White genocide in South Africa: the facts

by Kevin King

In response to an article on News24, White Genocide, fact or fiction?, I’d like to separate fact from fiction.

The definition of genocide

“The international legal definition of the crime of genocide is found in Articles II and III of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

Article II describes two elements of the crime of genocide:

1. the mental element, meaning the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such”, and
2. the physical element which includes five acts described in sections a, b, c, d and e.  A crime must include both elements to be called “genocide.”
   1. Killing members of the group;
   2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
      1. includes inflicting trauma on members of the group through widespread torture, rape, sexual violence, forced or coerced use of drugs, and mutilation.
   3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
   4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
   5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Protected Groups

A national group means a set of individuals whose identity is defined by a common country of nationality or national origin.

An ethnical group is a set of individuals whose identity is defined by common cultural traditions, language or heritage.

A racial group means a set of individuals whose identity is defined by physical characteristics.

A religious group is a set of individuals whose identity is defined by common religious creeds, beliefs, doctrines, practices, or rituals.

Key Terms

The crime of genocide has two elements:   intent and action.  “Intentional” means purposeful.  Intent can be proven directly from statements or orders.  But more often, it must be inferred from a systematic pattern of coordinated acts.

Intent is different from motive.  Whatever may be the motive for the crime (land expropriation, national security, territorial integrity, etc.), if the perpetrators commit acts intended to destroy a group, even part of a group, it is genocide.

The phrase “in whole or in part” is important.  Perpetrators need not intend to destroy the entire group.  Destruction of only part of a group (such as its educated members, or members living in one region) is also genocide.  Most authorities require intent to destroy a substantial number of group members – mass murder.  But an individual criminal may be guilty of genocide even if he kills only one person, so long as he knew he was participating in a larger plan to destroy the group.”

Size does not matter

The author starts off by saying “If 70 000 whites were murdered by blacks since 1994, it could have indeed been close to a genocide”.  He then goes on to dispute this number, however size is irrelevant.

According to the definition of genocide, “an individual criminal may be guilty of genocide even if he kills only one person, so long as he knew he was participating in a larger plan to destroy the group [or part of a group]”

Intention to commit genocide

The definition clearly states that there are two ways to prove intent:   “from statements or orders” or “inferred from a systematic pattern of coordinated acts”.

The question of whether there is a presence of a systematic pattern of coordinated acts to commit genocide is highly debatable and difficult to prove.  Perpetrators of genocide are more likely to commit this crime covertly.  In a country like South Africa, the most violent country on earth, it is easy to hide the intent of committing genocide, xenophobia and homophobia under the cover of normal crime because of our high crime rates.  And if a genocidal plan was proven without a shadow of a doubt, the country would surely and immediately enter a stage of civil war and the economy would collapse, something which the perpetrators would strive to avoid.

On the other hand, proving intent from statement or orders is far less debatable.  High-ranking public officials making statements like “Kill the Boer”, “Shoot the Boer” or “One Bullet, One Farmer” can easily be interpreted as an order to commit genocide.  “Shoot the Boer” was found by the courts to be hate speech.  Hate speech incites violence.  According to the international definition of genocide:

“Article III:  The following acts shall be punishable:

1. Genocide;
2. Conspiracy to commit genocide;
3. Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
4. Attempt to commit genocide;
5. Complicity in genocide. “

Firstly, put your objective hat on.  Now consider the following:  A public figure making a public statement to “Shoot the Boer” or “Kill the Boer” sounds very much like a direct and public incitement to commit genocide.  You don’t need to commit genocide to be guilty of genocide and punishable under the 1948 convention.  But, however factual my findings are or no matter how much sense it makes, I’m a million percent sure that I will get responses like:   “That song is a cultural thing”, “Nobody takes these people seriously”, “Those phrases are misunderstood.” etc.  Hypothetically, let’s say you are right and these statements were not deliberately made to incite genocide and there is no organised plan to commit genocide.   Let’s go back to the definition of genocide:

“an individual criminal may be guilty of genocide even if he kills only one person, so long as he knew he was participating in a larger plan to destroy the group”

It only takes ONE individual to kill ONE person, if that individual knew he was participating in a larger plan to destroy the people.  That means that if only ONE individual interprets a statement like “Shoot the Boer” by his commander and chief for instance, to be an order to commit genocide and acts on it, that individual will be guilty of committing genocide, plain and simple.  Let’s look at a case study:

Case study – Helen and Alice Lotter

Free State farmers protesting against the gruesome ethnic murder on Helen and Alice Lotter

Mrs Helen Lotter, 57, and her bedridden mother Alice, 76.  Tortured to death with broken beer bottles in their anuses and vaginas – the attack had been so horrendous that the post-mortem examiner was unable to find any of Helen Lotter’s sexual organs at all; her breasts were partially cut off and broken bottle-shards were inserted in her vagina and anus as part of the hours of torture she and her mother Alice had endured –her cervix and uterus were completely shredded.  The mother’s front teeth were bashed out; her entire body was ‘covered in bruises, chafing and stabbing wounds. Her sexual parts were mutilated extensively also internally.  The old farm woman had died due to ‘asphyxiation after breathing in blood from penetrating stabbing wounds in her neck and throat’.  They were then both left to die.  Mrs Helen Lotter’s death-bed confession identified the killers as a gardener, Joseph Hlongwane, 22 who had only started working for them a few months earlier, and an associate Joseph Khumalo, 21.  The forensic DNA and fingerprint evidence confirmed Helen Lotter’s death-bed confession. “Kill the Boer” had been daubed in the women’s blood on the farmhouse walls.

ANC mayor, Mrs Mataba Leeto led an anti-Boer protest at the law court where the trial was held.  They chanted genocidal hate-speech songs such as ‘Kill the Boer, kill the Farmer’ in support of the two killers’ getting bail.  Mrs Leeto has not been put on public record as expressing any kind of sympathy nor outrage over the way the two Lotter women had been tortured to death.   Instead, she led a group which was protesting against the ‘racism’ of local Afrikaner residents who had held a ‘re-enactment’ of the way in which the women were tortured to death to illustrate the community’s deep anger. Both men were found guilty and sent to prison.

According to the definition of genocide, a crime can only be called genocide if both elements of Article II are present:

1. the mental element, meaning the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such”, and
2. the physical element which includes five acts described in sections a, b, c, d and e.

Mental element

Intent to destroy can be proven directly from statements or orders.  In this case the statement “Kill the Boer” can be linked directly to the crime and can be interpreted as an order.

In whole or in part: perpetrators need not intend to destroy the entire group, an individual criminal may be guilty of genocide even if he kills only one person, so long as he knew he was participating in a larger plan to destroy the group.  In this case two individuals killed two people, and by providing evidence for intention, “Kill the Boer”, their actions infer that in their minds, they were acting out on a larger plan to destroy a group.

A national, ethnical, racial or religious group:  In this case the perpetrators acted on the Afrikaner ethnic group specifically, as proven with their words “Kill the Boer”.

Physical element

In this case we had the killing members of the group.  On top of that, the crime included torture, rape, sexual violence and mutilation which are synonymous with genocide.

Conclusion

There are indicators that genocide could be happening on a larger scale, for example, widespread rape, torture and executions of Afrikaners on their farms, with perpetrators stealing few or no valuables.  However the existence of an organised plan to commit genocide is unknown and will be extremely difficult to prove.  Regardless, individuals can be perpetrators of genocide by definition.  In the above case study, the evidence provided is clear.  If you debate me on this case, at best you prove that this case is a racist hate crime, which I’m afraid is not much worse than genocide.  And before I’m accused of being right-winged, let me make myself clear – There are racists in every race on earth, racist hate crimes are committed by all races and genocide can be committed by any race upon another race, even if it’s done by individuals.

Understanding each other’s anger

As described in Stephen Covey ‘7 Habits’, “Seek first to understand, before seeking to be understood.”

We as human beings get angry when we are victims of crime, even more so when we are specifically targeted because of our race, sexuality, gender etc.  In South Africa we know this all too well.  We understand the great atrocities committed during Apartheid, the racial discrimination inflicted upon groups and the anger it produced.  Well the exact same anger is felt when individuals are targeted today, as seen in the case study, solely because of their race.  Understand why other members of the victim’s group would feel threatened, angry and perceive there to be a possible genocide occurring.  And when they speak out they are insulted.  Please, just a little understanding goes a long way in building this country.

http://praag.org/?p=6126

Conflicting Reports on Nelson Mandela Death at 94 (Update)

This is an update to the original article that I wrote last night. It has upset a lot of people and I have written an addendum with new facts that will prove our assertions that the great man is dead. If you want to read the original article please scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Despite the fact that reliable sources have revealed that after Nelson Mandela’s life support machine was shut down and he died with his family around him, the South African government continues to insist that Mandela is recovering and not dead yet. According to our sources in South Africa Nelson Mandela has died in the hospital aged 94.

We stand behind our original article and have provided the following information that has been supplied to us by our local South African sources.

Our sources have relayed to us that there is a massive cover-up being undertaken by President Zumba and the South African government. While the world still waits for official confirmation about the truth about the great man’s death, we have been informed that he has, in fact, already died.

Again, according to our South African local sources, the iconic Mandela died while he was still in the hospital for the recurring lung infection that left him in critical condition for several days.

Rumors have flooded the newspapers and the internet with several sources reporting his death days earlier in a cruel attempt to fool the public and to upset the many people who have respect for this great humanitarian. The loss of the great man will be felt across the world. Our report is an effort to reveal the truth behind the conflicting reports on Mandela’s death.

Yesterday one of our South African journalists, Laura Oneale, wrote an article questioning whether or not Nelson Mandela was still alive. He had been in the hospital 19 days for a recurring lung infection. Speculation surrounding his health continued to grow with many asking whether he was still alive or if, in fact, he had died. Authorities have thus far only confirmed that he was on a life support machine and that he remains in critical condition.

Some sources have gone so far as to say that the world-respected humanitarian is actually improving. These statements appear to be a part of the larger “smoke screen” that has South Africans calling for President Zuma to tell the truth about whether Mandela is dead or alive.

Authorities have confirmed that Nelson Mandela has been taken off his life support machine, adding fuel to the speculation that he had died. Because of this, the rumor has been spreading that Nelson Mandela died last night and that the government and his family have “kept a lid” on the news because of American President Obama’s upcoming trip to South Africa. Obviously, the president’s visit will be overshadowed by the announcement of the Nobel Prize winning Mandela.

The Nobel Prize winning humanitarian Nelson Mandela had his life support shut down after he died last night aged 94 at the end of a long battle with illness that ended with his hospitalization and finally his death. While his health problems started in 2011, it was the summer of this year when his condition worsened.

On June 8, 2013, Mandela’s lung infection worsened and he was re-hospitalized in Pretoria in  serious condition. After four days, it was reported that he had stabilized and that he remained in a “serious, but stable condition”.

While on his way to the hospital, the ambulance carrying Mandela broke down and was stranded on the roadside for 40 minutes. The South African government was criticized for the incident when it confirmed the report weeks later. President Jacob Zuma protested: “There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care.”

On June 22, 2013 CBS News reported that Mandela had not opened his eyes in days and that he was unresponsive. The family began discussing just how much medical intervention should be given.

On June 23, 2013 President Jacob Zuma issued a statement saying that Mandela’s condition had become “critical.” Zuma, who was accompanied by the Deputy President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, met with Mandela’s wife Graca Machel at the hospital in Pretoria and discussed his condition.

On June 25, 2013, Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba visited Mandela at the hospital and prayed with Graca Machel Mandela “at this hard time of watching and waiting.”

On June 26, 2013, Nelson Mandela was taken off life support after his condition deteriorated further. Sources have said that the 94 year-old Mandela died last night after his life support was shut down. A medical source explained to us that no one is left on life support after 24 hours as they are then technically brain dead.

The Las Vegas Guardian Express writer Laura Oneale also wrote that in Qunu, the home town of Nelson Mandela, his family got together with the elders to discuss specific events surrounding the well-being of Mandela. It has been confirmed that they were talking about highly sensitive issues, but trying to get further information has been difficult.

Our local writer also said, “Nobody wants to talk, it is a big cover up. The family reports he is gravely ill, then Zuma tells the media Mandela is getting better. The people here in SA are upset with Zuma and don’t believe him. A lot of people are believing he is dead. [There are] Plenty of remarks about the integrity of Zuma.”

In the home town of Qunu, where Mandela will be buried, they are repairing the roads, and continue to clean up the city. Allegedly they are expecting a large contingent of journalists who will be travelling down there.

There is other “evidence” that points to Nelson Mandela having already died, like the presence of the “red blanket.” Mandela’s daughter, who was seen wearing a red blanket, and other family members were at the great man’s gravesite. It is part of Xhosa tradition that family members cover themselves with a red blanket when there has been a death in the family, not in preparation of someone dying, but only when a family member has died.

We have gotten a lot of angry remonstrations for reporting the real news as has been passed on to us from reliable sources. One source works for the government owned TV station and does not want to be named for fear of losing their job or worse. Our sources are reporting the truth, completely the opposite of what the South African government is doing.

We have been warned that if we persist in exposing the fact that Nelson Mandela has already died that it will cause severe problems for the South African government. Out local journalist has told us that “the majority of people will take to the streets to morn his death and the weeping and wailing would be a nightmare; the economy will suffer and the different tribes will make a massive drama about his death.”

Our writer also goes onto say “They have different ways of preparing and performing funerals here.”

We have also learned that a lot of the bad publicity and anger that we’ve received at the Las Vegas Guardian Express is based on “jealousy and from support for the Zuma team.” President Zuma has gone on record stating that Nelson Mandela is improving and the South African public have said that he is lying. The backlash from his “covering up” of Mandela’s death will be severe.

Our local journalist also pointed out that there have been many cases in the past of world leaders dying and the truth not being revealed for days, or even weeks. Mandela’s death, coinciding with President Obama’s visit, would be a potential security nightmare for the South African government. It has been alleged that the SA government is in talks with the US government right now regarding how and when Mandela’s death should be revealed.

Our local Journalist has been attempting to get further confirmation on Mandela’s death, but nothing is being mentioned. Our sources have said that local people believe he is dead and that the government is covering up the story. The reasons given for this cover up is the American president’s visit and the economic situation. There are rumours that the government will announce his death beginning of July and declare July Mandela month.

His birthday is on July 18.

We have been told that the government spokesperson, Mac Maharaj, had a slip of the tongue by saying the elders who were meeting in Qunu were “arranging the funeral.” It was also reported is that Zuma cancelled a trip abroad and that this indicates more evidence of a cover up or is an indication of how serious the situation is.

SABC News showed the gravediggers on television last night and this has caused the local people to now believe he is dead. People are angry and they are blaming SA President Zuma for the cover up.

We have had two sources (the second being a SA publication) confirm that Nelson Mandela has already died last night after his life support was shut down and that the respected iconic humanitarian has died age 94. It is our understanding that despite the conflicting reports on Nelson Mandela’s death, that the world respected Noble Peace Prize winning humanitarian has gone and the world will mourn his death.

By Michael Smith

Source

A reliable source has revealed that Nelson Mandela’s life support machine was shut down and he has died in the hospital aged 94. According to the source, the iconic Mandela died last night while he was still in the hospital for the recurring lung infection that left him in critical condition for several days.

Rumors have flooded the newspapers and the internet with several sources reporting his death days earlier in a cruel attempt to fool the public and to upset the many people who have respect for this great humanitarian. The loss of the great man will be felt across the world.

Earlier today one of our writers, Laura Oneale, wrote an article questioning whether or not Nelson Mandela was still alive. He had been in the hospital 19 days for a recurring lung infection. As speculation surrounding his health continued to grow with many asking whether he was still alive or if, in fact, he had died. Until recently authorities would only confirm that he was on a life support system and remained in a critical condition.

Authorities have confirmed that Nelson Mandela has been taken off his life support machine, adding fuel to the speculation that he had died. Because of this, the rumor has been spreading that Nelson Mandela died last night and that the government and his family have “kept a lid” on the news because of American President Obama’s upcoming trip to South Africa. Obviously, the president’s visit will be overshadowed by the announcement of the Nobel Prize winning Mandela.

The Nobel Prize winning humanitarian Nelson Mandela had his life support shut down after he died last night aged 94 at the end of a long battle with illness that ended with his hospitalization and finally his death. While his health problems started in 2011, it was the summer of this year when his condition worsened.

In February 2011, he was briefly hospitalized with a respiratory infection, attracting international attention. He was then re-hospitalized for a lung infection and gallstone removal in December 2012. After his successful medical procedure in March 2013 did not prevent his lung infection from recurring he was briefly hospitalized in Pretoria.

On June 8, 2013, his lung infection worsened and he was re-hospitalized in Pretoria in a serious condition. After four days, it was reported that he had stabilized and that he remained in a “serious, but stable condition”.

While on his way to the hospital, the ambulance carrying Mandela broke down and was stranded on the roadside for 40 minutes. The South African government was criticized for the incident when it confirmed the report weeks later. President Jacob Zuma protested: “There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care.”

On June 22, 2013 CBS News reported that Mandela had not opened his eyes in days and that he was unresponsive. The family began discussing just how much medical intervention should be given.

On June 23, 2013 President Jacob Zuma issued a statement saying that Mandela’s condition had become “critical.” Zuma, who was accompanied by the Deputy President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, met with Mandela’s wife Graca Machel at the hospital in Pretoria and discussed his condition.

On June 25, 2013, Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba visited Mandela at the hospital and prayed with Graca Machel Mandela “at this hard time of watching and waiting.”

On June 26, 2013, Nelson Mandela was taken off life support after his condition deteriorated further. Sources have said that the 94 year-old Mandela died last night after his life support was shut down.

The Las Vegas Guardian Express writer Laura Oneale also wrote that in Qunu, the home town of Nelson Mandela, his family got together with the elders to discuss specific events surrounding the well-being of Mandela. It has been confirmed that they were talking about highly sensitive issues.

The grandson of Nelson Mandela angrily left the meeting over a disagreement of where the former president was to be buried. Mandela’s daughter, who was seen wearing a red blanket, and other family members were at the gravesite. It has been reported that the “red blanket” is part of a tribal ceremony of the Xhosa. According to Xhosa custom the blanket is used when a family member has died.

Later in the same day, gravediggers arrived at the Mandela burial site.

Sources have confirmed that Nelson Mandela died last night after his life support was shut down and the respected iconic humanitarian has died age 94. Details of the funeral arrangements will be released when they become available.

By Michael Smith
United Kingdom

http://guardianlv.com/2013/06/nelson-mandela-life-support-shut-down-as-respected-humanitarian-dies-age-94/

Open letter to SA from the foreign media

Richard Poplak

Dear South Africa,

Please get the fuck out of the way.

Wait, that probably came out wrong. Let us explain.

As you may have noted, we’re back! It’s been four long months since the Oscar Pistorious bail hearing thing, and just as we were forgetting just how crappy the Internet connections are in Johannestoria, the Mandela story breaks.

We feel that it is vital locals understand just how big a deal this is for us. In the real world—far away from your sleepy backwater—news works on a 24-hour cycle. That single shot of a hospital with people occasionally going into and out of the front door, while a reporter describes exactly what is happening—at length and in detail? That’s our bread and butter. It’s what we do.

And you need to get out of the way while we do it.

It’s nothing personal. In fact, we couldn’t do this successfully without you. In many cases, our footage is made more compelling by your presence. Specifically, we are fond of small black children praying and/or singing in unison. Equally telegenic are the Aryan ubermensch blonde kids also praying/singing, who help underscore the theme that Mandela united people of all races under a Rainbow umbrella.

Also very important, thematically speaking, are Mandela’s successors. We very much like the idea that your ex-president was “one of a kind”, and that despite his best efforts, the current batch of idiots prove that he was an exceptional presence, sui generis, and we don’t have to worry about someone else like him coming along in Africa ever again. We enjoy your leaders’ bumbling ways, their daft non-sequiturs, the glint of their Beijing-bought Breitlings. That “Vote ANC” truck parked outside the hospital? If that doesn’t speak to moral degeneration of the first order, what does? In other words, this story would lack a tragic arc without Jacob Zuma. May he keep on keeping on.

Then there’s the Mandela’s family. Really, where would we derive our soap operatic undertones if it weren’t for the infighting and the blinged-up brashness of that clan? We love subtly implying that a saint sired a generation of professional shoppers and no-goodnicks. In our biz, we call that “irony”. Makes for great copy.

In fact, we love everything about the country that doesn’t live up to Mandela’s legacy. We will take every opportunity to mention how everything you do flies in the face of everything Mandela would’ve wanted from his people—how you’re basically a nation of under-achieving screw-ups. All of this is fantastic, we thank you profusely for your individual and collective contributions to this essential storyline, and urge you to keep squandering your potential.

But like we said, we’re busy.

We need to be fed, constantly and without respite, big juicy mouthfuls of new information regarding every aspect of the story. Each piece of data, no matter how seemingly trivial or inane, is to us the rich, fatty gravy that we will slather over this one essential fact: the father of your nation is gravely ill, and we’re banking—literally, banking—on his not making it. The geraniums in the hospital planter, beating the chill of winter? Metaphor. Again—no detail too small.

Indeed, you need to brace yourselves. We’re about to engage in the single greatest orgy of industrial-grade mourning porn the world has ever known. Your little country will forever be honoured as the site that made the Princess Diana thing look like a restrained wake for a loathed spinster who perished alone on a desert island. Oh man, this is going to be big.

But that’s then. For the meantime, we need you to behave yourselves. We’re going to be pushy, and we make no apologies for it. This is the news—and news, after all, is the concrete foundation of democracy, a principle Mandela was willing to die for long before he was dying.

Note the solemn tone of our television reports. Ken the funereal passages published in our great papers. At times, the scramble for information may seem like a pursuit entirely free of dignity. But remember that watching a sausage get made can be a grisly process.

We would like to respect the fact that you’re going through a period of great sadness and protracted grieving. But we all need to be grown-ups about this.

So, we ask again, and this time with feeling:

Please. Get the fuck out of the way.

http://ewn.co.za/2013/06/28/OPINION-Open-letter-from-the-foreign-media-to-SA

Mandela: I Will Rest In Qunu - Keep It Simple

Nelson Mandela never gave detailed instructions for his burial, but nearly 20 years ago he made his wishes clear: he wanted to be buried in Qunu.

Former president Nelson Mandela never gave detailed instructions for his burial, but nearly 20 years ago he made his general wishes clear: he wanted to be buried in Qunu, and he wanted to keep things simple, even while recognising that his funeral would inevitably be a state affair.

And it seems that Mandela stuck to his wish for simplicity, although details of his latest will are not available.

Those instructions provide the clearest insight available into Mandela's own wishes on what should happen after his death, well before the Presidency and family started making arrangements for that eventuality, and well before the family this week apparently fell out about the details of those arrangements.

In January 1996, Mandela gave three broad instructions with regard to his burial. He did not want any interference with a state memorial service and various associated ceremonies; he wanted to be buried in his ancestral home of Qunu in the Eastern Cape, rather than in a more prominent location in the capital; and he wanted a grave marker of simple stone on site of his grave.

At the time Mandela was 78, and still held the office of President. While it is possible that his wishes may have changed over the following years, he included those wishes in subsequent wills, and those close to the Mandela family say it is unlikely.

"He never gave death a great deal of thought, but he never wanted anything fancy," said a family friend of long standing.

Funeral instructions
Such an attitude is corroborated by papers that were placed before the courts during disputes around the sale of artworks bearing Mandela's signature, including wills drafted from 1995 onwards. Although the actual disposition sections of the wills were redacted to guard Mandela's privacy, each version presented occupied no more than a single A4 page – for a man who, in the early 2000s, held cash in South Africa and abroad amounting to at least several million US dollars.

Wills of even moderately affluent people are typically many times that length, with funeral instructions alone often running to several pages.

Mandela's wealth at the time mostly flowed from the sale of his books and various pieces of memorabilia, including artworks bearing his name. Various business people also established initiatives intended to provide for Mandela in his old age, and to ensure the wellbeing of his family after he left office.

The money raised in those initiatives now mainly resides in family trusts. Control of those trusts is currently a matter of dispute.

Though not among the wishes expressed by Mandela himself, a source close to the family this week said the intention was to create a garden of memory in Qunu, one that could satisfy the expected need for a place of pilgrimage for tourists without necessarily opening Mandela's grave itself to the public.

Graça Machel has not been involved
But plans around both the specific grave site and the garden project appears to have suffered from internal family disputes, delaying final decisions, even amid widespread recognition that the matter is now urgent.

Though technically Mandela's next of kin, his wife Graça Machel has not been involved in the disputes – or in decisions around Mandela's burial – according to well-placed sources. Though Mandela lived in Houghton in Johannesburg until his most recent hospitalisation, Machel maintained her own home in nearby Sandton. However, during his hospitalisation in Pretoria she stayed at his bedside, or slept in the hospital, the only member of the family to stay in such close proximity to the ailing elder statesman.

Much of the decision-making within the family appears to have devolved to Mandela's daughter Makaziwe, who has consolidated her control over what has at times been a fractious extended family.

Makaziwe and her sister, Zenani Dlamini, in March launched a joint application to remove advocate George Bizos, lawyer Bally Chuene and housing minister Tokyo Sexwale as directors of Mandela-linked holding companies. However, Dlamini is the ambassador to Argentina and Paraguay, and she this week returned to her post in South America even as her father was in a critical condition in hospital, leaving Makaziwe to deal with family matters at home. Between them, insiders say, they wield more influence than ANC MP, chief Mandla Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, who has struggled to maintain the respect of elders and family amid divorces and claims of infertility and infidelity even though he is, technically, the family patriarch.

'Strictly a family sacred place'
"Makaziwe and Zenani are effectively the heads of the family now," said a source close to the family this week. "Zenani brings in Winnie [Madikizela-Mandela, Nelson Mandela's former wife] and Makaziwe is very close to Lindiwe [Sisulu, minister of public service and administration]. That gives them the weight they need in the family and in government, so they can bring everyone together. The other kids look to them for direction."

In their application around directorships of companies housing Mandela assets earlier this year, the two daughters submitted powers of attorney signed by 17 others, which Zenani described as "all of the major children and grandchildren" of Nelson Mandela. Mandla Mandela was among those who effectively appointed them as his agent in the matter, although he subsequently partially retracted his support.

In a rare interview on Thursday, Makaziwe indicated that Mandela's grave will likely be considered private, and will not be opened to visitors.

"Family grave yards … they're not for public," she told the state broadcaster. "They are for public once when you've buried a loved one and you invite people to that. And that is the end. After that it becomes strictly a family sacred place."

http://mg.co.za/article/2013-06-28-00-mandela-give-me-a-simple-grave-in-qunu

Opportunistic ANC

ANC Supporters drive past the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria where former president Nelson Mandela is being treated.

Thousands of ANC supporters descended on the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital this evening to pray for former president Nelson Mandela’s speedy recovery.

Tshwane mayor Kgosientso “Sputla” Ramokgopa and the ANC regional leadership led ANC supporters in song, dance and prayer as the night vigil largely resembled a political rally.

Over 30 buses started arriving from around 4pm this afternoon, ferrying supporters who wore ANC colours, waving the party’s flag and singing struggle songs associated with he 94-year-old, who is in a critical but stable condition in the hospital.

Most ANC supporters said they were not concerned about perceptions that their behavior would be viewed as electioneering, and dismissed criticism that the party was attempting to gain political traction from Mandela’s hospitalisation ahead of next year’s elections.

Traffic grounded to a halt as buses, with supporters hanging from windows, used the busy Park Street, adjacent to the hospital, to drop off the supporters who marched up and down Celliers Street before gathering at the nearby lawns of the Pretoria Art Museum.

The ANC leadership, including City of Tshwane chief whip Jabu Mabona, addressed throngs of ANC members, mostly from Soshanguve, Ga-Rankuwa, Mamelodi and Atteridgeville, while perched on a stage erected at the back of a truck.

The truck was decorated in ANC posters with party president Jacob Zuma’s image.

They sang gospel songs and made it clear that Mandela was an ANC man, a statement which was reiterated by his eldest daughter, Makaziwe, in an interview televised earlier in the day.

Metro police had their hands full trying to direct traffic, which was still moving slowly past the hospital three hours later.

Children, the elderly and various interests groups, including Hare Krishna devotees, were still gathered at the entrance.

http://www.citypress.co.za/politics/mandela-night-vigil-resembles-political-rally/

Welcome to South Africa Obama

South Africa - The Future

Dr Marc Faber, a leading investment an ex South African and a guru, tells it how it is.......

Interesting  Reading… This was published in a UK paper. 

Let us hope he has it wrong -it’s pretty heavy. 

I expect, like me, you are aware e that there has never been a prosperous black-led country, but perhaps it's just because of "bad luck", or whatever, for that incontrovertible fact. 

Take Haiti as an example. 

Before the black slaves revolted and killed all the whites and half castes Haiti had a GNP greater than most of what is now the USA A. It supplied 60% of all the sugar used in Europe. 

Today it is a wasteland. 

Apparently if you Google Earth the place you see is a sere, brown colored landscape compared to the neighboring Dominican Republic which is green and verdant. 

Twice the USA has occupied Haiti, building roads, ports, hospitals and schools while putting in a functional society. 

The moment the Americans left they reverted to dictatorship, voodoo, witchcraft, corruption and 

barbarism. They did not stagnate;; they regressed to the primitive savagery of their forefathers.

Since the 1960s, when the Congo o expelled the Belgians this has been a mirror of African regression, moving steadily southwards until the example of Zimbabwe. 

Once a prosperous, well educated d exporter of food the population now eat rats to survive. 

Will SA go the same way? 

There are those optimists who say "No, we have such a strong economy, such sophisticated 

infrastructure, such a talent pool, that we can never sink". 

My belief is that they have not considered the root cause of Africa's failure. 

A cause that is not spoken about as it is fearfully politically incorrect, and probably illegal to speak about. 

That cause is the deficiencies of the black "mentality", for want of a better word. 

Are there differences between races, or is race just a meaningless social construct? 

Until recently, I believed all races were the same under the skin variations, and that perceived 

differences were only the result of f cultural differences. 

I believed in a common and equal humanity. 

But things did not always ring true; observable anomalies were inexplicable if all men are the same. 

Why, under apartheid, did the Indians prosper; become doctors, scientists, educators, merchants and professionals while the vast majority of the equally oppressed black Africans remained hewers of wood? 

Why can black Africans run, jump and throw better than honkies, but why, out of a billion of them, have they never invented a single thing of any worth? 

Why have they, collectively, contributed absolutely nothing to the advancement of humanity? 

Well the physical thing, the running, throwing bit is easily and uncontroversial answered. 

Simple, people of African descent (especially the Jamaicans) are genetically better equipped in this regard. 

Their muscle fibres are different and the typically have 15% more free testosterone than other 

peoples. 

Acknowledging this is regarded as racism. 

Unfortunately, racist or not, that is proven and a fact. 

Google it and you will find that for over 70 years, in test after test, done by dozens of university 

professors and Nobel laureates plus USA government studies, most people of African descent trail other races by a wide margin. 

Of course I.Q. tests have been attacked, especially by those who perform badly at them, as one might expect them to do. 

Detractors claim cultural bias, dysfunctional families, past oppression, poor schooling and a host of other reasons for poor black performance, but the professors defend their contention that I.Q. is largely an inherited trait; that differences are inherent, built into a person's inherited DNA. 

For every argument attacking the validity of these tests they have a host of results confirming their accuracy and typicality. Fascinating stuff if you are interested in reading up on it. 

The effect of high/low I.Q. has also been studied in depth, with fairly predictable results. 

Low I.Q. individuals performed badly in social class, family stability, income, educational levels, 

illegitimate pregnancy, single parent families, rate of prison incarceration, rape, violent crime etc. etc. etc. 

I.Q. measurement measures different facets of intelligence and mental competence. 

Sadly it is in the absolutely vital sphere of cognitive ability that blacks score worst. 

This means they score abysmally in things like forward planning and anticipating the consequences of their actions. 

It is this I.Q. (and testosterone) disparity that is blamed for the fact that African Americans are 5 times more likely to be imprisoned than white (including Hispanic) Americans, 9 times more likely than Americans of Asiatic descent. All in line with I.Q. distributions. 

Once imprisonments for violent crimes are computed the numbers become stratospheric. 

These are American government collated statistics, so pretty accurate. 

Our government in SA do not, for obvious reasons, publish similar stats, but a pound to a pinch of salt they are even more astounding. 

So why the lecture on I.Q.? 

Well for a start you must understand that our ruling party are voted into power by a largely moronic plebiscite. 

I choose the word moronic intentionally. 

If the cut off point for moronic is an I.Q. of 70, half the voting population would be classified as such. 

Only one in 40 black South Africans achieves the average I.Q. of his white fellow citizens. 

One in a hundred has the I.Q. to achieve university entrance requirements. 

That is why only one in ten blacks pass our dumbed down Matric (with a pass percentage of 30% in many cases). 

One in 6000 black grade one learners will pass Matric with both Maths and Science. 

Simply put, they are bloody stupid, and they rule us. 

Furthermore Zoooooma says they will rule us until the second coming. I believe him. 

This explains why the ANC have such idiots in their positions of power and influence, the likes of Zuma, Malema, Khomphela and Cele. They are, unfortunately, the best they have! 

Well, they are the best blacks they have. 

All the critical positions in government are held by Indians, coloureds or whites, something I am 

grateful for, but which p--s Malema off big time. 

Will this last? I doubt it. 

The black/white polarisation is growing and the rhetoric is becoming more extreme. 

Listen to the pub or workplace chatter, read the blogs and comments sections of the newspapers and it becomes obvious. 

Whites are gatvol at the waste, corruption and stupidity of the black elite. 

Blacks are demanding, as their right, the wealth of the whites by means of redistribution of assets. No matter that they have not worked for those assets, they claim them as the spoils of war. 

Just in the past week the Mayor of Pretoria, Malema, a minister and Winnie have gone on record as blaming whites for sabotaging redistribution and exploiting blacks. 

Malema calls out "Kill the Boers for they are rapists" to thunderous applause by university students. 

Four influential ANC opinion makers who are echoing the groundswell of mutterings in the ghettoes. The natives are getting restless. Things are not going to improve. 

They cannot, there is no reason to believe our slow slide into a failed state can be reversed with our current regime, and there is no prospect whatsoever of there being a change to governance based on meritocracy. 

Anyone who believes otherwise, or that the ANC can mend their ways, is living in LaLa land. 

They do not have the intellect. Like the proverbial frog in the slowly heating pot we have become inured to the slow collapse of our hospitals, schools, courts, water supplies, roads civil service and service levels. 

They will become totally dysfunctional shortly. 

Inevitably so.

Those in charge do not have the mental capacity to organise things. 

Our economy and Rand is reliant on short term "hot" funds from overseas that can flee at the touch of a computer button, and probably will if our Rand weakens. Conversely we need a weaker Rand to encourage exports. 6 million taxpayers support 12 million recipients of social grants, and that figure is set to rise this year. The National Health Insurance scheme will happen, no matter how unaffordable. 

That will push our social grant costs up to four hundred billion Rand. 

Four hundred billion Rand which produces absolutely no product. 

Inflation is set to stay and worsen. 

The consequence of being the biggest socialist state on earth. 

I do not believe the ANC has the intellect to conceptualise how big a billion is, let alone 400 billion, or what effect this will have on the economy. 

You do not believe Malema's call to nationalise the mines? 

This guy articulates what the hoi polloi are thinking, but the ANC leadership will not say yet. 

The tactic is to set the bar high, then lower it and the victims will sigh with relief and say it could have been worse. 

So perhaps it will not be total nationalisation but rather 51%, a' la Zim. Just look north for revelation, Zuma does. 

Who would have believed that this country would ever be headed by an unschooled, rape accused, adulterous, corrupt, sex obsessed bigot like Zuma. 

Anything is possible with the ANC. 

SUMMARY 

You have few years left to enjoy what is left of the glorious SA lifestyle, especially in the Cape, but understand it is not permanent. The end could be sudden as the tipping point is reached, just as it was sudden for those Zim, Zambian, Mozambican or Angolans whites. 

It could, conceivably, be as bloody as the Hutu/Tutsi uprising when primitive tribal bloodlust 

overcomes a thin veneer of inculcated civilisation. 

Enjoy it while you can, and enjoy it in the Cape where the population mix is more favourable, but be aware that change is inevitable. 

Your children must get a world class education, because they will not be adults in SA. 

Get assets stashed offshore, you and your children will need them there. 

This is a huge WAKE UP SOUTH AFRICA call!!!! 

There are lots of South African articles doing the rounds, this is one of the best. 

I have always tried to understand why Africa has not prospered more with all the mineral wealth and available labour. 

This is without a doubt the most plausible explanation for me.