South Korean story is truly inspirational - it moved from a largely agricultural economy to a world engineering and manufacturing leader in little over 40 years.
But back to those Zimbabweans. They took jobs that any unskilled South African worker could have performed. In contrast, a friend who married an Australian teacher was forced to emigrate because she could not get a work permit in South Africa. There is a shortage of teacher's in South Africa. Their staying in the country would have resulted in a multiplier effect of spending and job creation for lower skilled workers (each higher income worker creates between 3 and 5 lower income jobs in South Africa).
Instead they left, costing the economy two skilled workers who are in short supply. And the income they earned that would have been spent and created lower skilled jobs. And we have workers flooding across the border and taking jobs from workers we have in excess supply.
Pretty screwed up. Frankly I believe the problem is that we have a government that feels unable to criticise or refuse demands from other African states. Switching on the electric fence along our border (turned off in 1994 due to the number of deaths of illegal immigrants), forcing Zimbabwean regime change and refusing unskilled immigration and refugees are unpalatable to a government that sees criticising other African / non-western nations as a betrayal.
Our mines are full of migrant workers from neighbouring states. This is a legacy from apartheid days where migrant labour provided a means of keeping wages low. To some extent it is understandable that former liberation movements feel unable to slam the door shut.
It is distressing though that our labour department postures with an apparently frivolous complaint against Comair and our major trade union grouping Cosatu is arguing against tighter immigration laws. Surely time and effort would be better spent inspecting building sites, farms, etc and ensuring workers are properly accredited with South African residence and work permits.
I wonder what our unemployed South African workers think?
The labourers working on the hole initially consisted of one South African and two Zimbabwean refugees. The Zimabaweans could hardly speak English and were hardly productive. And they lived in Krugersdorp which meant it took them about 3 hours to get to work in the morning.
With over 40% of South Africans unskilled an unemployed, should we be taking on Zimbabweans or any other refugees? They are typically exploited and many building contractors pay them less than R20 (US$3) per day. They can't afford transport on these wages and end up squatting on vacant land or river banks in the cities. R20 will buy you a loaf of bread and a litre of milk.
While all this is going on, our world cup stadium workers have been striking for bonuses double their current level. I understand they earn R2 200 per month (just over US $300) and have demanded bonuses of R1 500 per month. This may not seem like a lot. However, in a global economy, we're competing with Chinese workers earning less than a third of that. Which is why our textile industry just cannot compete.
Of course one might argue that Chinese markets are distorted by human rights abuses, etc. While this might be true, every cent inflated due to protectionism comes out of the South African consumers' pockets (illustrated through the economic concept known as a deadweight loss).
South Africa's only long term solution is to raise levels of skill. The short term solution of deflating the Rand will merely result in inflationary pressures due to imported goods and thereafter a potential wage price spiral. Sadly it takes generations to move from uneducated unskilled labour to sophisticated engineering and manufacturing economies like those of Korea. Although the South Korean story is truly inspirational - it moved from a largely agricultural economy to a world engineering and manufacturing leader in little over 40 years.
But back to those Zimbabweans. They took jobs that any unskilled South African worker could have performed. In contrast, a friend who married an Australian teacher was forced to emigrate because she could not get a work permit in South Africa. There is a shortage of teacher's in South Africa. Their staying in the country would have resulted in a multiplier effect of spending and job creation for lower skilled workers (each higher income worker creates between 3 and 5 lower income jobs in South Africa).
Instead they left, costing the economy two skilled workers who are in short supply. And the income they earned that would have been spent and created lower skilled jobs. And we have workers flooding across the border and taking jobs from workers we have in excess supply.
Pretty screwed up. Frankly I believe the problem is that we have a government that feels unable to criticise or refuse demands from other African states. Switching on the electric fence along our border (turned off in 1994 due to the number of deaths of illegal immigrants), forcing Zimbabwean regime change and refusing unskilled immigration and refugees are unpalatable to a government that sees criticising other African / non-western nations as a betrayal.
Our mines are full of migrant workers from neighbouring states. This is a legacy from apartheid days where migrant labour provided a means of keeping wages low. To some extent it is understandable that former liberation movements feel unable to slam the door shut.
It is distressing though that our labour department postures with an apparently frivolous complaint against Comair and our major trade union grouping Cosatu is arguing against tighter immigration laws. Surely time and effort would be better spent inspecting building sites, farms, etc and ensuring workers are properly accredited with South African residence and work permits.
I wonder what our unemployed South African workers think?
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Who will make the South African crime movie?
"The Brave One" is currently showing at cinemas around the world. Somewhat controversial, it tells the story of a vigilante response to a violent assault and murder. It stars Jodie Foster and I looked forward to a relevant thought provoking story about crime and punishment. Sadly I was disappointed.
Two of the best movies I have ever seen, let alone about crime, are "Traffic" starring Micheal Douglas and "Man on Fire" starring Denzel Washington. The latter is, in my opinion, one of the most finely produced movies of our time. Tony Scott combines with Washington, Dakota Fanning, Christopher Walken, musical maestro Hans Zimmer and the haunting Lisa Gerrard. These movies are violent and Man on Fire is disturbingly so. But the story is so gripping, everything has its place.
"The Brave One" suffers for this reason. I wondered why it was worth making? Was it a story worth telling?
South Africa needs someone to tell its crime story. Just as Man on Fire is not unpatriotic about Mexico, neither would a warts and all story about South Africa's problems and complexities be.
Stories have been told for centuries. Those that are worthwhile have sought to make sense of the nonsensical. In ancient times these stories may have described the mysterious as mythical, the complex as supernatural. Stories gave reason to the unreasonable, basis to that which played at our thoughts.
As we seek the diversion of a rugby world cup win, as we seek an outlet for our pride and love for this country, some people's lives have been ripped to shreds by the scourge that plagues South Africa.
From News24: A security company called Gideon Odendaal of Pretoria at 16:39 on Tuesday afternoon to inform him that there were problems at his home in Lynnwood Manor.
Odendaal, who was in the Western Cape, phoned home but nobody answered. He then tried to call his wife Kathy's cellphone number, but she didn't answer.
The domestic worker eventually answered her cellphone and all she was able to say was "They're busy hurting her."
Soon after that, Kathy Odendaal, 51, was murdered in her house in Farnham Street by armed attackers who had first raped her.
From IoL: Cathy Odendaal was apparently tortured, sexually assaulted and then murdered by the four-man gang who have been terrorising Pretoria.
But in an unusual mobilisation of forces on Tuesday night, members of the community, along with a group of construction workers from Mamelodi, rallied together to hunt down the alleged culprits.
Two men who were found in possession of an unlicensed handgun and jewellery belonging to Odendaal were arrested - one of them, who was wearing a Springbok jersey, was seriously hurt after being subdued by the workers.
Construction worker Vusi Sithole, who was driving with his brother Johannes and neighbour Colbert Novela, said that as they drove towards Mamelodi they spotted a man holding a woman around the throat. He was wearing a Springbok jersey.
Chasing after him, the three escaped with their lives after the man, who had hidden behind a clump of bushes in Cedar Street, leapt at their truck, pushed a gun into the driving compartment and opened fire.
Novela had a spade with him and managed to push the spade against the gun, deflecting the bullet.
The three men pushing the man from the truck and attacked him with the spade and a rock, overpowering him before stopping a passing police patrol.
Sithole burst into tears on hearing of Odendaal's murder.
"If only we could have done something to save her. I wish we could have caught the man before he killed that lady," he said.
From News24: The woman's son arrived on his scooter at his mother's home, at about 20:00 on Tuesday night.
He had not yet been informed of the attack.
"What's going on here? Is everything all right? Is my mom OK? Tell me, tell me?!" he wanted to know.
When a policeman told him that his mother had died, he burst into tears and cried in the policeman's arms.
Beeld heard that the woman's husband was in Cape Town. Her daughter had not yet been informed of her mother's death.
Again from News24: Members of the police forensics unit were fine-combing the Odendaal home on Wednesday morning for leads.
While the police were conducting their search, Marlize Odendaal, the victim's daughter, arrived at the house.
She was in the Kruger National Park when her mother was murdered.
Marlize sat on the pavement outside and just stared at the house.
"It's terrible, what happened to my mother," she said.
A third man has been arrested for the Odendaal murder after assistance by the Mamelodi community. The three suspects have been linked to the shooting of a three year old neighbor to the Odendaals this last weekend in addition to a host of other crimes.
Meanwhile, Ryan Holmes, a 22-year-old Tukkies student who was shot during a hijacking some weeks back remains in a coma.
You can be sure the Odendaal and Holmes families will never recover from these tragedies.
To appreciate some of the agony that victims go through, consider the exceptional case of Seiso Ratsoana. From the Sunday Times:
In August last year, two boys — then aged 12 and 11, I’ve been told — locked themselves in a house in Mabopane, outside Pretoria, with Seiso, who was then a year and 10 months old.
They poured boiling water over Seiso’s head and his groin. They used a knife to peel off parts of his scalp as his skin flaked. They pushed nails through his tongue.
They rubbed chilli into his wounds and into his rectum. They stuffed his mouth with pills to stop him screaming.
When Seiso’s rescuers finally broke into the house, the boys were apparently preparing to pour boiling oil over him and hack off the soles of his feet.
...
Debbie, a young volunteer at the Children of Fire, takes Seiso to Milpark Hospital every day to have the dressings on his groin changed. The risk of infection is considerable; Seiso is not toilet trained, his bandages are often soaked in urine.
...
“Nurse comes in at 10.30. Debbie holds torso down. I hold his legs down. Nurse starts cutting staples. Seiso screams. Writhes in agony. Screams louder. Nurse continues cutting. Seiso screams louder. More cuts. More blood. Another nurse comes in. She takes over from me holding legs down. I go to bathroom. Debbie and I agree afterwards that the doctor should be there next time to see how well the Stopayne f***ing works.”
I cried when I read this story. It is not the only child tortured. In the North West province last year, robbers burnt a child with molten wax in attempts to get his parents to tell them where money and guns were. And of course many other people including the aged have been similarly tortured with boiling water, etc.
But Seiso Ratsoana's story is something else. I try to imagine his pain. No matter what pain I've been through it just cannot compare to a little boy who does not even have muscles in his groin left from the burns administered to him. Imagine a little boy who possibly has no memory of a life without pain. And who knows it was someone else that did this to him.
What creates a 12 year old psychopath? Why do we have people growing up to be monsters? Psychopathy is incurable. Psychologists will tell you they suspect that South Africa produces these monsters at an unmatched rate.
I am currently reading Anthony Altbeker's "A Country At War With Itself." It is interesting, but so far I'm short on answers as to the psychology behind South African violent crime.
It would make a story worth telling. Not as a documentary, but a personal story set in South Africa.
Two of the best movies I have ever seen, let alone about crime, are "Traffic" starring Micheal Douglas and "Man on Fire" starring Denzel Washington. The latter is, in my opinion, one of the most finely produced movies of our time. Tony Scott combines with Washington, Dakota Fanning, Christopher Walken, musical maestro Hans Zimmer and the haunting Lisa Gerrard. These movies are violent and Man on Fire is disturbingly so. But the story is so gripping, everything has its place.
"The Brave One" suffers for this reason. I wondered why it was worth making? Was it a story worth telling?
South Africa needs someone to tell its crime story. Just as Man on Fire is not unpatriotic about Mexico, neither would a warts and all story about South Africa's problems and complexities be.
Stories have been told for centuries. Those that are worthwhile have sought to make sense of the nonsensical. In ancient times these stories may have described the mysterious as mythical, the complex as supernatural. Stories gave reason to the unreasonable, basis to that which played at our thoughts.
As we seek the diversion of a rugby world cup win, as we seek an outlet for our pride and love for this country, some people's lives have been ripped to shreds by the scourge that plagues South Africa.
From News24: A security company called Gideon Odendaal of Pretoria at 16:39 on Tuesday afternoon to inform him that there were problems at his home in Lynnwood Manor.
Odendaal, who was in the Western Cape, phoned home but nobody answered. He then tried to call his wife Kathy's cellphone number, but she didn't answer.
The domestic worker eventually answered her cellphone and all she was able to say was "They're busy hurting her."
Soon after that, Kathy Odendaal, 51, was murdered in her house in Farnham Street by armed attackers who had first raped her.
From IoL: Cathy Odendaal was apparently tortured, sexually assaulted and then murdered by the four-man gang who have been terrorising Pretoria.
But in an unusual mobilisation of forces on Tuesday night, members of the community, along with a group of construction workers from Mamelodi, rallied together to hunt down the alleged culprits.
Two men who were found in possession of an unlicensed handgun and jewellery belonging to Odendaal were arrested - one of them, who was wearing a Springbok jersey, was seriously hurt after being subdued by the workers.
Construction worker Vusi Sithole, who was driving with his brother Johannes and neighbour Colbert Novela, said that as they drove towards Mamelodi they spotted a man holding a woman around the throat. He was wearing a Springbok jersey.
Chasing after him, the three escaped with their lives after the man, who had hidden behind a clump of bushes in Cedar Street, leapt at their truck, pushed a gun into the driving compartment and opened fire.
Novela had a spade with him and managed to push the spade against the gun, deflecting the bullet.
The three men pushing the man from the truck and attacked him with the spade and a rock, overpowering him before stopping a passing police patrol.
Sithole burst into tears on hearing of Odendaal's murder.
"If only we could have done something to save her. I wish we could have caught the man before he killed that lady," he said.
From News24: The woman's son arrived on his scooter at his mother's home, at about 20:00 on Tuesday night.
He had not yet been informed of the attack.
"What's going on here? Is everything all right? Is my mom OK? Tell me, tell me?!" he wanted to know.
When a policeman told him that his mother had died, he burst into tears and cried in the policeman's arms.
Beeld heard that the woman's husband was in Cape Town. Her daughter had not yet been informed of her mother's death.
Again from News24: Members of the police forensics unit were fine-combing the Odendaal home on Wednesday morning for leads.
While the police were conducting their search, Marlize Odendaal, the victim's daughter, arrived at the house.
She was in the Kruger National Park when her mother was murdered.
Marlize sat on the pavement outside and just stared at the house.
"It's terrible, what happened to my mother," she said.
A third man has been arrested for the Odendaal murder after assistance by the Mamelodi community. The three suspects have been linked to the shooting of a three year old neighbor to the Odendaals this last weekend in addition to a host of other crimes.
Meanwhile, Ryan Holmes, a 22-year-old Tukkies student who was shot during a hijacking some weeks back remains in a coma.
You can be sure the Odendaal and Holmes families will never recover from these tragedies.
To appreciate some of the agony that victims go through, consider the exceptional case of Seiso Ratsoana. From the Sunday Times:
In August last year, two boys — then aged 12 and 11, I’ve been told — locked themselves in a house in Mabopane, outside Pretoria, with Seiso, who was then a year and 10 months old.
They poured boiling water over Seiso’s head and his groin. They used a knife to peel off parts of his scalp as his skin flaked. They pushed nails through his tongue.
They rubbed chilli into his wounds and into his rectum. They stuffed his mouth with pills to stop him screaming.
When Seiso’s rescuers finally broke into the house, the boys were apparently preparing to pour boiling oil over him and hack off the soles of his feet.
...
Debbie, a young volunteer at the Children of Fire, takes Seiso to Milpark Hospital every day to have the dressings on his groin changed. The risk of infection is considerable; Seiso is not toilet trained, his bandages are often soaked in urine.
...
“Nurse comes in at 10.30. Debbie holds torso down. I hold his legs down. Nurse starts cutting staples. Seiso screams. Writhes in agony. Screams louder. Nurse continues cutting. Seiso screams louder. More cuts. More blood. Another nurse comes in. She takes over from me holding legs down. I go to bathroom. Debbie and I agree afterwards that the doctor should be there next time to see how well the Stopayne f***ing works.”
I cried when I read this story. It is not the only child tortured. In the North West province last year, robbers burnt a child with molten wax in attempts to get his parents to tell them where money and guns were. And of course many other people including the aged have been similarly tortured with boiling water, etc.
But Seiso Ratsoana's story is something else. I try to imagine his pain. No matter what pain I've been through it just cannot compare to a little boy who does not even have muscles in his groin left from the burns administered to him. Imagine a little boy who possibly has no memory of a life without pain. And who knows it was someone else that did this to him.
What creates a 12 year old psychopath? Why do we have people growing up to be monsters? Psychopathy is incurable. Psychologists will tell you they suspect that South Africa produces these monsters at an unmatched rate.
I am currently reading Anthony Altbeker's "A Country At War With Itself." It is interesting, but so far I'm short on answers as to the psychology behind South African violent crime.
It would make a story worth telling. Not as a documentary, but a personal story set in South Africa.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Do you read the news, President Mbeki?
We know you browse the Internet. It is how you reportedly came up with some of your crackpot ideas on HIV and AIDS.
I wonder if you ever browse the online newspapers? Reading the actual homepages of News24, IoL, iAfrica and the Mail & Guardian will give you a hint of the horrific day-to-day crime affecting ordinary South Africans.
But subscribing to their RSS feeds will lay bare the true scale and horror of what people face each day. I am sure someone in the civil service will be able to show you how to access the RSS feeds. If not, just comment on this blog entry and I'll pop round and give you a hand.
Each day I browse through the headlines appearing in the feeds through Bloglines. It is a different experience to browsing the front pages. Because most of these stories don't make the front pages anymore.
I fought against the CrimeExpo website because I disagreed with its stated intention of scaring of tourists and shaming South Africa. Also, it used fraudulent images and sensationalism to make its point.
I have tried to be involved in fighting crime, giving up substantial income to be involved. I am looking for other ways to make this involvement work.
I have had many opportunities to emigrate over the years and yet remain here.
I have recently had an intruder in my home and chased him off. I remain committed to this country.
But I perceive a paranoia in acknowledging crime as a critical issue. Of course the government is trying. And of course you acknowledge it as an issue. But continued comments show a detachment and denial. You once said in an interview at the SABC in Auckland Park, "It is not like if I walk outside here in Auckland Park I will get shot." A few weeks later a man was shot on the streets in Auckland Park.
You have mentioned crime statistics of London to demonstrate that crime is worse elsewhere. Whether there are more murders per capita in Ecuador or Columbia is not the point. One can also point to the fact that while Calcutta is one of the poorest cities in the world, it is a relatively safe place with low crime rates.
The point is that that until crime is sufficiently rare that any of the headlines below are greeted with disgust and shock - not weary sadness - crime must be declared a national emergency.
A selection of those headlines from the last few days:
Woman finds dead fiance
A young woman who became worried when she did not hear from her fiancé, set out to look for him and accidentally stumbled onto the Midrand scene where he had been shot dead.
But in a cruel twist, it appeared that her fiancé had been killed by the same robbers who had hijacked her car ten days before.
Gang-rape teens still at large
Mpumalanga police are still searching for five teenagers who were part of a gang that raped a 20-year-old woman. Three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17 were arrested in Mafube village near Balfour and appeared in Balfour Magistrate's Court on Monday.
KZN farm manager attacked
Michael Coppard, a manager at the farm, near Howick, and his wife Joan were confronted on Wednesday by two casual labourers who requested permanent employment. The men then produced an axe and a knife and threatened to attack them. The attackers made off with R1 300, their cellphones, bank cards, electrical appliances and their bakkie.
Pupils arrested for alleged armed robbery
Four pupils aged between 16 and 18 were arrested for armed robbery in Vanderbijlpark outside Johannesburg. The pupils were arrested after they allegedly robbed people of their cellphones at gunpoint.
Mom, dad, face rape charges
A Parow couple, charged with raping and indecently assaulting their own daughter over a period of 10 years, appeared in the Bellville Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
'I smeared mud on her genitals'
A 21-year-old man was convicted of the rape, murder and robbery of his pregnant aunt after changing his plea to guilty in the Grahamstown High Court on Thursday. Themba Ngxokongxa, of Sivwe, Komga, admitted that he had intentionally assaulted, raped, and murdered Sindiswa Kalani, 30, and then robbed her of R13 and her identity document.
Ammunition 'heist cop' in court
Mabutana Richards Msibi, a metro police officer, appeared briefly before Magistrate Samuel Mashimbye in the Germiston Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on charges of possessing ammunition and an unlicensed firearm. Msibi was arrested on Monday after police found him in possession of 133 rounds for an AK-47 and 103 rounds of 9mm ammunition. This was the second time within a year that the officer had been arrested for the same offence. In December, he was allegedly caught with ammunition and R10 000 in counterfeit money. That case was thrown out of court because vital information had gone missing from the docket.
Grandfather allegedly rapes girl
A seven year-old schoolgirl shocked her teacher during a health lesson by saying that her grandfather had raped her, police said on Thursday.
Hijacked man bludgeoned to death
In a cruel twist of fate, a Glenwood man who turned paramedics and police away after he was hijacked on Tuesday night was brutally bludgeoned to death in his Moore Road home later that evening. The body of Arthur Rippin, 77, was found when police returned to his home to take a statement.
Pupil allegedly hacked to death by gang
A Cape Town high school pupil has been hacked to death in front of his parents in a brazen late-night gang attack. Thando Komani died after an attack on his family's home in Langa on Monday night. And while the Grade 9 pupil was being butchered with pangas, he fought only to protect his little two-year-old sister from harm.
Cops won't book thief
Pretoria - A man who caught a thief on his property in Mayville and took him to the police, was turned away at Wonderboom police station because there was "not enough evidence".
Rapists 'can't be rehabilitated'
The State on Wednesday urged Judge Leona Theron to hand down the maximum sentence possible for three men found guilty of rape as none of the three men could be expected to be rehabilitated. The men raped three Durban women at a beach house in Pennington, south of Scottburgh, on December 29 last year. Later that night they attacked and robbed a Sandton couple. The court heard that each three men had previously been convicted for a number of crimes and had served time in prison.
'He heard a pistol being cocked'
A Sabie man believes that if his brother-in-law had not fought fiercely with a robber, he and his father would probably have been "executed". The two robbers arrived at Global Products at Tweefontein near Sabie at about 07:00 and attacked the two men. They were forced to lie on the ground while their office was searched and plundered. "Henk said one of the robbers later came and stood over them. When he heard a pistol being cocked, he realised that they were about to be killed," Basson said. Henk jumped up and tackled one of the robbers, and also hit him with a chair at one stage. "The next moment a shot was fired. One of the robbers shot Anton in the back," Basson said. While Henk was still struggling with one of the attackers, the other one shot him. He was hit in the stomach and hip.
'We just need a miracle'
After being too scared to go out at night since being held up by armed robbers at his home six weeks ago, a Midrand Tukkie student ventured out for the first time on Sunday - only to be hijacked and shot in the head a few hours later.
Gunmen rob Carnival City casino
An armed gang of about 15 men shot and wounded several people in the Carnival City casino on Johannesburg's East Rand shortly after midnight on Sunday. They fired shots inside, wounding several people and assaulted one customer with a firearm. The gang also robbed patrons of cellphones and wallets. Police confronted them at the exit as they tried to make their getaway in several cars and a shootout ensued. Two police officers were wounded and were in a stable condition.
Court case plagued with strange delays
Three rapists' sentencing had been postponed 20 times since 2005 by controversial High Court Judge Ntsikelelo Poswa. Then, he also granted the men bail - without them seeking it. Two of the men disappeared last month.
'Cops left me to be raped'
When Marilyn White tearfully begged the police to rescue her from her child-sex abuser and mental patient ex- husband, they accused her of being drunk and trying to punish a "kind man".
Teen kills gran
A 17-year-old schoolboy who killed his grandmother because she would not give him any money, was sentenced in the Durban High Court to 10 years' imprisonment on Friday.
'No, I'm not going to Voertsek'
"Voertsek!" ("Get lost") That was the response from three armed hijackers when a young pregnant woman from Kempton Park begged them to hand over her two-year-old child before they drove off with her vehicle. "I became hysterical and pleaded for him to give me my child. After I had repeated my plea several times, he picked her up and gave her to me." Shortly after Prinsloo's car had been hijacked, a 60-year-old woman was shot nearby, while being hijacked in her driveway.
Heist millionaires
Cash-in-transit heists created at least 46 millionaire gangs last year. Many of the criminals who took part in targeting security companies who transport cash may not be behind bars. They are more likely to be free and enjoying the fruits of their lethal criminal labour - lavish lifestyles, fast cars, beautiful women and the respect of their communities.
'Hefty' men rape schoolgirl
Two hefty men grabbed the Grade 9 pupil while she was on her way home. "The two took her to an opened veld near to her school and raped her."
Famous DJ hit hard by murder, rape of aunt
A DJ's mom murdered and her one year old grandson left next to her body for a day and a half. In case you believe whinging about crime is the white perogative, this was another one of the many township murders.
Woman was stabbed while holding baby - police
Lauren Shankland, 28, had been bludgeoned and stabbed to death during a robbery late on Thursday afternoon. Indications were that she had been holding the 2-month-old baby when she was attacked.
Image of 'butchers' burnt in her memory
At 4.15am on November 13 2005, Collette Borain awoke inside a horror-movie scene.
Her husband Christopher was being butchered by a gang of robbers armed with steak knives and a long breadknife. This week she faced them in court.
Matric robbed in their exam
54 students, supervised by four staff members, were nearing the end of their accounting exam on Wednesday when they were held at gunpoint while the school was robbed.
Tongue, genitals removed
The mutilated body of a 17-year-old boy was found near Pella Village in Madikwe on Thursday, North West police said. His tongue and genitals had been removed. Meanwhile, a 13-year-old boy who was found mutilated on August 5 near a village outside Rustenburg remained in a serious condition, Jacobs said.
Ex-lover shot in the face
A second Pietermaritzburg woman has become the victim of domestic violence after she was shot in the face, police said on Friday.
Rapist: I'm really stressed
As a couple was walking home at midnight after visiting their minister, Allah attacked them, knocked the man unconscious with a large stone and throttled his wife until she too was unconscious before raping her. The rapist is now stressed because he is a prison far from home.
Men avenged 'witchcraft' murder
Three men in the Mpoza municipality in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape have been arrested on Thursday for the murder of two men who they alleged had used witchcraft to kill their parents.
Jhb cop shot during robbery
A policeman was shot while responding to a robbery. It happened after a Fairvale couple was woken by the sound of breaking glass in their Wilson Street home in the early hours of the morning and they alerted police.
Man shot 10 times by robbers survives
An employee of a cash loan company in Port Elizabeth was shot ten times after three men tried to rob the business on Friday morning.
Farmer's killers get life
The farmer was driving to his Daviddale farm in Amsterdam near Ermelo on July 4 last year when he was approached and stopped by the four men. The four shot Wolfaardt and set his car alight.
Baby scalded with boiling water
It was alleged that the child's 18-year-old mother had a misunderstanding with her brother at their home in Q Section, Umlazi on Saturday.
"The brother apparently took boiling water and threw it over the little boy."
Tannie makes robbers tidy up
An elderly woman who was tied up and had to watch helplessly while burglars cleaned out her house for the second time in a fortnight, nevertheless made sure they cleaned up before leaving.
Hijackers run rampant on KZN North Coast
A man was wounded and a woman and two good Samaritans robbed of their vehicles amid a high-speed chase on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.
Life terms for 'needless killing of an innocent'
After robbing 63-year-old Lynette Oosthuizen, who lived alone on a Boston, KwaZulu-Natal, farm, two intruders strangled her to prevent her from identifying them. She was killed on the evening of 23 August after she surrendered her money, a gun, jewellery, her bakkie keys and other items to them. They put her body in her bakkie, drove to the Bulwer area and threw her body over a cliff.
Rapist warns six-year-old not to tell
A six-year-old girl has been lured to a man's shack and raped in Tembisa on the East Rand. The man lured her to his shack where he undressed her, raped her and then warned her not to tell anyone. However, her mother spoke to her when she found the child crying, and went to the police. The rapist was arrested. Police also arrested a 30-year-old man in Tembisa on Wednesday for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in February.
Robbers slit security guard's throat
A security guard at a Durban school was killed when a group of armed robbers slit his throat and then proceeded to rob the school. Eight men armed with knives cornered the night watchman at the Junajarth Primary School and proceeded to cut his throat. They then left him to bleed to death before knocking on the door of the school caretaker. The men took a DVD player, a television set, jewellery and cash from the caretaker's house before they broke into the school tuck shop. R500 and some stock was stolen from the tuck shop.
Cop killed in Soweto shootout
A policeman died in a shootout with robbers during a car chase in Soweto on Wednesday morning. He and his partner gave chase to a stolen vehicle when they saw it at Booysens in Johannesburg. A shootout ensued in Zola North. The sergeant was killed. The three robbers escaped. They were thought to have been armed with AK-47 assault rifles.
Man shot dead outside bank
A man was shot dead outside a Standard Bank branch in Boksburg North on Monday. While walking to his car parked at a Total garage in Atlas Road, the 50-year-old man was approached by three men. "One of them took out a handgun and shot him in the chest, fatally wounding him."
Young boy's genitals cut off
An eight-year-old boy's genitals were sliced off in bushes near a rivulet in Malamalele, near Giyani, Limpopo. The boy was playing in a street near his home when a 23-year-old man dragged him into the bushes on Saturday. Police caught the man later in possession of the body parts. He told the police he had intended selling them.
I wonder if you ever browse the online newspapers? Reading the actual homepages of News24, IoL, iAfrica and the Mail & Guardian will give you a hint of the horrific day-to-day crime affecting ordinary South Africans.
But subscribing to their RSS feeds will lay bare the true scale and horror of what people face each day. I am sure someone in the civil service will be able to show you how to access the RSS feeds. If not, just comment on this blog entry and I'll pop round and give you a hand.
Each day I browse through the headlines appearing in the feeds through Bloglines. It is a different experience to browsing the front pages. Because most of these stories don't make the front pages anymore.
I fought against the CrimeExpo website because I disagreed with its stated intention of scaring of tourists and shaming South Africa. Also, it used fraudulent images and sensationalism to make its point.
I have tried to be involved in fighting crime, giving up substantial income to be involved. I am looking for other ways to make this involvement work.
I have had many opportunities to emigrate over the years and yet remain here.
I have recently had an intruder in my home and chased him off. I remain committed to this country.
But I perceive a paranoia in acknowledging crime as a critical issue. Of course the government is trying. And of course you acknowledge it as an issue. But continued comments show a detachment and denial. You once said in an interview at the SABC in Auckland Park, "It is not like if I walk outside here in Auckland Park I will get shot." A few weeks later a man was shot on the streets in Auckland Park.
You have mentioned crime statistics of London to demonstrate that crime is worse elsewhere. Whether there are more murders per capita in Ecuador or Columbia is not the point. One can also point to the fact that while Calcutta is one of the poorest cities in the world, it is a relatively safe place with low crime rates.
The point is that that until crime is sufficiently rare that any of the headlines below are greeted with disgust and shock - not weary sadness - crime must be declared a national emergency.
A selection of those headlines from the last few days:
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| The couple in happier times. (Beeld) |
A young woman who became worried when she did not hear from her fiancé, set out to look for him and accidentally stumbled onto the Midrand scene where he had been shot dead.
But in a cruel twist, it appeared that her fiancé had been killed by the same robbers who had hijacked her car ten days before.
Gang-rape teens still at large
Mpumalanga police are still searching for five teenagers who were part of a gang that raped a 20-year-old woman. Three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17 were arrested in Mafube village near Balfour and appeared in Balfour Magistrate's Court on Monday.
KZN farm manager attacked
Michael Coppard, a manager at the farm, near Howick, and his wife Joan were confronted on Wednesday by two casual labourers who requested permanent employment. The men then produced an axe and a knife and threatened to attack them. The attackers made off with R1 300, their cellphones, bank cards, electrical appliances and their bakkie.
Pupils arrested for alleged armed robbery
Four pupils aged between 16 and 18 were arrested for armed robbery in Vanderbijlpark outside Johannesburg. The pupils were arrested after they allegedly robbed people of their cellphones at gunpoint.
Mom, dad, face rape charges
A Parow couple, charged with raping and indecently assaulting their own daughter over a period of 10 years, appeared in the Bellville Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
'I smeared mud on her genitals'
A 21-year-old man was convicted of the rape, murder and robbery of his pregnant aunt after changing his plea to guilty in the Grahamstown High Court on Thursday. Themba Ngxokongxa, of Sivwe, Komga, admitted that he had intentionally assaulted, raped, and murdered Sindiswa Kalani, 30, and then robbed her of R13 and her identity document.
Ammunition 'heist cop' in court
Mabutana Richards Msibi, a metro police officer, appeared briefly before Magistrate Samuel Mashimbye in the Germiston Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on charges of possessing ammunition and an unlicensed firearm. Msibi was arrested on Monday after police found him in possession of 133 rounds for an AK-47 and 103 rounds of 9mm ammunition. This was the second time within a year that the officer had been arrested for the same offence. In December, he was allegedly caught with ammunition and R10 000 in counterfeit money. That case was thrown out of court because vital information had gone missing from the docket.
Grandfather allegedly rapes girl
A seven year-old schoolgirl shocked her teacher during a health lesson by saying that her grandfather had raped her, police said on Thursday.
Hijacked man bludgeoned to death
In a cruel twist of fate, a Glenwood man who turned paramedics and police away after he was hijacked on Tuesday night was brutally bludgeoned to death in his Moore Road home later that evening. The body of Arthur Rippin, 77, was found when police returned to his home to take a statement.
Pupil allegedly hacked to death by gang
A Cape Town high school pupil has been hacked to death in front of his parents in a brazen late-night gang attack. Thando Komani died after an attack on his family's home in Langa on Monday night. And while the Grade 9 pupil was being butchered with pangas, he fought only to protect his little two-year-old sister from harm.
Cops won't book thief
Pretoria - A man who caught a thief on his property in Mayville and took him to the police, was turned away at Wonderboom police station because there was "not enough evidence".
Rapists 'can't be rehabilitated'
The State on Wednesday urged Judge Leona Theron to hand down the maximum sentence possible for three men found guilty of rape as none of the three men could be expected to be rehabilitated. The men raped three Durban women at a beach house in Pennington, south of Scottburgh, on December 29 last year. Later that night they attacked and robbed a Sandton couple. The court heard that each three men had previously been convicted for a number of crimes and had served time in prison.
'He heard a pistol being cocked'
A Sabie man believes that if his brother-in-law had not fought fiercely with a robber, he and his father would probably have been "executed". The two robbers arrived at Global Products at Tweefontein near Sabie at about 07:00 and attacked the two men. They were forced to lie on the ground while their office was searched and plundered. "Henk said one of the robbers later came and stood over them. When he heard a pistol being cocked, he realised that they were about to be killed," Basson said. Henk jumped up and tackled one of the robbers, and also hit him with a chair at one stage. "The next moment a shot was fired. One of the robbers shot Anton in the back," Basson said. While Henk was still struggling with one of the attackers, the other one shot him. He was hit in the stomach and hip.
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| Ryan Holmes and his girlfriend Tanja Lendowsky in January. (Beeld) |
After being too scared to go out at night since being held up by armed robbers at his home six weeks ago, a Midrand Tukkie student ventured out for the first time on Sunday - only to be hijacked and shot in the head a few hours later.
Gunmen rob Carnival City casino
An armed gang of about 15 men shot and wounded several people in the Carnival City casino on Johannesburg's East Rand shortly after midnight on Sunday. They fired shots inside, wounding several people and assaulted one customer with a firearm. The gang also robbed patrons of cellphones and wallets. Police confronted them at the exit as they tried to make their getaway in several cars and a shootout ensued. Two police officers were wounded and were in a stable condition.
Court case plagued with strange delays
Three rapists' sentencing had been postponed 20 times since 2005 by controversial High Court Judge Ntsikelelo Poswa. Then, he also granted the men bail - without them seeking it. Two of the men disappeared last month.
'Cops left me to be raped'
When Marilyn White tearfully begged the police to rescue her from her child-sex abuser and mental patient ex- husband, they accused her of being drunk and trying to punish a "kind man".
Teen kills gran
A 17-year-old schoolboy who killed his grandmother because she would not give him any money, was sentenced in the Durban High Court to 10 years' imprisonment on Friday.
'No, I'm not going to Voertsek'
"Voertsek!" ("Get lost") That was the response from three armed hijackers when a young pregnant woman from Kempton Park begged them to hand over her two-year-old child before they drove off with her vehicle. "I became hysterical and pleaded for him to give me my child. After I had repeated my plea several times, he picked her up and gave her to me." Shortly after Prinsloo's car had been hijacked, a 60-year-old woman was shot nearby, while being hijacked in her driveway.
Heist millionaires
Cash-in-transit heists created at least 46 millionaire gangs last year. Many of the criminals who took part in targeting security companies who transport cash may not be behind bars. They are more likely to be free and enjoying the fruits of their lethal criminal labour - lavish lifestyles, fast cars, beautiful women and the respect of their communities.
'Hefty' men rape schoolgirl
Two hefty men grabbed the Grade 9 pupil while she was on her way home. "The two took her to an opened veld near to her school and raped her."
Famous DJ hit hard by murder, rape of aunt
A DJ's mom murdered and her one year old grandson left next to her body for a day and a half. In case you believe whinging about crime is the white perogative, this was another one of the many township murders.
Woman was stabbed while holding baby - police
Lauren Shankland, 28, had been bludgeoned and stabbed to death during a robbery late on Thursday afternoon. Indications were that she had been holding the 2-month-old baby when she was attacked.
Image of 'butchers' burnt in her memory
At 4.15am on November 13 2005, Collette Borain awoke inside a horror-movie scene.
Her husband Christopher was being butchered by a gang of robbers armed with steak knives and a long breadknife. This week she faced them in court.
Matric robbed in their exam
54 students, supervised by four staff members, were nearing the end of their accounting exam on Wednesday when they were held at gunpoint while the school was robbed.
Tongue, genitals removed
The mutilated body of a 17-year-old boy was found near Pella Village in Madikwe on Thursday, North West police said. His tongue and genitals had been removed. Meanwhile, a 13-year-old boy who was found mutilated on August 5 near a village outside Rustenburg remained in a serious condition, Jacobs said.
Ex-lover shot in the face
A second Pietermaritzburg woman has become the victim of domestic violence after she was shot in the face, police said on Friday.
Rapist: I'm really stressed
As a couple was walking home at midnight after visiting their minister, Allah attacked them, knocked the man unconscious with a large stone and throttled his wife until she too was unconscious before raping her. The rapist is now stressed because he is a prison far from home.
Men avenged 'witchcraft' murder
Three men in the Mpoza municipality in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape have been arrested on Thursday for the murder of two men who they alleged had used witchcraft to kill their parents.
Jhb cop shot during robbery
A policeman was shot while responding to a robbery. It happened after a Fairvale couple was woken by the sound of breaking glass in their Wilson Street home in the early hours of the morning and they alerted police.
Man shot 10 times by robbers survives
An employee of a cash loan company in Port Elizabeth was shot ten times after three men tried to rob the business on Friday morning.
Farmer's killers get life
The farmer was driving to his Daviddale farm in Amsterdam near Ermelo on July 4 last year when he was approached and stopped by the four men. The four shot Wolfaardt and set his car alight.
Baby scalded with boiling water
It was alleged that the child's 18-year-old mother had a misunderstanding with her brother at their home in Q Section, Umlazi on Saturday.
"The brother apparently took boiling water and threw it over the little boy."
Tannie makes robbers tidy up
An elderly woman who was tied up and had to watch helplessly while burglars cleaned out her house for the second time in a fortnight, nevertheless made sure they cleaned up before leaving.
Hijackers run rampant on KZN North Coast
A man was wounded and a woman and two good Samaritans robbed of their vehicles amid a high-speed chase on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.
Life terms for 'needless killing of an innocent'
After robbing 63-year-old Lynette Oosthuizen, who lived alone on a Boston, KwaZulu-Natal, farm, two intruders strangled her to prevent her from identifying them. She was killed on the evening of 23 August after she surrendered her money, a gun, jewellery, her bakkie keys and other items to them. They put her body in her bakkie, drove to the Bulwer area and threw her body over a cliff.
Rapist warns six-year-old not to tell
A six-year-old girl has been lured to a man's shack and raped in Tembisa on the East Rand. The man lured her to his shack where he undressed her, raped her and then warned her not to tell anyone. However, her mother spoke to her when she found the child crying, and went to the police. The rapist was arrested. Police also arrested a 30-year-old man in Tembisa on Wednesday for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in February.
Robbers slit security guard's throat
A security guard at a Durban school was killed when a group of armed robbers slit his throat and then proceeded to rob the school. Eight men armed with knives cornered the night watchman at the Junajarth Primary School and proceeded to cut his throat. They then left him to bleed to death before knocking on the door of the school caretaker. The men took a DVD player, a television set, jewellery and cash from the caretaker's house before they broke into the school tuck shop. R500 and some stock was stolen from the tuck shop.
Cop killed in Soweto shootout
A policeman died in a shootout with robbers during a car chase in Soweto on Wednesday morning. He and his partner gave chase to a stolen vehicle when they saw it at Booysens in Johannesburg. A shootout ensued in Zola North. The sergeant was killed. The three robbers escaped. They were thought to have been armed with AK-47 assault rifles.
Man shot dead outside bank
A man was shot dead outside a Standard Bank branch in Boksburg North on Monday. While walking to his car parked at a Total garage in Atlas Road, the 50-year-old man was approached by three men. "One of them took out a handgun and shot him in the chest, fatally wounding him."
Young boy's genitals cut off
An eight-year-old boy's genitals were sliced off in bushes near a rivulet in Malamalele, near Giyani, Limpopo. The boy was playing in a street near his home when a 23-year-old man dragged him into the bushes on Saturday. Police caught the man later in possession of the body parts. He told the police he had intended selling them.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Do you know anyone who has decapitated a live dog with a chainsaw?
No? Thought not.
Two guys from Delmas did it though - a live husky.
And they want to pay an admission of guilt fine and be done with it.
I say put the arseholes in Pollsmoor with some of the more infamous gangs and let them suffer for a few years.
What is wrong with people in this country?
From News24:
Dog decapitated with chain saw
19/06/2007 15:55 - (SA)
Johannesburg - A Delmas magistrate has refused the offers of two men who wanted to pay admission of guilt fines after admitting to using a chain saw to decapitate a live husky dog.
The SPCA said both Phillip Matthysen and Alec Sirate pleaded guilty to a charge of animal cruelty.
The case was postponed to July 24.
Two guys from Delmas did it though - a live husky.
And they want to pay an admission of guilt fine and be done with it.
I say put the arseholes in Pollsmoor with some of the more infamous gangs and let them suffer for a few years.
What is wrong with people in this country?
From News24:
Dog decapitated with chain saw
19/06/2007 15:55 - (SA)
Johannesburg - A Delmas magistrate has refused the offers of two men who wanted to pay admission of guilt fines after admitting to using a chain saw to decapitate a live husky dog.
The SPCA said both Phillip Matthysen and Alec Sirate pleaded guilty to a charge of animal cruelty.
The case was postponed to July 24.
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