South African Government askes citizens if they are legally alive.

[Dinges]

SAfricans asked to check if they legally alive
8 hours ago
CAPE TOWN (AFP) — South Africans are being urged to confirm whether they are officially alive, as the beleaguered home affairs department attempts to do away with "fraudulent deaths", government said Tuesday.
"We really call upon citizens to confirm your alive status," local government minister Richard Baloyi told a press conference.
A special call centre has been set up for South Africans to check if they have been wrongly declared dead -- an increasingly common problem with identity theft by criminals trying to benefit from life insurance, he said.
Baloyi also urged citizens to check if they legally married, as criminals are also engaging in identity theft to arrange fake marriages for migrants seeking citizenship.
"You may find out you are married more than once," he said.
South Africa's home affairs department has been crippled by corruption and inefficiency.
In 2005 a young man won the sympathy of many South Africans when he held a home affairs official hostage, with a fake gun, demanding his identity document after a two-year wait for the ID book which is vital in every aspect of daily life.
Concerns that South African passports could be easily obtained by bribing officials recently led Britain to impose a visa requirement on its former colony.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hqpg8fI5W5NxS6r1k2YC1zCNIKiA


What the hell?

[zad]

Zombies plagues are a growing problem. First Texas, now South Africa... Who will be next?

[Irons]

I understand that South Africa, once the dark continents "Super Power," is plagued with the worlds largest volumes of rape, murder, corruption, fraud, a severely deteriorating infrastructure, brain drain, a defense force dying of AIDS, and rolling blackouts, but at least they are all equal in their misery now. Some of the people there may still be alive, but their nation isn't. Sad.

[Lazer]

i'm a sa citizen living in joburg quite happily. thye blackouts have stopped i have never really heard of an identity theft and i have never been near a crime scene. i might be a statistical anomoly or most of these things are exxagerations

[R/cst]

There are problems, but the majority of us here never really encounter them face to face

[Dinges]

There are problems, but the majority of us here never really encounter them face to face

True. But I have had to wait six months for a ID renewal.

[Rudolph]

^
R/cst
Except for the 20,000 dead each year... but, ja... :)

[Lazer]

True. But I have had to wait six months for a ID renewal.

dude use "q for u" they cost i think like 50 bucks but they get the job done super fast... somehow

[Dinges]

dude use "q for u" they cost i think like 50 bucks but they get the job done super fast... somehow


My local queuing service provider does not do Home Affairs or pension payments , only municipal accounts and vehicle registration. :roll:

[R/cst]

You dont have to tell em Rudolph I see the bodies on a regular basis, for me a weekend without having to attend a murder scene in my area (Local township) is unusual.

But for most people they only read about it in the papers.

[Rudolph]

You dont have to tell em Rudolph I see the bodies on a regular basis, for me a weekend without having to attend a murder scene in my area (Local township) is unusual.

But for most people they only read about it in the papers.

I drove past a taxi-assault just a month ago, they threw a petrol bomb into a full taxi, saw two burning bodies lying on the grass... not good.

[R/cst]

Nope, not good at all

[DanteXavier]

SAfricans asked to check if they legally alive
8 hours ago
CAPE TOWN (AFP) — South Africans are being urged to confirm whether they are officially alive, as the beleaguered home affairs department attempts to do away with "fraudulent deaths", government said Tuesday.
"We really call upon citizens to confirm your alive status," local government minister Richard Baloyi told a press conference.

http://i29.tinypic.com/mj3h4k.jpg

[R/cst]

DanteXavier if you mean the story, well that just life in sunny SA

[playtym]

LOL! We have a choice?

I'm dead b1tches - stop taxing me. p-)

[R/cst]

Good one
rofl

[Irons]

I've seen pictures of Johannesburg. There is a site that I ran across one time, that showed pictures of the town in 1985 as compared with today, and the place looks like a bombed-out war zone by comparison. I'll see if I can find it again. I've heard the opinion stated that in another 50 years, South Africa will look remarkably like the place that the Dutch Settlers originally found. I can't argue with that from what I've seen. I'm not there, so I've only got the pictures and videos that I've seen on the web, but I don't think there is any denying that the sum total quality of life there used to be FAR higher for everyone.


Edit: Here it is http://deathofjohannesburg.blogspot.com/
Who am I going to trust, the rosy rhetoric, or my lying eyes? It looks like Detroit, but Detroit has been that way for 40+ years. This is in half that time.

[gazell]

Well, this is a sensible move from the gov, it happens all over the place even that dead people get all sorts of gov correspondence, like recently a laugh news item was the TV license of a person from the ?middle ages?, this might well be a hoax, but, yes, weird things do happen and ID theft is a world wide reality.

Tim: megalol.

Well, a lot are worried that Hungary is going down SA way, so, hands in hardship, you are not alone. What that means for future, I don't like to think.

[R/cst]

I've seen pictures of Johannesburg. There is a site that I ran across one time, that showed pictures of the town in 1985 as compared with today, and the place looks like a bombed-out war zone by comparison. I'll see if I can find it again. I've heard the opinion stated that in another 50 years, South Africa will look remarkably like the place that the Dutch Settlers originally found. I can't argue with that from what I've seen. I'm not there, so I've only got the pictures and videos that I've seen on the web, but I don't think there is any denying that the sum total quality of life there used to be FAR higher for everyone.


Edit: Here it is http://deathofjohannesburg.blogspot.com/
Who am I going to trust, the rosy rhetoric, or my lying eyes? It looks like Detroit, but Detroit has been that way for 40+ years. This is in half that time.

This guys seems to be part of the doom and gloom club, granted JHB is not where I would want to live. The inner city has been experiencing a huge amount of urban decay as businesses move out, but this is occuring throughout SA

Here are two links to give you a better perspective
http://www.jhblive.co.za/
http://www.joburg.org.za/

[Lazer]

I've seen pictures of Johannesburg. There is a site that I ran across one time, that showed pictures of the town in 1985 as compared with today, and the place looks like a bombed-out war zone by comparison. I'll see if I can find it again. I've heard the opinion stated that in another 50 years, South Africa will look remarkably like the place that the Dutch Settlers originally found. I can't argue with that from what I've seen. I'm not there, so I've only got the pictures and videos that I've seen on the web, but I don't think there is any denying that the sum total quality of life there used to be FAR higher for everyone.


Edit: Here it is http://deathofjohannesburg.blogspot.com/
Who am I going to trust, the rosy rhetoric, or my lying eyes? It looks like Detroit, but Detroit has been that way for 40+ years. This is in half that time.

i live in this city and yes there are bad parts like yeoville (i even lived in yeoville) for a bit too. but there are amazing parts too, do u kow that Johannesburg has a huge a mount of trees. theres a hill overlooking my subhurb and if u climb to the top there so many trees that in the pavements that u can hardly see the houses (ok that might be a bit of an exageration). i've been to washington, miami, london and windhoek, plus i've been to almost every major city in SA (there arent really that many) and i would just like to say that in my view the good far outweighs the bad.

crime in my subhurb is non existent because we all got together and hired some mercs to patrol our streets. the cops are ineffective in combating crime because there arent enough of them and they arent paid enough, well please name me a country where that isnt the case?

life has less value in this country, well africa is not for sissies.

you say that the standard of living was hihger for ALL citizens under the previous regime, well thats trash there was still crime and perhaps worse (thats completely conjection) but it wasnt in the papers or in official government records since most of it was mainly black on black and that was "unimportant" to the ruling class of the day. for some people the standard of living has not improved but for very few people has it been lowered.

there are only about 48 million people in this country of which 3 million are zimbabweans, i'm not saying all but some of these zimbabweans are veterans and then theres also the nigerians. many of these people are responsible for drug trafficking and violent crimes perpetrated in this country and most foreigners come to Gauteng because of the job opportunities.

this country is the wild west, yes there is little law and order but there is also great opportunities.

[Rudolph]

White youth to get govt money (http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Channel=News_Home&ArticleId=1518-2386-2399_2486574&IsColumnistStory=False)

Mar 17 2009 08:13
Inge Lamprecht

Johannesburg - A new study, commissioned by the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, has recommended that the fund should start to start assist poor young white persons wishing to start a business.

According to Veronica Mathebula, a researcher at the fund, 5% of the money will be allocated for this purpose.

In the investigation among poor whites ages 18 to 35 between April and June 2008, in which various players were involved, it was found that these youths numbered among "the most marginalised groups" in South Africa.
According to the report, households of this group earned between R500 and R3 000 a month, and most of the youths had neither matric nor any further qualification.

The study indicated that their needs could be better met if they were included in the existing government programmes to uplift the youth.
It was also recommended that those who qualified should be taken up in the organisation's job database, so they could receive training and be informed about job opportunities.

Umsobomvu chief executive Malose Kekana announced that as soon as the report was concluded the fund would present its findings to various interest groups - including government departments, private-sector groups and non-governmental organisations - to find ways to help poor white young people in a joint effort.

According to Solidarity deputy head Dirk Hermann, this is the first time that a credible report breaks the silence about white poverty.

In the meantime President Kgalema Motlanthe said the Umsobomvu Youth Fund would merge with the National Youth Commission in the near future in order to form the National Youth Development Agency

- Sake24.com

---

Wow! White people may not get their demographic share, but 5% is better than nothing... :roll:

[Irons]

Interesting. It's good to hear that somebody thinks SA is on the up and up. It's the first I've ever heard of it. As far as the jobs program, I'd refuse a government handout based upon principle alone. If you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps, then what's the point of embarrassing yourself on top of it all?

[gazell]

'According to Solidarity deputy head Dirk Hermann, this is the first time that a credible report breaks the silence about white poverty.'

Yes, could be recommendable in a lot of other countries, too.

[Lazer]

my micro economics lecturer dr karungu who did his post grad in washington, and who is trying to breed young economists who will not be pc, and hence bring about the great changes in this country that are possible, told us that you can measure the moral level of a society by how it treats its vulnerables(unemployed). much of his thesis is based on the hypothesis that if a country spends proportionatly large sums of money on sheltering the weak it saves money(in the long run) and increases GDP by substantial levels. its a very interesting thesis by a fascinating individual.

[gazell]

much of his thesis is based on the hypothesis that if a country spends proportionatly large sums of money on sheltering the weak it saves money(in the long run) and increases GDP by substantial levels.

Or wastes money... not taking the mick, it really seriously depends how and on what it spends that money.

[lzdbb]

I understand that South Africa, once the dark continents "Super Power," is plagued with the worlds largest volumes of rape, murder, corruption, fraud, a severely deteriorating infrastructure, brain drain, a defense force dying of AIDS, and rolling blackouts, but at least they are all equal in their misery now. Some of the people there may still be alive, but their nation isn't. Sad.

Yes, I think Mandela and the new president suck, they destory a good nation and the human beings in the country. They are murderers, muderers of the country ,murderers of the people.

[R/cst]

Yes, I think Mandela and the new president suck, they destory a good nation and the human beings in the country. They are murderers, muderers of the country ,murderers of the people.

Dude Mandela was good for SA.

I think you mean the soon to be President JACOB ZUMA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Zuma)

Who is number 1 in the charts with

Umshini wami mshini wami (lead)
khawuleth'umshini wami (Follower)
Umshini wami mshini wami,
khawuleth'umshini wami
Umshini wami mshini wami,
khawuleth'umshini wami
khawuleth'umshini wami
Wen'uyang'ibambezela(Lead)
umshini wami, khawuleth'umshini wami(Follower

English translation
My machine my machine Gun
Please bring my machine gun
My machine gun my machine gun
Please bring my machine gun
My machine gun my machine gun
Please bring my machine gun
Please bring my machine gun
You're pulling me back
My machine gun, Please bring my machine gun

[Lazer]

i fully agree with you. but you must look at zuma as member of the group including tokyo sexwhale(not sure on spelling). they used him to remove mbeki. THAT was tremendously critical for the progress of this country. mbeki was the african version of stalin. he surrounded himself with yes men and with incompetents who were loyal, case in point health minister manto shabalala msimang.

is zuma a good persson? well as the judge said there is not enough evidence to put him in jail for rape. is he a corrupt politician? probably.

but the reason zuma will get in is because he has strong grass roots support. most urbanised people dont realise this but he is an amazing orator in zulu. whats also important is that mbeki was foreign relations obsessed. he wanted to be viewwed by the interntional community as a great peace bringer. zuma has made it quite clear that he will focus goveernment policy locally. mbeki spent more time out the country than in.

is zuma a potential detrementil president? perhaps wewill have to wait and see. but what most people believe is that he is a far better alternative than mbeki was.

[Rudolph]

i fully agree with you. but you must look at zuma as member of the group including tokyo sexwhale(not sure on spelling). they used him to remove mbeki. THAT was tremendously critical for the progress of this country. mbeki was the african version of stalin. he surrounded himself with yes men and with incompetents who were loyal, case in point health minister manto shabalala msimang.

is zuma a good persson? well as the judge said there is not enough evidence to put him in jail for rape. is he a corrupt politician? probably.

but the reason zuma will get in is because he has strong grass roots support. most urbanised people dont realise this but he is an amazing orator in zulu. whats also important is that mbeki was foreign relations obsessed. he wanted to be viewwed by the interntional community as a great peace bringer. zuma has made it quite clear that he will focus goveernment policy locally. mbeki spent more time out the country than in.

is zuma a potential detrementil president? perhaps wewill have to wait and see. but what most people believe is that he is a far better alternative than mbeki was.

Can't believe you're even discussing his merits... :roll: He is in the same league as Mugabe and every other sorry excuse for a leader in Africa.

[Lazer]

Can't believe you're even discussing his merits... :roll: He is in the same league as Mugabe and every other sorry excuse for a leader in Africa.

being a good orator is not really a merit, its more like an ability it doesnt make you a good president, but it does make it easier to become the president.

also being better than mbeki isnt a merit either, it would be quite difficult not to be.

[R/cst]

being a good orator is not really a merit, its more like an ability it doesnt make you a good president, but it does make it easier to become the president.

also being better than mbeki isnt a merit either, it would be quite difficult not to be.

Time will tell

Personally I dont trust Zuma, he comes across as a smooth operator, but then I suppose he is a politician so its only natural.

Its going to be interesting to see how COPE does in the elections.

[Bushranger]

Its going to be interesting to see how COPE does in the elections.


Can only hope they, get good support & may finally take the balance of power away from the ANC.

[Lazer]

Time will tell
Its going to be interesting to see how COPE does in the elections.

i heard on the radio (so perhaps its not that accurate), because cope has not had strong leadership and also because they have taken much longer than other parties to get their election campaign going (i'm mainly reffering to the posters on streets) they "reckon" that cope may have their support dwindled to 6% of the voters.

on the other hand during this latest spate of taxi strikes in Gauteng they were pulling down ANC posters. black people will generally not vote for the DA which leaves cope as a logical alternative for the ANC.

[Obelix]

Dont expect Cope to do too much this election, even the party itself is only projecting 12-14% of the vote. Hopefully they will be a viable opposition by the elections after these.

What they need to achieve in this years elections is to take away the ANC's 2/3 majority, and to form a coalition voting block.

[Dinges]

Can only hope they, get good support & may finally take the balance of power away from the ANC.


In local forums they are spoken of as cANCer. And you know what - they are not far off. In my community plenty of voters are thinking of voting COPE.

As the curse goes - We live in interesting times.

[drevil5000]

True. But I have had to wait six months for a ID renewal.

I have two ID books. After I applied for the first one is took so long, home affairs said I should apply again. Both arrived at the same time.

[Lazer]

someone told me that they had municipal byelections in kayalisha and the DA won 98% of the votes, i have my doubts though it sounds too good to be true

[drevil5000]

someone told me that they had municipal byelections in kayalisha and the DA won 98% of the votes, i have my doubts though it sounds too good to be true

The DA got more than 80% of votes in Mitchells Plain and Parow. Im not sure if there was a vote in khayelisha.

It seems the DA have a decent chance of taking the Western Cape.

[Rudolph]

Poll: ANC to lose 2/3 majority (http://www.news24.com/News24/Elections/News/0,,2-2478-2479_2492099,00.html)
26/03/2009

Johannesburg - The ANC will lose its two-thirds majority after the April 22 general election according to the results of a poll, the SABC reported on Thursday.

"The ANC got rounded off to 61% nationally. The ANC has lost the two-thirds majority that it achieved in 1999," said Plus 94 CEO Sifiso Falala.

"The ANC has achieved its worst performance since 1994," he said.

Falala said the Democratic Alliance had raised its tally to 16% of the national vote.

"The DA has grown rapidly to reach a peak since '94. This is the highest it has ever done at national level.

"Cope made a big entrance at 15%. This is a party that hardly four or three weeks ago hardly had a leader who appeared on ballot papers," said Falala.
The poll was conducted by interviewing 3 500 South African voters.


- SAPA

[Lazer]

"The DA has grown rapidly to reach a peak since '94. This is the highest it has ever done at national level.


it takes time to grow support in a place that a party does not have a strong historical attraction to it.

hopefully the DA will take the cape without any coalitions and if they can do a good job there that may help them a lot in gaining other provinces such as perhaps natal and gauteng.

does anyone know how the people in other countries votes will be added?

[Rudolph]

SA in crisis - Buthelezi (http://news.iafrica.com/sa/1362561.htm)

Article By:
Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:14

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4366/26626436001571772.jpg

South Africa is in a crisis, Inkatha Freedom Party president Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Thursday.

"We are in a crisis. It is a crisis of leadership, of morality, of security, social justice and productivity," Buthelezi told the trade union Solidarity's 2009 congress in Muldersdrift, Johannesburg.

"We are in a crisis, and we need to make a decision that will change the looming consequences."

The long-time president of the largely KwaZulu-Natal-based opposition party said South Africans could prevent the "looming consequences" by voting on 22 April.

He said the country did not have a "true democracy" and was seeing the "beginning of a one party state".

He urged South Africans not to emigrate, with the global financial crisis making this option "unviable".

"I urge you not to look for the way out of South Africa, but to look for South Africa's way out of this crisis."

He said the country lost the skills and investment of a million whites who emigrated after 1994.

"Government's attitude to South Africans living abroad is that they have deserted us and we should desert them."

He added that returning South Africans were receiving "little assistance" and "little incentive" from the government.

Buthelezi said his party, with Solidarity, rejected the implementation of affirmative action "to the extent that it discriminates against any South African".

"While we must redress the social injustices of our past, there must be a shared understanding of what the finish line looks like and where it has been set.

"Without a clear vision, we will never fully emerge from the shadow of social injustice," he said.

There were "serious problems" with the country's macro-economic policies and the country was in "desperate need" of a more flexible labour market", the IFP president said.

"South Africa is in desperate need of a more flexible labour market and a free market economy, but instead it is almost impossible to run a business under the strict regulations imposed by government."
Sapa

---

'Afrikaners, Zulus share same struggle' (http://www.capeargus.co.za/?fSectionId=3571&fArticleId=nw20090327150851809C468275)

27 March 2009, 16:32

Afrikaners and Zulus share a history of struggle for freedom, identity, and recognition, IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said on Friday.

"Just as you fought for the preservation of your cultural identity, language, and values as we negotiated a democratic settlement, I fought for the recognition of the Zulu kingdom and the Zulu monarchy," he told the Afrikaner forum convened by his party in Pretoria.

Buthelezi said injustices of the past had been pursued through affirmative action and broad-based black economic empowerment to re-address them, but what worried him was the ANC's recent recommitment to affirmative action when already the first generation of South Africans wholly educated under a new dispensation were entering the job market.

"We may not yet have reached our goals. But there must be a sunset clause to affirmative action that clearly defines the goal post."

He said Afrikaners had a role to play in South Africa.

"We need Afrikaners to put a shoulder to the struggling wagon of South Africa and get it through the drift."

Buthelezi said the IFP had signed a memorandum of understanding with Solidarity trade union in which they rejected the implementation of affirmative action on the basis that it unfairly discriminated against other South Africans.

Earlier, Solidarity's Dirk Herman told the forum the union had called for a moratorium on affirmative action on all essential and scarce skills. - Sapa

***

I just don't see how our two groups will ever reconcile with the ruling Xhosa minority government. The Zulus have always remained either neutral, or at least sided with the Afrikaners when really necessary...

[Dinges]

As far as I can see the stranglehold of the SACP and the Trade unions on government is complete. Luckily we have a democratic dispensation - for now.