tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78782088007982402282024-03-14T02:56:41.091-07:00Jozi JournoI am a journalist in the vibiest, edgiest city in the world. And a single mom!jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.comBlogger229125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-67138934460650394822011-04-11T07:07:00.000-07:002011-04-11T07:07:27.304-07:00No sense, no sensibility<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38aAtN_sm3D9hoKFqP67vbj_FGvd4rqIY6DnhcXXJcbNQ4nnQvqQWvlo78Z3LYRwzY8b4rPDC5YLzShBeQOKlHp_3EFDeajZ278wjLnwyoHuvCHtZ1T1sJjcN_wBauT9sLrfnMZ9nUrFd/s1600/sense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38aAtN_sm3D9hoKFqP67vbj_FGvd4rqIY6DnhcXXJcbNQ4nnQvqQWvlo78Z3LYRwzY8b4rPDC5YLzShBeQOKlHp_3EFDeajZ278wjLnwyoHuvCHtZ1T1sJjcN_wBauT9sLrfnMZ9nUrFd/s320/sense.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Julius Malema in court for hate speech, intelligence cop Richard Mdluli trying for bail, another after shock (like how does that work, after a month??) hit Japan - the news today was pretty ordinary.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">However, in the little backwater province of Mpumalanga there was a low-key news story that had me gobsmacked. Even though the stuff that comes out of that area is generally weird.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Apparently a taxi association that services the province hired a sangoma from Swaziland to sniff out a dubious unknown character who has been causing them to crash. Mpumalanga taxi crashes have been responsible for 16 deaths in the past 9 months - which they believe are the cause of bad muti after four different sangomas consulted for their insights all agreed that there was a taxi owner using muti to turn himself into a multi-millionaire. Instead of just offering a safe taxi service, he enhanced his own business by causing his opposition to crash.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to the report, the evil muti caused the taxi drivers to feel sick and their feet to swell so much that they couldn't drive long distances.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So the Mpumalanga Taxi Association consulted with the local tribal council, which governs traditional affairs, for permission for the Swazi sangoma to perform a ritual that would enable him to sniff out the bad muti.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the meantime some of the black magic and now the taxi drivers are all feeling well and their feet are "in good shape" .</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The taxi drivers are now waiting on their permission for the Swazi sangoma to "expose the mastermind" behind all the evil so that they no longer have to live in fear. </span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-19357364170381850292011-04-05T06:24:00.000-07:002011-04-05T06:24:41.493-07:00Signature of a killer<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvw_pYKe2hvLP-idMjoyOfU16CnC72vEsrFQm513NcJnUrSVLgXP9fS1QBHw6mvS-wAHUgSzZiwEzv_jMu5akUL3aNXYfvrVH7cuszywPRTPyRwKJbBq2Y96kfwdbxqMboF2rLsZ2lxRmm/s1600/mikeytats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvw_pYKe2hvLP-idMjoyOfU16CnC72vEsrFQm513NcJnUrSVLgXP9fS1QBHw6mvS-wAHUgSzZiwEzv_jMu5akUL3aNXYfvrVH7cuszywPRTPyRwKJbBq2Y96kfwdbxqMboF2rLsZ2lxRmm/s400/mikeytats.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hitman Mikey Schultz, the guy who shot Brett Kebble dead, sends me his best wishes. In writing. Along with his sidekicks Faizel 'Kappie' Smith and Nigel McGurk. Check this out:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iLBZdtXMCpd1S_E4I5k70tEgqrBj2WD-tfKmJBRIfjcJLzgVc0ZM5o8MqfoxBq6o0QK1q9glcKlzGnv-WSKWW-3LB5VrHHIQ4ZjGfapS5FRM4qVxQWSu2Ch9vJPAQ5_4ph7XtrFkn1DI/s1600/mikey+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iLBZdtXMCpd1S_E4I5k70tEgqrBj2WD-tfKmJBRIfjcJLzgVc0ZM5o8MqfoxBq6o0QK1q9glcKlzGnv-WSKWW-3LB5VrHHIQ4ZjGfapS5FRM4qVxQWSu2Ch9vJPAQ5_4ph7XtrFkn1DI/s320/mikey+sign.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So how did such a cheesy event come to pass?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5igAgTc4SrW9xDfPKxWopC_mkRfGN4MhYvCzvjxY3mkPI2YPxJsOIYneoCpl3wEFg6WVDU4DRtYrPPSypWnVPty0TrvD7ktl6KYqfl3rlXtrHnWgxFNQi9rhrdlQ3d1eFO1rtqP-cTIQp/s1600/kebble+invite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5igAgTc4SrW9xDfPKxWopC_mkRfGN4MhYvCzvjxY3mkPI2YPxJsOIYneoCpl3wEFg6WVDU4DRtYrPPSypWnVPty0TrvD7ktl6KYqfl3rlXtrHnWgxFNQi9rhrdlQ3d1eFO1rtqP-cTIQp/s320/kebble+invite.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I happened to crack an invite to Radio Chick's book launch the other day. It was a big deal indeed - happening on the 19th floor of the Lister Medical Building at 6pm. It was a mere stone's throw away from Joubert Park and the Bree Street taxi rank. The exact spot that sane and law-abiding people would like to be very far away from come rush hour.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Weaving through chaos, encountering utter lawlessness on the roads, made the drive to the launch function of " Killing Kebble - An Underworld Expose" something of an underworldly experience in itself.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But on the 19th floor balcony the scene was different. Music played, the sun set over the city skyline, people chattered, drinks flowed and it was all very pleasant. The only slightly unnerving element was the presence of several extremely large men in white golf shirts - all bulging muscles, mean stares and important looking wiry gadgets on their ears. The place was riddled with bodyguards.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then I realised why. The three guys who actually killed Kebble - Mikey, Nigel and Kappie - were all socialising at the launch of the book that so effectively describes how they murdered the mining magnate and completely got away with it.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So I asked them to please sign my book. And they did. Happily!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Strangely bizarre. But weirdly cool.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I haven't finished reading the book yet - but it's really good. I get a passing mention in it! And I'm so chuffed for Radio Chick! The first print run sold out in four days, so in less than a week she's into her second print run. Awesome! </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I wonder if my copy will one day be valuable.</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-1918509731270097162011-04-04T06:09:00.000-07:002011-04-04T12:10:33.456-07:00Journalist's dog finds headless corpse.<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eaWlWd4qCPqA4HIuCi-4Gb-qitXZcwDZj7MmF8ZEkrXzLe9e0OpUdeismV6dWivvPRkjiwSYcPxXRdREzOXd_4fc_VKTYu_gJ96l-yHbR28BS2iTE2RasJ-rXBIb4PmkH1ORiVmJFDZh/s1600/citizendog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eaWlWd4qCPqA4HIuCi-4Gb-qitXZcwDZj7MmF8ZEkrXzLe9e0OpUdeismV6dWivvPRkjiwSYcPxXRdREzOXd_4fc_VKTYu_gJ96l-yHbR28BS2iTE2RasJ-rXBIb4PmkH1ORiVmJFDZh/s320/citizendog.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This morning a rival newspaper completely outdid the daily paper I work for with a cracker of a lead! </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have never seen anything like it. Seriously.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Last week I thought we were running with a bizarre story when my Durban colleagues gave us the story about the former Blue Bulls rugby player who went running around with an axe and killed three people, actually decapitating one of them.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It all quietened down after the guy was arrested and the courts sent him for mental observation.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But now this morning another paper came up with a brilliant new development in the story. The Citizen's investigative reporter, who is apparently based in Durban, decided to take his dog Earl for a walk in the area where the Blue Bulls guy was staying during the time he alegedly took to running around with an axe.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And get this - the dog found a fourth body lying in the bushes. Minus a head.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The headline: "Earl solves a murder mystery". I swear </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Talk about pro-active journalism.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eeeew!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVUxlKAvQ02INQO5rGVwAcFhvZLgVXaw2Ue_RxQj9108gDsvAM34i5bRA5GZESmyFThZEAKaORMvJkC8Hb46PMfiLaTbDt1opZvTGvyacxrczbelI2szcHgOFqIgKr4yDLGqJY0h8J89s/s1600/investigative-journalism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVUxlKAvQ02INQO5rGVwAcFhvZLgVXaw2Ue_RxQj9108gDsvAM34i5bRA5GZESmyFThZEAKaORMvJkC8Hb46PMfiLaTbDt1opZvTGvyacxrczbelI2szcHgOFqIgKr4yDLGqJY0h8J89s/s400/investigative-journalism.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-53009457107385879032011-03-22T09:06:00.000-07:002011-03-22T09:06:04.689-07:00Safe like chickens on any Given day.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYaMDhUa5SvpfmnbVddGoPbJEh_oN-NjreheqkudCY5XtRJjrQNvuTqJuVXdJzaVTcb3jpMrflWv49pr_cW7Rfvny48jUgaMFnyhnN67pcBOSKL2nE7VX34hCB2f4lFVoMdVaUe2RF05G/s1600/rock+paper+scissors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Back at work after a public holiday, smack bang into the first deadline for the afternoon paper and decisions, decisions...</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What do we lead with? The latest on Libya? Japan? The hit on dodgy underworld boss Cyril Beeka?</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hmmmm.....</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So Libya it was.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And just when that edition is done and dusted, time to think of what to go with for the evening edition. And of course there was lots to choose from. A train derailed in Germiston. A guy walked into the Eldorado police station and shot a cop in his office. And some armed gang robbed an Engen garage in the south just as the cash-in-transit van arrived to fill up the ATM after the long weekend, sparking a shootout.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Decision time:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYaMDhUa5SvpfmnbVddGoPbJEh_oN-NjreheqkudCY5XtRJjrQNvuTqJuVXdJzaVTcb3jpMrflWv49pr_cW7Rfvny48jUgaMFnyhnN67pcBOSKL2nE7VX34hCB2f4lFVoMdVaUe2RF05G/s1600/rock+paper+scissors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYaMDhUa5SvpfmnbVddGoPbJEh_oN-NjreheqkudCY5XtRJjrQNvuTqJuVXdJzaVTcb3jpMrflWv49pr_cW7Rfvny48jUgaMFnyhnN67pcBOSKL2nE7VX34hCB2f4lFVoMdVaUe2RF05G/s320/rock+paper+scissors.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Meanwhile back in the strange province of Limpopo, a man named Given Baloyi who earns his living by keeping chickens safe for R90 a month caught a python trying to prey on his feathered friends. So he killed it. And is now making a ... erm ... killing selling it off in bits.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>“So far the intestines have already been booked for R300. I will charge anyone R150 for the skin and R20 per centimetre for the meat,” he told the rural news wire service in the area.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Plus he upped his chicken security fee with a bit of danger pay and now charges R100 a month. All the vendors who use him were so happy they gave him a R7 bonus.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkObxrVRTooAeuaKGY4lTzbInDmQHtyx6M596FVP7oHKFMQakXZYOSV2yMmhQbsmoTmXz3yXElI5wYDw1QEyU65ke94Z0VBhiI7qL-RVssVHHRvsMIvGuloKKjne7PQ9HaieG7XfipaeOr/s1600/snake+killer++++++001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkObxrVRTooAeuaKGY4lTzbInDmQHtyx6M596FVP7oHKFMQakXZYOSV2yMmhQbsmoTmXz3yXElI5wYDw1QEyU65ke94Z0VBhiI7qL-RVssVHHRvsMIvGuloKKjne7PQ9HaieG7XfipaeOr/s400/snake+killer++++++001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Happy days!</span></span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-45851727007631498062011-03-09T07:03:00.000-08:002011-03-09T07:03:56.861-08:00The snail, the magical penis and six donkeys.<div class="Section1"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4j2qcCqVCpXkpJQNvlQ1gP2XdmyTSIfsjnTH_HYR0yQgHup6CExgiwanI1-bawKEJxog7Tzn6McOnxrMpH3t-bSuVwFs9KcHOozei_fh3lIGd8ZLRTIi_UVt6V6RWdo0F-cFKS6oRwj2_/s1600/wtf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4j2qcCqVCpXkpJQNvlQ1gP2XdmyTSIfsjnTH_HYR0yQgHup6CExgiwanI1-bawKEJxog7Tzn6McOnxrMpH3t-bSuVwFs9KcHOozei_fh3lIGd8ZLRTIi_UVt6V6RWdo0F-cFKS6oRwj2_/s400/wtf.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>So while racism accusations, Joburg's billing crisis, the petrol price and tollgates have pretty much been the focus of news reports of late, weirdness has still been happening all the time in Mpumalanga province.</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>At the Tonga Magistrate's court a group of 12 people - nine men and three women - were released on bail. They apparently killed their pastor.</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>So why does a mob kill a man of the cloth? It seems the late Albert Malwane, pastor of the Izwi Zion Christian Church was accused of using a magical penis to sleep with women. The details of this incredible situation are not clear - and trust me, I tried to find out. All I know is that he was also something of a Dr Doolittle, because he was said to have been able to talk to the animals. Anyway his actions so enraged his local community that a bunch of people dragged him out of his house to a hill where they burnt him to death. And then they went back and burnt his house down.</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Then the angry mob went after Pastor Malwane's wife. She had apparently been terrorising the community by - get this, I'm not making it up - turning herself into a snail. No, she did not transform herself into a puff adder, a scorpion or a man-eating lion. A snail! It must have been one freaky scary snail because they wanted to kill her too. As people do to you in Mpumalanga when you do such stuff. Apparently.</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>So the whole crowd has been sent home on bail of R1000 each and will go on trial next month. I wonder what the minimum sentence is for burning your pastor to death in that province.</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>And then this morning a bus crashed. Into six donkeys. The pictures we were sent are disgusting - donkey bits all over the road and some large dents in the bus. I am sure they will make page one of the Daily Sun tomorrow.</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span></span> </div></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-6346057786166242892011-03-01T05:07:00.000-08:002011-03-01T05:07:19.278-08:00It's a tokolosh thing!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5jl4pIj7loM2tgyQLRMYoChQet70tjKr8_1z-DfTRIrYDS6P5sgprg24vKDX8SIiAhBRX1Mu11sBPGwDszWVEVBbvMWFR_W1M5CNA9JL9pgv9hMXxaI0cxYoVy1RLU7Myxg1z3QF9kP9x/s1600/tokoloshe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5jl4pIj7loM2tgyQLRMYoChQet70tjKr8_1z-DfTRIrYDS6P5sgprg24vKDX8SIiAhBRX1Mu11sBPGwDszWVEVBbvMWFR_W1M5CNA9JL9pgv9hMXxaI0cxYoVy1RLU7Myxg1z3QF9kP9x/s400/tokoloshe.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Big news in today is that some members of the Pietermaritzburg community handed in a public petition to the local court claiming that an accused in a murder case uses tokoloshes to steal court documents, and they believe justice won't be done in his case as a result.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes, indeed this is true.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The accused is a wealthy traditional healer or witch doctor who apparently told a local guy to behead some other guy and then keep his head in the freezer if he wanted to become rich.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So the co-accused in this case allegedly went off and beheaded an 18-year-old and stored the head, with a snake wrapped around it, in his girlfriend's freezer.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's not clear whether he became rich by doing this, but he did indeed get himself arrested along with the sangoma.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And now the local community is really uptight about it and set the girlfriend's house on fire and expressed their concern about tokoloshe's being used to steal the docket.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">All true.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I swear.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7fILiYUPrfwVDOh35MLk9vRjIiIPRvlk_fcBBxaXDLU25WG9njdxWuZMoZD3kQFJudY-5Awy_PObbmMH9A8lgsTHocf1XxopstWG3kaiopXJm1tUPILiNYmVGaLXownJbBvQZByLR4UdI/s1600/bieberhair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7fILiYUPrfwVDOh35MLk9vRjIiIPRvlk_fcBBxaXDLU25WG9njdxWuZMoZD3kQFJudY-5Awy_PObbmMH9A8lgsTHocf1XxopstWG3kaiopXJm1tUPILiNYmVGaLXownJbBvQZByLR4UdI/s400/bieberhair.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-34359706849451046082011-02-22T05:48:00.000-08:002011-02-22T05:48:29.004-08:00Prayers for Christchurch<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Some days I find it really hard to do my job and remained completely removed from the news events and stories I have to work with. Especially now that I am based on the news desk full time and don't get to run around on crime scenes and things like that.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But this morning when I arrived at work at 6am I was hit by what has been described as New Zealand's darkest day - the quake in Christchurch. It was four hours after it hit.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I recently reconnected with an old friend from primary school days who is now living in New Zealand. I remembered him telling me all about the shocks and after shocks of the quake that hit in September. So I quickly logged on to check his details again and felt sick when I saw his hometown was listed as Christchurch. I mailed him immediately and have heard nothing back.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then the pictures started coming in.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And the stories. News updates. And then the personal accounts.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They were hard not to read. I went through one of a woman who described how she had said cuddled her little girl the night before and taken her to play school that morning. Then quake had hit at 1pm their time. She survived the wobbling of the building in which she worked. She listened to the news and almost passed out when she heard that the building in which her daughter's day care was based was among those that had fallen.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hours later she still knew nothing.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I cannot imagine her agony...</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BoRT9y_zXoE4GLJ_WMcoXxZaflC-8Kkln4K2b42tVQ3_W60GsCqhO-TSZ2wOlJugYbdtEi1YWkp3_paoeaGXHV-36rWT0Y9JrOD-YSwnZcDSuPxgSdI2xv2L4L5fJqHggonkLN9d4KN5/s1600/QUAKE1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8BoRT9y_zXoE4GLJ_WMcoXxZaflC-8Kkln4K2b42tVQ3_W60GsCqhO-TSZ2wOlJugYbdtEi1YWkp3_paoeaGXHV-36rWT0Y9JrOD-YSwnZcDSuPxgSdI2xv2L4L5fJqHggonkLN9d4KN5/s320/QUAKE1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8bPBYbglQeTMrn4uRg6D12lKAZZdh-psC6o80kM8r5CIz4HeHc7Y1d62rdivbx1q6X-LSoQR4KEsN96sTYdrkmCzlQG3IU4cCEZLIpOyWtIWUaWxt8jTh3e9PTDFEd8Z1_xSQdslBye2/s1600/quake2.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ8bPBYbglQeTMrn4uRg6D12lKAZZdh-psC6o80kM8r5CIz4HeHc7Y1d62rdivbx1q6X-LSoQR4KEsN96sTYdrkmCzlQG3IU4cCEZLIpOyWtIWUaWxt8jTh3e9PTDFEd8Z1_xSQdslBye2/s320/quake2.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJg7Cvt3slzV833864jDD3bjlAocQPcwrGK4aEJ8rOPjmzK7WcF3WzrnVysNgZS3YMzwYHg7u5MEQ-LReIbcMS1K7lEeBTYEWrfduhqE_VAiBPM0PJ40Bg_lE05FaUQob2UD91ko-Izkb/s1600/quake3.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJg7Cvt3slzV833864jDD3bjlAocQPcwrGK4aEJ8rOPjmzK7WcF3WzrnVysNgZS3YMzwYHg7u5MEQ-LReIbcMS1K7lEeBTYEWrfduhqE_VAiBPM0PJ40Bg_lE05FaUQob2UD91ko-Izkb/s320/quake3.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT70Kg3HE5scsxjXhLRJ7Apq28MhqpHwX6dRUN5cDp6iO6EdDESUf0100CHbaco_uOuouqS1KX9XtTnjD37lhTk14mu9AxttaTLydI6eGbp4SPcV_HQhELRjDpEL2KDX4r_UrOAp-oTT7K/s1600/quake4.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT70Kg3HE5scsxjXhLRJ7Apq28MhqpHwX6dRUN5cDp6iO6EdDESUf0100CHbaco_uOuouqS1KX9XtTnjD37lhTk14mu9AxttaTLydI6eGbp4SPcV_HQhELRjDpEL2KDX4r_UrOAp-oTT7K/s320/quake4.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwImUqJ2-uBwzHjasAgIcsa5Yd6B2HzlPR0oO21398s_2vENknZVL55NHNHSZE9MJy31GTzwnEhXc5ku5lyuEm_feFJNB_wJvDjGx_boh5aEDv49q1dNjYp46j6IjI8rjIybTn1g8NWWlG/s1600/quake5.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwImUqJ2-uBwzHjasAgIcsa5Yd6B2HzlPR0oO21398s_2vENknZVL55NHNHSZE9MJy31GTzwnEhXc5ku5lyuEm_feFJNB_wJvDjGx_boh5aEDv49q1dNjYp46j6IjI8rjIybTn1g8NWWlG/s320/quake5.jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">May God be with them!</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /></span>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-88458699903459358442011-02-16T07:26:00.000-08:002011-02-16T07:26:06.935-08:00Gone in 60 seconds. For real. Apparently.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTYwtW77kXrRRdX0a2OdA7XBEA7nGq0Kwee-BRRAfvt1xOVdFP0X_Uv-vITbwTUhokiUAWaZm0W5-MgKhdxUj5f_FPRuzCXnauA6E9RGeq7giWGXIGeq0ExICCaCroTWi0gsejOUF0rwu/s1600/gonein60secs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTYwtW77kXrRRdX0a2OdA7XBEA7nGq0Kwee-BRRAfvt1xOVdFP0X_Uv-vITbwTUhokiUAWaZm0W5-MgKhdxUj5f_FPRuzCXnauA6E9RGeq7giWGXIGeq0ExICCaCroTWi0gsejOUF0rwu/s320/gonein60secs.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>So it seems that Mpumalanga is once again proving my theory that it is a very strange province that seems to be the chosen spot for all manner of weirdo events that would make for a Tarantino-type movie or a Stephen King book.</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Like today - a story from a little news agency down that end of the world was dubbed "Gone in 60 seconds". So in Joburg one could assume it was a non-creative heading for stylish car theft racket - you know, like the movie about a master car thief (Nicolas Cage, that creepy looking guy who looks like he'd be at home in Mpumalanga). But no - not in this case. </span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The thing that disappeared was a brick house. Apparently. Swallowed up by the ground. Seriously. They even sent a picture:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOz7f77PWXTEUoaZFzCeVbXo4GlTMjHwuXfIgCqpBGfswejoJ9my-Aqfpj2XwOdvmmaMlKlobuGJV3fvPGZB_ey2iLBYna9JLoYao4_XvCNE-bOLj2g0G8iiTqsNqXSGoEZlq8b9n1i9O0/s1600/shackswallowed1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOz7f77PWXTEUoaZFzCeVbXo4GlTMjHwuXfIgCqpBGfswejoJ9my-Aqfpj2XwOdvmmaMlKlobuGJV3fvPGZB_ey2iLBYna9JLoYao4_XvCNE-bOLj2g0G8iiTqsNqXSGoEZlq8b9n1i9O0/s320/shackswallowed1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>So this was a house built by a guy called Joseph, and which disappeared into the ground four months later. In the Mbongozi section of a place called Driekoppies.</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Obviously not deterred by this incident, he and his wife simply went across the yard and built themselves another one-roomed house. As one does in Mpumalanga when the ground swallows up one's first home without so much as a burp or a "thank you very much, that was delicious" .</span></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>And now look what's happening to Joseph's second house. I submit:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YsuZMsHbtThpj6-vTKUqN5V_C7p_d8HjOIBH6HgbNvI_INWBQDZMRegs2MsDv-SHo1LyRmVn5XU8fMjxhzkj0Dd0LzHTyJnU4dqC_Ypw1DXn6vI4Q9sLdjm4sAgpRqnhP2XVi2nalGNg/s1600/shackswallowed2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YsuZMsHbtThpj6-vTKUqN5V_C7p_d8HjOIBH6HgbNvI_INWBQDZMRegs2MsDv-SHo1LyRmVn5XU8fMjxhzkj0Dd0LzHTyJnU4dqC_Ypw1DXn6vI4Q9sLdjm4sAgpRqnhP2XVi2nalGNg/s400/shackswallowed2.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span> </span></div><div class="MsoPlainText" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Joseph's neighbour Dumisa is now afraid that his house will be next.</span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span> <div class="MsoPlainText"><span>“I wake up during the night to check if my house is not moving downwards yet. What happened to our neighbour is a nightmare that thankfully happened without anyone getting hurt," he is quoted as having said.</span></div><div class="MsoPlainText"><span>His observation was that the soil in the area was turning upside down every five hours, with the top layer swallowed into the ground. Sticks and stones thrown onto it just disappear. Chomped up by the hungry ground.</span></div><div class="MsoPlainText"><span>The geology expert from the University of Pretoria who was consulted concluded that the area was "unsuitable for residential occupation".</span></div><div class="MsoPlainText"><span>You think??</span></div></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Jeez!</span>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-80294700644998832882011-02-01T05:16:00.000-08:002011-02-01T05:17:32.965-08:00Ama false teeth going cheap cheap!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Manic day.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not only did I man the newsdesk this morning, but I also wrote a story.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Emma - the plucky 15-year-old left paralysed after hitting her head while diving into her pool at home - died this morning.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was a story I covered when the accident happened, and now sadly - a day short of five months later - at the end of Emma's life.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Her tearful mom told me how Emma hadn't wanted to go to sleep last night and kept calling her mom and sister into her room for chats. She became increasingly distressed about pain in her shoulder, eventually stopped speaking at 1am and then 30 minutes later passed away in her mom's arms.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sooooo sad.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then just before I was ready to leave for home we received a tip-off.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Apparently some entrepreneurs in downtown Jozi have taken to ...erm ... recycling disused dentures. The teeth are collected from funeral undertakers al around and flogged off at R20 a pair.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I can just imagine buyers picking up a pair, trying them on, spitting them out and trying another before they find a near-perfect fit. Eeeew!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We were given an exact address where the vendor is punting the second hand munchers. But it turned out not to be so.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But somebody is definitely doing it somewhere.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Check out the picture of ama False Teeth:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIIntwFFNZ4yp2zZoWBhaXbm3IoOE0rfgrA5hiIy_XnEEiFB6xrF_uhNpgfBrIuoziVgK9wNMcLYvWeTpLQaAvgTqIgOPyZHpfgIwOxad0bpa0-_7PESOVfsPOPa45hKZi6MRlmC7PceC/s1600/teeth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJIIntwFFNZ4yp2zZoWBhaXbm3IoOE0rfgrA5hiIy_XnEEiFB6xrF_uhNpgfBrIuoziVgK9wNMcLYvWeTpLQaAvgTqIgOPyZHpfgIwOxad0bpa0-_7PESOVfsPOPa45hKZi6MRlmC7PceC/s320/teeth.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-80741703895463924522011-01-27T05:30:00.000-08:002011-01-27T05:30:25.493-08:00Get well soon, Madiba!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6Ub99ZESFk_UMzyhXMq2A2nKTnl_hlsv8Wej-uFvi4OkqICsynO6e8GuseAmdeI1cMNvD5z9eDKRN8syi0Nvv8ouMQ5QkimPWrmNKhpz3PhkCOcl23FvUu58V_YA0smhz9maGHF2_XgM/s1600/madiba2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6Ub99ZESFk_UMzyhXMq2A2nKTnl_hlsv8Wej-uFvi4OkqICsynO6e8GuseAmdeI1cMNvD5z9eDKRN8syi0Nvv8ouMQ5QkimPWrmNKhpz3PhkCOcl23FvUu58V_YA0smhz9maGHF2_XgM/s320/madiba2.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Only one story of interest today!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nelson Mandela, Madiba, the 92-year-old hero of our nation is not well.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's a breaking news item that has captured the globe, has journalists and photographers camped outside Milpark Hospital and reporters calling all their contacts for any and every scrap of information they can get.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We early shifters arrived at the office at dawn this morning to relieve our night shift counterparts, allowing them to go home and shower and get some sleep.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">By late morning the newsroom was buzzing. Everyone was keen to be part of the story as we waited and waited and waited for some kind of official comment.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Slowly we pieced together bits - Madiba had been on holiday in the Cape when he developed a cough he couldn't shake. It's probably not terribly serious, because he did have TB in prison. But he went for some tests and it was decided that he should be flown home to rest under the watchful eye of his personal physician at Milpark.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Nelson Mandela Foundation has said he is undergoing some routine tests. Everybody knows he is old and frail. When I last saw him at his great granddaughter's funeral at the start of the World Cup his face was alive with that brilliant beam we all know and love so much. But his body was so weak I wanted to cry! He had to be transported from his car into the hall by golf cart as he was no longer able to walk with any ease.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As he lies in his bed, the hospital is filling up with visitors of all kinds and a massive media contingent remains firmly entrenched outside. Never mind the rain.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I pray for the best. We heard rumours of a pending press statement announcing that he is out of the woods. I hope this is true. The alternative involves a pending story that every media empire is prepared for, but one I have always dreaded.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Long live Madiba!</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-71609946028056924082011-01-26T05:47:00.000-08:002011-01-26T05:47:18.095-08:00Spooky Snuki<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlYV57dogAaZsa83Bl0WrxPbRZ2Et6nsPQIPwfuMcG-lNT7dbIGk9qYSZ5zXMvZjXy5yw3itmKFVQ8Oec-dsEgkxbLQNpOsT4RgbHj5a8pu7Q6UN7n6FsQ9CTBafvrQiPrtJHE83Bribu/s1600/snuki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlYV57dogAaZsa83Bl0WrxPbRZ2Et6nsPQIPwfuMcG-lNT7dbIGk9qYSZ5zXMvZjXy5yw3itmKFVQ8Oec-dsEgkxbLQNpOsT4RgbHj5a8pu7Q6UN7n6FsQ9CTBafvrQiPrtJHE83Bribu/s320/snuki.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the cool things about manning the newsdesk in a busy newsroom is that you get to check out all the incoming stories first.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On occasion it's a gobsmacking experience. Of course it's part of the job to double check with the reporter who wrote the copy when you have doubts. But generally it's true and we get to read it first.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today's big story was a judge's finding that SABC, our public broadcaster, manipulated our news during 2005 and 2006.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It seems that the man who was head of SABC news at that time, Snuki Zikalala, was quite an active force behind what all went down.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to the evidence, Snuki went to Zimbabwe in 2005 to negotiate the terms on which SABC reporters would cover the Zim elections and decided that they would be allowed in only two days before the election - so no coverage of campaigning (or intimidation and violence) before the time.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While he was in Zimbabwe he apparently “had no problem ordering fresh bread rolls, bottled water and whisky” from room service and so he dismissed all reports of food shortages in the country.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This would be completely hysterical if it weren't for the fact that these actions completely shaped the news we were fed by our national broadcaster at that time.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He was most famous for blacklisting a whole string of political commentators and analysts whose view didn't suit his own, a cover-up that exploded a while back.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's sad to hear how one man did so much to manipulate news. And then, when contacted for comment now that all his laundry is hanging out in the open air, he slinks away claiming he can't say anything because he hasn't seen the judgement.</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-8158382029484887972011-01-25T08:21:00.000-08:002011-01-25T08:21:15.021-08:00Poor poochie, poor pensioners.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECDnnwVPcJuZG-62u0_HWWe5JD0cJy950Tas6Ii1E0ESQJ5lwhB5vN-6O5PRq_FXZsJYHvR2bL26UO1OrHqR_KbeBogsC-oUbpWAnqg_H8AmjYU_JJE4DmNSY1Cyq7DfvfAt15Z6qDb0I/s1600/viagra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECDnnwVPcJuZG-62u0_HWWe5JD0cJy950Tas6Ii1E0ESQJ5lwhB5vN-6O5PRq_FXZsJYHvR2bL26UO1OrHqR_KbeBogsC-oUbpWAnqg_H8AmjYU_JJE4DmNSY1Cyq7DfvfAt15Z6qDb0I/s320/viagra.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For most of this year so far, I have been office bound. Less than exciting.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have been manning the newsdesk on the early shift, catching the news that broke in the night and deciding which scoops other papers have that we need to chase down.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So it has been flexing my muscles and working on my bossing-people-around skills and for the most part it has been okay. Sometimes it's hard to hand over an assignment that I would much rather run out and cover myself, but hey - somebody needs to sit in the hot seat. And while I am still stepping around gingerly, nervous about putting my back out again, it may as well be me.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But I have to say, there have been some particularly peculiar stories happening this January 2011.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like the woman who drove herself to the airport, flew to the Netherlands and checked herself into a mental health facility. Only problem was that she took her dog as far as the OR Tambo International Airport parkade, and then left the poor poochie locked in the car. Eeeeeew! Airport authorities only discovered the now-deceased dog, like three weeks later.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then yesterday - once again time to dispatch a reporter to the airport for a major big bust. A HUGE consignment of fake Viagra, seized by our very own crafty cops.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As the detective who informed us of this delightful breakthrough put it: "I'm not quite sure how the authorities tested the stuff. Maybe they swallowed one and waited to see what happened. I'm not sure, but whatever they did, they have determined that it's not the genuine stuff".</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am thinking a whole lot of old guys out there are pretty disappointed...</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But such is the news of the day!</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-29194181606520307662011-01-06T05:45:00.000-08:002011-01-06T05:45:33.324-08:00Happy, happy!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqkQGDxhYuIJvksoQKelBgyuRMwWhBcmr0qxm7BdSSU41mZq13PDQLiKQvbZ6Bk9gqUjNlMQ_x8MEyYXOrUulUUWUJHmYT3LDKhUjEBvSXCAYkm3mMTd2M9B1CKWQ0ARvPwcw_gcO0xCP/s1600/Classof2010_jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLqkQGDxhYuIJvksoQKelBgyuRMwWhBcmr0qxm7BdSSU41mZq13PDQLiKQvbZ6Bk9gqUjNlMQ_x8MEyYXOrUulUUWUJHmYT3LDKhUjEBvSXCAYkm3mMTd2M9B1CKWQ0ARvPwcw_gcO0xCP/s320/Classof2010_jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Six days into the New Year and already I am feeling the need for some downtime.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Half the newsroom, at least, is still on holiday so we skeleton staffers are being worked to the bone. And I get to be in charge on the early shift.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It has been an interesting experience. Covering the matric results for both private and government schools has been interesting to say the least.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stories of kids with strings of distinctions have been the main focus for days on end. Some have been tales of epic success - like the boy at school in Utrecht (in itself a distinct disadvantage) who promised his mom he would do well as she lay dying two years ago. He then raised his two younger brothers, became captain of the first rugby team, headed the school representative council and then finished up as Dux scholar with five distinctions. So many challenges, every reason to fail - yet he succeeded.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then there was the boy in Soweto who would stay at school til late in the night to study where he had light, walking home alone in the dark to a poverty-stricken home. He described himself as a rose that emerged from a crack in concrete.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then the other stories that seem to be sagas of success layered over every advantage. The blonde teenager who notched up 10 distinctions, no shred of nerdiness in sight as bounced along in a mini skirt looking every bit like a promising candidate for Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion. Or the girl who managed a clean sweep of distinctions while simultaneously taking time out to qualify as a pilot. Or the other girl who was relieved that her exams were now over and she could put her six distinctions aside to concentrate on a career as a super model.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amazing.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Congrats to the class of 2010!</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-28811177122711176982010-12-20T07:17:00.000-08:002010-12-20T07:17:28.870-08:00Julius on a roll!Not too much excitement on the news front of late.<br />
However, a very cool present did arrive at the news desk.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFxigoXVMohb3yQjtd_MRwLGbx-F8-TnqVYUdUHBk57qW0NUdGpsQVXge3gVsbAOFjKKlzgWpdwvrArq_zZABa5MJ4cTs57plFICFX2LnAbooKL_P-9t_F2q-mJyWfCs3H3n-eohOPGAo/s1600/juliuspaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFxigoXVMohb3yQjtd_MRwLGbx-F8-TnqVYUdUHBk57qW0NUdGpsQVXge3gVsbAOFjKKlzgWpdwvrArq_zZABa5MJ4cTs57plFICFX2LnAbooKL_P-9t_F2q-mJyWfCs3H3n-eohOPGAo/s400/juliuspaper.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>How cool is this? Julius Malema's likeness on a bog roll. Fantastic!jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-51550179896238919802010-12-07T09:22:00.000-08:002010-12-07T09:22:41.675-08:00And so grinds the old news machine...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillZCz8ioyYFeMIVkivoyUcxuEiKqQoquv686k7FBN0DefWrXIAhxYvk0PB_QDzzkX_Vgn28pCa9G1phmLH1Esb9LWMFP8v2VitdrNL1kQXuk8xh28pRYjwyYyVUrX-8ZOTTvZxZlzrjg-/s1600/fear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillZCz8ioyYFeMIVkivoyUcxuEiKqQoquv686k7FBN0DefWrXIAhxYvk0PB_QDzzkX_Vgn28pCa9G1phmLH1Esb9LWMFP8v2VitdrNL1kQXuk8xh28pRYjwyYyVUrX-8ZOTTvZxZlzrjg-/s400/fear.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We're into the last slide at the end of the year, but the news machine is not wanting to slow down.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I cannot remember when last I worked as hard as I did today. When I last wrote as many words as I cranked out today.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">At 6am this morning I jumped on my first story. A South African man living on Australia's Gold Coast was gunned down in an apparent random shooting. There he was, walking along the esplanade at Surfer's Paradise after a game of tenpin bowling with his kids, holding his wife's hand, when BAM! A bullet ripped through his arm and tore through four of his internal organs.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He had been shot in a violent crime incident in South Africa a few years ago and had relocated his family to Queensland. One would think it was the best thing a family man could do - but apparently violent crime has spread around the globe.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I made scores of calls to Australian journalists and found them to be amazingly friendly. Sweet Henry at the Gold Coast Bulletin even sent me the audio clips of the press conference and the police comments, so for once this Joburg journo could put out a multimedia online version of the story of the morning.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I cannot believe that just three months ago I was on holiday and walked the esplanade at Surfer's Paradise with my family. So weird.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then it was time to crack onto the Anni Dewani murder story playing out in Cape Town. I don't quite understand why I got pulled into a story in another city, but hey - someone had to put together a piece on the unanswered questions, draw up a detailed timeline and then write a long narrative piece about what happened to the poor young bride in Gugulethu.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As I researched and wrote my heart out, the taxi driver told the Cape High Court how he had been commissioned to do the hit for R15 000 by Anni's husband Shrien.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was all very dramatic, and all of us in the newsroom were glued to the TV, listening to the whole confession going down.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then it was time for Shrien's publicist in London, Max Clifford, to give out Shrien's statement in response. He urged people to treat this latest development "with the contempt it deserves". Spoken like a true spin doctor.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This story is going to be great when it goes to trial!!</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-69966734592447568312010-11-23T08:03:00.000-08:002010-11-23T08:03:06.176-08:00Laid up!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoeyrHLj45iIBIP1nmSfKDB2IFSwJXH00TNImsyqe3WRqOEv4ERu_MpYdC-TkT2WKKKI7vkcjmQcMy1dZQ-R-ay41OExYqjHrgX7NWMxWGsOFwroRN1CmZ833Q760pmRENFF6pjGX1w8B/s1600/borked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoeyrHLj45iIBIP1nmSfKDB2IFSwJXH00TNImsyqe3WRqOEv4ERu_MpYdC-TkT2WKKKI7vkcjmQcMy1dZQ-R-ay41OExYqjHrgX7NWMxWGsOFwroRN1CmZ833Q760pmRENFF6pjGX1w8B/s320/borked.jpg" width="262" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Laid up with a bad, bad back ache is what I have been of late. And it is beyond horrible.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In between visits to specialists, trips to the hospital and sending a fairly hysterical e-mail to the one professor I know at the Wits Medical School I have been going in to the office. Hobbling like a geriatric and sitting gingerly with my pink bunny hot water bottle neatly place against the small of my back - but present and at work all the same.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Life goes on and papers go out daily - but it's not so much fun to be part of the process when your back is sore and drains all your energy and enthusiasm to the point where you watch the clock and count down the hours til you can go home and lie down.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But it has not been all bad news. Oh no - I was booked into hospital for a mylogram which, I was told, is a hideous test where you get dye injected into your spinal cord. And that's the fun part.Then you have to lie flat for 24 hours so your spinal fluid doesn't leak out, and you get a crushing headache. However, the radiographers who do this procedure took pity on me and decided to try and see if they could rather do an MRI. This is a whole lot better, and it actually worked!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I got to lie down in a hospital gown, get wheeled into a tunnel and then wait for what felt like about an hour while machines took pictures of what was going on. It was a big machine and I had to wear massive earphones because it all sounded like a bunch of jackhammers around me - but I was not going to complain! It all makes your body weirdly hot, so winds are blasted on you throughout the whole process.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I discovered the power of visualisation as I imagined myself raving it up at Ibiza (never been there, but I figure it's an island, there must be beach breezes) with the thump-thump-thump in my ears being nothing more than really loud, bad techno tunes. And hey presto, it was all over.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then more specialists, more fights as I declined their polite offers of spine fusion surgery.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So far I am winning.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I got fitted for a lumbar corset today, and on Tuesday I go into hospital for an epidural and spinal block procedure.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let's hope it works and that I get to spend a few more months happily living my life before I go under the the knife.</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-56726783515614991142010-11-03T08:32:00.000-07:002010-11-03T08:32:27.462-07:00A jolly expensive gate indeed. In a state of disrepair....<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today the Health Department responded to a story I wrote last week. Yay!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was an expose on the most expensive gate ever built (hopefully) at taxpayer's expense. All about the entrance to the Sizwe TB Hospital in Sandringham. Basically it is a brick structure built to cover two boomed gateways serving the entry laes, two booms for the exit lanes with a little guard house in the middle. Oh ja - the guard house apparently has a toilet in it.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So how much would one pay for such a structure? Well - the Health Department forked out R4.1-million for it! </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In response to questions put to them in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, the department said the company that won the tender to do this had given the cheapest quote with both other contenders quoting more than R5-million. I swear!! For that little brick structure.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So I checked out the opposition companies and found out that one of them doesn't even exist. And now, adding insult to injury, I found out that this little gateway - which is little more than a year old - is falling to pieces. The ceiling boards are hanging loose and the stone cladding on the one side has crumbled off and is lying in heaps on the ground.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That was last week's story.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now today I hear that the Health Department, apparently quite anxious to prove that they didn't overpay for a soundly built structure, sent out a notice that the damaged ceilings had been caused by the driver of a waste disposal truck who drove through against the instructions of security guards who pointed out that his truck was too high to go through.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nowhere did they say why such an expensive gateway was not high enough to accomodate the passing through of a big truck (which apparently entered the property without damage to the roof over the entry booms), nor did they say if the driver bashed through the one exit boom and then reverse and bash through the other side too. Because the ceiling is badly damaged over both exit booms.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eish.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The crumbling stone cladding, they said, was caused by delivery trucks. They did not say how the trucks had crashed into the stone and cement wall situated on the inside of the property at the entrance. From my own observation, this would only be possible if the trucks reversed and crashed the wall, causing the stone structure to crumble without touching the metal gutter in front of it, which remains unscratched.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But hey! Government statements go out, no further information is supplied.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is a picture I sneaked with my phone. Check out the damaged roof!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tFxD2pkHQPjLXvPhZNcyNWPSEjzpyCQpL5aMuIii67YuM1RMZpybrmhGAhvXL5SqWhzWFTxF7bS-L1SuX0U5cfM8Pf7Lzv1nr8LUCPWmp3qQ7PFSoVTgRB9o4cqpK2Gpx9JBh-_wB2oK/s1600/sizwegate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tFxD2pkHQPjLXvPhZNcyNWPSEjzpyCQpL5aMuIii67YuM1RMZpybrmhGAhvXL5SqWhzWFTxF7bS-L1SuX0U5cfM8Pf7Lzv1nr8LUCPWmp3qQ7PFSoVTgRB9o4cqpK2Gpx9JBh-_wB2oK/s400/sizwegate.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-75180237807189480802010-10-25T08:08:00.000-07:002010-10-25T08:08:31.648-07:00Auction action!<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stephan Welz & Company are having an auction soon. And they believe that the stuff going under the hammer is so exclusive that it warrants a press release, complete with a photograph of a particularly precious item up for sale.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's a ginger jar, and looks like this:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB98HVFHx67kraal5QS_2WkwT9q1ePGwxeYTLzt9fxepxs2I61N4qRIE_ejUDrvhlBevBROIvs70BBCOfm11YeT11Wv0rLFECbIOesAWTMga7lcTiS_boaJ6N3Xwh7ne2n6WvL0pNwfxFh/s1600/gingerjar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB98HVFHx67kraal5QS_2WkwT9q1ePGwxeYTLzt9fxepxs2I61N4qRIE_ejUDrvhlBevBROIvs70BBCOfm11YeT11Wv0rLFECbIOesAWTMga7lcTiS_boaJ6N3Xwh7ne2n6WvL0pNwfxFh/s320/gingerjar.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to the description, it's 32cm high on a wooden stand. It is painted with "stylised leaves, flowers and stars against a streaked green and yellow ground, gilt detailing, the cover similarly decordated, all under a lustre glaze".</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's pretty.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then I saw that this little piece of pottery is expected to fetch between R25 000 and R35 000.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That's pretty expensive for a little item.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then I saw the Christmas catalogue put out by Makro's liquor outlet. And I realised that R35 000 for a pretty little display item is an absolute steal.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I mean - check this out. R150 000 for a bottle of whisky! I kid you not! Here is the brochure, as photographed with my Blackberry!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpaKfcnquRI7KNaQJM_Goevt7htF61sZP9mAn-_n1RAD_iOkpEVRauO0ypDgnECoMcwXCJyUD3j68qbVd46r9gUzXSHI9HRAYQqZsGHW6qWsrmIYYPPvX3LrUeIksL_iaz4JhNukqeEFr/s1600/makrobooze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpaKfcnquRI7KNaQJM_Goevt7htF61sZP9mAn-_n1RAD_iOkpEVRauO0ypDgnECoMcwXCJyUD3j68qbVd46r9gUzXSHI9HRAYQqZsGHW6qWsrmIYYPPvX3LrUeIksL_iaz4JhNukqeEFr/s320/makrobooze.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And it is not a printing error or other kind of mistake. My colleague Boulders phoned them to check it out. And indeedio - a bottle of 50-year-old Glenfiddich will set you back the cost of a mid-range car!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For that price I would want it to drive me to work, make me coffee and give me a neck massage. At the very least!</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-89273827949291940022010-10-13T07:39:00.000-07:002010-10-13T07:39:59.396-07:00Tension in Tembisa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmiKvFSnxfa7muFOKJa3ky_ftCWRq1aqce81wf3IbtcHy5YwFiVFh1SffyC7oMO4waoHJJ2L2xswAJ2lWHAb6MoXbQKmyZhI9RE0wc6Z6KeOtRovglDEVejbxHiAdz6Ovs5NjRWrM-2vXo/s1600/tembisa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmiKvFSnxfa7muFOKJa3ky_ftCWRq1aqce81wf3IbtcHy5YwFiVFh1SffyC7oMO4waoHJJ2L2xswAJ2lWHAb6MoXbQKmyZhI9RE0wc6Z6KeOtRovglDEVejbxHiAdz6Ovs5NjRWrM-2vXo/s320/tembisa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Today I got to spend a whole bunch of hours in Tembisa. With a few hundred angry residents of the Madelakufa squatter camp - as they referred to themselves. Or the inhabitants of the local informal settlement, as Chief Photographer preferred to call them in the belief that this description bestows them with a little more dignity.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was a typical protest - angry people cross about having been registered on a waiting list for a low cost house for 20 years and still find themselves in shacks. Apparently President Jacob Zuma paid them a visit in June and promised them that they would be getting houses in about November. And now in late October they have discovered that only about 450 of the 2 500 odd residents will be getting homes in a project set to be phased in.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So now the fight is on - who is going to be among the first to get a house, who gets to choose the priority order and where oh where will the other houses for phase 2 onwards be built because there is apparently no more land!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chief Photographer climbed up and snapped pics of the raging crowd while the two intern photographers who accompanied us also shot pictures. It was a good training ground - all seething masses, armed cops, threatening chaos but nothing actually ever spinning out of control or getting ugly.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tembisa is one of those townships with a dark edginess to it - where it's hard to feel comfortable and you feel the constant need to watch your back.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So it was with relief that we watched the crowds withdraw after they were promised a decent written response by the Ekhuruleni Housing Department. Tomorrow. Apparently.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I hope we don't have to go rushing back there in the morning to cover a riot!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPQe5a3nS1ka_ciKGo4IfK8xcNrzz5exKlB8kyqa84l8QquxX7vwsSNTmWa10fgFTYwitY3Hh6hmQh1f1Jam_67MkAMYmIqZHCYatgxwNYfL_ZeGbTm7wtRA-RpUt4_pTudGisu6tqaXQ/s1600/riot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirPQe5a3nS1ka_ciKGo4IfK8xcNrzz5exKlB8kyqa84l8QquxX7vwsSNTmWa10fgFTYwitY3Hh6hmQh1f1Jam_67MkAMYmIqZHCYatgxwNYfL_ZeGbTm7wtRA-RpUt4_pTudGisu6tqaXQ/s400/riot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-63845416166485868622010-10-05T05:53:00.000-07:002010-10-05T05:53:31.432-07:00Natural Born Killers<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSR2bfoyB55jr76m2mNzYP8-qgLi2gcdab6zVGmkP_f5RbeG0-frZ5BtGP3ynIimsNX-jfU7idRBf1Dgi_H7kZ-YSfOKTq2U7ZNDRB6p6WucCoW-G3NlPcIO282Js0AjabsawysAlCIGW/s1600/tarantino.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSR2bfoyB55jr76m2mNzYP8-qgLi2gcdab6zVGmkP_f5RbeG0-frZ5BtGP3ynIimsNX-jfU7idRBf1Dgi_H7kZ-YSfOKTq2U7ZNDRB6p6WucCoW-G3NlPcIO282Js0AjabsawysAlCIGW/s320/tarantino.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Spending time manning the newsdesk and looking more closely at the stories coming in has me convinced that Mpumalanga and Limpopo are strange places where real-life manifestations of Quentin Tarantino movie-type scenarios unfold with alarming regularity.<br />
I read the stories with horror, knowing that they are real simply because your average sane and balanced person simply could not invent the stuff that goes down there.<br />
Take, for example, the most recent event of this nature. A 42-year-old man from Bushbuckridge has been sent for psychiatric observation to determine whether he is fit to stand trial for the murder of his father.<br />
It seems that 42-year-old Simon spent Friday afternoon chasing a small child around with an axe. His 60-year-old dad Wilson stepped in to stop the nonsense, only to have Simon hit him several times in the head with the axe.<br />
The kid ran to the neighbours who called the cops and an ambulance. But Wilson died soon after they got him to the Matikwane Hospital in Mkhulu. The cops seem to agree that Simon could be a tad mental.<br />
And then yesterday, in Limpopo, another guy found himself in a spot of bother following the deaths of three teenage girls.<br />
Apparently he was driving along in his bakkie when he picked up six young women looking for a lift. He apparently failed to stop at the place where he had promised to drop them off, so the of course all jumped off the back. Three of them bounced in the road and got hit and killed by other cars.<br />
As I say - one could hardly invent these stories!</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-30769785857545691952010-10-04T07:07:00.000-07:002010-10-04T07:07:19.495-07:00Ducking and diving and bullet proof vests.<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This whole week, I am set to stay put in the office. A colleague has had a baby and gets this week off for paternity duties at home, and I get to sit behind the newsdesk.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is not going to be nearly as exciting as, say, yesterday when I got to dash out to fire. The Duck 'n Dive pub and pool hall at Kya Rock shopping centre burnt down, much to the enormous distress of locals. Seriously - it has been a long, long time since I have encountered such a bleak crowd, and I cover Jozi crime! Pale and silent, they stared at their gutted old haunt. I am sure some of them were actually crying, but too embarrassed to admit it. They spoke about the pool trophies, framed t-shirts and teddy bear collection all lost in the fire. Some declared themselves homeless.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, so sad....</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now if I had been in the newsroom this morning I would have been the one assigned to the shooting at Northgate. Five armed guys stormed into a jewellery store and shot the owner dead in front of his pregnant wife before firing shots into another three people.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like some enthusiastic adverts are telling us - Christmas is on the way. And so come the armed attacks on malls. So best we start wearing bullet proof vests when we go shopping!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-13396685987141673602010-09-30T07:23:00.000-07:002010-09-30T07:23:58.672-07:00PigSpotter and the Police In Gauteng.<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jUBFxERXLxmAAkGHcGUfQiDVCVKzZapt51ONj2KjCLypJuFPFKKlILRv9dpt4YgwC7uZiQ9WgPmqDsXsTYZe5PsSL1msbzR3nIDHn9fFt0KYUrBEjRGWuOW9uJxCJNzha_cMMktLEuNm/s1600/pigspot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0jUBFxERXLxmAAkGHcGUfQiDVCVKzZapt51ONj2KjCLypJuFPFKKlILRv9dpt4YgwC7uZiQ9WgPmqDsXsTYZe5PsSL1msbzR3nIDHn9fFt0KYUrBEjRGWuOW9uJxCJNzha_cMMktLEuNm/s1600/pigspot.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So PigSpotter - the guy who has been causing a stir round the world with his efforts to alert Gauteng drivers to the presence of traffic cops - is hoping to get his lawyers to negotiate a sweet deal for him in the event that they intend to prosecute him.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If it is up to the Metro cops - PigSpotter will be well and truly roasted. They are really mad with him. Steaming, frothing mad. He has offended their delicate sensibilities by referring to them with all kinds of porky references.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">PigSpotter has become something of a cult hero, tweeting away any sightings he has of police activity on our province's roads. Pigs, pork rashers, crackling, swine flu brewing in the bushes - you name it - he had the most delightfully creative turn of phrase.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And he got followers by the thousand - anxious drivers wanting to avoid the ever-increasing number of speed traps, road blocks and the like. Partygoers who might be over the limit, but wanting a safe route home; speed freaks looking to avoid bad surprises or whatever - they are following him madly on Twitter.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then the cops went public with their disapproval, threatening to sue him for defamation. Their egos are bruised and they're man enough to admit it.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So PigSpotter backtracked a little and said his porky references were not meant to be hurtful. Just funny. I mean Pig is an obvious reference to Police In Gauteng!!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Too brilliant!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am watching this unfolding saga with bated breath...</span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-60508428307658605062010-09-21T06:55:00.000-07:002010-09-21T06:55:57.718-07:00Rea Vaya - not so much!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihf7n4tSnd1d0A2w_J6YcqaRKVHDGXNGxsBmXNWtnpNIWgTDQAkm4GqzlY8NMfJIHzWs28mbJcQMl9fNKHhzF0yf-inv2KmLs61H1ef257lD3nijk27xBjipz_lBGeFittMGrqzxOm6IZJ/s1600/brt-rea-vaya-soweto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihf7n4tSnd1d0A2w_J6YcqaRKVHDGXNGxsBmXNWtnpNIWgTDQAkm4GqzlY8NMfJIHzWs28mbJcQMl9fNKHhzF0yf-inv2KmLs61H1ef257lD3nijk27xBjipz_lBGeFittMGrqzxOm6IZJ/s320/brt-rea-vaya-soweto.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010"> </span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">Gosh - another sudden, unannounced bus strike.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">For the third time in four months the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit system failed to operate this morning.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">Nobody from the transport department knew why. Nor did anyone from the City of Joburg, or the Rea Vaya Communications office. Not even the Metro Trading Company - the business set up to manage the Rea Vaya stations knew what was going on.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">I called them all back just before my late morning deadline and was told the strike action was all to do with a dispute relating to station staff employment contracts set to expire at the end of October.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">I dunno, but it doesn't seem to me that going on a sudden strike is the best path to job security. But then again, these BRT workers have gone on illegal, unprotected strikes twice before and got their own way, so maybe it is the thing to do. I have been spectacularly unsuccessful in reaching anyone with authority who can tell me what they plan to do about this situation.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">I heard that the Rea Vaya workers were toyi-toying and causing problems at the Thokoza Park station in Soweto and headed out there to speak to them. Dozens were gathered there, most of them lounging on the grass under trees and unwilling to speak - sure that they were not going to work, not so sure about why. The few groups of emotional people talking agitatedly about what other actions to take would also not speak.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">A group of us stood in the sun and watched them. A photographer translated the shouts of one of the security workers who was complaining that his salary of R2000 was not enough for him to afford a life policy and that if he got killed on duty his family would be left with nothing.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">So - none of the bosses knew what was being demanded of them. None of the workers was saying what exactly they wanted.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">I have had to hand this one over to the late shift reporter in the hopes that maybe by sundown or later there will be a voice of reason or some kind of explanation of what happened.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">Today was day two of this illegal strike. Still the buses were not running. And still nobody was fired. I called around and discovered that the reason for the strike was now clear. Apparently all the workers' contracts expire at the end of October and they all want to be immediately given permanent employment.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">The glitch in the matrix, however, is that the Joburg City Council has apparently promised 40% of these jobs to the taxi industry.</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">Eish. Caught between a disgruntled worker and the taxi mafia!</span></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010">So we wait to see if the city's shiny new buses will run tomorrow.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWh97ivNZK6UtqwpExVblST44V4je6fp9-GcSEUZPVJPUBkYlHjST_jmcI0gbtRfHJsojVTNhIQ4qwBG8LweJKNYng15c__xKsgWx_amm8r38W2xFS7n6WvN8yMiBkmfQpk7FAGyBAqyiF/s1600/reavaya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWh97ivNZK6UtqwpExVblST44V4je6fp9-GcSEUZPVJPUBkYlHjST_jmcI0gbtRfHJsojVTNhIQ4qwBG8LweJKNYng15c__xKsgWx_amm8r38W2xFS7n6WvN8yMiBkmfQpk7FAGyBAqyiF/s320/reavaya.jpg" /></a></div><div><span class="558482511-20092010"> </span></div></span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-61758970446055572702010-09-16T08:05:00.000-07:002010-09-16T08:05:59.723-07:00Geraldine and an unfortunate storm in a teacup.<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While I might be non-athletic (although I do have a fairly well-used gym contract) and sports does feature extremely low on my list of passions, I once again had to jump on a sports story today.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A rival newspaper hit the streets today with a big scoop about a retired sprinter having been injected with a "banned" substance. By her team doctor. Two years ago - but hey, it's a doping scandal, right?</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The story is all very juicy. The doctor who apparently gave the vials of banned substance was a controversial character from East Germany named Ekkart Arbeit. He once trained a woman called Heidi Krieger who was doped with so many anabolic steroids and stuff that she went on to have a sex change and changed her name to Andreas.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1aKjLLWXs0gsNNXneacfFCwqduwR75osTODK1AsJ2TmbZyBhGByTvWeqtmimylMoUa3T0GtWr-k4giYxgVc7nZClVuEws_QjVsETHfxLLThrlKCbukKktjqXjbI4Xcscwjj9FUJAakw-/s1600/heidi-krieger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1aKjLLWXs0gsNNXneacfFCwqduwR75osTODK1AsJ2TmbZyBhGByTvWeqtmimylMoUa3T0GtWr-k4giYxgVc7nZClVuEws_QjVsETHfxLLThrlKCbukKktjqXjbI4Xcscwjj9FUJAakw-/s320/heidi-krieger.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
My job this morning was to pick up the story and find out what the people involved had to say about it.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It did not take long for me to realise that Actovegin, the supposed banned drug involved, is actually not banned. It is not listed by the World Anti Doping Agency, nor do our local guys have it listed as prohibited.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So - a bit of a storm in a tea cup. Coincidentally happening on the eve of Athletics South Africa's elections in which Geraldine has been nominated to the Athletes Council.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This scandal cannot be undone. I feel for her!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8WlgS7toFsXCOAFStRiLx91Nqg5W5Y4rzbRqbjpOr1sLApLR5b68UALrtxbeyTR9MPYoWtbAu4jlrBlwG_MPDvtab4k04hrzAHUxHYGucH96m06F5SKjwotvhtRFYwEdAJgyxqRJD1Tuf/s1600/geraldine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8WlgS7toFsXCOAFStRiLx91Nqg5W5Y4rzbRqbjpOr1sLApLR5b68UALrtxbeyTR9MPYoWtbAu4jlrBlwG_MPDvtab4k04hrzAHUxHYGucH96m06F5SKjwotvhtRFYwEdAJgyxqRJD1Tuf/s320/geraldine.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7878208800798240228.post-24493214503924581082010-09-15T07:16:00.000-07:002010-09-15T23:00:47.911-07:00Big Mac Benni trims down<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDZOLuD9EXyaB7GVNvauG-R_rQwvRI8NiwUHtgP125pssRP7yM025TIUSiQUwO_duuRXvR65jx8DyXr-bXq8uzwHw4Y5fPEgkTmk6jW-iyyz3THEHk0tbdOj1HvjEg3jMM_gSvwSnYpV-/s1600/bennifat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDZOLuD9EXyaB7GVNvauG-R_rQwvRI8NiwUHtgP125pssRP7yM025TIUSiQUwO_duuRXvR65jx8DyXr-bXq8uzwHw4Y5fPEgkTmk6jW-iyyz3THEHk0tbdOj1HvjEg3jMM_gSvwSnYpV-/s320/bennifat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gobsmackingly interesting day!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mostly because I was assigned an interesting story that revealed to me some startling facts.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The basic story, as broken by the pommie papers, is that our top soccer start currently playing on their soggy little island - one Benni McCarthy - has lost 13kg.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It seems that he went on his personal load shedding mission after he was fined a whopping R880 000 by his football club West Ham United. This, I have to admit, I at first thought was a tad excessive. I mean, how many of us can identify with the poor lad's troubles? But then I discovered that R880 000 was equal to two week's pay.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jeeez Louise! I had no idea that soccer players earned that much. Admittedly he is a Premier League player. But 40 000 quid? A week!! Compare that with columnist David Bullard's recent noting on his NewsTime website that some SA journalists are willing to work for as little as R35 000 a month (*ahem* that would be 3 150 quid for my international reader) - an amount he further notes is equal to what someone he knows spends on whisky alone in a month.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am betting that Benni's mom is extremely thankful that he decided to become a soccer player rather than a journalist!</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And so after being fined two week's pay, or the equivalent of a townhouse in Weltevreden Park, Benni signed himself into some clinic in Austria where he proceeded to lose 13kg and is now on course to regain his spot in the team.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My contribution to this rivetting international story was to find out what the impact of losing such a vast amount of weight is likely to be on the body of a 6 foot tall professional athlete.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It was a bit difficult considering that the timeframe detailing his weight reduction regime could be found nowhere, so the passionate experts I tracked down agreed that maybe it was good and no harm done because our portly lad had been sporting an unhealthy boep. But it could have been bad if he lost it all too fast because maybe he didn't just dump body fat, and has lost muscle strength and tone.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Who knows?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHUUsdcrZ29XjaQ3SI0lSvjJDwDCk8GVu_7w8IeNlONvETid1s7s9O4MA29NfB7wxZzyp6Us8X7H6sGGVqOaZTpZffXdjgdybruEbz-CyHo_Eo2T0EXnxL9PprtKv-uj_qYDxWSnFLAlEM/s1600/moderation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHUUsdcrZ29XjaQ3SI0lSvjJDwDCk8GVu_7w8IeNlONvETid1s7s9O4MA29NfB7wxZzyp6Us8X7H6sGGVqOaZTpZffXdjgdybruEbz-CyHo_Eo2T0EXnxL9PprtKv-uj_qYDxWSnFLAlEM/s320/moderation.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div>jozi_journohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00735059221509282354noreply@blogger.com1