'The World Cup Has Been Devastating'

Now that the World Cup is warpping up today, who's been the biggest loser? Why prostitutes, it appears. Guess there just weren't enough politicians down there to keep them busy.

The influx of thousands of soccer fans would increase demand on South African sex workers; at least that was the belief of a leading expert prior to the start of the 2010 World Cup.

But it seems fans of the beautiful game that traveled to the Rainbow Nation have created a flop in sex-worker business -- leaving prostitutes out-of-pocket and out of work -- in favor of more high-brow pursuits.

"The World Cup has been devastating. We thought it was going to be a cash cow but it's chased a lot of the business away. It's been the worst month in my company's history," the owner and founder of one of Johannesburg's most exclusive escort companies told CNN.

"No one is interested in sex at the moment. I think we've had three customers who traveled here for the World Cup which has seen my group's business drop by 80 percent. I enjoyed watching the games, but I can't wait for everyone to just go home now!" the madam, who works under the alias of "Tori," added.

Necklacing Returns to South Africa

And to think, South Africa was considered a safe haven for those fleeing the horrors of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

Now this.

South Africa has been rocked by scenes of hatred and savagery as poor township blacks turn on the migrants they claim have taken their jobs.

More than 20 have been killed and thousands forced to flee by gangs wielding guns, clubs and machetes.

Most horrifying of all, for a country which thought the worst was behind it, has been the return of necklacing, the appalling method of killing which involves putting a petrol-filled tyre around a victim's neck and setting it ablaze.

In the violent 1980s and 1990s, necklacing was a common sentence imposed by 'people's courts' on collaborators with the apartheid regime and criminals.It was frequently carried out in the name of the now-ruling African National Congress and was alleged to have been endorsed by Nelson Mandela's then wife, Winnie.

Now necklacing is being used against Zimbabweans and Mozambicans who have fled violence and poverty in their own countries.

In horrific attacks, mainly around Johannesburg, women have been raped and men beaten to death. Shops and homes have been looted and dozens of shacks burned to the ground.

"They screamed at me to get out, that I didn't belong here. Then they burned everything in my house," said Zimila, who suffered a five-inch gash in his head.

South Africans yesterday woke up to view terrifying scenes on the front pages of their newspapers while television pictures showed nervous, gun-toting police struggling to keep order on the outskirts of Johannesburg's central business district, bringing the violence closer to commerce and the white population.

Last night the country's Human Rights Commission supported by the opposition Democratic Alliance called on the government to put soldiers on the street of the areas worst affected by the trouble.

'Please stop now,' he said. 'This is not how we behave. These are our sisters and brothers.'

So much for the hope and change of the Rainbow Nation.

The unrest is an major embarrassment for the self-styled Rainbow Nation, which has proclaimed its tolerance and hopes for a flood of foreign visitors for the football World Cup in two years time.

Update: Gateway Pundit has more.

Double Amputee Can Compete for Olympics

I saw this fellow on a television program some time ago, and believe me, he's no slouch.

Some argue he has an unfair edge, but the way I see it, anyone who's overcome what he has to get where he is now hasn't had anything handed to him.

You'll be inspired seeing him run.

Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius won his appeal Friday and can compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the 21-year-old South African is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes, overturning a ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

CAS said the unanimous ruling goes into effect immediately.

"I am ecstatic," Pistorius told reporters in Milan, Italy. "When I found out, I cried. It is a battle that has been going on for far too long. It's a great day for sport. I think this day is going to go down in history for the equality of disabled people."

Pistorius still must reach a qualifying time to run in the individual 400 meters at the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Games. However, he can be picked for the South African relay squad without qualifying. That relay squad has not yet qualified for the Olympics.

Pistorius appealed to CAS, world sport's highest tribunal, to overturn a Jan. 14 ruling by the IAAF that banned him from competing. The IAAF said his carbon fiber blades give him a mechanical advantage.

A two-day hearing was held before a panel of three arbitrators at CAS headquarters last month. Pistorius now is expected to get invitations from track and field promoters across the world who want him to run at their meets before Beijing.

Pistorius said he will be running in both able-bodied and Paralympic events before Beijing. His manager, Peet van Zyl, said the runner will compete in Milan on July 2 and the Golden Gala meet in Rome on July 11.

"Oscar will be welcomed wherever he competes this summer," IAAF president Lamine Diack said in a statement. "He is an inspirational man and we look forward to admiring his achievements in the future."

The International Olympic Committee welcomed the verdict.

"Oscar Pistorius is a determined and gutsy athlete who will now no doubt put all his energy into reaching the qualification standards for the Olympic Games," the IOC said in a statement. "If he makes it we would be delighted to welcome him."

Here's some video.

South Africa's Scorpions victims of success

So let's say that you are the head of large political organization and you have a top flight group of investigators who work tirelessly to root out corruption and they find something in your closet that, shall we say, might be questionable.

The Scorpions may be about to be stung. Since their glitzy launch eight years ago as South Africa’s elite anti-crime squad, the high-profile team of investigators and prosecutors have by and large lived up to their fearsome name. By taking on and winning a string of criminal cases, from drug smuggling to white-collar fraud, they have gained respect from their peers across the world – and helped to counter the country’s shoddy reputation for combating crime.

What do you do? Why disband the unit of course.
That is exactly what may be happening in South Africa.

In particular they are in the spotlight for their role in last month’s indictment of the ANC’s new leader, Jacob Zuma, on corruption charges and last weekend’s suspension of Jackie Selebi, the national police commissioner over his relationship with a convicted drug-smuggler.
Claiming with increasingly vitriolic language that the Scorpions are pursuing a politicised agenda, the new leaders of the ANC insist they will act on the party’s resolution last month to have the unit closed down this year.

Zuma just recently won an election in South Africa and apparently this has caused some concern in financial circles, since nobody is quite sure which direction he will take the country. They just as easily lurch to the left and embrace Chavez and his policies as they could continue their current path of more democratic financial policies.

Warning message to Americans - Elections have consequences and you must live with the results.

Child Abuse at Oprah School?

Interesting how she hasn't mentioned any of this on her program, though she at least is taking the allegations seriously.

A take-charge Oprah Winfrey flew to South Africa twice in 10 days after her beloved $40 million "dream" school for underprivileged girls was rocked with shocking accusations of physical and, possibly, sexual abuse of students.

Winfrey canceled an Oct. 12 appearance at the American Cinematheque awards honoring Julia Roberts to meet with school officials and nervous parents.

She returned a second time over the weekend.

"Nothing is more serious or devastating to me than an allegation of misconduct by an adult against any girl at the academy," Winfrey said in a statement. She hasn't yet discussed the alleged incidents on her chat show.

Winfrey was alerted that a female school staffer allegedly grabbed a student by the throat and threw her against the wall and that the same "dorm matron" screamed at and assaulted her wards.

The unidentified woman allegedly fondled at least one of the girls, according to the Afrikaans-language newspaper Rapport. The staffer was fired, and no criminal charges have yet been filed.

Winfrey has hired a U.S. team of private investigators, led by a 30-year investigator of child exploitation at Chicago's Cook County Sheriff's Office, to work with South African police, her spokeswoman said.

Lucky Dube Runs Out of Luck

Crime has been out of control for some time in South Africa and perhaps it will take the murder of a national icon to get the government to do something about it.

Don't hold your breath, though.

The South African music legend Lucky Dube, an icon across the continent, was shot dead late last night in an apparent botched hijacking, police said.

Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht said the incident took place at about 8.20 pm after Mr Dube, 43, dropped off his son at friend’s home in the southern Johannesburg suburb of Rosentville.

The killing, which follows a vicious murder and rape in Pretoria earlier this week, is certain to push the crisis over South Africa’s out of control crime back into the headlines and risks overshadowing Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final against England which has dominated the headlines all week.

Baboons Terrorizing South Africa

Via Breitbart.tv

No truth to the rumor they have Kos Kid diaries.

Though they do bear an eerie resemblance to this chap.

Gaddafi Plans United States of Africa

Not only that, it'll have a two-million member army.

I think this dude is off his meds again.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Wednesday his plan for a United States of Africa should include creating a two million strong army to staunch recurrent conflicts which have ravaged many of the continent's nations.

Gaddafi was addressing hundreds of youths in Ivory Coast's economic capital Abidjan, the final leg of a tour of several West African states before he attends an African Union summit beginning on July 1 in neighbouring Ghana's capital Accra.

"One sole African government, one sole African army to defend Africa with a force of two million soldiers. One currency, one passport. Accra must hear this message," he told the gathering which included Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo.

Flush with cash from an oil boom, the leader of the North African Arab state has won backing from Senegal, Zimbabwe and other countries for a continent-wide government, but diplomatic heavyweights like South Africa and Uganda are opposed.

Africans say integration would give them a stronger voice on the world stage as globalisation advances, but many doubt the continent of about nearly one billion people with vast economic disparities and many tribes and religions can unite.

Maybe this crew will be part of the Amazon Battalion.



If his wacky idea seems a little bit dated, it is.

Terror Refuge: South Afristan

Jonathan Schanzer at the Weekly Standard takes a look at how al Qaeda is increasingly using South Africa as a base of operations, and meeting very little resistance.

According to one reported U.S. intelligence estimate, al Qaeda leaders are operating throughout South Africa. Other reports indicate that terrorists are exploiting the country's banking system, and that South African passports are finding their way to al Qaeda operatives worldwide.

It is only natural, then, that South African jihadists are popping up in terrorist hotspots. In July 2004, Pakistani police arrested two South Africans--Feroz Ibrahim and Zubair Ismail--along with Khalfan Ghailani, who was on the FBI's most wanted list for his role in the 1998 embassy
bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. Subsequent investigations have revealed that the pair was plotting to attack the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the parliament complex in Pretoria, and several other high-profile targets in South Africa.

Another South African, Haroon Aswat, was tied to the July 7, 2005, London mass transit bombings. After the attacks, Zambian officials detained Aswat, who reportedly had exchanged a spate of phone calls with each of the four suicide bombers before they carried out their deadly attacks. Further research reveals that in the 1990s, Aswat was an assistant to London-based Abu Hamza al-Masri, a one-eyed, one-handed terrorist ideologue tied to al Qaeda groups in Yemen and Algeria. Aswat worked with al-Masri at the radical Finsbury Park Mosque, where a number of other terrorists received their training, including shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Read the whole thing.

The government in Pretoria is not our friend.