Missing dog

Pse contact me if this dog, with chain, is one you are missing.

Springbok's son dies: so sad

http://www.sportscentral.co.za/de-wet-barrys-son-dies/13679/

Linksfield last night ... many dead

The future of Clulee

This excellent road with its sharp downhill is already a death trap. Yesterday someone ignored the Ronald Road downhill Stop street and did a Judge Hlophe. This Formula 1 racetrack needs serious thought, as neighbours have been applying their minds. Send this pic far and wide.

PS: Workers were busy repairing the wall this morning.

Pics of the construction ... from the one and only Tina Kroll

Alex: it is serious

Among others, the ARP is behind the attempted evictions of people from RDP houses.

The rain stopped the potential violence yesterday, but it is soon to start again.

http://www.ewn.co.za/Story.aspx?Id=76027

Classic observation on our favourite nut

PRT @brucebusiness: SA's biggest proponent of nationalisation has been checked into a private hospital in Polokwane #doublestandards

Speed trap alert

 Curzon Road bridge, N1 north (just before William Nicol).

Life on the streets for Zimbabwe's blind

Blind beggars search for a better life in Jo'burg's darkest corners

The used water that seeps on to the streets of downtown Johannesburg from the wretched bowels of the Doornfontein Chambers building is a milky blue.

Similar in colour to the cataract clouds in the eyes of the blind Zimbabwean beggars who, guided by their assistants, also emerge from the hijacked building every morning to walk, or catch taxis and trains, to intersections in Johannesburg and much further afield.

Fifty-one-year-old Jethro Gonese's destination is Springs. On Tuesday, after a sprightly five-minute walk to Doornfontein station and an hour-long train ride, Gonese is at his regular intersection on a flyover on the R554 near Pollak Park.

At the traffic lights, elbows hooked into those of his 20-year-old son, Ishe, his assistant for the day, Gonese walks the white line.

The sun is scorching and the exhaust fumes irritate.


http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-30-blind-beggars-search-for-a-better-life-in-joburgs-darkest-corners

Hijackers operating in our general area ... 4 men ... watch out

Sounds exactly like Linbro

In Small Towns, Gossip Moves to the Web, and Turns Vicious

By A. G. SULZBERGER

As more people share gossip over the Internet rather than over coffee and eggs, anonymous, and startlingly negative, posts have provoked fights, divorce and worse.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/us/small-town-gossip-moves-to-the-web-anonymous-and-vicious.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23

City managers rolling in cash

The managers of six of South Africa's metropolitan cities are coining it big time, earning salaries well in excess of their political bosses, MPs, MECs and, in some cases, even more than premiers, ministers and their deputies.

With an annual package of R2.3-million, City of Johannesburg's municipal manager, Mavela Dlamini, earns even more than deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, Speaker of the National Assembly Max Sisulu and newly appointed Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, who each pocket R2.2-million.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2011/09/19/city-managers-rolling-in-cash

Appropriate for a Mickey Mouse party

ANC mayor blows R250 000 on Disneyland visit.

No toilets, but R250k for a trip with her bodyguard.

Totally Goofy.

Nelspruit mayor does Disney World

A R250 000 overseas jaunt by Mbombela municipal mayor Cathy Dlamini, her bodyguard and five councillors and municipal managers has come under heavy fire from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga.

The trip took in Disney World and other popular tourist sites in the United States and the United Kingdom.

"The trip was not budgeted for in the 2011/2012 municipal budget," said Anthony Benadie, the leader of the DA in the province.

"It is ludicrous for a municipality to send a delegation overseas when it does not have the capacity to deliver adequate services to its residents."

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-16-nelspruit-mayor-cathy-dlamini-splurges-on-us-trip

Minister blows R235 000 on flight

Yet another example of how our government wastes money.

Slideshow - Handbag drama: Minister must pay back money

A minister, whose handbag drama in Norway cost SA taxpayers more than R200 000, should pay back the money out of her own pocket, the DA says. VIEW

 

The contents of International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane's handbag are not up for discussion, her spokesperson said on Friday.

"I can't believe you are asking that," Clayson Monyela said when asked why she recently refused to have her handbag scanned at an airport in Norway.
"It's not an issue we want to debate ... She was strong and defended her principle, and we have moved on from there."
Monyela said the Vienna Convention exempted diplomats from luggage searches at airports, and the minister - as the country's top diplomat - was right to stand her ground.
"At every airport, no diplomats are searched. This is why she refused."
The minister's handbag drama in Norway cost South African taxpayers more than R200 000.
Nkoana-Mashabane, who was on a state visit to that country earlier this month, refused to have her bag passed through an X-ray scanner at an airport in Oslo, the Mail & Guardian reported.
As a result, she missed her scheduled commercial flight to her next diplomatic engagement in Bulgaria. A private-charter executive jet, which cost R235 343, was then hired to transport her.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Handbag-furore-Matter-of-principle-20110916

What our fine officials get paid

City manager: R2,3m (excl bonus)
City Power CEO: R2,3m (excl bonus)

* They can't fix the roads
* They can't keep the power going
* The water goes on and off or gushes down our rads
* Litter is endemic
* But they each earn more than a minister and some more than the president

http://bit.ly/rg1aW5

Rugby World Cup timetable

Thanks to neighbour Mario Cremonte for this:


http://www.sportscentral.co.za/rugby-world-cup-timetable/10520/

We need more citizens like this

Thanks to neighbour Neville Ross for this outstanding post.

PI solved murder case for R10
September 7 2011 at 07:21am

A private investigator who stepped in as police had no leads nearly three months after a

Cullinan man was murdered in his home and his house burnt down, solved the case in days and charged just R10.

Darryl Els told the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday that on September 27, 2009, he was watching an episode of Carte Blanche on television.

He saw an insert about the murder of Piet van den Berg, who had been shot dead by robbers two days before his 64th birthday.

Van den Berg’s wife, Madeleine, 61, was locked in a cupboard in the bedroom and the intruders set the house alight.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/pi-solved-murder-case-for-r10-1.1132483

The roads in Linbro Park

Thanks to John Pinnoy and Danielle van Eck for these pics.

Inbred cat: just for Neville Ross

Of all the people in Linbro, Neville Ross has the greatest shaggy dog sense of humour.

Some of what he used to send through bordered on criminal, it was so corny, yet always funny.

So here, especially for the Rosses (and Silke) is a picture of an inbred cat. (Courtesy of David Blood.)

DA wanted Manuel to replace Zille

In the interests of fairness, one has to report this, given the dynamics between the two parties in our area.

DA tried to woo Trevor Manuel - WikiLeaks
2011-09-05 07:22

Cape Town - DA leader Helen Zille was prepared to stand down last year in favour of Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel if he had defected to the opposition party, but he failed to react to the DA’s advances to him, according to a WikiLeaks cable.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/DA-tried-to-woo-Trevor-Manuel-WikiLeaks-20110905

DA racial row

In the interests of fairness, it is fair to report that not a single Gauteng South executive member is black.

A racial war has broken out among DA leaders following a chaotic elections meeting aborted a fortnight ago in Gauteng, where the battle for control of the party’s biggest region ended in high drama.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/da-race-tension-worsens-1.1130889

Traffic advisory

Stay far away from Katherine/Grayston. Massive police roadblock at peak traffic time.

OR Tambo airport advisory

Believe it or not, there is a pothole on a runway. Roughly half of all incoming flights will be cancelled or postponed for a day or two.

Welcome to Africa.

Another hijack - silver Opel Astra, from 99 Clulee Linbro Park, details to follow

Another hijack - silver Opel Astra, from 99 Clulee Linbro Park, details to follow

These are our future leaders

Miyeni calls it spot on

 
I thoroughly dislike Eric Miyeni. But he has called it spot on here. Our domestic here in Linbro Park wishes for the days when things just worked

South Africa's economic policies favour whites, former columnist Eric Miyeni wrote in an open letter to the ANC.

In the letter, Miyeni wrote: "It's been 17 years since you started running South Africa. An old petrol attendant summed up your leadership throughout this period when he told a friend of mine just before our latest local elections that if anyone should vote for you, it's South Africa's whites, because, in his opinion, nothing has changed.

"In many respects the old man is right. Many black South Africans are worse off today than they were under apartheid."

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/ANC-favours-whites-Eric-Miyeni-20110823

Gastro

There is a nasty, highly contagious form of gastroenteritis doing the rounds. Three members of my family have contracted it, the latest being our toddler son a few moments ago.

Renowned columnist in Knysna, Ivo Vegter, had to be stabilised with a drip, having contracted precisely the same illness late last week.

It is clearly airborne, and it is debilitating, opening up the sluices at both ends.

If anyone needs to know how to deal with the symptoms, they can contact me on 082 550 2797.

Variable power

Update: I got home from broadcasting last night, having taken a nasty fall in the pitch blackness of the shopping centre from where I broadcast in Midrand. Some bright security guard had decided to shut down every light in the centre, rendering it as dark as a cave.

After my wife had cleaned my injuries, at 11.30, Eskom's power went off fully here. At 1.30, they came out, thanks to Karen, and restored power.

Linbro is not for those of faint heart.

We are having shocking power (or not shocking power) at 68 Clulee. The voltage is so low we can't microwave food, PCs switch themselves off and more.

Would love to hear from anyone else experiencing the same problem. We have shut down all essential appliances, but we are down to next to no Eskom power.

If interested, the impact of Hurricane Irene

Imagine this was your home.

http://frank-heydenrych.blogspot.com/2011/08/that-was-some-hurricane.html

Details of Mazda hijacked in Linbro Park at 3.30

Update, exactly as sent by Bev at Drakes: Morning all,

Yesterday at about 3.20pm my friend, Sharda Pearman, 23 years old, came to my house (as usual, she’s been riding him for years).  I was at the P ‘n P so instead of parking inside my property (she has a remote) she decided to park outside the empty property next to me down Beacon as she didn’t want to carry the heavy saddle down.  She had just gotten out of her black Mazda 3 hatchback VRR833GP, locked it and was turning to the gate (with saddle in hand) when 3 BM in an old white Honda drove past.  They turned their vehicle around, by then she knew she was in trouble…the BM with the revolver jumped out and ran towards her telling her to “get down, get down”.  She lay down, the other BM then demanded the keys, and asked if she had a cell phone, Shada said no as she was not prepared to hand over her Blackberry! Ha-ha  They got into her car and fled off at a speed.   She waited till they were out of sight and ran to my house.  I had arrived home, must have been as she was waiting for the BM to escape as I had just got out of my car from the shops.  If I had seen her car next door (and the other one) I would have definitely gone down there to say Hi!  I had my little girl in the car with me and another friend, imagine if we disturbed them!  I called 10111, Nic and Sandringham police – they were here in 7 mins.  Very impressive.  I spent the rest of the afternoon feeding her a glass of wine for the nerves and trying to tell her that Linbro has been a relatively “safe” place to live with incidents been far apart.  He parents came to fetch her and said they have had enough and will be immigrating soon L  (Shada was smash and grabbed a few months ago at the Linksfield off ramp, also going home from Abacus – the horse).  Be careful people, these baddies will be back….enjoy your Sunday xxx



Bev Grant

Drakes Party Farmyard

Cell: 084 941 8219

Email: info@drakes.co.za

Website: www.drakes.co.za

Shada Pearman held up by three men at 30 Beacon Road. Gun to the head.

Mazda hijacked 1 hour ago. 2007 Model 3, registration VRR833GP.

Take care on the M1 North

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Why-is-Joburgs-N1-highway-warping-20110826

Winter wonderland in Linbro Park

Neighbour Danielle van Eck took these pics. Enjoy.

Missing doors

My wife Karen snapped this pic yesterday while driving past Alex. Anyone missing two wooden doors?

Linbro water problem

Please use the comment facility to let the media know what is happening. They will track this site on a daily basis.

Bogus police

 Hi, Wessel Swart here, 32A Beacon. Please be on the lookout for what seems to be a police vehicle (Mazda bakkie, registration number starts with BPP ...). We had a suspicious visit by two 'policemen' about 40 minutes ago. They wanted to gain entrance to the property. They said someone reported a break in at this address. Rebekkah, Jenny's domestic also confirmed that everything is OK here. They wanted to know details like who is in charge, etc. Apparently they know that Jenny is overseas.

 It was dark outside the gate and I see poorly at night - but at first they looked like the real deal, but something told me to watch out.

I asked for their police IDs and the plain clothes guy presented me with an ID that looked authentic - but it all happened so quickly I can't remember the name.

Because of my poor eyesight I couldn't see the police car clearly. Rebekkah Rampoko, Jenny's domestic overseeing while Jenny is not here  was talking to them her native in a black language. I could see she was also very nervous and didn't want to let them in. They kept insisting that they wanted to come in and I asked if they have a court order (that's what they normally do in the movies, right?). The 'detective' then backed off. I asked them to wait, I just want to go back into the house (to get a pen to write down the details.

When I got back they were gone. I called 10111 and talked to the REAL police. I described the car and the guys. They emediately said we have to watch out, that these guys aren't real police. They said they will send a unit by... But it's been more than an hour ago, and still nothing.

We're all a bit rattled over here.

The impact of Monday's hail in Linbro Park

This is what 51 Oak Avenue looked like.

Strike coming here: Enjoy

Striking South African municipal workers set fire to rubbish in Cape Town streets and looted road-side vendors on Tuesday, turning up the heat in labour disputes that have ripped through Africa's largest economy.

More than 200 000 municipal workers, seeking 18% wage increases, walked out on Monday in an indefinite strike that is expected to hit services in urban areas.

The strike ...

This is Cape Town. It has turned very violent. Coming here soon. This is striking workers destroying Cape Town infrastructure.

More snow and an accident at Rifle Range Road

Confirmed snow in Midrand at Vodacom Park

Said to be snow at Tembisa

Our office in Modderfontein a few minutes ago

It would seem Modderfontein took the worst of the hail.