Blog South Africa

A trial date has been set for 12 people accused of setting a pastor alight and murdering him. One of the accused is the induna of the community.

The group had claimed that Albert Malwane, a pastor of the Izwi Zion Christian Church in Boschfontein in South Africa had been using a magic invisible penis to sleep with women.

They also accused him of having the ability of talking to animals and accused his wife of being able to turn into a snail in order to terrorise the community.

Not only did the group, including the community headman, burn and kill the pastor, but they also burnt down his home in the Etitandini informal settlement.

His wife and daughter managed to escape and hide from the rabble.

The villagers then complained that Malwane’s family had used ‘muti’ to make them sick after Malwane’s death.

The 12 accused have not been asked to plead.

Tags: Crime, Society & Culture by James
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In the last few days we have heard reports on a mysterious shape-shifting monster which is stalking people in Steytlerville. Well it appears as though the monster has struck once again!

Another two sightings of the “shape-shifting creature” were reported on Sunday evening, said Warrant Officer Zandisile Nelani .

“Two men were walking near a tavern when they saw another man wearing a black jacket. One of the men, identified only as Nozipho, went up to the stranger and asked him, “What is your problem?” said Nelani.

When the stranger did not respond, Nozipho went closer and saw that the man had no head. The man then turned into a dog that was “very angry” and “as big as a cow”, Nelani said.

He said that as Nozipho and his friend ran away, the monster allegedly turned on another group of people in the same road. “They said it turned into a big monkey, and then it was gone,” Nelani said.

He said that since the monster was spotted near the tavern, people were afraid to go there at night.

Nelani said that the community had dubbed the monster “Bawokozi”, meaning ‘brother-in-law’.

Nelani said that a photograph had since been taken of the monster resting under a tree.

He said that when the photo was taken the monster had been in human form but when the photo was developed an unknown animal was visible in the picture.

“It is a very strange thing happening in Steytlerville, but no one has been hurt by it,” Nelani said.

Tags: Society & Culture, Weird & Unexplained by James
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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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Ogilvy advertising agency has apologised “unreservedly” for a pamphlet and website offering money for body parts that was actually part of a campaign to advertise a South African horror movie.

Click to enlarge

Spokesman for Ogilvy and 1984, Rich Hlatshwayo, said in a statement that creative agency, 1984, a subsidiary of Ogilvy, produced the campaign on behalf of Indigenous Film Distribution to promote the movie “Night Drive”.

“While the motivation behind this campaign was honourable, 1984 acknowledges that this was in bad taste and apologises unreservedly. The intention was never to mislead the public or media,” he said.

MD for Ogilvy in Johannesburg, Julian Ribeiro, said the company 1984 consists of “three young talents who joined Ogilvy last year as 1984”.

“They had an existing relationship with Indigenous Film Distribution and the project for ‘Night Drive’ was ongoing.”

Ribeiro said Ogilvy was “very upset” about the campaign and disciplinary action would be taken “internally”.

“1984 did seek legal counsel before the campaign was launched and were told to make sure that the details on the pamphlet and the website were fictitious… that the phone number would not work and that no harm would be brought to anyone.”

He said the company aimed to create hype and reveal the link to the movie at a media screening on Friday night.

“Nobody ever expected this kind of response. Only 800 leaflets were handed out at robots and the project had a low budget.”

He said the movie is about the sale of animal parts and human body parts but did not know when it would go on circuit.

“I have heard that some people are threatening to boycott the movie.”

Tags: Inspiration & Jokes, Society & Culture by James
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In the heart of Africa, within the Kruger National Park in South Africa is a private game reserve called Timbavati.

Timbavati is the home of many of South Africa’s greatest animals, but it is most well known for a one of the rarest creatures of all – the white lion.

The folklore of the local Shangaan people have for hundreds of years spoken of how these creatures came to be.

Four hundred odd years ago there lived a mighty queen. Not only was she queen, but also a great spiritual person and the Rain Queen of her people. She was known as Queen Numbi, the ugly.

Although ugly in appearance, her people loved and respected her and when illness struck, feared for her life.

According to legend, Numbi’s legs and stomach swelled up and she was running a fever. Modern medicine tells us that this could have been a condition called ‘Elephantitis’ which could have been caused by Malaria.

As Queen Numbi got closer and closer to death, her people prayed to the ancestral spirits for help and healing. For months nothing happened and Queen Numbi got worse.

One day, when Queen Numbi was extremely close to death and her followers were at their wit’s end, night fell and the stars started appearing.

Suddenly one star grew bigger than the rest. As the people gazed upwards, the star got closer and closer. It is said that the animals in the bush started making a huge noise when the star got near.

People started shouting:

“Timbi le!”, “It has come down!”

“Timbi le vaa ti!”, “It has come down to the ground!”

Slowly the bright light floated down before touching down not far from the hut of the great Queen.

With her servants helping her, Queen Numbi was helped out of her hut and saw the bright light illuminating the whole area. She knew exactly what to do.
[Read more →]

Tags: Society & Culture by James
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November 19th is World Toilet Day. A day to celebrate the importance of sanitation and raise awareness for the 2.6 billion people (nearly half of the world’s population) who don’t have access to toilets and proper sanitation.

Be informed about the lack of sanitation in the world. The facts are staggering:

2.6 billion people worldwide are without access to proper sanitation, which risks their health, strips their dignity, and kills 1.8 million people, mostly children, a year.

Diarrheal diseases kill five times as many children in the developing world as HIV/AIDS.

That’s 5,000 children DYING EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Not only that, but the disease kills more children than either malaria or AIDS, stunts growth, and forces millions – adults and children alike – to spend weeks at a time off work or school, which hits both a country’s economy and its citizens’ chances of a better future. The majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter.

Lack of sanitation is the world’s biggest cause of infection.

One gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs.

Safe disposal of children’s feces leads to a reduction of nearly 40% in childhood diarrhea.

For more info: World Toilet Day

Have a great day!!

Tags: Society & Culture by James
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This is from the Discovery Channel’s new series Beyond Survival with Les Stroud the ‘Survivor Man’. In this clip Les takes part in the deadly sport of stick fighting.

Here is another one. Burton “Lucky Dog” Richardson doing Zulu stick fighting sparring with a Zulu lower chief in QuaZulu Natal, South Africa. This footage was taken during Burton’s fourth trip to the Zulu countryside in 2003.

Tags: Society & Culture 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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An unidentified flying object (UFO), which apparently consisted of three bright lights, astounded residents from Booysens in Pretoria for two consecutive nights for several hours.

Engela van der Spuy, 67, who lived in Attie Street in Booysens, contacted Beeld after she watched the strange set of lights on Thursday night for the second consecutive night.

“I’m not saying it’s green little space men,” said Van der Spuy. “We just really want to know what it is.”

Van der Spuy for the first time saw the UFO on Wednesday night shortly after sunset in the western sky.

“I couldn’t make out the shape of the object because the three lights were too bright, but it almost had a heart shape because there were two lights on top, a blue light on the left and an emerald green light directly next to it, on the right side, with a big bright white light underneath it which shone straight down,” she said.

Read the whole article at: News24.com

Tags: Society & Culture by James
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