Not -so - Lucky Dube

As most of us use our blogs as personal spaces in which we reflect our interests, pre-occupations, philosophies and lives, it is not altogether surprising that crime rears its ugly head quite often in my blog. (Not by choice really, just by default, because it is such an integral part of life in South Africa.)

Well today all the radios and television are paying tribute to Reggae musician Lucky Dube, who was murdered in Johannesburg last night, in front of his children, in a botched car hi-jacking.

It is a tragic waste of yet another life, in this case a famous and talented one. It is going to mean devastation, and trauma for his loved ones, and sadness for his many fans. There is a sense of national outrage about the incident.

To quote from a report posted 2 hours ago by AFP

"President Thabo Mbeki was among those who paid tribute to Dube, calling him "a really great South African artist", while his killing reignited debate about the levels of crime in the country.
The award-winning artist, who recorded more than 20 albums in a career spanning two decades, was gunned down at close range on Thursday night as he dropped his young son off at a relative's home in the suburb of Rosettenville. The child had just got out of the car when unknown men approached him, trying to hijack the vehicle. He was shot and he died on the scene.....
Fellow musician Mzwakhe Mbuli, one of the first people on the scene, said the music industry has been robbed of a legend. "I am devastated ... out of words," Mbuli told AFP. "For me it's cold-blooded murder, until investigation proves me otherwise. Crime is out of control. Where is this country heading to? We really need divine intervention," he said.........
South Africa is one of the world's most crime-ridden countries, with nearly 20,000 murders recorded in the last year.
Dube's killing was widely condemned by politicians and prompted calls in some quarters for the restoration of the death penalty. "

Our regional radio station played one of his songs this morning, with very apt and ironical words........

it is called TAXMAN,

"I pay my gardener

To clean up my garden

I pay my doctor

To check out da other ting

I pay my lawyer

To fight for my rights

And I pay my bodyguard

To guard my body

There' s only one man I pay

But I don' t know what I' m paying for

I' m talking about the taxman x3

Chorus: (x4)

What have you done for me lately

Mr taxman

You take from the rich

Take from the poor

You even take from me

Can' t understand it now

I pay for the police

To err..I don' t know why

'Cause if my dollar was good enough

There wouldn' t be so much crime

In the streets

They tell me you' re a fat man

And you always take and

Never give"

Good question, Lucky, and prophetic too, in the end, what has the taxman (and the civil servants who are paid from your taxes) done for you?

But I must admit, sad as this is, I am wondering, why is there such a song and dance when this sort of random violence hits a celebrity, but we never get to hear about 99% of the similar incidents that are going on here daily. Mothers of young children, businessmen, students, pensioners, all die just as needlessly, but disappear into history quietly, leaving behind their grieving families. And the government remains mute, and the courts continue to let rapists, murderers and armed robbers out on bail, and take years to bring them to justice (if ever.) And the most we ever get to hear about it is when they are reduced to statistics. (Just one of the 20,000 mentioned in the report...)

If it takes the death of a celebrity to make them sit up and take notice, well I suppose something good can come out of it, but it is a sad indictment on the powers that be in this country, and how little value they place on the average human life.

news........and more arty-farties

Hi, just a quick update on some of this week's events in the Eastern Cape.......

Winter arrived, not with a whimper but a bang.... after roasting our way through 31degree C days last week, we suddenly had our coldest day since 1955 on Monday, and yesterday was only 1 degree warmer. It has been great if, like me, you are one of those freaks who thrive on foul weather!

We went to the Port again this weekend, and met up with Max's sister and her husband there, it was good to be able to spend time with them. On Saturday the weather was glorious, and the sunrise great.

We watched the Super14 rugby final (Max was the only bulls supporter at the pub we watched it in, so I'm sure I do not need to describe the painful crowing that went on when they scored in the final minute, and beat the Sharks by a hair!!!) That evening it was so lovely, so after sunset we went for a walk at the lighthouse.

There were photography fanatics all over the place!!!

By Sunday, we awoke to a very different picture!

Cold, wet, and gale force winds.

We went and returned via the Maitlands River mouth, which is a beautiful unspoilt beach about 20km from PE. On the way there it was sunny and stunning,

on the way back the sand was blowing across the beach in streams, very beautiful but most unpleasant to stand around in!

The wind was so strong that the rain was horizontal and this poor guy had to hold his umbrella in front of him to keep dry!

2 massive cold fronts swept across the country, resulting in nearly all the road passes through the southern and eastern mountains being closed by snow. Sadly quite a few people have died of exposure throughout the Eastern Cape.

There was such a heavy hail storm in Plettenberg Bay that it looked like it had snowed.

Speaking of Plett, there was a cool incident there this week, a helicopter pilot was taking a honeymoon couple for a flip, and they spotted a 3.5metre long great white shark, checking out a pair of surfers. They went low and waved to the surfers to warn them, but the guys thought they were just being friendly, and waved back! By now the shark was getting even closer, so the pilot swooped down and used his roter wash to frighten the shark away. Luckily the honeymooners had the presence of mind to catch a photo of the shark and the surfers, if you look carefully you can see a reflection of the rotor blade too! I lifted this photo from pprune, (the pilots chat forum) where one of the guys kindly posted it. Well done that chopper pilot, there are times when going below authorised height is justified, and I think potentially saving the lives of a couple of surfers qualifies!
We even had a little hail ourselves last night ....This was the stunning view from our dining room window this morning!

And as promised, here are more of the new paintings, as you can see it's been a busy and productive week! :

sailing, 900x1100

baobab3 600x500

kokerboom, namaqualand, 400x500

old shopfronts, central, 300x300

terrace cottages, richmond hill, 300x300

cora terrace, central, 300x300

richmond hill terrace, winter 300x300

wave 400x400 (this is another of my wax experiments)

farm near knysna, 600x500

swellendam farm with sheep 500x400

flowers on windowsill, 400x500

irises on windowsill 300x300

contemplation 300x600
beach outing 300x300

and Portuguese church 700x900 (again thanks to Sheila for the photo inspiration!)

Cheers for now...............

the joys of flying in Africa

With the news of the Peacekeepers plane going down in Egypt and the Kenyan Airlines crash fresh in our minds, the hazards of flying in Africa are once again being highlighted. Here is another of those hazards, taken last week by a pilot, who had to divert and spend the night in another town, as landing where he was headed was clearly impossible!!

This is the notorious hubub, or Desert Sandstorm, taken over the Nile river, and it was said to be the worst one since 1960.

Someone who has lived through them describes it like this:
"if it is day light when it comes it turns the entire environment dark red, the only thing I can liken it to is the purple colour/feeling when a massive snow blizzard comes, its everywhere."

Life on this continent is anything but boring!