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“Hell has three gates: lust, anger, and greed.” -- Bhagavad Gita
“A greedy person and a pauper are practically one and the same.” -- Swiss Proverb
“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.” -- P.J. O'Rourke
“Inflamed by greed, incensed by hate, confused by delusion, overcome by them, obsessed by mind, a man chooses for his own affliction, for others' affliction, for the affliction of both and experiences pain and grief” -- Buddha
“It always seemed strange to me that the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, aquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and selfinterest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second.” -- John Steinbeck
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Lobby groups' ideas are nuts, says mayor
Quinton Mtyala, Pretoria News
December 18 2009 at 09:28AM
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As two lobby groups in favour of decriminalising prostitution yesterday remembered prostitutes who had suffered abuse or death on the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, Cape Town's mayor Dan Plato described one of their proposals for next year's Fifa World Cup as "nuts".
The proposal by the SA National Aids Council (Sanac) and the Sex Workers Education Advocacy Taskforce (Sweat) would see condoms branded with soccer balls during next year's tournament.
Plato was responding to these strategies discussed at a two-day consultation meeting at the end of last month hosted by Sanac and Sweat which looked at "human rights, public health, football and beyond".
"I'm not in favour of legalising prostitution; I'm very worried about young girls who prostitute themselves standing in the streets.
"I think they (Sweat and Sanac) are nuts thinking they can somehow promote prostitution through the World Cup," said Plato.
There was "no way" he would ever condone the decriminalisation of prostitution.
"Sex work has links to the World Cup, HIV/Aids, human rights, the law and public health. With the influx of an estimated 450 000 visitors to the country and with our high rates of HIV, it is critical that our laws create an environment that enables the best possible public health outcomes to be achieved," said Sanac's Marlise Richter.
Errol Naidoo, director of the Family Policy Institute and a prominent opponent of Sweat, said that dishing out condoms during the World Cup would not stop the spread of HIV during the tournament. Of great concern to him were reports that girls as young as 15 were being trafficked into South Africa's cities from rural areas and neighbouring countries to service visitors to the World Cup.
» » » » [Pretoria News (Pg3), December 18, 2009]
419 scam takes advantage of World Cup
Aziz Hartley, The Mercury
December 23 2009 at 09:38AM
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The police and the Nelson Mandela Foundation have warned people to be on the alert for a 419 Nigerian scam - a "Fifa 2010 World Cup Lottery draw" - hoping to fleece unwitting South Africans of thousands of rands.
Contact happens via e-mail with the target being notified of winning a $100 000 (R757 000) cash prize in a "Fifa 2010 World Cup Lottery draw".
The e-mail bears a prominent picture of Mandela holding the World Cup, with logos of Fifa and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The con artist initially asks for personal details to be faxed to a UK number and slowly reels in the victim with snippets of information to a point where he wants R6 500 for lawyers' fees and stamp duty to be deposited into a Nedbank account.
Nelson Mandela Foundation spokesman Sello Hatanga and Jerome Hardenberg of the Cape provincial police's commercial crimes unit have warned the public to guard against being trapped.
» » » » [The Mercury (Pg2), December 23, 2009]
» » » » [Anti-419 & Email Scam Info Sites: 419 Eater :: Silver Tail]
Table Mountain just another branding gimmick?
By Craig McKune, Cape Times
December 21 2009 at 07:13AM
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Fifa's sponsors are being offered the face of Table Mountain for their 2010 branding, despite assurances by park managers that this is not an option.
For just R150 000 a month, according to City of Cape Town documents, the World Heritage Site was a "confirmed and available" advertising site where a brand's colours could illuminate its surface using existing and additional lights.
The documents, which outlined the city's "2010 host city decoration and signage master plan" and signage opportunities, were sent to Fifa's sponsors and included an image depicting the mountain illuminated by seven coloured beams.
A caption below the image stated: "There are lights in place and more could be added. A set of mon-colour lenses can be applied with the colour being representative of a brand and by association the mountain could become an outdoor medium.
» » » » [Cape Times (Pg 3), December 21, 2009]
Why shouldn't Fifa take over Table Mountain?
John Scott, Cape Times
December 23 2009 at 07:33AM
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What's all this nonsense about not allowing Fifa to take over Table Mountain? The rest of the country is in thrall to Sepp Blatter, so why stop him turning a mere mountain into a giant advertising screen as well?
Especially if the city council is prepared to do it all for him. It has made the mountain available to advertisers, after offering Fifa's sponsors first right of refusal, for R150 000 a month. And if the council had a collective grandmother for sale, it might even have asked more.
Unfortunately SANParks, who control the mountain, seem to have taken a dog-in-the-manger attitude towards the city's attempts to use the mountain for nightly commercials. One park official was quoted as saying: "We are not going to have Table Mountain branded in any way."
In response, Property Development Services, the company hired by the city to manage World Cup advertising, says the laws governing use of the mountain for this great event need to be "pushed". I have a marvellous idea. Take all objectors to the top of the mountain, and push them over the edge. That should teach them to be more respectful to Mr Blatter.
» » » » [Cape Times (Pg8),December 23, 2009]
A moral dilemma for 2010?
Karyn Maughan, The Star
May 19 2009 at 08:03AM
 “All [young girls or women] opposing the wishes of the [ANC young cadres] were reminded, that it was every woman’s obligation to give birth to new “soldiers”, in order to replace those warriors killed in the liberation struggle. The idiom of the adolescents referred to these patriotic efforts as “operation production”. Because of exactly this reason it was forbidden for the girls to use contraceptives.” » » Africanisation of RSA: ANC's Occult “Struggle” Politics: Witchcraft and the State in South Africa |
Acting prosecutions head Mokotedi Mpshe has questioned "what will happen to our morals" if prostitution in South Africa is legalised for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Stressing that he was speaking in his personal capacity, Mpshe on Monday pointed out that while sex work was still criminalised, "you still see so many of them (sex workers) on the streets".
While stressing that he could not say whether legalising prostitution was "bad or not bad", he stated: "What happens if prostitution is decriminalised? It will become a career - think for yourselves. What will happen to our morals?
"In my opinion, we have to be very, very careful."
Mpshe was supported in his cautious stance by the NPA's special director of the sexual offences and community affairs unit, Thoko Majokweni, who stated that it was "important to note that the introduction of new policies and legislation can have unintended consequences".
"The law is seen to be defining the norms of society," she said, adding that it was often better for the government to "err on the side of caution" in terms of how it implemented its policies.
Mpshe and Majokweni's comments come after newly appointed Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane last week said she would keep an open mind about recognising "the oldest profession".
"We must begin to appreciate that commercial sex work is an industry here in Gauteng. We must deal with it objectively and with an open mind."
She reportedly added that, with proper management, a "conducive" environment could be created in which "it does not become something that can embarrass us".
» » » » [The Star (Pg3), May 19, 2009]
Tourism chiefs warn against World Cup greed
Celean Jacobson, Mail & Guardian
Dec 04 2009 08:00
 Foul! Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-rigging & Ticket Scandals; by Andrew Jennings |
South African soccer and tourism officials are warning hotels, airlines and restaurants not to scare off future tourists by hiking prices during next year's World Cup.
With about 500 000 tourists expected to descend upon South Africa in mid-2010 and spend an estimated $850-million during the month-long tournament, tourism officials said on Thursday they fear visitors will by put off by exorbitant costs as hotels and guest lodges raise their prices.
Media reports have said that some hotels are planning to charge as much as $250 for a basic room that normally would be $100 to $150. Other reports point to homes along Cape Town's exclusive Atlantic seaboard renting for $1 000 to $35 000 a day -- with one house reportedly renting for a whopping $1-million for the duration of the tournament.
But Cape Town-based tourism official Calvyn Gilfellan said viewing the tournament as a cash cow will harm South Africa's burgeoning tourism industry. Up to 290 000 extra visitors are expected to come over the five years after the tournament because of South Africa's heightened visibility, and Gilfellan said price-gouging could scare them off.
"We are extremely concerned," he told the Associated Press. "It would be like killing the goose that laid the golden egg."
Euphoria over winning the rights to host the first World Cup in Africa has started to evaporate amid concerns over rising stadium construction costs and locals' worries that Fifa's sponsorship deals and marketing restrictions will not benefit them.
Other concerns include infrastructure and transport challenges, and South Africa's notoriously high crime rate. Official government figures list up 50 murders a day, but World Cup organisers say the country has recruited more than 140 000 extra police, with 100 000 more in reserve, backed up by more vehicles and water cannons.
» » » » [Mail & Guardian]
SA tackles World Cup child-trafficking fears
Courtney Brooks, Mail & Guardian
Dec 13 2009 08:00
 Thato's “granny” sold her into sexual slavery. The woman who bought her was running a sex ring that police are still investigating to find out how many children were involved. Allegedly Thato's parents, who ‘gave’ Thato away to “granny”; probably had no idea that the “granny” would sell their daughter; whom they gave away for free. |
'Even their own families sell these girls'
"Child trafficking is a big concern because of the big economic pull of the event," said Stephen Blight, the head of child protection in South Africa for the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).
"All the fans and visitors spending money will create a whole network that criminal networks will want to benefit from."
The government worries that child trafficking could increase as poor South Africans struggle for a slice of the $4-billion the World Cup is expected to generate.
"Criminal elements often tend to exploit such events, and there will be an increase in criminality which could possibly include trafficking," she told Agence France-Presse.
"Even their own families, they do sell those girls. It's the people that you know that traffic the children." -- AFP
» » » » [Mail & Guardian]
Muti killings up ahead of 2010?
2009-03-06 14:20
Tshwarelo eseng Mogakane, Media 24
 “They say the treatments with genital organs only work if they are taken from a person alive and not dead” (Customs Official, Sofala province, Mozambique) -- Trafficking Body Parts in Mozambique and South Africa, by Simon Fellows, Human Rights League, Mozambique, 2008 (PDF) |
Nelspruit - Over 70% of South Africans surveyed as part of a report on the trafficking on human body parts believe that muti killings will increase as the 2010 Soccer World Cup approaches.
"There is a clear link between muti and business. With the World Cup approaching, people we surveyed believe more people will be killed and their body parts used in muti that is bought to ensure businesses prosperity," said Simon Fellows, author of a report entitled Trafficking Body Parts in Mozambique and South Africa.
The report, commissioned by the Human Rights League in Mozambique and released in partnership with Childline South Africa, took seven months to complete and was released this week.
The report also revealed that 70% of people surveyed in South Africa and Mozambique believe human body parts make muti more effective.
Cultural beliefs
"Although this stems from generalised questions, it does indicate a deep-founded cultural belief that body parts make the medicine more effective and that it can solve any problem, from poverty to health issues," said Fellows.
"Witchdoctors, usually through a third party, actively seek human body parts from live victims," he said.
The research was conducted between May and September through 30 regional workshops attended by 413 people in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State in South Africa, and Maputo, Nampula, Sofala, Tete, Delgado and Niassa in Mozambique.
The 139 people interviewed included members of human rights organisations, religious bodies, women's movements, local authorities, police, municipal councils, community and traditional healer organisations.
Individuals surveyed included nurses, teachers, social workers, radio station presenters and even fishermen.
The interviews showed that those who approached witchdoctors for assistance sometimes had to part with more than just their money. Some were expected to sacrifice family members, even their wives and children.
Code of silence
In interviews with people who had experienced muti murders first hand, the research discovered that body parts of people killed in Mozambique were smuggled to religious leaders in South Africa who believe the muti will increase the size of their congregations.
"Muti murders are shrouded by a code of silence, where people are fearful of speaking out, allowing the practice to continue with little or no consequence for the perpetrators," said Fellows.
» » » » [News 24 (PDF)]
African Occult Politics & Muti-Murder Related:
» » [Related?: African Occult Muti Sacrifice Ritual Belief Systems, and African Criminality?]
» » [Africanisation of RSA: ANC's Occult “Struggle” Politics]
» » [AIDS in the “Witchcraft Paradigm” of Power]
» » [The Sixth Weapon - Ethnocultural Warfare]
» » [Trafficking Body Parts in Mozambique & SA, Human Rights League, 2008]
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