Sac spider

http://goafrica.about.com/od/africanwildlife/tp/Africas-Scariest-Spiders.htm

Sac spiders are thought to bite more humans than any other spider. Their venom contains a cytotoxin, which means it kills cells and will lead to tissue breakdown and blistering at the bite site. Sac spiders are quite pale, the most common house species are pale greenish, tan or straw colored. They have distinctive long front legs that face forward and wave about when on the hunt. Sac spiders actively hunt at night and weave together a protective tube of silk to rest in during the day. Sac spiders are very useful to farmers because they control pests. There are many species of Sac spider in Africa, at least 3 species have been identified in Egyptian cotton fields alone.

Massive accident on the N12

 Duck-watching motorist causes East Rand pile-up
A total of 17 people were injured in a multiple car pile-up on the N12 in Ekurhuleni on Friday, paramedics said.

ER24 spokesperson Andre Visser said nine cars were involved in the pile-up after a motorist pulled over to watch ducks.

He said four people had broken bones while the rest sustained minor cuts and bruises.

Ekurhuleni metro police earlier said 26 cars were involved in the pile-up but later said there were only six cars involved.

Meanwhile Superintendent Vusi Mabanga said 14 people were injured in the accident with four in a serious condition.

He said the first collision involved a taxi and a small vehicle.

The next few collisions were caused by drivers being distracted by the accident scene.

Mabanga said one car crashed into a metro police vehicle which was attending the scene.

Death at Stoneridge

Many of us allow our children to visit the malls over weekends.

A youngster took a dare and plunged to his death from Stoneridge last night.

Man dies after mall prank

January 7 2012 at 09:50am

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INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

A man has died after slipping from the balcony of a parking structure at Stoneridge Shopping centre on the East Rand, paramedics said on Saturday.

Late on Friday night the man climbed over the railing of the balcony - apparently in jest - but lost his grip and fell 15 meters, said Netcare911 spokesman Jeffrey Wicks in a statement.
“Paramedics arrived at the scene to find him in a critical condition, having sustained multi-system traumatic injuries.”
Attempts to revive the man failed, and he later succumbed to his injuries. - Sapa

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