I am watching the Carte Blanche documentary about crime in SA. I have been told that this documentary was showed on British television last night.
My impression: The doc is sensationalist, just look at the title: South Africa, Murder Most Foul. The host is trying too hard to make SA appear to be a war zone all day every day for everyone in the entire country.
The documentary is effective, real, eye-opening, effective and true. It is not everyone’s truth.
Quotes like “Violence has always been a way of life in SA” are bullshit and misleading. The author only talks about guns, drugs, and gangs. This is all that he can go on about. It is more complicated than this man is letting on.
Desmond Tutu was interviewed, great move on the docs behalf. He adds humility and a softer face to the issue.
One of the focuses of the documentary is the murder of Brett Goldin and Richard Bloom. Their execution-style murder was horrific, shocking and unacceptable. This documentary has definitely done one thing right and that is share the exposure. I am extremely glad that Jon Blair chose to put a wide variety of people from various backgrounds in the documentary. Crime affects more people of colour in SA that whites. That is a fact without a doubt (I don’t have statistics) and I think that very often white people complain and the world believes that the violence in SA is black on white. But this is not true, it happens, but it is not the only kind of violence and is definitely not the most widely seen violence.
I am torn about this sort of documentary. On one hand I don’t want the world to see this sort of publicity. It is bad for our image, it is not entirely true and not entirely representative.
On the other hand I don’t want anyone in the world or in SA to say that they never knew that people were dying, being murdered, raped and molested. Let the world know that there is a crisis in our country and maybe they can make a difference because the issue is fast become (has become) too much for our systems to manage.
Did you see the documentary? What are your thoughts?
UPDATE: The documentary is almost over. I am moved I must admit. I am upset by what I have seen. Not because I wasn’t aware of the extend of the situation that our country finds itself, but because I have let myself forget much of it for whatever reason or not. I am not blind or ignorant and the documentary has made me feel that this blog and initiatives like it are necessary now more than ever. We need to stand up, expose the wrongdoings and make things right. Even if it is one person at a time or one mindset at a time we need to try.
One thing that I would like to do more of is hands on work. I want to get out in to the country and make a physical, visible difference. In that respect I think I am falling somewhat short considering my privileged position.
UPDATE: SA Murder Most Foul will be broadcast tonight (Sunday 7 October) at 9pm on DStv Channel 150.
Similar Posts:
- Interview – Jon Blair, director of Murder Most Foul
- Are crime summits the way forward?
- Crime is on the rise – a comparative look
- Proud feelings come from ashes
- Taking Back Streets In SA
Popularity: 7% [?]
September 27th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Just finished posting about the very same thing, and it’s scary the similarity of the feelings and thoughts. Perhaps this is the wake up call we all need? BUT this needs to be screened on public TV for it to have any meaningful impact?
September 27th, 2007 at 9:46 am
You beat me to it… I wanted to write a piece for sarocks this morning about this doccy. I thought it was brilliant and as he points out in the post-doc interview we’ve all become so numb to the reality that no one is actually doing anything about it.
We have a problem, seriously, and we ALL need to start taking action.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Ye, I think that it is shocking and that we do need to make a difference, but where to now? You know what I mean? So what? We saw it, we watched it, we’re shocked. So what?
September 27th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Just finished posting about this and my one comment is crime happens to everyone; black, white, yellow, orange, blue… The documentary managed to personalize the issue and focused on two specific murders but then did offer views from others.
I agree with Eishman we need this on public TV to raise the issue so more people STAND up and fight back.
With public opinion pressure will be applied to government – But need a new political party to fight crime and poverty! Some real opposition to the ANC!
September 27th, 2007 at 11:23 am
People please let us wake up and altogether “Cry the Beloved Country”
September 27th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Last night saw the screening of the documentary “Murder Most Foul’’ on MNet. My family and I sat glued to the TV hardly daring to breathe in case we missed anything that was shown. We live here in South Africa and we are people that celebrated the ‘freedom’ of the 1994 elections. Being immigrants we also suffered under apartheid, though, maybe not physically as most people, but, definitely psychologically. I have been in South Africa since I was 7 years old and even though I was brought up in a Greek household loving the country of my birth, I cannot but feel that South Africa is where my heart and soul belongs. I love this country and I cry with pain when I see what the outside world sees and says about us. But, there again what about us, the people left behind, those of us who believed in the 1994 birth of the Rainbow nation and did not join the massive exodus out of here. We proudly announced to all that would listen that we would be the ones that will be left to switch off the lights, only to be left in darkness, literally, as we are experiencing terrible power cuts. Most of us including myself have been victims of the New South African way of life that is actually more frightening than one of ‘The Sopranos’ episodes. We have been hijacked, mugged, watched thieves in daylight trying to run my child over with a car because she screamed in terror at been mugged at 12 noon in the middle of a shopping mall. Our houses have been broken into many many times and we have friends that have died due to this new South Africa and its liberal constitution. This together with being afraid to go out after dark, being hijacked in our own driveway and seeing scores of people around us laughing at the mad white women while this brutality is going on. I personally have witnessed this while being mugged surrounded by 3 security guards that worked for the bank I was at and about 30 other people idling away their time. No one helped; in fact no one even batted an eyelid except to snigger nastily while I was shouting for help. Shame on South Africa, shame on the Rainbow nation and most of all shame on the ANC for just saying that we are all lying and that if we do not like it we must leave the country. If we all took your threats and promises to heart and left, South Africa will join the rest of Africa in a major decline and end up rotting whilst begging the ”horrible” Americans and the ”colonialist” Europeans for help once again.
Do you know that we are not allowed to kill an intruder in our own houses unless he attacks us first? Do you know that I have had friends that have been arrested when riding over hijackers as they tried to flee and save their lives? There are so many things I could still write about, however, I have been told by my family to not write about what I feel as it will just enrage me even more and of course there are the whispers doing their rounds that Big Brother knows who the traitors are.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Having written-off the documentary as white ex-pats chasing critical acclaim and attempting to add texture to their own dowdy lives by sensationalising two white peoples murders and parachuting into “war-torn” Clifton, I pessimistically I settled into the couch and started watching the documentary Murder most foul.
I was relieved when in one of the opening scenes; the lead actor articulated that the murders are simply a catalyst for crime in South Africa. The fact that it is merely a launch-pad for a more general post-apartheid socio-economic challenge allowed me to drop my guard and engage in the subject: no reason to be defensive, if it’s a good documentary it will accurate reflect the current state of affairs and, if it is a poor documentary, its credibility will be shot; no need to concern oneself with international perceptions and the naysayer-somewhat-racist “buddies” in London blogging away about the ills of South Africa.
I am not qualified to evaluate the film. However, a couple of thoughts did resonate and affect me profoundly.
First, the statement that South Africa’s accept that crime is “unacceptable” is absolutely correct. While not a revelation, the more times that is voiced the better. Leaders, policy makers and private business must, out of necessity and desire, start acknowledging the problem explicitly and create structures that challenge the beastly criminality in South Africa. Whether the starting point is providing additional resources to the SAP, NGO’s, Churches, community organisations, orphanages or schools is a discussion that is necessary. The gauntlet has been cast and it is up to our leaders to start addressing the issue. Crime is scary, horrible, real, out of control and harmful to our country’s future.
Second, more disturbingly, I realised that no matter how eloquently the narrator negotiated the racial question, despite the fact that it did not merely concentrate on Brett Golden’s tragedy and did incorporate black experience of crime, the company in which I viewed the piece clung to the idea of black harming white and the black government missing a meeting and black people taking tik. Totally unacceptably, predictably and destructively, the essential issue that my white company missed and that is frequently overlooked by affluent whites in South Africa, is that it is precisely because of apartheid that almost all white people can sit at home and watch Carte Blanche over a take-out dinner. While 13 years may have passed since South Africa’s political miracle, it has only been 13 years, which is insufficient to reverse the material, social and psychological repercussions of white domination. What remains is a real and substantial difference in earning capacity, a skewed labour market where 5% of whites are unemployed while 30% blacks are unemployed, an enormous cleavage in education levels and standards, vast disparities in living standards and conditions. More importantly, the social environment in which each group, on aggregate, lives are profoundly different. Herein lies the quintessential issue, what affluent people fail to understand is that these stark contrasts manifest in substantial and meaningful differences in perceptions about the future. Crime is a function of hope and hope is a function of ones social environment. For example, the guys smoking tik in Manneburg acknowledge that “half of them could be dead within 6 months.” With no hope for the future, what stops the crime “tsunami.” Generally, I find that affluent people can’t understand that they are not necessarily morally superior, but morally privileged. Crime is unquestionably determined by environmental circumstances, not inherent capabilities. Naturally, some people escape the vicious cycle and others don’t. Inevitably it is up to the individual and sure enough some of the affluent people would avoid criminal activities, but not all. The “brain drain” is indicative of what happens when the going gets tough for some, they leave, which doesn’t provide empirical evidence in favour of avoid crime if scenarios were different.
The documentary was very well-done and, while one could pick away at certain nuances, it would be irrelevant, short-sighted and counter-intuitive. Someone who cares about South Africa, desires positive change and willing to stand-up and be counted is part of my team, and should be part of our team. Reconciliation is a gift. 13 years may have passed, but the legacy of apartheid remains. I am not vindicating criminal actions and there is a real possibility that I may be a victim of crime in the near future, but this is precisely why change is needed. Soon all families will be victims of crime and fear will resonate. Unfortunately, the documentary’s message missed a large part of its audience – the criminals. Nonetheless, somehow, someway, all of us need to unite to actively mend the past and provide the hope for a better future. All people need to come together and change South Africa’s socio-economic environment. Every small step will count.
By Jeremy a Capetownian
September 27th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Jeremy, That was brilliant. I agree with almost everythat you have said. Well written and rational. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the debate (non-debate really). I appreciate everything that you have all said.
But again, we all talk about it, we all know it’s there but in one way or another we are all tied down by laws, governments and circumstances. What do we do, where does it start, how can we actually practically make a difference? I don’t know, but I hope that it starts somewhere and starts soon.
September 27th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I came across this blog tonight and I find it fascinating and rewarding. As the maker of the film you are discussing it is a pleasure to see that some of you are engaging with the very real problems Tony Sher and I have tried to highlight in the country we both love.
I was disturbed to read the review of my film in last night’s Star as it seemed to be describing a completely different film from the one I made. It appears that the writers of this blog have got the point however: that crime in South Africa affects the whole population and that it is not about blacks perpetrating crime against whites. You may all be interested to know that when I selected the 50 examples of people murdered in 2006 to show in the bus to represent the daily slaughter, I chose them to accurately reflect the racial breakdown of the annual statistics for murder. The most recent study of victims of murder in South Africa shows that both perpetrators’ and victims’ racial origins are almost in direct proportion to the population.
September 28th, 2007 at 6:23 am
Pericles, a Greek statesman around 493-429 B.C wrote “Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it” and our thanks go out to Mr. Blair and Sir Antony Sher for the documentary “Murder Most Foul”. You showed that even though you have both been away from this beautiful country you are still patriots who are defending the freedom of all of South Africans. Maybe some people are so blinded by trying to find ways to make this a race issue that it did not understand that this documentary was in the interest of all South Africans. All of us deserve to live free!
September 28th, 2007 at 6:26 am
The it refers to The Star review about the documentary ‘Murder Most Foul’.
September 28th, 2007 at 7:09 am
Nic, it’s a sad state of affairs; however, I still think it’s too easy to shut the doors behind us at night, sit down and watch documentaries, yel about it and do nothing.
In this very space AIM 911 – with your kind help offered people the opportunity to register for 911 membership FREE for a period of time. The sad thing is Nic that no single person used this window, but the R91 AIM Heroes program attracted several hundreds of registrations over just two days during the same time.
Lots of time and energy went into developing the program.
What exactly is it Nic that needs to happen for folks to REALLY start contributing energy to the campaigns and/or bring new campaigns about?
I am more than prepared (and able to) establish a platform that can officially take prostestations forward – what I am not interested in is simply copying protests and yelling into the wind.
While this topic is hot Nic, I suggest we use this space to get a physical platform started, let’s all meet and really, really get involved?
September 28th, 2007 at 7:49 am
Wynand, I don’t know. I am really at somewhat of a loss as to where things go, where they end. I just have no answers on that one.
but I agree, when is enough enough? When is it bad enough that people actually make some decisions and stop the violence? I don’t know.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:02 am
All this makes me think of something that our president has been pushing down the rest of the (wealthy) world’s throat for the past few weeks.
It’s all good that we acknowledge and affirm how unacceptable the current situation is, in fact we’ve spent years stating the fact, each one trying to state it in a firmer manner than the last. A bomb explodes in a public place, and the world leaders “condemn” it?
I hate this tired old line, but I can’t find anything more apt to put here ‘Actions speak louder than words’
My post is merely joining the rest of the crowd in ‘condemning’ the current state of affairs, but let me state this one thing:
We’ve put laws and a government in place so that these various structures in their appointed responsibilities and positions will be the one’s to DO something about the current situation. YES, we can join in a go marching down the street, but that’s just ten steps back.
Frankly I’m tired of the fact that the only thing that gets any reaction these days is marching and protesting. It’s like a little kid pushing your buttons waiting for a reaction, only willing to listen if you lift your arse off the chair.
I’m rambling… hope I made some kind of point in here.
September 28th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Nic i might add that we have developed an extension to the AIM 911 program where we are able to inform every individual student on school, college or university campus of a threat on the grounds/premises, within a matter of minutes. It is known as Student-Watch.
Such institutions can get in contact with me at: wynand@mac911.co.za
I would also be glad if some of the heavy-weight bloggers could help us spread the word.
September 29th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
The banality of pure evil – two scenes in this documentary that evoked this sense in me were:
Firstly – The young black woman from Kayalitsha, after relating the harrowing conditions under which she lives, tells of how, after reporting a particularly sinister attack on her person, was assisted by the person in charge of her local police station and told “Oh well sissie, these things happen, go home and take a powder” or similar words to that effect.
Secondly, this one I found real creepy, Was the dead pan interview with the constitutional court dude, sachs I think his name was, about our “one of kind supremely excellent constitution” it led me think about all those other “one of a kind supremely excellent 20th century ideas” such as the maoist and stalinist communism, and a few others that all went horribly and tragically wrong. The problem to my mind is, that extreme idealism usually ends up, doing just the same as it’s jack booted opposite, that is, it destroys the very people it was meant to help.
I think something like this is going down in this country – there just not enough political balance and there’s just not enough good people around to stand up and stem the growing tide of evil.
September 29th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Where can i watch this online? It would be really appreciated
September 30th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Hi Brad, as far as I am aware it isn’t available online. Your best bet is to troll the video sharing sites and search for “SA Murder Most Foul”. But other than that I think you’ll have to keep a look out for it on TV.
September 30th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Nic, thanks for your comment on my site and for referring me here to your blog and the discussion that has ensued.
I am a South African in the UK, contemplating moving back to Cape Town to return to my roots after 5 and a half years in the UK.
I know what I am potentially getting myself into, as I have lived in Cape Town, and am in constant contact with friends and family there. So when I asked “What about the crime?” in response to a similar documentary on UK television on Friday night, it wasn’t an uninformed question.
Crime happens everywhere you find humans. That’s just a tragic fact.
The UK is trying to fathom out the senseless shooting of an 11 year old boy by another teenager, the drive by shooting of a Sunday afternoon motor cyclist on a national motorway, and the “probation” of a teenager who mugged a young woman for no reason – and simply walks away with it…
So I am not trying to stoke the “South Africa is a crime riddled country – boo hoo I am not returning” debate.
But I must admit… My heart is troubled by the fact that I currently live in a house without a single bar on the window. That I drive with my mobile phone in public display, my iPod on the central console of the car, and without activating my central locking when I get in the car.
My heart is burdened by the fact that this will become a way of life in South Africa when I return, and that I will develop a sore neck for looking over my shoulder.
These things will not PREVENT me from returning, but this change in a way of life is certainly a deterrent.
What I noticed most when I moved to the UK five years ago was that I had become numbed by the crime in Cape Town. That it didn’t move me when I heard of the stories everyone seemed to have.
Nic, it’s sad. We become numbed. And even when we are jolted into life by seeing it on TV, we are unsure what to do, as we are so used to being used to it.
October 1st, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Unfortunatly, there is nothing we can do but bitch and moan. The only way to vote is with your money or your feet. Whats alarming is that only Sudan and Somalia are considered less safe then South Africa. These are countries at war.
Government does not want to even acknowledge that there is a problem. The simple fact is that as a taxpayer, you have every right to expect basic safety to be provided for you and your family. Im glad this is being shown internationally. Let people see what we live with on a daily basis.
Its become difficult to arm ourselves. Laws provide protection for criminals in our homes. The borders are open for refugees to continue flooding in. On top of it, unemployment has not dropped under this new Government either. The police force is corrupt and incompetent. (LOOK AT SELEBI) Jails are full.
The only realistic option is to stay alert and have a plan in case of emergencies. Speak to your famalies and make sure they know what they need to do in a situation to save their lives. Accept the fact that this is life in SA and you need to be prepared for it.
OR
Stick your head in the sand and think happy thoughts all day long.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Brad the documentary is being screened tomorrow night, 3rd October 7pm on dstv’s movie magic channel. Mnet will screen it again not sure when though.
I think most of us are wise to the fact that crime/murder happens everywhere in the world – What seems very sinister to me however is that murder or rather mass slaughter appears to be on a roll in South Africa and more “innocent” people (ie. not warring politicians, crime bosses, gang members etc) are being murdered in the most brutal and savage ways known to man; for example the 5 year old little girl whose photo was shown in the doumentary: she was raped, strangled, mutilated and then burned, her remains buried in a shallow grave. One more terrible, shameful child abuse statistic, a cruel stain on our society’s conscience.
Recently another inoffensive and wholly innocent young mother was murdered in sunningdale Durban in her own home – she was stabbed 19 times and god knows how many times, bludgeoned, all over her body, with a monkey wrench – for absolutely nothing at all – robbery was not the motive, sex was not the motive, revenge was not the motive – the overkill in the killing is unspeakably senseless, beyond senselessness. The killer apparently is known, but no one appears the least bit anxious to apprehend and lock him up. Too many other vicious acts of babarism follow in such rapid succession, they swallow up the true horror of each individual tragedy. I do not wonder at all that so many of us have become mind numbed, shocked to the core by repetitious violent trauma, we have become unable to voice or protest our deepest concerns in unison or act on our deepest instincts, instead we hold peace marches in protest, talk the politically correct talk while the perpetrators of crime and violence snigger and scoff at our folly and continue to do just as they please and get away with it. What will become of a nation of people too strife worn to act or resist in the smallest functional way, is SA fated, unconsciously driven to go the way of all those other mis-managed war-torn dysfunctional african countries? These are burning questions for everyone who has been touched, even in the smallest way, by the brutal level of crime in this country.
In the UK, at least so we are led to believe, the comparatively few murders that take place there would meet with a deserved and expected reaction; the police would be carrying out massive field searches, trained forensic teams would scrupulously gather minute traces of evidence, the incident would be blazoned across national and commercial tv channels and news papers, talk shows and discussion panels would be hosted to try and understand the motives and underlying causes of acts of such callousness. The whole people would be invited to participate in discussing and finding solutions to their problems.
In south africa these matters are swept, in the most politically correct manner, right under the carpet, our news broadcasts focus on entertaining the masses (not informing them!), the men and women in the police service are either too shackled by innumerable and task defeating rules to be able to police effectively, or they are totally unsuitable or ill equipped for the job; – the powers that be are seemingly in deep denial, helpless and incapable of doing anything about the carnage; politically, the scapegoat for the killing disease is always, very conveniently and montonously attributed to the apartheid legacy, this may indeed well be so in some or even many understandable cases, but the obstinate wall of official apathy in the new regime is, dare i say it, becoming just as culpable and blameworthy.
Excuse me for being frank, but I feel very deeply that an extreme hardline should be taken with those who commit the most grievous, atrocious and unforgivably inhuman offences, as they are in Botswana for instance: an individual who can rape, mutilate and murder a 5 year old child is unquestionably and irredeemably sub-human, he has crossed a line and is a gross insult to the civilized mind; effectively he should be put out of his and our misery. I also think that if a poll were taken, we’d find a very very long queue of honest law abiding but outraged citizens willing and able to do just that.
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:50 am
I am not South African but I have lived in Johannesburg for 5 years. I have been working in a one stop center for rape survivors and survivors of domestic violence. Now I am working for an NGO that provides counseling services to victims of crime. I have myself been a victim of crime. Well obviously; crime is rife in South Africa and I may have a skew perception of it because I have been working with victims of crime for the past couple of years. I am still wondering like most of us, why is there such a situation in SA. It is very difficult to comprehend how can someone rape a 7months old baby. I refuse to adhere to theories like “they are just evil people”. First of all, in my line of work, I have to desperately hang on to the belief that people are good by nature (otherwise I think I wouldn’t survive!!!). I am not religious, and I say I have a faith in humanity. It is a faith, because proofs that this humanity exists are not always tangible! If for arguments’ sake, one agrees that these people do those horrible acts because they are just evil, or sub-human, then it just does not solve our question: why then are there so many evil/psychopath/whatever people in South Africa? Are South African more prone to “evil tendencies”? I don’t think so.
Oh it’s because of poverty! Well, I don’t quite agree with that either. This kind of argument is often very stigmatizing to the poor, and implicitly suggests, that well, if you are poor, you are a potential criminal.
It seems to me that a great factor (because I don’t think crime can be explained by one single factor) is the extent of inequalities (and not poverty). South Africa has a top rank in terms of its inequalities (just after Brazil, but I may be mistaken). I think that the immense gap between the rich and the poor is fueling a similarly immense sense of frustration, resentment, anger, and “what’s the point of trying?”-thinking. In the same way, it is fueling an immense sense of fear from the “haves” towards the “have-nots”, “we need to protect ourselves and our good from them”-thinking. And they demand the right to own a gun, and to shoot anyone who come in to steal their possession. It is like a vicious circle, and the gap just keeps on widening.
Anyway; that is just my humble opinion
October 5th, 2007 at 12:08 am
This news of this documentary has reached a small town in NZ – Hamilton. I have to make comment. First – can you understand why some of us have joined “the chicken run”? We want to protect our families – our children especially from the horror of crime in SA. Please don’t fool yourselves into thinking we have a dull, little life – oh yes – financially we will never be as well off, we don’t have domestic servants or gardeners and we damn well miss our extended families we left behind, BUT the relief and peace of mind that comes with NOT having to contend with that daily pressure of living in SA (I am from Jo-burg) is like a ten ton weight lifted off one’s shoulders. I love SA, there are so many good, no, great things about the country, and I applaud those who are intent on staying and making a difference. I hope you find a way – not an easy solution. Documentaries, like this are necessary. Thank you to the people who make them possible for they are making a differnce.
October 9th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Hope this helps.
There’s a whole bunch of SA-related documentaries, currently up online – which can be found via a series of posts on an SA-broadband forum. The various documentaries are hosted internationally, and some folks have them stored within SA for now, for those who don’t have the overseas bandwidth available..(see the thread for local SA ftp)
look at the Thread:
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=89544
(Contains SA documentaries: ‘South Africa the new Apartheid’/Running from Mugabe/The Special Task Force/His Big White Self/al jazeera ‘poor whites’ program/Cape Town – drugs and gangsters/ etc etc..)
October 9th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
wow, interesting!! Thanks!
November 9th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
It amazes me that anyone can dub the sher documentary sensationalist ..far from it .It is an accurate reflection of life as it is in south africa . It is easy to blame after the fact how about tryong to take responsibility . The dehuminising legacy of the past is manifesting for all to see as a spate of moral numbness coupled with murder most foul on a daily basis , The unfortunate thing is that the conservative apathy of the majority of many supposedly liberal white south africans in the wake of their guilt for apartheid has silenced them . On a broader front this regular mayhem with little to nothing being actually done by the ANC at grassroot level tears the constitution apart and makes it practically worthless . If ones rights and life is not protected it isant worth the paper its printed on .
April 9th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Yes, Apartheid was bad, bad, bad. But, before the colonists developed the country, the Black people did not have it so good either. Muti murders (slicing off peoples’ genitals live, as the screams of the victim would enhance the potency against evil spirits), and a healer-training which included rituals with animal blood, was no indication of a culture of kindness.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I can’t believe all the liberal bullshit rationalizing the barbaric behavior of blacks in SA. In less than a decade the communists of the ANC have turned a once proud civilized country into a third world hellhole. Incompetence now rules in SA. Turning over a country to people given to indolence and violent crime has brought about predictable results. Whites should flee SA as fast as they can and let them kill, and rape each other and starve. Go to any website of a civilized country and read the travelers warnings about SA.
May 9th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
j davies – Are you soft upstairs? “turned a once proud civilized country into a third world hellhole” You are referring to Apartheid right? That civilized society?
May 21st, 2009 at 1:33 pm
As sad as it is, its 99% true.
September 10th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I have to agree to an extent with J Davies. Human rights aside. Are you calling this society now a civilized society Nic? Where else in the world is a first world city turned into a slum?
Were you old enough to witness the apartheid era of the 80′s firsthand? Did you know the rand was 2 to the dollar in 1969?
Contrary to popular belief more blacks had jobs then than the do now under the ANC.
Or are we all given to riding the wave of common belief that is turned over by the Majority government that everything was wrong back then and racism was so ugly?
From where I sit ’94 was a start…..it’s not getting better!
December 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Barbara Van Aswegen Says…
“before the colonists developed the country, the Black people did not have it so good either”
Yes, why don’t we look at how wonderful and non-brutal the European nations have always been?
Martyn Abrahams Says…
“Were you old enough to witness the apartheid era of the 80’s firsthand?”
Yes, I was. It was great, but then I’m white. My black friends couldn’t step out of the houses at night. And if they came to where I lived after dark they risked being shot by the police for being black.
“Contrary to popular belief more blacks had jobs then than the do now under the ANC.”
Did they really? Yes, you know I remember it being justified that way. We abuse our local black people, but they’re allegedly better off than elsewhere in Africa. It’s such a good excuse for denying them access to proper education. It really does justify only providing infrastructure and services to support white people.
Dirty-Girl Says…
“it led me think about all those other “one of a kind supremely excellent 20th century ideas” such as the maoist and stalinist communism, and a few others that all went horribly and tragically wrong”
Well those would really be 19th century ideas. Communism that is. Totalitarianism is as old as humans. So is everything from the 20th century a bad idea? Is the a century with perfect ideas? Just so we know where to get our laws and ideas in future.