Tanzania asks Malawi to halt oil search in disputed lake:
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Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
African Hospitality At Its Best
Authentic African hospitality
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INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
SLURP: Water on tap at Pumba Private Game Reserve.
Originally the farm of Piet Retief, the Pumba Private Game Reserve remains home almost two centuries later to famous residents – a free-roaming population of rare white lions.
In addition to these striking animals, the reserve, which is an hour’s drive from Port Elizabeth, boasts all the other giants of the Big Five, as well as hyena, cheetah, various species of antelope and, of course, large populations of its namesake, warthog.
This means guests at Pumba have the opportunity for some of the best game-viewing in the country.
While it is tempting to cocoon oneself in the comfort of your room at the Msenge Lodge or Pumba Water Lodge, the most memorable part of any trip to Pumba is to listen to the call of the wild and make the most of the game-viewing opportunities.
Game rangers take you in an open-top Land Rover past a range of sights, from majestic giraffes nibbling on trees, herds of elephants pausing to drink at a waterhole, to a group of adolescent cheetahs trying their hand at hunting while being shadowed by opportunistic jackals.
Bird-lovers will also find much to hold their attention, as will those who love sightings of the wild’s smaller inhabitants, such as tortoises, lizards and spiders.
FAMOUS RESIDENTS: White lion cubs take in the view.
INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
On a lucky day, guests may see an elusive leopard (a subject of the reserve’s leopard monitoring and rehabilitation programme).
Nothing quite compares, however, to seeing a white lion cub (a sign that Pumba’s white lion breeding programme is a success), or ending an evening’s game viewing by coming upon a magnificent white lion, his brilliant pale coat shining even in the failing light of dusk.
At the end of a long day, Pumba Private Game Reserve follows through with the warmest of hospitality. The two luxury lodges complete the getaway package (if your budget allows, try sleepovers in each).
Msenge Lodge is a bush lodge nestled in indigenous bush, while Pumba Water Lodge offers spectacular views over Lake Cariega.
Msenge’s 11 glass-enclosed chalets allow you to soak up the sights and sounds of the surrounding bush. You may have a dip in your own personal plunge pool with antelope grazing nearby.
Muslin-decked four-poster beds complete Msenge’s classic Out of Africa aesthetic.
DOWN-TIME: One of the luxurious rooms at Msenge Lodge.
INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
Air-conditioning, mood lighting and a large bathtub add to the allure.
Guests staying in one of Water Lodge’s 12 thatched chalets can look forward to king-sized beds and luxurious bathrooms, but are likely to spend most of their time reclining on their private decks listening to the cry of the fish eagles, or cooling off in their outside showers or plunge pools as the hippos down below do the same.
Evenings at Msenge often find guests seated around a fire in the main lodge, swopping accounts of the day’s game sightings or gazing from the main deck at an African sky choked with stars – the same deck where just that morning they might have spent breakfast watching a solitary white lioness stalking impala on the plain below.
At Water Lodge, evenings may be spent enjoying the view from the Main Lodge’s terraced deck, or at the water’s edge enjoying a sundowner at the Bush Bar while listening to the hippos harrumphing just beyond the pier.
In addition to the laid-back routine of life in the bush, guests at Msenge Bush Lodge and Water Lodge have the option of pampering at an onsite “soul” spa, or sweating it out as a well-equipped gym. Water lodge also boasts a fully equipped conference room, ideal for groups looking for a picturesque location.
The cuisine at both lodges more than lives up to the reserve’s five-star tourism rating and guests can expect to feast like kings. Breakfast is a substantial affair, with hearty hot dishes complemented by steaming cappuccinos.
Lunch consists of light soups, salads and platters of gourmet goodies, while dinner is an elegant experience where each course is perfectly conceptualised.
There is an emphasis on locally grown and sourced produce, simple dishes orchestrated with gourmet flair and attractive plating.
The lodge staff can recommend a selection of wines from the reserve’s extensive collection, and cheese boards and nightcaps around the fire are the perfect end to a memorable meal.
Pumba Private Game Reserve is a member of African Pride Hotels and The Port Elizabeth Hotel Group. It is associated with African Hacklewood Hill Country House and African Pride The Sands @ St Francis. The venue is also a participant in the Green Leaf environmental initiative, and takes part in a number of ecological and community upliftment programmes. - Cape Times
l To book, or for more information, call 046 603 2000, or e-mail respumba@pehotels.co.za, or see www.pumbagamereserve.co.za or www.portfoliocollection.com
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
R100 Million Drug Bust Shocks Neighbors In Upscale Johannesburg Neighborhood
R100m drug bust shocks neighbours
![Copy of drug bust [1]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tiL7-5piwQvJ4cq3WT6UeYp3koyBcnW5Wfx6ozXTzHZfVo88xASINxD5ZHonQEJMEZiWj77JkpkTFs2tM0_4fh2dF_RWaL5Um7kjDHgmJzT_dEQRpRaWuTVDQXvezd4SUeoaFLlAQlXu6pfsTMHKJ20BoJy-QRTE7yAVu6sBCo0u7vq2FIHebR3Ls-GXKhzpw1ZGQuCw8BPchcFGM6=s0-d)
INLSA
A couple was arrested at their Bryanston home for possession of drug-manufacturing ingredients. Photo: Antoine de Ras
Shocked neighbours have described the suspects arrested in a R100 million drug bust in northern Joburg homes as “decent” and “polite”.
Police said on Wednesday they had smashed a multimillion-rand drug manufacturing operation in Bryanston and Douglasdale on Wednesday morning.
Five people, including two brothers, who are originally from Soweto, were arrested during raids by the Crime Intelligence Unit, said police spokesman Colonel Vish Naidoo.
Police were investigating a third Joburg home linked with the suspects, but declined to specify where it was or what part it might have played in the manufacturing or distribution of the drugs.
All the suspects are expected to face charges of drug dealing and possibly the manufacturing of drugs.
First, a husband and wife were arrested at their home on Mount Street in Bryanston in possession of chemicals and powder worth about R50m. The chemicals and powder are believed to be the ingredients for Mandrax.
Wednesday’s raid led police to another house where the husband’s brother lives. The husband is also the owner of the Douglasdale house on Galloway Avenue, said Naidoo.
Police later discovered another R50m worth of drugs, powder and drug-manufacturing equipment there and arrested three more suspects, including the second of the brothers, his wife and their domestic worker.
The Star has been made to understand the five suspects are aged between 29 and 36.
“They were very nice, polite, decent and quiet people,” said some of the neighbours of the Douglasdale suspects.
“The only thing we were suspicious about was how they afforded their cars,” said a neighbour who had seen Mercedes-Benzes and Ferraris outside the house on several occasions.
A neighbour, who also asked not to be named, said they had also met the first of the brothers, who they said was “pleasant”.
One of the neighbours told the New Age newspaper: “They (the couple) just had a baby less than six months ago and their six-year-old daughter is a friend of our daughters. I am actually surprised by all of this because there was nothing out of the ordinary. Everything seemed fine and normal.”
Crime intelligence had investigated the house for months and believed they were part of a syndicate, said acting deputy commissioner for crime intelligence Chris Ngcobo.
brendan.roane@inl.co.za
The Star, IOL
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Disgraced South African Police Commissioner Now At Home
Selebi to get 22 hours of freedom a week
INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
Former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi. Photo: Antoine de Ras
Jackie Selebi, under house detention, is allowed two hours of freedom from his restriction each weekday, and six hours each day over the weekend, but he is not permitted to abuse alcohol at all.
The disgraced former police commissioner, who was released on medical parole on Friday, is now expected to stay at home.
“He’s regarded as a medium-risk category,” said James Smalberger, the Department of Correctional Services’ chief deputy commissioner responsible for incarceration and corrections. “If you are a medium-risk category, then you are under house detention.
“From Monday to Friday, he will have two hours’ free time a day. In other words, if he recuperates and wants to buy a newspaper, he can go to the corner and buy a newspaper and go back home. On Saturdays and Sundays, the free hours become six hours. If you want to go to church on Sunday, you have that free time.”
Smalberger said the conditions included that Selebi may not commit any crimes; may not change his residential address or leave the Pretoria magisterial district without Correctional Services’ approval; and may not use drugs or misuse alcohol.
Correctional Services officials will visit him at least once a week, unannounced, and he should expect phone calls from them – on his landline, not cellphone.
Selebi’s application for medical parole was processed under a new system, set up after the outcry over Schabir Shaik’s medical parole, which appeared to have been followed by a miraculous recovery.
Smalberger said the Medical Parole Advisory Board started operating in March and its first meeting was last month.
Selebi’s wife had applied on his behalf in early April, and his application was among the first 12 processed. Smalberger said six of those had been approved. Three applicants had died before the processes were finalised.
It is understood that the decision recommending Selebi’s parole was unanimous.
The board is due to sit again on Wednesday to process the applications received since then.
“If the Medical Parole Advisory Board recommends medical release, they are giving us professional, independent advice, because none of the 11 doctors works for Correctional Services. They are private practitioners,” said Smalberger. “They are not interested in the crime nor the sentence.”
The board’s recommendation goes to the parole board.
Selebi’s 15-year sentence for fraud and corruption has not been overturned, but rather his case has been transferred from a prison to the community corrections section.
Questions have been raised over whether or not rightwinger Clive Derby-Lewis was up for consideration, but he has not applied.
“All of the conditions that were a danger to his health have been brought under control and stabilised,” said Marius Coertze, Derby-Lewis’s lawyer. “He may be ill, but his health has stabilised, so there’s no reason to take further steps there.”
Derby-Lewis was refused ordinary parole last year, but this is being challenged in court.
louise.flanagan@inl.co.za
The Star
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
South Africa's Corrupt Former Police Commissioner Is Dying?
Selebi dying on dialysis and in debt
INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
(File photo) Former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi. Photo: Antoine de Ras
Dying on dialysis and in debt – that’s the state of former top cop Jackie Selebi who was paroled from prison on Friday.
Selebi is likely to face a raft of medical and legal bills as the state cuts off its financial support to the ailing former police commissioner.
On Friday Correctional Services Minister S’bu Ndebele announced that Selebi, who was diagnosed with end-stage renal failure, “more than qualified” for medical parole.
Dr Ernest Kenoshi, the chief executive of the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, where Selebi receives dialysis three times a day, said the former top cop would have to now foot his own medical bills.
“He will have to pay like any other state patient and it will be his choice should he wish to return to the hospital or go to another facility,” said Kenoshi.
Selebi, who has served less than a year of his 15-year jail term, could also be forced to cough up the R17 million in legal fees he incurred during his trial in 2010.
The Ministry of Police said last night that it could not comment on its bid to recover legal fees owed to the state by Selebi, but spokesman Zweli Mnisi said the matter was being discussed.
A senior hospital registrar at the hospital, Dr Anil Kurian, who oversees Selebi’s treatment, said the beleaguered former top cop was in a critical condition.
“Mr Selebi has end-stage renal disease for which he is receiving dialysis. End-stage renal disease means the person has irreversible kidney damage and they end up on dialysis for life.”
Meanwhile, opposition parties slammed the decision to release Selebi as “scandalous” preferential treatment on Friday, but the ANC welcomed the decision.
It would have been “insensitive” and “inhuman” of Correctional Services Minister S’bu Ndebele to ignore the decision of the medical parole advisory board, the ANC said.
But opposition parties remained sceptical over the claims of Selebi’s poor health, calling for full disclosure on his condition.
“Given the public’s cynicism around medical parole due to the Schabir Shaik fiasco, the minister must give us the assurance that the correct procedure has been followed,” said DA spokesman on correctional services James Selfe.
Selfe said it was essential that the government “comes entirely clean” about Selebi’s medical condition and the procedure followed in determining that he was “indeed terminally ill”.
Freedom Front Plus MP Pieter Groenewald said the awarding of medical parole to Selebi undermined the criminal justice system.
He questioned why Clive Derby-Lewis, who assassinated SACP leader Chris Hani, had not been granted parole despite suffering from cancer.
United Democratic Movement president Bantu Holomisa said he hoped Selebi had “learnt his lesson”, while the IFP’s spokesman on correctional services Velaphi Ndlovu called for the parole system to be reviewed.
The ANC, however, felt the decision was the right move.
“As the ANC we are satisfied that the parole was granted on its merit,” said ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu.
Chairman of the medical parole advisory board, Victor Ramathesele, said Selebi would remain in hospital, but would not be under the guardianship of the Correctional Services department.
Correctional Services commissioner Tom Moyane said Selebi’s release was a purely medical decision, determined by professionals.
Ndebele said that in the light of the strong recommendations for parole made by the medical parole advisory board, there had been no basis for denying Selebi his freedom.
The release follows a meeting of the 11-member parole board in Pretoria on June 20, to deliberate on 12 applications.
“Six offenders were recommended for medical parole. Three offenders died while documentation was under way. Three offenders were not recommended for parole,” Ndebele said.
Correctional Services chief deputy commissioner James Smallburger said the former top cop had signed the acceptance of the conditions to which he will be subject.
These have not yet been disclosed.
Selebi’s wife is a qualified nurse, but it is not clear if she will look after him, or if the family will hire professional help.
“There are a lot of financial implications and considerations to take into account before they can decide,” his lawyer, Wynanda Coetzee, said.
Selebi, who was convicted of corruption on July 2, 2010, was head of Interpol at the time of the investigation into claims that he received money from convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti.
Weekend Argus
Friday, July 20, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
China Doubles Loans To Africa
China doubles loans to Africa
http://sxc.hu/
China's President Hu Jintao said Thursday Beijing would offer $20 billion in new loans to Africa, underscoring the Asian powerhouse's growing links with the resource-rich continent.
The pledge, made at a Beijing forum on China-Africa cooperation, is double the amount Beijing agreed to lend to Africa at the last forum in 2009.
Hu said the loans would focus on supporting infrastructure, manufacturing and the development of small businesses in Africa, although he did not specify what time period they would cover.
“China and Africa's destinies are closely linked, Chinese and African friendship is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people on both sides,” he said, delivering an opening address to an audience of African leaders.
“China sincerely supports African countries as they pursue their own development paths, and will sincerely assist African countries in strengthening their ability to develop independently.”
Hu also promised training and scholarships for African professionals and students, assistance with healthcare and customs and financial support for the African Union.
Beijing's involvement in Africa dates back 60 years, when Chinese workers arrived to lay railway tracks and roads.
But there has been a surge in investment in the past 15 years as Beijing has sought to tap into Africa's natural resources, and China became the continent's largest trading partner in 2009.
Trade between the Asian powerhouse and the continent hit a record $166.3 billion last year, from less than $20 billion a decade earlier and up 83 percent on 2009, according to government data.
Africa's rich natural resources are its main export to China, which needs minerals to fuel its massive economic growth, while the continent's major imports are mechanical or electrical products.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon, speaking at Thursday's forum in Beijing, said cooperation with China was “creating opportunities for African countries to diversify their economies, create jobs and improve healthcare and education”.
South African President Jacob Zuma thanked China for treating African countries as “equals”, but he cautioned against allowing an unequal trade relationship to persist in which Africa mainly supplied raw materials.
“This trade pattern is unsustainable in the long term,” he told the China-Africa Cooperation Forum.
“Africa's past economic experience with Europe dictates a need to be cautious when entering into partnerships with other economies.
“We are particularly pleased that, in our relationship with China, we are equals and that agreements entered into are for mutual gain.”
Once seen as strictly interested in extracting raw resources and investing in infrastructure, China has interests on the continent that are increasingly shifting to investing in institutions and governments, experts say.
Its aggressive move into the continent has at times caused friction with locals, however, with some complaining that Chinese companies import their own workers, flout labour laws and mistreat local employees.
Zambia's current president tapped into anti-Chinese sentiment to win office in 2011, one year after two Chinese managers shot at 11
local workers protesting over poor pay and work conditions.
In Namibia earlier this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi acknowledged that problems existed.
“I am not saying every Chinese company here behaves in a perfect way. If not, I hope Namibia tells us and we do our best to solve it,” he said. “We told our companies to adhere to laws here.” - Sapa-AFP
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Nelson Mandela Is 94 Today
Mr. President a Happy Birthday. I voted for you in 1994 in the first democratic election in South Africa. I remember the wild celebration the night of the election. I remember your incredible inauguration You saved South Africa from a civil war that could have killed hundreds of thousands of people. You left office at the height of your glory. As Stevie Wonder would sing to you: "Happy Birthday to you baby!"
Why I'm Fleeing South Africa
WHY I'M FLEEING SOUTH AFRICA by Anne Paton (widow of Alan Paton) (London Sunday Times)
I am leaving South Africa. I have lived here for 35 years, and I shall leave with anguish. My home and my friends are here, but I am terrified.
I know I shall be in trouble for saying so, because I am the widow of Alan Paton. Fifty years ago he wrote Cry, The Beloved Country. He was an unknown schoolmaster and it was his first book, but it became a bestseller overnight. It was eventually translated into more than 20 languages and became a set book in schools all over the world. It has sold more than 15 million copies and still sells 100,000 copies a year.
As a result of the startling success of this book, my husband became famous for his impassioned speeches and writings, which brought to the notice of the world the suffering of the black man under apartheid.
He campaigned for Nelson Mandela's release from prison and he worked all his life for black majority rule. He was incredibly hopeful about the new South Africa that would follow the end of apartheid, but he died in 1988, aged 85.I was so sorry he did not witness the euphoria and love at the time of the election in 1994. But I am glad he is not alive now. He would have been so distressed to see what has happened to his beloved country.
I love this country with a passion, but I cannot live here any more. I can no longer live slung about with panic buttons and gear locks. I am tired of driving with my car windows closed and the doors locked, tired of being afraid of stopping at red lights. I am tired of being constantly on the alert, having that sudden frisson of fear at the sight of a shadow by the gate, of a group of youths approaching - although nine times out of 10 they are innocent of harmful intent. Such is the suspicion that dogs us all.
Among my friends and the friends of my friends, I know of nine people who have been murdered in the past four years. An old friend, an elderly lady, was raped and murdered by someone who broke into her home for no reason at all; another was shot at a garage.
We have a saying, "Don't fire the gardener", because of the belief that it is so often an inside job - the gardener who comes back and does you in.
All this may sound like paranoia, but it is not without reason. I have been hijacked, mugged and terrorised. A few years ago my car was taken from me at gunpoint. I was forced into the passenger seat. I sat there frozen. But just as one man jumped into the back and the other fumbled with the starter I opened the door and ran away. To this day I do not know how I did this. But I got away, still clutching my handbag.
On May 1 this year I was mugged in my home at three in the afternoon. I used to live in a community of big houses with big grounds in the countryside. It's still beautiful and green, but the big houses have been knocked down and people have moved into fenced complexes like the one in which I now live. Mine is in the suburbs of Durban , but they're springing up everywhere.
That afternoon I came home and omitted to close the security door. I went upstairs to lie down. After a while I thought I'd heard a noise, perhaps a bird or something. Without a qualm I got up and went to the landing; outside was a man. I screamed and two other men appeared. I was seized by the throat and almost throttled; I could feel myself losing consciousness. My mouth was bound with Sellotape and I was threatened with my own knife (Girl Guide issue from long ago) and told: "If you make a sound, you die." My hands were tied tightly behind my back and I was thrown into the guest room and the door was shut. They took all the electronic equipment they could find, except the computer. They also, of course, took the car.
A few weeks later my new car was locked up in my fenced carport when I was woken by its alarm in the early hours of the morning. The thieves had removed the radio, having cut through the padlocks in order to bypass the electric control on the gates.
The last straw came a few weeks ago, shortly before my 71st birthday. I returned home in the middle of the afternoon and walked into my sitting room. Outside the window two men were breaking in. I retreated to the hall and pressed the panic alarm. This time I had shut the front door on entering. By now I had become more cautious. Yet one of the men ran around the house, jumped over the fence and tried to batter down the front door. Meanwhile, his accomplice was breaking my sitting- room window with a hammer. This took place while the sirens were shrieking, which was the frightening part. They kept coming, in broad daylight, while the alarm was going. They knew that there had to be a time lag of a few minutes before help arrived - enough time to dash off with the television and video recorder. In fact, the front-door assailant was caught and taken off to the cells.
Recently I telephoned to ask the magistrate when I would be called as a witness. She told me she had let him off for lack of evidence. She said that banging on my door was not an offence, and how could I prove that his intent was hostile?
I have been careless in the past - razor wire and electric gates give one a feeling of security. Or at least, they did. But I am careless no longer. No fence - be it electric or not - no wall, no razor wire is really a deterrent to the determined intruder. Now my alarm is on all the time and my panic button hung round my neck. While some people say I have been unlucky, others say: "You are lucky not to have been raped or murdered." What kind of a society is this where one is considered "lucky" not to have been raped or murdered - yet?
A character in Cry, The Beloved Country says: "I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving they will find we are turned to hating." And so it has come to pass. There is now more racial tension in this country than I have ever known.
But it is not just about black-on-white crime. It is about general lawlessness. Black people suffer more than the whites. They do not have access to private security firms, and there are no police stations near them in the townships and rural areas. They are the victims of most of the hijackings, rapes and murders. They cannot run away like the whites, who are streaming out of this country in their thousands.
President Mandela has referred to us who leave as "cowards" and says the country can do without us. So be it. But it takes a great deal of courage to uproot and start again. We are leaving because crime is rampaging through the land. The evils that beset this country now are blamed on the legacy of apartheid. One of the worst legacies of that time is that of the Bantu Education Act, which deliberately gave black people an inferior education.
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that criminals know that their chances of being caught are negligible; and if they are caught they will be free almost at once. So what is the answer? The government needs to get its priorities right. We need a powerful, well-trained and well-equipped police force.
Recently there was a robbery at a shopping centre in the afternoon. A call to the police station elicited the reply: "We have no transport." "Just walk then," said the caller; the police station is about a two-minute sprint from the shop in question. "We have no transport," came the reply again. Nobody arrived.
There is a quote from my husband's book: "Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much."
What has changed in half a century? A lot of people who were convinced that everything would be all right are disillusioned, though they don't want to admit it.
The government has many excellent schemes for improving the lot of the black man, who has been disadvantaged for so long. A great deal of money is spent in this direction. However, nothing can succeed while people live in such fear. Last week, about 10km from my home, an old couple were taken out and murdered in the garden. The wife had only one leg and was in a wheelchair. Yet they were stabbed and strangled - for very little money. They were the second old couple to be killed last week. It goes on and on, all the time; we have become a killing society.
As I prepare to return to England , a young man asked me the other day, in all innocence, if things were more peaceful there. "You see," he said, "I know of no other way of life than this. I cannot imagine anything different." What a tragic statement on the beloved country today. "Because the white man has power, we too want power," says Msimangu. "But when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted. I have seen it often. He seeks power and money to put right what is wrong, and when he gets them, why, he enjoys the power and the money. Now he can gratify his lusts, now he can arrange ways to get white man's liquor. I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power nor money, but desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it.
I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating.
Anne Paton
Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Winnie Embroiled In Mandela Family Feud
Winnie embroiled in Mandela family feud
Reuters
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
The Mandela family feud involving the ruling ANC has reached new heights with some of the former president’s grandchildren reminding his ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela that their grandfather is the only “magnet” in the family.
They also claim she is abusing Madiba’s name to try and swing the ANC leadership race, and is unnecessarily warping family ties in the process.
As the tensions unfold, it has also transpired that the ANC Youth League rowed into the saga on Tuesday, warning Ndileka Mandela that she was “breaking rank” by attending an ANC lecture in honour of Mandela, the event that appears to have fuelled the latest family spat.
The so-called Mother of the Nation boycotted the lecture, which was delivered by President Jacob Zuma, and took issue with Ndileka for attending the event and speaking in the family’s name. Ndileka is Madiba’s first grandchild from his marriage to Evelyn, and the daughter of their first child, Thembi, who was killed in a car crash in 1969 while Madiba was in prison.
In a withering statement issued on her behalf, Winnie claimed Ndileka’s presence did not have the “endorsement by the family, as she stated” and that “the family reject (sic) her lies with contempt”.
Relations between Winnie’s and Evelyn’s sides of the family have at best been cordial over the years, but mostly terse. The past week’s exchange of anger was unprecedented.
It also came just days before the icon’s 94th birthday and family friends see it as a replay of his 90th, when relations had soured to the extent that Madikizela-Mandela and her family refused to attend.
However, Winnie is scheduled to travel to the Eastern Cape on Wednesday for Madiba’s birthday where she will face the family and Ndileka for the first time since the row started.
“Any suggestion that I was lying is not deserving of comment,” Ndileka told the Sunday Independent on Friday evening.
“When we talk about family endorsements and family opinions, we must be clear who we are speaking about.”
In her defence, her cousin, Mandla Mandela, who is also the chief of the Traditional Council in Madiba’s birthplace of Mvezo, and like her drawn from Evelyn’s side of the family, says he has no problem with Ndileka or any member of the family speaking in the Mandela name.
“My grandfather is the magnet of this family and through him we are all Mandelas.
“I respect each member of my family and I believe we must respect one another in return.”
Graça Machel, who was also present on Tuesday, appeared undeterred by Ndileka’s presence. In addition to Machel, the ANC had invited the “four senior members” of the Mandela family, which includes Madikizela-Mandela, her two daughters Zenani and Zindzi, as well as Makaziwe, Madiba’s only surviving child from his marriage to Evelyn.
“Aunt Maki (Makaziwe) couldn’t make it and she asked me to attend in her place,” Ndileka explained. “I believe it was the right thing to do and I have no regrets. I spoke about granddad’s legacy and as his granddaughter I have a right to do that. They cannot take that away from me. That some people decided not to attend, for whatever reason, is not a good enough reason for the rest of us not to go or to be later subjected to this kind of treatment.”
On the morning of the lecture, Madikizela-Mandela sent a harsh e-mail to the ANC expressing her general unhappiness at the “shabby” way in which she, her family and “Tata” were being treated by the ruling party. The e-mail was leaked to several newsrooms, well ahead of the 5pm lecture.
At around noon, Ndileka received a call from a member of the ANC Youth League, who generally has been supportive of “Mama Winnie” as she is one of them, telling her Ndileka was “breaking rank” by proceeding with her plans.
“I ignored the warning as I am not part of any rank or faction,” Ndileka said. “This was an event to honour the legacy of granddad and I didn’t want to be drawn into party politics, one way or the other, then or now.”
Mandla declined to comment on the contents of Madikizela-Mandela’s e-mail as he had not yet seen it.
“Until I am consulted by those who wrote it or who feel aggrieved, if that is the case, I do not want to speculate. If there are issues that need to be discussed, we must call a family meeting. But if these are issues that are played out in public, then that is outside my space.” - Sunday Independent
Saturday, July 14, 2012
67 Ways To Lead On Mandela Day
67 ways to Lead SA on Mandela day
Reuters
Nelson Mandela.
Take action, inspire change, make every day a Mandela day
International Nelson Mandela day is the perfect opportunity for individuals and corporates to Lead SA.
The concept of spending 67 minutes helping your community is symbolic of the 67 years Nelson Mandela spent serving his country. Here are 67 ways to spend your 67 minutes this Mandela day, July 18, by committing yourself to give back to your country or community.
1. Donate blood, especially if you are group O, as the blood bank is dangerously short of blood at this time. If you are over 16 and weigh more than 50kg, go towww.sanbs.org.za or sms your name and postal code to 31454 to get details on your closest blood bank.
2. Put a tin money box on the hall table to collect small change for a local soup kitchen.
3. Support Sparrow schools: Sparrow is a non-profit outfit that educates children with learning difficulties to grade 9 and then puts them through a tertiary program to develop skills so that they are employable, like floor laying and hotel schooling. Karen Lancaster, fund-raising manager, invites corporates in particular to partner with them in development programs. “It enables the company to reach their BEE score and our kids get jobs!” Call them on .
4. Fish out old prams and baby cots and donate them to an infant home.
5. Buy a bangle and support container libraries. Log in to www.46664.com/bangle to see where these have been placed so far.
6. Sign up at an old age home to read the newspaper or play an instrument to the elderly once a month for the next year.
7. When shopping, buy extra female hygiene products and drop off packs, with a personalised message on each, to a women’s shelter for the abused: www.onesocietyinitiative.org.za
8. Sign up with a Saturday school and commit a few afternoons a month to improving the marks of underprivileged matrics.
9. Provide back-up support for volunteer workers by serving tea or generating food packs on a monthly basis.
10. The SPCA welcomes volunteers and is always in need of help with kennel duties and skills in admin, legal and counselling functions. www.nspca.co.za
11. Offer to drive someone who can’t afford it to have an HIV test and provide emotional support.
12. Sign up with Generation Earth and help your child start up a “Gen earth” committee at their school. They focus on carrying out green projects and educating their peers on environmental issues.www.generationearth.co.za
13. Read out loud Nelson Mandela’s life history on www.nelsonmandela.org.za to inspire your children.
14. Pick up 67 pieces of litter.
15. Drop off scrapbooking supplies and scraps of fabric at a retirement home for use in creating crafts for end-of-year markets.
16. Download the Sassi card to check that the fish you order in a restaurant is not endangered:www.wwfsassi.co.za
17. Redeem points earned on a shopper’s card for gift vouchers for your domestic worker to take home.
18. Make a point of meeting all your neighbours and set up a “whatsapp” group so you can report suspicious activity directly to each other.
19. Jacaranda children’s home is a non-profit shelter for abused and abandoned kids which is caring for 350 children. They also run a home for pregnant women and take in financially affected children. Ancha Smuts says they would welcome donations of non-perishable food, toiletries and cleaning equipment. You can also pledge money via SMS: www.jacarandachildren.co.za or
20. Set up a community garden in your neighbourhood where residents can share the water and weeding.
21. Ashoka is a volunteer portal for individuals to sign up with their skills set and wait for opportunities to give back. www.ashoka.org/volunteer
22. Take a can of Q20 or a weed-eater to your local park and tidy up or fix rusty joints of the equipment.
23. Pledge to unplug your chargers from now on.
24. Sponsor a guide dog by paying for the puppy training: www.guidedog.org.za or call.
25. Sign up as an organ donor – your body can save up to seven lives and many more with tissues like heart valves. www.odf.org.za
26. Living seeds organisation, an organic seed company, is calling for volunteers to help their charities plant the gardens. They say time and expertise are needed as many of the beneficiaries are “soil illiterate”. www.livingseeds.co.za
27. Bake something for the local police station night shift to encourage them in their difficult work.
28. Donate platelets at www.sanbs.co.za
29. Sign up as a regular donor to the Star’s Seaside fund. The charity gives underprivileged children the opportunity to have a fun-filled holiday at the sea – many of them have never seen the beach and the 10 days spent are a treasured time for them. Maggie Mosiane, who accompanies the groups to KZN, says: “Some of the kids hide because they don’t want to leave when the 10-day stay comes to an end.” Call Maggie on .
30. Drop off a soft toy at the Johannesburg central police station – the toys are kept at the victim empowerment centre to hand out to abandoned and abused children when they come in for counselling.
31. It’s the coldest time of the year – collect blankets and give them to homeless shelters. Contact the Salvation Army on .
32. Sign up for the 94.7 and begin collecting sponsorships for a charity of your choice. Use www.given gain.com to manage the pledges and offer your supporters transparency.
33. Take a pack of seeds to a rural school and help the children plant them.
34. Print a booklet of lessons for your domestic worker’s kids. There are a number of sites that let you reproduce their worksheets for free.
35. Offer to feed a neighbour’s pet or house-sit while they are away.
36. Log into to www.backabuddy.co.za and sign up to follow a cause. Better still, begin a new one and get fund-raising.
37. Drop off a bag of pet food or a blanket at your local SPCA.
38. Talk to your suburban shopping centre about recycling and encourage them to manage their trash.
39. Pledge to have more showers and fewer baths.
40. Qhubeka encourages rural residents to plant food gardens and trees and in return earn a bicycle, which provides a great amount of freedom for the children as they use them to travel the long distances to school. “We support it because it empowers the people rather than simply handing out help,” says Eleanor Mitrovitch, general manager of MTN Branded, the major sponsor of the initiative. Check out their work on www.qhubeka.org.za
41. Get inspired by going to www.giveback.co.za.
42. Invite a needy family for dinner or cook a meal for them.
43. Read for Tape Aids for The Blind – if your voice passes the audition, you get to record a book. Call or www.tapeaids.com
44. Go to your local library and ask them how you can help to keep them going – providing cake when people from the local old age home visit or reading to kids.
45. Plant a tree at home and give a twin plant to someone in an informal settlement. Compare their growth over the years.
46. Clean out your shelves and get a bag of books ready to deliver to a school that needs extra reading books.
47. Pledge to use your next “party” for fund-raising by creating a ‘cause’ on www.backabuddy.co.za That way, you’ll encourage your friends to think about charitable socialising.
48. Swap your usual take-out paper cups for a ceramic one to ease the impact on landfills.
49. Buy balls of wool for an old age home or donate a chess set that you don’t use.
50. Switch the TV off in the evening and talk to your children about starting a family charity – something you can all fund-raise toward that is important to all of you. If you register it atwww.startsomethingday.co.za, you could win money for the cause.
51. Take a new soccer ball to a local school for the kids.
52. Go to the local hospital and see if you can get on a standby list to help out in the trauma waiting area when they are under pressure.
53. Donate old magazines to a home or a needy nursery school.
54. “Like” the homecoming revolution and show overseas friends that SA is still the best:www.homecomingrevolution.co.za
55. Hold a garage/jumble sale for charity.
56. Get a My School card and register a rural school as the beneficiary: www.myschool.co.za or call.
57. Instead of spending on a meal at a restaurant, put together a food parcel for someone at work who has fallen on hard times.
58. Start buying food in minimal packaging to save on throw-away items.
59. Do some research into the products you usually buy – find alternatives that are better for our planet.
60. Register with greater good: www.myggsa.co.za and create a “giver” profile.
61. Offer your services to the Highveld Horse Unit. See them on Facebook to see how you can help.
62. Commit to sorting your trash at source to make life easier for the informal recyclers who rummage through the garbage.
63. Sort out your cupboard and give someone your old clothing to sell to boost their income.
64. The Origins Centre at Wits will be holding an exhibition on Nelson Mandela and will be collecting for the Star’s Operation Snowball. Drop off canned food, blankets and clothes. Open from 9am to 5pm.
65. Switch off one geyser for the month, to help ease the pressure on the country’s electricity supplies.
66. Soccer outreach ambassadors in soccer (AIS-SA) welcome soccer enthusiasts to help them engage poorer societies throughout SA using the vehicle of soccer. Contact them on .
67. Cheese kids, who describe themselves as a “broad-based volunteer program”, are seeking volunteers on Mandela day. Log on to their website and RSVP to their “Nelson Mandela day revolution” or donate by sms: www.cheesekids.org.za
-Saturday Star
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