Blog South Africa

Today I received an update from an official from SAFMarine who has written to BSA to set the record straight:

Ncebo Sodo was an employee of Safmarine (Pty) Ltd until last year when his employment was terminated following an internal discplinary hearing. The other gentleman mentioned is not an employee of our
company.

Safmarine has been made aware of inflammatory statements made on the social networking site, Facebook. These statements in no way reflect the views and opinions of Safmarine, its parent company and/or its
associate companies. We are deeply disturbed by the statements made, which are contrary to the values of our organisation. We viewed the statements in a serious light and launched an internal enquiry into
the matter.

The enquiry resulted in disciplinary proceedings, and Mr Sodo’s employment was terminated effective 21 July 2010.

We reiterate the facts that the aforementioned statements in no way reflect the views and opinions of Safmarine, its parent company and/or its associate companies.

I must applaud SAFMarine for taking action against this individual and to thank them for contacting me to set the record straight on this matter.

People like Ncebo Sodo must find out the hard way that society and their employers take these racist statements seriously.

Tags: Government & Politics, Society & Culture by James
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The phrase “Shoot the Boer” has been in the news for some months now and the battle of people to get this hate speech banned.

Nceba Sodo and Mfundo Dlungwane, two government officials coined the slogan “One Bullet One White Infant’ on their Facebook pages on May 25 2010. They went further to explain exactly what they wanted to take place:

Click to enlarge

Nceba Sodo is employed by SAFMarine in Port Elizabeth and STILL has his job nearly a year later.

Why are these two men who are promoting racism and hate still sitting in their government jobs? Why have they not been charged by police, or condemned by the ANC?

It is about time that the ANC put their cards on the table. Either they are for a united multicultural society, or they are for racism and hate!

Ever since the ANC became the government, they have never intervened to stop it nor to publicly condemn it as they should.

Tags: Government & Politics by James
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Sapa photographer Werner Beukes, Beeld photographer Herman Verwey and SABC cameraman Lewellyn Carstens were held for 45 minutes at the Musina police station on Wednesday morning. Their crime: taking photos and video of suspected rhino poachers!

It was only when the NPA intervened that they were released by police.

We have to ask ourselves what the government motives are considering the draft Protection of Information Bill. This disgusting bill could see journalists ending up in jail for publishing ‘classified information’, even if it is in the public interest.

Do you want to live in a society where freedom of the press is destroyed?

It will only be a matter of time before the government tries to silence bloggers who dare to expose corruption or question them on any subject. Each of us needs to make a stand against this travesty!

Tags: Crime, Government & Politics, Society & Culture by James
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South Africa rejoiced at the end of Apartheid when government censorship of the media was scrapped and the press was able to have the freedom which is necessary for a democracy. Now it seems as though this freedom is about to be taken away again – this time by the ‘freedom fighters’.

There are two prongs in the attack against the freedom of the press and our right to information.

The first attack comes in the form of ‘The Protection of Information Bill’ which is going before parliament soon. This bill would give the power to heads of government agencies to classify whole swathes of information on the grounds that it was in the “national interest”. This would then make disclosure of this related information a criminal offence punishable with up to 25 years in prison.

The second attack comes in the form of the proposed ‘Media Tribunal’ which would make South Africa’s press answerable to parliament. They would also have the power to censor anything they deem inappropriate.

The most worrying aspect of these attacks are their vague language which could incriminate anyone who challenges what the ANC deems to be bad. This is almost exactly what happened in the old Apartheid government with all its control and powers of censorship.

If this Bill passes and is enacted, we WILL see a time where any criticisms of the President or ANC leaders will be illegal, much like in other third world dictatorships around the world.

One has to wonder how this attack on the South African Constitution and Bill or Rights can be allowed. The Bill of Rights is clear on this:

16. Freedom of expression

The right in subsection (1) does not extend to
propaganda for war;
incitement of imminent violence; or
advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm.
[Read more →]

Tags: Government & Politics, Society & Culture by James
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