I just saw on Twitter that wezzo posted the following tweet: “UK TV star Victoria Smurfit shot at on ‘Kill a Tourist Day’ in South Africa” Seriosuly DailyMail?

I am as appalled and shocked by this article as he is. In fact I’ll go so far as to say that I am about to go UK Postal on this useless, lazy, sensationalist journalist.

The story reads as follows:

The glamorous actress, who has starred in ITV police drama Trial & Retribution and the BBC’s Ballykissangel, was injured by flying glass when the vehicle’s windows were shattered.
She felt a bullet whizz past her as it tore through the cab – ‘tangibly blowing the air’. It hit the passenger window ‘barely half an inch’ from the head of her sister-in-law, Charlie.
Writing in today’s Irish Mail on Sunday, the 35-year-old actress says she was told by South African police the attack was likely to have been a gang initiation ceremony dubbed ‘Kill a Tourist Day’.

“The glamorous actress”, hmmm, I wonder whose side the author wants the reader to be on? Did the C-grade actress really feel the bullet “tangibly blowing the air”? What a load of rubbish and paparazzi style journalism.

I wonder if Mr James Tapper trekked down to our gorgeous shores where the wind blows gently on your cheeks and the waves break just perfectly allowing for a cool spray to dust your hair (see anyone can do this shit)? I doubt that Tapper even bothered to call the police officer who was involved. And let’s be honest here, we have a C-grade actress who was in a violent incident of sorts and being a premadona probably expected the Chief of Police to drop everything and come to her rescue. Please, you come from a country where children run riot with knives, drugs, guns and more; where elderly, no, everybody is scared to use public transport in case there is a chav, hoodie or other sort of gang that will rob, rape or murder them. Why doesn’t Mr Tapper take a look at his own country before casting sensational headlines on ours?

And finally, why on Earth does everything that happens in SA have to have a massive influence on the outcome of the World Cup? Don’t be absurd.

That’s it, make your own mind up. Yes there is violence in SA and yes, it happened to involve a British actress who needed some press to bump up her career as it’s on the down and low, but why write a story filled with such an overblown agenda?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1241996/Ballykissangel-star-Victoria-Smurfit-shot-Kill-Tourist-Day-South-Africa.html#ixzz0cNzktqXN

UPDATE:

This from The Times:

But Cape Town central police station Superintendent Randall Stoffels said: “The shot fired was not specifically for the occupants of that vehicle and it was definitely not gang-related.”

When detectives interviewed her last Monday, there were no visible injuries, Stoffels added.

Smurfit opened a case of attempted murder, but this was later changed to the illegal discharge of a firearm in a municipal area.

“The occupants in the taxi just heard a loud bang and the left side window shattered. We believe someone [fired] into the air but the bullet went through the window and lodged into a panel of the van. No one was injured,” said Stoffels.

He said the projectile and the panel were sent for ballistic testing and that no arrests had been made yet.

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It’s 09:31 on Monday morning. Yes, that’s right, 9:31AM in the morning and I already have a story to tell you.

Driving to work this morning I took my exit off the highway and stopped at the traffic lights. To my absolute shock the BMW did not stop at the red robot that we were both stopped at. He paused and drove straight through it.

This was not one of those, “It’s almost green for me I’ll go” moments. This was a proper red robot (traffic light) that had JUST turned red.

So I hoot to let the guy know that he has done something illegal. Because he had done something illegal.

Now the very interesting part of this story begins here. There are not many office parks that top the size of the one that I work at so chances are that I will bump in to anyone getting off that off-ramp at that time. And I did. In fact Mr BMW man was right in front of me as I entered my office park. So we both go through the booms but he senses that I am behind him.

He stops his car in the middle of the entrance, sticks his head of the window and proceeds to ask me if I have a problem. This is how the conversation went:

Me: Yes, I have a problem. You went through a red robot.
BMW: Who are you? The police? You are a nobody.
Me: I am not the police, but you broke the law and could’ve hurt someone.
BMW: You are no one, are you a traffic officer?
Me: No, but what if you had killed someone, can’t you see you did something illegal?
BMW: I don’t care, who are you, you are nobody, what’s your problem? You can’t do anything to me.

And sadly he was right. Sadly I honestly thought that upon inspection I would find some semblance of humanity. But alas, I was mistaken.

This is where I begin to get exceptionally irritated because I can almost bet my bottom dollar that this is the type of person (one who believes that red traffic lights do not apply to him) who will bitch and moan about anarchy in our nation and that he wants to leave and doesn’t feel safe because of all the crime.

Well let me just inform you of something. I don’t feel safe either, Mr BMW man, I don’t feel safe because of stuck up brats like you who believe that crime only means murder, rape and violence. Well you broke the law today and you made me feel unsafe on the road. I wish you would take your pseudo-importance and fancy almost-wealth and leave this country of mine, it would be a safer place without idiots like you.

So I conclude that occasionally, in fact probably more often than not, anarchy filters from the top down, not the bottom up.

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There’s been a fair amount of hype and peripheral noise about heroes, helping, social obligations and the like over the past few weeks. With doctors, nurses and pharmacists holding illegal strikes in the middle of a recession it is incredibly promising to see stories like this:

A man who who saved a 13-year-old girl from being raped said he was not a hero because “it’s what any ordinary person would do”.

Bernard Erasmus, 30, of Somerset West, said he had not stopped to think about what he was doing.

Erasmus was so determined that he managed to wrestle the attacker’s knife away from him.
The suspect was later arrested and charged with rape.

Police have hailed Erasmus as a hero for taking action when he saw a crime being committed. But they also warned that citizens who intervened to prevent a crime should be certain that they could do so without risking their own lives and without breaking the law.

This is what I meant in my previous post asking the questions: “Where were you and what did you do when South Africa began to degenerate?“. This man saw an act so horrible that he felt that in the face of degeneration of the law and this country he should act. He acted. He stood up, took cognisance of what was going on and saved the future of a child.

Source: IOL

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I am not sure what the origin of the below passage is, however it is interesting to consider. This is not the reality for many, many South Africans, I know. And I am also quite sure I am going to be blasted for posting this but I think it’s an interesting way to look at things:

We have spoken on many an occasion of the fact that violent crime in South Africa (or certainly a very high percentage of it), occurs between people who know each other. Rowing spouses, drunken siblings, jilted lovers, angry teenagers, disgruntled staff, unhappy colleagues. Murders between people who know each other account for 82% of all our countries murders. 18% of our nation’s murders happen as a result of hijacking, or broadly speaking, ‘robbery’.

So, here’s the good news. If we live in peace, good-will, charity, fairness, generosity and in a way that resolves conflict speedily and satisfactorily with our staff, family and those we know, we have roughly a 0.007% chance of being murdered in a ‘random’ attack by a stranger.

Let’s put this in context so we can appreciate comparatively how small our chances are of being murdered:

– You are 300 times more likely to die in a car accident
– You are 15000 times more likely to die of smoking related disorders (if you smoke)

But get this….you are over twice as likely to commit suicide.

So much rather stop smoking than emigrate – we are safer living here than puffing in Perth – if we live right.

If you do know where this came from, please let me know so I can add in the correct references.

PS: I’m a smoker.

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I know many people who have been victims to the violent crime that is hijacking. It’s sad to say but it’s the truth. Almost everyone I know has been directly or indirectly affected by a hijacking or other violent crime in SA.

It happened again last night. Not directly to me but to two neighbours of mine in my Townhouse complex.

I live in a relatively good area which is relatively safe and relatively close to everything one could need; Sandton City, Woodmead, Fourways, shopping malls, fitment centres, entertainment, you name it and I’m near to it. I love where I live.

But coming home last night there was a police car in my driveway.

Turns out that two cars had followed one of my neighbours in to the complex and then gone looking for others to rob once they had robbed her. They fled after beating my immediate neighbour and his party guests a bit. They were in such a rush that one of the cars crashed in to a tree and the other fled.

The police were astounding. They caught one group of hijackers and continued to look for the other well in to the night. All the while placing a police vehicle with officers in our complex until the residence affected felt safe enough to let the policemen go. I was extremely impressed with what I saw from the police officers in my area who were there to help. They did a sterling job.

The point

I am trying to say that there is nothing that one can do after hearing about something like this.

What am I meant to do now? Change the way I live, not come in to my own driveway? Lock the doors all the time? Get more security? No. I don’t think this is the solution. I think the solution is to realise that we need to be vigilant. I need to learn the names of my neighbours and what cares they drive. I don’t think this is too much to ask of myself. I think that this makes sense and I’ve just been slack since moving in.

I need to remember that I live in South Africa. Sometimes it’s easy to slip in to a sense of security that is easily shattered.

Luckily this time no one was badly hurt and wounds will heal.

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I don’t. I don’t enough about my government, the policies, the people in power and what departments they control.

At the Million Man March The minister of Safety and Security Correctional Services was booed of the stage when he accepted the mandate set by the MMM. People wanted the President, they wanted Mbeki because he is the one they believed would listen. Pah!

The crowd wanted Mbeki because he is probably the only person in government that they knew by name and position. President Mbeki. Easy.

But what is the nature of a democratically elected government? Is it not to have various platforms of responsibility and channels of communication? I think it is. Yet this system falls flat because the people of this country haven’t taken the time out to actually learn about their own government. As I write this I can’t tell you who this MEC of Gauteng is, I don’t know who the mayor of my city is and I sure as hell don’t know the name of anyone in the police force in my immediate or greater areas. This is a major, massive problem that starts with me and continues over to you and your immediate surroundings.

If we as the people are not engaged enough to find out who to blame for the little things then how can we expect to create a stir at the top about the big things, like crime?

Using crime as an example is a good case study. Many people have been asking why the MMM was a “flop”, how could it have been better and why are the crime rates so high. Maybe it’s because we are trying to conquer the world before we control our neighbourhoods? Maybe what we should be doing is banging down the doors of our mayors and local government officials instead of trying to reach the president himself? There are people in these position for reasons, tried and tested, yet we don’t feel the need to even learn their names. I think this is where our community is flawed. We should all know where our closest police station is, who we can talk to at that police station and what number to call when we have a problem. Imagine if everyone in Johannesburg took the initiative to talk to their neighbours, friends and local government (include police). Don’t you think that would actually make more of a difference than trying to rally a gazillion people to the union buildings and call for the president to come down? I think it might.

Now let’s do a bit of an exam here – DON’T USE GOOGLE OR THE GOVT WEBSITE

Tell me who the ministers of the following departments are:

• Agriculture
• Defence
• Housing>/li>
• Justice & Constitutional Development
• National Treasury
• Secretariat for Safety & Security
• SA Police Service
• Trade & Industry
• Transport
• Water Affairs & Forestry

I hope you didn’t use Google or any other online resource. Now go ahead and try to answer in your comment. I am extremely interested to know how many of you actually know 10% of the above. I didn’t. I can guarantee that local government knowledge is even worse.

To find the answer to the above and all the rest of the ministry’s visit the South African Government website.

I understand that I often call people to action, that I ask people if the problem lies with them, us, or everyone. I know I do it. I do it because I think it’s the truth and it’s the necessary truth. We need to start to learn about our surroundings, accept and act rather than rebel and react.

For good measure, here is a list of our ministers:

Ministers

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I have returned from the Million Man March (MMM) at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Let’s get this out of the way off the bat: There were not a million people. All the nay-sayers have been proven right but I hope they are wishing that they weren’t proven right and instead contributed their body to the numbers.

Apparently the final count was 5000 and there abouts. But on the plus side there were over 15 countries with media representation at the march and broadcasting in one way or another. That is good news.

I have been a part of events like this all over the world and I think that I overestimated this one. I arrived with my brother, John, at about 7:30. We parked close and waited for the masses to arrive.

In amidst of the waiting I managed to get some face time with the incredibly humble Desmond Dube, organiser of the MMM. What a great man. He has the ability to make you feel welcome and inspired. He greeted my, I introduced myself and showed him the SA Rocks T-shirt that I was wearing and he was immediately warm to me and give me a hug hello. He thanked me for my work and praised my deep love for South Africa. When you hear people thanking you out loud it really is quite rewarding.

I left Desmond to his devices, which included interviews with what seemed to be e-tv and other TV stations.

At this time it’s about 8am in the morning and there is an inconsistent and slow trickle of people coming in to the Union Building grassed area.

Then at about 10am I think it was, The Times gave me a ring and did a podcast with me about the vibe and attendance and such things:

Click play to listen to the podcast!

At the time of writing this post the podcast had been viewed 1100 times! Not too bad I think.

Things started to get a bit interesting as the day developed. The DA showed a strong presence and tried hard to market themselves effectively throughout the day. Azapo arrived and tried to show their presence, unfortunately that was short lived as they downed their protest tools and chilled out.

My main gripe the entire day was with Altec Netstar and their brand punting the whole day. I was approached by 6 different sales people informing me about their new product called the gaurd-something-or-other. I was a bit offended, being sold to while protesting crime. They really missed the point of the march. It was not an event to punt a product to people. Not at all. Bad move. I wont be buying their product any time soon.

I did a mini-vodcast with a couple of people and managed to get Helen Zille herself on camera speaking to Bongani from Carte Blanche. Nice work I think.

One of the most impressive things that I saw the entire day was the presence of St Mary’s school at the march. Their Matric class was present in full force, full school uniform and voices warm. They showed great spirit and intention. I interviewed the headmistress of the school and she was steadfast in her convictions. She also mentioned to me that the entire St Mary’s school marched in Waverly to show that they own their area, not crime. Great stuff.

And here is a video of the girls from St Mary’s showing us how to protest peacefully.

Below are some of the photos that I took throughout the day. There were many more, but these were the ones worth placing online.

I also twittered (live blogged) the entire day to some mixed responses. Some of the more interested tweets are listed below:

At The union buildings. Very empty. Hope it fills up. Already spoken to desmone dube.

#millionmanmarch ppl streaming in. Vibe is great! Music, support. Loads of political parties unfortunately missing the point

Just did a short podcast with the times. Nice one, numbers slowly increasing. 1hour 2 go.

Live coverage started on sabc. Helen zille just arrived

Numbers here very sad but not focusing on negative. Ppl here have been fantastic.

Desmonds opening line “can a comedian do it?”

‘we need to remove those who cannot hear the cries of the people’

victims of crime speaking. Sad stories. Everyone in crowd nodding in agreement. Sad that we can all relate.

‘crime is robbing us of eachother’

‘crime is the government not servicing its people’

‘we cannot allow criminals to mess with our freedom’ minister booed off stage. Perfect treatment.

One of the most incredible things that happened to me at the MMM was realising that I am making a difference. This blog is actually being read (even though the stats say that it’s anothe thing to realise it in the real world). It is being read by all sorts of people! I found this out at the MMM. People came up to me, asked about the shirt and told me that they read SA Rocks every day, once a week, in the inbox or on the MMM website. To hear people (and see them) face to face telling you that you are making a difference, that they read your website without you asking them to and that they support your efforts is moving and mind blowing. It must be one of the greatest rewards for a blogger – to have “Real life” people telling you that they know who you are. What a great feeling, a very rewarding day all round. I feel like I made a difference and I feel like standing together with 5000 other people is better than standing alone. Whether it was 1 million or not, I don’t feel alone anymore.

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I am marching against crime come 10th of June (next Tuesday). I took the decision, asked my boss (Thanks Matt!) and am driving to Pretoria to be one of the hopefully million people who attend this historic event.

I decided that I should try and envoke a sense of willingness and desire online to attend. If you are a business, blogger, online marketer or any other type of person who has a stake in this country, show your support for the Million Man March and MARCH AGAINST CRIME.

The badge is already visible in my sidebar as a little bit of inspiration. If you have committed to go to the Million Man March then I urge you to save the badge and place it somewhere visible on your website. Link it to the Million Man March website and try and blog about your experience of the event. I will. Even if you post a single photograph the represents your experience, do something to show your support online.

Here’s the badge. To make use of it on your site, right click on it, save it and place it on your own site!

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I’m a bit saddened about the fact that I am writing this post.

This post is going to be a bit of a rant, a bitch and an accusation.

To everyone who has ranted, bitched, moaned, sworn and threatened me on this blog, where are you now? To all the people who have asked me for answers and who have begged me to wake up and leave SA, where are you now? And to all those of you who say you want to help and make a difference but don’t know how, where are you now?

Where are you when the I ask you to join me in a march? Where are you when I ask you to take a stand for your country and take ownership of its problems? WHERE ARE YOU?

I’ll tell you where you are – Nowhere. Because there is nowhere and nothing that will make you contented and get you involved. You like to bitch and that’s where it stops. You want to bleed the problem and expose the wound but you want nothing to do with the bandages that heal it.

Why am I ranting? Here are some facts and stats to help you see my frustration:

The first lot come from Facebook, not the best tool I suppose, but it has been used in the past by various groups to rally support for various protests, causes and people suffering around the world.

I created a Facebook group about the Million Man March about a month or two ago. I invited every single one of my 536 friends. The overwhelming response from people was a whopping 300 or so ppl joining the group. I even blogged about the group and the event yet none of the people bitching about SA felt the need to join and try to make a change. Why?

In contrast a group about “BOYCOTT! “Artist” GUILLERMO HABACUC VARGAS.” has countless South Africans and some of my friends clammering to show their support. A dog vs a population suffering at the hands of criminals? What’s wrong with you people?

Then I started the event for the Million Man March on Facebook. The event stats as of this morning:

47 people might show up.
149 people are missing out.
329 people are MIA.

And the part that makes me sad: This event has 15 confirmed guests.

Out of over 500 people invited to the event most couldn’t be bothered to even respond, then the rest are not pitching, another small group felt too guilty to say no, so they said maybe but don’t care either way and 15 people managed to show a public committment to change. Shocking.

I know I sound like some higher than thou preaching-preacher-man. But when I deal with naysayers all day long on this blog and then an event is provided wherein people can get involved, stand up and try to make a difference, NO ONE IS INTERESTED.

Moving to the blogosphere:

Let me ask another question, where is the blogging hype? We can talk about the latest website buyout, who Bolton Deventer might be, and what the A-listers are or aren’t doing but as bloggers we feel no responsibility to expose our readers to the march and the reason for marching? It bugs me because bloggers are always quick to blog about the crime they have experienced and rant and moan (myself included) but we choose not to blog our support for the event and committ to it.

On SA Rocks:

Most commented on posts:

- Protest against crime in SA to be held in LONDON?? (64)
- South Africa’s most influential Blogging personalities (58)
- Lucky Dube shot dead (45)
- Ashley Callie has died (34)
- South Africa, Murder Most Foul (29)

Out of the above posts not a single one is a positive discussion. In fact, in three of them I was lambasted for calling people to action and having an opinion.

More recently I posted a contribution from a reader wherein she was destroyed and picked on for being “privelaged” and writing from that perspective alone. This post received 16 comments.

Yet my interview with Desmond Dube, organiser of the Million Man March received almost no feedback, positive or any other. This post received 1 comment.

Now tell me, what are you doing? How are you getting involved and will you be putting your feet where your negative mouths are? Is crime an important enough issue for you to stop bitching and moaning and actual walk for the cause?

photo: kalieye

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I have done my level best to keep you, the SA Rocks audience happy. You asked me to find more information about the Million Man March and I have tried my best to do that.

Below it seems as though the date of the march hadn’t been released yet. However if you visit the website, you’ll see in the header that the march is scheduled for the 10th of June 2008

Desmond Dube has been kind enough to take the time to answer some questions for SA Rocks! Him and his team have also been kind enough to honour me and SA Rocks with a feature on the Million Man March website under the “Why March” section of the site. Go and have a look, while you are there, sign up under the “count me in” section and show your support. Enough from me, let’s hear what Desmond had to say:

Hi Desmond,

First off, just want to thank you for letting me interview you, I promise I’ll be asking you some different questions! Secondly thank you so much for placing my post on your site. You can’t understand how important and gratifying it is to be apart of this project!

So let’s get in to the questions!

Firstly let me say thank you for initiating the Million Man March. I am 100% behind the project and support the entire thing. I am going to ask you some questions that my readers have been asking me.

1. Do you have an exact date set out for the March and is that date going to be over a weekend?

Yes! we do have a confirmed date the march thank heavens, unfortunately the committte thinks it would be more effective to have the march mid week to make a statement. The aim is to raise the public profile of crime and we might make lots of excuses if it’s a weekend. Crime affects us all and business South Africa will be making a statement of their own if they don’t employees off on this day.

2. What about police endorsement? Is there going to be some sort of police presence?

There will be 1000% police presence. The good policemen of our country are affected just as anybody else, and they want what’s best for this country. So, there will be more than a presence.

3. Where exactly are we marching to and from?

The very best logistic people are working on a suitable gathering point with the metro police of Pretoria or Tshwane. More details about the march will be released later and put on our website: www.millionmanmarch.co.za

4. What sort of response in terms of actual people committing to march have you had so far?

I think we have passed the 500 thousand mark i am not too sure, check the count on the website. The post letters are probably in the region of 10 to 15 thousand, they have filled three big dirty bins. A clear sign that people have had enough.

5. Do you believe that you can reach the target of 1 million people?

Our fear is that we might go waaaayyy over a million at this point and our media have not done it’s roll out yet.

6. Have you heard from the likes of the safety and security minister or the police commissioner regarding the march?

NO! Not yet!

7. What sort of high profile people have shown their support for the march? Can you give my readers some names?

The list is broad, from top sportsmen to the religious elders, i would refrain from naming celebrities because we have stressed that this march is for the Citizens it doesn’t matter who they are and where they come from. A big part of this march is to Unite us, so we would be sending the wrong message if we single out the high profile people.

8. I am imagining a demographically representative and diverse march, am I right in this assumption? Or is it going to be a bunch of privileged people complaining about the country?

I guess i answered this one. The media campaign covers everyone and their living standard measure.
As i said we are all affected by crime.

9. How can we be sure that the march will remain a peaceful and valuable one?

We are throwing 90% of our attention ,resources and messaging on PEACE.
God is in the front line of this march man!, that’s how you can be sure.

We’re almost done, now lets get down to the nitty gritty stuff!

10. Where is your favourite place to visit in SA?

That is an unfair question man! but if i had to choose, i would say God’s Window in Mpumalanga, when God comes back that’s where we are going to meet him.

11. Can you tell me about the most interesting person you’ve met in your profession?

A boy (6)who had never been to school but could read from Alexander, He freak me out.

12. What is your favourite local food?

I am a darkie bro, anything that goes with CHICKEN.

13. Can you tell me, in a few sentences, why you love this country?

I have travelled the world over and i still think it’s the most BEAUTIFUL country i have ever seen. The most dynamic people, The forgiving nation and you got to love the music here.

Desmond, thank you so much for giving me the chance to talk with you. You are doing SA a great service at an integral time in our history and I am proud to say that I will be placing my feet where my mouth often is and taking some positive action!

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