South Africa's Killing Fields

South Africa Uncensored ^ | January 15, 2002

[TopQuark]

Piet Retief. - January 15, 2002 - Werner Weber, chairman of the Action Stop Farm Attacks organisation and his family, were ambushed on his farm outside Piet Retief on Sunday upon their return from church.

The family fled while five bullets ripped into their car, fired by attackers wearing military uniforms.

Weber thus became another of South Africa's terrifying farm attacks statistics -- which have already killed at least 1,249 farmers and family members since 1994,  in more than 6,000 attacks; reduced the country's food production by more than half and cost job losses of more than 250,000  in the farming sector alone. 

It has also been noted that all this year's farm attacks have thus far been ambushes on Sundays against Afrikaner farm families returning from church -- and that all the victims since Janaury 1, 2002 also have been Afrikaners: 

• Mrs Martie van Heerden, 63, of the farm Samaria near Villa Nora, Northern Province, was shot in the back with a .303 hunting rifle by two men this past Sunday, upon her return from church. She is recovering in hospital. 
•  The Sunday before, Mrs San van den Heever, 71, was killed inside her homestead near Tzaneen. Two men, Peter Letsoalo (24) and Eric Mkansi (28),of Ritavi, appeared in the local magistrate's court on Monday. They were not asked to plead and were remanded for a bail hearing to Friday. The two arrested men were no previously known to their victim.
• Also killed on a Sunday were Arthur and Isobel Smith of a smallholding in Sundra.

[TopQuark]

FYI

[A CA Guy]

African's have been killing each other through tribal warfare and genocide for a long time now.

Going against these farmers and property owners is a temporary diversion and they will go back to killing each other and selling each other into slavery which actually also still happens to this day!

Africa seems a hell hole!

[Rain-maker]

Lest ye not forget female genital mutilation and raping virgins to cure AIDS.

These folks are in serious need of education....barbaric practices don't feed the children.

[Rain-maker]

Africa seems a hell hole!

Funny how some of the most fertile ground on the planet and the origin of Eden has turned into the armpit or arsehole of the planet...

[A CA Guy]

They are among the most backwards civilizations on earth.

[LenS]

Isn't that the real problem? Geography and climate have made civilizations few and far between south of the Sahara. The conquests and colonizations of the late 19th century were, sadly, a major step forward for this region. European barbarians took centuries to civilize. It's only been a bit more than a century in Africa. Still, the pressures of the rest of the world will force improvements at a historically faster rate than occurred in Europe. It just will seem slow to us since we measure events in decades, not centuries or millenia.

[nopardons]

South Africa was settled by WHITES , more than THREE HUNDRED years ago. The Zulus, were much more " civilized " than the other tribes. The Xhosa, whom the Zulus brought into the region as slaves , long AFTER the Afrikaners came to S.A., are the majority of the ANC, who is now running South Africa. The Afrikaners tried to educate ALL of the blacks. Many resisited it, after Mandela made an impossible to fulfill request, which, in turn, led to the burning down of schools, and a generation of ill educated / not educated/ partially educated , now adults.

No, those people will NOT quickly be " civilized " If anything, they are reverting to Stone Age tribalism, varnished heavily with COMMUNISM ! The educated and civilized blacks, are fleeing, in large numbers.

[A CA Guy]

Israel was all sand and they made a treasure out of it.

[nopardons]

Please ping me, for ALL South Africa threads. Thanks.

[A CA Guy]

Yep, I wonder if they celebrate Kwansa? LOL

[nopardons]

They do NOT practice Pharonic circumcison ( female genital mutilation ) in South Africa.

It really WOULD help, IF you only wrote about what you knew something about. Things are bad enough, as it is, in S.A., WITHOUT you spreading lies.

[nopardons]

Absolutely NO blacks, celebrate Kwanzaa , in South Africa ! They haven't even heard of it, and would NOT understand the Swahilli ! LOL

[Rain-maker]

Read up, before posting misinformation. Where do you get off by proclaiming fiction as fact and telling me I have errored?!!!
Back it up wIth links big mouth!

click

click more

[SauronOfMordor]

Excuse me, but I've read both your links, and neither mention female circumcision in SA. The first talks about MALE circumcision in SA, the other talks about female circumcision, but I see no mention of South Africa in the list of countries

[nopardons]

Do you have a reading comprehension problem, or are you just looking for a flame war ?

Your first link is about MALE CIRCUMCISION ! Yes, the Xhosa ( and just how much do you even know about that tribe ? ) do perform MALE circumcision as a rite of passage. THEY ARE NOT MUSLIMS , AND THEY DO NOT PERFORM FEMALE CICRCUMCISION! Yet YOU posted that FEMALE CIRCUMCISON was perfomed in South Africa, and I corrected you.

You didn't like that, so you FREEPmailed me and called me a " WANKER " , which means MASTURBATOR , and is NOT something with which one usually demeams a woman with. You are mannerless , incivil, juvenile, and your so called " facts" are WRONG !

Nowhere , in your second link, is South Africa mentioned as a place, where Pharonic circumcision is performed, and for GOOD reason. IT ISN'T !

Now, back off , newbie, and do NOT attempt to tell those of us, who actually know about what we are talking about , that we don't. You want to play this game, do you ? Well, them do tell us ALL , and I do mean ALL about South Africa; from your own PERSONAL experiences , and NOT from some on line site.

[Rain-maker]

Keep reading...uncivilized vulgarities are so you will comprehend. Don't tell me about S.A when i lived there for 14 years wanker!

[sarcasm]

South Africa's currency hitting historic lows

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Renowned for its safaris, bustling black townships and new democracy, South Africa is now earning a new, somewhat dubious distinction as one of the cheapest countries in the world.

Consider this: Big Macs cost less here than any other place on the planet - 82 cents. You can dine on a three-course steak dinner at one of Johannesburg's top restaurants for less than $10. A bottle of vintage wine (with a cork, not a twist top) will set you back as little as $3. A ticket to a movie is $2.50.

The prices are good news only to tourists. Among South Africans, you won't hear many celebrations because what's driving down prices is the weakening South African currency, the rand. The buying power of 43 million South Africans has diminished, pushing prices of even the most basic items out of reach of many.

Once one of the world's most-respected currencies, the rand is plummeting to its lowest levels in history against the dollar, the British pound and the euro. And no one can quite explain why.

In 1990, when Nelson Mandela was freed from prison, one dollar bought 2.5 rand. A dozen years later, a dollar buys nearly 12 rand. Since September, the rand has experienced one of its sharpest declines, losing 40 percent of its value against the dollar. In December, it hit a new low of 13.85 to one dollar, before recovering to its current level.

Based on The Economist magazine's annual Big Mac index, South Africa has one of the world's most undervalued currencies. The index compares the price of the McDonald's hamburger around the world as a measure of the buying power of domestic currencies. A Big Mac in South Africa costs 82 cents, nearly 70 percent less than in the United States, where the average price is $2.59.

"The falling rand, when looked at in the context of the Big Mac index, makes South Africa arguably one of the cheapest destinations in the world in pound and dollar terms," said Owen Leed, chief marketing director for South African Tourism, who is hoping the less-valuable rand will draw more visitors to South Africa this year.

There is more than cheap burgers to attract visitors. At Johannesburg's exclusive Butcher Shop & Grill, where diners must book a table one week in advance and no one under 14 is allowed, a three-course meal of snails, the most expensive steak on the menu and a Caesar salad is just $9.94. Wash it all down with a bottle of merlot for another $5.60.

Prices are so low that it is not uncommon to see tourists laugh when they receive a bill here. A Johannesburg newspaper recently featured a story about foreign tourists, shocked by the favorable exchange rate, leaving huge tips at bars and restaurants.

But for South Africans who are not waiters or bartenders, the sharp and steady decline of their money has been a disaster.

Imported fuel and agricultural products are driving up transportation and food costs. One of the hardest-hit items is maize meal, a cornmeal that is cooked into a thick paste called pap, a staple in most black households. The price of the meal has shot up more than 100 percent in the past year, partly due to the rand's slide. The price of bread has also increased.

"We used to buy bread for one rand a loaf. Now it's almost four rand. We can't afford it," says Cyprian Mathole, 47, a day worker living in Johannesburg. He said he has given up smoking to help save money.

Middle-class South Africans planning trips abroad are discovering that they cannot afford to buy dollars, pounds or euros.

Under pressure to save the ailing currency, President Thabo Mbeki is launching a commission this week to investigate what is causing the rand's slide.

Pressure for an investigation came from the business community, afraid the weak rand would lead to higher interest rates and inflation. In a letter to Mbeki this month, the head of the South African Chamber of Business alleged that people and organizations had used "dubious financial methods and instruments" to manipulate the rand for their own profit.

Economists, however, remain puzzled about what caused the currency to lose value. The last time the rand nose-dived so steeply was in 1986, when South Africa was wracked by anti-apartheid protests and nearly defaulted on its debt repayments. In contrast, South Africa has been calm and stable in recent years. By all measures, the country is financially sound, analysts say.

Some economists blame the problem on nervousness after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the debt crisis in Argentina, currency speculators, and political and economic turmoil in neighboring Zimbabwe.

Many observers say they doubt the commission will root out a culprit because there might not be one. "If there is anything to be uncovered, they will uncover it. But it's a big if," said Merton Dagut, a professor of economics at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

"I don't think that it's criminal. It may be immoral in some sense. I think the underlying problem is that the currency is weak because confidence in the country is weak," Dagut said. "You don't need a commission of inquiry to discover that."

Many observers agree with that assessment. An editorial this week in the Daily Mail & Guardian newspaper concluded: "Our impression is that the appointment of the commission satisfies government's penchant for conspiracy theories. It is easier to appoint such a probe than to address the fundamental reason for the rand's decline - a lack of confidence in South Africa, some of it based on ignorance and prejudice."

Many analysts believe South Africa's economy suffers because of the country's crime rate and high number of AIDS cases, and the government's slow pace in privatizing many state-run industries.

In an interview this week with the Financial Mail, South Africa's main business magazine, South Africa Treasury Director-General Maria Ramos suggested something else: that South Africa, like the continent, might still be dogged by racism.

"Nobody expects African countries to do the right thing, to do well," she said. "Virtually every other emerging-market economy has bigger problems, but they are not subjected to the same skepticism."

[Rain-maker]

Daily Mail&Guardian: Female genital mutilation shadow falls on SA '); //--> '); //-->

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Johannesburg, South Africa. September 10, 1999   Not my daughter: Somalian refugee Rooksana, who underwent genital 'circumcision' when she was seven, is adamant that her four-year-old daughter won't suffer the same mutilation photo: ruth motau Female genital mutilation shadow falls on SA The number of women with genital mutilations visiting South African government hospitals is steadily increasing. KHADIJA MAGARDIE reports A NY memory Rooksana has of her "circumcision" at the age of seven is blurred. All she remembers is two pairs of strong arms forcibly holding her legs apart. But what she does remember is her wedding night when she was 14 years old. This was when, as is customary, her husband forced his penis into a hole the size of the head of a matchstick ... Every year, millions of girls and women are subjected to genital mutilation, most of them in Africa although it happens in Asia as well. And as the ever-increasing number of immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers spill into South Africa, the shadow of this custom follows. Rooksana is a refugee from Somalia who has lived in Fordsburg, Johannesburg, for about four years. As more and more women join the diaspora, South African doctors are struggling to deal with such "anatomically different" women. According to Dr Trudy Smith of the obstetrics and gynaecology unit at Johannesburg hospital, the numbers of mutilated women coming to government hospitals for ante-natal care is, though not of alarming proportions, steadily increasing. And though it is not obligatory reading in the formal curriculum just yet, trainee doctors are being taught how to deal with obstetric and gynaecological complications as a result of mutilation. The usual definition of the practice as "circumcision" is misleading, Smith says. "Whilst male circumcision -- a mere removal of the foreskin of the penis -- makes physiological sense, to cut a woman and call it circumcision makes no sense whatsoever." For a "circumcised" woman childbirth is extremely complicated. For one, Smith says, it is virtually impossible for doctors to perform internal examinations on labouring women. This can have grave consequences for the life of the foetus as well as the mother. Doctors also have to deal with the negative attitude many "circumcised" women have towards caesarean births. "They see it as a sign of weakness," Smith says; and would rather endure a long and painful labour than be judged "less of a woman". However, the option of a caesarean is a luxury not available in the societies from which some of the women come. For some, the fear of a painful childbirth in the future puts them off sex completely. According to Smith, the complications that arise from an obstructed labour could have near fatal consequences. She recalls a "circumcised" patient who had to undergo serious surgery to repair an acute case of necrosis -- a rotting of the area between the vagina and the rectum. Infection in the "circumcised" area, she says, left a gaping hole. A number of horror stories abound regarding mutilation -- about virgins being "opened up" with kitchen knives on their wedding night; of widows being sewn closed again until another man is found for them. The procedure has extremely serious consequences for the physical, psychological and emotional well-being of women. In most cases the procedure is condoned by mothers, who despite knowing the suffering they endured, continue to perform it on their daughters. Though there is a variety of interpretations regarding the exact origins of female genital mutilation, the common thread running through societies which advocate and practise it is that women who are "uncircumcised" are "unclean". Many women who have been led to believe the practice is in their favour justify it on the grounds that it keeps their sexuality in check, and stops them from "running after the men". There are different types of mutilation, but most serve to severely inhibit, if not totally eradicate, the sexual response of women.  RELATED ARTICLES MSF denies 'pragmatic approach' to genital mutilation August 27 1999 Aid staff caught up in mutilation rites August 23 1999 Ban on female circumcision backfires February 1999 Sierra Leone won't budge on female circumcision January 22 1997  CYBERSPACE Female Genital Mutilation Network and Message Board The FGM Research Homepage World Health Organization: Female Genital Mutilation Amnesty International: Female genital mutilation  TALK TO US Can "culture" be used as an excuse not to act against barbaric practices? What do you think? Mail the editor This act of suppressing female sexuality has been commonly attributed to religion -- the Islamic faith in particular. This has served to give it a measure of credibility in the eyes of an often, but not necessarily, uneducated population. In reality, the Qur'an, makes no mention of it whatsoever. Those who justify it on religious grounds make use of a weak and unsubstantiated hadith or tradition of the Prophet Muhammad. In the narration, Muhammad is said to have commented favourably on the practice. There are two forms of female genital mutilation commonly practiced. The first, known as a clitoridectomy, involves the partial or whole removal of the clitoral hood. Given that the sole function of this organ is to enhance female sexual pleasure, the motive is clear. Unfortunately, the majority of women, like Rooksana, endure the second type -- known as Fir'auni. This involves the hacking away of all visible sexual organs of the female, such as the clitoris and the labia (tissue surrounding the vagina). This is carried out with razors and other unsterilised instruments, and the wound is sewn together with cotton, catgut and even acacia thorns. A small hole is then left as an outlet for a combination of urine, menstrual flow and childbirth. Rooksana not only had to endure being "opened up" on her wedding night; she had to endure a traumatic childbirth three times. Each time, she recalls, "they cut me … and sewed me up again". Luckily for her, the trauma of "re-sewing" ended when she had her third child, in a South African hospital. Rooksana's four-year-old daughter Muna stares intently at the pain etched in her mother's face as she describes her ordeal. She, unlike millions of other girl children in her native Somalia, will not have her childhood brutally cut away at a tender age. Rooksana and her husband are adamant that their daughter will never undergo the procedure. Because, as Rooksana's husband Sa'eed says: "I have seen my wife suffer." According to Sa'eed, many men in countries practising female mutilation will refuse to marry an uncircumcised girl. The issue of mutilation has been taken up by human rights activists but is mired in cultural sensitivity. It is in the name of culture that some humanitarian agencies have adopted a laissez faire attitude to the problem. One cannot, they assert, interfere with a people's culture. However, recognizing the brutality of the conditions under which female mutilation is carried out, they have chosen the "practical" approach. This asserts that, while the practice cannot be eradicated totally, the least that can be done is to ensure that it takes place in hygienic and as painless circumstances as possible. This, according to Smith, is akin to telling a drug addict: "If you must use drugs, make sure you use a clean needle." The custom is no longer something that happens to a people "far away". The maPulana tribe in Mpumalanga, hardly foreign, is just one of several indigenous communites practising female mutilation. Can "culture" be used as an excuse not to act against barbaric practices? What do you think? -- The Mail & Guardian, September 10, 1999. about the writer-->

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