tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12262674303766299172024-03-13T18:12:38.465+02:00Shut up WhiteyRamblings of an Afri-CAN.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger479125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-37286866470395137932017-11-02T21:11:00.001+02:002017-11-02T21:11:16.750+02:00Greatest modern writer that hardly anyone knows.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CLWp-m2cd_U/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CLWp-m2cd_U?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-29669309380549060352016-10-08T11:19:00.004+02:002017-02-03T13:04:20.560+02:00The adventures of Zirkonflax : Space taxonimist extraordinaireLet's join space taxonimist extraordinaire Zirkonfax. Scallywag and rockstar of gallatic taxonomy from the planet of Flax. Zirkonflax, arrives on planet earth for the first time as an intelligent being with an assignment to do a flash tour of the various countries and civilisations of humans, return home and report on the diversity. What does he conclude when asked the following ...<br />
<br />
"Zirkonflax, the conditions of living standards differ greatly on planet earth. As does the relative sophistication of behaviours. Some of the human species seemed to have attempted to master their primitive instincts via moulding cultures dedicated to transcendence, order and social contracts. Yet others seem to have not crawled far, if at all, from primordial savagery and slavery to base instincts. To what do you attribute this ?"<br />
<br />
Before Zirkonflax left earth he knew he would have difficulty explaining what he had observed. Being good at this sort of thing, had come prepared. He had brought a guest from earth. A female professor of sociology from an American University.<br />
<br />
"Exhibit Zork!" gestured Zirkonflax towards his space tourer. <br />
<br />
The professor took his cue and presented herself to the beings in assembly from Zirkonflax's space tourer. She walked forward and stood perfectly upright next to Zirkonflax slowly bringing her hands together to her rib cage as if leaning on an imagined lectern.<br />
<br />
"Greeting fellow beings", she offered, "I am from Earth"<br />
<br />
Zikonflax translated eliciting a customary counter greeting of tentacle figure 8's. From the back of the assembly chamber the Chancellor whizzed out a inquisitors hum to which Zirkonflax translated into perfect English for the Professor.<br />
<br />
"Grand Chancelor Gimpertux ask why social conditions vary so greatly amongst your species. I have brought you here to answer that."<br />
<br />
The professor cleared her throat. "I can see how it must be confusing that we are so different given that we are a homogeneous species made up of equals. It will be my honour to explain to you about the complicated social dynamics that manoeuvre and manipulate our conditions into presenting the illusion that we are different from each other. There exist extremely complicated invisible structural and systematic forces of oppression and empowerment that simmer and..."<br />
<br />
<br />
That's what she said, in English anyway. However if you were Flaxian this is how you would had heard it translated by Zirkonflax.<br />
<br />
"The alien says they are a homogenous species. The alien says they appear different because of complex invisible forces.....oh wait........"<br />
<br />
"Silence!" yelled Zirkonflax, "Enough ! Back to the ship !"<br />
<br />
Shocked and afraid, the professor skulked back towards the ship.<br />
<br />
<br />
Grand Chancellor Gimpertux gave his species version of sigh. Young Zirkonflax, up to his old trix no doubt, wasting everyone's time "Zirkonflax, we don't have time for your mischief, are you going to explain to us how a homogeneous species can have such conflicting circumstances and social conditions? Such conflict and counter intuitive behaviour? "<br />
<br />
"With apologies Chancellor, I'll be right back" pleaded Zirkonfax sheepishly.<br />
<br />
Of he Whizzed in his space tourer for a quick round trip back to Earth. Chancellor Gimpertux was waiting as the space tourer docked.<br />
<br />
"Well Zirkonflax, you had better have a good excuse for this erratic behaviour!" <br />
<br />
"Chancellor I assure you what I have here will explain everything"<br />
<br />
Zirkonflax allowed a pause for dramatic effect....and then...<br />
<br />
"Exhibit Narf!" exclaimed Zirkonflash with a flourish of tentacles gesturing towards his tourer.<br />
<br />
Out walked a male Somalian goat herder. <br />
<br />
"Ah, I see" said the chancellor. <br />
<br />
"Exactly" said Zirkonflax.<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-52554230756466754792016-10-08T11:19:00.003+02:002016-10-13T07:30:49.217+02:00The adventures of Zirkonflax : Space taxonimist extraordinaireLet's join space taxonimist extraordinaire Zirkonfax. Scallywag and rockstar of gallatic taxonomy from the planet of Flax. Zirkonflax, arrives on planet earth for the first time as an intelligent being with an assignment to do a flash tour of the various countries and civilisations of humans, return home and report on the diversity. What does he conclude when asked the following ...<br />
<br />
"Zirkonflax, the conditions of living standards differ greatly on planet earth. As does the relative sophistication of behaviours. Some of the human species seemed to have attempted to master their primitive instincts via moulding cultures dedicated to transcendence, order and social contracts. Yet others seem to have not crawled far, if at all, from primordial savagery and slavery to base instincts. To what do you attribute this ?"<br />
<br />
Before Zirkonflax left earth he knew he would have difficulty explaining what he had observed. Being good at this sort of thing, had come prepared. He had brought a guest from earth. A female professor of sociology from an American University.<br />
<br />
"Exhibit Zork!" gestured Zirkonflax towards his space tourer. <br />
<br />
The professor took his cue and presented herself to the beings in assembly from Zirkonflax's space tourer. She walked forward and stood perfectly upright next to Zirkonflax slowly bringing her hands together to her rib cage as if leaning on an imagined lectern.<br />
<br />
"Greeting fellow beings", she offered, "I am from Earth"<br />
<br />
Zikonflax translated eliciting a customary counter greeting of tentacle figure 8's. From the back of the assembly chamber the Chancellor whizzed out a inquisitors hum to which Zirkonflax translated into perfect English for the Professor.<br />
<br />
"Grand Chancelor Gimpertux ask why social conditions vary so greatly amongst your species. I have brought you here to answer that."<br />
<br />
The professor cleared her throat. "I can see how it must be confusing that we are so different given that we are a homogeneous species made up of equals. It will be my honour to explain to you about the complicated social dynamics that manoeuvre and manipulate our conditions into presenting the illusion that we are different from each other. There exist extremely complicated invisible structural and systematic forces of oppression and empowerment that simmer and..."<br />
<br />
<br />
That's what she said, in English anyway. However if you were Flaxian this is how you would had heard it translated by Zirkonflax.<br />
<br />
"The alien says they are a homogenous species. The alien says they appear different because of complex invisible forces.....oh wait........"<br />
<br />
Silence!" yelled Zirkonflax, "Enough ! Back to the ship !"<br />
<br />
Shocked and afraid, the professor skulked back towards the ship.<br />
<br />
<br />
Grand Chancellor Gimpertux gave his species version of sigh. Young Zirkonflax, up to his old trix no doubt, wasting everyone's time "Zirkonflax, we don't have time for your mischief, are you going to explain to us how a homogeneous species can have such conflicting circumstances and social conditions? Such conflict and counter intuitive behaviour? "<br />
<br />
"With apologies Chancellor, I'll be right back" pleaded Zirkonfax sheepishly.<br />
<br />
Of he Whizzed in his space tourer for a quick round trip back to Earth. Chancellor Gimpertux was waiting as the space tourer docked.<br />
<br />
"Well Zirkonflax, you had better have a good excuse for this erratic behaviour!" <br />
<br />
"Chancellor I assure you what I have here will explain everything"<br />
<br />
Zirkonflax allowed a pause for dramatic effect....and then...<br />
<br />
"Exhibit Narf!" exclaimed Zirkonflax with a flourish of tentacles gesturing towards his tourer.<br />
<br />
Out walked a male Somalian goat herder. <br />
<br />
"Ah, I see" said the chancellor. <br />
<br />
"Exactly" said Zirkonflax.<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-71527937493294754222016-08-03T10:07:00.000+02:002016-08-03T10:17:38.186+02:00Confused as to the popularity of Donald Trump ?Then<a href="http://takimag.com/article/donald_you_ignorant_slut_joe_bob_briggs#axzz4GFiTWnPg"> read this</a> you bunch of clueless fucktoids.<br />
<br />
'When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.'<br />
-- Jonathan Swift, 1710<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-28852104387668005242016-07-10T13:31:00.000+02:002016-07-10T15:43:23.208+02:00Recommended readings on Dallas cop shootings(assasinations)I'm on holiday but these shootings and BLM idiots have me triggered as hell. There's nothing I can write that isn't likely to grossly offend hence I'll leave it to these three more level headed gents to speak as to my views on the matter...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://takimag.com/article/oops_we_started_a_race_war_gavin_mcinnes#axzz4E0JRo7a3">Oops we started a race war</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.therightstuff.biz/2016/07/09/dindu-terror-in-dallas-a-case-of-applied-third-worldism/">A case of applied third worldism</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/GwS2spPqO0A">https://youtu.be/GwS2spPqO0A</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-648521659688877202016-05-06T08:45:00.001+02:002016-07-10T13:39:03.600+02:00Part 3 : A red pill2008<br />
<br />
My best friend in Korea is an interesting character and one of the most highly intelligent people I've ever met. Of course that makes him, like all such people, a social retrobate. <br />
<br />
In 2008 the natural habitat of a contrarian and misanthrope like myself in South Africa was to be fervently pro Anc. This was the social position guaranteed to attract the most attention and arguments, and at this time there was a decent argument to make. The economy was growing at record rates, Thabo Mbeki was talking about the African rennaisance. Bric was becomming brics. <br />
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-20303400836073643282015-10-15T15:10:00.003+02:002016-07-10T15:58:01.375+02:00Part 22007<br />
<br />
Seoul, South Korea<br />
<br />
Waegukin. That's what I am in South Korea. Teaching English for a livable wage. Far removed from my previous privileged status that allowed my flowery and lofty liberal ideals to flourish. For the first time in my life I encounter something uncomfortable from the other side and I don't like it : Racism.<br />
<br />
My head is awash with contradictions. I reflect upon my privileged status in South Africa. I seethe at my new found stereotype of being barbaric, hairy, oversexed, big nosed and doe eyed. As the blog I briefly wrote there can attest to:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://asseoul.blogspot.co.za/2009/07/kimchi-or-how-i-learnt-to-stop-fearing.html">Example 1</a><br />
<a href="http://asseoul.blogspot.co.za/2009/07/kimchi-or-how-i-learnt-to-stop-fearing.html"> Example 2</a><br />
<br />
I grow defensive about my heritage and culture. I grow homesick for South Africa. I start a blog about South Africa.........<br />
<br />
And I attack. I swing wildly at the projections of myself I see everywhere. I hack away with snark and satire at all that is innate and true that I loathe. I berate and belittle out of a misplaced nostalgia for the mollycoddled days of my liberal past. <br />
<br />
Quickly I attract a lot of attention from websites like "Southafricasucks" and "stormfront" with healthy followings. I'm still a young man, and I'm still entrenched in "social justice" principles. My little blog at that time attracting thousands of views per day and hundreds of less than flattering comments of course puts my foot hard down on the peddle of confirmation bias. I'm feeling more self righteous than ever. More smug than ever in my "special knowledge" of the "social sciences". I see my detractors are "ignorant, bigoted, verkrampte, hateful, old men" and myself as the defender of all that is virtuous.<br />
<br />
The fact that they do tend to be men in their 40's (or with a little more life knowledge than myself as I can now see it) and I'm a man in my twenties of course who came through the liberal education system post Apartheid. These old men were obviously indoctrinated by "swaart gevaar" and "rooi gevaar" and if only they could see the errors of their ways. I feel so superior that from time to time I pity them as I white knight along my crusade.<br />
<br />
Thinking back....I can even begin to forgive myself. The cards really were stacked up against me. I'm not a stupid or poorly intention kid. My brain has just been stuffed too full of things that aren't well thought out. And then even more unpleasant stuff appeared in there...... <br />
<br />
Part 3 : ...A red pill.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-90629228988154845252015-02-03T14:20:00.001+02:002015-10-15T15:13:58.609+02:00Why did I get it all so wrong ? Part 1 : How it all started.<br />
The setting : Post the first democratic elections of South Africa in 1994<br />
<br />
The country is main lining progressive ideals. Social justice squirts through the national veins and "peace and equality" drum out from the countries heart. The ideals of reconciliation, forgiveness and <br />
unity fellate our cocks and motorboat our clitori.<br />
<br />
1994. Kumbay-fucking-ya. <br />
<br />
I went to university in 1995. A liberal university. To study social sciences....<br />
<br />
Begin to imagine in that climate what cultural marxism had been poured like hot lead into the mold of my young skull ? Years and years of indoctrination about my white privilege. About my male privilege. About how my existence oppressed the world. Social constructionist, feminism, social justice and this other post modern bullshit ! All this in the background of Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, the truth and reconciliation commission and fucking Bono and Bob Geldorf. I don't 100% remember but yes...probably fucking Bono and Bob Geldorf.<br />
<br />
Imagine what a potent mix this was to an idealistic young white man ?<br />
<br />
1999. Then after university I go backpacking. And who do I meet ? Hippies. Lots and lots of hippies. Stoned hippies. With dreadlocks. They are fascinated by me. They tell me about what a miracle South Africa is. Everyone is drinking the kool ade. Everyone knows the narrative and reinforces it. I get laid a lot. I feel very world wise. I'm pretty impressed with how liberal I am and generally just all round more tolerant than everyone else. Especially other South African whites. They're all ignorant fucking bigots after all.<br />
<br />
September 11th 2001 and on. Afghanistan. The Iraq war. I express outrage at American imperialism. I wear "good bush/bad bush" t shirts, I revere Michael Moore.....my liberalism and sense of righteousness are at an all time high.<br />
<br />
2007. I start a blog called "Killallwhitey"<br />
<br />
continued......part 2 : How did I cure myself of this poison ?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-30115334893165922952013-12-18T09:07:00.000+02:002013-12-18T09:07:43.284+02:00More on UhuruSo now that the funeral has passed and still no "nag van die lang messe" (Night of the long knives) it's time to reflect on something.<br />
<br />
What's not a unique or rare thing for the fear mongering vekramptes, rooi gevaar and swaart gevaar loony brigade to do is for them to speak a lot of shit. What is however quite rare is for them to ever claim something that provable. Almost everything is wild speculation and based on perceptions, hyperbole, cherry picked "facts" (often pure lies) , fears or speaks of a time in the future when horrific"inevitable" events will be carried out.<br />
<br />
The great humiliation about the uhuru predictions were the extent to which they were very specific about their conspiracy. Who, when, where, how but never specifically why. If why was ever asked it became absurd anyway. But the point is they made a strong claim for once. And they even went around making videos and claimed they had evidence.<br />
<br />
Of course the evidence was all selective quote farming and taking things out of context and "experts" who were in the know and had a special knowledge. Having seen some of this "evidence" any person with a slightly critical mind and not actively "wet" from years of propaganda foreplay would easily dismiss it as not holding up to any scrutiny. But as they will the far right or those that they rope in have never been interested in calm, rational thinking and the more it was claimed to be silly by the likes of me...the STRONGER they insisted and stood their ground.<br />
<br />
And of course they were wrong. Since Nelson Mandela has died and been buried nothing has happened and nobody sane ever expected it to. They were attempting to deceive us and often times even themselves with the agenda of spreading fear and racial tensions. And if you are one of the people who got whipped up by these muppets I hope you will in future take seriously my plea to also examine the rest of twaddle they are pedaling around. Because just like this story of uhuru there's not a lot they're aren't willing to spin and wield in the name of keeping fear and hatred alive.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnNgs_Jryj1yFbfyaAfm6MmtzVgSLYk4o79_s4zygDCZO1V1Ri033Ehz3-z9UmLKtqxbyp9jYVH-FV6rRQWrUmESKpACHPT_UBuPX31I_uSzWgfRyNH0p_Xu5zPO31O39EsZM14xFKr0/s1600/fear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnNgs_Jryj1yFbfyaAfm6MmtzVgSLYk4o79_s4zygDCZO1V1Ri033Ehz3-z9UmLKtqxbyp9jYVH-FV6rRQWrUmESKpACHPT_UBuPX31I_uSzWgfRyNH0p_Xu5zPO31O39EsZM14xFKr0/s1600/fear.jpg" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-7452951462412763882013-12-10T14:30:00.000+02:002015-02-03T14:26:26.953+02:00So wait...where's the uhuru ?The extreme right have been talking about it for close to 20 years.<br />
<br />
"Die nag van die lang messe", "Uhuru"<br />
<br />
Or as I like to call it "Horse shit !"<br />
<br />
The idea was that when Nelson Mandela died there was an active agenda, a planned event that would take place. All black people were in on it and it was common knowledge. The plan was that blacks would rise up and kill the white people.<br />
<br />
Now I know that sounds ridiculous to someone who has never heard it. And the reason it sounds ridiculous ? IT IS FUCKING RIDICULOUS.<br />
<br />
For my years of actively blogging against the fearmongering of the white South African far right I came across this manure day after day. In fact in the late nineties and early naughties in town halls across the country groups were going around showing "factual" videos about "uhuru" and ensuring people there was absolutely no doubt this was a real thing.<br />
<br />
In fact the morning Mandela died I had quite a few friends ask me what I thought know that Mandela had died. I answered along the lines of "It's sad the old man has passed but it's probably for the best considering his condition" depending who was asking. And at least 3 people responded "No, I mean about what the black are going to get up to now?" (some of my better friends are racist). So it wasn't just my imagination that this was a widely preached myth.<br />
<br />
Now the last thing anyone needs right now is another glowing testimony of praise for Nelson Mandela. So I'm not even going to go there. But I did promise certain people that the day that he passed away and there was no "uhuru" that I'd do something like this:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmD0zv-l_jJxysHcuVlN44kUgh-ZlanPwZ3gP9UH3TIq8JkBYIzu3ftdSkhyJiVIWEi54WeQic-ZXVvSKS26wV7sJyejw71S_3MaaomsEdwqn2OYcXqgqe8fmcR7_79CQNm18tyxLLMc/s1600/fi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmD0zv-l_jJxysHcuVlN44kUgh-ZlanPwZ3gP9UH3TIq8JkBYIzu3ftdSkhyJiVIWEi54WeQic-ZXVvSKS26wV7sJyejw71S_3MaaomsEdwqn2OYcXqgqe8fmcR7_79CQNm18tyxLLMc/s320/fi.png" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
There's no uhuru. There's no white genocide in South Africa. Stop wasting your time bothering yourself and other people about this shit and go outside and do something constructive.<br />
<br />
R.I.P Nelson Mandela.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-578184314052293422013-11-07T11:58:00.001+02:002013-11-07T11:58:07.901+02:00Awesome site : Africa check<h1 style="background-color: #f0ede7; color: #646464; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0.67em 0px;">
<a href="http://www.africacheck.org/2013/09/19/where-murder-happens-in-sa/">http://www.africacheck.org/2013/09/19/where-murder-happens-in-sa/</a></h1>
<h1 style="background-color: #f0ede7; color: #646464; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin: 0.67em 0px;">
Are SA whites really being killed “like flies”? Why Steve Hofmeyr is wrong</h1>
<a class="comment-count" href="http://africacheck.org/reports/are-white-afrikaners-really-being-killed-like-flies/#comments" style="background-color: #f0ede7; background-image: url(http://africacheck.org/wp-content/themes/AfricaCheck2012/_images/comments_speech_bubble_sml.png); background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #702600; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; padding-left: 20px; text-decoration: none; text-transform: uppercase;">COMMENTS 46</a><span style="background-color: #f0ede7; color: #646464; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<div class="intro" style="background-color: #f0ede7; color: #646464; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;">
<div style="font-size: 0.875em; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
South African musician Steve Hofmeyr has claimed that the number of white South Africans killed by blacks would fill a soccer stadium, that white Afrikaners are being killed “like flies” and that a white farmer is murdered every five days. But the claims are incorrect and grossly exaggerated. In fact, whites are less likely to be murdered than any other race group.</div>
<div class="researched_by" style="font-size: 0.875em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
Researched by Nechama Brodie</div>
</div>
<a class="lightbox" href="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Pistorius.jpg" style="background-color: #f0ede7; color: #702600; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius photographed after he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Photo: AFP"><img alt="Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius photographed after he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Photo: AFP" class="attachment-articleMain wp-post-image" height="352" src="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Pistorius-624x352.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="624" /></a><span style="background-color: #f0ede7; color: #646464; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<div style="background-color: #f0ede7; color: #646464; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
Are white Afrikaners really being killed “like flies”? Is a white South African farmer being “slaughtered every five days?” Would the number of whites “killed in SA in black on white violence” fill one of the country’s largest football stadiums?</div>
<div style="background-color: #f0ede7; color: #646464; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; line-height: 1.3; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
These are some of the claims made recently by Steve Hofmeyr, one of South Africa’s most popular, and controversial, Afrikaans singers and performers. In a post on his <a href="http://stevehofmeyr.co.za/website/steve-se/steve-se-blog-layout" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">blog</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Steve.Hofmeyr" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page titled “My tribe is dying”, Hofmeyr made several sweeping statements about South Africa’s murder rate and the quality of life of white Afrikaans-speaking South Africans.</div>
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Within a day of it being posted, Hofmeyr’s blog entry and a <a href="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hofmeyr1.jpg" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">pie chart</a> that he used to support some of his claims were “liked” by more than 2,000 Facebook users. A similar number also shared the post on their Facebook pages.</div>
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The Facebook entry was subsequently removed but later reposted without the pie chart. By way of explanation Hofmeyr <a href="https://twitter.com/steve_hofmeyr/status/347738010349080576" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">stated</a>: “The facts are good but they shouldnt be in a pie-chart. Im removing the pic. It will be replaced with the real PIE.” On his Facebook page Hofmeyr <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151686505149559&set=a.10151686505169559.1073741830.41171789558&type=1&theater" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">explained</a> the issue with the pie chart was not with the statistics, rather: “It should be separate charts (pre&post Apartheid).”</div>
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At the same time, Hofmeyr <a href="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/hofmeyr2.jpg" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">posted an image</a> of the interior of a “World Cup soccer stadium” - which appears to be Johannesburg’s Soccer City – together with a statement that the “amount of whites killed in SA in black on white violence” would produce a body count capable of filling the stadium’s seats.</div>
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“A lot of bodies to lose in stats”</h2>
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<a href="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hofmeyr1.jpg" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1412" height="185" src="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Hofmeyr1-300x185.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 15px 15px; vertical-align: middle;" title="A screen grab of the pie chart that Steve Hofmeyr posted on Facebook." width="300" /></a>Hofmeyr then went on to make the following statements on Twitter:</div>
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<li>“<a href="https://twitter.com/steve_hofmeyr/status/347804709890965504" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">Old</a> SA averaged 7039 murders/year from 1950. New SA averaged 24206 (SAP) or 47882 (Interpol). Sorry Columbia (sic). We still champs.”</li>
<li>“<a href="https://twitter.com/steve_hofmeyr/status/347802341459783681" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">When</a> SAP claimed 26000 murders in 96, Interpol counted 54000. A lot of bodies to lose in stats.”</li>
<li>“<a href="https://twitter.com/steve_hofmeyr/status/347801782652645376" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">There</a> is a discrepancy of 10 000 murders per year between government and MRC figures!”</li>
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Several readers asked Africa Check to investigate the accuracy of Hofmeyr’s various claims, among them that:</div>
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<li>Whites are being murdered at a rate faster than any previous period in South Africa’s history.</li>
<li>A white farmer is murdered every five days.</li>
<li>During apartheid, black-on-black violence was responsible for the majority of black homicides, with only a fractional percentage of black murders due to government forces.</li>
<li>“Whites killed by blacks since apartheid 77.3%”. This is unclear as Hofmeyr has not indicated <em>what</em> factor the percentage is of however Africa Check assumes Hofmeyr is stating 77.3% of all white homicides (since 1994) have been perpetrated by blacks.</li>
<li>The number of whites killed by blacks in South Africa is equivalent to, or more than, the number of seats at Soccer City stadium, which has a maximum seating capacity of 94,736.</li>
<li>There are significant discrepancies between murders reported by the South African Police Service and other agencies and that these discrepancies have been used to hide or obscure the “truth” about murder in South Africa.</li>
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Where does Hofmeyr get his information?</h2>
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<a href="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/hofmeyr2.jpg" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1413" height="152" src="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/hofmeyr2-300x152.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 15px 15px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Steve Hofmeyr claims the number of whites killed in "black on white violence" would fill this stadium. " width="300" /></a>Hofmeyr <a href="https://twitter.com/steve_hofmeyr/status/347796657318023168" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">declined</a> to reveal his sources to Africa Check but later <a href="https://twitter.com/steve_hofmeyr/status/347837519871762433" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">stated</a> on Twitter: “Our unpopular pie-chart is from a book by Vusi Tshabalala and merely highlites the lie of white on black genocide during Apartheid”. Africa Check has not been able to establish whether Vusi Tshabalala really exists or which publication Hofmeyr was referring to.</div>
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On various white right-wing sites, reference is made to a “Vusile Tshabalala” who supposedly wrote an article in 2001 about the “killing fields” of post-apartheid South Africa. Invariably the sites describe Tshabalala as a “journalist” and then, for emphasis, as a “black journalist”. No indication is given of where Tshabalala worked, nor does he appear to have written any other articles.</div>
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Hofmeyr’s other claims appear to stem from a 2003 <a href="http://www.frontline.org.za/Files/PDF/murder_southafrica%20(5).pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">paper</a> titled, “Murder in South Africa: a comparison of past and present”. It was written by Rob McCafferty, then a communications director for the conservative Cape Town-based lobby group, <a href="http://www.christianaction.org.za/" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">United Christian Action</a>.</div>
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McCafferty’s paper, published at the <a href="http://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/the-problem-with-south-african-criminal-justice-performance-indicators" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">peak</a> of crime levels in South Africa, appeared to offer a comprehensive survey of crime literature and subsequent analysis of crime data and trends over a period of more than five decades. There are, however, several significant flaws in the presentation and interpretation of data, some of which McCafferty acknowledged himself.</div>
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There are no “average” murders</h2>
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<img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1268" height="197" src="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/000_Par7575077-300x197.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 15px 15px; vertical-align: middle;" title="South African crime scene experts work at the scene of the shooting of a union leader who was killed inside the National Union of Mineworkers offices by two unknown gunmen, in Marikana on June 3, 2013. Photo:AFP/Stringer" width="300" />McCafferty’s paper presented a graph based on figures sourced directly from “annual police reports and CSS: Statistics of Offence annual reports” showing the total number of murders reported to the police between 1950 and 2000.</div>
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McCafferty conceded in his paper that “factors such as population growth and differentials in time periods…would make it unfair to compare this data” and pointed out that it was “not logically sound to do such comparisons”.</div>
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But McCafferty proceeded to do just that and aggregated 44 years of murder numbers (309,583 recorded murders from 1950 to 1993) to reach an “average” of 7,036 murders a year under apartheid.</div>
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He then contrasted that figure with his own aggregation of post-1994 Interpol statistics, from which he determined an annual average of 47,882 murders.</div>
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This appears to make a case for a shocking increase in homicides in the post-apartheid era. But, as we explain below, the Interpol murder statistics McCafferty used are widely regarded as inaccurate. And McCafferty’s “average” murder numbers show a very different picture when plotted against South Africa’s population figures.</div>
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Murder and other crime statistics are commonly expressed by statisticians, crime analysts and researchers as a ratio per 100,000 of the population rather than in raw numbers. McCafferty’s failure to have done so indicates exactly why this is preferred practise.</div>
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According to McCafferty’s graph, less than 2,500 murders were reported to the police in 1951. The <a href="http://www.journaids.org/images/uploads/docs/2011_IRR%20Survey_Demographics.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">census results</a> of that year indicate that the total population of South Africa at the time was 12,671,452. The “murder ratio” therefore works out at 19.73 murders for every 100,000 people.</div>
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By 1970, the total number of reported murders appeared to be approaching 7,000. With a <a href="http://www.journaids.org/images/uploads/docs/2011_IRR%20Survey_Demographics.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">population</a> of about 21,7-million, this would equate to a murder ratio of 32.12 per 100,000.</div>
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McCafferty’s graph showed that the number of homicides increased steadily from 1950. What McCafferty had not taken into account was that South Africa’s population had also steadily increased.</div>
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By 1994, SA’s murder numbers, according to McCafferty, had reached 25,000 a year. With a population of just under 40-million, this translated to a murder ratio of a 62.5. South Africa’s murder rate for all races peaked in the period during and following the transition to democracy.</div>
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However, in a <a href="http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/cvi_second_review_ch7.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">paper</a> published by the Medical Research Council, crime analyst and author Antony Altbeker found that by 2003/4 the rate had fallen to less than 43 murders per 100,000. The murder rate has continued to decline since then, dropping to 30.9 for 2011/12 according to the <a href="http://www.saps.gov.za/statistics/reports/crimestats/2012/downloads/crime_statistics_presentation.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">South African Police Service Crime Statistics Overview</a>. Significantly, given Hofmeyr’s claims, it is lower than the murder rate documented in 1970 under apartheid.</div>
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All the independent security and research experts we consulted for this report agreed that current murder figures provided by the South Africa Police Service (SAPS) should be considered accurate.</div>
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The trouble with apartheid-era data</h2>
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<img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1410" height="300" src="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/000_SAPA970130179030-249x300.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 15px 15px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Apartheid-era security policemen Captain Danie Siebert and Major Harold Snyman, who were involved in the murder of Black Consciousness Movement leader Steve Biko, are seen in this file photograph. Photo: AFP" width="249" />Both Altbeker and Mark Shaw, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies who has worked extensively with apartheid-era crime data, told Africa Check that official police figures during apartheid were not an accurate representation of national homicide rates.</div>
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Crime reports from the Bantustans – the nominally independent black “homelands“ established under the auspices of the apartheid state – were not included in South Africa’s national figures. In addition, according to Shaw, “a proportion of homicide cases among Africans were not reported or recorded” owing to the absence or lower levels of policing in the townships and rural areas.</div>
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Therefore it is probable that while white homicides during apartheid were accurately documented by the state, the number of black homicides was understated in official reports. For this reason, the “blacks killed” portions of Hofmeyr’s chart must be discounted; the data is simply not reliable enough to make any accurate findings – and the role of apartheid in creating or contributing to violence and murder in black communities is difficult to isolate.</div>
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Since 1990, race has not been listed as a category in official death records. This deliberate omission may have been intended to avoid exactly the kind of issue raised by Hofmeyr’s claims; the interpretation of raw data by non-experts to support some form of race-based conspiracy theory. In reality, however, the absence of such information has effectively perpetuated a race-crime mythology in South Africa.</div>
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It is, however, possible to gauge trends in white homicide based on older data. A 2004 <a href="http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/CQ7Thomson.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">report</a> published in the <em>SA Crime Quarterly </em>compares homicide rates across all races from 1937 to 2003. Based on this, it is clear that homicide rates for <em>all </em>races increased over this period (although they fell somewhat from 2003 onward). However, the increase in the white homicide rate began in the late 1970s and has remained <em>markedly less</em>than the increase in murder rates for all other race groups.</div>
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Murder by numbers</h2>
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<img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1267" height="199" src="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/000_Par7499107-300x199.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 15px 15px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Protesters shout as a police car drives outside the Benoni court on March 8, 2013, calling for no bail for the police officers charged with murdering Mido Macia. Photo: AFP/Alexander Joe" width="300" />A central thread of Hofmeyr’s claims relates to apparent discrepancies in South African murder statistics. Hofmeyr cites figures that appeared in McCafferty’s report which stated that “[w]hile police crime statistics show there were 21,683 murders in 2000, the [Medical Research Council] puts the figure at 32,482″. McCaffrey also stated that ”while the SAPS claims there were 26,883 murders in 1995/96, Interpol claims there were 54,298”.</div>
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In its <a href="http://www.mrc.ac.za/policybriefs/initialestimates.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">report</a> at the time, the MRC said it “notes discrepancies in the statistics concerning road traffic accident deaths and homicides which needs further investigation”. A <a href="http://www.mrc.ac.za/bod/RevisedBurdenofDiseaseEstimates1.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">revision</a> of the 2000 data was published in 2006, in which the total number of deaths was revised downwards, from 550,000 to 520,000, and the “number of injury deaths” [which include homicide and traffic accidents] was “revised down by about 10,000”.</div>
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Based on this updated information, it was <a href="http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/85/9/06-037184/en/" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">stated</a> that “[o]f the estimated 59,935 injury deaths in 2000, 46% (27,563) were homicides”. That still leaves a discrepancy of nearly 6,000 deaths.</div>
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Altbeker dealt with this specific issue in great detail in his <a href="http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/cvi_second_review_ch7.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">report</a> on murder and robbery in South Africa, in which he argued that “the MRC’s figures cannot be reliably used to refute the numbers presented by SAPS”. In short, he found that the data used to compile the MRC’s estimates had been incomplete or flawed and had yielded an inaccurate and overstated picture.</div>
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The “murder gap” between Interpol and SAPS numbers is easier to explain. Altbeker told Africa Check that Interpol combined both murder and <em>attempted</em> murder figures for South Africa, resulting in inflated numbers. This is confirmed by the <a href="http://books.google.co.za/books/about/Global_Report_On_Crime_And_Justice.html?id=ee_r5gElXWEC&redir_esc=y" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">1999 Global Report on Crime and Justice</a> published by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention. Altbeker wrote extensively about the challenges with international crime data collection and comparison in a <a href="http://www.iss.org.za/pubs/CrimeQ/No.11/Altbeker.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">separate paper</a>.</div>
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Both McCafferty and Hofmeyr’s claims about murder number discrepancies must therefore be dismissed.</div>
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<strong>White death in a time of democracy </strong></h2>
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<strong><img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1405" height="199" src="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/000_Par7391165-300x199.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 15px 15px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Three bodies lie on the ground after a shooting at the Wanderers taxi rank on November 20, 2012 in Johannesburg. Photo: AFP/Antoine de Ras " width="300" />“</strong>Whites are far less likely to be murdered than their black or coloured counterparts,” Lizette Lancaster, who manages the Institute for Security Studies crime and justice hub, told Africa Check. This is supported by an analysis of a national sample of <a href="http://www.npconline.co.za/MediaLib/Downloads/Home/Tabs/NDP%202030-CH12-Building%20safer%20communities.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">1378 murder dockets</a> conducted by police in 2009. In 86.9% of the cases, the victims were Africans. Whites accounted for 1.8% of the cases (although whites make up 8.85% of the population).</div>
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According to Lancaster official police statistics show that between April 1994 and March 2012 a total of 361 015 people were murdered in South Africa. Applying the 1.8% figure, it would mean that roughly 6,498 whites have been murdered since April 1994.</div>
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Even if there were some variation on the 1.8% figure, the number of white murder victims would still fail to come anywhere close to filling a soccer stadium. The fact is that whites are <em>less likely </em>to be murdered than any other race in South Africa. The current murder rate of white South Africans is also <em>equivalent to, or lower than, </em>murder rates for whites <a href="http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/CQ7Thomson.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">recorded</a> between 1979 and 1991.</div>
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According to the latest <a href="http://www.saps.gov.za/saps_profile/strategic_framework/annual_report/2011_2012/saps_crime_stats_report_%202011-12.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">SAPS annual report</a>, Lancaster said,“only about 16% of murders occurred during the commission of another crime, mainly aggravated robbery. About 65% of murders started off as assaults due to interpersonal arguments and fuelled by alcohol and/or drugs, result[ing] in a murder”. The vast majority of murders are, she said,“social fabric crimes often perpetrated by friends or loved ones”.</div>
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The 2012 <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0341/P03412012.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">Victims of Crime Survey</a> confirmed this assertion, stating that 16.1% of victims were “murdered by unknown people from outside their residential area” with an additional 10.9% of “murders … committed by known perpetrators outside [the victims’] residential area”, and the balance of homicides committed by community members, spouses and friends or acquaintances.</div>
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Even if the proportion of “outsider” crime was doubled for white homicide victims, this would still fall drastically short of the “77.3%” of white murders that Hofmeyr appears to claim are at the hands of black perpetrators.</div>
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<strong>Farm attacks</strong></h2>
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<img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1411" height="199" src="http://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/000_Par7435220-300x199.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 15px 15px; vertical-align: middle;" title="A private security guard walks with a dog on a grape farm in the Western Cape in January 2013. Photo: AFP/Rodger Bosch" width="300" />The interpretation of data on “farm attacks” is problematic as it relies on old police data and current, self-reported data collected and submitted by the Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa (TAUSA).</div>
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TAUSA figures for the 22 years between 1990 and 2012 state that 1,544 people were killed in farm attacks, an average of about 70 a year or one every 5.2 days. A <a href="http://navorsing.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/An-overview-of-farm-attacks-in-South-Africa-and-the-potential-impact-thereof-on-society.pdf" style="color: #702600; text-decoration: none;">report</a> by trade union Solidarity, issued in 2012, found that 88 farmers were murdered in the 2006 to 2007 financial year.</div>
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So was Hofmeyr correct in claiming that “a white farmer is slaughtered every five days”?</div>
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According to a 2003 police committee of inquiry into farm attacks, cited by Solidarity, 38.4% of farm attack victims were described as being black, coloured or Asian. TAUSA’s figures suggest that 208 (or 13.5%) of those murdered in farm attacks between 1990 and 2012 were black.</div>
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Hofmeyr’s statement that a <em>white</em> farmer is murdered every five days is therefore also incorrect. The claim would only be true if he included all farm attack victims of all races.</div>
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<strong>Conclusion – Hofmeyr’s claims are grossly incorrect</strong></h2>
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Hofmeyr’s claims are incorrect and grossly exaggerated the level of killings.</div>
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South Africa certainly has one of the highest crime rates in the world and one that is characterised by a particularly high rate of violent crime. This is not an area where degrees of comparison offer any form of comfort. South Africans are affected daily by crime.</div>
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South Africa remains gripped by its fear of crime. In the 2012 Victims of Crime Survey, about 35% of households believed that crime had increased since the previous period.</div>
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Public figures like Hofmeyr, who disseminate grossly misleading information about crime patterns, only serve to contribute to this underlying fear. In addition, such misinformation creates or entrenches existing racial divisions and perpetuates an unfounded fear and hatred of other races.</div>
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<em>Edited by Julian Rademeyer</em></div>
<span style="background-color: #f0ede7; color: #646464; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;">- See more at: http://africacheck.org/reports/are-white-afrikaners-really-being-killed-like-flies/#sthash.GGXU48RW.dpuf</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-15445562638376611652013-11-06T12:55:00.000+02:002013-11-06T12:55:07.054+02:00Goldman Sachs S.A reportHere's some interesting reading.<br />
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<a href="http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/focus-on/growth-markets/colin-coleman/20-yrs-of-freedom.pdf">http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/focus-on/growth-markets/colin-coleman/20-yrs-of-freedom.pdf</a><br />
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Highlighs include :<br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Johannesburg - Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan stretched the boundaries of patriotism yesterday and called on South Africans to be inclusive in striving for the betterment of the economy and country.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The call came as US bank Goldman Sachs released its 20-year report on the country, which pointed out past structural advances and challenges for the next two decades.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Gordhan said there was a need to move from the “me” generation to the “we” generation and he stressed the importance of sharing.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">He said South Africans must know that they were not a dismal country and there was too much despair in South Africa. “We need to inculcate in our younger people that change does not [happen] easily.”</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">He also attacked those who felt grant beneficiaries were living on taxpayers’ money. He added that they also paid taxes as they were purchasers.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">“The social grant system is sustainable now and in the future,” he said of the system that supports 16 million of the poorest in the country.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Gordhan was speaking at the launch of a report by Goldman Sachs that analyses empirically how South Africa has changed in the past 20 years.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The report, titled “Two Decades of Freedom: what South Africa is doing with it, and what needs to be done”, identifies 10 areas in which the country has made structural advances, 10 large challenges that remain to be tackled, and 10 issues that must now be addressed.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Goldman Sachs managing director Colin Coleman said the country needed to aim for a growth rate of 5 percent a year to reach a $1 trillion (R10 trillion) economy by 2030, which he said would cut unemployment and the debt burden in half.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The firm also pointed out the risk of over 1 million middle class citizens falling through the cracks by defaulting on debt.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><b><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The report says South Africa has made key structural advances since 1994:</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- Gross domestic product (GDP) has almost tripled from $136 billion to $385bn today;</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- Inflation fell from an average of 14 percent between 1980 and 1994 to an average of 6 percent between 1994 and 2012;</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- Gross gold and foreign reserves rose from $3bn in 1994 to $50bn today;</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- Tax receipts of R114bn from 1.7 million people rose to R814bn from 13.7 million;</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- In the last decade, there was a dramatic rise in the middle class, with 4.5 million consumers graduating from the lower living standards measures (LSMs) of 1-4 and a total of 10 million consumers joining the middle to higher LSMs of 5-10;</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- Social grant beneficiaries rose from 2.4 million to 16.1 million today.</span></b><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><b><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The report says South Africa is a small economy in a global context, with only 0.5 percent of world GDP. The performance of the economies of the US with a $16 trillion GDP and China with a $9 trillion GDP were central to South Africa’s economic prospects. It says South Africa achieved average GDP growth of 3.6 percent between 1994 and 2007. The report suggests that in the next 20-year period the country should aim to raise its annual growth rate to 5 percent, thereby growing the size of the economy to $1 trillion by around 2030. Such growth, if attained, would cut the unemployment rate and the debt-to-GDP ratio in half and double the GDP per capita.</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Goldman Sachs said macroeconomic, fiscal and monetary balances had improved between 1994 and 2007. Unemployment, however, remained the biggest hurdle. It remained stagnant at 25 percent from 23 percent inherited in 1994.</span></b><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The report says some other challenges are:</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- The current account deficit remains high;</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- The volatility of equity and bond flows between 1995 and mid-2007 demonstrate the vulnerability of South Africa should it rely on these flows as a major source of finance;</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- It estimates that a correction equivalent to around 2 percent of GDP is required to remove the vulnerability and to restore the external balance;</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- While South Africa needs to revitalise its export sector and bring down the current account deficit, it also needs to take aggressive steps to attract foreign direct investment; and</span><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">- The mining and labour uncertainties are unsettling the market.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-5729885778788049172013-11-06T12:40:00.002+02:002013-11-06T12:40:24.354+02:00Rooster reports on the electionsAs the local elections come close I intend to start offering my little opinions and observations once again.<br />
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The first sign that elections are close was when strolling into my local Spar in Jozi I was accosted by a group of D.A volunteers who inquired whether I was registered to vote. Now seeing as I had recently moved cities this was a good question. While I was chatting the friendly folks and awaiting my hangover avenging boerie roll I asked them why it was that I had never received my D.A membership card despite signing up and paying my fees over a month ago. They feigned, or so it seemed, disbelief and assured me something would be done to ensure I received it. I being someone never expecting much good to come from humanity didn't think twice about ever really receiving the card in the first place, hardly expected it now. Service delivery my ass.<br />
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A week later I received a phone call and to my pleasant surprise I was speaking to my local D.a council woman who inquired as to whether I had finally received my card. I answered honestly that I had no idea but was really impressed that this tiny trivial matter had been attempted to be rectified. When I got home I checked my post box and nothing had in fact been delivered...but you know what ? Still a better effort that expected. Well done the D.A.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-59244616347030420992013-11-03T10:23:00.002+02:002013-11-03T10:23:43.622+02:00Well done<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-UpzR8CCocM" width="420"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-71655837361430099692013-11-01T10:58:00.002+02:002013-11-01T10:58:45.521+02:00International watchdog : Crime in S.A at lowest levels in 15 years<a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/SA-crime-at-lowest-in-15-years-report-20131031">http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/SA-crime-at-lowest-in-15-years-report-20131031</a><br />
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Johannesburg - An international monitor has found that crime in South Africa is at its lowest level in 15 years, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Thursday.</div>
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"Violent crime is at the lowest level seen in a decade, declining some 40% between 2002 and 2013," he said in a statement.</div>
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"Property crime experienced a decrease of 24% over the same period."</div>
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The figures were contained in a report by IHS Crime Index, a US-based company said to be providing more than 165 countries with independent analysis.</div>
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Mthethwa said: "Since 1994, we have been making steady progress in the fight against crime. This period has been characterised by growing unity in action against crime, a period focused on improving life conditions for all, especially the poor."</div>
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The IHS index findings vindicated government's recently released national crime statistics, which also focused on historical trends, the minister said.</div>
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"It is gratifying that an internationally recognised, credible, and globally-respected institution has now affirmed the fact that crime is decreasing in South Africa."</div>
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Crime figures released by the SAPS last month showed a 6% rise in the number of murders in the past financial year.</div>
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However, it was down by 16.6% over the past four years, and 27.2% over the past nine years.</div>
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There was also a 6.5% increase in attempted murder in 2012/13.</div>
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This was in contrast to a 16.8% decline over the past four years and the 51.7% decline over the past nine years.</div>
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Mthethwa said on Thursday success in the fight against crime was guaranteed.</div>
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"However long the night, the dawn will break," he said.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-84073718513306778582013-10-10T14:53:00.003+02:002013-10-10T14:53:57.558+02:00Crime stats: Where murder happens in South Africa<a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2013-09-19-where-murder-happens-in-south-africa">http://mg.co.za/article/2013-09-19-where-murder-happens-in-south-africa</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #22588a; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 22px;">While many believe Jo'burg is the most dangerous city to live in, in SA, the reality is very different. Lizette Lancaster explains why.</span><br />
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Despite a lot of people thinking that Johannesburg is the most dangerous metropolitan city to live in, in South Africa, the reality is quite different. Consider that between April 2011 and March 2012, police recorded more murders in Cape Town than in Johannesburg and Pretoria combined. This means that taking population into account, Cape Town residents are almost twice (1.8 times) more likely to be murdered than Johannesburg residents.</div>
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Yet this information is potentially misleading because the likelihood of being a victim of crime depends in large part on race, gender, age, economic profile and whereabouts in a city a person lives. For example, almost two-thirds of the Cape Town murders took place in just 10 of the 60 police station precincts in the city, according to an analysis of crime hotspots we carried out at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).</div>
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For years, Mitchell's Plain experienced the highest violence and property crime rates in the country. With the recent surge in gang violence, Mitchell's Plain and surrounding areas clearly require in-depth multi-disciplinary intervention. The Cape Town residential areas of Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and Harare remain the most murderous in the peninsula, according to an analysis which takes population size into account. These areas have experienced abnormally high murder rates for more than a decade.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans Bold', sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Low-income areas most affected</span><br />Similarly, countrywide analysis of police precinct statistics suggests that income levels matter. Residents in low-income areas, the analysis shows, are far more likely to be murdered than their middle and high-income counterparts. Half of South Africa's murders occur in only 13% or 143 out of 1 127 of police precincts.</div>
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A vast majority of the average of 43 murders that take place daily do not make the news. They happen in areas where crime and violence are part of the daily despair of residents who already feel marginalised and forgotten by media and politicians. The majority of murders are not premeditated or committed as part of a crime, like a robbery, but occur when an argument leads to physical assault.</div>
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Research shows that most victims are killed by acquaintances, friends or family members during disputes overwhelmingly fuelled by alcohol and in some occasions, drug abuse. Victimisation surveys, police docket surveys and mortuary surveillance studies reveal that the most victims of murder in South Africa are young black men. And studies reveal that most murdered women are killed by their intimate partners. And that men are six times more likely to be killed than women.</div>
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People tend to focus on our national murder rate, which is four and a half times higher than the global average of 6.9 per 100 000 people. Yet, some 13% of police precincts in South Africa have murder rates below this rate. These areas include affluent ones such as Brooklyn (Pretoria), Garsfontein (Pretoria), Camps Bay, Claremont, Rondebosch (Cape Town), Edenvale and Linden (Gauteng). Meanwhile, residents of suburbs like Sandton, Parkview (Johannesburg), Durban North, Table View and Woodstock (Cape Town) and others have a murder rate of fewer than 10 per 100 000.</div>
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Over 10% of our policing precincts – more than 115 stations – have a zero murder rate. Three in four murders occur in just a quarter of the country's police station areas.</div>
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While murder is often used as the main indicator to support arguments that South Africa is a violent country, it makes up only 2.5% of all violent crime. While there were 15 609 murders last year, a total of 607 877 other violent crimes including attempted murder, rape, robbery and assault were also reported to the police. When violent crime hotspots are analysed, central business districts remain the most high-risk areas in terms of violence in general, and specifically for robberies. The clear front-runner is Johannesburg Central, followed by Durban Central, Pietermaritzburg, Cape Town Central and Pretoria Central. These areas also experience very high property crime rates.</div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans Bold', sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Social impacts of crime</span><br />Violence affects all South Africans, and the trauma of violence has lasting physical, emotional and often financial consequences.</div>
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Murder rates are driven by poverty, social ills and society's general inability to deal with daily conflict and stress in a non-violent manner. Murder should therefore be seen as a social problem which cannot be solved by policing alone.</div>
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Unfortunately, South Africa does not have a comprehensive strategy that guides government departments, civil society organisations and the public and encourages practical ways to reduce interpersonal violence. This means that the police are saddled with the problem, an impossible task for one organisation to achieve.</div>
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Violence prevention requires long-term interventions. These may not be politically exciting to sell to a crime-weary public but are more likely to yield real results in reducing violence. Interventions which focus on improving parenting skills, reducing the exposure of children to violence and building self-esteem are more likely to interrupt the cycle of violence than anything the police can do.</div>
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South Africa has a shortage of over 50 000 social workers yet almost 70 000 additional police officials have been hired over the past 10 years. It is about time that the government adjusts its approach to violence so that we don't waste another 10 years pursuing policies that will not reduce violence in our country.</div>
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Fortunately, the need for a new approach is recognised in the National Development Plan, which urges a re-think on building community safety in the medium to long term. The implementation of this plan needs to begin in earnest if thousands of lives are to be saved and the full potential of all of us living in South Africa is to be realised. – <span style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans Italic'; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This ISS article was first published on <a href="http://africacheck.org/" style="border: 0px; color: #22588a; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">africacheck.org</a></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans Italic'; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans Bold', sans-serif; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lizette Lancaster is manager of the crime and justice information hub, governance crime and justice division at ISS. </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-69264518193830145482013-08-14T11:07:00.000+02:002013-08-14T11:07:07.785+02:00Very interesting experiment...I thought I'd link to this and give it some further awareness. A white middle classed family deciding to live for a month in a South African township so see things from the other side of the spectrum.<br />
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<a href="http://mamelodiforamonth.co.za/">http://mamelodiforamonth.co.za/</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-84226822793243737252013-08-01T10:43:00.003+02:002013-08-01T10:43:40.918+02:00Progress in efforts to tackle HIVFrom <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/news/progress-in-efforts-to-tackle-hiv-1.1555372#.Ue5CA9LX_bM">http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/news/progress-in-efforts-to-tackle-hiv-1.1555372#.Ue5CA9LX_bM</a><br />
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Johannesburg - <b>South Africa is an “outstanding model” of what can be achieved in the fight against HIV and Aids, according to Michel Sidibe, executive director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV and Aids (UNAids).</b></div>
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Sidibe was in Pretoria on Monday for the release of the UNAids report, “Getting to zero: HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa”.</div>
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In the past five years there has been “extraordinary progress” in reducing HIV in Eastern and Southern Africa, including a 38 percent reduction in Aids-related deaths, according to UNAids.</div>
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Half-a-million fewer Africans died in 2011, <b>including 100 000 fewer South Africans, than in 2005</b>, when Aids claimed an estimated 1.3 million people. This is largely thanks to a tenfold increase in access to antiretroviral medicine.</div>
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In a single year – between 2011 and 2012 – an extra 1 million people in the region got access to ARVs, bringing the number of people on treatment to 6.3 million.</div>
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<b>One-third of those on ARVs are South Africans, according to UNAids.</b></div>
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<b>“In 2010, South Africa embarked on an unprecedented national campaign to provide free treatment to all eligible people living with HIV, coupled with a massive programme of testing and counselling for HIV and screening for TB,” according to UNAids.</b></div>
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<b>“During the last financial year, more than 9 million people were tested for HIV. The country currently has the largest antiretroviral treatment programme in the world, with over 2.1 million people receiving ART.”</b></div>
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A large study in KwaZulu-Natal, the province worst affected by HIV, <b>recorded an 11-year increase in life expectancy in a mere seven years (2007 to 2011).</b></div>
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<b>South Africa also managed to slash mother-to-child infection by 50 percent in two years (between 2009 and 2011)</b>, while the region managed to cut HIV infection from mothers to their newborn babies by one-third.</div>
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“Most countries in the region are within reach of the goal of eliminating new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive,” according to UNAids.</div>
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Almost three-quarters of pregnant HIV-positive women in the region had access to treatment to prevent transmission to their babies.</div>
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In the past decade, there has also been a 30 percent decline in new HIV infections, rolling the infection rate back to the level it was in 1998.<b> In South Africa, new infections among adults have dropped by 41 percent.</b></div>
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“We have made significant progress in reducing new infections among children. We should keep the momentum going,” said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.</div>
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“We need to ensure that women continue to benefit from universal access to antiretroviral treatment so that we can reduce maternal mortality. No women or baby should be left behind.”</div>
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Motsoaledi said while <b>South Africa has made progress in putting 2 million people on treatment, the aim was to reach 3.5 million people by 2015.</b></div>
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Amid progress, there are still serious weaknesses, according to UNAids. Uganda has had a 21 percent increase in new HIV infections over the past decade, while there have been minimal decreases in Lesotho and Tanzania.</div>
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In addition, less than a third of HIV-positive children are on ARVs, which is “unacceptably low”.</div>
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“The low ART coverage in children was due to countries not having proper diagnostics and proper following-up strategies for mothers with children born with HIV. But a major challenge was that there wasn’t a proper treatment regimen catering for children,” says Sidibe.</div>
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Finally, there was an estimated shortfall of $7 billion (R69bn) if all countries were to scale up to meet the HIV challenge. – Health-e News Service</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-90383868249815881622013-07-16T14:10:00.002+02:002013-08-01T10:53:14.272+02:00One month living in JHb...a few observations : Coming soon.One and half months in Johannesburg. Observations and myths dispelled.<br />
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I was on the record for years for saying that while South Africa was nothing close to the violence infested war zone certain extremists liked to pretend it was, that Johannesburg was perhaps closer to this reality.<br />
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How wrong and ignorant I was. Johannesburg was a place I used to fly in and out of. Spending at best a day or two with friends in the Northern suburbs.I considered the place to be neurotic, unfriendly, aggressive, ugly and a basket case. After a month and a half of living here I can put to bed some myths about Johannesburg that even I once myself believed.<br />
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1) Johannesburg is ugly<br />
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This is simply not true. In fact with it's leafy suburbs and fantastic infrastructure, Johannesburg is really a world class city. Like anywhere in the developing world Johannesburg obviously has some very impoverished areas but I have found absolutely no reason to travel to such an area.<br />
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2) Johannesburg is dangerous<br />
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I have yet to feel even the slightest tinge of worry about my safety in Johannesburg. In fact surprisingly to me most people I speak to report to be carefree and not drowning in neurosis about violent crime.<br />
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Continued...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-64507003570297131622013-05-21T15:23:00.001+02:002013-05-21T15:23:37.939+02:00White genocide : Fact or fictionJust read <a href="http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/White-Genocide-fact-or-fiction-20130520">this.</a> <br />
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Classic really. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-4886715312481329002013-03-06T08:31:00.001+02:002013-03-06T08:31:30.630+02:00Henke Pistorius and the reality of crime in South Africa<a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2013-03-05-oscar-pistorius-have-white-fears-gone-too-far">http://mg.co.za/article/2013-03-05-oscar-pistorius-have-white-fears-gone-too-far</a><br />
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Oscar Pistorius himself cited fear of crime to explain how he came to kill Reeva Steenkamp but it was his father who this week unleashed a political storm by bringing race to that claim.<br />
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"Some of the guns are for hunting and some are for protection, the hand guns," Henke Pistorius told Britain's Telegraph on Tuesday. "It speaks to the ANC government, look at white crime levels, why protection is so poor in this country, it's an aspect of our society."<br />
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The Pistorius family quickly sought to distance themselves from Pistorius's sentiments, the ANC reacted with anger. Outrage and condemnation rained down from far and wide. Except, perhaps, from the many white South Africans who share Henke Pistorius's belief that white people are under siege by crime and must arm and protect themselves against it.<br />
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It is a perception as common as it is wrong.<br />
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Thanks to administrative decisions to drop race from various forms, poor record-keeping and the lack of low-level crime data, it is extremely difficult to say how the impact of crime changed for white people between the end of apartheid and today. It is also, arguably, a useless comparison.<br />
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But comparing how crime affects black and white people is somewhat simpler, especially where the geographic lines that divide class still largely divide race. From those comparisons it is clear that the risk for rape, aggravated assault and robbery, as well as murder and attempted murder is considerably greater for the poor black township dweller than, say, a rich white person – and that includes an iconic Olympian and Paralympian.<br />
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According to the Institute for Security Studies, in the Boschkop area of Pretoria – where Pistorius's Silver Woods home is situated – there were 541 cases of serious assault in the past five years. Less than 10 minutes away, at one of the police stations that serves Mamelodi township, there were 2 840 similar cases reported.<br />
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In Brooklyn, the police district where Pistorius made his home after being released on bail, there were 55 murders reported over the last five years. On the other side of Pretoria, in Atteridgeville, there were 258.<br />
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Numbers indicative of race<br />
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The numbers are only indicative of race, ignoring black residents of upper-class areas and, by the same token, assuming no white people visit townships and experience crime there. But the trend holds true across police reporting districts, even where it initially seems not to.<br />
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"If you look at Milnerton in Cape Town you'll find the crime rate is high but that has both high-income areas and informal areas under it. The same is true of Honeydew [in Johannesburg]," says Lizette Lancaster, who manages the instute's crime hub.<br />
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Lancaster cautions that demographics can be hard to discern from police districts, which are still concentrated in formerly white areas, and which can serve vastly different numbers of residents. But data from other sources, which did not focus on race, showed the same discrepancy between white and black crime rates. One recent study by the Medical Research Council, drawing on reports from mortuaries rather than police statistics, found that more than 90% of gun homicide victims were black.<br />
<br />
Despite Henke Pistorius's claims, a study shows that the risk for crime is greater for the poor black township dweller than a rich white person.<br />
<br />
<br />
Black people make up slightly less than 80% of the total population.
<br />
But are white people disproportionately worried about crime, considering the high overall rate of crime and the very real danger they face?<br />
<br />
Hard metrics on perceptions of crime among different race groups, such as spending on private security measures, are badly skewed by income and perception surveys tend to be based on small, urban surveys. A notable exception was the Victims of Crime Survey by Statistics South Africa, which was last published in September 2012 and utilised data from more than 34 000 individuals.<br />
<br />
Those numbers showed white South Africans were very afraid indeed, far more so than those with more to fear.<br />
<br />
White people 50% more afraid<br />
<br />
Nearly half the white households surveyed said crime prevented them from going to parks or other open spaces. A little under a third of those surveyed said they avoided public transport due to crime and a quarter said they would not walk to shops.<br />
<br />
Black families shared the same fears but to a much lesser extent. A comparison between black and white households implied that white pople were between 50% and four times more afraid of crime than their black counterparts who lived in significantly more dangerous areas.<br />
<br />
The same survey asked individuals whether they experienced various types of crime during the previous 12 months. Among black people, 2.1% reported they had been victim to robbery, assault or a sexual attack. For white people the percentage was just a hair over 1.4%.<br />
<br />
<br />
Statistically, Oscar Pistorius may have a legitimate claim to fear of crime. But if he shares his father's sentiment that he should be afraid because he is white, then he has got it all wrong<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-9128846425155327402013-03-01T07:45:00.001+02:002013-03-01T07:45:21.654+02:00Oscar Pistorius : Blade runner and the media fuelled neurosisI'm holding back to write my opinion on ther Oscar Pistorius/Reeva Steenkamp ho-ha, but I will put down a few thoughts later over the weekend on the whole international media hijacking of the tragic incident to lay down alarmist statements about South Africa.<br />
<br />
Coming soon..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-31292557350994180662013-02-19T07:44:00.006+02:002013-02-19T07:44:58.247+02:00S.A still tops FDI in Africa<div class="first">
WHILE some analysts and stakeholders in business called
on President Jacob Zuma to help make South Africa an investment
destination of choice in his state of the nation address, others whipped
out charts and graphs this week to prove that the South African glass
is still half full.</div>
Michael Lalor, director of the Africa Business Centre at Ernst &
Young, said that <b>"contrary to current sentiment, the facts show that
South Africa is not losing ground to other investment destinations in
Africa or elsewhere".</b><br />
<br />
According to Ernst & Young's new report on repositioning the
South African investment case, this perception became apparent in
reports and commentary after a United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development World Investment survey showing that foreign direct
investment (FDI) shrank between 2009 and 2010.<br />
Factors such as the nationalisation debate, events in the mining
sector and South Africa's credit downgrade fuelled this. Then came The
Economist magazine's "Cry, the beloved country" cover story in October,
declaring that South Africa is doomed to go down as the rest of Africa
goes up.<br />
<br />
<b>However, Mr Lalor said in a survey of 503 business leaders in 38
countries, done for Ernst & Young's new Africa Attractiveness
report, 41% said they regard South Africa as the most attractive country
in which to do business. Nigeria, often touted as the country that will
surpass South Africa as Africa's leading economy, was ranked number one
by only 6% of the respondents.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Looking at numbers, Mr Lalor pointed out that the number of FDI
projects into South Africa grew by a compound annual rate of 28.7%
between 2007 and 2011. FDI capital invested in South Africa grew by
24.7% compared to 1% in Nigeria.</b><br />
<br />
"In relative terms South Africa is still stacking up very well
against any other African economy that may be considered as
competition," Mr Lalor said.<br />
<br />
"The perception and the numbers tells us that FDI into South Africa in growing."<br />
<br />
Mr Lalor said South Africa is also among the highest-ranked emerging markets on Ernst & Young's emerging market risk index.<br />
<br />
It considers factors like the quality of governance, levels of democracy and the strength of the institutional environment.<br />
<br />
Audit, tax and advisory consultancy Grant Thornton also released
research this week that shows things are not as bad in South Africa as
they are often made out to be.<br />
<br />
According to the report on the firm's emerging market opportunity
index, South Africa is the only African economy ranked in the top 15
emerging economies worldwide and is still the African leader in terms of
potential investment.<br />
<br />
"Although recent events in the mining sector have hurt our county's
reputation as a destination of choice for FDI, there are significant
benefits that continue to attract investors," Grant Thornton South
Africa's chairman Deepak Nagar said.<br />
<br />
The Grant Thornton report highlights South Africa's location, the
financial system, the JSE and the country's infrastructure as the key
benefits and attractions to investors.<br />
<br />
Ernst & Young also highlighted the growing working age
population, natural resources, macroeconomic stability, the diversified
economy and the National Development Plan as factors counting in South
Africa's favour.<br />
<br />
From yahoo news. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-68650325040201567592013-02-10T16:01:00.003+02:002013-02-10T16:01:53.456+02:00Tourism<ul>
<li>The <b>number of tourists visiting South Africa</b> has grown from 3.9million in 1994 to <b>11.3 million in 2010. </b>South Africa is ranked among the <b>top 5 countries in the world</b> in respect of <b>tourism growth</b> (growing at 3 times the global average).</li>
<li>SA ranks<b> 24th </b>in terms of<b> tourist arrivals </b>at 11.3 million (France 79 million, UK 28 million, Switzerland 8.5 million, India 5.2 million). (Economist)</li>
<li>Cape Town was named the <b>top tourist destination in the world</b> in the 2011 Traveler’s Choice Destinations awards.</li>
<li>OR Tambo airport is the <b>best airport in Africa</b>, according to
the World Airport Awards 2010/11. It was also in the top 3 most
improved airports in the world for the same period.</li>
<li>27 South African beaches were awarded Blue Flags, an international
indicator of high environmental standards for recreational beaches in
2010.</li>
<li>South Africa is ranked 66th out of 139 in the World Economic Forums <i><b>Travel and Tourism Competitiveness</b> Report 2010/11.</i></li>
<li>According to<i> CNNGo (CNN's Travel Website),</i> Cape Town is the 9th most loved city in the world in 2012.</li>
<li>TripAdvisor has named <b>Boulders Beach</b> as one of its<b> top 10</b> truly unique beaches in the world 2012.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226267430376629917.post-57408218618571514252013-02-08T09:04:00.006+02:002013-02-08T09:05:11.112+02:00Fun facts for the day : economyI'm taking these from <a href="http://here./">http://www.sagoodnews.co.za</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>In 2012, at 5.5%, South African <b>interest rates</b> were at a <b>30-year low.</b></li>
<li><b>South African Tax Revenue</b> has increased from R100 billion in 1994 to <b>R742.7 billion in 2011-12</b>.</li>
<li>South Africa’s <b>debt to</b> <b>GDP ratio is 32%</b> (USA 100%, Japan 200%, UK 90%). The World Bank recommends a ratio of 60%.</li>
<li>SA ranks <b>1st</b> among upper middle-income economies in the World Bank “<i>Connecting to Compete 2012: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy</i>” report. Overall, <b>SA ranks 23 out of 155 countries</b> included in the Logistics Performance Indicators (LPI). Its main competitor on the African continent, Nigeria, is ranked 121.</li>
<li>South Africa sold <b>$1.8 billion worth of cars to the US </b>in 2010, putting us ahead of Sweden and Italy as suppliers to the US market. <a href="http://www.sagoodnews.co.za/#" id="_GPLITA_2" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Click to Continue > by Browse to Save">Car</a> sales are projected to grow 10% in 2011 to 460,000 units.</li>
<li>South Africa <b>exported 36.9% more vehicles</b> in 2010 than 2009.</li>
<li>The South African <b><a href="http://www.sagoodnews.co.za/#" id="_GPLITA_0" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Click to Continue > by Browse to Save">stock market</a> rose 16.09%</b> in 2010, <a href="http://www.sagoodnews.co.za/#" id="_GPLITA_3" style="text-decoration: underline;" title="Click to Continue > by Browse to Save">ranking</a> 8th out of the G20 nations and <b>ahead of all of the G7 countries</b> (<i>Bespoke Investment Group</i>).</li>
<li>South Africa is ranked <b>1st</b> out of 142 countries in respect of <b>regulation of security exchanges</b> according to the <i>World Economic Forum Global Competetiveness Report 2011/12</i></li>
<li>South Africa is ranked <b>1st</b> in respect of <b>auditing and reporting</b>, according to the <i>Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12.</i></li>
<li>South Africa ranks <b>1st</b> out of 60 countries in the Economist’s <b>House Price index</b> for the period 1997 – 2009.</li>
<li>South Africa's <b>banks rank 2nd</b> in the world for soundness, according to the <i>Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12.</i></li>
<li>The South African Rand was the <b>second best performing currency against the US Dollar</b> between 2007 and 2011, according to <i>Bloomberg’s Currency Scorecard</i>.</li>
<li>SA ranked <b>1st</b> in <b>Platinum </b>output, <b>2nd</b> in <b>Palladium </b>output, <b>3rd</b> in <b>Gold </b>output, <b>6th</b> in <b>Coal </b>output and <b>9th</b> in <b>wool</b> output. (Economist) </li>
<li>SA is ranked <b>2nd</b> out of 183 countries for<b> good practice in protecting both borrowers and lenders</b> when obtaining credit for business (<i>World Bank Doing Business Report 2011</i>)</li>
<li>SA is ranked <b>3rd</b> in the world for <b>protection of minority shareholders interests</b>, according to the <i>Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12.</i></li>
<li>South Africa ranked <b>6th</b> in <b>house price improvement </b>indices as a % change in 2009, and <b>1st</b> as a <b>% change </b>1999/2009. (Economist).</li>
<li>SA is ranked <b>10th </b>out of 142 countries for <b>Strength of Investor Protection</b>, according to the <i>Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12.</i></li>
<li>SA is ranked <b>10th</b> out of 183 countries for <b>good practice in protecting investors in business</b>. (<i>World Bank Doing Business Report 2011</i>).</li>
<li>South Africa ranks <b>7th</b> out of 45 countries in the "<b>Big Mac Index 2012</b>". The price of a Big Mac is 42% less in South Africa than in the USA. In Switzerland and Norway, it is 62% more.</li>
<li>South Africa is ranked <b>12th out of a total of 134 economies </b>in the World Economic Forum’s <i>Global Gender Gap Report 2010</i>, ahead of many developed nations, including, the UK (15th), United States (19), Canada (20), Australia (23) and France (46).</li>
<li>South Africa ranked <b>15th</b> in terms of "<b>largest deficits</b>" but as a percentage of GDP is not in the top 40 countries. (Economist).</li>
<li>The JSE ranks <b>16th</b> in terms of "<b>largest market capitalisation</b>" and <b>19th</b> in terms of <b>largest gains</b>. (Economist)</li>
<li>SA is ranked <b>23rd out of 81 countries</b> in the Jones Lang LaSalle's <b>"World's most Transparent Real Estate Markets"</b>
placing it well ahead of China, Brazil, India and Russia. "Robust
governance, strong auditing and a developed legal system" were cited as
the main reasons for leading the developing markets in this rating.</li>
<li>South Africa ranks <b>24th</b> out of 192 countries in the <i>Economist’s</i> "<b>Largest Gold Reserves</b>" Index and <b>30th</b> in terms of official <b>US$ reserves.</b></li>
<li>In a survey of 192 countries, South Africa’s <b>unemployment as a percentage of economically active population</b> ranked <b>27th</b>.</li>
<li>SA ranks <b>28th</b> in terms of <b>number of cars produced </b>and <b>18th</b> in terms of <b>number of cars sold</b>. (Economist).</li>
<li>South Africa is <b>ranked 34th </b>out of 183 countries <b>for ease of doing business</b> according to <i>Doing Business 2011</i>, a joint publication of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.</li>
<li>South Africa ranks <b>41st</b> out of 192 countries in the <i>Economist’s</i> "<b>Biggest Exporters</b>" Index.</li>
<li>South Africa ranked <b>50th </b>out of 142 countries in the World Economic Forum’s <i>Global Competitiveness Report 2011/12,</i> up from 54th in 2010/11.</li>
<li>South Africa ranks <b>54th</b> in a comparison of the overall tax burden of 150 countries worldwide.</li>
<li>South Africa ranks in the top 20 countries for <b>agricultural output.</b></li>
<li>According to a survey of 62 countries by the World Bank and the IMF, South Africa has the <b>36th highest foreign debt</b>, ahead of the US, Japan and all the European countries surveyed. The economist ranks South Africa 29th out of 60.</li>
<li>South Africa is placed <b>14th</b> in a list of 21 countries ranked by international companies as <b>top prospective investment destinations</b> for 2012 to 2014, according to the 2012 World Investment Report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). </li>
<li><b>MTN has been ranked Africa’s most valuable brand</b> in the <i>BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2012 survey</i>. MTN becomes the first and only African brand to make the list, debuting at position 88 in the world.</li>
<li>The <b>number of mines</b> in South Africa had increased from 993 in 2004 to <b>almost 1,600</b> in 2011 <i>(Business Day)</i></li>
<li><b>Associated revenue</b> generated from <b>mining</b> grew from R98bn in 2004 to <b>R370bn</b> by the end of 2011 <i>(Business Day)</i></li>
<li><b>Employment</b> in the <b>mining industry</b> grew from just under 449,000 in 2004 to a little above<b> 530,000 </b>in June 2012 <i>(Business Day)</i></li>
<li>South Africa ranked <b>6th</b> best out of 24 countries in the <b>Contact Center World rankings</b> for 2012, up from 9th in 2011.</li>
<li>South Africa is the winner of the National Outsourcing Association’s (NOA’s) <b>Offshoring Destination of the Year Award 2012</b></li>
</ul>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2