Welcome to GPSA.

The Weekly update to life in post-apartheid South Africa.

       
  GPSA Disclaimer
 
Weekly View

 

29 August 2008

The arms deal just won't go away. Much to the dismay of everyone involved.

Submarines are lying in dry dock. The Navy cannot afford to maintain them. They can't really afford the dock fees, but in this they have no choice.

Talking about the Navy. Heard that the Robin Island ferry has been repossessed? Not really, but the owners took it out of service because the relevant state department can't pay for it. The ferry was built on order without due planning and thought. Turns out that if the sea gets a bit rough (as it tends to do in Cape Town) this ferry will capsize as it was not designed for rough seas. At R75.00 a head to Mandelas' island and back, I'm surprised they can't keep up with the payments. Then again..

So, there goes another major tourist attraction. And on the subject, Kruger Park does this, why can't the guys in charge of the Table Mountain cable car do the same - charge different rates that is. Gate fees at our national park are lower for locals than for foreign visitors. At the rates the cable car guys charge, very few locals can afford to use this facility.

Fuel is coming down. Diesel quite a bit but petrol not so much. And paraffin that has doubled in price since the beginning of the year, not by much either. But it seems the high prices on everything won't be coming down either. The courier companies will maintain their rates seeing that we're used to paying these fees in any case. Hopefully foodpricing might come down a bit but that's highly unlikely.

Ivan sent me the following :

Remember the size of South Africa in relation to other countries

http://www.frontline.org.za/articles/gettingaway_withmurder.htm

89 murders are committed, on average, every day in South Africa.

Interpol claims even higher numbers of murders in South Africa. While the SAPS claims that there were 26 883 murders in 1995, Interpol claims that there were 54 298 "murders known to the police" in 1995/96. Interpol's figures are approximately double the numbers of "recorded murders" in South Africa.

According to Interpol, South Africa has the highest recorded per capita murder rate of the countries covered in their report for 1998, second only to Columbia. In that year, Interpol recorded the per capita murder rate in the USA as 6 per 100 000, while in South Africa it was 59 per 100 000.Their report claimed widespread corruption in the South African police service – where one in four police officers in the greater Johannesburg were under criminal investigation at the time of the report.

Worse Than War
The UCA Report on Murder in South Africa reveals that according to the official statistics, in the 44 years from 1950 to 1993, there was an average of 7036 murders per year. This covered the turbulent strife of the apartheid years of warfare, conflict, terrorism, riots and repression.

However, in the first eight years (of peace) of the new democratic dispensation, under the ANC, an average of 24 206 murders were committed each year. However, if the Interpol statistics are accepted, then the murder rate in South Africa during the ANC years has averaged 47 882 per year.

Police estimate that there are currently "about 700 extremely well financed and superbly armed crime syndicates operating in and from South Africa." However, it was also reported that "not a single ring leader of any of the 700 crime syndicates operating in South Africa has been arrested."

for every 8 murders in 2000, only one murderer was convicted. Obviously there is a delay factor to sentencing; however, the murder rate has been consistently high and the conviction rate considerably low by comparison.

The Most Murderous Societies On Earth
The Nedcore Project has concluded that: "South Africa and Southern Africa are probably the most murderous societies on earth, even with the probable under-reporting."

Interpol statistics … has averaged 47 882 murders per year.

Disarming The Potential Victims Of Crime
With the massive increase in organised crime, and violent crime in South Africa, it is all the more incomprehensible that the government should be turning their attention towards disarming the potential victims through more rigid firearms control laws, rather than re-instating the death penalty as a deterrent for violent crime.

"When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong." Ecclesiastes 8:11

It is also an undeniable fact that criminals prefer unarmed victims.

 

Let's have your ideas -

Message Board
Free Forums by Bravenet.com

Online Shop

shop_ad
Past Views

Current Joke

Past jokes

Gallery

Links

Current Exchange Rate

Daily News Headlines

Articles

If anyone out there would like to contribute to these pages, please contact myself or submit your story for publishing. Send it to the webmaster at gpsa.co.za.


get this gear!

Search this site powered by FreeFind
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.