Contact Me
Subscribe
Posts
All Comments
Search
Followers
Blog Archive
- ► 2012 (246)
- ► 2011 (708)
- ► 2010 (847)
About Me
- A Stuijt
- Retired South African medical journalist, ex-Sunday Times of Johannesburg.
Boers’ suffering shown in picture exhibition
18:52 | 
Posted by
A Stuijt |
110 years ago, the British invaded the independent Boer Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free-State
118 gigantic photographs showing the horrific suffering of the Boer people during the war of occupation against them by the British colonial government between 1899 – 1902 get only ONE DAY of viewing time in Bloemfontein…
Why does this exhibit never get to the Voortrekker Monument?
2009-09-29 Afrikaners will only get one day – in Bloemfontein – to view the terrifying and striking pictures of the suffering of their Boer ancestors at the hands of the British colonial invaders of the two independent Boer Republics – the Orange Free state and the Transvaal ZA Republic -- between 1899 and 1902.
The British incarcerated hundreds of thousands of Boer women, children and old folk – and their servants -- in the world’s very first concentration camps, and tens of thousands of these sturdy, self-sufficient country folk died of malnutrition and deliberate neglect within just a two-month period…
Volksblad journalist Elretha Britz said the international exhibition will be seen only on 10 october 2009 at the Afrikaner Women’s Memorial under the auspices of the Bloemfontein War Museum -- as part of the commemoration of the start of the British imperial war against the independent Boer Republics 110 years ago.
Mr Tokkie Pretorius, director of the War museum, said the giant ‘photographs of the Boer people’s suffering’ in the British concentration camps were first exhibited by photographer Paul Alberts in the Oliewen-art museum in Bloemfontein in 2003. “This exhibit with its 118 giant enlarged photographs are the most striking pictures showing the suffering during the British war against the Boers, he said. “It was so well-received that the National Department of Art and Culture set up funding to exhibit it internationally. The European exhibit was seen in 2004 in Moscow and was also seen at the South African Embassy – with copies of the prints also sent to ‘agencies in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Ireland’.
Pretorius said they decided to re-exhibit these photographs at the National Afrikaner Women’s Monument for just one day.
“The message must be clear: war and violence bring no solutions, civilised people find solutions around the negotiation table,’ he said.
Picture: Boer child Abraham Carel Wessel was lucky: he survived starvation in the Bloemfontein Concentration Camp… with his family heirlooms intact.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCORCHED EARTH – THE BRITISH DESTROYED ALL THE BOER HOMESTEADS – CAUSING MASSIVE STARVATION
Besides torching their homesteads and all their belongings, and imprisoning the women and children in concentration camps, the British also torched many Boer towns -- and importantly, also destroyed the libraries of the Boer Republics – thus removing all their own cultural life. In modern-day terminology, this would have been referred to as ethnic-cleansing… The British then forced the Boers into a huge programme of Anglicisation, by sending Scottish Protestant ministers to preach in their protestant churches and denying Boer children any rights to an education in their own Afrikaans language…. However this plan misfired: the Scottish ministers such as the Murrays and many others, married Boer girls and became Afrikaners…
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tickets for the accompanying concerts and the movie Scorched Earth, cost R90 for adults, R30 for children, purchased at the War Museum, Elmarie Malherbe, telephone: 051-447 3447. –
Labels:
Afrikaner lawyer threatened with racist cell-rape
Police inspector Molapo to Afrikaner lawyer after false arrest: “when you get sodomised in jail, there will be no white people to help you…
2009-09-29 HIGH COURT PRETORIA. Senior Inspector Molapo of White River to arrested Afrikaner lawyer: ‘When sodomised in jail, you won’t get help, there are no white people to help you”.
Inspector Molapo was called an ‘arrogantly abusive police officer who made racist threats’ by a Pretoria High Court magistrate today when ordering damages to the tune of R111,234 be paid to the lawyer for the unlawful arrest.
This was the testimony reported by Beeld journalist Jeanne-Marié Versluis from the High Court in Pretoria. The arrested White River estate-lawyer, Angus Johan Nel-- sued the Ministry of security and safety for false arrest, carried out under such violent circumstances by “aggressive” White River police officers that the Afrikaner lawyer suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome from the ordeal.
For such a small town with only 17,000 ratepayers/residents, it has a high crime rate, showing 32 murders+homicides, 17 attempted murders, 245 grievous/assaults; 127 armed/or ordinary robberies; 466 burglaries at businesses and homes; and 20 armed robberies at family homes/and businesses, 16 car hijackings. http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2009/provinces/mpumalanga/pdf/witrivier.pdf
Today, the Pretoria high court, after hearing all the witnesses, said the arrest had been unlawful and stressfull – and ordered that the SA Ministry of Security and Safety pay Mr Nel R111,234 in damages, including all the court costs and interest charges.
The false arrest occurred on 25 May 2006 at the White River police station where Nel had arrived to assist a client who was being questioned by police.
Nel testified that he found his client at the desk of a female senior Superintendent surnamed Molapo, and that this Mrs Molapo was trying to take a formal statement from his client without him being present.
He testified that Molapo rudely stopped him from speaking to his client, and that she had told the Afrikaner lawyer to fuck off. Further testimony was that another police inspector named Aphane then also loudly intervened and had told Nel to stop ‘interfering with police business.
"Voices were raised loudly during this intervention,” said Nel, so he was forced to scream at his client not to say or sign anything. Nel had identified himself properly with documentation as required, stating to the police officers questioning his client that he had the legal right to speak to his client – however, he testifed that Mrs Molapo jad accused him of ‘posing as a lawyer’, after examining his legal identity card.
- Mrs Molapo then ordered Nel arrested. He was roughly grabbed by the police officers who pushed his back against a curtain hook on the wall, hurting him. Molapo then grabbed him by the throat herself and pushed him against the wall, while two other officers beat Nel repeatedly against his chest, his cheek and ears.
Threatened with cell-rape:
Mrs Molapo also told Nel and his client before they were taken to the local police holding cells that he would ‘more than likely be sodomised and that they would not get any help if they screamed because there are no other white people to help you.’
- Nel’s testimony was that they were then thrown into an overcrowded, very dirty and unsanitary holding cell with twelve other arrested men, all black South Africans. He testified that his client. (a white farmer) was however able to ‘win the confidence of the inmates and they spent the night in the cell without any violence or incidents’.
Arrogant police official without respect for arrested people:
Magistrate Du Plessis of the High Court in Pretoria ruled that Inspector Molapo’s testimony in which she described that Nel had been ‘aggressive and wild and acted as if he was drunk’, instead had ‘presented a picture of an arrogant police official who did not display any respect for the rights of arrested people’.
- Moreover, Mrs Molapo’s behaviour towards Nel was also supported by two other credible witnesses, Du Plessis pointed out.
“Nel’s arrest was illegal, the police members assaulted him, and he incurred post-traumatic stress syndrome. The arrest and detention were motivated by an arrogant abuse of power displayed by Inspector Molapo. This was worsened by Molapo’s cruel threat that the complainant (Nel) would be raped in the calls and that, for racist reasons, he would receive no help while this was going on,’ said the magistrate.
- http://www.nuus24.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1479/7963bf84c07c4b85a3dcf6e120d17bf5/29-09-2009-03-34/Prokureur_se_nagmerrie_in_selle
- Angus Johan Nel, PO Box 4314, White River, 1240: http://beta.ancestry24.com/records/items/show/1903197
- Latest crime report from White River, Mpumalanga: local community leader assassinated with R5 rifle
- http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=nw20090924140934547C426786
- Crime_WhiteRiver stats from March 2008 to March 2009: http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2009/provinces/mpumalanga/pdf/witrivier.pdf
Those miserable SA crime statistics…
Children not safe from serious crimes in South Africa:
September 29 2009 – SAPA. The Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention's executive director Patrick Burton, speaking to the news media about their latest study, says children are ‘three times more likely to be victims of crime than adults: noting: “Young people were three times as likely to be the victims of theft and seven times more likely to be the victim of assault…’
This is a dramatic escalation: his previous study published only three years earlier, indicated that children were twice as likely to fall victim to serious, violent crimes.
- The number of children murdered increased by 22.4% by 2008 and the number of those falling victim to attempted murder increased by 13.7% from 2006 to 2008.
Their earlier 2006 victimisation study had already found that in total, 41.4% of young respondents in this study had experienced some form of (criminal) victimisation in the year preceding the study. The 2006 rate of serious crimes targetting children below the age of 18 years at that time was double that of adult South Africans – but by the start of 2009, this rate had tripled. http://www.cjcp.org.za/crimestats/crimestats.htm
Order this excellent picture of Patrick Burton, left, addressing the news media, on September 29, 2009 from Caroline Kaminju /SAPA http://www.sapapics.co.za/
1999 report by the Institute of Security Studies on crimes targetting children : http://www.iss.co.za/PUBS/CRIMEINDEX/99VOL3NO2/Protecting.html
2006 - 2008 report by Patrick Burton - “Someone stole my smile” -http://www.cjcp.org.za/admin/uploads/stolen%20smile.final.pdf
---------------------------------------------
Zuma to top cops: “Shoot to Kill if Needed…’
- 'Cops must protect themselves'
- Zuma urges cops to speak up
- Cops salute Zuma
- Call for people's war on crime
Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria – Reuters reports that President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday urged 1,000 top police station commanders from across the country to crack down harder on one of the world's highest rates of violent crime, and shoot to kill if needed. The reporter writes that ‘Zuma thus appears to be adopting a zero-tolerance policy on crime, hoping to ease concerns that next year's soccer World Cup may be marred by hijackings, murders and robberies, and reassure investors it is safe to do business in the country.”
In his dramatic meeting with police station commanders and security officials at the Afrikaner nation’s most hallowed shrine, the Voortrekker Monument, Zuma ‘highlighted challenges facing the outgunned and poorly paid police force a week after disturbing new crime statistics were issued. “
Ministers were also there to hear Zuma's call for a more energetic police force in what his office said was the first event that a South African president addressed to so many police officials. He said South Africa must acknowledge the magnitude of the trouble. "We have an abnormal criminal problem, for that we have to explore extraordinary means," said Zuma. Tackling crime is crucial if South Africa, in its first recession in 17 years, wants to keep South African professionals from taking their skills abroad.
-------------------------------------------------
‘The ANC has mastered the art of keeping the crime statistics from the public eye…
2009-09-26. CAPE TOWN. Ex-journalist and Member of Parliament Dianne Kohler Barnard has slammed the ANC’s ppropaganda-use of the crime statistics, warning that crime stats are not the ANC-regime’s personal property which can be kept secret until the elections are over…
“Take this year’s announcement of the crime stats: they are about 18 months old,’ she points out.
She notes that the ANC thus also broke ex-minister Charles Nqakula’s solemn vow to publish these important statistics “every six months”
“Scrape away the thin veneer and the real picture underneath is everything but pretty,’ she writes – slamming the way in which the ANC-regime introduces crime-statistics as part of their political-power game, or in attempts by ministers to ‘polish up their public image.’
She – and many other opposition parties with her – believe that the SAPS’ crime statistics should be available ‘365 days – for anyone who needs them…”
Crime stats represent damage done to the lives of fellow South Africans:
“However, the ANC sees this in a very different light indeed. They don’t understand that every murder, every rape, every assault, every torture, every theft ot robbery, every fraud – each of those 5,753 serious crimes which the minister announced so coldly – represents damage: the irrepairable damage which has been done and is being done to the lives of fellow-South Africans,’ she writes.
“(However) these statistics do not ‘belong’ to the Minister. These are not the ‘private property of the ANC to keep away from the population during election periods because the true extent would cost them votes…’ she writes.
“These must be available instantly so that the police, and then the neighbourhood watches and private security companies, can boost their security systems by keeping abreast of the ever-changing crime situation – and adjust to these systems accordingly.
“That’s the reason for publishing crime stats – because knowledge is power, and power provides us with protection. And it’s this viewpoint which the ANC cannot understand.”
“In our parliament, the ruling party even had the unspeakable arrogance to exclude the news-media from the minister’s submission of these crime statistics in the parliamentary police portfolio subcommittee – so that the public would not find out the details of the condemnation voiced the by opposition party MPs (overseeing this portfolio.)
“No, the minister breaks every rule of transparency just so that the Minister can then produce these statistics in the most advantageous light in the news media – and away from the reach of our tough parliamentary oversight rules.
“And the poor ANC-chairman of this police portfolio committee, that faithful cadre, also breaks every parliamentary rule – because the ANC is only interested in representing their own interests – not those of the people of South Africa.
South Africa’s best crime-fighters are its many volunteer-citizens who spend all their waking hours patrolling their suburbs now: view video on
-------------------------------------------
Some pictures of just some of South Africa’s latest crime victims:
Statistics make nauseating reading:
She continues: “Now for these statistics; nauseating reading. It’s also clear that, if the ANC had kept its promises to release these statistics before the parliamentary elections, he would have dropped a lot more than just 4 percentage points. That’s why these crime-statistics were covered up,” she writes.
- The most worrying question of course is that contact-crimes are increasing, especially sexual crimes, which rose by 12 percent. That shows the results of the ANC’s political decision to remove the police’s expert-units against family violence, sexual violence and child-protection. And despite the annual 117,000 drug-related crime-incidents, the ANC decided to close down the specialist-narcotics detectives agency.
Other worrying signs of the growing lawlessness in the country, are the average overall increase of 27,3% in house breakins, 5% in car hijackings, 15% in truck-hijackings. Small wonder that the World Economic Forum’s latest report about South Africa shows that it’s the very worst place in the world to do business in…
It’s also important to know that the ANC will always present the most rosiest picture they possibly can – and that the independent surveys of victims of specific crimes often contradict the official police crime statistics.
There are more than enough anecdotes illustrating that the police ministry is not sketching an accurate picture of the South African crime-situation.
We also know that police officers in some police stations actually hide case-files or even burn them so that the truth won’t emerge and the minister will be able to complement them on their dropping crime rates. And even when they are caught in the act by the police’s own Independent Complaint Directorate, such as happened recently to the Mountain Rise police station in Pietermaritzburg, no action is taken against these police officers ( … )
She warns that with the FIFA World Cup football tournaments in 2010 in South Africa, ‘these empty promises and rhetoric should stop once and for all. What we need are better trained and more police officers, we must catch up on our backlog of 20,000 forensic laboratory samples; we must reinstate the specialist police units such as the child-protectiion unit – and we must above all, stop dumping political ANC-cadres in the police.
“Above all, we must stop at once to politicise every aspect of the police service – including the publication of crime statistics. It’s the only way to tackle crime effectively.”
* Dianne Kohler Barnard is the opposition Democratic Alliance party’s spokeswoman for the police portfolio.
Policing News Sept 29 2009
You must not fear, Zuma urges cops at Voortrekker monument
Sept 29 2009 – VOORTREKKER MONUMENT, PRETORIA. President Jacob Zuma has urged police station commanders to speak up about the problems they face in the war against South Africa's rocketing crime rate.
- "You must not fear,"" Zuma said at an unprecedented meeting with 1 000 station commanders in Pretoria.
"We expect an open and frank discussion. Everyone here has a right to... speak, and if we don't do so, we will not be helping the work before us as the police force." Click here for all the crime statistics
The meeting comes a week after the annual release of crime statistics. Zuma was speaking at the Voortrekker Monument to loud applause from hundreds of policemen and women dressed in uniform.
The president said he believed it was important to meet the police officials who dealt with the public on a daily basis.
- "The local police station is the everyday face of the police service among our people. People's perceptions of how good or how bad the police are, are based largely on interactions that occur at the local police station."
Crime statistics remained "harsh", he said, reaffirming the government's commitment to bring down crime rates.
Hundreds of policemen and women rose to salute him upon his arrival. Clad in navy and pale blue, those tasked with upholding law and order in South Africa stood solemnly as a brass band played the national anthem.
- On stage with Zuma sat Ministers in the Presidency Trevor Manuel and Collins Chabane as well as Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa.
The meeting comes a week after the annual release of crime statistics painted a grim picture. The latest crime statistics showed that about 98 people were killed in murders+culpible homicides in South Africa a day, while business robberies increased by 41,5 percent and armed house robberies of families by 27,3 percent.
All nine provincial premiers and the MECs responsible for community safety also were scheduled to attend the event.
The nine premiers are: Nomvula Mokonyane (Gauteng), Ace Magashule (Free State), Zweli Mkhize (KwaZulu-Natal), Cassel Mathale (Limpopo), Noxolo Kiviet (Eastern Cape), David Mabuza (Mpumalanga), Maureen Modiselle (North West), Hazel Jenkins (Northern Cape) and Helen Zille (Western Cape). The MECs are: Ratshivhanda Samson Ndou (Limpopo), Khabisi Mosunkutu (Gauteng), Ghishma Barry (Eastern Cape), TM Manyoni (Free State), Thembinkosi Willies Mchunu (KwaZulu-Natal), Sibongile Manana (Mpumalanga), Haward Yawa (North West), Patrick Mabilo (Northern Cape) and Lennit Max (Western Cape). - Sapa Full Story ...
---------------------------------------------
Attack by cops was on CCTV, they admitted guilt – but still get off?
Three cops were caught on film beating up a pub manager. In a disciplinary hearing, they pleaded guilty. But the criminal case against three policemen has ground to a halt.. . Full Story ...
------------------------------
“You are safer in the UK” - South African expats told:
Sept 29 2009 – The South African, a daily internet paper for South African Expats, writes that the official statistics released in South Africa last week caused“the British statistics to lose much of their shock value.” The UK press ‘proclaimed England the most violent country in Europe”. However comparing SA’s 31,029 murder+culpible homicides ito the UK’s 921 annual murders was clearly ludicrous.
- http://www.thesouthafrican.co.uk/news/Crime--You%e2%80%99re-safer-in-the-UK write to the editor at editor@thesouthafrican.co.uk
He writes: When official crime figures were released in the UK a few weeks ago, the British press proclaimed England the most violent country in Europe. More than that, it was – according to press spin on these figures – worse than South Africa when it came to the rate of crimes per 100,000 residents…
- But while this made for shocking headline fodder, it simply didn’t ring true. Criminologists were quick to point out that crime figures can be affected by many factors, including differences in criminal justice systems and differences in how crime is reported and measured.
So although the UK ranked above South Africa for all violent crime, up to 18,000 South Africans died in murders in March 2008- to March 2009 -- compared to Britain’s 921 murders in 2007.
- (PLEASE NOTE -- my comment: this summary of SA murder stats is inaccurate: -- if you add the culpible homicides and murders’ stats together – listed seperately -- you get a total of (murders: 18,458 plus 12,571 culpible homicides = ) 31,029 deaths related to violent-criminal acts i.e.:
- murders: 18,458 http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2009/categories/murder.pdfculpible
- homicides: 12,571 http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2009/categories/culpable_homicide.pdf)
The editor of ‘The South African’ continues:
“Anyone still convinced that the UK has more serious crime problem than South Africa need only take a look at the official crime figures released in South Africa last week – although caution in interpreting these figures is again judicious, given the circumstances of their release.
- Because just one set of statistics, covering the financial year until the end of March, was revealed in the annual police report this month, up-to-date and accurate assessments of if and how crime is increasing have been rendered impossible. By the time the information was officially disclosed, it was already almost six months old. Previously, two sets of statistics were released each year.
The 2008/2009 numbers made public by Minister of Police Nkosinathi Mthethwa on September 22 show the overall crime rate increased by 0.3 percent after steady decreases in the preceding four years. The overall murder rate has “continued on its downward trend.’ he writes...
Other categories of crime show marked increases.
- Sexual offences climbed by 10.1 percent,
- house robberies by 27.3 percent, and
- vehicle and truck hijackings by 5 percent and 15.4 percent respectively.
- Business robberies are up by a massive 41.5 percent and commercial crime is also up by 18.7 percent.
Mthethwa expressed particular concern at the 27 percent increase in house robberies. "It is one of the crimes that are the most intrusive and personalised," he said. "We simply cannot tolerate a situation where people do not feel safe in their homes." House robberies affected people from all walks of life, and were not restricted to wealthy areas.
The police recognised that they needed to do more, Mthethwa said, and had begun an audit of how they deployed their human and material resources, and the timing of that deployment. Opposition parties wasted little time responding to Mthethwa’s briefing.
Democratic Alliance (DA) spokeswoman Dianne Kohler Barnard said it was now clear why Mthethwa had reneged on his predecessor's pledge to release crime statistics twice annually. "Clearly these are numbers that the African National Congress (ANC) would not have risked releasing publicly in the run up to a national election," she said.
Independent Democrats (ID) spokesman Joe Mcgluwa said that while the ID welcomed the 3.4 percent ‘decrease’ in murder and the decrease in five of the seven contact crime categories, there were still "frightening" increases in other forms of violent crime."Until we deal convincingly with the massive inequalities and the crisis within the social fabric of our society, crime will remain a huge problem," Mcgluwa said.
Police spokesman for the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), Pieter Groenewald, said the latest figures meant robberies at residential properties had in the past three years increased by 54.2 percent.
- "This type of crime is threatening the lives of the public and they are not safe in their own homes," he said.
There are war zones with lower rates of killing….
Chief whip of the United Democratic Movement (UDM) Stanley Ntapane said that no matter how government spun the statistics, it was undeniable that South Africa suffered from a shockingly high rate of crime.
- "There are war zones with lower rates of killing," he said of the average of 50 murders a day in the country – more than eight times higher than the world average.
- "For more than a decade the ANC government has systematically failed to address this horrific situation."
- http://www.thesouthafrican.co.uk/news/Crime--You%e2%80%99re-safer-in-the-UK
Four injured in SAA plane crash, Durban
Update: September 29 2009 - The branding on the SA_Airlink plane that crashed last week has been painted over. This is a global standard practice, according to SA Civil Aviation Authority communications manager, Kabelo Ledwaba. Photo: Daily News http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090929082757370C448852&newslett=1&em=205034a6a20090929ah
-------------------------------------------------
Pilot hailed a hero: SA Airlink Jetstream 41 commuter flight crash-lands on street near empty Durban school for Asian pupils, narrowly missing houses – 2 aviators, 1 crew critically injured, municipal worker also injured on the ground
… School and streets empty because of public holiday…
24 Sep 2009 10:40 SAPA reports -
2009-09-24 Durban, Merebank Secondary School, South Africa - Four people were injured when a SAA internal flight crashed into the Merebank Secondary School – which is in a primarily Asian area -- shortly after take-off. The plane apparently did not catch fire. It only carried the pilot Allister Freeman, 40, co-pilot Sonja Bierman and flight attendant Rodelle Oosthuizen. There were no passengers on board, SA Airlink said in a press release.
- Statistics, South African air crashes – http://www.baaa-acro.com/Pays/A/Afrique%20du%20Sud.htm
Pilot Freeman avoided the houses, headed for the school ground - , said residents at the crash scene…
The Daily News reports from Durban that ‘those who live close to the crash site watched as the plane landed on a street that would have been filled with cars, pedestrians and the odd schoolchild who was late for classes had it not been for today's public holiday”. They quote school-friends Vikesh Kanaipersad, Rajen Seethal and Aveshkar Djadhoo as telling them that they ‘were standing in Umarkot Cresent, 20 metres from Merebank Secondary School when they saw the plane land.”
They said “the pilot (later identfied as Allister Freeman) should get a commendation for avoiding the houses as he headed for the school ground.” Vikesh Kanaipersad said they looked inside the cockpit window and saw three crew members.
- "They had gashes on their foreheads and blood was oozing from the wounds," he said.
- Rajen Seethal said police then asked them to leave the scene."We were trying to help and they just came and chased us away and they cordoned off the area. We were very upset because we first on the scene and we just trying to help the people inside the plane".
Pilot Freeman’s second crash within 4 years
Beeld newspaper reports that pilot Freeman, 40, and co-pilot Sonja Bierman sustained ‘critical head, neck and face injuries’ in the crash. Cabin-crew member Rodelle Oosthuizen also was seriously injured. A municipal worker who was struck on the ground while cleaning the street wasd admitted to hospital with leg-chest and stomach injuries, said paramedic Derrick Banks of ER24. This is the second time in just four years that Freedom had a close shave in a flight accident, Beeld writers.
‘Engines quit at take-off’:
Local resident Lebogang Manganye was able to get so close to the accident scene that he could shoot these dramatic pictures on the left and below - and quickly sent them to News24.com for publication.
SA Airlink spokesman Rodger Foster said one of the Jetstream 41 aircraft’s two engines stopped working as the plane took off from Durban airport. “Normally the plane could still fly on one engine, but the civil aviation investigation will have to determine exactly why this didn’t happen,’ he told Beeld.
Resident Mrs Alka Bejai who lives nearby rushed to the scene and helped support the municipal worker, who was struck by a wing of the plane. She created a support for his head with some bags, she said. Accident investigators from the Civil Aviation Authority are conducting an on-site investigation, Sapa reports.
A SAPA reporter on the scene shortly after the crash said paramedics used jaws of life to cut the injured people free from the plane -- which broke up after crashing into a fence at the Merebank Secondary School. They were rushed to hospital by helicopter for further treatment.
Initially it was thought that only those on board the plane were injured, but it later emerged that a woman who had been on the school's perimeter was also injured.
Abel Pillay, whose house is a stone's throw from the crash scene, said he saw the plane flying very low and it looked as though the pilot was trying to land on the sports ground.
"My father said 'look at the plane, it is flying very low'," Pillay told Sapa. "You could see that the pilot was trying to land in the school ground."Pillay said there were three people cleaning the street and that one was hit by the plane and fell, but survived.
The plane narrowly missed crashing into the suburbian houses. A large group of residents arrived to observe the rescue operation from behind a cordon that had been set up.
Earlier, Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said that the people on the plane, which crashed about three km away from Durban International Airport, were critically injured.
also:
- http://www.link2media.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5711&Itemid=12
- Plane crashes into Durban school
- Holiday saves kids from plane crash
- Photographs sent to photos@news24.com by News24 User Lebogang Manganye
- http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/e001f6cd7cd14b3f98cfbde96c705004/24-09-2009-11-53/Ndebele_sends_recovery_wishes
- http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/64b0651febd24011b9b997da6c762d54/25-09-2009-12-56/Vliegtuig_maak_pletterlanding_op_skoolterrein
- http://www.pretorianews.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=1750&fDate=2009-09-25&fEdition=1&fNewspapersectionId=1&fPageNumber=1
Afrikaner pensioner, 77, raped, Garsfontein
20090928 - 77-year old Afrikaner pensioner raped in revenge at gated Garsfontein smallholdings community - Pretoria
2009-09-29 – Virginia Keppler of Beeld newspaper reports that an unnamed 77-year-old Afrikaner pensioner was attacked and raped at her high-security Garsfontein smallholdings cottage in broad daylight – at 17:45 yesterday.
She was attacked while sitting on her stoep, feeding her birds. Earllier, the old lady had been confronted by the same man while she was trying to go through the gated Garsfontein community’s electrified front entrance.
There are good reasons for these gated communities such as Garsfontein (population 60,000).
In this tiny community, there were a total 41 ‘sexual crimes’ reported in this mostly Afrikaner, high-security Garsfontein SAPS district between March 2008 and March 2009. There also were 21 murders+culp.homicides; 114 armed gang-robberies of families inside their homes; 1,135 burglaries of homes; 330 armed robberies outdoors; 420 grievous/common assaults outside people’s homes. In fact, the Garsfontein ‘s police station registers by far the highest average residential burglary rate per 100,000 population in the entirecountry, according to a 2005 doctoral thesis on crime in SA . Also: Afrikaners besieged throughout South Africa
Raped and robbed in revenge? Garsfontein is a hijacking hotspot…
Keppler said her rapist – (possibly motivated by revenge: the old lady had fled from an earlier altercation with him at the complex’ electrified-access gate) – had fled taking only a small, cheap radio and about $50 in cash, quoting police sergeant Lynnette Erasmus.
She said: “The ‘tanníe’ said the attack took place shortly after she’d fetched her car from a local mechanic. She said this man had bothered her earlier that day -- while she was waiting inside her car for the electric gates of the retirement centre to open. “
“The suspect had kept on harassing the old lady for food and money, and when she was halfway through the gate, it had crashed against her car and the gate got unrailed. A couple walking past right at that point, then told her to go inside and they would get someone to fix the gate and they would stand guard there until that person arrived. They kept their word,’ said the sergeant.
Sergeant Erasmus said the old Afrikaans woman then went home and went to sit on the stoep to feed her birds – and the next moment, the same man who had harassed her at the security gates, grabbed her, forced her into the cottage and started demanding ‘lots of money’. However she only had R500 ($50) in her handbag which she gave him. He then started strangling and raping her. “The tannie also said she was terrified that he would stab her with some of her own kitchen knives…’. She is now being treated in the intensive-care unit of the retirement village, said Erasmus.
Picture: Hijacking Hotspot warning signs posted at the Garsfontein smallholdings… View more Pretoria hijacking hotspots: http://www.enatisdocs.co.za/hot_spots.html
“Sexual assaults’ soared by 27,3%
According to the latest available crime statistics, dating from March 2008 to March 2009, police minister Nathi Mthethwa annlunced that armed robberies of families inside their homes had increased countrywide by 27,3% and ‘sexual offences’ by 12%. Under the Gauteng province crime statistics, sexual crimes had soared from 15,074 to 19,106 – an increase of nearly 27%.
The AfriForum civil rights group ‘s head of community safety Nantes Kelder has also slammed the ANC-regime’s ‘disastrous’ decision to combine the various sexual crimes under one category.
- Previously these were listed under rapes of females, rapes of children, and other sexual-related assaults were also listed under a seperate category. Now, sexual assaults against males, and females of all ages have been thrown together under one catch-all category, including rapes and sexual-harassment cases… It’s also the first time that male-sex assaults have ever been listed by the SAPS but since they are all under one category, it’s all become a confused jumble.
- http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/78de192c85c54cd8b983b2579f63695c/29-09-2009-01-47/77-jarige_verkrag_en_beroof
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Security measures for residents of Garsfontein smallholdings:
“In South Africa, there are on average about 24,000 murders per year (Interpol claims up to 54,000), yet there are only about 4,000 convictions for murder a year. The USA, with 7 times our population, has only about 14,000 murders per year. The Nedcore Project concludes "South and Southern Africa are probably the most murderous societies on earth, even with probable under-reporting". In Garsfontein Secura Park we have created a multi-layered shield from crime. From the outside, the first barrier would be the perimeter fence. The second barrier would be the electric fence The next barrier is the guard on patrol, and access to the reaction vehicle. Your own property fence is another barrier, and you might even have your own electric fence, or beams, which alert you to a possible intruder. The locked doors of your house are the next hurdle, and so too are the gates to the “safety zone” inside your house..http://www.garsfontein.co.za/site/index.php?action=view&id=20&module=newsmodule&src=%40random46f430b093fae http://www.garsfontein.co.za/site/index.php?section=2
Crime prevention advice for Garsfontein residents:
Out and About - Reduce the Risk
- Try to avoid being out and about on your own, particularly after dark.
- Wear sensible clothing and keep long hair tied back.
- Radiate confidence not vulnerability.
- Walk facing the traffic to avoid ‘kerb crawlers’.
- Avoid taking shortcuts along dark alleys, parks or wasteland. Keep to the middle of the pavement away from car doors and hedges. Use only well lit, busy roads.
- Always carry a personal attack alarm available at the Students’ Union or DIY Stores. Carry your alarm in your hand or secure to your person ensuring the cord is easily accessible/operable.
- If possible arrange to go home with a friend.
- Let someone know what time you expect to be home.
- Do not hitch-hike or accept lifts from strangers.
- Cover up expensive looking jewellery.
- If you are out late on your own, arrange to be taken home safely or call a ‘safe’ taxi.
- Do not carry large amounts of cash or important documents such as your passport unless you need them. Passports are difficult to replace. http://www.garsfontein.co.za/site/index.php?section=16
Pretoria town council wants to ban gated security communities like Garsfontein: http://www.garsfontein.co.za/site/index.php?section=3
Map: http://www.real-estate-south-africa.com/showpropertySABB1000001760.cp?&searchid=Fast
Crime rates per 100,000 of the population 2005: Garsfontein: http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/submitted/etd-10192005-163243/unrestricted/04chapter4.pdf
Hijacking hotspots Greater Pretoria: http://www.enatisdocs.co.za/hot_spots.html
Some known murders on Garsfontein smallholdings before the barriers went up:
- BREYTENBACH GULIETTE F 29 and PRETORIUS, GARY M 2006\10 BASHEWA GARSFONTEIN GA
- HOUGH HENRY M 1998\09 GARSFONTEIN PRETORIA GA – entire family murdered
HOUGH ISABELLA F 1998\09 GARSFONTEIN PRETORIA GA “
HOUGH MARIETJIE F 1998\09 GARSFONTEIN PRETORIA GA “ - RAUSCHE CONNIE F 2006\12 GARSFONTEIN PRETORIA GA
- http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2009/09/afrikaners-besieged-throughout-south.html
Metrocop Carl Lynch survives seven bullets in hijacking
Johannesburg metro-cop shot seven times
September 28 2009 By Alex Eliseev, The Star -- Carl Lynch joined the Johannesburg metro police to patrol the streets on which his sister died. Now the young metro-cop from Eldorado Park fights for his life after being shot seven times with his own police gun in a hijacking at Naturena near South Gate shopping mall. View the latest Eldorado Park Crime Statistics
They had blocked off the young metrocop’s tiny, second-hand bright-yellow Mini Cooper-S at the corner of Malta and Jan de Necker Streets. He had five friends with him inside the tiny car he was so proud of, when it was hijacked in the early hours of Friday morning and the off-duty police officer was shot seven times at close range. SAPS don’t believe that the ‘hijackers’ were targetting the cheap little car which was found abandoned in Soweto…
So what was the real motive behind this attack against this off-duty cop – who lives in the (previously ‘coloured’) area of Eldorado Park, population 90,000 -- a small township where 67 murders/homicides and 964 armed/grievous assaults were committed last year? Also: why did this specific attack turn so vicious?
Apologists: ‘young attackers panicked at the sight of the cop’s gun…’
The gunman used Lynch's own service pistol and shot him in the abdomen. The 24-year-old is recovering at Milpark Hospital. During a two-hour surgery, doctors removed all but one of the bullets.
- "In my view, they were amateurs. They looked scared and panicked at the sight of the gun. They looked nervous," Lynch's friend explained.
"At first I thought we could fight these guys off. We still had a chance. But then I heard the gunshots and I knew they had his gun. I heard Carl crying in pain and all I could think about was him," a friend said. Those in the backseat watched helplessly as the robbers shot Lynch in the car. First two shots. Then two more. And then the rest.
'Why did this hijacking turn so vicious?’
His family say “he is the only one who can shed light on why the hijacking turned so vicious. “ At about 4am on Friday morning, Lynch and four friends were in Naturena, near Southgate, when they were ambushed. The gang used an old Datsun station wagon to block in the Mini at the corner of Malta and Jan de Necker streets. According to one of his friends, before they knew it, two men were on either side of the car.
- Simultaneously, they pulled out a woman from the passenger seat and forced Lynch out through the passenger door. In the ensuing scuffle, the robbers saw his gun tucked in his belt and wrangled it away from him.
Suspect in court on Tuesday 29 September:
“Eventually, all five friends were out of the car and the robbers sped off in the car with two cellphones and Lynch's gun. Within hours, however, police were alerted to an abandoned Mini on the other side of Soweto. The car was covered in blood. Not long after, officers arrested a 22-year-old man. He was due to be charged with hijacking and attempted murder in court today.
- The police are hunting three more suspects, said SAPS Inspector Lunga Mahonga.
On Sunday, Lynch's family continued their vigil at the hospital. His mother Monica said the waiting brought back memories of Jennifer, Lynch's sister, who died in a car crash caused by a drunk driver. She said they stayed with her through the night, but Jennifer, 19, died the day after the accident. “But, with Carl, "we see improvements every day", she said.
- Lynch's aunt, Frieda de Koker, said the young officer was doing well at the intensive care unit. Although he is still plugged into an oxygen machine and is restrained, he is trying to move his arms and legs. "We're trusting God. We hope that in the next few days he'll sit up - but we are not in a hurry," De Koker said.
Lynch joined the Johannesburg metropolitan police department (JMPD) about two years ago, his family said. They described him as a "quiet guy" and a "successful young man" who loved to play soccer and watch the nature channels on television. He lives with his family in Eldorado Park. To celebrate his new job as a metro cop, he bought a second-hand yellow Mini Cooper S and, being a "neat freak", made sure it was always spotless.
- Explaining why he joined the JMPD, De Koker said: "He felt that if he could just save one life, that would be worth it."
Asked whether the family suspected the robbery was about more than the (cheap little) car, De Koker said: "We don't want to think of anything else, like jealousy. Any successful man will attract enemies. But only Carl will be able to tell us." This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on September 28, 2009
The deaths- and injuries-rates of metropolitan police officers are NOT included in the – already truly horrendous -- SAPS officers’ death- and injury rates: all of the entire country’s Metropolitan police officers are employees of municipalities, charged with patrolling traffic and preventative actions such as monitoring CCTV systems to try and prevent street crime. They also are not trained at the SAPS academy. There are systems in place to interchange crime-data with the SAPS.
-----------------------------------------------
Eldorado Park, population 90,000, Crime Statistics March 2008 – March 2009: http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2009/provinces/gauteng/pdf/eldoradopark.pdf
Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Chief cleared of all charges:
After months of investigations into allegations of misconduct, the head of the Johannesburg metro police department (JMPD) was exonerated of all accusations levelled against him by some members of the force. Chris Ngcobo is reinstated as chief of police (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg) A report compiled by an independent legal team found that Ngcobo and three other JMPD officials "should return to work as soon as possible as there is no longer any basis for them to remain on suspension or any form of special leave". Read more: http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/4194/208/#ixzz0STlBGIWd
SAPS roll of honour for murdered police officers: http://www.saps.gov.za/saps_profile/honour/roll_honour.htm
Paralysed Afrikaner Henry Vorster shot dead in Pretoria
20090928 Henry Vorster, 57, semi-paralysed from a stroke, shot dead at The Willows, Pretoria North
29 September 2009, 06:42 By Barry Bateman Pretoria_News – An (Afrikaner) man, partially paralysed by a stroke, was shot in front of his wife when he could not open the passenger side door of the vehicle three gunmen were hijacking.
The (black) attackers shot the partially-paralysed Henry Vorster, 57, execution-style – right through the neck and then through his chest -- just moments after shooting and injuring his wife Magriet, 58, outside their Die Wilgers (Willows) secured townhouse complex at about 11pm on Friday.
- A stroke about four years ago paralysed Vorster down his left side, making him almost unable to walk and rendering his left arm useless.
Police arrested the three suspects during a shoot-out in Soshanguve on Saturday with the three men driving the stolen red VW Polo but claim they ‘have yet to link them to the hijacking and murder.”
Magriet said from her hospital bed that the couple had left her mother's house in Pretoria North after a braai late on Friday night. "When we arrived at The Willows complex I noticed a car near the gate but couldn't see anyone inside the it," she said from her hospital bed.
- "I pressed the button to open the security gate and the next minute there was this guy next to the car. He shouted that it was a hijacking and that we must get out of the car or he would shoot," she said.
Magriet said she immediately tried to get out, but the gunman smashed the window and fired a shot which struck her right hand.
- Could not open door – my husband was paralysed on that side…
- "As I got out of the car he shot me again in the leg. I screamed at my husband to get out of the car but he could not open the door anyway because his left side is paralysed. “
"The gunman pulled (my husband) over the car's centre console and out of the driver's door. They thenshot him in the neck, but before throwing him on the ground they shot him through the heart," she said.
- Magriet, fighting back tears, explained how her husband was struggling to breathe. "I realised he was not getting air and rolled him over. I wanted to get my bag so I could use my phone to call for help, but the men had stolen it too. I started screaming at the top of my lungs," she said.
A neighbour across the road heard the commotion. He spotted the suspects and gave chase while another neighbour called for help. The neighbour who chased after the suspects soon returned. He loaded the injured couple into his car and rushed them to Wilgers Hospital.
- "Doctors tried to resuscitate Henry for about an hour and a half, but he died," she said. Soshanguve police arrested the three suspects on Saturday after a shootout. Police Inspector Mike Mbewe said police spotted the red Polo and gave chase. He said a shootout ensued during which one of the suspects was wounded. "He is in hospital under police guard. The men were arrested and charged with being in possession of a stolen vehicle. They still need to be linked to the hijack and murder," he said.
Why did they shoot a paralysed man who posed no threat to them?
Magriet said her two children, a son and daughter, were struggling to come to terms with the murder. She said she could not understand why the suspects would shoot her husband who clearly posed no threat.
- "He could not do anything on his own. He was still adapting to the stroke. I had to bath him and put his clothes on for him," she said. Magriet said she would see the men again in court. "I will testify in their trial," she said.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Pretoria News on September 29, 2009
http://www.thestar.co.za/?fSectionId=&fArticleId=vn20090929041226946C541662
Woman’s bare corpse found in field
Sept 29 2009 -- Eastern Cape police are investigating the murder of a woman whose naked and bruised body was found in a field near Highbury. http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3099&art_id=iol1253637282398C650
‘Goodbye my beautiful white baby’… and shot her
Please post your support and prayers for Kerryn Roodt
“Kerryn Roodt was robbed and shot while on a week’s holiday down at the coast,” writes her friend Mariette Van Antwerp on : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139969403143&ref=nf"#/group.php?gid=139969403143
”Kerryn and her boyfriend came down to the South Coast for a week to have fun and enjoy a week’s holiday,” writes Mrs Van Antwerp, who is from Amanzimtoti, Kwa-Zulu.
“They were busy packing when four young men aged between 14 to 17 years climbed over the wall and held them at gunpoint.
“They robbed everything they had with them even took their shoes they had on. The attackers told Kerryn they are going to rape her and then “when they are finished with her they are going to rape her boyfriend as well”.
- They told him not to look while they are busy raping her as they are going to shoot him if he did.
- They started licking and kissing her all over her body – but something alarmed them and they went outside as they walked out one said don't shoot, its going to make a noise.
But two came back kissed her again and said : “Goodbye my beautiful young white baby” and shot her. They fired a shot at her boyfriend as well but they missed him. Kerryn now is paralysed and needs all the prayer and support she can get… http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139969403143&ref=nf"#/group.php?gid=139969403143
Join Adriana Stuijt at Facebook – and stay informed! http://af-za.facebook.com/people/Adriana-Stuijt/1026941238