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- A Stuijt
- Retired South African medical journalist, ex-Sunday Times of Johannesburg.
Democratic Alliance wins Western Cape
22:24 | 
Posted by
A Stuijt |
April 24 2009 - Within an hour of the closure of the polling stations in South Africa, ANC-president Jacob Zuma already started partying, writes the Dutch De Telegraaf newspaper. and which was so graphically illustrated by this striking front-page of the Sowetan newspaper. While celebrating, he also issued a strong message to his electorate: he’d work very hard to get them out of the grip of poverty – which in South Africa, goes hand-in-hand with the out-of-control violent crime rate and which was such an important subject during the electioneering phase. story in Dutch : http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/3772891/__Zuma_viert_al_feest_met_ANC-aanhang__.html
Democratic Alliance wins Western Cape province
However Zuma started celebrating far too early, when only 1-million of the 27-million or so votes had been counted. By 5am Saturday-morning, the South African Press Association reported that the Democratic Alliance opposition party, headed by former investigative journalist Helen Zille, has won the entire Western Cape province outright; while six hours earlier, SAPA also reported that the ANC’s previous grip of two-thirds of the majority , had slipped.
http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/3784583/___Godzilla__zegeviert__.html
ANC wins KwaZulu-Natal majority
The ANC however did win the majority in the former Inkatha-stronghold of KwaZulu-Natal.. This indicates that ethnic-voting still is very much in place in South Africa. Jacob Zuma, a Zulu, has won a decisive victory over the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. This, the ANC had never been able to do under the leadership of the Xhosa-speaking Thabo Mbeki – who was indeed so disliked in KZN that he was physically blocked from addressing meetings several times during his presidential career. As expected the ANC also won the majority of votes in the Free State and Gauteng provinces. ELECTIONS-3RD-LD-WCAPE:DA WINS CLEAR MAJORITY IN WCAPE 25 Apr 2009 5:02 ANC'S GRIP ON TWO-THIRDS SLIPS 24 Apr 2009 23:16 http://www.sapa.org.za/public/browse.cfm
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COPE leader in East London mowed down by three men - nothing robbed. Wife survives shooting in Motherwell…
April 23 2009 – EAST LONDON. On Thursday at dawn when about one-million of the 23-million votes have thus far been counted in the reportedly very peaceful South African elections, there was sudden, shocking news: Gerlad Yona, 38. a councillor of the break-away COPE party in Motherwell has been killed. COPE provincial spokesman Nkosifikile Gqomo said Yona, 38, his wife and his children were attacked by three men who were armed with pistols early on Wednesday night. "Mr Yona and his wife were shot," Gqomo said. "Their children managed to escape. The three attackers fled in a Citi Golf." Gqomo said Yona was certified dead in hospital. His wife, who was injured in the shooting, was taken to hospital and discharged later in the evening. Gqomo said Cope believed that the incident was linked to politics. "This man was very active in politics in Motherwell," Gqomo said. "This is election time. The man was very instrumental in guarding against fraudulent activities." It’s not known if anything was robbed. Confirmation from police and COPE headquarters are being awaited. The ANC immediately denounced the murder attack. http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2505664,00.html
Democratic Alliance got 7,581 of the foreign 9,857 votes
It was also announced today that the Democratic Alliance has received 7,581 votes of the 9,857 cast from people who voted overseas. The African National Congress received 673 votes and the Congress of the People received 918. Chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula displayed the results on side panels around 15:35. She said around 17,000 South Africans had registered to vote and while only 9,857 votes in total were counted, the outcome was "fine". "Well, remember, people had to travel far (to the voting stations)," she said.
Dutch report: more whites are expected to leave because of the positive-discrimination laws barring white men from the entire labourmarket – and the expected election of Zuma as new South Africa president: http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/3764003/__Meer_blanken_vertrekken_door_Zuma__.html?p=1,1
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Irregularities in voting - unsafe electioneering:
GA-RANKUWA - The Mail and Guardian reports that some votes were 
no secret. On this photograph, an IEC official helps blind voter Betty Motaung at the Ga-Rankuwa Itireleng Workshop for the Blind mark her ballot on Wednesday. However this was unnecessary: a new Braille ballot template, RIGHT, meant that blind voters could, for the first time, all choose their candidates without such assistance. The Mail & Guardian witnessed this instance on the left, where an IEC official had asked a blind voter to disclose their voting preference, and then marked the ballot paper for them. (Lisa Skinner, M&G) http://photos.mg.co.za/newsinphotos.php
East London - Although voting progressed smoothly throughout Wednesday in the Eastern Cape, political parties reported a few incidents of irregularities, writes SAPA. The Congress of the People and Democratic Alliance complained to the IEC about irregularities in the casting of the special votes. Both parties claimed that some voters who were not eligible to special votes had been allowed to vote. The matter would be investigated by the IEC after a report was compiled by the complainants.
Cope complained of African National Congress volunteers who were reportedly telling people at some voting stations, particularly the elderly and illiterate, to vote for the party. "That's a disturbing trend because people should decide on their own who they would vote for. That this happens at the gates of polling stations make it worse because those people will obviously be intimidated by these tactics," said Cope provincial spokesman Nkosifikile Gqomo.
Ballot papers found in ANC member's car
He said Cope was alerted about boxes of ballot papers that were found in a car owned by an ANC member near Queenstown on Wednesday afternoon. "It is difficult to understand why boxes of ballot papers would be in possession of a member of a political party. This should be a serious matter of concern," he said.
Gqomo said that at a voting station in Libode, an ANC local leader approached the Mhlolo voting station's deputy presiding officer. "He asked if he had already done 'that thing', to which the officer said he could only manage to do 17. Party agents, including those representing Cope, overheard the conversation and asked what it was all about but did not get any response. We smell a rat there," said Gqomo.
Two days earlier, thousands of blank ballot papers were also found by this man, Jakkie Geldenhuys of Mpumalanga. Picture by Buks Viljoen, Beeld newspaper: Geldenhuys found thousands of these blank ballot papers scattered across a highway near White River, a town near Nelspruit.
Voting very slow in PE The DA's Athol Trollip said it had reported two incidents where voters were given ballot papers that were already marked. He said he reported the matter to the IEC. And some people were so tired of waiting in the long queues and opted to leave without casting their votes. It was a sad situation," Trollip said.
- The IEC in the province said the commission had to make arrangement to get voting material to those voting stations with huge voter turn-outs. http://www.news24.com/News24/Elections/News/0,,2-2478-2479_2505592,00.html
Contact information for COPE: Onkgopotse JJ Tabane, Tel: 082 896 8866 or 082 805 3140; Palesa Morudu Tel: 082-304-2425, Sipho Ngwema Tel: 082 499 8111http://www.congressofthepeople.org.za/congress_of_the_people_contact_us.asp
COPE has also had serious security and intimidation problems in the the East London/Port Elizabeth areas, and in adjacent Western Cape throughout the election campaign, it is being claimed.http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-01-23-cope-anc-rally-a-sign-of-desperation They even held an emergency meeting with the local Acting Head of City Police and the Western Cape Police Commissioner on April 15 about 'the ANC trying to destabilize Cope's rally planned for the 18th of
April at Site C stadium in Khayelitsha." COPE claimed that the ANC has een bussing in vigilante groups 'to scare away from the rally. "These so-called vigilantes from other provinces, some of them are Zulu speaking were seen clad in camouflage in some shebeens in Khayelitsha. "The word is around that the ANC will do all it can to destabilize COPE for HOPE rally."
- They noted: "The ANC’s unfortunate tactics resemble those of the old Nationalist Party government that parachuted vigilantes to kill people in Gugulethu between 1980 and 1981. It will be hugely irresponsible of us not take these threats seriously especially if some suspicious looking faces have been seen wandering about.
"We remain optimistic that the police services will give this matter the urgency it deserves because we do not want a free and peaceful election to marred in any way. "We also want to urge our people not to be intimidated, they should come in their numbers to show their support,” said COPE's chairman Mbulelo Ncedana about this incident.Contact: Mandla Yeki, Tel:(021) 6960120, Mobile: 083 4836033
http://www.congressofthepeople.org.za/congress_of_the_people_news.asp?heading=COPESEEKS AN URGENT MEETINGWITHPOLICESERVICESONANCTHREAT&webobject=News&webobjectId=1&Id=68
Meanwhile yesterday's voting had to go into extra time because of the vast turnout and considerable logistical problems.The earliest results are just now trickling in. http://www.news24.com/News24/Elections/News/0,,2-2478-2479_2505650,00.html However, that doesn't stop Zuma supporters in KwaZulu-Natal, who are already building a celebration party, convinced that the ANC-leader has won an overwhelming victory in the province.
see http://www.news24.com/News24/Elections/News/0,,2-2478-2479_2505543,00.html
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Angry voters refused voting rights in Brakpan
April 22 2009 – Even though voters can vote at any polling station in South Africa, this did not apply in Brakpan. Angry voters were pulled out of the queue by election officials because they had not registered at that particular station. Bernadette Taljaard said she registered at the Tweedy Park station in a previous election but because that station no longer existed, she turned up at the nearby Indoor Sports Centre station. After two hours in the queue she was told “she could not vote there because she wasn't registered there’. "So why can't I vote?" she asked. "They told me to get out of the queue." Other voters told The Star that IEC officials told them they ‘would run out of ballot papers if those from other stations voted there too.’ "It's a joke," said Taljaard. Another voter, who said she'd registered in 2004 but now had a new ID which didn't have a registration sticker, was turned away because IEC officials couldn't find her on the voters roll. "That's not right," said Hester Jansen van Vuuren, saying the rest of her family had been able to vote. The presiding officer, who was acting as the queue walker, refused to speak to the media. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=79&art_id=nw20090422123832769C745586&newslett=1&em=177054a6a20090422ah
Farm-workers’s election boycot fails
April 22 2009 - The announced boycot of the election by a collection of farmworker organisations has not taken hold. It was widely reported that instead, farmers were taking their workers and family members to the polling stations countrywide in large numbers, and that polling stations in agricultural regions showed a normal turnout.
The boycot was announced on April 15 at a meeting in Wolseley in the Western Cape by the farm workers’ union Sikhula Sonke, the majority of 150 representatives from farm worker organisations around the country announced they would not vote in the elections, said Sikhula Sonke general secretary Wendy Pekeur.
Pikeur said they were going to ‘boycot the elections’, as neither the ANC nor COPE were suitable alternatives because both parties had adopted "the same liberal policies.” Sikhula Sonke member and Wellington farm worker Kitty de Kock said she would not be voting because political parties only made "empty promises". "I am tired and very upset because they simply forget about us after the elections as we have not seen any benefits yet since voting the ANC into power," she said. However the Black Association of Wine and Spirits Industry (BAWSI), who also attended the meeting, had taken a decision that they would encourage members to vote in the upcoming elections, said chairperson Samuel de Koker.He said, however, that the organisation was demanding better service delivery and improved living and working conditions. allAfrica.com- South Africa- Farm Workers Announce Election Boycott . Meanwhile, the Women on Farms Project’s also announced that its annual general meeting on 24 April 2009 at the Sustainability Institute in Lynedoch, Stellenbosch will be addressed by the ‘neutral’ Human Rights Commissioner Mrs Preggs Govender. She will ‘share her thoughts about rural food insecurity and the implications for women in the current global and economic contexts.’
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Picture of voters at Bergsig, Durbanville by Timothy Vieyara News24 reader
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QWAQWA: IEC OFFICER WOUNDED BY ARMED MAN 22 Apr 2009
Bloemfontein – April 22 2009. SAPA reports. A Free State Independent Electoral Commission presiding officer was wounded by an armed man at his voting station in Qwaqwa on Wednesday. Superintendent Sam Makhele confirmed the incident, but said ‘ it was not linked to the election’. He said the incident happened at 04:15 at a voting station near Namahadi. Makhele said the presiding officer was confronted by an armed man while preparing the voting station for voters. "He took some cash and a cellphone." Makhele said the presiding officer tried to run away. A shot was fired and he was wounded in the right leg. Makhele said the presiding officer was taken to hospital where his condition was not serious condition. ‘The incident would be investigated as a normal robbery’. http://www.news24.com/News24/Elections/News/0,,2-2478-2479_2505189,00.html
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Election official charged with fraud in Ulundi
Ulundi – april 22, SAPA. A female presiding officer was arrested at Ulundi, in KwaZulu-Natal, on Wednesday after marked ballot papers were found at a polling station. Director Phindile Radebe said ballot boxes and ballot papers were being transported from Ekhombe to Nkandla on Tuesday night. When the delivery arrived in Nkandla at 20:00, two ballot boxes were missing. At 07:30 on Wednesday morning, party agents at Ulundi reported that a person was in possession of completed ballot papers and in the process of putting them into the ballot boxes. "We are investigating charges in terms of the Electoral Act as well as fraud," said Radebe. Provincial safety and security MEC Bheki Cele waited for the presiding officer implicated in the crime at the police station in Ulundi. Earlier, the ANC said the two boxes containing 100 marked ballot papers were found at 19B South Hall in Ulundi.
Alexandra, Johannesburg ANC stronghold: Belgian news report video:
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/de.redactie/mediatheek/1.510713?mode=popupplayer
Democratic Alliance officials intimidated, kidnapped by ANC-officials
April 21 2009 - The Democratic Alliance strongly condemns the serious intimidation of activists in Potchefstroom (Ikageng) by members of the ANC. The party is in the process of laying a number of different criminal charges with the SAPS over the incident, which saw DA members harassed and assaulted, and a DA activist robbed.
On Monday 20 April 2009, two elderly female DA party agents were walking from a tombstone unveiling when they were picked up by a vehicle driven by three men, promising to give them a lift to the voting station where they were assisting the IEC and the DA.
- Forced to remove DA-t-shirts and put on ANC-t-shirts
- Instead of taking them to the voting station however they were forcibly taken to the ANC constituency offices in Ikageng against their will. Arriving at the offices they were verbally intimidated for about 30 minutes and consequently forced to take off their DA T-Shirts and to put on ANC T-shirts.
“After this the ANC members took photographs of them, stating that they were going to hand it to the media, reporting that they have left the DA and joined the ANC. These two women were seriously traumatised by these events and a criminal case has been opened in this regard.
The same evening the local DA coordinator was walking from the house of a fellow DA activist when he was stopped by three men in a Ford Ranger, with dark windows and no number plates. The men surrounded him, searched him and stole his money. A criminal case has also been opened in this regard.
- The DA wants to emphasise that this ZANU-PF style of intimidation against its members in townships will not be tolerated. This type of disrespect for the constitutional right to freedom of association proves once again the
“ANC will not even spare grandmothers in its vigorous pursuit of power, especially when they feel that inroads are being made into traditional ANC areas. The Democratic Alliance will not take this kind of violent conduct lying down, and will do everything to ensure that our supporters and members are protected.http://www.da.org.za/newsroom.htm?action=view-news-item&id=6649
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BLAST FROM THE PAST - Pictures: Late “Boerestaat Party” leader Robert van Tonder’s former farm Zandspruit north of Randburg has become Cosmo City development. On the far left is Van Tonder’s little farm church; on the right is the view on April 22 at the adjacent polling station. Pictures by Stevens Mahuma, News24.com reader, who was probably not at all aware, nor would he likely have cared, whose little church he had just photographed.
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Bergsig, Durbanville picture by Noelle Adams, News24 reader
SAPA NEWS TICKER:
GAUTENG:GAUTENG SEES HIGH VOTER TURNOUT 22 Apr 2009 15:08
RANDBURG:FAMILY MAKES SPECIAL T-SHIRT FOR ANC 22 Apr 2009 15:06
GAUTENG SEES HIGH VOTER TURNOUT 22 Apr 2009 14:54
QUEUES:ACT ON LONG QUEUES SAYS WCAPE ANC 22 Apr 2009 14:50
INSUFFICIENT BALLOT PAPERS AT NUMEROUS VOTING STATIONS 22 Apr 2009 14:49
VAAL:NO SERIOUS LAST MINUTE VOTE CATCHING IN VAAL TRIANGLE 22 Apr 2009 14:45
GAUTENG:HIGH NUMBER OF SPECIAL VOTES IN GAUTENG 22 Apr 2009 14:29
KZN-VIOLENCE:KZN "HOTSPOTS" PEACEFUL, BUT POLICE ARE READY 22 Apr 2009 14:28
IEC:A FEW VOTING IRREGULARITIES: BAM 22 Apr 2009 14:27
YEOVILLE:800 PITCH IN YEOVILLE POLLING STATION 22 Apr 2009 14:08
BENONI:LONG WAIT AT ATLASVILLE, BENONI 22 Apr 2009 13:54
ANC PRESIDENT TO VISIT BUS ACCIDENT VICTIMS 22 Apr 2009 12:14
TEMBISA:VOTE TO COMPLAIN: VOTER 22 Apr 2009 12:13 (local hospital doctors are on strike).
FRANSCHHOEK:VOTING PICKING UP IN FRANSCHHOEK 22 Apr 2009 12:12
BENONI:VOTING SMOOTH IN BENONI AREA 22 Apr 2009 12:12
MANDELA:TEARS, ULULATION AS MADIBA VOTES 22 Apr 2009 12:11
ZUMA TALKS TO MEDIA AMID LOUD CHEERING 22 Apr 2009 12:03
ELONDON:POLICE PRESENCE GROWS IN ELONDON TOWNSHIPS 22 Apr 2009 12:02
WCAPE:ONLY MINOR HICCUPS IN WCAPE: IEC 22 Apr 2009 11:59
RUSTENBURG:WHEELBARROW GRANNY CASTS VOTE 22 Apr 2009 11:55
MARKED-BALLOTS:SAPA PR--IFP DISTANCES ITSELF FROM PRE-MARKED BALLOTS IN ULUNDI 22 Apr 2009 11:55
OLIEVENHOUTBOSCH VOTERS FEAR DARKNESS 22 Apr 2009 11:48
DYSSELSDORP:ZUMA SUPPORTERS CHANTING AMID ARGUMENTS 22 Apr 2009 11:41
TUTU VOTES 22 Apr 2009 11:37
ZUMA-DAUGHTERS:ZUMA'S DAUGHTERS CHATTY AFTER VOTE 22 Apr 2009 11:36
VANDERBIJLPARK:'CONVENIENT' VOTING STATION IN LOCH VAAL HOTEL 22 Apr 2009 11:34
BRITS:NWEST COPS PROBE MARKED BALLOT 22 Apr 2009 10:53
SHARPEVILLE: ENTHUSIASTIC VOTING IN SHARPEVILLE 22 Apr 2009 9:31
CRIME-QWAQWA: IEC OFFICER WOUNDED BY ARMED MAN 22 Apr 2009 9:22 (report above)
STELLENBOSCH: DANCING DANNY ENJOYS ELECTION DAY 22 Apr 2009 9:20
PRETORIA:RELAXED PRETORIA VOTERS QUEUE EARLY 22 Apr 2009 9:18
DIEPSLOOT: QUEUES IN DIEPSLOOT 22 Apr 2009 9:15
LIMPOPO: MISSING SECURITY STAMP CAUSES VOTING STATION DELAY 22 Apr 2009 9:13
ORANIA RESIDENTS TAKE VOTING IN THEIR STRIDE 22 Apr 2009 9:13
RABIE-RIDGE: FRUIT VENDOR VOTES FOR THE FIRST TIME 22 Apr 2009 9:12
ULUNDI-PRESIDING OFFICER TAKEN IN BY POLICE 22 Apr 2009 9:06 (report above)
OBSERVATORY: OBSERVATORY STATION "THE BEST" 22 Apr 2009 8:55
DYSSELSDORP: MUSIC STOPS WHEN VOTE STARTS 22 Apr 2009 8:55
BRAAMFONTEIN: VOTERS QUEUE IN BRAAMFONTEIN 22 Apr 2009 8:52
IEC:MOST POLLING STATIONS OPENED ON TIME: IEC 22 Apr 2009 8:50
BRITS: Doors at main voting station in Brits, North West, opened 20 minutes late
UPINGTON: NCAPE VOTING OFF TO A SLOW START 22 Apr 2009 8:46
DENEYSVILLE: VOTING SLOW IN DENEYSVILLE 22 Apr 2009 8:45
KZN-VIOLENCE: NO VIOLENCE IN KZN SO FAR 22 Apr 2009 8:44
MDANTSANE:THERMOS FLASKS AND BLANKETS FOR CHILLY MDANTSANE VOTERS 22 Apr 2009 8:42
NYANGA:SEDATE START FOR VOTING ON CAPE FLATS 22 Apr 2009 8:41
IEC:LESS THAN 100 STATIONS OPENED 22 Apr 2009 8:39
ELONDON:HUNDREDS ARRIVE TO VOTE IN ELONDON 22 Apr 2009 8:36
ZILLE:ZILLE JOINS THE QUEUE 22 Apr 2009 8:32
BLOEMFONTEIN: LEKOTA VOTES IN BLOEMFONTEIN 22 Apr 2009 8:31
ANC AND MF DO LAST MINUTE CAMPAIGNING 22 Apr 2009 8:29
MPUMA:MOST VOTING STATIONS REPORT SMOOTH START 22 Apr 2009 8:19
HOLOMISA HAPPY TO VOTE FOR HIMSELF 22 Apr 2009 8:17
TEMBISA: Voting got underway smoothly at 7am at Peanong, in Tembisa, on the East Rand on Wednesday.
http://www.sapa.org.za/public/browse.cfm
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South African teens fight back against armed criminal gangs – reports
Jiu-jitsu teen champions Nicco and Juané Grobler, fought with four armed robbers – and saved a teen friend from abductors
April 22, 2009 – Election day, GERMISTON. Two South African sisters used their street-smarts and their well-honed jiu-jitsu skills to fight off four armed male hijackers when they were attacked in their car in Germiston, near Johannesburg at around 7.30am.
Story and picture by Beeld.
The girls, 16-year-old Juané Grobler and sister Nicco, 17, left in hospital with a broken nose, fought back against four armed men to stop them from abducting one of their teen friends. Nicco held the driver of the gang in a choke-hold while he was trying to drive off in her car, and was dragged 300 metres until her friend was thrown from the car. She survived bruised and with a broken nose. The girls also feel they’ve won from four very ruthless criminals.
Local journalist Gloria Edwards of the Afrikaans-language daily Beeld interviewed Nicco in hospital afterwards, and reported that the girl still was fighting mad. Nicci, South Africa's 2008 under-17 champion in the Brasilian jiu-jitsu championships, had her nose broken in three places, but also managed to rescue her friend Estie de Kock, 16, when five Afrikaans teen girls were attacked ear;u on election day outside a home in the working-class mining community of Germiston, near Johannesburg. The teen jiu-jitsu champion was dragged some 300 metres holding the hijacker-driver of her Ford Fiesta in a choke-hold until they threw her sixteen-year-old friend from the car. The four hijackers kicked her friend Estie de Kock, 16, out of the car before fleeing with it – but it was traced shortly thereafter to a nearby township by police. Nothing else was ‘robbed’ because the girls fought back fiercely. Not one member of the gang has thus far been arrested for the attack.
The day had started placidly for the five teens - the Grobler sisters, the twins Simone and Estie de Kock, 16, and another friend Marlecia Marais, 18, were just getting out of Nicco’s car outside a friend’s house when they were suddenly attacked at about 7.30 am. on Second Street, Lambton in the working-class mining town of Germiston.
One man had stuck his head into the driver's window to grab Nicco’s keys – but she immediately clipped him with a solid bash across the face and wouldn’t hand over her keys. Meanwhile Marlecia Marais and Simone de Kock jumped from the passenger seats and started yelling loudly for help, while three other men all grappled with Nicco's keys. They clearly didn't expect her to fight back, she said. "They grabbed my hands holding the car keys, but I kicked out at them as I 'd been taught to do,' she said.
Both she and her twin Juané immediately formed a fighting team, and kept on kicking and yelling at the men, warning them to 'leave them alone, to go away'. "They were clearly shocked that we were fighting back,' the girls told the journalist from a hospital after their fight.
One man then pulled out a pistol however, which forced the girls to back off - and the four men then took off in the car with Estie de Kock, 16, still in the rear seat. Nicci then dove into the open window at the diver's side, got the driver into a chokehold and tried to grab the keys away from him. She wanted to stop them from abducting her friend at all costs, she said from her hospital bed. "All I could think of was to protect my friend, and my car,' she said.
She was dragged some 300 metres while hanging on to the driver with a choke-hold, and wouldn't let go until Estie was kicked out of the car by the guys on the back seat. Their mom Mel Grobler was proud: saying that her girls 'were raised streetwise.'
http://jv.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2506851,00.html
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Recovering Razelle Botha, 19, off to study medicine in Canada – in wheelchair.
April 14 2009 – PRETORIA. Beeld newspaper interviewed crime victim nineteen year old Razelle Botha, who is still struggling along on crutches after five bullets fired by armed gangsters had hit her chest, lung, spine, arm and stomach in February last year. She was at her parental home in Moreletapark, East of Pretoria with her retired dad, geophysics Prof Willem Botha when two armed men attacked them. Mysteriously, police refer to it as an ‘armed robbery’—although nothing was ‘robbed’. Picture: Beeld photographer Alet Pretorius.
Story: Beeld journalist Corné van Zyl
Pictures: Prof Botha and daughter Razelle in hospital after the armed attack in February 2008. She’s leaving for Canada this month to study to become a doctor. And, she says, she won’t be back until she says, ‘there’s a will to fight crime in South Africa.”
‘If I notice that there’s a will to fight crime in South Africa, I’ll be back,’ said Razelle Botha (19). Five shots hit her body in February last year, in the chest, lung, spine, arm and stomach. Dad, retired University of Pretoria geophysics Prof. Willem Botha, was home with his daughter at Moreleta Park, east of Pretoria, when the two robbers struck. He was shot in the groin. Nothing was robb ed in the robbery. “I really thought that the police would have caught the robbers by this time,’ she says. “I still get nightmares and I rather paranoic because the robbers haven’t been caught as yet.’
She’s in a wheelchair but can walk with crutches. “I still don’t have any feeling in my right leg and –foot, but feeling has returned to my left leg. I want to become totally independent from the wheelchair,’ she said. Botha is leaving for Canada this month to qualify as a medical doctor at the University of Calgary’s medical science faculty. She plans to qualify over the next seven years in the biomedical sciences. She can’t wait to start her studies. “Most of my friends already are in their second year. Because I did well in all my matric subjects, I didn’t really know what I wanted to study last year. However all the time I’ve spent in hsopitals, I decided to become a doctor,’ she said. Her young labrador dog Whookey will mean a lot to her in Canada because arrangements have been made for the dog to go to Canada with Razelle. “In one stage, I withdrew from everybody and everything because I did not want to be a burden to others. I became very depressive when I was alone. The wonderful thing about Whooky is that he accepts me the way I am.’
Botha said that after she became so dependent on others, and was spending her days in a wheelchair, she at times wondered if she shouldn’t just settle on being an introvert.“Before the robbery attack, I was an extrovert. But one’s life changes when you become dependent and sitting in a wheelchair. “ http://jv.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2500628,00.html