South Africans Worldwide Newsletter

This from Soria Franken soriafranken@lantic.net

We are a registered charity in South Africa and we relieve poverty and need in excess of 800 000+ people. We are currently busy with a tunnel farming and a free range chicken project to secure food for the Overberg in the Western Cape area.

We work very closely with social services and Aids committees to help take care of abandoned children and to do Aids awareness programs. Gansbaai in the Overberg area, where our office is, has been identified as a poverty pocket and we have committed ourselves to help solve the problems. This area is also in desperate need of a safe home for abandoned children and Aids orphans. The area consists of 23 towns and from east to west is about 700 km with out a safe home for children.

We have very kindly been donated a plot with a sea view to raffle out to raise money to obtain a safe home. This plot is in the Franskraal/Gansbaai area, which is about 40km drive from Hermanus in the Western Cape. This plot is in a residential area and is worth about R1 million.

We propose to sell 5000 tickets at 50 pounds a ticket. This competition will only be open for South Africans in the UK and only 5000 tickets will be sold. The competition will remain open until the 5000 have been sold. The draw will take place in the UK and will be done by an independent party.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at any
time.

Warm regards from South Africa.
Soria Franken
Director

www.overhelpcharities.za.org

Tshwane first to feel traffic crackdown
New demerit point system's pilot phase set to be tested on capital's drivers next year. When drivers reach 13 points, their licences are suspended.

This received from Mike Preston:

Gauteng' bad drivers will be the first in South Africa to face tough new government action against traffic offenders when the demerit point system is introduced. It is to be introduced in Tshwane in July next year, during a pilot phase.

National Transport Department spokesman Collen Msibi told Metro this week that the system, expected to cost R15-million to set up, would later be expanded to the rest of the country.

The full national roll-out is expected to take no longer than 18 months after initial implementation in Tshwane, he said. The demerit point system works by allocating every driver zero points. Motorists then collect points according to the number and nature of the road offences they commit.

When drivers reach 13 points, their licences are suspended for a period determined by traffic authorities, and that person is then not allowed to drive.

Some of the offences for which licence holders can gain points include speeding, drunken driving, disobeying road signs and failing to wear a seatbelt.

The proposed point allocation for various offences includes:
•One point and a fine of R500 for driving between 21% and 30% over the speed limit;
•Two points and a R750 fine for driving 31% to 45% over the speed limit;
•Three demerit points and a fine of R1250 for exceeding the speed limit by between 46% and 60%;
•Two points and a R500 fine for owning an unregistered vehicle;
•Two points and R500 for not carrying a driver’s licence;
•One point and R250 for not wearing a seatbelt;
•Three points and R750 for ignoring a stop sign; and
•Three points and a fine of R1250 for overloading a vehicle by more than 25%.

OK so let's see how it works in practice...

Sipho screeches off in his unregistered taxi (I note it doesn't mention penalty points for being uninsured, untaxed, or unroadworthy, but let's ignore those minor details) (2 points as per the scale below)

He doesn't have his 'driving licence' with him, which is hardly surprising considering that the home photocopied forgery disintegrated two days after he bought it from a friend. (2 points)

He ignores a stop sign (3 points)... and accelerates to 78 kph in a 50 kph zone (56% over the limit so 3 points)... with 16 people in an 11 seater, so he's overloaded by 45%. The penalty kicks in at 25% (why is that tolerance allowed?). (3 points.)

He isn't wearing a seat belt as they were was taken out by the salvagers before he stole the vehicle from the breakers' yard where it was about to be crushed. (1 point)

So now we're up to 14 points, which means that his licence, which he hasn't got, is revoked.

I'm sure this is a great step forward in making South Africa's roads safer. Very smart. Like putting the most dangerous and overloaded vehicles into the fast lane of the freeway and allowing them to cut across all the other traffic.

Not that I'm cynical. At all.

Mike.

The latest hijack hotspots in Johannesburg and Pretoria
as supplied by e-Blockwatch and SAP.
Johannesburg:
The William Nicol Drive offramp from the N1 from the Sandton side
The corner of Old Pretoria Road and 1st Avenue in Alexandra
New Road offramp in Midrand
Riviera Road offramp near Killarney Mall
Intersection of Christiaan de Wet Road and Wilgerood Road in
Roodepoort
All the traffic lights along Louis Botha Avenue between Alexandra and
Hillbrow
Parkwood and Saxonwold (Rosebank precinct)
Upper Houghton and Killarney (Hillbrow precinct)
Between 10th and 11th avenues and 4th and 7th avenues in Parkhurst
(Parkview precinct)
Glenhazel, Lombardy East and Sandringham (Sandringham precinct)
Orange Grove and Highlands North (Norwood precinct)
Yeoville, Bellevue and Bellevu e East (Yeoville precinct)
Wynberg, Bramley, Marlboro and Kew (Bramley precinct)

Pretoria:
The Atterbury Road offramp from the N1 in Menlyn
Lynnwood Road offramp on the N1
John Vorster Drive offramp from the N1 in Lyttelton
Jean Avenue offramp from the R28 in Centurion
Rigel Avenue offramp from the N1 in Erasmuskloof
Corner of University Road and Lynnwood Road in Hatfield
The traffic lights along Walker Street in Sunnyside
The Lynnwood Road and Hans Strijdom Drive intersection in Garsfontein
The traffic lights along Nelson Mandela Drive in Sunnyside
The traffic lights along Simon Vermooten Road in Silverton
Along Beyers Naude Drive and Paul Kruger Street in Wonderboompoort
Nelson Mandela Drive, Duncan Street and Walker Street in Sunnyside
The R55 in Erasmia
Burnett Street, Hilda Street and the Atterbury Road offramp in the
Brooklyn area
Delfi Avenue and Garsfontein Road in Garsfontein

"The purpose of life is to help others, and if you can't help them,
would you at least not hurt them"

Submitted by Des Barker

Quote/s of the Week TOP

Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace. - Amelia Earhart

I don't think necessity is the mother of invention - invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble. - Agatha Christie

One must also accept that one has 'uncreative' moments. The more honestly one can accept that, the quicker these moments will pass. - Etty Hillesum

The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it. - Plutarch

It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. - Charlotte Bronte

Never try to reason the prejudice out of a man. It was not reasoned into him, and cannot be reasoned out. - Sydney Smith

No matter how old you are, there's always something good to look forward to. - Lynn Johnston

We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities. - Oscar Wilde

Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it. - Thomas Jefferson

If you're here for four more years or four more weeks, you're here right now. I think when you're somewhere, you ought to be there. It's not about how long you stay in a place, it's about what you do while you're there, and when you go, is that place any better for your having been there? - Karen Hall and Jerry Stahl

We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves. - Eric Hoffer

In the end, we decide if we're remembered for what happened to us or for what we did with it. - Randy K. Milholland

http://www.quotationspage.com...

Ad Hoc Article/s of the Week TOP

SA government ends Aids denial
Johannesburg, South Africa

The South African government on Friday announced a dramatic reversal of its approach to the country's HIV/Aids crisis, promising increased availability of drugs and endorsing the efforts of civic groups battling the disease.

"We must take our fight against Aids to a much higher level," Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told a conference of Aids activists, who until recently had been ignored and even denounced by the government.

"We must tighten up so that ARV [antiretroviral] drugs are more accessible, especially to the poor. Education and prevention of HIV infection must be scaled up. Our people want us to unite on this issue in the best interests of the health and wellbeing of our nation. Working together we can defeat this disease," she said to cheers from a crowd of health professionals, church leaders and labour officials.

Experts said the government's policy change could save thousands of lives. An estimated 5,4-million of South Africa's 47-million people are infected with HIV, one of the highest ratios in the world. "This is a sea change," said Mark Heywood, director of the Aids Law Project. "We're not across the ocean yet, but now the government is sailing in the right direction."
Read more...
http://www.mg.co.za//

Mbeki: Regional integration must be sustainable

Donwald Pressly | Cape Town, South Africa

Regional integration is rightly being pursued in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as it is a critical instrument to boost economic growth and raise living standards -- but it has to be sustainable, says South African President Thabo Mbeki.

In his regular Friday internet column, ANC Today, the president said regional integration in the developing world "has all too often been a graveyard of failed expectations".

While intra-regional SADC trade rose from 20% to 25% in the six or so years up to 2003 -- as a percentage of total regional trade and, he argued, this represented progress -- there was a trade imbalance in South Africa's favour.

Much of this was made up of manufactured goods exported by South Africa and the attraction of smaller volumes of imports from the rest of the region.
Read more...
http://www.mg.co.za/

All aboard the Gautrain boom

Lloyd Gedye 27 October 2006 11:59

Property owners in the close vicinity of the proposed Gautrain railway stations are sitting on hot assets, with prices rising by up to 25% in the past year.

The Mail & Guardian surveyed a number of real estate agents who operate in the Rosebank, Sandton, Midrand and Rhodesfield areas this week, the majority of whom were overwhelmingly positive that property prices were set to boom.

Construction for the Gautrain rapid rail link has recently begun, with preliminary construction taking place in Sandton and Rosebank, while design work is still taking place for the Marlboro and Park stations.

However, despite the early stage of the project, most real estate agents, business owners and residents are expecting positive spin-offs from the R21billion transport project.

Internationally, rapid rail networks have been a catalyst for property development in the retail, commercial and residential sectors.
Read more...
http://www.mg.co.za/

Report: Zimbabwe tourism on the up

Harare, Zimbabwe

Tourist arrivals to often-shunned Zimbabwe are up by 45% so far this year and there are high hopes the once-booming industry's decline is now over, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief was quoted as saying on Friday.

The first nine months of 2006 saw a 45% rise with 1 596 364 tourists in Zimbabwe compared with 1 104 368 in the same period in 2005, ZTA chief executive officer Karikoga Kaseke said in a report carried by the state-controlled Herald newspaper.

But arrivals from traditional markets like Europe continue to plummet, Kaseke admitted. Most new visitors are coming from the Middle East, China and Asian countries, according to the report.

Short of vital reserves of foreign currency, President Robert Mugabe's government is keen to revive the tourism industry that has seen a massive slowdown since the launch of the land-reform programme and the onset of economic problems six years ago.

Mugabe's government blames the waning interest on negative media reports on Zimbabwe meant to maliciously tarnish the image of his country.

But critics say shortages of fuel and a skewed exchange rate that makes tourism facilities incredibly expensive have also scared off would-be visitors.
Read more...
http://www.mg.co.za/

Bits and Bobs TOP

Lessons - from Zim

David Macfarlane 27 October 2006 08:43

Zimbabwe’s loss is set to be South Africa’s gain, as the education department casts covetous eyes on the growing pool of highly qualified Zimbabwean schoolteachers who have fled their home country.

The department’s Director General, Duncan Hindle, told the Mail & Guardian that it is targeting Zimbabweans in a plan that will simultaneously encourage South African high school teachers to improve their skills. The idea involves encouraging local teachers to take sabbaticals to upgrade in subjects such as maths, and to replace these teachers for the period of their studies with suitably qualified Zimbabweans.

The government has previously spoken of recruiting teachers from Cuba and India to meet growing shortages in scarce skills areas such as maths and science.

As part of the strategy, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s medium-term budget this week announced that 900 bursaries will be available next year for teachers who want to pursue postgraduate qualifications in maths, science and life skills.

It is not known exactly how many Zimbabwean teachers live in South Africa, but the number runs into thousands, said Doctor Ncube, chairperson of the South African branch of the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe. The union recently started compiling a register of these teachers, and has 500 on its books.

However, Ncube said the majority were in fields like catering and the security industry. Many had entered the country illegally, and even those with the right paperwork had difficulty in registering professionally as teachers in South Africa.

He said: “The few who are teaching endure terrible working conditions in private schools, earning R1 000 or R2 000 a month. If they don’t have the right legal documents, they often have no work contracts, and are exploited as vulnerable cheap labour. If you question your salary, they show you the gate, and another teacher walks in to replace you.”
Read more...

http://www.mg.co.za/

Visa no guarantee of getting into US

Percy Zvomuya 27 October 2006 08:43

Every day, the United States bars entry to a thousand visitors with valid entry visas, Mark Schlachter, the United States embassy spokesperson, revealed recently.

Schlachter was speaking in the wake of US immigration authorities’ refusal to allow South African academic and human rights activist Adam Habib entry into the United States recently.

Habib, an executive director at the Human Sciences Research Council and founder of the Centre for Civil Society, was part of an HSRC delegation visiting US-based institutions, including the World Bank and Columbia University.

When he arrived at New York’s John F Kennedy airport on Saturday morning he was denied entry and asked routine questions about his weight, height and employment record.

He agreed to undergo a “voluntary interview” in which he was asked whether he was a terrorist or had links with any terrorist organisation. Habib was detained by the apartheid government in 1986.

Despite denying such links he was told his visa had been revoked and was escorted back to his plane under armed guard.

Airport officials told him US assistant secretary of state for visa affairs Tony Edson had revoked his visa.
Read more...

http://www.mg.co.za/

Carroll's appointment to Anglo 'encouraging'

Roland Jackson | London, United Kingdom 29 October 2006 07:58

The appointment of Cynthia Carroll as chief executive of Anglo American marks a step in the right direction for equality in Britain's boardrooms as women struggle to break through the glass ceiling, analysts said.

The global mining giant, which is registered in Britain but operates mainly in South Africa, announced last week that 49-year-old Carroll would replace Tony Trahar on March 1 2007, ending the group's year-long hunt for a new boss.

Carroll, who described her new job as "a very, very exciting opportunity", will become only the third woman chief executive of a company traded on London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares, joining Marjorie Scardino of British publisher Pearson and Dorothy Thompson of power-plant company Drax.

"Anglo American is a world class mining company. It's got an outstanding asset base, that has been developed and grown over the years," said Carroll, who as a United States citizen will be also Anglo American's first non-South African chief executive.

Her appointment meanwhile came as official data revealed the wage gap between male and female bosses was widening in Britain.
Read more...

http://www.mg.co.za//

Hospital costs 'should be 70% lower'

Jocelyn Newmarch 25 October 2006 11:59

Hospital costs are now almost 70% higher than they should be, because of the increased market dominance of a few private hospitals.

This is the argument of the Council for Medical Schemes, which, along with Netcare, is opposing Medi-Clinic’s proposed takeover of four hospitals in the Vaal Triangle. Competition Tribunal hearings into the matter were held recently.

The council’s argument is based on an analysis by Alex van den Heever, a senior adviser for the Council for Medical Schemes.

Before 1998, hospital costs increased in real terms (after normal inflation is taken into account) at a steady rate. But since 1998 the rate of increase has risen sharply. According to Van den Heever, this is a result of increased market concentration of private hospital groups.

His analysis, based on medical scheme membership data, shows a steep increase in hospital costs while non-hospital costs (such as medicines and doctor consultations) have flattened.
Read more...

http://www.mg.co.za

More money for hospitals, housing, Aids.

Donwald Pressly | Cape Town, South Africa 25 October 2006 02:16

South Africa's nine provinces are to receive an additional R28,2-billion over the next three years, according to Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement.

Provincial government is projected to get R178,3-billion this year -- 2006/07 -- including R150,7-billion from the equitable share and R27,5-billion in conditional grants.

This will rise to R171,2-billion in the equitable share in 2007/08 and R30,2-billion in conditional grants in 2007/08. This totals R201-billion for the provinces next year.

The total for provinces rises to R224,9-billion in 2008/09 and R248-billion in 2009/10.

Local government is projected to receive R27,7-billion from the national fiscus this year, rising to R33,8-billion in 2007/08, to R42-billion in 2008/09 and to R46,8-billion in 2009/10.

The statement notes that of the R28,2-billion addition to provincial government spend, R18,6-billion "goes to the equitable share and R9,6-billion is added to conditional grants.

"These revisions result in national transfers to provinces growing by 6,7% a year in real terms," said the statement.
Read more...

http://www.mg.co.za/

Mpumalanga man kills giant crocodile with panga

Johannesburg, South Africa 24 October 2006 08:37

A Mpumalanga man is being hailed as a "Crocodile Dundee" after surviving a four-hour battle with a huge crocodile at the weekend, News24 reported on Tuesday.

Alex Masinga (58) of KaMhlushwa in Nkomazi said he first defended himself against the 2,7m female by wrestling with it.

Finally, he plunged his arm down the reptile's throat and drove his new panga into her vital organs.

Fellow-villagers initially refused to believe Masinga's story, but doubt turned to hero worship when he took them to the corpse.
Masinga spent much of Monday posing with the crocodile for local photographers, showing off his gnawed calf where she bit him on a tributary of the Umlati River.
Conservation officials found no panga inside the reptile, and doubted Masinga's story.
They suspected he was a poacher who deliberately trapped and killed the crocodile, the website reported. - Sapa
Read more...

http://www.mg.co.za/

The Legal Beagle TOP

Help Desk TOP

Where are they now? TOP

Club and Other News TOP

Humour TOP

"I CAN HEAR JUST FINE!"

Three retirees, each with a hearing loss, were playing golf one fine
March day. One remarked to the other, "Windy, isn't it?"

"No," the second man replied, "it's Thursday."

And the third man chimed in, "So am I. Let's have a beer."
_______________________________________

SUPERSEX

A little old lady was running up and down the halls in a nursing home. As she walked, she would flip up the hem of her nightgown and say "Supersex.." She walked up to an elderly man in a wheelchair. Flipping her gown at him, she said, "Supersex."

He sat silently for a moment or two and finally answered, "I'll take the soup."
________________________________

ROMANCE

An older couple were lying in bed one night. The husband was falling
asleep but the wife was in a romantic mood and wanted to talk.
She said: "You used to hold my hand when we were courting." Wearily he reachedacross, held her hand for a second and tried to get back to sleep.
A few moments later she said: "Then you used to kiss me. "
Mildly irritated, he reached across, gave her a peck on the cheek and settled down to sleep.
Thirty seconds later she said: "Then you used to bite my neck." Angrily,he threw back the bedclothes and got out of bed. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To get my teeth!"
_______________________________________

DOWN AT THE RETIREMENT CENTRE

80-year old Bessie bursts into the rec room at the retirement home. She holds her clenched fist in the air and announces, "Anyone who can guesswhat's in my hand can have sex with me tonight!!"

An elderly gentleman in the rear shouts out, "An elephant?"

Bessie thinks a minute and says, "Close enough."
_______________________________________

OLD FRIENDS

Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years,
they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures.
Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards.
One day, they were playing cards when one looked at the other and said,"Now don't get mad at me. I know we've been friends for a long time but I just can't think of your name! I've thought and thought, but I can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is."

Her friend glared at her.
For at least three minutes she just stared and
glared at her. Finally she said, "How soon do you need to know?"
_______________________________________

SENIOR DRIVING

As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang.
Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on
Interstate 77. Please be careful!"

"Hell," said Herman, "It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!"
_______________________________________

DRIVING

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car - both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection.
The stoplight was red, but they just went on through.

The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself "I must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light."
After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection and the light was red again.
Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was
almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that
she was losing it. She was getting nervous At the next intersection,
sure enough, the light was red and they went on through.
So, she turned to the other woman and said, "Mildred, did you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both!"

Mildred turned to her and said, "Oh! Am I driving?"

Submitted by Maureen Cram

Recipes TOP

Sports News TOP

SA's fair-weather fans

Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya | Johannesburg, South Africa
You have to hand it to South African football fans. When it comes to fickleness, they are up there with the best. Which is a good thing for the sport, considering that what happens on the pitch is down there with the worst.

Fans called radio and television stations in a froth, accusing the South African Football Association (Safa) of sidelining them by staging the annual Nelson Mandela tournament -- this year between Bafana Bafana and Egypt on November 14 — in London. Worse still, the game is to be played at a 13 000-capacity stadium in the backwaters of the English capital.

It did not matter to the "marginalised millions" that the last time the national side played at home, only about 5 000 people showed up, many of them holding complimentary tickets.

Taking these last attendance figures, the London stadium could still end up being too large -- unless the Pharoahs send plenty of supporters.

A popular view is that with Bafana Bafana having beaten Zambia in the most recent Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, South Africa has turned the corner. Fans will flock back in their multitudes thanks to the Aaron Mokoena goal that sunk the Zambians in front of their home crowd, goes this particular wisdom.

Safa told the Sowetan that it had agreed to play in England because the organisers had promised to foot the bill and pay some money over to the perennially out-of-pocket association. Fans remain unimpressed.

Read more...

http://www.mg.co.za/

Advertising on South Africans Worldwide TOP

Readers are invited to place adverts on the website, www.saw.co.za as well as place ads in this newsletter, SAWmail.

Costs:

An article about your service or site - R 3000

Your banner - R 3000/month [on SAW home site & run of site]

Ad in SAW-mail- 4 lines of text - R 1000/issue.

[There are 27 000 subscribers to the Newsletter plus many thousands of "hits" on the web-site - Ed]

Credits and Contact Info TOP

South Africans Worldwide - SAWmail Copyright © 1998 - 2006 Maesti

Editor in Chief: Maureen Cram
Editor: Theo Truter
Copy Manager: Theo Truter
Contributors: Everyone!
Web Development: Wizard
Post Master: Albert E. Stein
Hosting: Afrihost

SAWmail - An Internet service brought to you by Maesti.

Web: http://www.saw.co.za
E-mail: editor@saw.co.za
Tel: +27 11 704-5126
Fax: +27 11 704-5126

Subscribing and Unsubscribing TOP

SAWmail is only sent to subscribers and is never sent unsolicited

Please forward this message onto a friend!

Visit the link below to join up to SAWmail (subscribe):
http://maesti.mojo.jtm.co.za/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi?f=list&l=sawmailhtml

You're receiving this newsletter because you signed up to get it.
If you prefer, alas, not to receive email from us, you can unsubscribe
from SAWmail by visiting the link below: (un-subscribe):
http://maesti.mojo.jtm.co.za/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi?f=list&l=sawmailhtml

If you are having any technical problems with SAWmail, please send a message to: editor@saw.co.za

For advertising enquiries please contact us via e-mail: editor@saw.co.za

Disclaimer TOP

The editors, publishers, directors and shareholders of Maesti Web Consulting (being the holding company that publishes SAW) place on record that opinions and comment published in this newsletter are those of the authors, contributors and correspondents.

It should not be construed that we agree or disagree with any of the material. All information about events is published in good faith as received from the correspondents.

Visit South Africa's best web directory