Helen Zille tries to destroy confidence in a Zuma led South Africa
Posted on March 17th, 2009 by Richard Catto 4,253 views
Helen Zille is a desperate politician.
Desperate for power, yet with the chance of that happening during her reign as leader of the Democratic Alliance practically zero, she has made some last ditch desperate attempts to increase her chances. Recently the aging politician has had her image professionally made over. She now looks like she’s 60 going on 30. This rather plain woman has never looked this good in her life. At the age of 58, she has finally discovered how to use make up to look fresh and vibrant, and even attractive.
The DA has also finally decided to appeal to the New Internet Age voter and recently scurried to roll out a BuddyPress (a derivative of the popular WordPress blogging platform) powered web site where supporters can volunteer online to the re-election cause of the DA.
The DA has also invited local Cape Town bloggers to hear their drivel and hopefully blog positively about how the DA is going to herald in a new better South Africa, IF ONLY they win the election.
Well we all know that is not going to happen. Even Helen Zille knows that. She knows it with such a certainty that she is willing to use as much of her political influence as possible to attempt to destroy foreign confidence in a South Africa led by Jacob Zuma. This is completely counter-productive.
This is truly revealing. It shows how little patriotism she truly possesses. She is willing to sabotage South Africa if she doesn’t get in.
In an interview she gave to The Telegraph, a British newspaper, she had the following to say:
“This election is about whether South Africa is going to be a successful democracy or a failed state.”
Baloney, Helen. This election is about the very survival of the Democratic Alliance and your personal political career. The last election saw the demise of the New National Party when it became clear that it had lost the support of its electorate. The Democratic Alliance could follow suit this April 22 when South Africa votes in the next general election, although I doubt that will happen. Either way, whether the DA gains or loses ground, they won’t win.
South Africa has weathered the storms of many administrations that were less than perfect. Jacob Zuma is not going to trash South Africa’s economy, but Zille’s bitter statement could hurt us.
A politician that wishes to become known as a statesman strives to work for the good of all, not just for their own petty ambitions. It doesn’t look like Zille will be counted among these great men and women.
Tags: ANC, COPE, DA, Helen Zille, Jacob Zuma, South African politics
Filed under South African politics | 116 Comments »
Salsa Dance Party, Saturday March 14 2009
Posted on March 12th, 2009 by Richard Catto 2,771 views
Tags: dance, party, Salsa
Filed under Entertainment | No Comments »
Barleycorn Music Club Annual Festival, Saturday March 21 2009 at Maynardville
Posted on March 10th, 2009 by Richard Catto 2,576 views
The Barleycorn Music Club will be holding its annual music festival on Saturday 21st March 2009.
The original date was February 28 2009 but was moved due to a double booking at the venue.
Date: Saturday March 21 2009 14h30 – 22h00
Venue: Maynardville Amphitheatre
Alternate venue in case of rain: Rygersdal Sports Club Main Hall, Erin Road, Rondebosch
Lineup:
- Albireo
- Backyard Broken Blues Bros Band
- Bill Knight
- Boulevard Blues
- Dave Ferguson
- Feedback
- Julia Conradie
- Julia Jakobsen Band
- Louise Day Band
- Ripcord
- Wayne Pauli
Food and drink available or bring a picnic.
Cost:
Adults R60
Barleycorn Club Members R50
Couples R100
Children R10 (under 12 free)
Contact:
Martin on cell 082 493 1564
Tickets available through Computicket.
Origins of the Barleycorn Club
It all started in 1975, when a bunch of musicians found it agreeable to meet regularly to jam together, learn from one another and consume beer. Over these past 34 years, the Barleycorn has met almost every week to make what is now a Cape Town tradition and valuable musical resource
In the early years the music was mostly “traditional folk”, with a smattering of Blues, Bluegrass, Country music and Olde English and Irish material containing toxic levels of screeching fiddles. Yes, Bob Dylan covers and political protest songs did appear fairly often, but the Club rapidly developed a reputation as a place where home-grown original material by local composers and performers found a receptive audience, and it is these who have gradually formed the focus of the Club.
By 1977, the Barleycorn had become formalised, with a Constitution, paid membership, a member-elected committee and the commitment that whatever funds were accumulated would be held in trust for the furtherance and promotion of local musical talent. And what better way to achieve this than by staging a Festival. The Club would carry all expenses and all income would be split amongst those performing!
I’m reminded by the program that our first Festival was held on 12th April 1980, at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre, packed to capacity to hear 20 acts perform over 9 hours. The undoubted star of that, our first venture, was the then unknown David Kramer, whose songs, red veldskoen and pork-pie hat captivated absolutely everyone, including members of the press who gave his career a massive kick-start!
And thus has the Barleycorn Festival become an annual event (well, almost; we missed a year in the mid 1990′s and two in the early 2000′s) and despite testing several alternatives, Maynardville is easily our preferred venue. Large enough for a decent-sized audience to feel comfortable (900+ being the record number of tickets sold!) yet small enough for both audience and musicians to recreate the rapport and ambience of the Club on regular Monday nights.
Long is the list of eminent musicians who’ve graced the Barleycorn Festival stage, including Flat Stanley, Freshly Ground, Disu Plaatjies and Amapondo, Steve Newman, Tony Cox … but this is not the forum for a history of SA performing talent, this is to let you know that all these years later, the magic will be repeated on Saturday 21st March 2009! And at our best-ever venue, nogal!
Thus far, confirmed acts include Ripcord, Bill Knight and Julia Conradie, Albireo, Boulevard Blues, Wayne Pauli, the Julia Jakobsen Band, Dave Ferguson, the Backyard Broken Back Blues Bros Band, the Louise Day Band, the Broken Back Blues Band and Feedback … ten of what the Barleycorn committee consider to be the cream of the best acts to appear at the Club in this past year!
It will be a hoot and a blast! It’s home-grown and truly lekker! Bring a picnic basket and a blanket (although food and bevies will be available) and join us for another episode in the ongoing saga of what is excellent in local music.
Tickets at Computicket R60 per adult, R50 per Barleycorn paid-up member; R100 per couple, R10 for kids 12 to 18, kids under 12 free; limited numbers so book early to avoid disappointment
Tags: Barleycorn Music Club, Events, Music
Filed under Events, Music | No Comments »
What does Clint Eastwood have in common with Cape Town, South African politics and rugby?
Posted on March 10th, 2009 by Richard Catto 3,733 views
Clint Eastwood in Cape Town to direct “The Human Factor”
Ordinarily, one would say, “not much”, but Clint Eastwood, the legendary American actor and movie director is in Cape Town to direct a movie based on John Carlin’s 2008 book called “Playing the Enemy”.
The book is about the political coup Nelson Mandela scored when he united the fledgling new South African nation behind the 1995 Springbok Rugby World Cup victory. Mandela cleverly engineered a détente between General Constand Viljoen, then leader of a vociferous white Afrikaner movement which threatened civil war, and the ANC hawks which wanted nothing to do with the white Afrikaner dominated South African rugby world, as it was at that time. Mandela also persuaded the ANC hawks to allow the rugby world to retain the widely hated Springbok emblem.
Morgan Freeman purchased the movie rights to the book, and he is set to play Nelson Mandela opposite Matt Damon who will play Francois Pienaar, who was captain of the all white Springbok squad which won the 1995 World Cup.
Carlin’s book rejects the New Zealand conspiracy theory that their food was deliberately poisoned on the day of the final, but Carlin does allow in a comment made by a French player, Abdelatif Benazzi, whose try would have beaten the Springboks in the semi-final had it been allowed. At the final, Benazzi commented, “I knew, that something more important was happening than victory or defeat in a game of rugby.” Indeed it was.
Read the full The Independent Books review of John Carlin’s Book, “Playing the Enemy”.
Purchase and read John Carlin’s interesting book for yourself:
Tags: Clint Eastwood, John Carlin, Playing the Enemy
Filed under Celebrities | 1 Comment »
Wealthy sex offender buys his way out of jail
Posted on March 9th, 2009 by Richard Catto 1,925 views
IOL: Rape group accepts money from sex offender
This is how nations collapse, when we allow rich criminals to atone for their crimes by buying their way out of jail.
A wealthy Cape Town businessman, Jan Rabe, 42, has been allowed to accept a plea bargain in which he makes donations of R30 000 to Rape Crisis and Cape Mental Health each.
Rabe is the worst kind of sexual offender possible. He was found guilty of producing and being in possession of over 861 images of children engaged in sexual activities.
For this he received only a 5 year sentence, suspended for a mere 5 years if he makes the payments amounting to R60 000, enters a rehab program and does some community service.
This is a complete mockery of our criminal justice system. They are a joke. A disgusting prank at the public’s expense.
This is how nations crumble into dust.
Tags: Cape Mental Health, Crime, Jan Rabe, pedophilia, rape crisis
Filed under Crime | 6 Comments »
