Just another statistic in this world

Keep it safe, keep it secret

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Oooh. The Japanese football team is in PE. And they've been told, rather nicely, not to go dilly-dallying outside the hotel after dark.

Actually, they might been told to stay put after dark.

Sounds like a vampire flick now.

You know, one of the scary ones, not the sparkly ones.

Ye, that comment about the grave

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:36:00 +0000

... classy!

Ooh did you hear the interview that SA's National Police Commissioner gave to Sky News?

Quote from News24:

"We are simply saying we are not going to train police for graves when we have the equipment and the law on our side.

Cele also told Sky News that he wants the Criminal Procedure Act amended so that police officers do not hesitate to pull the trigger for fear of repercussions later on.

So ... he's effectively sticking by the 'shoot to kill' stance, right?

And he is telling this to a country that is a bit touchy about police brutality, especially ones that were seen on UK soil in recent years?

Is that honestly what UK folk want to hear?

Friday Links

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:57:00 +0000

see more Epic Fails

So, it's another Friday. It's been a busy week and I have not had time to post any new posts. This is me looking sort of sorry. ( -_-)

Anyway ... on with the news!

Did you hear how Vavi's salary was doubled? I love his reasoning for it by the way! And then he gives a speech about communism later on. Tsk tsk, this would make Marx a very sad panda indeed.

Okay, so someone's feeling left out. The man in question is Western Cape's provincial leader Mdladlana and he is sulking because the media doesn't want to hear his side of the story. Apparently no one wants to know his view when Helen Zille talks about ANC and that riles him up. Check out he bring out the ultimate school playground statement, the kiddy equivalent of 'I'm gonna tell my Dad about you, just you wait!'

Oh boy! There was that story about Julius Malema dodging a speeding ticket. Apparently he ranted and raved and the folks trying to give him tickets later got letters from their boses.

Sounding more and more like Animal Farm?

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Surely this makes sense? I mean, given the gov't dedication to sharing wealth and being socialist and all?

Quote from News24:

Calls to nationalise the personal wealth of BEE tycoons Tokyo Sexwale and Patrice Motsepe were based on jealousy, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Tuesday.

Interesting how powers that be are upset with these nationalizing talk.

Friday Links

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:31:00 +0000

So, let's see what's happening this week!

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There was a horrid murder of a couple which has authorities fretting and worrying. The main concern is that folks will start talking about crime in SA again. Er, when did they stop?

Then there was the incident about a foreigner being killed in SA. Does this count as a xenophobic attack or is it classified as armed robbery? It is especially scary that the poor man was attacked with a hammer. Ergh. And one of them was on horseback? Wait, what?

Oh dear! Did you hear about the story where an SA bloke was arrested in Botswana? Apparently he referred to the country's president as the yardstick for measuring stupidity. Uh oh!

***Happy Halloween, people!********

More name changes in South Africa

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:54:00 +0000

Holey Moley!

More name changes!

Apparently Nelspruit is now called Mbombela.

Sheesh, you can't get water and electricity to certain parts of the country and yet, somehow name changes take precedence.

Surely that's a bit of moolah spent on name changes that could be used better?

More about the shootout

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:03:00 +0000

Oh nice. *sarcastic*

There is more updates about that police shooting incident. You know, the one where some innocent folks were mistaken for hijackers? And shot at? Where one of them died?

Ye, News24 has an article that describes the event through the eyes of the victims.

Seemed like the cops were trigger-happy.

Check out the bit when the cops finally figures out these were innocent folk and flees the scene.

That's just sad!

Trigger happy folks?

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:28:00 +0000

This is ugly. Some cops thought a female passenger(?) was a hijacker and shot her!

You know that the 'shoot to kill' phrase thrown around by folks was going to be a bad idea.

Worse yet, there is so much crime in SA (which include an abnormally high death rate of police officers) that everyone is afraid for their lives.

Now throw in the 'do your own bit to keep neighborhood safe' as well as the 'police should just shoot to kill criminals' and it's only a matter of time before something goes horribly wrong.

Like this instance.

Quote from News 24:

Members of the Flying Squad had been "looking out" for a hijacked grey Toyota Corolla when they spotted a car fitting the description, Captain Julia Claassen said.

"The police put out their blue lights for the driver to stop, but he didn't, so police fired shots."

Trouble for Nestle in Zimbabwe?

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:21:00 +0000

So ... does this mean they are back to buying milk from that farm?

Earlier in the week, the Nestle branch based in Zimbabwe halted purchases of milk from a farm because it was owned by Robert Mugabe's wife.

Once it came to light, a lot of int'l folks were unhappy when they discovered that this fancy little trade had been going on for a while.

So the pressure began.

And Nestle quietly went 'Okay, let's stop'.

Then there was a surprise move later that week.

Quote from News24:

Zimbabwe's central bank chief says the government has frozen Nestle's local accounts and ordered an audit after Nestle stopped buying milk from a farm owned by President Robert Mugabe's wife.

Apparently, something dodgy was going on in the account and, from what the article implies, this doesn't seem like retaliation for snubbing the Mugabe farm.

Ooookay.

Well, last I heard today the accounts are accessible again. No idea if the trade is resuming as well.

Friday Links

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:50:00 +0000

Yay, another week has gone by! Let's see what's been happening.

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Fun with Malema?

I got this link via Ferradine. It is a great spoof about Julius Malema and his constant outbursts.

I wonder if this is about a specific event. I'm still looking to see if it is poking fun at any particular recent developments.

Ouch, I just found the original - Julie's such a drama queen, doll!

This one's almost as funny as the parody.

Being a target in SA

Ooh, wow. Another person refers to crime in SA as reasons not to be sent back.

This case is in Ireland and seems like the authorities did listen to her reasons.

A lot of folks are going to be upset with this one. As if the first case didn't ruffle feathers ...

That one!

At first I thought DA was nitpicking. But after reading this article at length, I think I see where they are going with this.

They have launched a 'Crooked Comrades' campaign (yes I know, bad name) and the aim is to pinpoint and subsequently get rid of bigwigs who are "found guilty of crimes or misconduct". Read more at M&G website.

ZA News Controversy

Ooh remember ZA News that I mentioned on Tuesday?

I figured that M&G was taking the show to the net in order to grant access to wider audience (hence make it viable for expats as well).

Turns out it was because SABC was too horrified to broadcast it.

Seems like SABC is pretty upset that this show is still viewable. Read more at the @Joburg website.

Check out the latest episode @ M&G site. I love puppet Manto's comment - she lists the number of people visiting Caster which included 'some kid from the Youth League'. That was fantastic!

Thanks to Twilight for the SABC story (I can't say that nickname with a straight face anymore, not after the attack of the vegan vampires!).

Eskom wants price hike

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Oh, this is going to hurt.

Eskom is apparently pushing for 66% tariff hike, every year, for the next three years.

Solidarity is against this move and doesn't want Nersa to approve it.

Folks will not be happy if Eskom gets their wish!

DA points out flaws in current land redistribution method

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Another depressing news article about the current land redistribution methods.

Let's be fair. Most of the critics are pointing out that the redistribution models are faulty; they are not going on the weird racist rampage most folks indulge in when talking about land redistribution.

To this effect, the same critics note that either the authorities are handing over land to folks who are disinterested in farming or who lack proper funding for upkeep of farming.

In case of the later, it makes sense. After all, folks that are just starting out need a bit of extra capital, in the form of loans and such.

Poking fun at politics

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:16:00 +0000

Alright, so I am back after a brief break. Hmm, not so brief break but I'm hoping to update more regularly starting from ... now!

Remember the ZA news puppet show that was hyped about for a while? The ones based on Zapiro's puppet work?

Seems like it will be uploaded on the Mail&Guardian website for the duration of this week.

Check out the first episode here.

Why burn down the available services?

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:27:00 +0000

Alright, so you have reached a new level of ... well, dumbness.

Why else would you burn down a library? Alright so it was not brought down, but apparently they set fire to one and it was damaged pretty badly

Quote from News24:

About 70 people were arrested for public violence in Standerton after a Sakhile library and community hall were set alight during a service delivery protest on Monday, Mpumalanga police said.

Of course, the next protest will be about kids failing grades and not having access to books.

And whose fault will that be?

On a side note, this topic is rather relevant to Banned Books Week. Some people, without a thought or care, set fire to a library!

International media ponders about latest crime stats

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Hmm, both SA police folks and international folk are talking about crime statistics in SA. The former is gung-ho about cutting down crime and is kind of miffed about the rise in break-ins while the latter is linking crime stats to upcoming world cup.

Alright, so why are they surprised by this increase? And don't the folks say this armed robberies are on the increase, every year?

Quote from News 24:

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said police were perturbed by a 41.5% hike in the number of business robberies in the 2008/09 financial year, mostly targeting small businesses, and an increase of 27.3% in residential robberies.

The 'is it safe to hop over there with those crime rates' question is brought up by The Guardian.

Quote from their article:

The crime statistics for the 2008-09 financial year, the last to be published before the World Cup, showed that 2.1m serious crimes were recorded. Violent crime in general was down 2.8%, but the overall crime level rose by 0.2%.

I must add, it is rather weird to find the picture of rioters used for the crime article. Not quite an accurate depiction, right?

The majority of crime worries is linked to unknown groups of people hijacking your car/breaking into your house in the dead of the night/ farm attacks/ attacks on women in townships/robberies in townships ... you get what I mean.

Why is riots about service delivery in anyway related to these other serious crimes?

Kind of missing the point there? Or are you just not sure about how bad it is over there?

Come and get it: Merit with 50% pass

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:59:00 +0000

Oh my.

Have you read about the controversial matric changes?

Quote from News24:

Some of the controversial suggestions were that Grade 12s achieve the certificate with a distinction by reaching 80% in three subjects, and at least 60% in three other subjects.

Furthermore, certificates with merit could be achieved by reaching 60% in three subjects and a minimum of 50% in three other subjects. Currently a general average of 60% must be maintained in order to pass with merit.

Now, there's something that will make you sick to your stomach.

Goodbye, high standard of education; hello, half-hearted attempts.

Good news is, they probably won't be implemented. It sounds like they quickly pish poshed the idea.

Although I don't like the phrase 'for the time being' when talking about dismissing the idea.

Another day, another robbery

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:50:00 +0000

Oh dear ... welcome to life in SA.

This one is about a gang of 20 armed men - I'm sorry, did they take a wrong turn for their Western movie shoot? - having a fancy little gun fight at a filling station.

Aim? To rob a cash-in-transit vehicle.

Ye, word of advice ... when you drive down the lanes in SA, keep as far away from these vehicles; they are targeted often by bloodthirsty criminals.

Higher Ed Minister is a communist

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Come on, don't tell me you didn't get a laugh out of this one.

Quote from News24:

SA Communist Party secretary general Blade Nzimande has told a meeting that he is still committed to the working-class. Moments later he drove off in his R1.1m BMW.

Do note, this was the one-liner summary that popped up in my Google reader.

Looks like they have changed the intro since they first published the article.

Ooookay!

Was Semenya treated badly?

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:09:00 +0000

Gotta agree with these folks.

A few unions related to the health industry have questioned the way Caster Semenya's story was handled by the industry.

Quote from News24:

"These actions will undoubtedly have life-changing consequences for her and possibly serious effects on her physical and mental health," said SA Medical Association (Sama) chairperson Prof Denise White in a joint statement with the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa).

Also ...

"We are concerned by the leakage of Semenya's confidential health information and call on all health professionals to go back to basics, in particular those of protecting and practising health professional-patient confidentiality,"

Did people ignore code of conduct etc. just to be the one to spread the news? Truly sad.

Can SA build the telescope?

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:52:00 +0000

So the country can't sort out its internet issues but they should back a massive project like this?

No offense, Square Kilometre Array, but I am not sure if SA is up for it.

Quote from News24:

South Africans should get behind the bid to build the world's biggest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), in the same way they lobbied to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup, parliament's science and technology portfolio committee heard on Wednesday.

Seriously, do you honestly think SA is ready for something like this?

They have trouble setting up a proper public transport system.

ADSL licked by a pigeon

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:48:00 +0000

Did you see that embarrassing speed trial? Where a homing pigeon beat ADSL download speed?

Quote from News24:

In total, it took two hours, six minutes and 57 seconds for Winston the pigeon to fly to Hillcrest and to upload the data from the card onto the call centre system.

By that time, the ADSL transmission of the same data size was around 4% complete.

Classy! Sure, this makes SA look real good in eyes of other countries, countries that have been eagerly packing for 2010.

*snicker*

Friday Links

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:55:00 +0000

Ooh it's been a hectic week, more so for SA. There's been a lot going on.

see more Fail Blog
Someone has a brilliant idea

Firstly, something about Zim. There was this article about men in Zim army getting a circumcision.

Quote from News24:

Emmerson Mnangagwa, minister of defence, said the country's armed forces should seriously consider the procedure, as another way to stop the ever-increasing spread of the virus.

It's not an order, it is merely a suggestion from the authorities.

Surely when folks say stuff like this, don't you also wonder if the HIV rate is higher in the army? Is that what they are implying?

Or are they saying that these folks sleep around a bit more?

I mean, really what did you mean by that helpful suggestion?

The heat is on

Yea, remember that guy who was granted refugee status in Canada?

Well, the Canadian govt is looking into that decision.

And they don't sound too pleased about it.

Quote from News24:

Canada's federal government said on Thursday it was challenging a contentious Canadian immigration board panel ruling that granted refugee status to a white South African man, Brandon Huntley, who claimed persecution from blacks in his home country.

How much do you pay?

Ever wondered which bank has the highest fees?

Someone has rolled up his sleeves and dived into uncovering such details.

Quote from Fin24:

South Africa's four largest banks raised banking fees an average 16% - twice the rate of inflation - in the past 12 months.

Ye, Absa was up there, ahead of the others. Tsk tsk.

Actually, bank charges overall seem exorbitant.

Mike Campbell's farm burnt down

This was incredibly sad. Remember the Zim farmer who was going to court about his farm?

The one who was beaten up badly because he was standing up to opposing forces?

As I recall, he won his case and got to keep his farm.

Well, tragedy has struck his farm.

Apparently some schmucks came and burnt down his farm as well as the farm of his son-in-law.

WTF?!

Don't these folks understand that these farms are important for the economy?

The produce from the farms are necessary to make life happen in that area?

Facepalm moment of the day

So there you have Malema defending an ANC guy's decision to buy a R1.1-million BMW.

Remember this is a luxury we are talking about here.

Malema's quote from The Times:

"Why must we explain a car which government bought for you? It’s not even your car,”

Oh right, so the guys at the top bought this?

And then you had other story. ANCYL - oh yea, the same folk - were tut-tutting Tshwane and their money management methods.

Say what?

Quote from The Times:

"The City of Tshwane has failed dismally to provide leadership to its citizens when needed thereby resulting in a poor implementation of debt collection policy which led to the council’s R560 million debt to Eskom and Rand Water," said spokeswoman Thandiswa Mpondo.

So ... why didn't they guys have money?

Military mayhem

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:41:00 +0000

Also in the news ...

Plot to kidnap Sisulu revealed Security forces have been placed on high alert after an intelligence report warned of an alleged plot by disgruntled South African soldiers to abduct top military officials, including minister of defence Lindiwe Sisulu. [The Times]

Wait, what?

Later on you heard about soldiers being dismissed and even more details about that protest march by soldiers.

Er, creepy?

He said this and that: Malema strikes again

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Why is that political figures argue like this in public, at least in SA?

What happened to "no comment" and "I have not heard that speech yet"?

The incident in question is a hissy fit between Julius Malema and Young Communist League leader Buti Manamela.

Quote from The Times:

But tensions between the two youth leaders have been simmering since last week when Malema, in an apparent reference to SA Communist Party boss and Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, said some ANC alliance leaders spend most of their time “drinking red wine”.

I believe the other guys replied by refering to Malema having a childlike tantrum.

Reaction to the Canadian asylum case

noreply@blogger.com (Aktief Kulture) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:33:00 +0000

Wow, people are really getting their garters in a knot about this issue. Issue in question is the 'White Male Seeks Asylum' topic.

Firstly, gov't is pish poshing the idea. They seem to think the guy was exaggerating.

Anyone remember those message boards and banners about farmers right after the tragic Skelik case?

The police commissioner has piped in about this case [News24]:

Criminals do not target people because of their skin colour, national police commissioner Bheki Cele said on Wednesday.

And then FF Plus went ahead and fleshed out the issue with [News24]:

The FF Plus spokesperson said that name-calling was "nothing unusual" and charged that police officers had called white victims of crime "white dogs".

Surely authorities realise that folks outside SA have heard other horrid crime stories that helped shaped this view of SA?

And perhaps some of the more cynical readers will point out that people in power are more worried about this affecting World Cup more than bad press in general?