The right-wing party that the day before vowed revenge for the murder of white supremacist Eugene Terre Blanche ... today backed away from the threat of violence.
This is a welcome reduction in rhetoric in a country teetering on the brink of, well, let's call it what it would be ... a race war. Just as the 2010 World Cup is hoving into view.
The move away from the "vengeance" stance also came on the same day as the South African Communist Party condemned the killing of Terre Blanche ... putting the communists squarely in the camp of careful moderation.
Who knew?
Overall, it was a day for chilling out. With some exceptions.
The spokesman for the ABW party, which represents the hard right of Afrikaner politics, said that "In the heat of the moment certain statements were made, and I would like to retract those statements." He maintained it was the party's policy "that no member will engage in any form of violence, intimidation, racial slandering or anything of that (sort). It will not be tolerated." He said, however, it was difficult to keep the party's members "calm."
However, the ABW seems likely to call for a portion of South Africa to be ceded to whites, apparently on the "homeland" basis that the apartheid regime used to fence off ethnic minorities. Interesting concept.
Julius Malema, however, appears to represent a flash point here, with the ABW calling for president Jacob Zuma to muzzle the ANC's Youth League leader.
The spokesman said Zuma's first job should be "closing Julius Malema's mouth," suggesting that he go back to school and join the boy scouts "so that he can learn humility."
Anyway, a day of cooling tensions. Everyone interested in the World Cup, or an orderly world, has to be pleased.
Read more!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
This is Real Trouble in South Africa
Those with security concerns pertaining to the 2010 World Cup appear to have been looking in the wrong direction.
Imported terror? Terror from outsiders?
Maybe not all that big an issue. And never was.
The problem in South Africa has always been internal violence. And never more than right at this minute.
The country doesn't have a race war. Yet. But it has taken more than a few steps down that path over the past week. And it would seem as if most sensible outsiders would not want to visit a country where people are being killed on the basis of their skin color. Race wars are really bad for tourism.
The latest: The murder of another white farmer/rancher, but this time it was the infamous white supremacist Eugene Terre Blanche. Whose political associates seem to be vowing revenge.
This is getting ugly. No other way to describe it. And the Johannesburg Times doesn't sugarcoat the situation when it runs a story with this headline: "Fears of racial tensions grow." Uh, yeah.
Backing up a bit.
South Africa has had problems of late with Afrikaner farmers being attacked and killed. "Afrikaner" meaning, in South Africa, the mostly Dutch-Huguenot whites (also known as Boers) who dominated politics for most of the last century. Who erected the apartheid regime.
In theory, South Africa got past all this during the reconciliation period of the mid-1990s. When its black majority took control of the government.
In practice, the reconciliation at the moment looks more like a patch than a cure. Demagogues on both sides are trying to ride racial tension into personal power. As the Johannesburg Times wrote in an editorial today, "There is evidence across our society that the spirit of reconciliation that that characterized the transfer of power is wearing thin in a country still divided by one of the world's widest wealth gaps."
Perhaps the most obvious case of an individual who seems to be fanning the fires to advance his own agenda is the odious lout Julius Malema, president of the African National Congress Youth League and all-around embarrassment to the nation.
A few weeks ago, he led students in Johannesburg in a chorus of a ANC anthem that includes the words, "Kill the Boer."
That led to various South African political groups going to court asking that the song be classified as "hate speech" and banned. And it was, much to Malema's annoyance. But not before several more white farmers were murdered. Killings which some whites have laid at Malema's feet. At the least, the timing was unfortunate for those who prefer peace.
And then a few days ago, Malema went to Zimbabwe, just north of South Africa, a failed state of epic proportions, sang the "Kill the Boer" song again, embraced Zimbabwe's disastrous president, Robert Mugabe, and then suggested that South Africa would do well to follow Mugabe's ruinous example and nationalize farms and mines owned by whites.
Now we have real problems. On several levels.
--Mugabe's economic/racial policies essentially destroyed Zimbabwe, a country that was once self-sufficient in food stuffs and now is an abject charity case. However much animus black Africans hold toward white farmers, the reality is that they were the bedrock of the Zimbabwe economy. Many have fled; others have had their property seized by Mugabe's party. Some have been killed.
--South Africa was supposed to be the anti-Zimbabwe. The exception, where the colonial whites could stay on and prosper and build the country along with black Africans. In part, this would work because the Afrikaners, the Boers, have been in the country so long they feel it is as much theirs as anyone else's. In part, because Nelson Mandela and other far-sighted black leaders decided South Africa needed all its citizens, not just its black ones. But now, just as the World Cup is coming into view, this social compact is fraying dangerously.
--The Afrikaner minority, especially the farmers, and especially when provoked, are a very hard bunch, and prone to violence. They fought the British to a standstill during the Boer War of 1898, at the height of Britain's power. A minority of perhaps 20 percent of the population enforced the race-based apartheid system for decades, helped prop up Rhodesia (Zimbabwe, but when whites still ruled), ran Namibia and intervened in the Angolan civil war. All at the same time. It must be assumed they are well-armed, hard and organized men. They would not win a civil war, but anyone with an ounce of brainpower should be keen to see it never, ever comes to that.
Before, we've talked about expensive airlines and hotels. And a high murder rate. South Africa has issues on those fronts.
What is going on right this minute, however, it by far the most dangerous moment for South Africa 2010 since the country was awarded the World Cup. Rest assured, Sepp Blatter is watching this very, very closely. Fifa risks dropping its big event into a country dividing into armed camps. A potential disaster.
This might be a good time for Fifa to flex some of that muscle it likes to use and go directly to Jacob Zuma and tell the president to muzzle Julius Malema, make sure the police actually do investigate the murder of Terre Blanche and other farmers ... and not allow white extremists to gain any momentum among the trigger-happy fringe.
This is a dangerous situation. It bears close and ongoing examination. Read more!
Imported terror? Terror from outsiders?
Maybe not all that big an issue. And never was.
The problem in South Africa has always been internal violence. And never more than right at this minute.
The country doesn't have a race war. Yet. But it has taken more than a few steps down that path over the past week. And it would seem as if most sensible outsiders would not want to visit a country where people are being killed on the basis of their skin color. Race wars are really bad for tourism.
The latest: The murder of another white farmer/rancher, but this time it was the infamous white supremacist Eugene Terre Blanche. Whose political associates seem to be vowing revenge.
This is getting ugly. No other way to describe it. And the Johannesburg Times doesn't sugarcoat the situation when it runs a story with this headline: "Fears of racial tensions grow." Uh, yeah.
Backing up a bit.
South Africa has had problems of late with Afrikaner farmers being attacked and killed. "Afrikaner" meaning, in South Africa, the mostly Dutch-Huguenot whites (also known as Boers) who dominated politics for most of the last century. Who erected the apartheid regime.
In theory, South Africa got past all this during the reconciliation period of the mid-1990s. When its black majority took control of the government.
In practice, the reconciliation at the moment looks more like a patch than a cure. Demagogues on both sides are trying to ride racial tension into personal power. As the Johannesburg Times wrote in an editorial today, "There is evidence across our society that the spirit of reconciliation that that characterized the transfer of power is wearing thin in a country still divided by one of the world's widest wealth gaps."
Perhaps the most obvious case of an individual who seems to be fanning the fires to advance his own agenda is the odious lout Julius Malema, president of the African National Congress Youth League and all-around embarrassment to the nation.
A few weeks ago, he led students in Johannesburg in a chorus of a ANC anthem that includes the words, "Kill the Boer."
That led to various South African political groups going to court asking that the song be classified as "hate speech" and banned. And it was, much to Malema's annoyance. But not before several more white farmers were murdered. Killings which some whites have laid at Malema's feet. At the least, the timing was unfortunate for those who prefer peace.
And then a few days ago, Malema went to Zimbabwe, just north of South Africa, a failed state of epic proportions, sang the "Kill the Boer" song again, embraced Zimbabwe's disastrous president, Robert Mugabe, and then suggested that South Africa would do well to follow Mugabe's ruinous example and nationalize farms and mines owned by whites.
Now we have real problems. On several levels.
--Mugabe's economic/racial policies essentially destroyed Zimbabwe, a country that was once self-sufficient in food stuffs and now is an abject charity case. However much animus black Africans hold toward white farmers, the reality is that they were the bedrock of the Zimbabwe economy. Many have fled; others have had their property seized by Mugabe's party. Some have been killed.
--South Africa was supposed to be the anti-Zimbabwe. The exception, where the colonial whites could stay on and prosper and build the country along with black Africans. In part, this would work because the Afrikaners, the Boers, have been in the country so long they feel it is as much theirs as anyone else's. In part, because Nelson Mandela and other far-sighted black leaders decided South Africa needed all its citizens, not just its black ones. But now, just as the World Cup is coming into view, this social compact is fraying dangerously.
--The Afrikaner minority, especially the farmers, and especially when provoked, are a very hard bunch, and prone to violence. They fought the British to a standstill during the Boer War of 1898, at the height of Britain's power. A minority of perhaps 20 percent of the population enforced the race-based apartheid system for decades, helped prop up Rhodesia (Zimbabwe, but when whites still ruled), ran Namibia and intervened in the Angolan civil war. All at the same time. It must be assumed they are well-armed, hard and organized men. They would not win a civil war, but anyone with an ounce of brainpower should be keen to see it never, ever comes to that.
Before, we've talked about expensive airlines and hotels. And a high murder rate. South Africa has issues on those fronts.
What is going on right this minute, however, it by far the most dangerous moment for South Africa 2010 since the country was awarded the World Cup. Rest assured, Sepp Blatter is watching this very, very closely. Fifa risks dropping its big event into a country dividing into armed camps. A potential disaster.
This might be a good time for Fifa to flex some of that muscle it likes to use and go directly to Jacob Zuma and tell the president to muzzle Julius Malema, make sure the police actually do investigate the murder of Terre Blanche and other farmers ... and not allow white extremists to gain any momentum among the trigger-happy fringe.
This is a dangerous situation. It bears close and ongoing examination. Read more!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Diego Bitten during Kiss Goodnight
This would be vaguely sweet if it weren't so obviously silly.
Diego Maradona, he who was hospitalized and took sutures when his dog bit him ... was "saying goodnight" to his Shar Pei when he got nipped. Well, more than nipped. He needed 10 stitches to close a wound on his lip.
Read about it here. It's just too good.
There's a joke here somewhere about kissing dogs ... Make one up yourself.
His doctor says Diego told him "it's common he gets close to the dog like this before he goes to bed."
Have we already suggested that Diego is capable of anything ... and anything can happen to him?
Well, we're saying it again.
And, meantime, he may want to keep his face out of his dog's face. That might have been the clearest message here. "Hey, dude, back off. You're creeping me out." Read more!
Diego Maradona, he who was hospitalized and took sutures when his dog bit him ... was "saying goodnight" to his Shar Pei when he got nipped. Well, more than nipped. He needed 10 stitches to close a wound on his lip.
Read about it here. It's just too good.
There's a joke here somewhere about kissing dogs ... Make one up yourself.
His doctor says Diego told him "it's common he gets close to the dog like this before he goes to bed."
Have we already suggested that Diego is capable of anything ... and anything can happen to him?
Well, we're saying it again.
And, meantime, he may want to keep his face out of his dog's face. That might have been the clearest message here. "Hey, dude, back off. You're creeping me out." Read more!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Up Next: Copyright on 'World'
Fifa is outta control!
Three South African companies that make calendars are going to take the world soccer organizing body to court over its claims that "2010" is an intellectual property belonging to Fifa.
No. Really.
Here is the story.
The Johannesburg Sunday Times pokes fun at the concept, a big, by putting one of those little "TM" notations after the number 2010. You know, just in case Fifa's legal beagles go after the newspaper.
Seems hard to imagine that Fifa could actually sue the companies for "breach" of special legislation passed a year ago.
What's next? Newspapers printed with only the day and the month -- and not the year?
Schoolkids warned to leave 2010 off the papers they turn in?
Sports leagues referring to the "season after the 2009 season" when talking about 2010?
Or maybe a Fifa lawyer calling me up and demanding we change the name of this blog from countdown-sa2010 to something else. Perhaps countdown-safifaworldcup2010?
I wouldn't put anything past these guys. Read more!
Three South African companies that make calendars are going to take the world soccer organizing body to court over its claims that "2010" is an intellectual property belonging to Fifa.
No. Really.
Here is the story.
The Johannesburg Sunday Times pokes fun at the concept, a big, by putting one of those little "TM" notations after the number 2010. You know, just in case Fifa's legal beagles go after the newspaper.
Seems hard to imagine that Fifa could actually sue the companies for "breach" of special legislation passed a year ago.
What's next? Newspapers printed with only the day and the month -- and not the year?
Schoolkids warned to leave 2010 off the papers they turn in?
Sports leagues referring to the "season after the 2009 season" when talking about 2010?
Or maybe a Fifa lawyer calling me up and demanding we change the name of this blog from countdown-sa2010 to something else. Perhaps countdown-safifaworldcup2010?
I wouldn't put anything past these guys. Read more!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Fabregas, Rooney Injured; World Cup at Risk?
They went down on consecutive nights. Two of the best players in the English Premier League. And the world.
Their Premiership seasons are at risk.
The question here is: Are their South Africa 2010 plans in jeopardy?
We must wait and see. But two days after Cesc Fabregas of Spain/Arsenal and Wayne Rooney of England/Manchester United were hurt, here are the early indications:
--Fabregas is in trouble. He suffered a broken leg while taking a penalty in the 85th minute of a Champions League game with Barcelona. He will be out at least six weeks, according to his club coach, Arsene Wenger. And with the World Cup only 10 weeks away, it's difficult to imagine he will be in peak condition for South Africa.
Spain is not hurting for talent. It has great players nearly everywhere. Actually, Espana started Fabregas only three times during qualifying. But he has grown in the past year, and you can't lose a player of his caliber and not be the less for it. And you can't play a Fabregas who isn't quite healthy and be the same team. So he bears close watching.
--Rooney may be OK. He rolled his ankle violently in ManU's match with Bayern Munich. But the team said today nothing is broken. Just "ligament damage" is what they are calling it. Which sounds like trainer-speak for a sprain. Now, sprains are nothing to sniff at, especially for a big lad like Rooney. His immediate availability with ManU is going to suffer, but if he gets some time to heal he ought to be ready for South Africa.
Clearly, all serious fans want all the top players to be healthy. That's what the World Cup should be about. The best against the best. But the endless club seasons make it a near-certainty that some elite players won't be there. Those who get hurt in the next few weeks are even more like to miss the Big Event.
Read more!
Their Premiership seasons are at risk.
The question here is: Are their South Africa 2010 plans in jeopardy?
We must wait and see. But two days after Cesc Fabregas of Spain/Arsenal and Wayne Rooney of England/Manchester United were hurt, here are the early indications:
--Fabregas is in trouble. He suffered a broken leg while taking a penalty in the 85th minute of a Champions League game with Barcelona. He will be out at least six weeks, according to his club coach, Arsene Wenger. And with the World Cup only 10 weeks away, it's difficult to imagine he will be in peak condition for South Africa.
Spain is not hurting for talent. It has great players nearly everywhere. Actually, Espana started Fabregas only three times during qualifying. But he has grown in the past year, and you can't lose a player of his caliber and not be the less for it. And you can't play a Fabregas who isn't quite healthy and be the same team. So he bears close watching.
--Rooney may be OK. He rolled his ankle violently in ManU's match with Bayern Munich. But the team said today nothing is broken. Just "ligament damage" is what they are calling it. Which sounds like trainer-speak for a sprain. Now, sprains are nothing to sniff at, especially for a big lad like Rooney. His immediate availability with ManU is going to suffer, but if he gets some time to heal he ought to be ready for South Africa.
Clearly, all serious fans want all the top players to be healthy. That's what the World Cup should be about. The best against the best. But the endless club seasons make it a near-certainty that some elite players won't be there. Those who get hurt in the next few weeks are even more like to miss the Big Event.
Read more!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Settling the Safety Issue Once and for All?
Interpol has been down to South Africa, poked around, checked the chatter on its listening posts and decided no tangible threats to the 2010 World Cup exist.
Well, that takes care of that, doesn't it? Imagine the international cops brushing their hands together and saying, "All done!"
"Nothing to see here! Move along!"
Here is a sort of epitome of hubris about security. A comprehensive, "hey, what could go wrong?" that in works of fiction would demand something ugly to prove the authorities wrong.
If you were the cops, wouldn't you give all this World Cup stuff a more careful, middling assessment? Along the lines of, "we like their plan; it looks good; big events can be unpredictable and we know they are working hard, and we are here to help, if needed."
Instead of the Interpol honcho telling journalists: "South Africa's planning covers everything. South African planning is above our expectations." (Emphasis added.)
Can anyone ever say a plan cover everything?
Of course not. Ask the security people at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Or those at Munich in 1972.
Terrorists can be cunning. Just because they haven't been active in South Africa, on some large scale ... doesn't mean it can't happen.
Then we have the harsh facts of South Africa's crime rate: It is No. 2 in the world both in murders per capita and total murders. (Trailing only Colombia in both stats.) Does regular one-on-one crime fall under South Africa's amazing, all-encompassing plan?
This is just a silly, scary story. It is organizations that believe it has every eventuality covered ... is one likely to get sloppy and open to mistakes. Just sayin'. Read more!
Well, that takes care of that, doesn't it? Imagine the international cops brushing their hands together and saying, "All done!"
"Nothing to see here! Move along!"
Here is a sort of epitome of hubris about security. A comprehensive, "hey, what could go wrong?" that in works of fiction would demand something ugly to prove the authorities wrong.
If you were the cops, wouldn't you give all this World Cup stuff a more careful, middling assessment? Along the lines of, "we like their plan; it looks good; big events can be unpredictable and we know they are working hard, and we are here to help, if needed."
Instead of the Interpol honcho telling journalists: "South Africa's planning covers everything. South African planning is above our expectations." (Emphasis added.)
Can anyone ever say a plan cover everything?
Of course not. Ask the security people at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Or those at Munich in 1972.
Terrorists can be cunning. Just because they haven't been active in South Africa, on some large scale ... doesn't mean it can't happen.
Then we have the harsh facts of South Africa's crime rate: It is No. 2 in the world both in murders per capita and total murders. (Trailing only Colombia in both stats.) Does regular one-on-one crime fall under South Africa's amazing, all-encompassing plan?
This is just a silly, scary story. It is organizations that believe it has every eventuality covered ... is one likely to get sloppy and open to mistakes. Just sayin'. Read more!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Maradona Hospitalized, Has Surgery
Admit it. You see that headline ... and you don't know where to go with it.
Diego Maradona, coach of the Argentine national team, has had such an erratic/sickly/substance-addled life ... you see he's in a hospital ... and you think, "Well, OK ... it could be just about anything."
In this case? Diego was bitten by his dog. He has had surgery on his face. Diego. Not the dog.
And what this reinforces is that the Argentines, as good as they are (and they are very good, individually) are led by the most erratic coach in the South Africa 2010 World Cup. Whoever is second isn't within a country mile of Mad Maradona.
(Unless one of those other 31 gentlemen have been hiding some massively corrosive personal shortcomings that include rampant cocaine usage, near-death experiences from substance abuse and, now, attacks from their own dogs.)
If I were Argentina's fans, or bettors on Argentina ... well, I would be worried. Because this guy is a loose cannon. A goofball. A man who can barely get through the day. A disaster waiting to happen.
And he is expected to make the decisions to get Argentina through the World Cup?
So, today it is a dog that put Diego Maradona in the hospital. What will it be next time?
Whatever it is, it won't surprise us.
And here is an update with a few more details. A couple of fun facts: Diego was playing with his Shar Pei and got wounds on his mouth ... ick. Also, the hospital he went to is the same he went to in 2007 to get his liver fixed up.
Sigh.
Read more!
Diego Maradona, coach of the Argentine national team, has had such an erratic/sickly/substance-addled life ... you see he's in a hospital ... and you think, "Well, OK ... it could be just about anything."
In this case? Diego was bitten by his dog. He has had surgery on his face. Diego. Not the dog.
And what this reinforces is that the Argentines, as good as they are (and they are very good, individually) are led by the most erratic coach in the South Africa 2010 World Cup. Whoever is second isn't within a country mile of Mad Maradona.
(Unless one of those other 31 gentlemen have been hiding some massively corrosive personal shortcomings that include rampant cocaine usage, near-death experiences from substance abuse and, now, attacks from their own dogs.)
If I were Argentina's fans, or bettors on Argentina ... well, I would be worried. Because this guy is a loose cannon. A goofball. A man who can barely get through the day. A disaster waiting to happen.
And he is expected to make the decisions to get Argentina through the World Cup?
So, today it is a dog that put Diego Maradona in the hospital. What will it be next time?
Whatever it is, it won't surprise us.
And here is an update with a few more details. A couple of fun facts: Diego was playing with his Shar Pei and got wounds on his mouth ... ick. Also, the hospital he went to is the same he went to in 2007 to get his liver fixed up.
Sigh.
Read more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
