Zuma lied about Nhlanhla Nene's Brics bank appointed

When President Jacob Zuma fired Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister in December; he claimed he was acting with great haste because he needed "an experienced person" at the Brics bank where Nene would head the Africa Regional Centre.

 Two months later, Nene has told the Financial Mail that he is yet to receive an offer despite President Jacob Zuma indicating otherwise. When Zuma unceremoniously cut Nene from the cabinet in December, he said it was because he needed to rope the able and respected finance minister into the New Development Bank, as the institution is now called. In a statement issued from Zuma’s office a couple of days after he axed Nene, when the president was forced to explain his reckless move in an effort to contain the economic chaos that followed, he said it was because the SA government had identified Nene as the preferred candidate to head the Africa Regional Centre, one of the bank’s priority units.

“We are fully backing his [Nene’s] candidature, knowing full well that he will excel and make the nation proud in his next assignment,” the statement read. The president reiterated that same position last month when he appeared to present the move as a fait accomplish. “We took a decision that he [Nene] heads the Brics bank as it needs an experienced person,” Zuma told local TV channel eNews in early January.
However, in a brief conversation with the Financial Mail this week, Nene said he was still in the dark about the job and had not had any communication with either Shanghai or Pretoria.

“I still have not received a formal offer,” he said.

Source:

https://www.facebook.com/zulunewstv/?ref=hl

Malema inciting violence with his Gupta comments - ANC

 Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema's comments regarding the Gupta family and its media outlets go against the Constitution and incited violence, the ANC said on Thursday.

"The very same Constitution which allows him to be in Parliament, he is violating it," national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said. Malema's statement was nothing but a call to suspend the Constitution, he added "We must condemn the statements of the EFF with the contempt that they deserve because they are likely to incite violence and bring hatred among different groups.

Addressing the media in Johannesburg on Thursday, Malema said the Gupta family, which is seen to have close ties to the ANC and some of its top leaders, should leave the country. He also told journalists who worked for Gupta-owned media, ANN7 and The New Age not to attend EFF events. "We are going to take practical action. It's a battle. It's a war against Guptas. We want to advise the Gupta television and newspapers [that] they must no longer come to EFF events because they are not safe for them. "We are not going to allow South Africa to be sold over a plate of curry."

Kodwa said the comments about "curry" amounted to xenophobia. "All different tribes and groups in South Africa have their own cuisine and they can't be insulted on the basis of their cuisine. In that sense it is xenophobic... it's inciting violence against a group of people." He also denied that the Gupta family had any influence over the ANC or that the ruling party was defending the family because of this. The family would never "control" the ruling party. "The Guptas are not close to the ANC and the ANC is not close to the Guptas," said Kodwa. "If there are individuals, who for business reasons are influenced by Guptas or have business with the Guptas it does not mean the ANC as an organisation is part of that."

Source:

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2016/02/05/malema-s-gupta-comments-incite-violence---anc

New sex scare through disease - Zika virus

 A patient acquired Zika virus in the U.S. through sex with a person who had traveled to a place where the virus is circulating, Dallas County, Texas, health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
 
This is not the first time that the virus has been sexually transmitted, and it most likely isn't the first time it's been sexually transmitted in the U.S. Aedes aegypti, the species of mosquito that transmits Zika virus.

In 2008, two scientists returned to Colorado after months of field work in Senegal, where they'd been bitten by
One of them ended up passing the virus to his wife, most likely during intercourse. The couple noticed that the husband's semen had been bloody for a few days before the wife felt sick. She later tested positive for Zika, even though she had not left the U.S. in years. The pair co-authored a paper on their case, which has been called the first documented case of sexual transmission of an insect-borne disease.

During a Zika virus outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013, the virus was isolated from the bloody semen of a man in Tahiti. This was a few weeks after he had symptoms, and while his blood no longer contained traces of the virus, his urine did, and his semen contained live virus capable of replicating. The authors speculate that the virus may have replicated in the man's genital tract.
Similarly, Japanese researchers studying boars infected with a virus in the same family as Zika isolated virus from the urine and semen of boars that was capable of infecting a female through artificial insemination.
Is sexual transmission definitely possible? "Well, it sounds like it," says Dr. Robert Tesh, a professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch who studies emerging infectious diseases. But if it is, it's probably quite rare.

"I know it's sexy, talking about sexual transmission, but it's still the mosquito that's the important vector," says Tesh, who co-authored the case report from Colorado.
The silver lining is that both the Colorado case and the Texas case happened in the winter, when it's too cold out for the species of mosquito that transmits the virus to be out and about. So Zika couldn't have spread to other people by mosquito.

Though the virus has been connected with birth defects in Brazil, in adults the symptoms, if any appear, are often mild and short-lived: rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis and slight fever. The CDC is trying to figure out if an uptick in cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder, that was reported by the Brazil Ministry of Health is connected to Zika.

Research on a 2013 outbreak in French Polynesia, the largest known, has yielded the most information on which bodily fluids Zika hangs out in, and when. One study found signs of the virus in the saliva of patients shortly after the onset of symptoms. A small study in New Caledonia detected it in patients' urine more than 10 days after their first symptoms, and more than a week after it became undetectable in blood.
A third study found the virus in the breast milk of infected mothers, and concluded that two babies who tested positive for Zika virus within days of birth possibly acquired it from their mothers' bodily fluids during pregnancy or birth. Tesh says it's unclear how the virus remains in bodily fluids, but hypothesizes that the virus could hide in white blood cells.

Source:
 http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/02/03/465339603/what-we-know-so-far-about-sexual-transmission-of-zika-virus

Meet the poorest countries in Africa

01. Central Africa Republic

Languages: French (official), Sangho (lingua franca and national language), tribal languages

Religions:  Indigenous beliefs 35%, Protestant 25%, Roman Catholic 25%, Muslim 15%

Population: 5,391,539

GDP - per capita (PPP):  $600 (2014 est.)

The former French colony of Ubangi-Shari became the Central African Republic upon independence in 1960. After three tumultuous decades of misrule - mostly by military governments - civilian rule was established in 1993 but lasted only a decade. In March, 2003 President Ange-Felix PATASSE was deposed in a military coup led by General Francois BOZIZE, who established a transitional government.

Economy

Subsistence agriculture, together with forestry and mining, remains the backbone of the economy of the Central African Republic (CAR), with about 60% of the population living in outlying areas. The agricultural sector generates more than half of GDP. Timber and diamonds account for most export earnings, followed by cotton. Important constraints to economic development include the CAR's landlocked position, a poor transportation system, a largely unskilled work force, and a legacy of misdirected macroeconomic policies. Factional fighting between the government and its opponents remains a drag on economic revitalization. Since 2009 the IMF has worked closely with the government to institute reforms that have resulted in some improvement in budget transparency, but other problems remain. The government's additional spending in the run-up to the election in 2011 worsened CAR's fiscal situation. Distribution of income is extraordinarily unequal. Grants from France and the international community can only partially meet humanitarian needs. In 2012, the World Bank approved $125 million in funding for transport infrastructure and regional trade, focused on the route between CAR's capital and the port of Douala in Cameroon. After a two-year lag in donor support, the IMF's first review of CAR's extended credit facility for 2012-15 praised improvements in revenue collection but warned of weak management of spending.

02. Somalia

Languages: Somali (official), Arabic (official, according to the Transitional Federal Charter), Italian, English

Religions: Sunni Muslim (Islam) (official, according to the Transitional Federal Charter)

 Population: 10,616,380

GDP - per capita (PPP): $600 (2010 est.)

Britain withdrew from British Somaliland in 1960 to allow its protectorate to join with Italian Somaliland and form the new nation of Somalia. In 1969, a coup headed by Mohamed SIAD Barre ushered in an authoritarian socialist rule characterized by the persecution, jailing, and torture of political opponents and dissidents. After the regime's collapse early in 1991, Somalia descended into turmoil, factional fighting, and anarchy. In May 1991, northern clans declared an independent Republic of Somaliland that now includes the administrative regions of Awdal, Woqooyi Galbeed, Togdheer, Sanaag, and Sool. Although not recognized by any government, this entity has maintained a stable existence and continues efforts to establish a constitutional democracy, including holding municipal, parliamentary, and presidential elections.

Economy

Despite the lack of effective national governance, Somalia maintains an informal economy largely based on livestock, remittance/money transfer companies, and telecommunications. Agriculture is the most important sector with livestock normally accounting for about 40% of GDP and more than 50% of export earnings. Nomads and semi-pastoralists, who are dependent upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the population. Livestock, hides, fish, charcoal, and bananas are Somalia's principal exports, while sugar, sorghum, corn, qat, and machined goods are the principal imports.

04. Democratic Republic Of Congo

Languages: French (official), Lingala (a lingua franca trade language), Kingwana (a dialect of Kiswahili or Swahili), Kikongo, Tshiluba

Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other (includes syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs) 10%

Population: 79,375,136

GDP - per capita (PPP): $700 (2014 est.)

 Established as an official Belgian colony in 1908, the then-Republic of the Congo gained its independence in 1960, but its early years were marred by political and social instability. Col. Joseph MOBUTU seized power and declared himself president in a November 1965 coup. He subsequently changed his name - to MOBUTU Sese Seko - as well as that of the country - to Zaire. MOBUTU retained his position for 32 years through several sham elections, as well as through brutal force. Ethnic strife and civil war, touched off by a massive inflow of refugees in 1994 from fighting in Rwanda and Burundi, led in May 1997 to the toppling of the MOBUTU regime by a rebellion backed by Rwanda and Uganda and fronted by Laurent KABILA. 

Economy

The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - a nation endowed with vast natural resource wealth - is slowly recovering after decades of decline. Systemic corruption since independence in 1960, combined with countrywide instability and conflict that began in the mid-90s has dramatically reduced national output and government revenue and increased external debt. With the installation of a transitional government in 2003 after peace accords, economic conditions slowly began to improve as the transitional government reopened relations with international financial institutions and international donors, and President KABILA began implementing reforms.

05. Liberia

Languages: English 20% (official), some 20 ethnic group languages few of which can be written or used in correspondence

Religions: Christian 85.6%, Muslim 12.2%, Traditional 0.6%, other 0.2%, none 1.4% (2008 Census)

Population: 4,195,666 (July 2015 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $900 (2014 est.)

Settlement of freed slaves from the US in what is today Liberia began in 1822; by 1847, the Americo-Liberians were able to establish a republic. William TUBMAN, president from 1944-71, did much to promote foreign investment and to bridge the economic, social, and political gaps between the descendants of the original settlers and the inhabitants of the interior. In 1980, a military coup led by Samuel DOE ushered in a decade of authoritarian rule. In December 1989, Charles TAYLOR launched a rebellion against DOE's regime that led to a prolonged civil war in which DOE was killed.

Economy

Liberia is a low income country that relies heavily on foreign assistance. It is richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture. Its principal exports are iron ore, rubber, gold and timber. The Government has attempted to revive raw timber extraction and is encouraging oil exploration. In the 1990s and early 2000s, civil war and government mismanagement destroyed much of Liberia's economy, especially infrastructure in and around the capital. With the conclusion of fighting and the installation of a democratically elected government in 2006, businesses that had fled the country began to return.

6. Burundi

 
Languages:   Kirundi 29.7% (official), Kirundi and other language 9.1%, French (official) and French and other language 0.3%, Swahili and Swahili and other language 0.2% (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area), English and English and other language 0.06%, more than 2 languages 3.7%, unspecified 56.9% (2008 est.)

Religions: Catholic 62.1%, Protestant 23.9% (includes Adventist 2.3% and other Protestant 21.6%), Muslim 2.5%, other 3.6%, unspecified 7.9% (2008 est.)

Population: 10,742,276

GDP - per capita (PPP): $900 (2014 est.)

Burundi's first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. More than 200,000 Burundians perished during the conflict that spanned almost a dozen years. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in neighboring countries. An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved the way for a transition process that integrated defense forces, and established a new constitution and elected a majority Hutu government in 2005. The government of President Pierre NKURUNZIZA, who was reelected in 2010 and again in a disputed election in 2015, continues to face many political and economic challenges.

Economy

Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural; agriculture accounts for just over 40% of GDP and employs more than 90% of the population. Burundi's primary exports are coffee and tea, which account for 90% of foreign exchange earnings, though exports are a relatively small share of GDP. Therefore, Burundi's export earnings - and its ability to pay for imports - rests primarily on weather conditions and international coffee and tea prices. An ethnic-based war that lasted until 2005 resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, forced more than 48,000 refugees into Tanzania, and displaced 140,000 others internally.

06.  Malawi

 Languages: English (official), Chichewa (common), Chinyanja, Chiyao, Chitumbuka, Chilomwe, Chinkhonde, Chingoni, Chisena, Chitonga, Chinyakyusa, Chilambya

Religions: Christian 82.6%, Muslim 13%, other 1.9%, none 2.5% (2008 est.)

Population: 17,964,697

GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,100 (2014 est.)

Established in 1891, the British protectorate of Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964. After three decades of one-party rule under President Hastings Kamuzu BANDA, the country held multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections in 1994, under a provisional constitution that came into full effect the following year. President Bingu wa MUTHARIKA, elected in May 2004 after a failed attempt by the previous president to amend the constitution to permit another term, struggled to assert his authority against his predecessor and subsequently started his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party in 2005. MUTHARIKA was reelected to a second term in May 2009.

Economy

 Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's most densely populated and least developed countries. The country’s economic performance has historically been constrained by policy inconsistency, macroeconomic instability, limited connectivity to the region and the world, and poor health and education outcomes that limit labor productivity. The economy is predominately agricultural with about 80% of the population living in rural areas. Agriculture accounts for about one-third of GDP and 90% of export revenues. The performance of the tobacco sector is key to short-term growth as tobacco accounts for more than half of exports.

07. Niger

 Languages: French (official), Hausa, Djerma

 Religions: Muslim 80%, other (includes indigenous beliefs and Christian) 20%

 Population: 18,045,729 (July 2015 est.)

 GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,100 (2014 est.)

 Niger became independent from France in 1960 and experienced single-party and military rule until 1991, when Gen. Ali SAIBOU was forced by public pressure to allow multiparty elections, which resulted in a democratic government in 1993. Political infighting brought the government to a standstill and in 1996 led to a coup by Col. Ibrahim BARE. In 1999, BARE was killed in a counter coup by military officers who restored democratic rule and held elections that brought Mamadou TANDJA to power in December of that year. TANDJA was reelected in 2004 and in 2009 spearheaded a constitutional amendment allowing him to extend his term as president. In February 2010, military officers led a coup that deposed TANDJA and suspended the constitution.

Economy

 Niger's economy centers on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. Agriculture contributes nearly 40% of GDP and provides livelihood for most of the population. The UN ranked Niger as the least developed country in the world in 2014 due to multiple factors such as food insecurity, lack of industry, high population growth, a weak educational sector, and few prospects for work outside of subsistence farming and herding. Since 2011 public debt has increased in part from a large loan financing a new uranium mine. The government relies on foreign donor resources for a large portion of its fiscal budget.

08. Mozambique

Languages: Emakhuwa 25.3%, Portuguese (official) 10.7%, Xichangana 10.3%, Cisena 7.5%, Elomwe
 7%, Echuwabo 5.1%, other Mozambican languages 30.1%, other 4% (1997 census)

Religions: Roman Catholic 28.4%, Muslim 17.9%, Zionist Christian 15.5%, Protestant 12.2% (includes Pentecostal 10.9% and Anglican 1.3%), other 6.7%, none 18.7%, unspecified 0.7% (2007 est.)

Population: 25,303,113

 GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,200 (2014 est.)

Almost five centuries as a Portuguese colony came to a close with independence in 1975. Large-scale emigration, economic dependence on South Africa, a severe drought, and a prolonged civil war hindered the country's development until the mid-1990s. The ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) party formally abandoned Marxism in 1989, and a new constitution the following year provided for multiparty elections and a free market economy. A UN-negotiated peace agreement between FRELIMO and rebel Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) forces ended the fighting in 1992.  

 Economy 

 At independence in 1975, Mozambique was one of the world's poorest countries. Socialist mismanagement and a brutal civil war from 1977-92 exacerbated the situation. In 1987, the government embarked on a series of macroeconomic reforms designed to stabilize the economy. These steps, combined with donor assistance and with political stability since the multi-party elections in 1994, propelled the country’s GDP from $4 billion in 1993, following the war, to about $30.9 billion in 2014. Fiscal reforms, including the introduction of a value-added tax and reform of the customs service, have improved the government's revenue collection abilities. In spite of these gains, more than half the population remains below the poverty line. Subsistence agriculture continues to employ the vast majority of the country's work force.

09.  Eritrea

Languages: Tigrinya (official), Arabic (official), English (official), Tigre, Kunama, Afar, other Cushitic languages

Religions: Muslim, Coptic Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant

Population: 6,527,689 (July 2015 est.)

 GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,200 (2014 est.)

After independence from Italian colonial control in 1941 and 10 years of British administrative control, the UN established Eritrea as an autonomous region within the Ethiopian federation in 1952. Ethiopia's full annexation of Eritrea as a province 10 years later sparked a violent 30-year struggle for independence that ended in 1991 with Eritrean rebels defeating government forces. Eritreans overwhelmingly approved independence in a 1993 referendum. ISAIAS Afworki has been Eritrea's only president since independence; his rule, particularly since 2001, has been highly autocratic and repressive. His government has created a highly militarized society by pursuing an unpopular program of mandatory conscription into national service, sometimes of indefinite length. A two-and-a-half-year border war with Ethiopia that erupted in 1998 ended under UN auspices in December 2000.

Economy

 Since formal independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Eritrea has faced many economic problems, including lack of resources and chronic drought, which have been exacerbated by restrictive economic policies. Eritrea has a command economy under the control of the sole political party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). Like the economies of many African nations, a large share of the population - nearly 80% - is engaged in subsistence agriculture, but the sector only produces a small share of the country's total output. Since the conclusion of the Ethiopian-Eritrea war in 2000, the government has expanded use of military and party-owned businesses to complete President ISAIAS's development agenda. The government has strictly controlled the use of foreign currency by limiting access and availability; new regulations in 2013 aimed at relaxing currency controls have had little economic effect.

10. Guinea

 

Languages: French (official)

Religions: Muslim 86.7%, Christian 8.9%, animist/other/none 7.8% (2012 est.)

Population: 11,780,162 (July 2015 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,300 (2014 est.)

Guinea is at a turning point after decades of authoritarian rule since gaining its independence from France in 1958. Guinea held its first free and competitive democratic presidential and legislative elections in 2010 and 2013 respectively, and in October 2015 held a second consecutive presidential election. Alpha CONDE was reelected to a second five-year term as president in 2015, and the National Assembly was seated in January 2014. CONDE's first cabinet is the first all-civilian government in Guinea. Previously, Sekou TOURE ruled the country as president from independence to his death in 1984. Lansana CONTE came to power in 1984 when the military seized the government after TOURE's death.  

Economy

Guinea is a poor country of approximately 11.7 million people that possesses the world's largest reserves of bauxite and world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore reserves (Simandou), as well as gold and diamonds. In addition, Guinea has fertile soil, ample rainfall, and is the source of several West African rivers, including the Senegal, Niger, and Gambia. Guinea's hydro potential is enormous and the country could be a major exporter of electricity. The country also has tremendous agriculture potential. Gold, bauxite, and diamonds are Guinea’s main mineral exports. Following the death of long-term President Lansana CONTE in 2008 and the coup that followed, international donors, including the G-8, the IMF, and the World Bank, significantly curtailed their development programs in Guinea.

Sources:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html

Zuma now agrees to pay back the money

The African National Congress's official facebook page has issued a surprise statement by making an announcement that the president has offered to pay back some of the money that amounts to R240 million that was spent for his Nkandla homestead upgrades. This announcement comes in just 5 days before the Economic Freedom Fighters is set to march to the constitutional court to hear a case the party lodged against the president for the refusal to adhere to the public protector's findings which compelled the president to pay back  some of the money which was spent for non security upgrade to his Nkandla homestead.

MyAnc complete statement

"Proposed solution to the Nkandla matter

The ANC welcomes the decision of President Zuma to find a permanent solution to the Nkandla matter within the recommendations of the Public Protector, as per the President's submission to the Constitutional Court.

It is the view of the ANC that such a solution will bring closure to the long drawn matter which has been a focus of parliament for some time.

Our support for the proposed solution does not imply that President Zuma is responsible for wrong doing in the security upgrades at Nkandla, we still call for prosecution of those responsible."

The presidency said in the statement that Zuma’s attorneys had written to the registrar of the Constitutional Court on Tuesday morning proposing “a simple course to implement what the Public Protector recommended as remedial action contained in the report”. The statement said the president “remains critical of a number of factual aspects and legal conclusions in the report”.

The report is widely interpreted as an admission that the president is liable to pay back the money and has agreed to pay.

Sources :

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-02-02-ill-paybackthemoney-president-zuma-proposes-solution-to-nkandla-battle/#.VrH3sEDerCM

https://www.facebook.com/MyANCza/?fref=ts

Relive fees must fall with some pictures and interesting videos here

It was around in September 2015 when news articles about violent student protests first emerged from the University Of KwaZulu Natal Westville campus. The protests about university fee increases, student debts, soon spread nationwide spearheaded by a famous twitter hashtag #feesmustfall.

We are now in 2016 and it seems the fees have indeed fallen thus far with the announcement that more funding would be allocated by government to assist financially needy students.  Who would forget the University Of Cape Town students who were assaulted by police with stunt grenade, shields, teargas whilst they had their hands in the air as a sign of a non violent protest?

We would also not forget the violent and destructive students protests in areas that do not normally receive much media coverage such as University Of Fort Hare at the Eastern Cape. Police brutality to students at the University Of Free State.

Perhaps the most breathtaking radical and militant protests took place at the University of KwaZulu Natal Westville Campus, University Of Western Cape or the Union Building in Pretoria when the president was set to meet and engage with student leaders regarding high university fees. What happened thereafter is a violent confrontation between militant students and the police when the students became frustrated as they were awaiting the president to address them outside the Union Buildings. It is rumoured that scores of students were injured and received emergency medical attention after they were shot at by the police with rubber bullets, teargas and stun grenades. At least two police vehicles were reportedly set on fire and overturned.

Some of the most violent acts of police brutality against students are said to have taken place at the University Of Western Cape even though the media covered very little in that area. Updates and pictures by students regularly appeared on twitter to give accounts of what was taking place.

Tswane University Of Technology proved to be the most radical, militant student movement as they were not prepared to simply stand and watch proceedings unfold at the Union Buildings as some believed TUT was at the forefront of the chaos,vandalism,arson that took place the Union Buildings on that day. One journalist posted on twitter that a Tswane University of Technology threatened her when she tried to take photos of them and said :"You not allowed to take pictures of us you shits! We will kick you".

Today we would relieve the #FeesMustFall moments with some of the most breathtaking pictures and videos here:

10. University Of KwaZulu Natal (Westville Campus) - where protests started 

9. University Of Western Cape

08.South African parliament in Cape Town

07.  At parliament in Pretoria - The Union Building Buildings

06. In Johannesburg

05. University Of Cape Town

04 Rhodes University, Eastern Cape

03. University of KwaZulu Natal, Westville Campus

02. In Cape Town

01. A young lady cries

Watch some memorable vidoes below here: 

Parliament - Cape Town



Parliament - Pretoria



Rhodes University - Eastern Cape



University of KwaZulu Natal - Where protests began



University Of Cape Town students in parliament




Sources: This is an original article written an opinion derived from various accounts of what took place during fees must fall from Zama Dladla thus it cannot provide a verified link on the story. Here are some links to some of the stories that movitated the article :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWi0_F26VPo

http://ewn.co.za/2015/11/12/UWC-gets-ultimatum-as-protests-continue-into-the-night 

 http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2015/10/23/Journalists-threatened-at-Union-Buildings-as-students-demand-Zuma-speaks-to-them

Is the ANC now controlled by Guptas?

Brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh (also known as Tony) Gupta, all in their 40s, relocated to South Africa from India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh in Saharanpur in 1993, just as white minority rule was ending and the country was opening up to the rest of the world.  

Atul says they met President Zuma 10 years ago "when he was a guest in one of Sahara's annual functions", a computer peripherals company the Guptas own.  One of Mr Zuma's sons, Duduzane, is also director in some of the Gupta family companies which seldom loses in tender bids. The president's daughter Duduzile w Zuma was also appointed as a director of Sahara Computers in 2008, six months after her father was elected as ANC president, although she has since resigned.

This has prompted senior leaders within the Tripartite Alliance speak out against the perceived influence of the Gupta family over government, there have been questions about whether the inaction from within the state has led to a culture of patronage.

The Sunday Times reported yesterday that South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu) leaders sharply criticized the perceived influence of the Gupta's during the ANC’s lekgotla held last week.

They reportedly criticized the manner in which senior ANC members are summoned to the Gupta's Saxonwold compound to discuss government matters.

Senior analyst at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Judith February says it may be too little too late.

“We seem to have names mentioned and people becoming outraged just as we are near an election battle or near a place where the ANC is going to be choosing leaders. It would have been better had the outrage come a few years ago, when the Gupta’s reared their heads.”

The Gupta brothers have been terrorizing the South Africa government affairs and exerting their influence with sheer ease.  

Source: 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22513410 

http://ewn.co.za/2016/02/01/Questions-raised-over-Gupta-ANC-relationship-senior-leaders-speak-out

KZN farmers chased out of their farm by illegal foreigners they "adopted"

Two South African white farmers who opened their farm to hundreds of desperate illegal immigrants after a spate of xenophobia incidents have had to flee in fear for their lives after their adopted “refugees” took over their farm and physically drove them off.

According to a report on News24, the two leftists, Andrew and Rae Wartnaby, have been threatened with murder by the same people they had set out to help. The drama began in July 2015 when the Wartnabys “opened their 20-hectare farm to 143 foreign nationals, including children,” who were displaced during “xenophobic attacks” by South African blacks upon other black illegal immigrants from central Africa.

South Africa—which still is an attractive option for Africans, as it is far more advanced than their own self-created hellholes. Hundreds of thousands have poured across the borders, and locals have been incited against them, under the impression that they are going to compete for the rapidly declining number of “jobs” which the white population can provide.

According to an article in News24 at the time, the Wartnabys said they were “heartbroken” when they heard that the local municipality was closing the single remaining “refugee” camp in the area.

“The couple’s hearts sank further when they heard that foreigners had been arrested and separated from their children on Friday after illegally occupying the camp,” the original News24 article continued.

After persuading the authorities not to prosecute the arrested blacks, the two leftists decided they had enough space on their farm to house the central Africans, mostly from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.

“We just have a heart for children,” Rae Wartnaby said. “I wanted to go to Durban and help, but God said to me that I should not get involved now. He said we must wait and he would need us in the end.”

The central Africans were given housing, food and clothing by the Wartnabys, helped by the “Gift of the Givers, the South African Council of Churches, Islamic Relief and various churches.”

The Wartnabys were widely praised in the South African media and described as “good Samaritans” and “angels” who were examples of how “tolerance” and “understanding” could work.

Now, five months later, the Wartnabys have had to flee their own farm. The ungrateful Africans have utterly destroyed the property and have also accused the Wartnabys of “not helping them to be relocated back home or to another country,”—in other words, not giving them enough money, passports, or the ability to go back home, as if this were their responsibility in the first place.

The Africans attacked their home in the early hours of the morning last week, and threatened to kill Andrew. He told News24 that they had cut and broken down the fence around the house, and then, “in the early hours of the morning, at around 2 a.m., they came smashing on my windows and doors and saying that they will kill me because I work for the government and I am not helping them.”

He said that as he looked through a window, he saw the tent at the group’s camp engulfed in flames. “I immediately asked if everyone is okay but they kept shouting that tonight was my night and they will kill me. I haven’t slept since then.

“When we took everyone in, we said we would try and help, which we have. But they feel like it has been too long and we let them down. I have asked that group to leave my farm, but they refuse to and to be honest, I don’t know what is going to happen. All I know is that I don’t want to be murdered tonight,” said Andrew.

The Africans are still in control of the farm at time of writing, and the leftist whites, who might or might not have learned their lesson, are in hiding.

Source:

 http://newobserveronline.com/south-african-leftists-driven-off-farm-by-refugees/

Is South Africa's education system the worst in Africa?

At a discussion on affirmative action hosted by trade union Solidarity , former foreign affairs minister Pik Botha took a swipe at South Africa's education system. "Our education system is far behind. It's the worst in Africa and we have the highest per capita expenditure in Africa. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's education system is better," he is reported to have claimed.

South Africa's education system has been strongly criticized over the these past years. There were the highly publicized textbook shortages and school infrastructure backlogs.  In 2012, the department of basic education's annual national assessments revealed that grade nine students on average scored 13 % for mathematics. But is South Africa's education system really the worst in Africa?

How education is ranked?

Ranking education systems is not as simple as comparing different countries and matric pass rates.  Different countries use different exams and have different pass rates.  In order to compare country's educational performance, the same test needs to be conducted on a representative sample of students in each country.

The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) consists of fifteen ministries of education.  The countries represented include Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

SACMEQ has conducted three education policy research projects:  1995 - 1998 , 1998 - 2004 and 2005 - 2010.  Data for the most recent research project was collected during the last quarter of 2007 from 61, 396 grade six students and 8, 026 grade six teachers in 2, 779 schools.  during the assessment , students were required to answer multiple - choice question on reading, mathematics and health.  the date from this assessment is the most recent and comprehensive survey on educational quality in sub- Saharan Africa.

South African's average student reading score placed it in tenth out of the fifteen countries scored.  Uganda, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zambia, and Malawi performed worse then South Africa.  Tanzania was the best performing country.  South Africa's average student mathematics score placed it eighth out of the fifteen countries.  Mozambique, Uganda, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi and Zambia achieved lower rankings.

As of 2012 study published by Nicholas Squall and Stephen Taylor from the university of Stellenbosch questioned the existing practice of reporting education quality statistics that ignore enrollment statistics.  The percentage of children enrolled in school varies in different countries.

For example, 98% of South African children that should be in grade six are in school.  However, in Malawi only 85.7% of children that should be in grade six are in school.  Students that stay in the schooling stystem are usually the strongest, wealthiest and most able.  Poorer, weaker students often drop out.

By taking into account how many children have dropped out of school, Spaull and Taylor's studey calculates how many children that should be in grade six have acquired basic numeracy and literacy.  The study assumes that all children that are not in school are illiterate and innumerate.

SA still performs badly.

Only ten of the countries included in the third Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality research project had reliable and recent date on school attendance:  Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi , Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Taking enrollment into account, South Africa still performs badly.  Only 71, 2% of children that should be in grade six are literate.  It is ranked sixth out of the ten countries, behind Swaziland, Kenya, Tanzania, Nam ibia, and Zimbabwe.  Zambia is ranked last and only 49,3% of children that should be in grade six there are considered literate.

Only about 58,6% of South African children that should be in grade six are numerate.  In this regard South Africa is ranked fifth, behind Kenya, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.  Zambia, again, comes in last.  Only 28,8% of their grade six children are numerate.

Does South Africa spend the most on primary education?

Botha's second claim was that South Africa has the highest per capita education expenditure in Africa.  The 2010 Education for All Global Monitoring Report provided data on country's expenditure on primary education per pupil.

In 2007 South Africa was spending $1,225 on primary education per pupil - more then most African countries. However both Botswana and Seychelles were spending more per primary education in that year per pupil: 1,228 and 2,089 respectively.  Data for many African countries is not available in the report.

South Africa's low scores despite its education expenditure are worrying.  Kenya spends only $258 on primary education per pupil but performs better than South Africa in both reading and mathematics.

Botha's last claim, that Zimbabwe's education system is better than South Africa, is correct.  In both numeracy and literacy it is ranked higher than South Africa.

Conclusion- SA does not have the worst education systems in Africa

Botha's claim that South Africa's education system is "the worst in Africa" was false.  The available data, which notably does not cover countries in central Africa and the Sahel where conditions are more challenging, clearly shows that.

Taking enrollment rates in to account, South Africa performs better than many sub-Saharan African countries in both numeracy and literacy.  However, there is still a great deal of room for improvement.  South Africa consistently scores below such as Kenya and Swaziland, which spend considerably less on education then it does.

Source:

 https://africacheck.org/reports/is-sas-education-system-the-worst-in-africa-not-according-to-the-data/

South Africa’s former apartheid-era foreign affairs minister, Pik Botha, recently claimed that the country’s education system is the worst in Africa. How much does Botha know about education system rankings? Very little it turns out. Data shows that while South Africa lags behind a number of African countries, there are many with worse education systems. - See more at: https://africacheck.org/reports/is-sas-education-system-the-worst-in-africa-not-according-to-the-data/#sthash.HtWMBx7w.dpuf

DA and EFF in secret coalition talks: report

Four political parties, including the DA, and EFF, have held informal discussions ‘to create a united front’ to challenge the ANC in the local government elections later this year, according to the Sunday Times.
These coalition talks were confirmed by leading figures in four opposition parties, with DA spokeswoman Phumzile van Damme telling the Sunday Times that Mmusi Maimane has had “some very informal discussions with other party leaders about [these coalitions]”.

Earlier this week, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema called on opposition parties to unite with the EFF to break the grip of the ruling party. He told Reuters that Johannesburg and Pretoria could be challenged.“South Africans must shoot warning shots now, through their votes,” Malema told Reuters in an interview. “It is an opportunity now for South Africans to show the ANC that they are tired … that the ANC should begin to take them seriously, ahead of the national elections in 2019.”
The EFF won 6% of the vote in the 2014 general election, while the DA improved to win 22% of the vote. The ANC vote declined to 62%, from 66% in 2009.

According to the Sunday Times, it has been proposed that each opposition party should contest elections separately, with the exact nature of coalitions to be thrashed out in those municipalities where the ANC loses.
However, where a single opposition party attracts more than 50% of the vote, as the DA is expected to do in Cape Town, no coalition will be formed, the Times said.

The full report is in the Sunday Times – 31 January 2016.

Source:  http://businesstech.co.za/news/government/110805/da-and-eff-in-secret-coalition-talks-report/

Prasa wants a refund for its R2.65 billion train tender flop

It seems South Africa would be stuck in a passenger rail crises for some years to come. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) wants to return the Afro 4000 trains which are unsuitable for local conditions, and get a refund for the R2.65 billion it has already paid for the order.
The Sunday Times reported that Prasa launched court action to “recover from one of South Africa’s biggest ever tender debacles involving billions of rands”.
In July the Afro 4000 trains made headlines after Rapport revealed that the locomotives were unsuitable for South African infastructure as the height of the trains is 4.264m, whereas the national limit was 3.965m.
The problem with Afro 4000 trains continued after one of the locomotives derailed. Prasa officials struggled to establish what went wrong, because the trains only ‘communicated’ in Spanish. Former Prasa CEO Lucky Montana had downplayed the concerns, and tried to convince South Africans that the trains are indeed suitable for the local railway network. Since then Montana and former Prasa’s head of engineering services Daniel Mthimkhulu were fired, and the Hawks have launched a criminal investigation into Mtimkhulu and Montana for corruption.

It also emerged that Mthimkhulu was not a registered engineer, and that the Engineering Council of South Africa (Ecsa) rejected Mtimkhulu’s application to register with it in 2006.

Source:

 http://businesstech.co.za/news/government/105615/prasa-wants-a-refund-for-its-r2-65-billion-train-blunder/

Masturbation can kill you

 Always taking matters into your own hand is not a good idea, if you know what I mean. We're into the 21st century but masturbation is still frowned upon. But did you know that there was a time when it was considered to be extremely abnormal behaviour, evil almost, to make yourself 'happy'. So how did we deal with it? How else? We portrayed it as a taboo! After all, we humans are amazing at that.

Having said all that there are dangers associated with it and some are life threatening. Here is what can happen to you if you addicted to masturbation:

Sexual headaches.

The severity of headaches caused by over masturbation develops in stages. First, at the problematic stage, the sufferer experiences fatigue and a sudden lack of concentration. The severe stage finds him with chronic fatigue and vulnerable to mood swings. The addictive stage manifests itself in the form of insomnia and instances of blurred vision, while the final, severely addictive stage encompasses all of the aforementioned symptoms with swelling headaches with occasional dizziness.

Erotic asphyxiation

Erotic asphyxiation or breath control play is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for the purposes of sexual arousal. This activity of pleasuring yourself could be fatal as it can lead to a sudden pinch of a deadly instant headache or a thrust to your heart.

Based on available evidence, the victims are overwhelmingly—to the tune of about 95%—white and male. But it’s difficult to crunch the real numbers because many of these cases are categorized as suicides by family members who live in a culture where for some reason it’s considered more noble to purposely take your own life than to accidentally die whilst trying to entertain yourself sexually.

Here is a list of 4 people who died from masturbation:

1. 87-year-old man found naked and hanging by his belt.

This is allegedly the oldest victim of masturbation fatality ever reported. He was found hanging by a belt wrapped around his neck in his living room, naked and bound with ropes that crisscrossed his body from his legs up to his chest. Investigators discovered semen on his right hand as well as on the floor. 

2. Man perforates bowel after getting vibrating dildo stuck in his anus. 

At age 50, Londoner Nigel Willis was an unemployed diabetic who lived with his mother. He also apparently enjoyed pleasuring himself while having a vibrating dildo shoved up his crapper. One fateful day late in 2013 he accidentally lodged the vibrator so far up his rectum that he found it impossible to extract. He was also so humiliated by the entire sequence of events that he refused to seek help until five days later, at which point the little buzzing fake penis had already punctured his colon. He spent over a month in the hospital before finally succumbing to “multi-organ failure, sepsis and a perforated bowel.”

3. Woman dies of possible stroke while masturbating with a frozen sausage.
 
Although the woman’s body was only discovered after it was in a “severely decomposed condition,” it is suspected that her cause of death was a masturbation heart attack while diddling herself with frozen sausages:

A black woman in her early twenties was discovered in a severely decomposed condition. She was found on a bed in her locked apartment where she had resided alone. She was nude and lay face down with a pillow under her abdomen and her buttocks in the air. Her right hand was beneath her, near her vagina. Her face was turned to one side, and a knife was beneath her cheek. On the bed immediately below her vagina lay a long sausage, which in all probability, fell from her vagina after death. On the kitchen counter a package of similar sausages, once frozen, had since thawed.

  4. Woman dies of extreme arousal while masturbating with sex toy.

Nicola Paginton was young, blonde, healthy, vibrant, and seemingly had a bumptious ’n’ bountiful life ahead of her until that catastrophic day in October 2009 when, apparently flicking her bean to some porn video on her laptop, she allegedly croaked due to a “sudden cardiac arrest” from “physical and emotional arousal.”

Sources:

http://thoughtcatalog.com/jim-goad/2014/12/13-people-who-died-from-masturbating-nsfw/

http://www.scoopwhoop.com/humor/masturbation-can-be-fatal/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_asphyxiation

Money can buy you beauty - Check Nicki Minaj before and after surgery.

Nicki Minaj whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago on December 8, 1982. Her parents Robert Maraj, a financial executive and part-time gospel singer, and Carol Maraj, are Trinidadians of African heritage, with Robert additionally of Asian Indian heritage.

Nicki Minaj first made her music debut in 2007. In today's world she is a global music superstar who's known for chart topping, infectious pop hits such as Anaconda, The Night Is Still Young, All Eyes On Me, Super Bass, High School etc. Nicki is not just another global music icon. She has million of infatuated male fans at her disposal.

Images of her natural look before she found fame and fortune have shocked many of her fans and had people asking just how possible is it that money can buy you such beauty? Here is how much it would cost you to have her looks:

 * Skin lightening  $1000
 * Nose job         $ 6000
 * Butt implants    $10,000

Here is pictures of Nicki Minaj before and after her surgeries :

Despite the controvesy over her looks. Nicki has not stopped making hits with her latest with boyfriend Meek Mill reaching over 130 million views thus far:



Source: http://myfirstclasslife.com/5-expensive-celebrity-plastic-surgeries/5/

Source: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6576141/how-to-get-nicki-minaj-butt-kim-kardashian-butt-lift-restylane-plastic-surgery

SA signs an agreement to create jobs

 The Department of Science and Technology and the Offshore Petroleum Association of South Africa have signed an agreement to exploit offshore oil and gas exploration. The SA Marine Research and Exploration Forum are being launched under the Department's Operation Phakisa initiative which has the potential to create one million jobs by 2033. Science and Technology Minister, Naledi Pandor, says the agreement will allow government and the private sector to work closely together.

“We trying to derive greater value in contribution to our economy through the ocean economy and investing in it, and out of that set of initiatives we've identified oil and gas exploration as an important component of the ocean economy,” says Pandor.

Questions should be raised on how viable is the offshore oil economy exploration since the oil price has sunk to its lowest levels since 2004. Executives think it will be years before oil returns to $90 or $100 a barrel. The current oil price stands at $35 a barrel. It should also be questioned on which nations would buy oil since more countries seek to produce oil through fracking.

Many could also point out that the South African government has been discussing the idea of fracking publicly since 2008 but nothing concrete has followed.

Source: http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/bb72b8004b7de5b3a06df677bc6a42c4/SA-signs-agreement-to-exploit-offshore-oil

United in money - As Gareth Cliff and EFF's Dali Mpofu celebrate

 Fired Idols SA judge represented by EFF's chairperson - advocate Dali Mpofu won a massive lawsuit against M-Net on Friday, just hours before auditions were set to begin.Cliff won his bid to be reinstated as a judge on the show. Judge Caroline Nicholls ruled in his favour in High Court in Johannesburg on Friday.“This is a contractual dispute. The contractual relationship has to be reinstated to what it was. M-Net will pay costs to Gareth Cliff,” Nicholls told a packed court. Cliff smiled as the ruling, which lasted four minutes, was read out.



The Court heard his urgent application to be reinstated earlier this week. Cliff filed the application after being axed from the show for commenting on the controversial Penny Sparrow racism incident. It came as a major surprise to many when it emerged Dali Mpofu would represent Gareth Cliff following his controversial dismissal by M-Net. There was a huge outcry of disapproval whilst dozens also supported Dali Mpofu to represent Cliff arguing his political stance is not affiliated with his career. The EFF is known as a no nonsense anti imperialism black wing whilst Cliff is perceived to be from a privileged minority that the EFF is often at loggerheads with.

Source:  http://www.sabreakingnews.co.za/2016/01/29/gareth-cliff-wins-case-against-m-net/

Father faces life sentence for impregnating his daughter 3 times

 A Mpumalanga minibus taxi owner who raped and repeatedly impregnated his daughter since she was 11 is appealing his life sentence.

 The 57-year-old, who may not be named to protect his daughter’s identity, appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court on Tuesday. In December, Magistrate Vanessa Joubert found him guilty of rape and of assaulting his wife. He was arrested in March 2012, after the girl and her mother escaped from him and broke their silence. The trial was delayed several times for various reasons, including having forensic tests done on three love letters he denied writing to his daughter.

After the family refused to get him a lawyer, he finally agreed to be represented by a Legal Aid lawyer.
The court heard that he raped his biological daughter and impregnated her three times between 2001 and 2003. He forced her to abort the foetuses.Joubert found him guilty based on evidence from the daughter and her mother. She sentenced him to life, plus 15 years imprisonment, and a further three years for assault.

During his appearance on Tuesday, he wore a bright white shirt, light blue jeans, and sported a well-trimmed beard and cap. “Your appeal has been delayed due to the fact that we still have not received the transcripts of the trial,” said Joubert. Last year, three of the courts were flooded when it rained, damaging the recording machines. They could not retrieve some of the transcripts. “Once the process of obtaining the transcripts has been finalised they will then be forwarded to your attorney,” said Joubert.
She postponed the case to February 3.

Source: http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2016/01/27/father-who-impregnated-daughter-three-times-   appeals-sentence