Babobski’s Blog: News and opinions from South Africa and around the world

Desmond Tutu has been the spiritual voice of South Africa for a long time and has been a constant critic of the Mugabe regime since the madness began in Zimbabwe.

The” Bish” as Nobel Peace prize winner has become known, has said that armed force is an option in removing Robert Mugabe from power. He was also critical of the South African government’s actions up to now in helping to solve the problem.

 Tutu asked the question “how much more suffering is going to make us say we have given Mr. Mugabe enough time?” “I am deeply, deeply distressed that we should be found not on the side of the ones who are suffering”, added Tutu about the South African response to the Zimbabwe crisis.

 Meanwhile Mugabe has declared that he couldn’t be bothered with anything the world has to say about Zimbabwe. The 84-year-old described the latest US criticism, which followed earlier calls from President Bush for him to step down, as “the last kicks of a dying horse“.

 “We obviously are not going to pay attention to a sunset administration. Zimbabwe’s fate lies in the hands of Zimbabweans,” he said, days after telling supporters that “Zimbabwe is mine.

 Mugabe also hit out at America’s top envoy to Africa Jendayi Frazer, and was quoted as describing Frazer as a “little girl” who was out of touch with reality in Zimbabwe and the rest of the world. She thinks that Africans are idiots, little kids who cannot think for themselves,”

 Once again all South Africans should take seriously what Desmond Tutu is saying about Zimbabwe. Our neighbours are suffering. There is a humanitarian crisis right on our doorstep. The time for dithering and talking has come to an end.

 Lets continue from the days when Bono from U2 urged the world on “Rattle and Hum” album …………”to support a man like Bishop Tutu in his request for economic sanctions against South Africa”…….as the people of a country have once again given up on the peacemakers from the west while they argue.

 It is clear that Archbishop Tutu is right once again. The longer Mugabe stays in power, the worse the situation will become. He has to go now. We have let down the people of Zimbabwe and we cannot rely on our government’s ability to help anymore.Let’s join Tutu’s call to the world to free Zimbabwe now.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081223/ts_afp/zimbabwepolitics_081223160508

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/12/2008122412233699731.html

The next step that Robert Mugabe will take is to declare a state of emergency. And why will he do it? Well it is down to the endgame in Zimbabwe and Mugabe will cling to power just like the previous regime did in South Africa in the 1980’s. We in South Africa have been down this path before and are more fortunate that we had a president like FW de Klerk who could see what the results would be should he not relinquish power.

Mugabe made it clear that he will not step down as president of Zimbabwe at a party conference yesterday. He is quoted as saying: “”I will never, never, never, never surrender. Zimbabwe is mine, I am a Zimbabwean. Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe never for the British, Britain for the British.”

This statement makes a mockery of the power sharing talks that have been going on for months in Zimbabwe between Mugabe’s party the ZANU-PF and the MDC, who legitimately won the last general election.

South Africa’s approach of quiet diplomacy has failed the people of Zimbabwe and it is now time to act.

Mugabe has also scorned the power of any African country to invade Zimbabwe.

“How could African leaders ever topple Robert Mugabe - organize an army to come? It is not easy,” he was quoted on Friday as saying at a meeting of his party’s central committee a day earlier.

“I do not know of any African country that is brave enough to do that.”

The UN has estimated that over 1000 people are dead from the cholera epidemic that has scourged the country, with another 20 000 infected with the disease. Yet Mugabe has said that there is no cholera in Zimbabwe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdWKzUOTw0s

ZANU PF has even gone a step further and said that the cholera outbreak was biological warfare employed against Zimbabwe by the British and the Americans.

Where are your tanks and drones America? Where are your ground forces and helicopters America? The situation in Zimbabwe is much worse than Iraq, yet Saddam was toppled. Or was Iraq really all about the oil and not the people. Time will tell whether the world will free Zimbabwe or not.

The throwing of shoes at George Bush during a press conference by an Iraqi journalist summed up the entire Bush presidency.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0125Qrn24EQ

It was all in Bush’s response to the incident. He claimed that the majority of journalists supported him and the American people and what has been accomplished in Iraq. So what exactly has been accomplished in Iraq Mr. President?

It was heady days for Bush when Saddam was toppled and Bush claimed that the mission was accomplished, blindly unaware that the resistance in Iraq was in place and ready to fight the occupation. At the end of his presidency he seems to think America has won the war.

Bush has been out of touch with reality all along. In fact he played right into the hands of the militant Islamics who wanted to fight America in their own back garden and thereby bleed America financially.

The war in Afghanistan is getting uglier by the day as the Taliban gets stronger in the rural areas and is now attacking American supply lines with much success. Bush’s response was to launch attacks across the border in Pakistan.

A new card was thrown on the table when the Mumbai attacks occurred. The attackers have been identified as Pakistani’s which just adds to the confusion in the War on Terror. The shift in focus by the Pakistan government from trying to control the Afghanistan insurgents in Pakistan to a possible war with India has only played into the radical Islamists hands once again. Pakistan is very unstable and could collapse politically at any time.

George Bush could never foretell the consequences of his actions. He has caused much hatred for Americans and has made the western world a very dangerous place.

On the other hand Robert Mugabe has since 2000, embarked on a strategy to stay in power at all costs. Knowing that the brotherhood that exists from the days of fighting colonial rule is still strong on the African continent, he knew that nobody would lift a finger to stop him.

In Africa, when in doubt blame the white man for all your woes. This is exactly what Mugabe did when he started expropriating white owned farm land and distributing the farms to his cronies. The result has been a nation wide famine as the farms fell into neglect and crops ruined.  Zimbabwe, once the bread basket of Africa, became a basket case.

Sanctions were imposed which Mugabe then blamed for the famine and spiraling inflation that has bankrupted Zimbabwe. Two elections were held, one of which Mugabe stole and the other which he lost.

The lost election did not bother Mugabe in the least. After all, who was going to intervene? Thabo Mbeki tried quiet diplomacy which Mugabe just brushed aside. And now Zimbabwe is in the end game. A cholera outbreak, which has been described by the Mugabe regime as a biological warfare attack by America and Britain (when all else fails, blame the white man) is gripping the country. Mugabe then stated that there is no more cholera in Zimbabwe. This statement proved his government does not care about the people of Zimbabwe and cannot survive for much longer.

Who has been the worst leader for world peace? Well Mugabe has decimated a country and forced millions into starvation while Bush has created a scenario that will take decades to solve, and the financial collapse that has shaken the world and left millions without homes and jobs also happened under his watch. The honour therefore has to go to George Bush.

Travelling overseas as a South African is always an eye opener.  Experiencing different cultures and ways of life and different people is an enriching experience.

I was in Australia a while back and suddenly realized there is no wild life.  I managed to spot a kangaroo from a distance and even the sheep were pretty scarce on the East Coast.

Back home in the Eastern Cape on the southern tip of the African continent, we have elephants, lions, leopards, rhino, giraffe, buffalo and even the odd kangaroo in a game farm……

Having lived almost my entire life in the forgotten part of South Africa, I have come to realize just how privileged I am.  Wide open spaces, unpolluted rivers, the ocean and the Big 5 are all on my doorstep and we do not even have to worry about malaria, or even cholera courtesy of Zimbabwe.

Despite the problems facing South Africa, it still rates as one of the best places on planet earth.

A huge crocodile moves towards land

Seconds out…..round number one…….

The first skirmish in the battle for the control of South Africa took place in the Western Cape this week as by elections were held to elect new representatives.

The ANC’s administrative woes continued as they failed to register candidates in 12 constituencies.

Independents who claim to belong to COPE, the new political party who broke away from the ANC won 6 of those seats, the DA 5 and the ID 1. COPE is still busy registering as a political party and could not therefore field candidates.

However the first real sign of the battle the ANC will have to face in next years general election, took place in the 15 wards where the ANC did field candidates.

All 15 of these wards belonged to the ANC before the by election.

The results: The ANC won 3 seats, COPE 4 seats, the ID 4 seats and the DA 4.

If all the votes in these 15 wards are added up, the ANC received 32 % and COPE 27 %. The ID gained 20 % and the DA 18 %.

It is way to early to tell whether this will mean a major reduction of support for the ANC in the 2009 general election but one thing is for sure……the winds of change are blowing over South Africa once again.

Questions that must be asked is whether the ANC and their partners are mature enough to deal with the challenge in a dignified manner, or will old style African politics be employed with intimidation and violence the order of the day?

The conclusion that can to be drawn from the results is that COPE is bad for the ANC but good for democracy in South Africa. Absolute power is known to corrupt absolutely. We just need to glance north to Zimbabwe to see what absolute power did to Robert Mugabe.

More information about the by election can be found at:

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=112547&sn=Detail

The Van Stadens Wild Flower Reserve is one of the Easern Cape’s  undiscovered gems and a few dedicated folks are determined to return the Reserve to its former glory.

Yesterday I spend the morning at Van Stadens, which is situated 35km from Port Elizabeth, with the Friends of Van Stadens society. It was great fun, helping gather seed for next year’s plant sale that will generate funds for the Reserve.

Being a (very) amateur photographer, I had a pleasant chat with a guy called Kurt, who was a wealth of information about the subject and literally gave on the site practical lessons as he took pictures of tree frogs and flowers.

It was great to find, in our modern bustling world, a group of people who were happy to give of their time for a worthwhile cause and happily pass on their information about seeds, plants and the Reserve.

The reserve consists of 450 hectares of coastal forest and fynbos and there are even 33 different species of protea to be discovered.

Flowering time for proteas had passed but we were able to collect the seed from the spend heads. Discoveries of tree frogs that were sunning themselves amongst the seeds and unusual plants whose name I did not catch were made.

One plant had sticky leaves and stems which it uses to trap ants and other small insects.

Other seeds were also being collected as funds are being raised to create a botanical garden within the Reserve. The Friends of the Reserve have a vision to imitate Kirstenbosch Gardens, with different sections within the garden, like protea, aloes, succulents and huge beds of indigenous to the area plants, like agaphanthas, clivia and watsonias.

There are 11 plant species in the Van Stadens Reserve which are endemic – meaning they occur in the Van Stadens area and nowhere else on earth.

One of these is Aster laevigatus, a little white or mauve daisy first discovered in the early 1900s. A single specimen was taken to London and preserved in the Kew Gardens herbarium.

There is a river walk as well as forest trail that I need to go back and complete. And believe it or not, access to the Reserve is free and according to the Friends, completely safe and crime free.

Bird watchers would be delighted as there over a 100 species of bird to be found in the Reserve.

Definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in the Port Elizabeth area this December.

The first survey on South African bloggers was released this week. An American survey was also released and there are some interesting comparisions.

• 75 % of American bloggers have a college degree

• 75 % of South African bloggers have a higher than matric qualification.

• While more bloggers are male in America, slightly more are female in South Africa.

• In America more than half the bloggers earn more than $ 75 000 per annum

• In South Africa 43 % earn more than R 20 000 per month.

• 59 % of American bloggers have been blogging for more than two years.

• 40 % of South African bloggers have been blogging for more than two years.

• 25 % of Americans spend more than 10 hours a week on their blog

• 10 % of South Africans spend more than 10 hours a week on their blog.

• • Over half of the top bloggers according to the

  Technorati Authority post five or more times a day.

• In South Africa just over 20 % of bloggers post six or more times A WEEK.

• In America a staggering 50 % of active blogs receive more than a 1000 monthy visitors, while in South Africa, 35 % get less than 100 visitors a month and 25 % get less than 500 visitors a month.

• The reasons behind why American bloggers receive more traffic are probably that the South African blogging community is small compared to America and does not receive as much exposure.

The full survey conducted by Technorati can be found at http://www.technorati.com/

The 24.com survey can be found at http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_2435975,00.html

Happy reading!

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has issued a strong warning for tourists wanting to visit South Africa. It just shows how much work has to be done if we want the 2010 Soccer World Cup to be a success and for the country to reap the benefits that should accrue after the event.

Some of the warnings are quite funny which shows just how immune South Africans have become to crime and chaos in South Africa:

• There is a high level of crime, but most occurs in townships and isolated areas away from the normal tourist destinations.

• The standard of driving is variable and there are many fatal accidents

• There is an underlying threat from terrorism. Attacks, although unlikely, could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers.

• During 2007 and 2008 there have been a number of incidents involving foreigners being followed from OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg to their destinations by car and then robbed, often at gunpoint. We recommend you exercise particular caution in and around the airport and extra vigilance when driving away.

• The risk to visitors travelling to the main tourist destinations is low. But if you are mugged or your car is hijacked you should remain calm, offer no resistance and hand over possessions without question. Avoid eye contact. Consult a reliable tour guide if you are visiting a township.

• South Africa actively promotes an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. But given the high level of HIV/AIDS in the country, you should seek immediate medical advice if you are sexually assaulted or otherwise injured.

• Due to pilfering of luggage at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, it is recommended that where possible, and where local regulations permit, hold luggage is vacuum wrapped.

• Johannesburg, like other major international cities, has specific risk areas. You should avoid Berea and Hillbrow. There is a high level of muggings around the Rotunda bus terminus in the Central Business District.

• In all areas of South Africa, you should be cautious when out after dark. Streets, even in urban areas, are not brightly lit at night. Be vigilant at all times in Durban’s city centre and beach front area. Keep to main roads and avoid driving at night when visiting Northern KwaZulu Natal and Zululand, as there have been incidents of hi-jacking and robbery, particularly on isolated secondary roads.

• You should park in well-lit areas. Do not pick up strangers. Do not stop to assist (apparently) distressed motorists, as this is a technique sometimes used by hijackers. It is better to report the incident to the police.

• Be vigilant on the approach roads to and from Kruger Park where there have been cases of car hijacking.

• Avoid isolated beaches and picnic spots across South Africa and stay in company. Walking alone anywhere, especially in remote areas, is not advised and hikers should stick to popular trails.

• There have been attacks on hikers and tourists on Table Mountain. Some attacks have been violent. You should be cautious when in the quieter areas of the Park, especially early in the morning or just before the park closes.

• The standard of driving in South Africa can vary greatly and there are many fatal accidents every year.

• On roundabouts, give way to the right, although this is often overlooked and it is wise to proceed with caution.

• You should avoid unfamiliar rural areas at night. Thieves have been known to employ various methods to make a vehicle stop, enabling them to rob the occupants. One such method is the placing of large stones in the middle of the road. In the circumstances it is prudent to carefully drive around the stones or obstacle, rather than stop the vehicle.

• You should drink or use only boiled or bottled water and avoid ice in drinks.

• The prevalence rate of HIV AIDS is estimated at around 18.1% of the adult population. This compares to the prevalence rate in adults in the UK of around 0.2%.

• There is a high incidence of credit card fraud and fraud involving ATM’s. Users of ATM’s should be vigilant to ensure their PIN number is not observed by others when withdrawing money. Offers of assistance from bystanders should be refused.

Do we need any more proof that we are a country under siege?