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.