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Saturday, January 16, 2021
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Saturday, December 19, 2020
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Friday, September 18, 2020
Saturday, September 12, 2020
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Sunday, September 6, 2020
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Friday, July 10, 2020
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Friday, June 12, 2020
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Friday, April 10, 2020
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Monday, February 3, 2020
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Friday, January 17, 2020
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Friday, November 29, 2019
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Friday, November 8, 2019
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Monday, October 14, 2019
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Saturday, September 14, 2019
A few thoughts with regard to Climate Change
I would like to add a few thoughts of my own to the fiasco called 'Climate Change'.
Its without a doubt one of the greatest deceptions ever devised, on par with such other great delusions
like organized religion etc.
Just for a start we should be very happy that Climate Change is possible, without which neither you or me would even exist. Nor would any other form of live as we know it.
It is my opinion as a Professional Physicist that the entire Climate Crisis is a carefully manufactured
scenario designed to extort massive amounts of money from ordinary people and corporations in order to 'save the planet'. Alone the fact that most politicians have taken to it like ducks to water should ring alarm bells in peoples heads. Let me give a few facts that are eyeopeners, even to
the lay person. I have spent a long time looking at our climate, long before Global Warming or Climate Change became household words. Just consider, before it was called Global Warming,
the very same data was used to predict a new Ice Age. It was called Global Cooling if I'm not mistaken. A fact conveniently ignored by our mainstream media.
We are being bombarded with predictions of temperature rises, all of which are based on suspect
computer models of one kind or another. The Climate is by far too complex to lend itself to be modeled accurately with our insufficient understanding thereof. I studied Chaos Theory, which
is probably a better starting point to understand Climate. But I digress. Here are a few pertinent points which no proponent of Climate Change can successfully answer.
1. At the moment the average temperature of the planet is about 15 degrees. Agreed by everybody.
Now what should the ideal temperature of the planet be? Nobody of the Climate Change
Advocates ever mentions it. Because they just don't know. And the reason they don't know is that nobody has told them what it should be. They surly can't figure it out on their own. The global temperature
has in fact been decreasing slightly for the past few years. And with our sun entering a low
sunspot
cycle it will get even a little cooler. In some parts of the globe ice is melting while in other parts
ice is accumulating. The media of course only mentions the melting ice, for obvious reasons.
2. Now lets look at CO2. The new enemy of the planet and its inhabitants. Lets look at some facts
for a start. Of all the gases in our atmosphere the CO2 content is just under 0.04% . (400ppm)
It is a minuscule amount and the human contribution to it is very small indeed. Its called the antropogenic portion which according to the IPCC is about 5%. That is then 0.002% of the total
atmosphere. A more realistic figure of the man made contribution is about 3% of the total 400ppm.
The earths climate is determined exclusively by cyclic events of duration's of a few tens of years
to a few hundred years. And because CO2 does not increase cyclically but in a monotonic fashion
any influence of CO2 on the earths climate can be excluded.
And then there is a thing called a Milenkovitch Cycle, the sun's 11 year sunspot cycles, the eccentricity of the earth orbit and I can go on and on.
It is a strange thing indeed that since the end of WW2 when we began to emit more and more CO2
the earths temperature has not increased. There was a small increase during the 80's and 90's but
then it decreased again. So the overall temperature rise for the past 70 years was in fact zero.
The CO2 produced by all mechanisms is not stored in the atmosphere. It is absorbed by a variety
of things. Limestone, trees, plants, animals including humans (we contain 6% of carbon).
Coral Reefs also absorb a lot. And do not believe the fake news that Coral Reefs a dying.
Some die and others are being born. Its a natural cycle. Of course the MSM only shows the dying
ones.
Humans breathe in 400ppm of CO2 and exhale 400% more. Maybe its time to start exterminating
Humans as they obviously produce a lot of CO2.
CO2 is called a
greenhouse gas but water vapor is the biggest greenhouse gas by volume by far. The much vaunted
correlation which is claimed to show that as CO2 is increasing the global temperature is rising
is totally incorrect. It is in fact exactly the opposite. First the temperature is increasing and then
with an 800 year DELAY CO2 levels follow. This is a well known fact. As the oceans warm, they
release CO2. Let me show a few examples of how important CO2 is to the well being of the planet.
As stated above, present levels are just under 400ppm. If that level should fall below 150ppm all
plants will die and with them animals and all of humanity. Farmers run very large greenhouses
where vegetables and other food is grown. In order to increase the harvest, CO2 is being pumped
into the greenhouse with remarkable success. Bigger vegetables and more of them. It's no secret.
500 to 600 ppm of CO2 is the level when the vegetables and any other plant or tree grows best.
When I build my house many decades ago I planted a tiny tree in my garden. It was about 50cm
high and weighed maybe 200 gram. (About 7 ounces). Today the bottom of the trunk is about
1.3m in diameter and it might weigh many tonnes. It's 15m tall and its canopy about 20m across.
So where did all that mass come from? No, it's not from the soil. If the soil would have provided
the food for its massive growth then there wold be a huge hole in the ground. No missing soil.
(Scientists have done tests on this very subject). So where did that large increase in its mass
come from? The mass of a tree is primarily carbon. The carbon comes from carbon dioxide (CO2)
absorbed during photosynthesis. During photosynthesis plants convert the sun's energy into chemical energy which is captured within the bonds of carbon molecules build from atmospheric CO2 and
water. There has been a remarkable greening of the planet during the past few years due to the slight increase in atmospheric CO2. NASA and
other agencies around the world use Satellite imaging to look for such things. And the evidence
is there for all to see. Lots of green where only barren land existed before. It has been suggested that the Sahara Dessert was a green Oasis during a time with much higher atmospheric CO2 content. The Air inside a Submarine can have a content of about 8000 ppm. The maximum allowed inside
the ISS is 5000 ppm.
One should NEVER confuse pollution from poorly constructed coal power stations or particles from badly adjusted Diesel Engines with CO2 emissions. Here in South Africa, our Electricity Monopoly
runs some extremely dirty old coal fired power stations in the Witbank area, causing widespread disease and many deaths per year if newspaper reports are to be believed. Mainly due to lack of funds the scrubbers were never installed. Lack of funds due to corruption and mismanagement we are told.
Most, if not all of the developed countries have looked after their environment. This is in stark
contrast to the underdeveloped nations which due to many factors such as overpopulation, poor
education, corruption and maladministration have a polluted environment where raw sewage is
being pumped into rivers and oceans. Once working sewage treatment plants were not maintained
for years and are now defunct. And the developed world is supposed to pay carbon tax to the
undisciplined, corrupt countries to pay for damages. Sounds like a well thought out scam to me.
This is a work in progress...
I would like to add a few thoughts of my own to the fiasco called 'Climate Change'.
Its without a doubt one of the greatest deceptions ever devised, on par with such other great delusions
like organized religion etc.
Just for a start we should be very happy that Climate Change is possible, without which neither you or me would even exist. Nor would any other form of live as we know it.
It is my opinion as a Professional Physicist that the entire Climate Crisis is a carefully manufactured
scenario designed to extort massive amounts of money from ordinary people and corporations in order to 'save the planet'. Alone the fact that most politicians have taken to it like ducks to water should ring alarm bells in peoples heads. Let me give a few facts that are eyeopeners, even to
the lay person. I have spent a long time looking at our climate, long before Global Warming or Climate Change became household words. Just consider, before it was called Global Warming,
the very same data was used to predict a new Ice Age. It was called Global Cooling if I'm not mistaken. A fact conveniently ignored by our mainstream media.
We are being bombarded with predictions of temperature rises, all of which are based on suspect
computer models of one kind or another. The Climate is by far too complex to lend itself to be modeled accurately with our insufficient understanding thereof. I studied Chaos Theory, which
is probably a better starting point to understand Climate. But I digress. Here are a few pertinent points which no proponent of Climate Change can successfully answer.
1. At the moment the average temperature of the planet is about 15 degrees. Agreed by everybody.
Now what should the ideal temperature of the planet be? Nobody of the Climate Change
Advocates ever mentions it. Because they just don't know. And the reason they don't know is that nobody has told them what it should be. They surly can't figure it out on their own. The global temperature
has in fact been decreasing slightly for the past few years. And with our sun entering a low
sunspot
cycle it will get even a little cooler. In some parts of the globe ice is melting while in other parts
ice is accumulating. The media of course only mentions the melting ice, for obvious reasons.
2. Now lets look at CO2. The new enemy of the planet and its inhabitants. Lets look at some facts
for a start. Of all the gases in our atmosphere the CO2 content is just under 0.04% . (400ppm)
It is a minuscule amount and the human contribution to it is very small indeed. Its called the antropogenic portion which according to the IPCC is about 5%. That is then 0.002% of the total
atmosphere. A more realistic figure of the man made contribution is about 3% of the total 400ppm.
The earths climate is determined exclusively by cyclic events of duration's of a few tens of years
to a few hundred years. And because CO2 does not increase cyclically but in a monotonic fashion
any influence of CO2 on the earths climate can be excluded.
And then there is a thing called a Milenkovitch Cycle, the sun's 11 year sunspot cycles, the eccentricity of the earth orbit and I can go on and on.
It is a strange thing indeed that since the end of WW2 when we began to emit more and more CO2
the earths temperature has not increased. There was a small increase during the 80's and 90's but
then it decreased again. So the overall temperature rise for the past 70 years was in fact zero.
The CO2 produced by all mechanisms is not stored in the atmosphere. It is absorbed by a variety
of things. Limestone, trees, plants, animals including humans (we contain 6% of carbon).
Coral Reefs also absorb a lot. And do not believe the fake news that Coral Reefs a dying.
Some die and others are being born. Its a natural cycle. Of course the MSM only shows the dying
ones.
Humans breathe in 400ppm of CO2 and exhale 400% more. Maybe its time to start exterminating
Humans as they obviously produce a lot of CO2.
CO2 is called a
greenhouse gas but water vapor is the biggest greenhouse gas by volume by far. The much vaunted
correlation which is claimed to show that as CO2 is increasing the global temperature is rising
is totally incorrect. It is in fact exactly the opposite. First the temperature is increasing and then
with an 800 year DELAY CO2 levels follow. This is a well known fact. As the oceans warm, they
release CO2. Let me show a few examples of how important CO2 is to the well being of the planet.
As stated above, present levels are just under 400ppm. If that level should fall below 150ppm all
plants will die and with them animals and all of humanity. Farmers run very large greenhouses
where vegetables and other food is grown. In order to increase the harvest, CO2 is being pumped
into the greenhouse with remarkable success. Bigger vegetables and more of them. It's no secret.
500 to 600 ppm of CO2 is the level when the vegetables and any other plant or tree grows best.
When I build my house many decades ago I planted a tiny tree in my garden. It was about 50cm
high and weighed maybe 200 gram. (About 7 ounces). Today the bottom of the trunk is about
1.3m in diameter and it might weigh many tonnes. It's 15m tall and its canopy about 20m across.
So where did all that mass come from? No, it's not from the soil. If the soil would have provided
the food for its massive growth then there wold be a huge hole in the ground. No missing soil.
(Scientists have done tests on this very subject). So where did that large increase in its mass
come from? The mass of a tree is primarily carbon. The carbon comes from carbon dioxide (CO2)
absorbed during photosynthesis. During photosynthesis plants convert the sun's energy into chemical energy which is captured within the bonds of carbon molecules build from atmospheric CO2 and
water. There has been a remarkable greening of the planet during the past few years due to the slight increase in atmospheric CO2. NASA and
other agencies around the world use Satellite imaging to look for such things. And the evidence
is there for all to see. Lots of green where only barren land existed before. It has been suggested that the Sahara Dessert was a green Oasis during a time with much higher atmospheric CO2 content. The Air inside a Submarine can have a content of about 8000 ppm. The maximum allowed inside
the ISS is 5000 ppm.
One should NEVER confuse pollution from poorly constructed coal power stations or particles from badly adjusted Diesel Engines with CO2 emissions. Here in South Africa, our Electricity Monopoly
runs some extremely dirty old coal fired power stations in the Witbank area, causing widespread disease and many deaths per year if newspaper reports are to be believed. Mainly due to lack of funds the scrubbers were never installed. Lack of funds due to corruption and mismanagement we are told.
Most, if not all of the developed countries have looked after their environment. This is in stark
contrast to the underdeveloped nations which due to many factors such as overpopulation, poor
education, corruption and maladministration have a polluted environment where raw sewage is
being pumped into rivers and oceans. Once working sewage treatment plants were not maintained
for years and are now defunct. And the developed world is supposed to pay carbon tax to the
undisciplined, corrupt countries to pay for damages. Sounds like a well thought out scam to me.
This is a work in progress...
Monday, August 5, 2019
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Why South Africa is becoming a FAILED STATE
The primary reason why our crime rate will never be reduced is simply that it would be economic suicide. It has as usual, to do with money. Not the money the criminals get from it but the vast sums of VAT it generates for the Fiscus. Just work out how much of taxes are generated alone from car theft, one of the only growth industries in the decimated South African Economy. I was told that about 30% of the price of a car is some hidden taxes, never mind the 15% of VAT on top of that.
Little wonder our cars are among the most expensive in the world. There are tens of thousands of cars stoles every year. The same goes for the hundreds of thousands of residential burglaries. All replacement goods being bought generating lots of cash for the bankrupt State. And bankrupt we are.
If you think about it it is really a remarkable achievement, considering our immense natural resources. From Gold, Platinum, Iron Ore, Coal etc to our magnificent wildlife, breathtaking scenery from the famous Kruger Park to our beautiful coastline and we can't make it work???
We have about twenty thousand murders a year. Now we all know how expensive funerals are.
Just work out the VAT generated by that. If the victim does not die immediately and requires extensive Intensive Care for a week or two before he pegs, that can cost a cool million and you can calculate the VAT on that yourself. You get the picture. Add to that the damage done to cars by our estimated 750 million potholes. Lots of new wheels and tires needed. Lots more VAT.
At least that creates badly needed jobs, Insurance Companies need more staff to handle all these claims, more Undertakers and grave diggers for all these murdered people.
Our Education System has been totally destroyed. Churning out 'Graduates' who have no clue what they have been studying for he past 4 years. I employ Engineers in my Company so I have first hand
knowledge of what Our Universities produce. I have stopped interviewing local graduates a long time ago. Example: When a recently graduated Electronic Engineer can't use a Soldering Iron then something is not well somewhere. That that chap also could not make himself a cup of coffee because he could not figure out how to open our Russel Hobs Kettles lid to poor water in speaks for itself.
Our manufacturing industry has disappeared a long time ago. They simply are unable to compete with manufacturers in Asia. Goods produced in South Africa are often of poor quality as well as workmanship, yet more expensive than equivalent Imports. But that need not be so.
My Company designs and manufactures high quality Electronics for almost thirty years. Much is for export to all major countries including China. Over a quarter Million items shipped, from the simple to the sophisticated, never to be seen again. So it is possible.
Just last weekend, which was a long one due to Monday being a holiday we had again the usual carnage on our roads. The worst accident killed 24 in one crash alone. The Mini Taxi in which they were traveling was overloaded, instead of a maximum of 16 passengers it carried 27. Plus all their
luggage. So when the taxi, which was travelling too fast, approached a bend, due to its excessive weight the driver could not stay on his side of the road and crashed head on into a bus coming the other way.
24 young people killed. My son is a Helicopter Pilot, one of his regular jobs is to fly the EMS Air Ambulance in the Eastern Cape. He says that the majority of airlifts involves two kinds of emergencies. Car crashes, mostly due to speeding and alcohol consumption, the other category involves teenage pregnancies which have complications during birth, involving girls between 14 and 17 years. Heart attacks are a distant third.
Every year we have the usual Road Safety Campaigns, costing Millions. But all to no avail.
The reason is really quite simple. Our road death toll is exactly in line were it should be.
One only has to compare our figures with other nations. And one fact stands out. All backward nations have the same number of deaths per hundred thousand kilometers. Has to do with the low
IQ of such nations. Lots of data available on the Web. By comparison, advanced Nations have a very
low figure, due to its population having a much higher average IQ. Does not take a Rocket Scientist
to figure that one out.
Lots of Fake Driving Licenses around. Some are even 'legit' i.e. not forgeries but registered on the system. That is because some Official has been bribed to issue a license without the necessary test
being done. And that practice is particularly prevalent in heavy truck licenses were the stakes are much higher.
Even our Civil Aviation Authority is not immune to such practices. My son, being a professional
pilot has heard of numerous cases where Commercial Pilots Licenses were fraudulently obtained.
Same modus operandi. Officials accepting bribes. That practice has been stopped I was told as two officials were criminally charged. But as corruption is so prevalent in SA I doubt very much such
practices can ever be eradicated.
To be continued............
The primary reason why our crime rate will never be reduced is simply that it would be economic suicide. It has as usual, to do with money. Not the money the criminals get from it but the vast sums of VAT it generates for the Fiscus. Just work out how much of taxes are generated alone from car theft, one of the only growth industries in the decimated South African Economy. I was told that about 30% of the price of a car is some hidden taxes, never mind the 15% of VAT on top of that.
Little wonder our cars are among the most expensive in the world. There are tens of thousands of cars stoles every year. The same goes for the hundreds of thousands of residential burglaries. All replacement goods being bought generating lots of cash for the bankrupt State. And bankrupt we are.
If you think about it it is really a remarkable achievement, considering our immense natural resources. From Gold, Platinum, Iron Ore, Coal etc to our magnificent wildlife, breathtaking scenery from the famous Kruger Park to our beautiful coastline and we can't make it work???
We have about twenty thousand murders a year. Now we all know how expensive funerals are.
Just work out the VAT generated by that. If the victim does not die immediately and requires extensive Intensive Care for a week or two before he pegs, that can cost a cool million and you can calculate the VAT on that yourself. You get the picture. Add to that the damage done to cars by our estimated 750 million potholes. Lots of new wheels and tires needed. Lots more VAT.
At least that creates badly needed jobs, Insurance Companies need more staff to handle all these claims, more Undertakers and grave diggers for all these murdered people.
Our Education System has been totally destroyed. Churning out 'Graduates' who have no clue what they have been studying for he past 4 years. I employ Engineers in my Company so I have first hand
knowledge of what Our Universities produce. I have stopped interviewing local graduates a long time ago. Example: When a recently graduated Electronic Engineer can't use a Soldering Iron then something is not well somewhere. That that chap also could not make himself a cup of coffee because he could not figure out how to open our Russel Hobs Kettles lid to poor water in speaks for itself.
Our manufacturing industry has disappeared a long time ago. They simply are unable to compete with manufacturers in Asia. Goods produced in South Africa are often of poor quality as well as workmanship, yet more expensive than equivalent Imports. But that need not be so.
My Company designs and manufactures high quality Electronics for almost thirty years. Much is for export to all major countries including China. Over a quarter Million items shipped, from the simple to the sophisticated, never to be seen again. So it is possible.
Just last weekend, which was a long one due to Monday being a holiday we had again the usual carnage on our roads. The worst accident killed 24 in one crash alone. The Mini Taxi in which they were traveling was overloaded, instead of a maximum of 16 passengers it carried 27. Plus all their
luggage. So when the taxi, which was travelling too fast, approached a bend, due to its excessive weight the driver could not stay on his side of the road and crashed head on into a bus coming the other way.
24 young people killed. My son is a Helicopter Pilot, one of his regular jobs is to fly the EMS Air Ambulance in the Eastern Cape. He says that the majority of airlifts involves two kinds of emergencies. Car crashes, mostly due to speeding and alcohol consumption, the other category involves teenage pregnancies which have complications during birth, involving girls between 14 and 17 years. Heart attacks are a distant third.
Every year we have the usual Road Safety Campaigns, costing Millions. But all to no avail.
The reason is really quite simple. Our road death toll is exactly in line were it should be.
One only has to compare our figures with other nations. And one fact stands out. All backward nations have the same number of deaths per hundred thousand kilometers. Has to do with the low
IQ of such nations. Lots of data available on the Web. By comparison, advanced Nations have a very
low figure, due to its population having a much higher average IQ. Does not take a Rocket Scientist
to figure that one out.
Lots of Fake Driving Licenses around. Some are even 'legit' i.e. not forgeries but registered on the system. That is because some Official has been bribed to issue a license without the necessary test
being done. And that practice is particularly prevalent in heavy truck licenses were the stakes are much higher.
Even our Civil Aviation Authority is not immune to such practices. My son, being a professional
pilot has heard of numerous cases where Commercial Pilots Licenses were fraudulently obtained.
Same modus operandi. Officials accepting bribes. That practice has been stopped I was told as two officials were criminally charged. But as corruption is so prevalent in SA I doubt very much such
practices can ever be eradicated.
To be continued............
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Friday, March 1, 2019
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Friday, December 28, 2018
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Monday, October 22, 2018
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Monday, August 6, 2018
Sunday, July 1, 2018
Friday, May 18, 2018
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Monday, April 30, 2018
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Friday, April 13, 2018
Monday, April 9, 2018
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Friday, April 6, 2018
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Monday, November 6, 2017
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Checkpoint: #Blessed Part I
I sincerely wish that as many people as possible see this and share it with other intelligent fellow humans. Little is known in the First World about African Culture. It goes even much deeper than this.
Body parts of murdered children are being sold for 'medicinal' use, babies as young as 6 months raped
as this will cure AIDS. And the list goes on and on and on......................
Body parts of murdered children are being sold for 'medicinal' use, babies as young as 6 months raped
as this will cure AIDS. And the list goes on and on and on......................
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Friday, May 26, 2017
Crime in this country is out of control
This article appeared in the Midrand Reporter 26.May 2017 www.midrandreporter.co.za
The pen is mightier than the sword by Sipho Siso
When Donald Trump described South Africa as a lawless state that has been overrun by criminals, we dismissed it as racist dogma coming from an American presidential hopeful seeking to paint us black-but crime is now back with a vengeance.
In the past weeks, several young women have been raped and murdered and their bodies dumped and burned in an open veld.
These events must serve as a remainder to all that there is something sick about the new South African society, contrary to what we tried to create soon after independence.
I would rather not repeat this, but, for the sake of perspective, I guess I will have to.
A young boy was cornered in a street in Soweto, stabbed multiple times and while bleeding to death, his assailant drank the young boys blood and rejoiced in a sick ritual fulfillment act.
Somewhere in a remote area of the Eastern Cape, an uncle grabbed 'umshana wakhe' (his sister's boy child) and slaughtered him like a goat, and kept eating him piece by piece and until only his hands remained. The granny caring for the boy only discovered it then.
As he ate piece by piece of his sisters child over several days, everybody in the home was worried about the boys mysterious disappearance.
The uncle pretended to be one of the family members who was worried sick, yet he knew very well what gruesome act he had just committed on the defenseless young boy who so loved his uncle and would not exchange him for anything.
In another instance, a father in Khayelitsha suffocated his two year old child to death while the infant was peacefully asleep. Then he called the child's grandmother to rush her to the hospital because the infant was not breathing.
Somewhere in the notorious Cape Flats, a toddler went missing from the yard, only to be found buried in a shallow grave among the mielies adjacent to her home.
In Sandton, Diepkloof girl Karabo Mokoena was murdered and her body dumped in Bramley. It was discovered by a passerby in a smoldering fire. Her boyfriend, the person who pretended to love her most, is currently behind bars.
While people were at the memorial service for Karabo, the body of another young girl was found burnt in Naledi and just next day the bodies of two more young women were discovered in Soweto.
Josi FM DJ Mandla Hlatshwayo and his friend Oupa Duma were shot to death at point-blank rang after coming to the rescue of a woman who was being robbed in Pimville, Soweto.
In Jo-burg CBD, 11 men allegedly took turns to repeatedly rape a pregnant woman and when the police pounced on them, some were queuing to have another round.
I can go on and on, the list is endless, especially considering those unrecognized and no-name tag persons out there on our streets who are consumed by relentless crime on a daily basis. You only
need to read 'Alex News' to understand the extend and magnitude of crime in the new South Africa. It has reached unprecedented levels in the history of the country - except for the apartheid state-sponsored crimes against non-whites.
This tells us we need a fresh start and to implement a cleansing process and create a clearinghouse to flush out all criminals, local or foreign, national or international, who have found a safe heaven in our beautiful and beloved country and are abusing our hospitality.
Denials just for the sake of being politically correct will do us no good.
President Jacob Zuma does not feel the pinch because he has a whole army surrounding him 24/7 wherever he goes. Ordinary citizens who bear the brunt of the vicious crimes need to stand up and say enough is enough. The police also need to to their work and stop taking bribes at every opportunity.
South Africa is no place to raise children anymore, because, if they walk out of your house to go and play outside, you worry whether they will come back alive or in a body bag.
It's just not live-able anymore.
The pen is mightier than the sword by Sipho Siso
When Donald Trump described South Africa as a lawless state that has been overrun by criminals, we dismissed it as racist dogma coming from an American presidential hopeful seeking to paint us black-but crime is now back with a vengeance.
In the past weeks, several young women have been raped and murdered and their bodies dumped and burned in an open veld.
These events must serve as a remainder to all that there is something sick about the new South African society, contrary to what we tried to create soon after independence.
I would rather not repeat this, but, for the sake of perspective, I guess I will have to.
A young boy was cornered in a street in Soweto, stabbed multiple times and while bleeding to death, his assailant drank the young boys blood and rejoiced in a sick ritual fulfillment act.
Somewhere in a remote area of the Eastern Cape, an uncle grabbed 'umshana wakhe' (his sister's boy child) and slaughtered him like a goat, and kept eating him piece by piece and until only his hands remained. The granny caring for the boy only discovered it then.
As he ate piece by piece of his sisters child over several days, everybody in the home was worried about the boys mysterious disappearance.
The uncle pretended to be one of the family members who was worried sick, yet he knew very well what gruesome act he had just committed on the defenseless young boy who so loved his uncle and would not exchange him for anything.
In another instance, a father in Khayelitsha suffocated his two year old child to death while the infant was peacefully asleep. Then he called the child's grandmother to rush her to the hospital because the infant was not breathing.
Somewhere in the notorious Cape Flats, a toddler went missing from the yard, only to be found buried in a shallow grave among the mielies adjacent to her home.
In Sandton, Diepkloof girl Karabo Mokoena was murdered and her body dumped in Bramley. It was discovered by a passerby in a smoldering fire. Her boyfriend, the person who pretended to love her most, is currently behind bars.
While people were at the memorial service for Karabo, the body of another young girl was found burnt in Naledi and just next day the bodies of two more young women were discovered in Soweto.
Josi FM DJ Mandla Hlatshwayo and his friend Oupa Duma were shot to death at point-blank rang after coming to the rescue of a woman who was being robbed in Pimville, Soweto.
In Jo-burg CBD, 11 men allegedly took turns to repeatedly rape a pregnant woman and when the police pounced on them, some were queuing to have another round.
I can go on and on, the list is endless, especially considering those unrecognized and no-name tag persons out there on our streets who are consumed by relentless crime on a daily basis. You only
need to read 'Alex News' to understand the extend and magnitude of crime in the new South Africa. It has reached unprecedented levels in the history of the country - except for the apartheid state-sponsored crimes against non-whites.
This tells us we need a fresh start and to implement a cleansing process and create a clearinghouse to flush out all criminals, local or foreign, national or international, who have found a safe heaven in our beautiful and beloved country and are abusing our hospitality.
Denials just for the sake of being politically correct will do us no good.
President Jacob Zuma does not feel the pinch because he has a whole army surrounding him 24/7 wherever he goes. Ordinary citizens who bear the brunt of the vicious crimes need to stand up and say enough is enough. The police also need to to their work and stop taking bribes at every opportunity.
South Africa is no place to raise children anymore, because, if they walk out of your house to go and play outside, you worry whether they will come back alive or in a body bag.
It's just not live-able anymore.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Friday, March 3, 2017
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Monday, February 6, 2017
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Friday, November 25, 2016
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Saturday, February 7, 2015
RIP South Africa
Our newspapers and all other media are overloaded with articles such as this one.
The country has been managed into bankruptcy by one of the most corrupt, dysfunctional
and dishonest regime on the continent.
All state institutions are in disarray, Post Office on strike for months, South African
Airways bankrupt, again, Escom, our monopolistic electricity provider not only bankrupt
but has managed to reduce its generation fleet to scrap because of lack of maintenance. Daily black-outs are the norm. As I am typing this I hear my neighbors generator starting up.
Lo and Behold an other round of load-shedding. And that on a Saturday morning when demand
is light because heavy industry and most businesses have shut for the weekend.
Luckily it does not affect me at all. I installed a 6kWp Solar PV System over 3 years ago
because we had a similar but not as severe crisis then. So being a forward looking chap
I realized then that is going to be our future because electricity is totally beyond
the level of understanding of our collective leadership.
I had a quick look at the performance log of my Solar System. Manufactured by MLT Drives
in Cape Town. Started in the early 1980's by a chap from Belgium. Today the leading
Solar Co in the country. Doing all their own engineering and design.
In the period form 1. Jan. 2105 to 4.Feb 2015 we generated 909 kWh of usable, that is 230VAC
power. That excludes the energy to keep the 48V/1660Ah Battery fully charged as well as the
losses in the 2 MPPT's and the inverter. I estimate that the conversion efficiency is 80%
So that computes to a total energy harvest of 1.1 Mega Watt Hours.
That despite January beig usually a wet month. We had only a few poor days thanks to the fact
that is rains in Johannesburg during the high summer usually after 4pm. By then we already
collected all the sunshine and so very little is lost.
The effect of that lack of energy has massive implications.
Billions of Rands lost due to businesses shutting down,and reducing our GDP by 1.5%.
And then the President blamed the Settlers who arrived in 1652 for the crisis. No Joke.
Look it up on Google.
Laying off staff, daily traffic chaos as traffic lights not working, Police Force corrupt,
unreliable and very often involved in major crimes. Anyone can hire a Police Uniform,
guns, including assault rifles from off duty cops. These are then used to commit violent
armed robberies and are then returned to the corrupt cop before he goes back on duty.
Just last week 30 of them attacked a bank inside a large Mall in JHB attempting to rob it.
Many shoppers were shot in the crossfire.
In the news this very minute. The Gardens Shopping Center in Cape Town attacked by 4 armed
criminals who escaped by car jacking a shopper in the parking lot.
Large Mobs attacking dozens of shops run by foreign nationals were attacked and looted.
Police either standing by and watching or taking part in the looting themselves.
Millions of desperate Africans from all over Africa are in the country, many illegally as
their own countries are a shambles, run into the ground by their 'leaders'.
Zimbabwe comes to mind. Once the breadbasket of Africa, today the remaining population
has taken to eating insects to stay alive. Millions of Zimbabweans are in South Africa
as refugees.
As millions of African Refugees flocked south to South Africa during the past 100 years, looking for
a better life I would like to point out that there is no other landmass south of Cape Town.
I do not think Antarctica would be a preferred destination.
So it would be in the best interest of everybody not to fuck up South Africa completely as there
is just nothing further south waiting with open arms.
The country has been managed into bankruptcy by one of the most corrupt, dysfunctional
and dishonest regime on the continent.
All state institutions are in disarray, Post Office on strike for months, South African
Airways bankrupt, again, Escom, our monopolistic electricity provider not only bankrupt
but has managed to reduce its generation fleet to scrap because of lack of maintenance. Daily black-outs are the norm. As I am typing this I hear my neighbors generator starting up.
Lo and Behold an other round of load-shedding. And that on a Saturday morning when demand
is light because heavy industry and most businesses have shut for the weekend.
Luckily it does not affect me at all. I installed a 6kWp Solar PV System over 3 years ago
because we had a similar but not as severe crisis then. So being a forward looking chap
I realized then that is going to be our future because electricity is totally beyond
the level of understanding of our collective leadership.
I had a quick look at the performance log of my Solar System. Manufactured by MLT Drives
in Cape Town. Started in the early 1980's by a chap from Belgium. Today the leading
Solar Co in the country. Doing all their own engineering and design.
In the period form 1. Jan. 2105 to 4.Feb 2015 we generated 909 kWh of usable, that is 230VAC
power. That excludes the energy to keep the 48V/1660Ah Battery fully charged as well as the
losses in the 2 MPPT's and the inverter. I estimate that the conversion efficiency is 80%
So that computes to a total energy harvest of 1.1 Mega Watt Hours.
That despite January beig usually a wet month. We had only a few poor days thanks to the fact
that is rains in Johannesburg during the high summer usually after 4pm. By then we already
collected all the sunshine and so very little is lost.
The effect of that lack of energy has massive implications.
Billions of Rands lost due to businesses shutting down,and reducing our GDP by 1.5%.
And then the President blamed the Settlers who arrived in 1652 for the crisis. No Joke.
Look it up on Google.
Laying off staff, daily traffic chaos as traffic lights not working, Police Force corrupt,
unreliable and very often involved in major crimes. Anyone can hire a Police Uniform,
guns, including assault rifles from off duty cops. These are then used to commit violent
armed robberies and are then returned to the corrupt cop before he goes back on duty.
Just last week 30 of them attacked a bank inside a large Mall in JHB attempting to rob it.
Many shoppers were shot in the crossfire.
In the news this very minute. The Gardens Shopping Center in Cape Town attacked by 4 armed
criminals who escaped by car jacking a shopper in the parking lot.
Large Mobs attacking dozens of shops run by foreign nationals were attacked and looted.
Police either standing by and watching or taking part in the looting themselves.
Millions of desperate Africans from all over Africa are in the country, many illegally as
their own countries are a shambles, run into the ground by their 'leaders'.
Zimbabwe comes to mind. Once the breadbasket of Africa, today the remaining population
has taken to eating insects to stay alive. Millions of Zimbabweans are in South Africa
as refugees.
As millions of African Refugees flocked south to South Africa during the past 100 years, looking for
a better life I would like to point out that there is no other landmass south of Cape Town.
I do not think Antarctica would be a preferred destination.
So it would be in the best interest of everybody not to fuck up South Africa completely as there
is just nothing further south waiting with open arms.
Friday, December 12, 2014
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
It's a DOGS life
For many years I have been supporting a number of charitable organizations with not unsubstantial donations. Organizations such as the SPCA (Society for the prevention
of cruelty to animals), Meals on Wheels, Cancer as well as Muscular Dystrophy etc.
However I have stopped all donations a long time ago. When one becomes aware that
large sums of monies are being stolen by employees of such organizations that is
where I draw the line.
It has become a national sport here in South Africa. Everybody, from our top Public
Servants to Supermarket workers are on a massive spree of embezzlement, theft,
on a grand scale.
Even trusted employees abuse that trust by engaging in massive theft. Happened to
one of my largest clients. He was shocked to discover that the worker he trusted
most was selling stolen items to his very own customer, who blew the whistle.
That is the sorry state of the nation. Not a day goes by without reports of massive
corruption being discovered in all of our newspapers.
So Charity starts at home. And I have taken that literally. For years now I feed
my three dogs Roast Chicken every meal. They love it. If I am late too feed them
they let me know in no uncertain terms.
I buy a Roasted Chicken when ever I go shopping so I don't have the hassle of
doing it myself. I used to do it myself but it's not worth the effort if one can
get a ready chicken over the counter.
I also buy them some good pellets from my Vet (the imported variety, don't trust
the local crap any longer).
![]()
of cruelty to animals), Meals on Wheels, Cancer as well as Muscular Dystrophy etc.
However I have stopped all donations a long time ago. When one becomes aware that
large sums of monies are being stolen by employees of such organizations that is
where I draw the line.
It has become a national sport here in South Africa. Everybody, from our top Public
Servants to Supermarket workers are on a massive spree of embezzlement, theft,
on a grand scale.
Even trusted employees abuse that trust by engaging in massive theft. Happened to
one of my largest clients. He was shocked to discover that the worker he trusted
most was selling stolen items to his very own customer, who blew the whistle.
That is the sorry state of the nation. Not a day goes by without reports of massive
corruption being discovered in all of our newspapers.
So Charity starts at home. And I have taken that literally. For years now I feed
my three dogs Roast Chicken every meal. They love it. If I am late too feed them
they let me know in no uncertain terms.
I buy a Roasted Chicken when ever I go shopping so I don't have the hassle of
doing it myself. I used to do it myself but it's not worth the effort if one can
get a ready chicken over the counter.
I also buy them some good pellets from my Vet (the imported variety, don't trust
the local crap any longer).
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
100 000 PhD's
Every morning, when I wake up I never know what hare brained schemes our clueless leadership will dream
up to justify their multimillion salaries.
The latest attempt is to produce 100 000 PhD's by 2030. Now that about 6000 per year, up from about 1800
a year at present. I watched a video on a news channel where a Professor was interviewed. And by the way
that chap was from Nigeria I think judging by his accent. He claims that we are using the wrong model
to train PhD's. We are using the British model which is not suitable for Africans as it requires graduates to just go on with research on their own as it is the norm anywhere else.
No, we plan to have formal classes they will have to attend for at least 2 years, in other words being spoon fed, coached or coaxed along. Not a very promising start to a illustrious scientific career.
Besides, where will we find large numbers of required supervisors? In Nigeria? This will give 419 scams
a new lease on life.
But then again, since the pass mark to enter tertiary institutions is at the moment 30%, yes that is correct, it is little wonder that such hilarious schemes are being considered.
As I say elsewhere on this Blog I had some dealings with recently graduated 'Engineers'.
Totally clueless. Universities are being forced to push though quotas who then find it nearly impossible
to find employment as no employer has a use for them. Not in my company, for sure.
up to justify their multimillion salaries.
The latest attempt is to produce 100 000 PhD's by 2030. Now that about 6000 per year, up from about 1800
a year at present. I watched a video on a news channel where a Professor was interviewed. And by the way
that chap was from Nigeria I think judging by his accent. He claims that we are using the wrong model
to train PhD's. We are using the British model which is not suitable for Africans as it requires graduates to just go on with research on their own as it is the norm anywhere else.
No, we plan to have formal classes they will have to attend for at least 2 years, in other words being spoon fed, coached or coaxed along. Not a very promising start to a illustrious scientific career.
Besides, where will we find large numbers of required supervisors? In Nigeria? This will give 419 scams
a new lease on life.
But then again, since the pass mark to enter tertiary institutions is at the moment 30%, yes that is correct, it is little wonder that such hilarious schemes are being considered.
As I say elsewhere on this Blog I had some dealings with recently graduated 'Engineers'.
Totally clueless. Universities are being forced to push though quotas who then find it nearly impossible
to find employment as no employer has a use for them. Not in my company, for sure.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
The rot continues
Just to add to my last post about the poor quality of South African manufactured goods.
Last week my pool pump which I had recently purchased seized up. It already had a problem
when it was brand new but it somewhat recovered and did start although one could hear the
bearings might have a problem. So they took it away and it was returned today. Installed and it runs
like a induction motor should. Nice and quiet.
The reason why I bought this particular pump was that the previous pump had the very same
problem. It would not start (I checked the capacitor with my fancy LCR bridge of course as the
capacitor is the usual culprit for the motor not starting) but the cap was fine.
I always had to turn the impeller by hand, which meant opening the filter, turning the impeller, closing
the filter and switching on. This could have been maybe a problem with the winding's.
So I scrapped it.
Bottom line is it had to be replaced despite not being very old. I have my pool for thirty years and
all previous pumps lasted 10 years.
Now the repair crew connected the pipes and I connected the power cable. When I connected
the Earth wire, that is the yellow/green one, I asked the chap if he knows what that wire is for.
Not to my surprise he had no idea. So I explained to the two of them, as both had no clue how
the Earth Leakage System works and especially what it is for. As there is a circuit breaker as well
as an Earth Leakage Trip I explained the reason for them. The were very grateful for me taking
the time and educating them a little. But this should have been the responsibility of their employer.
The one chap is with that pool company for at least 10 years and is installing pool pumps every day.
One further interesting bit of information of how local companies are cutting corners came as a little
shock to me. Not even in my stingiest moments would I have thought of that one.
The pump comes with a 1m length of 3 core cable. That cable is by far too undersized for the motor.
It has a label on it stating that that cable is only there for testing purposes and must be replaced with
the correct wire size when being installed. Of course when the pump got installed by that very same
chap who was here today he had no intention, or the knowledge for that matter, to fit the correct cable.
That means that there must be hundreds, if not more, pumps out there running with that incorrect cable.
That is why I always supervise any local employee of a South African Company and show them the
correct way. As I said, most are grateful for it. Makes their job a little bit more interesting.
There is also a label on the pump stating it must be installed by a qualified electrician. Well now we
are stretching it a bit. Why bother when you can get away with a chap who has no clue what
the little yellow/green wire is for.
Last week my pool pump which I had recently purchased seized up. It already had a problem
when it was brand new but it somewhat recovered and did start although one could hear the
bearings might have a problem. So they took it away and it was returned today. Installed and it runs
like a induction motor should. Nice and quiet.
The reason why I bought this particular pump was that the previous pump had the very same
problem. It would not start (I checked the capacitor with my fancy LCR bridge of course as the
capacitor is the usual culprit for the motor not starting) but the cap was fine.
I always had to turn the impeller by hand, which meant opening the filter, turning the impeller, closing
the filter and switching on. This could have been maybe a problem with the winding's.
So I scrapped it.
Bottom line is it had to be replaced despite not being very old. I have my pool for thirty years and
all previous pumps lasted 10 years.
Now the repair crew connected the pipes and I connected the power cable. When I connected
the Earth wire, that is the yellow/green one, I asked the chap if he knows what that wire is for.
Not to my surprise he had no idea. So I explained to the two of them, as both had no clue how
the Earth Leakage System works and especially what it is for. As there is a circuit breaker as well
as an Earth Leakage Trip I explained the reason for them. The were very grateful for me taking
the time and educating them a little. But this should have been the responsibility of their employer.
The one chap is with that pool company for at least 10 years and is installing pool pumps every day.
One further interesting bit of information of how local companies are cutting corners came as a little
shock to me. Not even in my stingiest moments would I have thought of that one.
The pump comes with a 1m length of 3 core cable. That cable is by far too undersized for the motor.
It has a label on it stating that that cable is only there for testing purposes and must be replaced with
the correct wire size when being installed. Of course when the pump got installed by that very same
chap who was here today he had no intention, or the knowledge for that matter, to fit the correct cable.
That means that there must be hundreds, if not more, pumps out there running with that incorrect cable.
That is why I always supervise any local employee of a South African Company and show them the
correct way. As I said, most are grateful for it. Makes their job a little bit more interesting.
There is also a label on the pump stating it must be installed by a qualified electrician. Well now we
are stretching it a bit. Why bother when you can get away with a chap who has no clue what
the little yellow/green wire is for.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Name and Shame
Recently one of our useless Government Departments, could have been Trade and Industry, but I'm not
sure, started a nation wide campaign to encourage people to buy South African manufactured goods since
the nations economy is in such dire straights with a expected GDP figure of 1.7 to 1.9%. The worst in 20
years or so. Mainly due to political interference and other meddling by people (mostly Communists)
whom I would not entrust 50 cents with. Our Engineering and manufacturing sector has shrunk alarmingly
over the same 20 years mainly due to much better imported products available and at a much better
price than the local equivalent. Of course one must not forget that vast numbers of competent engineers
and other manufacturing specialists have emigrated leaving the incompetent and useless to carry on.
And carry on they do. I will cite only 2 recent examples of our shoddy products.
The sad thing really is though when one calls up the manufacturer one is given the cold shoulder or fudged off
with empty promises.
The first example is a rather expensive Can Opener, was the most expensive on the supermarket shelf.
When I tried to open a can it did not work at all, all it did was to deform the can so that no other opener
could either. Thankfully I had an imported Swiss Army Knife which came to the rescue.
So my secretary called up the Manufacturer, Prestige Housewares, not once but at least three times.
Speaking to a number of senior people whose names and the dates of the calls we have on record.
We were promised vouchers etc to be send per post but nothing ever materialized.We were told they
are aware of problems with hat particular model.
I have since come across the same can opener again. Has been re-branded and has a slight change to one of its components. So I bought it just to see if the problem has been fixed. Not to my surprise, it still is not working. I managed to open a can but it took an extreme effort, far beyond what one could expect a woman or a child to manage. Yet the Kenwood electric Can Opener I bought only costs 3 times the price and it works beautifully. It says 'Designed and Engineered in the UK. Made in China.
The second incident which unfortunately will have a much greater impact on their sales happened just this
weekend. I bought a 2000 m range siren from SIRENCO at a cost of over R 7000.00 to fit to my already massive security system as we have
residential burglaries and robberies (that is when the thugs break into your home while you are inside
and rape the women and kill everybody who does not comply) at an ever increasing frequency.
Just last Sunday they broke into my Neighbors house for the seventh time, while she was out, thankfully.
When I installed the siren I looked at the leaflet which has the dimensions of the mounting holes one
has to drill into the wall. Then I drilled the holes at the exact locations.
When I then tried to mount the siren to the wall I discovered that the holes on the siren base plate
were offset by 3 mm or more. The whole siren would have been hanging at a stupid angle making the
guy who installed it look incompetent while the real problem was that the factory, suffering from
the above mentioned incompetent and useless leftovers drilled the holes in the wrong place.
See photo below.
So I had to start from scratch. My fault really, I should have checked the base plate myself, knowing
the siren was manufactured in South Africa.
It is not just a question of drilling new 10mm holes into concrete. The old holes had to be filled
with cement so as not to be an eye sore etc. Took 2 hours extra because some moron is refusing to do
his job.
Now since that addition to my security system was only the first of many to come, I have now decided
not to use that manufacturer ever again. I already ordered 25 sirens made by Klaxon UK which have
very similar specs, cost 20% less, despite being imported. That means despite shipping costs, import duty
the local agents mark-up etc I can get a guaranteed product, which incidentally is also a lot smaller and lighter, cheaper than the local crap.
And 75 more are on order for next year. This amounts to a R 650.000 order being lost because nobody
gives a shit at the factory. And then we wonder why South African Manufacturers go out of business by the
dozens. I read that 400.000, yes that is correct, small businesses closed down last year.
And then we are surprised when we have a 40% unemployment rate, yes that is correct as well.
Youth unemployment is at 50% plus.
And this need not be so. My company has designed and manufactured over 20 thousand units
of varying complexity, from the simple to the sophisticated. These are in use in coal mines all over
the globe. We have very few problems, often they are a misapplication of the device.
So that proves it can be done. But one has to have an interest in ones job as well as some
professional pride in ones work. But that seems to be sadly lacking in the 'new improved South Africa'.
This are just a few examples of the stupidity of our South African manufacturers. Sure, the suffer badly from
a total lack of skilled manpower, but that is no excuse. I would really like to ask a Psychiatrist what is going on in peoples minds. I already have approached a Psychologist , a chap who lives in my street, a while ago
but he did not want to give me a written opinion, instead he referred me to a Market Research Organisation.
More and more people are shunning local products because they get better and cheaper ones from overseas. Economics 101.
sure, started a nation wide campaign to encourage people to buy South African manufactured goods since
the nations economy is in such dire straights with a expected GDP figure of 1.7 to 1.9%. The worst in 20
years or so. Mainly due to political interference and other meddling by people (mostly Communists)
whom I would not entrust 50 cents with. Our Engineering and manufacturing sector has shrunk alarmingly
over the same 20 years mainly due to much better imported products available and at a much better
price than the local equivalent. Of course one must not forget that vast numbers of competent engineers
and other manufacturing specialists have emigrated leaving the incompetent and useless to carry on.
And carry on they do. I will cite only 2 recent examples of our shoddy products.
The sad thing really is though when one calls up the manufacturer one is given the cold shoulder or fudged off
with empty promises.
The first example is a rather expensive Can Opener, was the most expensive on the supermarket shelf.
When I tried to open a can it did not work at all, all it did was to deform the can so that no other opener
could either. Thankfully I had an imported Swiss Army Knife which came to the rescue.
So my secretary called up the Manufacturer, Prestige Housewares, not once but at least three times.
Speaking to a number of senior people whose names and the dates of the calls we have on record.
We were promised vouchers etc to be send per post but nothing ever materialized.We were told they
are aware of problems with hat particular model.
I have since come across the same can opener again. Has been re-branded and has a slight change to one of its components. So I bought it just to see if the problem has been fixed. Not to my surprise, it still is not working. I managed to open a can but it took an extreme effort, far beyond what one could expect a woman or a child to manage. Yet the Kenwood electric Can Opener I bought only costs 3 times the price and it works beautifully. It says 'Designed and Engineered in the UK. Made in China.
The second incident which unfortunately will have a much greater impact on their sales happened just this
weekend. I bought a 2000 m range siren from SIRENCO at a cost of over R 7000.00 to fit to my already massive security system as we have
residential burglaries and robberies (that is when the thugs break into your home while you are inside
and rape the women and kill everybody who does not comply) at an ever increasing frequency.
Just last Sunday they broke into my Neighbors house for the seventh time, while she was out, thankfully.
When I installed the siren I looked at the leaflet which has the dimensions of the mounting holes one
has to drill into the wall. Then I drilled the holes at the exact locations.
When I then tried to mount the siren to the wall I discovered that the holes on the siren base plate
were offset by 3 mm or more. The whole siren would have been hanging at a stupid angle making the
guy who installed it look incompetent while the real problem was that the factory, suffering from
the above mentioned incompetent and useless leftovers drilled the holes in the wrong place.
See photo below.
So I had to start from scratch. My fault really, I should have checked the base plate myself, knowing
the siren was manufactured in South Africa.
It is not just a question of drilling new 10mm holes into concrete. The old holes had to be filled
with cement so as not to be an eye sore etc. Took 2 hours extra because some moron is refusing to do
his job.
Now since that addition to my security system was only the first of many to come, I have now decided
not to use that manufacturer ever again. I already ordered 25 sirens made by Klaxon UK which have
very similar specs, cost 20% less, despite being imported. That means despite shipping costs, import duty
the local agents mark-up etc I can get a guaranteed product, which incidentally is also a lot smaller and lighter, cheaper than the local crap.
And 75 more are on order for next year. This amounts to a R 650.000 order being lost because nobody
gives a shit at the factory. And then we wonder why South African Manufacturers go out of business by the
dozens. I read that 400.000, yes that is correct, small businesses closed down last year.
And then we are surprised when we have a 40% unemployment rate, yes that is correct as well.
Youth unemployment is at 50% plus.
And this need not be so. My company has designed and manufactured over 20 thousand units
of varying complexity, from the simple to the sophisticated. These are in use in coal mines all over
the globe. We have very few problems, often they are a misapplication of the device.
So that proves it can be done. But one has to have an interest in ones job as well as some
professional pride in ones work. But that seems to be sadly lacking in the 'new improved South Africa'.
This are just a few examples of the stupidity of our South African manufacturers. Sure, the suffer badly from
a total lack of skilled manpower, but that is no excuse. I would really like to ask a Psychiatrist what is going on in peoples minds. I already have approached a Psychologist , a chap who lives in my street, a while ago
but he did not want to give me a written opinion, instead he referred me to a Market Research Organisation.
More and more people are shunning local products because they get better and cheaper ones from overseas. Economics 101.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Another addition to the family
Got a pleasant surprise this last Sunday when I went to visit Mark, my son, who had just returned from a 3 week stint flying helicopters in Magadascar. As usual there is an election going on there and then no expense is spared flying candidates around or collecting ballot papers. For the 5 years between elections nobody gives a hoot about the population. Just like any other self respecting third world nation. The choppers where paid for by the World Food Program I understand. Mark says the country is a very beautiful place, but extremely poor. A bit like Haiti, same mentality. Anyway, back to the pleasant surprise. We planed to go to a restaurant for some early lunch. So Mark informed me he had sold his BMW and bought a little two seater. When I saw this little car I was not really surprised. There was a magnificent Audi R8 looking at me. What a beast. A 4.2l V8 with manual transmission. We then took a drive into Pretoria, Mark and Candy in the R8 and I took my grandson in my Porsche Cayman S Sport. Not many Dad's have the privilege to watch the kids become successful people in their own right. So it was a proud day for me. But then again, the apple does not fall far from the.....
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
The never ending story
I'm sure that most of the followers of my blog will be aware that one of my passions is education. Formal or otherwise. That is why I get upset when I read of the latest hare brained scheme to overcome the dismal performance statistics of our universities. I've read that only 5% of Africans complete their undergraduate studies. Now in order to improve that it is being considered at the University of Natal I believe to teach Physics in Zulu, as this is the mother tonge of the majority of the students as their command of the English language is very shaky at best. But then it was discovered that none of the vocabulary used in the teaching of physics, like 'vector, displacement, momentum, conductivity' exist in the native language. The same foolish idea was mooted a few years ago to have the official aviation language in the province to include Zulu. Again that grandiose idea had to be scrapped for the same reason. Someone pointed out to the official in charge of aviation that we have a wee problem. No such fancy words exist in Zulu. Can you imagine the tower at the international airport in Durban directing an incoming 747 from London to use runway 32? I'm sure the captain of that 747 would have a few choice words in the Queens English for that ATC controller. We don't seem to get it. My approach would be to teach the students English. After all they have just spent 12 years at primary and high school. Might have been an ideal opportunity to teach them something useful. I do not know any potential employer of a physics major who could have use for a physicist who can't speak English. Let alone write a report of his latest nuclear experiment.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
From bad to worse. 187 cops arrested in two months this year
In my daily perusal of the local papers I am not able to find anything positive being reported. One of the least negative stories is this one. Not very confidence inspiring but an eye opener. It was reported in the Sunday Times that one hundred and eighty seven police officers were arrested over two months this year for crimes including murder, rape, and robbery. Between July 8 and August 26, 39 officers were arrested for murder, 14 for rape, 20 for robbery and 23 for corruption. The paper obtained the figures from a document issue by the police's human resources department earlier this month. The arrests made during the two months also include nine officers for possession of drugs, and another nine for drunk driving. Eight were arrested for theft and five for assault.. Two were arrested for hijacking. Mean wile, the Sunday Independent reported that the Gauteng Government paid out almost R100-million in civil claims against the police for 2011 and 2012. By 2012 the number of claims nearly doubled to 1427, from 652 lodged in 2011. The figures were given in a parliamentary reply to Gauteng community safety MEC Faith Mazibuko. Mazibuko said the increase in claims was due to people's increased awareness of their constitutional rights and certain law firms specialising in such claims.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Four Free State cops arrested
Four police constables have been arrested for crimes in the Free State, police said on Friday. They were arrested on Monday for separate crimes of attempted murder, driving under the influence of alcohol, corruption and theft, said Brigadier Billy Jones. In the first incident a 36 year old constable assaulted his wife during an argument during which he fired 4 shots at her with his service pistol, but she was not hit. The suspect was arrested and his official firearm and ammunition were booked into the evidence room. In the second incident a 29 year old constable was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol. He was off duty at the time and was released on a warning. In the third incident a 28 year old constable was arrested for corruption an theft after allegedly selling his official firearm to a Lesotho man in a tavern for R900. Jones said the firearm had not been recovered, but the buyer had been arrested and charged with theft of a police firearm. The fourth incident involved a 25 year old constable who was arrested for attempted murder. It is alleged that the suspect was on duty and was involved in an argument over a girlfriend with the victim, he said. The victim alleges that a shot was fired at him with the service pistol of the constable, which missed him. Observation: In this report two incidents are reported were police officials discharge their service pistols in which 5 shots were fired which all missed their intended target!
Mpumalanga municipality faces collapse
An administrative support team has been sent in to prevent the total collapse of the Thaba Chweu municipality in Mpumalanga, a SAPA correspondent reported. While the municipality has been placed under administration twice in the past eight years, this time it had been decided to send in a support team. The municipality is now close to total collapse Premier David Mabuza's spokesperson Zibonele Mncwango said. The municipality has been facing problems since 2005 when it was first place under administration. In 2009 it was placed again under administration, after residents attacked police, damaged former mayor Clara Ndlovu's house, and burnt tires in protest against poor service delivery and the disappearance of R3.2 million from council coffers. One protester was shot dead. Social grants offices, as well as the kitchen of the local police barracks, were set alight. In a February 2012 report by the human settlements portfolio committee, Thaba Chweu was mentioned as one of the most bankrupt and dysfunctional municipalities in South Africa. In October last year, the municipality was again under the spotlight when the Hawks finally arrested four municipal officials-three years after the 3.2 million went missing.
Escom to cut power in two municipalities
Escom has issued notices to cut the power supply to two municipalities in the Free State with a debt of R400 million, it said on Friday. The two municipalities would not have power in December if the matter was not resolved. The municipalities' failure to pay had jeopardised the financial sustainability of the supply. An opposition spokesman said that it was unacceptable for the municipality to take payment on Escoms behalf with the authority to cut residents' electricity supply in event of non-payment, but themselves failed to pay Escom. In the end, the people bear the brunt of poor management by the ANC government. Our councillors will engage with the municipal managers in order to negotiate repayment options he said. This is not only happening at these two municipalities. It is widespread. One of the reason is I believe the fact that due to poor finacial management and corruption the monies collected are misused or just 'disapear'.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Batteries, tyres 'disapear' from cop cars
I've been trying hard to look for some positive news to report. But when looking through the online news feeds one is bombarded with the usual staple. Corruption, murder, rape, robberies the list goes on and on. Came across this on news24 this morning. 'Batteries, tires 'disapear' from cop cars. This is a report from 'The Witness' a Durban newspaper. Durban eThekwini metro police apparently do not have to look far to nab thieves helping themselves to car batteries and tires from police vehicles. Spokesperson Senior Superintendent Eugene Msomi on Sunday admitted that a number of internal investigations were under way concerning the thefts at Durban and Albert Park. He would not give any figures. However a senior officer said he has little faith that the issue will be dealt with, as the people who are supposed to report it to the safety committee failed to do so. Batteries 'Lost'. It is alleged that the officers often get away with stripping vehicles, with no explanation on how the vehicles "lose" batteries while parked on the premises. The Witness understands a number of internal investigations were conducted, but never yielded successful results. The senior officer, who asked not to be named, said the unit had been facing a lot of challenges for years. He said vehicles were often assigned to officers for daily operations with brand new tires, but a few days later they had worn tires. "It's clear that the tires are being stripped and sold. As officers come back to change shifts, no one notices. He said council vehicles parked on the premises are often found with no batteries. He said it was shocking that metro police entrusted to enforce the law were the ones who break it.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Annual Provincial Crime Statistics
Involvement of police officers in criminal activities is cause for concern in Gauteng. Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said on Friday. Releasing the 2012/13 provincial crime statistics in Johannesburg, Mokonyane said a number of law enforcement officers were evidently involved in crime. "A worrisome statistic shows that 18 out of 50 provincial policing precincts were reported as CRIME-INFESTED DENS" that recorded police collusion and "OUTRIGHT CORRUPTION" she said. "The Johannesburg central police precinct tops the list with approximatelely 13000 criminal cases that were perpetrated by officers in uniform". She also revealed that vehicle hijackings in Gauteng had risen the past financial year. Robberies at residential premises had also gone up by 3.6%. She remained upbeat that crime was under control in Gauteng. Yes for a change I agree with that statement by her. Crime is under control. But what she failed to communicate was that crime was under the control of the police and Government. Protect the Criminals and serve Ourselves. That's my unshakable opinion!!!!!!!!! Apparently there were over 680 000 arrests last year of which 360 000 resulted in convictions. Now our prison population is a constant 160 000 we are told. So where are those 360 000 convicted criminals being kept?. On the other hand I have a lot of sympathy for her. Crime has to be kept at these extremely high levels for a very simple reason. Just consider this. We have between 300000 and 500000 private security guards, hundreds if not thousands private security companies employing these guards. Thousands of response vehicles need to be purchased together with hundreds of thousands of bullet-proof vests, guns, ammunition, a few thousand more admin staff, managers, plus all of the Government structures overseeing the massive security industry. It is already 3 times bigger then our Defense Force and Police combined. No wonder the Government is becoming very concerned about such a massive paramilitary force roaming the county side. If crime would be eradicated we would have a massive problem with all of those hundreds of thousands suddenly becoming unemployed. Alone the loss of tax revenue would cripple the treasury in a hurry. Not only would these security companies go out of business but also the thousands of other small to medium businesses involved in manufacturing security gates, electric fences, Alarm and CCTV systems. Vehicle Tracking companies would have no use for their hundreds of Response teams, their helicopters and pilots and trackers would be unemployed as well. This is a multi Billion Rand industry. Doctors and Nurses could be put to better uses than treating gunshot and rape victims. Undertakers would go under as their regular customers would be absent. My guess is that at least 30% if not a lot more of tax revenue is directly generated by crime. Thousands of stolen cars need to be replaced annually. I wonder how much of our GDP is actually as a direct result of crime. 20%, 40% ?????? It is also obvious that 99% of those in the private security industry do not have the intellect to perform jobs in most other sectors. So there is no alternative to keep crime at these levels just to keep social stability. It's an oxymoron.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Little Wonder
Came across a interesting statistic last week. In one of our On-Line Newspapers. What it revealed was not surprising but it put things into perspective. What it said was the following: South Africa has 3.03 Million Public Servants. The USA has 2.97 Million Public Servants. I am a bit surprised though, I thought the US would need a lot more to run itself, but that's what it said. We have a population of 50 Million, The US population is 6 times larger and it's GDP is 45 times as big. The article also said something about corruption, etc, etc, etc.......
Little Wonder that when the vast majority of Revenue goes to paying inflated salaries there is very little
left for anything else.
Little Wonder that when the vast majority of Revenue goes to paying inflated salaries there is very little
left for anything else.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Massive Power Fail in Johannesburg
Johannesburg experienced the biggest blackout since the load shedding fiasco in 2008. Dozens of suburbs, probably affecting a few hundred thousand residents as well as businesses were left in the dark for up to 72 hours. This was due to what City Power, the entity responsible for the distribution of electricity in Johannesburg, has referred to as Sabotage. This 'sabotage' was carried out not by Right Wing Organizations opposed to the Government of the Day but by disgruntled City Power Employees upset due to a change in their working conditions. So they switched off a number of substations. No problem. Just another day in Africa. It even affected the home of Nelson Mandela who had just been released from Hospital were he spent 3 months in critical condition due to a recurring lung infection. I can just hear him gasping for air as the respirator came to a grinding halt. Apparently City Power had a Container size generator at his house within a very short time. This town is becoming a joke run by people who would make any Circus proud to have them. I was not affected as I have installed a large PV System with a 1660 Ah battery bank. I have a 3 to 5 day autonomy. Nothing short of a nuclear disaster will affect me. The weather has been absolutely fantastic for the past few months. Blue skies day after day. We had only a handful of overcast days this winter (our May to August). Temperatures in the mid 20s most days. Have been generating lots of Solar Power. 40kWh a day. This is now going to increase by 20% as spring has arrived and summer is is around the corner.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
SAPS criminality audit reveals serious mismanagement
At a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Police, South African Police Service (SAPS) officials revealed that none of the police officers found to have criminal records during a recently completed criminality audit have been fired.
A few weeks ago, the SAPS announced that there were 1448 criminal cops within the police service, ranging from thieves
to rapists and murderes. Today they revealed that 306 of these SAPS members had criminal records before they joined the SAPS and 1142 committed crimes whilst in the police. This includes one Major-General. In fact the vast majority of the 1448 are top brass. All are still employed by the SAPS today and have yet to be fired.
The 1448 leaves out details of the other 8000 police officers who were excluded from the audit because they had already been fired or their crimes were considered 'petty offences'. Any offence is an offence and the police should be held to a higher standard.
Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, August 14 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Power Fail
At last some positive feedback. Last Friday there was a major power fail in the area. Lasted from just
before midnight to 11am the next morning. I was not even aware if it. Only noticed it when I looked
at the system log the next day. There were a few shorter power fails as well a few days earlier, again
the system took care of it.
before midnight to 11am the next morning. I was not even aware if it. Only noticed it when I looked
at the system log the next day. There were a few shorter power fails as well a few days earlier, again
the system took care of it.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Bell 430 Conversion completed
Just got some news from Mark that he completed the Bell 430 Conversion. Now he is the pilot in command.
He send me these photos. It is quite an achievement. Although he says he likes the Bell 407 better as in that one he can do things (by this he means some fancy flying) while the 430 is more like a fixed wing
aircraft which due to it's size has to be flown like a plane.
Congratulations Captain!!
He send me these photos. It is quite an achievement. Although he says he likes the Bell 407 better as in that one he can do things (by this he means some fancy flying) while the 430 is more like a fixed wing
aircraft which due to it's size has to be flown like a plane.
Congratulations Captain!!
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
The Electric Kettle Syndrome
In this post I will try and give a realistic appraisal of the many reasons why South Africa has become a fully fledged Third World Country. No further efforts will ever be able to reverse that. We have regressed too far.
Last week one of our illustrious leaders declared that that Science will be the salvation
of South Africa. Since every other means to save the sinking ship has failed.
First of all let me state that the white mans science can not fix the black mans problems. It is as simple as that.
Just for starters the education system is in a state of paralysis if not worse.
We do not produce any graduates of the required caliber let alone in sufficient numbers.
We do not offer sufficiently advanced courses in the few Universities which still function to produce innovative engineers and scientists.
All we offer is some watered down subjects tailored in such a way that even retards can pass.
We have no major industries, like ship building, a home grown automotive industry let alone
more high tech ones like Semiconductor or Bio technology or any other requiring a fair number
of intelligent, educated human beings.
We import everything from toothbrushes to airliners. We export raw materials which we then re import
as finished goods. There is talk of forcing industries to beneficiate these raw materials before the are
exported. Great idea. But who will do the job? We do not have the suitably educated personnel or
the expertise let lone the electricity needed.
Right at this moment we have a number of smelters shut down as there is not sufficient electricity to run them.
If one compares the achievements of the rest of the world over the past 40 or so years with what has
been achieved here in the same period we should hang our heads in shame.
This is little wonder when one considers that emigration of skilled people is encouraged.
A number of politicians openly stated that they don't mind at all if skilled people leave.
Well, a million or so did. And I am also not going to hang around forever.
And by the way it's not a case of the rats leaving the ship. It's the other way, more like the ship
leaving the rats.
No major infrastructure projects successfully completed come to mind. There are a few on the go
but it remains to be seen if they will ever be completed on time let alone on budget.
Our beloved Gautrain, the high speed rail linking the airport with Jhb and Pretoria is still being
plagued by cable theft forcing it to stop operations. Besides it is rather expensive so the majority of the
population can not afford it.
Most of our once beautiful infrastructure is in a sorry state, roads and rail network in dire need of repair.
Especially the rail network is so poor that most goods have to be moved by heavy trucks instead of by rail.
This exacerbates the road infrastructure problem. A while ago I had to see a client 150 km southeast of
Johannesburg. Knowing that the roads are bad in that area I did not use my Porsche with its low ground
clearance. I went in a 4x4 with 20 inch tires. To keep a long story short I had to turn back halfway as the
road was in such a shocking state that it was becoming extremely dangerous to drive. Potholes galore.
So I turned back and returned by helicopter the next day.
I keep a Go Pro camera in the Porsche so I have a video of any accident I might be involved in.
When I review these videos I always keep count of the traffic lights I go through. Then I count how many
are not working. The average number of faulty Traffic lights is about 40%. After a few days of rain
that figure goes up to 60%.
I once saw a photo of a submerged street in New Zealand after a river burst it's banks.
The road must have been 5 feet (1.5m) under water. But the traffic light was still working.
Then of course is the problem with our electricity supply. On very shaky grounds. Partly because
of lack of maintenance and partly because of lack of forward planning.
I have installed a R500,000 ($50,000) Solar Photo Voltaic System almost 2 years ago.
We had rolling blackouts a few times per week often lasting 12 hours.
So I got extremely pissed off and installed the PV System. No problems since then.
Thank God for the intelligent mans technology.
Large chunks of all major cities are run down and virtual no go areas. Although some effort
is being made to improve the situation, once again it had reached a point where no intervention
can do much except to fix the worst problems.
Whole buildings have been abandoned by their owners when the area turned bad and the original
tenants moved out. So the rent money stopped. Then the buildings got high jacked by criminals
renting it out to the poor. With no electricity, water or lifts they soon became hell holes.
Crime is so bad these days due to failed economic policies that unemployment is at an all time high.
Youth unemployment is at 50%. Other unemployment is not far behind.
Our police force is battling not only criminals but is being choked by criminality within it's own ranks
to a degree that the internal watchdog is unable to cope.
Police corruption is endemic. Ordinary people are just seen as a meal ticket for personal enrichment.
I don't have to cite examples. The papers are full of them.
Only last week 4 cops were arrested for rape. 2 in the Cape and 2 in Johannesburg.
This is an ongoing problem with them. Nothing new. Over a 1000 cops in Johannesburg have been
or are under investigation for criminal activities.
Being very involved in aviation I have a particular interest in our Air Force.
Just today there were a number of newspaper articles reporting on the sorry state of affairs in what
is one of the oldest Air Forces in the World.
Apparently all 18 Augustas 109 Helicopters have been grounded due to lack of funds.
The same also applies to our Grippen Fighter Jets. Their maintenance contract has expired and has
not been renewed it said in the newspaper story. Most are in long time storage and are being
cannibalised for spares to keep the others flying.
It also reported that the Air Force is considering selling off the Helicopter operations.
Not sure what that means. Outsourcing? To a private company?
As one defence analyst remarked. A army without helicopters is a Dinosaur stuck in a swamp and an Air Force without fighter jets is a sitting duck.
The same also applies to the Police Air wing. 40% of aircraft are not serviceable.
A friend who flies for the police says he has not flown in months.
A country blessed with every resource under the sun, including our superb climate, wildlife,
astounding vistas, gold and many other minerals and we can't make it work????
Has it ever occurred to anybody why countries with the least natural resources have the greatest
industrial output. Oops sorry, for got to mention that these countries have a working education
system and an intelligent workforce.
Now let me explain what is meant by title of this post 'The Electric Kettle Syndrome'.
This will explain most of the above comments.
A while ago I evaluated a few recent graduates from our top engineering universities as
possible candidates for some job vacancies due to our rapid growth.
One of them always comes to mind immediately whenever that topic crops up.
Besides having absolutely no understanding of the subject matter he spent 4 years studying
he also was totally unable to reason logically. Now that is one of the main attributes of an
Electronic Engineer. At least in my humble opinion. If you can't analyse problems logically
how the hell are you going to solve them.
But what really put him out of the race was that he was unable to operate our electric kettle
to make himself a cup of coffee. He could not figure out how to open the lid to pour water in.
Admittedly it is a fancy Russel Hobbs kettle found only in upmarket homes but he was a
professional electronic engineer. And we depend on people like this to innovate and be the
driving force of the economy. Why am I crying? Must be somebody cutting onions in the kitchen.
To be continued........
Last week one of our illustrious leaders declared that that Science will be the salvation
of South Africa. Since every other means to save the sinking ship has failed.
First of all let me state that the white mans science can not fix the black mans problems. It is as simple as that.
Just for starters the education system is in a state of paralysis if not worse.
We do not produce any graduates of the required caliber let alone in sufficient numbers.
We do not offer sufficiently advanced courses in the few Universities which still function to produce innovative engineers and scientists.
All we offer is some watered down subjects tailored in such a way that even retards can pass.
We have no major industries, like ship building, a home grown automotive industry let alone
more high tech ones like Semiconductor or Bio technology or any other requiring a fair number
of intelligent, educated human beings.
We import everything from toothbrushes to airliners. We export raw materials which we then re import
as finished goods. There is talk of forcing industries to beneficiate these raw materials before the are
exported. Great idea. But who will do the job? We do not have the suitably educated personnel or
the expertise let lone the electricity needed.
Right at this moment we have a number of smelters shut down as there is not sufficient electricity to run them.
If one compares the achievements of the rest of the world over the past 40 or so years with what has
been achieved here in the same period we should hang our heads in shame.
This is little wonder when one considers that emigration of skilled people is encouraged.
A number of politicians openly stated that they don't mind at all if skilled people leave.
Well, a million or so did. And I am also not going to hang around forever.
And by the way it's not a case of the rats leaving the ship. It's the other way, more like the ship
leaving the rats.
No major infrastructure projects successfully completed come to mind. There are a few on the go
but it remains to be seen if they will ever be completed on time let alone on budget.
Our beloved Gautrain, the high speed rail linking the airport with Jhb and Pretoria is still being
plagued by cable theft forcing it to stop operations. Besides it is rather expensive so the majority of the
population can not afford it.
Most of our once beautiful infrastructure is in a sorry state, roads and rail network in dire need of repair.
Especially the rail network is so poor that most goods have to be moved by heavy trucks instead of by rail.
This exacerbates the road infrastructure problem. A while ago I had to see a client 150 km southeast of
Johannesburg. Knowing that the roads are bad in that area I did not use my Porsche with its low ground
clearance. I went in a 4x4 with 20 inch tires. To keep a long story short I had to turn back halfway as the
road was in such a shocking state that it was becoming extremely dangerous to drive. Potholes galore.
So I turned back and returned by helicopter the next day.
I keep a Go Pro camera in the Porsche so I have a video of any accident I might be involved in.
When I review these videos I always keep count of the traffic lights I go through. Then I count how many
are not working. The average number of faulty Traffic lights is about 40%. After a few days of rain
that figure goes up to 60%.
I once saw a photo of a submerged street in New Zealand after a river burst it's banks.
The road must have been 5 feet (1.5m) under water. But the traffic light was still working.
Then of course is the problem with our electricity supply. On very shaky grounds. Partly because
of lack of maintenance and partly because of lack of forward planning.
I have installed a R500,000 ($50,000) Solar Photo Voltaic System almost 2 years ago.
We had rolling blackouts a few times per week often lasting 12 hours.
So I got extremely pissed off and installed the PV System. No problems since then.
Thank God for the intelligent mans technology.
Large chunks of all major cities are run down and virtual no go areas. Although some effort
is being made to improve the situation, once again it had reached a point where no intervention
can do much except to fix the worst problems.
Whole buildings have been abandoned by their owners when the area turned bad and the original
tenants moved out. So the rent money stopped. Then the buildings got high jacked by criminals
renting it out to the poor. With no electricity, water or lifts they soon became hell holes.
Crime is so bad these days due to failed economic policies that unemployment is at an all time high.
Youth unemployment is at 50%. Other unemployment is not far behind.
Our police force is battling not only criminals but is being choked by criminality within it's own ranks
to a degree that the internal watchdog is unable to cope.
Police corruption is endemic. Ordinary people are just seen as a meal ticket for personal enrichment.
I don't have to cite examples. The papers are full of them.
Only last week 4 cops were arrested for rape. 2 in the Cape and 2 in Johannesburg.
This is an ongoing problem with them. Nothing new. Over a 1000 cops in Johannesburg have been
or are under investigation for criminal activities.
Being very involved in aviation I have a particular interest in our Air Force.
Just today there were a number of newspaper articles reporting on the sorry state of affairs in what
is one of the oldest Air Forces in the World.
Apparently all 18 Augustas 109 Helicopters have been grounded due to lack of funds.
The same also applies to our Grippen Fighter Jets. Their maintenance contract has expired and has
not been renewed it said in the newspaper story. Most are in long time storage and are being
cannibalised for spares to keep the others flying.
It also reported that the Air Force is considering selling off the Helicopter operations.
Not sure what that means. Outsourcing? To a private company?
As one defence analyst remarked. A army without helicopters is a Dinosaur stuck in a swamp and an Air Force without fighter jets is a sitting duck.
The same also applies to the Police Air wing. 40% of aircraft are not serviceable.
A friend who flies for the police says he has not flown in months.
A country blessed with every resource under the sun, including our superb climate, wildlife,
astounding vistas, gold and many other minerals and we can't make it work????
Has it ever occurred to anybody why countries with the least natural resources have the greatest
industrial output. Oops sorry, for got to mention that these countries have a working education
system and an intelligent workforce.
Now let me explain what is meant by title of this post 'The Electric Kettle Syndrome'.
This will explain most of the above comments.
A while ago I evaluated a few recent graduates from our top engineering universities as
possible candidates for some job vacancies due to our rapid growth.
One of them always comes to mind immediately whenever that topic crops up.
Besides having absolutely no understanding of the subject matter he spent 4 years studying
he also was totally unable to reason logically. Now that is one of the main attributes of an
Electronic Engineer. At least in my humble opinion. If you can't analyse problems logically
how the hell are you going to solve them.
But what really put him out of the race was that he was unable to operate our electric kettle
to make himself a cup of coffee. He could not figure out how to open the lid to pour water in.
Admittedly it is a fancy Russel Hobbs kettle found only in upmarket homes but he was a
professional electronic engineer. And we depend on people like this to innovate and be the
driving force of the economy. Why am I crying? Must be somebody cutting onions in the kitchen.
To be continued........
Thursday, May 9, 2013
This is what happens when a Scientist get bored
And if you look closely you can spot the mistake HE made.
That is the reason why it gets dark at night.
That is the reason why it gets dark at night.
Friday, February 8, 2013
More Cop's Troubles
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Should one lough or cry?
I've been getting a lot of these pamphlets in my mailbox recently. Must say, the claims made are nothing short of miraculous. Makes western medicine, for which I have personally not a very high regard, almost primitive by comparison. The vast majority of South Africans rely on 'Sangomas' or Herbalists as they are also known for their primary health care.
There was even an attempt made to pull them into the mainstream of health providers so patients could put in a claim to their Medical Aid Societies. For the little good they do there is a lot of serious concern. For instance one reads often in the local press of a Sangoma being arrested for being in possession of human body parts which are an important ingredient in the potions they concoct. Often these body parts are being removed from the victim while still alive as that makes the 'Muti', the concoction more potent.
Sadly many of the victims are small children, murdered for their organs.
One of the more hilarious stories one hears a lot is that criminals pay a lot of money to their Sangoma to make them bullet proof when they plan a robbery or something in that line of work. A incident that still has me rolling on the floor is that 4 of them planed to rob a bank in the middle of Johannesburg. So they explained to the Sangoma what they really need him to do was to make them invisible. Which the Sangoma proceeded to do, after a lot of cash was paid over first. When they carried out the robbery the next day they were clearly visible on the CCTV surveillance tape. They did not even bother to hide their faces because they were 'invisible'.
There was even an attempt made to pull them into the mainstream of health providers so patients could put in a claim to their Medical Aid Societies. For the little good they do there is a lot of serious concern. For instance one reads often in the local press of a Sangoma being arrested for being in possession of human body parts which are an important ingredient in the potions they concoct. Often these body parts are being removed from the victim while still alive as that makes the 'Muti', the concoction more potent.
Sadly many of the victims are small children, murdered for their organs.
One of the more hilarious stories one hears a lot is that criminals pay a lot of money to their Sangoma to make them bullet proof when they plan a robbery or something in that line of work. A incident that still has me rolling on the floor is that 4 of them planed to rob a bank in the middle of Johannesburg. So they explained to the Sangoma what they really need him to do was to make them invisible. Which the Sangoma proceeded to do, after a lot of cash was paid over first. When they carried out the robbery the next day they were clearly visible on the CCTV surveillance tape. They did not even bother to hide their faces because they were 'invisible'.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Audi R8 Crash Docket lost
Got this e-mail from my crime watch chapter today. Nothing new or surprising. Dockets are being 'lost' for years. Then the court case is being thrown out by the Magistrate. A very effective way to escape justice. As I said before, most of the Law Enforcement - Justice Complex has been thoroughly subverted. It has become the laughing stock of the nation. Only a few weeks ago some prisoners were being transported in a police truck to or from a court appearance. Someone in the police department supplied them with some explosives which they detonated inside the truck killing a few fellow prisoners. They then escaped. Nothing money can't buy in this country.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Arlarming Escalation to a Lawless Society
I read with shock a few days ago that a AUDI R8 broke into 3 pieces after hitting a pole and a wall in the middle of Johannesburg killing the driver and a policeman passenger. From the photos of the crash site
it was impossible to make out the make of the car.
Since I also drive a Porsche, a car in the same bracket, this was of personal interest to me.
From the little that is known what happened at 4am that morning is that it appears that the driver was
stopped by police. It is alleged that they searched the car and found a small amount of Marijuana.
This is a ruse used by the police to solicit bribes as they threaten you with arrest. This has been reported a number of times in the press. Apparently, it is claimed, they plant the drugs as they search
the car. And what better target than a well heeled motorist. The more expensive the car the bigger the bribe. Does not take much education to figure that one out.
One officer was seen by a passing motorist as well as a CCTV camera to be sitting in the car and
driving down the road just before the crash. Speculation is that the driver was driving to an ATM to
draw cash for a bribe. What happened then is a mystery. We'll see what comes out in the wash.
That is not an isolated incident. Cops asking for bribes is becoming our new national sport, maybe
to compensate for the dismal performance of our national soccer team or their lousy pay.
A fellow Porsche driver was carjacked and kidnapped for 24 hours by 'policemen' in uniform
just a few km from where I live. Also at night. An other motorist in the same area was also carjacked
by 'police' in uniform and taken to an ATM to draw cash. Then they keep them hostage until
after midnight when the ATM will dish out the maximum daily limit again. There have been instances
where the victim was kept hostage for days so the ATM could be looted over and over again,
with the victims locked in the boot of their cars. The case of a lady in Durban last year comes to mind.
She barely survived the ordeal.
A few years back I was standing at the checkout in my supermarket and saw the headline of the
Sunday Times scream in 2inch letters: 'Rolex Gang strikes again'. So I read the front page story while
waiting in the queue. To my shock it reported that one of my clients, a fellow Porsche driver, was
followed home by some criminals who shot him nine times and stole his expensive watch. In his driveway.
He survived. He had been shot once before while leaving his business! But I don't think that he would
be used to it by now. Getting shot that is.
Than there was the newspaper report that a Policeman in full uniform took part in a business robbery
in Pretoria. He was apprehended quickly thanks to some CCTV footage I believe.
It is estimated that 50% of drivers licenses are 'bought'. These are legitimate documents which have
been obtained from corrupt officials for a substantial 'facilitation fee'. And that is the official estimate.
Efforts are being made by the authorities to counteract this but once the drivers licence is issued it is next
to impossible to find out it was obtained by fraudulent means. And that applies to all types of licenses,
from cars to trucks even commercial Pilots Licenses have been obtained that way. Even my son,
who is a commercial pilot was offered the opportunity. He declined as he had no problems passing
all of the rather stiff exams. But people who struggled were tempted to go that route. That scam I believe
has now been stopped but there a pilots out there with a fake commercial licence.
In order to avoid to fall victim to the above mentioned dangers I do not drive before 9am and after
3pm. Ever. I have not been on the road at night for years. I also use the services
of a Professional Armed Escort whenever I have to go to a meeting who follows me in his car.
It is a sad fact, reported many times in the newspapers, that policemen hire out their service pistols
to criminals while they are off duty. The guns are then used to commit crimes and are returned to the
policeman before he goes back on duty.
My biggest client was having dinner at a restaurant a while back. Some guys stormed in and robbed
the patrons of their belongings. They took his Glock pistol. He is a highly trained self defence expert
as well as a fine marksman. But he said he could not use the gun in a crowded restaurant. It would have
caused a bloodbath. However as the gang fled in their car he took down the registration number.
It turned out that the car was registered to the police. The culprits were off duty policemen moonlighting
for a little extra income. He got his gun back after a year or so.
And so the list gets longer and longer. There are daily reports in all the papers telling similar stories.
And one of our police commissioner's was convicted of corruption for accepting payments from a drug
king pin. And his successor was declared unfit for the job due to some shady dealings involving hundreds
of millions. But as one of our favourite little saying goes: Blue Sky's, Barbeque's and ...... everything
is just perfect.
The situation will not improve until the citizens of this county will eventually learn that dishonesty and
criminality are not the correct ideals to be handed down to the next generation.
There is a reason why some societies are successful and others fail.......
it was impossible to make out the make of the car.
Since I also drive a Porsche, a car in the same bracket, this was of personal interest to me.
From the little that is known what happened at 4am that morning is that it appears that the driver was
stopped by police. It is alleged that they searched the car and found a small amount of Marijuana.
This is a ruse used by the police to solicit bribes as they threaten you with arrest. This has been reported a number of times in the press. Apparently, it is claimed, they plant the drugs as they search
the car. And what better target than a well heeled motorist. The more expensive the car the bigger the bribe. Does not take much education to figure that one out.
One officer was seen by a passing motorist as well as a CCTV camera to be sitting in the car and
driving down the road just before the crash. Speculation is that the driver was driving to an ATM to
draw cash for a bribe. What happened then is a mystery. We'll see what comes out in the wash.
That is not an isolated incident. Cops asking for bribes is becoming our new national sport, maybe
to compensate for the dismal performance of our national soccer team or their lousy pay.
A fellow Porsche driver was carjacked and kidnapped for 24 hours by 'policemen' in uniform
just a few km from where I live. Also at night. An other motorist in the same area was also carjacked
by 'police' in uniform and taken to an ATM to draw cash. Then they keep them hostage until
after midnight when the ATM will dish out the maximum daily limit again. There have been instances
where the victim was kept hostage for days so the ATM could be looted over and over again,
with the victims locked in the boot of their cars. The case of a lady in Durban last year comes to mind.
She barely survived the ordeal.
A few years back I was standing at the checkout in my supermarket and saw the headline of the
Sunday Times scream in 2inch letters: 'Rolex Gang strikes again'. So I read the front page story while
waiting in the queue. To my shock it reported that one of my clients, a fellow Porsche driver, was
followed home by some criminals who shot him nine times and stole his expensive watch. In his driveway.
He survived. He had been shot once before while leaving his business! But I don't think that he would
be used to it by now. Getting shot that is.
Than there was the newspaper report that a Policeman in full uniform took part in a business robbery
in Pretoria. He was apprehended quickly thanks to some CCTV footage I believe.
It is estimated that 50% of drivers licenses are 'bought'. These are legitimate documents which have
been obtained from corrupt officials for a substantial 'facilitation fee'. And that is the official estimate.
Efforts are being made by the authorities to counteract this but once the drivers licence is issued it is next
to impossible to find out it was obtained by fraudulent means. And that applies to all types of licenses,
from cars to trucks even commercial Pilots Licenses have been obtained that way. Even my son,
who is a commercial pilot was offered the opportunity. He declined as he had no problems passing
all of the rather stiff exams. But people who struggled were tempted to go that route. That scam I believe
has now been stopped but there a pilots out there with a fake commercial licence.
In order to avoid to fall victim to the above mentioned dangers I do not drive before 9am and after
3pm. Ever. I have not been on the road at night for years. I also use the services
of a Professional Armed Escort whenever I have to go to a meeting who follows me in his car.
It is a sad fact, reported many times in the newspapers, that policemen hire out their service pistols
to criminals while they are off duty. The guns are then used to commit crimes and are returned to the
policeman before he goes back on duty.
My biggest client was having dinner at a restaurant a while back. Some guys stormed in and robbed
the patrons of their belongings. They took his Glock pistol. He is a highly trained self defence expert
as well as a fine marksman. But he said he could not use the gun in a crowded restaurant. It would have
caused a bloodbath. However as the gang fled in their car he took down the registration number.
It turned out that the car was registered to the police. The culprits were off duty policemen moonlighting
for a little extra income. He got his gun back after a year or so.
And so the list gets longer and longer. There are daily reports in all the papers telling similar stories.
And one of our police commissioner's was convicted of corruption for accepting payments from a drug
king pin. And his successor was declared unfit for the job due to some shady dealings involving hundreds
of millions. But as one of our favourite little saying goes: Blue Sky's, Barbeque's and ...... everything
is just perfect.
The situation will not improve until the citizens of this county will eventually learn that dishonesty and
criminality are not the correct ideals to be handed down to the next generation.
There is a reason why some societies are successful and others fail.......
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Vorna Valley Johannesburg
I live right in the middle of the picture
My Life Philosophy
