Wednesday, March 2, 2011
THE SPORTS-MAN...: URGENT: Jacques Kallis & AB de Villiers Cricket Sh...
THE SPORTS-MAN...: URGENT: Jacques Kallis & AB de Villiers Cricket Sh...: "We have two GREAT South African pieces of Cricket memorabilia available - BOTH items, a Protea ODI top from Jacques Kallis (he played in i..."
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Great Expectations
Life as we all know it can sometimes present itself as very complex cycle. From family, to friends, to lovers...we are all tied in one way or another in some sort of relationship. But as much as life has it's ups and downs, we can't let it get us down in anyway, but rather we should learn to tackle it as though we were in a survival situation coz think about it, life is like a jungle.
In survival school we learn to break down our situation into small bite size chunks and deal with them as individual tasks. This way the small victories we achieve boost our morale and keep us going on to the next one.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Mzilikazi wa Afrika and the Shape of Things to Come - Scary But A Brilliant Read
We cannot imagine the fear, the gut-churning oily awful fear that gripped Mzilikazi wa Afrika when he was taken away on Wednesday. He says he thought he was going to be killed. An unmarked car, men with guns, refusing to listen to him, irrationally forceful and aggressive. Then the huge fight to keep him in their power. The 2:30 am interrogation. The questions about whether he was part of a group trying to destabilise the provincial ANC. Yes, the ANC, not the province or the country.
Kafka would have been proud of our officials. First, there’s the late-night high court application, the claim that it would be “too inconvenient” to release Wa Afrika when he was due in court just a few hours later. Really, what kind of a lawyer could ever say that? And which jack-booted hooligan tries to enforce this kind of nonsense? Then just a few hours later, Wa Afrika appears, at the appointed time in Regional Courtroom One in Nelspruit. And it’s just him, and his lawyers. The first person to burst through the door at 8:32am was actually a low-flying radio reporter. It was a little sad really, you expect huge drama, the Hawks ready to go and all you get are empty wooden benches.
Eventually, things started to move at around 9:15am, when Wa Afrika’s lawyer was compelled to stand up and explain that the whole show was going upstairs, to a packed Regional Courtroom Two. All the benches were taken up by Nelspruit residents there for the humdrum rape, murder and assault cases. The grumbling reporters, including Wa Afrika himself, were forced to lean on walls for support. When it did start, it was a blink-and-you’d’-have- missed-it affair. Bail agreed, conditions satisfactory to both parties, see you in November.
Outside the court a hostile crowd was growing. These were angry people, claiming that Wa Afrika was destabilising the ANC. They wanted to shout, scream and heckle; that job was done very well. Wa Afrika’s lawyer popped out to tell reporters not to worry, he’d be out soon to thank everyone for their support. The crowd didn’t like that. They were not there to support him. If they could, they’d bury him. His lawyer, Eric van den Berg, an old hand, read the crowd's mood and made sure his client didn’t have to go through all that.
But the crowd itself was fascinating. This reporter found himself having to count to 10 when told by one of its members that Wa Afrika was guilty of treason. The logic was this; Mabuza is a premier, therefore he’s like a governor, therefore if you take him on, you’re taking on the province. That’s right, ladies and gentleman. Nigeria, just three hours down the N4 from the heart of Johannesburg.
But this is the problem with the province in a nutshell. Leaders are conflating the province with themselves. They are the ones who must be served, not the people. They are the ones who must control. Everything. All of it.
So many questions after this week. Here’s just a flavour:
Who decided Wa Afrika should be arrested?
Was it a police officer?
Was it Bheki Cele?
David Mabuza?
Menzi Simelane?
All of the above?
Who really decided he should be charged? The moment this really passed into illegality was not at the time of the arrest, it was when a prosecutor decided on Thursday that there was no evidence to back up a case. Then the Hawks tell us there was “engagement”. Really? With whom? Was it Pretoria? Or Nelspruit? Who has the power to overrule a prosecutor? Simelane must have been involved, one way or another. And who was the one to phone him? It must have been Mabuza, or his representative. We’ve said it before this week, this is ANC deployment in action. This is what happens when a political party is not happy with just controlling all the political levers of power, but needs to control absolutely everything. And then when things go wrong, and that becomes public, kill the messenger. Why not. You’ll get away with it.
And that’s the sad, sorry story of Wa Afrika's arrest. That no one, not Mabuza, not Simelane and certainly not Cele will ever face any punishment for this. You know it and we know it.
This week has seen the cancer of Mpumalanga politics get a national face. We now all know there is something deeply wrong in the province. And that it’s only because this happened to a journalist from a paper with the nous and the money to do something about it that he’s free now. What would have happened if some swastika armband-wearing functionary had decided this was all classified and that the public doesn't need to know anything? And under the Protection of Information Act, many would have the power to do it.
And if that’s not scary enough, understand this. The symbol of today was not Wa Afrika walking free, or the angry misguided crowd outside the court. It was the Hawks officers who came into the court room in riot gear. With guns, tear-gas and those vests that bring the menace. And sun-glasses in a court room. It’s them, the foot soldiers who are going to claim one day that they were just following orders that will do the kicking pushing shoving hurting and perhaps killing. We need to know who really controls them. It’s certainly not the people of this country.
Shape of Things to Come indeed.
By Stephen Grootes
(Grootes is an Eyewitness News reporter)
Kafka would have been proud of our officials. First, there’s the late-night high court application, the claim that it would be “too inconvenient” to release Wa Afrika when he was due in court just a few hours later. Really, what kind of a lawyer could ever say that? And which jack-booted hooligan tries to enforce this kind of nonsense? Then just a few hours later, Wa Afrika appears, at the appointed time in Regional Courtroom One in Nelspruit. And it’s just him, and his lawyers. The first person to burst through the door at 8:32am was actually a low-flying radio reporter. It was a little sad really, you expect huge drama, the Hawks ready to go and all you get are empty wooden benches.
Eventually, things started to move at around 9:15am, when Wa Afrika’s lawyer was compelled to stand up and explain that the whole show was going upstairs, to a packed Regional Courtroom Two. All the benches were taken up by Nelspruit residents there for the humdrum rape, murder and assault cases. The grumbling reporters, including Wa Afrika himself, were forced to lean on walls for support. When it did start, it was a blink-and-you’d’-have- missed-it affair. Bail agreed, conditions satisfactory to both parties, see you in November.
Outside the court a hostile crowd was growing. These were angry people, claiming that Wa Afrika was destabilising the ANC. They wanted to shout, scream and heckle; that job was done very well. Wa Afrika’s lawyer popped out to tell reporters not to worry, he’d be out soon to thank everyone for their support. The crowd didn’t like that. They were not there to support him. If they could, they’d bury him. His lawyer, Eric van den Berg, an old hand, read the crowd's mood and made sure his client didn’t have to go through all that.
But the crowd itself was fascinating. This reporter found himself having to count to 10 when told by one of its members that Wa Afrika was guilty of treason. The logic was this; Mabuza is a premier, therefore he’s like a governor, therefore if you take him on, you’re taking on the province. That’s right, ladies and gentleman. Nigeria, just three hours down the N4 from the heart of Johannesburg.
But this is the problem with the province in a nutshell. Leaders are conflating the province with themselves. They are the ones who must be served, not the people. They are the ones who must control. Everything. All of it.
So many questions after this week. Here’s just a flavour:
Who decided Wa Afrika should be arrested?
Was it a police officer?
Was it Bheki Cele?
David Mabuza?
Menzi Simelane?
All of the above?
Who really decided he should be charged? The moment this really passed into illegality was not at the time of the arrest, it was when a prosecutor decided on Thursday that there was no evidence to back up a case. Then the Hawks tell us there was “engagement”. Really? With whom? Was it Pretoria? Or Nelspruit? Who has the power to overrule a prosecutor? Simelane must have been involved, one way or another. And who was the one to phone him? It must have been Mabuza, or his representative. We’ve said it before this week, this is ANC deployment in action. This is what happens when a political party is not happy with just controlling all the political levers of power, but needs to control absolutely everything. And then when things go wrong, and that becomes public, kill the messenger. Why not. You’ll get away with it.
And that’s the sad, sorry story of Wa Afrika's arrest. That no one, not Mabuza, not Simelane and certainly not Cele will ever face any punishment for this. You know it and we know it.
This week has seen the cancer of Mpumalanga politics get a national face. We now all know there is something deeply wrong in the province. And that it’s only because this happened to a journalist from a paper with the nous and the money to do something about it that he’s free now. What would have happened if some swastika armband-wearing functionary had decided this was all classified and that the public doesn't need to know anything? And under the Protection of Information Act, many would have the power to do it.
And if that’s not scary enough, understand this. The symbol of today was not Wa Afrika walking free, or the angry misguided crowd outside the court. It was the Hawks officers who came into the court room in riot gear. With guns, tear-gas and those vests that bring the menace. And sun-glasses in a court room. It’s them, the foot soldiers who are going to claim one day that they were just following orders that will do the kicking pushing shoving hurting and perhaps killing. We need to know who really controls them. It’s certainly not the people of this country.
Shape of Things to Come indeed.
By Stephen Grootes
(Grootes is an Eyewitness News reporter)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Wyclef Jean To Run For President
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Singer Wyclef Jean is about to announce his candidacy for president of earthquake-ravaged Haiti, the former head of the country's Chamber of Deputies said Tuesday.
Former Deputy Pierre Eric Jean-Jacques told The Associated Press that the hip hop artist will run as part of his coalition in the Nov. 28 election.
Jean spokeswoman Cindy Tanenbaum declined to confirm the report. She said the singer planned to make an announcement Thursday night in Haiti but declined to say what it would be.
Jean-Jacques, who will be seeking to return to the Chamber of Deputies in the election, said he will be a candidate for a new coalition that calls itself Ansanm Nou Fo, which translates as "together we are strong" in Creole.
"Yes, we have an agreement (with Jean). But he's the one who has to announce it first," Jean-Jacques told AP, declining to elaborate on their political plans.
Jean is popular in Haiti for his music and for his work through his charity Yele Haiti, which raised millions of dolars after the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 people and knocked down most of the government ministries and many of the homes in the capital.
Rumors have swirled for months that Jean would run for president. The singer has always been careful not to rule out a run for the office and recorded a song "If I was President."
The 37-year-old was born outside Port-au-Prince but left as a child and grew up in Brooklyn.
Dozens of candidates are expected to compete for the presidency in the Nov. 28 election, among them Jean's uncle Raymond Joseph, who is Haiti's ambassador in Washington. Other likely candidates include former prime ministers, mayors and another popular Haitian musician, Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly.
All must register their candidancies with the country's electoral council by Saturday. The electoral council's director of registration, Jean-Marie Lumier, said Tuesday he had not received papers for Jean's bid.
Questions surround Jean's qualifications for office. He must prove he has resided in Haiti for five consecutive years, own property in the country and have no other citizenship but Haitian. Officials have disqualified some candidates on technicalities while allowing others to run.
In 2007, the singer was named an official Haitian ambassador-at-large by President Rene Preval, whom Jean supported in his 2006 re-election bid. Preval has served two non-consecutive terms and is barred by the constitution from seeking office again.
In recent weeks Jean's Twitter feed has been awash with original and re-tweeted demands for transparent elections, proposals for reducing Haiti's chronic poverty and calls to defend camps of the estimated 1.6 million people made homeless by the quake from forced eviction.
Reaction to his possible candidacy has been divided as Haitians debate the pluses and minues of his inexperience. The musician has a strikingly different profile than the generals, technocrats and priests who have led it before, speaking little French and Haitian Creole with a diaspora accent.
"I will give him my vote. All these people who have been in Haiti haven't done anything for us," said Jean Leuis, a 22-year-old bread vendor.
Bosejour Leconte, a 34-year-old phone card seller who has been living in a tent since the earthquake, thought otherwise.
"I don't think he has the qualifications to be president. I'd rather vote for someone that has political experience," he said.
Jean-Jacques and other politicians, including a senator from ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party — which is not expected to be allowed to participate in the election — formed the Ansanm Nou Fo coalition ahead of February elections that were canceled because of the earthquake.
Haiti's next president will face an enormous task of rebuilding a country devastated by the Jan. 12 earthquake. But the office has never been an easy job: Presidents have only rarely completed a constitutional five-year term — most in history have been overthrown, assassinated, declared themselves "president-for-life" or some combination of the three.
___
Associated Press Writer Evens Sanon contributed to this report.
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