A Rainbow Nation Burns

By Gareth Cliff:

Between a rock and a hard place….

Thabo Mbeki was right: There really are two South Africas. Most people jump to the conclusion that we’re a nation divided along racial lines.
Others think it’s about the haves and the have-nots.
The events of the past few days have made it abundantly clear that the real divide is between those who want law and order; and those who see the law only as a means to make themselves more powerful.
Those are the two South Africas.

Before you read any further, let’s take a moment to appreciate context and perspective, because nothing happens in isolation: We have been living on a powder-keg of unsustainable, teetering and disdainful politics since about 2009 (the seeds of which were germinating in the ugly part of our pre-1994 history). While Jacob Zuma was a big part of the overall toxic mixture, he was not the only reason we have found ourselves in this situation. A combination of the ANC’s inability to bring itself to order; the constant public narratives used to divide us; an economy that has been mismanaged in a destructive alliance between unions, the ruling party and crony corporations; and ultimately a devastating and unpredictable pandemic have created a perfect storm that just needed an excuse to break.

Let’s be very clear: what we’re experiencing isn’t about Jacob Zuma, inequality and poverty, or a lack of vaccines. While those things may have contributed to the overall power vacuum, they’re symptoms, not causes. That all of this started in KwaZulu-Natal isn’t a surprise either: weak political leadership, confusion in the Zulu royal family and an overpopulated province of young people with no reason to wake up every day, no sense of purpose or hope, this was inevitable.

We’re witnessing the final unravelling of the ANC, and especially the elite criminal coterie who have been manipulating the institutions and authority of government for their own purposes for at least the last decade. Their reluctance to act against each other, abide by the law or do what is good for South Africa is a can that was kicked down the road until they ran out of road. Unimpressive and incoherent fools, promoted far beyond their competence in a system that rewarded greed, party loyalty and failed ideology have brought them to a breaking point. That’s what ultimately precipitated this orgy of looting, criminality, violence and stupidity. That has been predicted by much smarter people than me for much longer.

So if you stop reading here, you’ll probably wish you hadn’t read any of this at all – but fortunately that isn’t all.

The heartening and hopeful evidence of good people standing together, taking up arms and looking to protect each other from criminals and scum is everywhere. I saw a group of old and young; rich and poor; black, white and Indian neighbours on the news last night, determined to look after the suburb of Montclair in Durban. Their eyes betrayed not a spark of fear, but a resourceful, determined and strong sense of community – in the best sense of that word. Those men had something powerful to fight for, and they weren’t in it to steal a TV.

We’ve always had poor people in this country (sadly, far too many) who battle through every day – and none of them partake in arson and theft, even if they’re desperate. There’s a moral majority of granny-headed, religious and decent rural families who have as much disdain for the carnage they see as any angry taxpayer does. Together, they’ve watched crooks plunder the land Mandela promised them. Today, they stand united against the mob.

The great divide in South Africa is and will continue to be between those who want a future for themselves and their children, who believe we are a civilised people with enormous potential – and those who have given in to the chaos of destruction, hopelessness and self-loathing. On the one hand we have the steely resolve of the better part of our nature, and on the other the vacant yellow eyes of opportunists and monsters. The real looting (of some R500-billion or more) has already taken place. Those who took it are now deploying their vassals and playing the only card they have left.

It’s time you asked yourself which South Africa you want to be a part of, and what we need to clear out of the way in order to share our place in the sun. It’s always darkest before the dawn.

 

Another Farm Murder.

Niel Mckay was 26 years old when he was attacked while working as a foreman on a farm. He was shot leaving him paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair.

His late father helped him set up a farm about 3 years ago in Winterton, Kwazulu,  South Africa where he continued farming even while being in a wheelchair.

On Saturday 10th April 2021 Neil McKay was murdered on his farm.

His mother arrived at the farm late is Saturday and found him tied up in his wheelchair.  He had been beaten and allegedly strangled to death. From investigations it seems he had been attacked outside the house and dragged into the house where he was allegedly murdered.

This was no robbery. The television and other electronic equipment were not taken as happens in 100% of robberies here in South Africa. THIS WAS A SENSELESS FARM MURDER ON A HELPLESS PERSON

 

Heed This.

This is something that we as citizens need to take note of. The government uses false information and statistics to justify why private ownership of firearms is bad.

Once the individuals are defenseless they hold total power and can practically do what they want with total impunity.

 

NKANDLA

 

President Zuma Behind Bars

Visiting Soweto – News24 photo

Not really but when I saw the photo my wicked sense of humour took a turn for the better!
But now that I have your attention here is my most favourite person in the news again.
After failing to take charge of Pretoria’s Metro Police after getting kicked out of Ekurhuleni Metro Police he is once again at it..

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; (thanks to William Shakespeare – As You Like It: Act 2 Scene 7)
As I stand in the wings watching the play unfold in South Africa the often used quote by Shakespeare comes to mind.
We have a comedy in the making with the appointment of Robert McBride to be the next head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
In a time when the South African Police has such a tarnished image of corruption, brutality and a total disregard of basic policing, one is left to wonder why this appointment is being made.
I find it totally laughable that the ANC’s Western Cape chairman, Marius Fransman, has the gumption to state that McBride is “a hero, patriot and committed civil servant to the people of South Africa”. As far as my memory serves me, once upon a time, civil servants and especially those representing the government had to be beyond reproach with no criminal records, strong morals and impeccable ethics.
Our incumbent president Jacob Zuma has in the last while stated most categorically that he is trying to clean up the government (can he start with himself, I wonder?) and then we hear about McBride, once again surfacing like a rotten smell which just doesn’t want to go away.
When completing your application for employment in the government you are asked if you have ever been found guilty of any criminal act. Now even if we discount the Magoo Bar bombing in which civilians were killed because it was politically motivated (shouldn’t this ruling then also be applied to the Boeremag who accidentally killed a women while blowing up train lines?).
McBride and others members of his terror cell were granted amnesty for the attack. The Truth and Reconciliation commission actually stated that this act was a “gross violation of human rights”.
Or even if we by some long stretch of the imagination should agree that McBride was totally sober after his Christmas party celebrations when he crashed his car on the way home. And we would then also have to wonder how he was found not guilty of trying to defeat the ends of justice while the doctor who issued the results of the blood test without even seeing McBride was found guilty of misconduct. We would also have to ignore the bullying of witnesses by his security minions to a point where they and their families were to terrified to state anything in court. Mcbride was found guilty and sentenced to five years imprisonment. This was later set aside leaving many wondering who was pulling the strings.
Then we have a small incident of being arrested in Mozambique while doing some gun running. Was he just trying to smuggle arms and ammunition into places such as KZN where innocent victims were being slaughtered just to try destabilising the area? He was found guilty and sentenced to jail time but once again his powerful friends in the ANC pulled some strings and he was sent back to South Africa.
What about being involved in an assault case while in the company of underworld bosses at some escort agency? Wonder if he and the previous head of the police and Interpol, Jackie Selebi, were house friends?
In looking at the farce of appointing heads of police we must include Bheki Cele and Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega in this illustrious gathering of players. None of the previous appointments made any positive impact on crime in South Africa and it may be stated that crime actually got worse. Police brutality by far exceeds anything that the previous government did. Corruption is seen as an additional source of income to some police.
SO HOW DOES MCBRIDE EVEN COME INTO CONTENTION FOR THIS POSITION WHERE HE WILL BE INVESTIGATING PEOPLE FOR THE VERY SAME THINGS HE IS GUILTY OF?
1) President Zuma’s ANC are not serious about fighting crime or corruption. Is it far more lucrative to have it continue while they are in power?
2) Why did Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa support the nomination of McBride. Was pressure put on him by higher powers?
3) Does President Zuma want to avoid the possibility of having someone appointed from outside the ANC who would be independent of politics? Maybe Zuma learnt his lesson when he appointed Thuli Madonsela as public prosecutor!
4) According to the (Democratic Alliance) DA the advertisement for the post seems to have been tailored to McBride’s CV. Makes me wonder who was responsible for authorising the changes…
In a recent survey people were asked about problems in South Africa and it is not surprising that fear and mistrust of the police came second to being murdered during a robbery!!

 

Barbarians!

Barbarians!

Today is just my day for bitching I suppose.

In this morning’s news there is an article which got me thinking on the barbaric methods used to kill or mutilate rhinos in the last while. The article this morning reported on the rustling of ten head of cattle from a farm just east of Pretoria, South Africa.

The cattle were driven a total of 20 kms towards a township, Daveyton, where the rustlers then proceed to use pangas (a broad heavy knife of E African origin, used as a tool or weapon) to hack the  large tendon at the point of the hock which then means the animal is totally unable to stand on its hind legs.  (This was also used by the Mau Mau in Kenya some years ago. They did this deliberately to cattle owned by white people.)

Then they proceeded to stab the cows with knives hoping to kill them.

What is even more horrific is that they started to hack pieces of flesh off while the cows were still alive! This was obviously done as speed was of the essence, and they could then just disappear into the township with their ill-gotten gains.

The police who arrived at the sight phoned the farmer and informed him of the situation. The farmer then made his way to the sight where he hoped to be able to at least save some of the meat for use on his farm. On his arrival he found nearly 150 of the local population armed with bowls and knives, cutting off chunks of meat for themselves. When the farmer started loading the carcasses the locals started swearing and shouting at him wanting to know what right he had to remove them.

It seems that if something gets stolen from you the right of ownership is also transferred to whoever is then in possession of it!

To date only 3 people have been arrested for being in possession of stolen meat. They say they just happened on the carcasses and thought it would be better not to waste the meat, so they helped themselves. No rustlers have been arrested.  

 

Marikana follow up.

It has been quite a while that I haven’t blogged due to various reasons. I just haven’t been able to do so even though there were so many things happening here in South Africa and in the rest of the world that really needed to be blogged about. I have tried to read most of the blogs that I follow, and really apologize for not even saying that I have read them 😦

Last week I went camping with the family at a place called Buffelspoort. What is unique about this is that it is adjacent to a small town/siding called Marikana. This is very near the place where the massacre of the miners took place. And here we were going about our camping as if nothing of the magnitude that shook the rest of the world had happened! The local population were going about their business as if nothing had occurred. The same went for the holiday makers. How callous we all seem to have become.

I got to thinking about it and wondered if we had had become this way due to the deluge of bad news that bombards us each and every day. Is it just a defense mechanism that we humans have that makes us push the bad things so far back in our brains that we continue as if they had never happened?

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I will hopefully post a photo or two that I took while there within the next week or so. All one sees is peaceful hills without a hint of what happened near there.

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In light of the commission appointed by President Zuma (wonder if this might be his last chance to appoint a commission?) I will eagerly wait for the cover up to be made public as per the normal state of affairs before passing further comments as to the various claims that have been made that the police in actual fact had fired gas grenades (and shot some observers overlooking the miners) which actually caused them to run straight towards the waiting police. But let’s wait and see.

 

Massacre in Marikana (EXPLICIT PICTURES)

Thursday 16^th August 2012 will go down in the history books as the day the South African Police fired on strikers in a small town called Marikana. The newspapers have in their normal sensation seeking style have put up big black placards stating “Marikana Massacre” . I suppose this description will become the naming convention of what occurred out there in the dusty streets of Marikana.

Following the various news reports it is alleged  that in three minutes more than 30 strikers were killed and 100’s wounded . The newspapers wrote that a shoot-out between police and strikers occurred. Yet in the various photographs and videos that were taken I seem to miss seeing any firearms being brandished by the strikers. So my definition of a shoot-out is when two parties shoot at each other and this does not seem to have occurred.

Many years ago we were trained in crowd control, and nothing in your training can ever prepare you for the time when an angry crowd is storming down on you brandishing spears, machetes and other instruments that could do you serious bodily harm. Then if there is any lack of training it is a case of self-preservation that takes over. Once the first shot is fired the rest becomes history.

All the various political parties have come out with the normal noises deploring what has happened and the need for an investigation as to why this massacre happened.

The police have had their normal news conferences saying that a full investigation will done on what really happened, so that those responsible could be brought to task. Knowing how the police cover their mishaps by losing documents and witnesses going missing, I strongly doubt that there will be any finding other than they were protecting themselves and that the strikers were to blame for everything that happened. Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa‘s office said in a statement on Thursday that the police were faced by armed and hardcore criminals who murder police”. This type of statement being made before any enquiry has even started is totally inappropriate as it immediately sets the tone of what route the enquiry will take. And the hell does she know they were hardcore criminals? Maybe she owes the families of those killed an apology..

The following extract is from News24 and actually drives straight at the heart of what is happening throughout South Africa currently. (The rainbow nation no longer exists and has faded away in total.)
Brewing tensions

The Inkatha Freedom Party on Thursday said the massacre at the mine highlighted the brewing tensions within South African society and should not be underestimated.

“It’s horror should not only shock u,s but bring to the fore how too often conflicts in this country are dealt with through violence,” IFP MP Mario Oriani-Ambrosini said.

“Unless there is a fundamental change of culture at the highest level of government things will worsen.”

The Azanian People’s Organisation compared the violence in Marikana to the Sharpeville Sharpeville  and Soweto shootings Soweto uprising .

“As Azapo we can only describe the situation as a massacre not different from March 21, 1960 in Sharpeville; June 16, 1976 in Soweto and June 17, 1992 in Boipatong,” the party said.

The spokesperson forgot to mention that here in South Africa we seem to have quite a lot of massacres in our short history. He forgot to mention the Shell House massacre , St James Church massacre , Cato Manor , and a couple more that happened in in the Transkei as well.  (check out Banshee Bridge massacre as well..)
What a country we live in!

Pictures by : Taurai Maduna (EWN) Felix Dlangamandla (Beeld) and Associated Press

 

Some smiles and some tears!

For today I thought I would lighten up and post an old joke that was sent to me. Old, but at times true!

Another post that was sent to me by a fellow blogger is one of many outpourings by the Black South Africans as to the state of the country. They are waking to the fact that things have actually gone backwards since the ANC came to power. The euphoria of Nelson Mandela as the first Black president has worn off and reality has now set in.

Mkhandela is responding to the school book fiasco where some schools have not received their text books even though half the academic year has already passed. The shambles out their is totally beyond belief. One school received 200 books for on grade, while the school has nearly over a 1000 pupils with no books!

The matter of unqualified teachers is a sore point with qualified white teachers that were retrenched sitting at home hoping for a job.

Mkhandela

http://www.news24.com/user/Mkhandela

Why Bantu Education was better…

28 June 2012, 14:35

It never rains but pours for South Africa’s Eden, Limpopo. The floods are corroding its education system at a rapid pace. We are halfway through the school calendar and not a single textbook was insight. That is, until today when some parts of the province are reported to be receiving the much needed academic aids.

Some many years ago the African child revolted against a poor education system under apartheid. They envisaged that under democracy their offspring will be served a better, more efficient system minus the shortcomings of what they were subjected to. They perceived that if they watered the tree of freedom with their shed blood the sins of apartheid committed against the black majority would be purged.

It was this generation that hoped that the dawn of democracy will better their livelihoods. Rays of hope sprung to light in 1994 when finally that vision was achieved. Little did they know that the nightmare of apartheid will live to haunt them almost two decades after freedom was attained. Only this time they would not be players but spectators.

The revolutionary generation of ’76 lives to witness a dream betrayed. Having fought for a better education system their efforts were in vain. The democratic government is failing their children.

The current education system is worse compared to Bantu Education. At least under Bantu Education books, regardless of their quality, were on time. Under that deplored system the pass rate for matric, per subject, was not lowered to 30%. If Bantu Education was bad, what about the low literacy and numeracy rates in the current system?

Vanguards of apartheid were brutal in defending the status quo. However, their administration was more efficient than what the current state does. Teachers under apartheid were well trained, carried out their duties conscientiously, and respected the profession. They understood that their role as parents, guardians and role models to their protégés.

Fast forward to democracy, which in fact is demon-crazy, you find a bunch of sex-crazed educators who prey on vulnerable young girls. In exchange for marks they demand sexual favors. They are incompetent and rely on the unions to keep them on the job. Under Bantu Education, the trend we see of so-called “under-qualified” teachers was alien. Systems were in place and were functioning optimally.

At least apartheid was resolute on the kind of education system it preferred. Democracy is still undecided. They have chopped and changed the system more times than I dare to remember. But what I do know is each change has worsened the system. It has punched holes in the future of many young hopefuls who have emerged out of the system worse than the time they were incorporated into it.

Education has the potential to better the lives of people. It is proverbially the key to success. But with the current system in place, it is the key to a bleak and uncertain future. The ANC government has failed us in this regard: Change is needed!!!

 

Smile time

After the last serious posts here is something to have a smile for!

Police in London have found a bomb outside a mosque..
They’ve told the public not to panic as they’ve managed to push it inside.

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During last night’s high winds an African family were killed by a falling tree.
A spokesman for the Birmingham City council said “We didn’t even know they were living up there”.

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Jamaican minorities in the UK have complained that there are not enough television shows with minorities in mind, so Crimewatch is being shown 5 times a week now.

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I was reading in the paper today about this dwarf that got pick pocketed.
How could anyone stoop so low.

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I was walking down the road when I saw an Afghan bloke standing on a fifth floor balcony shaking a carpet.
I shouted up to him, “what’s up Abdul, won’t it start?”

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A Muslim dies and finds himself before the Pearly Gates..
He is very excited, as all his life he has longed to meet the Prophet Mohammed.
Having arrived at the Gates of Heaven, he meets a man with a beard.
“Are you Mohammed?” he asks.
“No, my son. I am Peter. Mohammed is higher up.”
And he points to a ladder that rises into the clouds.
Delighted that Mohammed should be higher than Peter, he climbs the ladder in great strides, climbs through the clouds coming to a room where he meets another bearded man.
He asks again, “Are you Mohammed?”
“No, I am Moses. Mohammed is higher still.”
Exhausted, but with a heart full of joy he continues to climb the ladder and, yet again, he discovers an even larger room where he meets another man with a beard.
Full of hope, he asks again, “Are you Mohammed?”
“No, I am Jesus… You will find Mohammed higher up.”
Mohammed higher than Jesus!
The poor man can hardly contain his delight and climbs and climbs, even higher. Once again he reaches a larger room where he meets a man with a beard and repeats his question:
“Are you Mohammed?” he gasps as he is, by now, totally out of breath from all his climbing
“No my son…..I am God. But you look exhausted. Would you like a coffee?”
“Yes, please, my Lord.”
God looks behind him, claps his hands and calls out: “Hey Mohammed, two coffees !!!!”

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