The national debate that has been ignited in South Africa by Canada’s granting of asylum to Brandon Huntley has turned Huntley into a national pariah and seriously prejudiced his ability to lead a normal quiet life in South Africa, should he be forced to return here.

Investigative reporters from newspapers all over the world have probed every aspect of Huntley’s life, approaching his former neighbours in Mowbray, Cape Town, a suburb not far from where I live, downloading his image from his personal FaceBook page and pillaging his profile for dirt, talking to his estranged Canadian wife and even knocking on the door of his father’s Pringle Bay beach house just outside of Cape Town.

So far only one South African political organisation has stepped forward in Huntley’s defense – Afriforum. If you view the staff of Afriforum (here) it’s immediately clear that Afriforum is staffed by white Afrikaans speaking South Africans (aka Boers, as I have previously referred to them on this blog). However, I’m not going to discredit them based on who they are. It is clear that they represent a group of South Africans who believe that South Africa is not a safe place for their kind.

What is undisputed is the fact that Huntley was the victim of violent crime in South Africa and on more than one occasion. Much mileage has been made of the fact that he did not report those crimes to the police. Well that doesn’t make sense to me. I, myself, was stabbed during a mugging back in December 2000 and I did not bother reporting it to the police either because I rightfully believed that the police were not going to do anything about apprehending my muggers. The race of my muggers were Coloured. The South African Police Services are a joke, in my personal opinion, and it is shared by many who have dealt with them when they have fallen victim to crime. So, yeah, in South Africa many people see the SAPS as part of the problem not as “solution providers” and not using them is not an unusual thing to happen. In fact, I would say that many people avoid them.

The difference between myself and Huntley was that I didn’t decide to emigrate because of that mugging. I just made a lifestyle change and I have not experienced crime since then. It is possible to live in South Africa and experience very little or no crime.

What I do find outrageous is the media’s invasion into Huntley’s private life. The Star went and read which FaceBook groups Huntley was subscribed to and decided that because he was a member of some sexually promiscuous sounding groups that his marriage was a sham and that he only did it to get into Canada. His embarrassed wife is now harbouring the same doubts, but to point to a few FaceBook groups as evidence of that I find outrageous. FaceBook is a sick joke and most of those groups on there are as lame as shit. People add themselves to all kinds of groups and it doesn’t amount to a bag of beans.

To wrap all my thoughts up into a tidy conclusion, I think Brandon Huntley should be allowed to remain in Canada. Sending him back here after he has been turned into a national pariah would be most unfair. Secondly, South Africa needs to take note of groups like Afriforum and acknowledge that violent crime is a reality that many South Africans of all races experience and that the South African Police Services are still not being used by many crime victims because of the extremely bad reputation the SAPS still enjoys. SAPS is not an effective organisation. They do not apprehend criminals. They do not treat people humanely and fairly. They, as a police service, consistently fail the people they are supposed to serve. Their reputation takes regular knocks, when for instance they arrest people like Helen Zille, when she was former Mayor of Cape Town.

So this whole Huntley case is no longer about Canada’s “bad decision” to grant Huntley asylum. In fact, Canada can do whatever the hell they like. They can let whoever they like in and for whatever reason suits them and we don’t have to like it. This is now about South Africa and how many South Africans experience it. It’s time we swept our own porch clean and stopped yelling about what Canada is doing.

Additional reading:
About Huntley’s Canadian wife
Clear evidence that Huntley was a victim of violent crime
Afriforum’s support for Huntley
Melanie Huntley’s concern for her husband

The Khaya Lembali Conference Centre celebrated it’s 12th anniversary with the opening of an exclusive new guest lodge a stone’s throw away from the conference centre.

Spectacularly situated above Jameson Park in upmarket Morningside, Lembali Lodge boasts an impressive 100 square metre wooden deck overlooking the park, Durban city and the sea.

Designed for the discerning business traveller, Lembali Lodge comprises 6 luxury en-suites with uniquely crafted bathrooms. It is also ideally suited for whole lodge rental.

For further information:
email: info@lembalilodge.co.za
Cell: 082 901 5931 (Helena)
web: lembalilodge.co.za

CAPE OUTDOOR ADVENTURE AND TRAVEL EXPERIENCE AT BIEN DONNE FARM
Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th October 2008

All your Outdoor and Adventure needs in the Heart of the Cape Winelands. Caravans, Trailers, 4×4′s, destinations, hiking, trailing, camping and much more.

Events for the whole family:

• helicopter rides
• claypigeon shooting
• paintball
• drop tower
• pony rides
• jumping castles
• and LIVE ENTERTAINMENT on the weekend

Eden Michelle launches her new album! Listen to KFM for details.

Braais and good food, wine and SAB Tavern. Big Screen for rugby and sport enthusiasts!

Disabled, pram and motor bike parking from the Franschhoek entrances. The R45 roadway will have adequate signage for those who have not been to the venue.

Social dogs on leashes welcome!

See our web site for all details, times, fees and full listing of what to see and expect at the expo!

Cape Town news brings you the latest South African blogging absurdity – Do Not Date Him! – powered by the Drupal content management system.

This pettiness, which is sure to be abused by vindictive heart broken South African women, is brought to you by Andries of Pangea Publishing and hosted by, wait for it, eFrog.org. Hahaha!!!

*ribbit*

2009-09-26 UPDATE: the donotdatehim.co.za site is no longer in existence

That’s roughly how many white South Africans watch DSTV according to eighty20, my daily feeder of facts about life in South Africa.

If you want to receive a random daily stream of interesting statistical facts about South Africans, please go and join their mailing list.

Conversely only 870 000 black people watch DSTV.

The most popular South African TV channel is SABC1 which garners 70% of South African adult viewers. SABC2 gets 58% and SABC3 a paltrey 45%.

Nothing is known about eTV, which is probably a good thing.

According to WikiPedia there are 5,265,300 white people living in South Africa, making up roughly 11% of the total population.

Yes, I know you’ve all heard the stories: South Africa is so full of crime, that the only sane recourse is to run away to dear old England where the Queen will keep you safe.

O RLY?

Before you terrified little people all run like a herd of stampeding pigs for Britain, please read this article:
Teenagers attack police officers who asked girl to pick up litter

Ja, so two cops axed (sic) a teenie girl ever so nicely to pick up her damn trash, and the next moment, they were surrounded by 30 aggressive teenies and two Limey men aged in their 30s who set about giving them two Limey coppers a thorough beating up.

Oh god, I would love to see this whole scene suddenly and magically transported to New York City, and then ten minutes later, do the body count.

Very funny article. I loved it. I especially loved the Limey commenter (on the article) writing from Russia telling ‘em that he moved out of Britain 30 years ago when he saw how the place was going. Get this, he fled Limey land for Russia in 1978! He preferred the Communist USSR over Britain. Hahaha!

And poor deluded South Africans are running TO Britain to escape crime, when for the past 30 years, Limeys have been running AWAY from Britain because of the crime.

That’s the problem with us South Africans – always at least 10 years behind everyone else.

This post is an edited version of an email I sent to someone.

Ironically last year I stood by another blogger when he was being attacked online. This year he and others have joined together to brand me a racist troll, which I regard as slander.

I befriended him last year in May via his blog. Standing by him obviously helped build our friendship. It soon became apparent, however, that he and I share very different political views. He began to show contempt towards me in his comments. He regarded my political views as idiotic.

Whatever residual goodwill he might have had for me, did not prevent him from posting numerous blog posts in which he slated me.

For some reason, the post I wrote recently about Emily Williams sent him and a few others over the edge with rage. They denounced me as a troll in blog postings and comments.

The strong reaction has taken me by surprise. When I read the account, I was immediately struck by the mother’s decision to remain parked outside the house where she suspected a crime was in progress. I wrote what I felt.

I’m also finding that I’m butting heads with a lot of whites who don’t like what I have to say about taking personal responsibility for their role in Apartheid. As we are all discovering, South Africa is actually very deeply polarised on racial lines. Racism abounds.

Last year I published a blog post about a woman who said "fuck off, kaffir" to a black man at the V&A Waterfront. I was astounded by the racism displayed by many whites in reaction to my article. One Afrikaans business man from KZN unsubscribed from my newsletter leaving a racist comment as his reason.

This year, as you know, a black domestic worker discovered that her white employer regarded her as a "kaffir bitch" via a missent SMS.

These events (and others, including the Skielik shootings) serve only to further polarise South Africans on racial lines. I have been advocating that whites apologise for their role in Apartheid. This has gone over well with black South Africans but provoked a strong angry response from many white South Africans.

I am now being subjected to various attacks because of these views. I’m being smeared online as a troll and a racist, presumeably an anti-white racist, even though I am white myself.

I think this year is turning out to be a year of truthful disillusionment. The Rainbow Nation we were so proud of, appears to be an illusion, shattered by the reality of rampany anti-black racism amongst dissatified whites.

• Jacob Zuma and all the rest of his uneducated and ignorant supporters would be cured of AIDS by having a shower
• Manto would be able to drink alcohol to her hearts content without it affecting her brand spanking new liver and then heal any ailments by eating beetroot.
• Nelson Mandela would live to be 100 years old
• 3^rd degree would actually make sense sometimes and not just be a TV show with a presenter full of attitude
• Tokyo Sexwale would be voted in as president and not jump on JZ’s band wagon like he has done
• Neledi Pandor would have more of an effect on the department of education and 2008 matriculates would have a higher standard of pass rate

These things are highly likely to not ever happen. So what do we do instead? Some of us ignore the issues going on around us (like I do), some of us write political articles (such as this one) in the hopes of creating some awareness, some of us kick up a fuss and down our country at every opportunity, and a lot of us plan to make a difference, tomorrow. For most of us, tomorrow never comes.

What is the solution?

Immigration for those of us who can’t handle “third worlding” any longer. That way, you will solve your problems, and eliminate a small amount of negativity from our country.

If immigration is not for you, support our government as far as possible, without compromising our morals. Don’t become another negative statistic that aids all the corruption, dishonestly and crime factors.

Vote in the election. Have your say. Your opinion does count. Imagine if 20 000 other people also stayed at home that day and thought the same insecure thought ‘it won’t make a difference if I vote or not”.

We are South Africans. Yes, there is too much crime. Yes, rape is inhumane and unjust. Yes, there is corruption more deep rooted than even we know about. There are far too many cons of being in this country.

But there are a lot of pros too, that sometimes we overlook or dismiss as unimportant.

This is South Africa. In less than 13 years, look how far we have come. We have won two world cups, we’re hosting another in two years, black people are now licensed to be human and do what whiteys have long taken advantage of, such as going to watch a movie at ten o’clock at night, or shopping in the same malls, or drinking from a tap in a public bathroom.This is an enormous change!

When I go abroad to travel, I’m looking forward to defending my country and setting the record straight “Not only do we not have lions as pets, we also have malls with electricity, we have streets of tar, we have multi racial schools, sports events that involve every single South African citizen, we have local productions on TV that are worthy of International broadcasting, such as Isidingo, or the Oscar winning movie, Tsotsi, which was remarkable to watch”.

I am proud to call myself South African. You should be too.

An oldie, but a goodie, this one is from the archive. This is from September 2006 when Vladimir Putin met Thabo Mbeki in Cape Town, South Africa to discuss economic possibilities between the Russian Federation and South Africa.

This cartoon has a unique two dialogue structure. The top dialogue in thought bubbles represents a private battle of wits between Putin and Mbeki, whilst the bottom dialogue represents the public relations version of their interactions.

Source:
Putin arrives for historic SA visit
Putin heralds Russian investment boom in SA