Pretoria nursery school teacher fined for 19 kids in tiny car

A nursery school teacher in Pretoria, South Africa was stopped and fined by police, for cramming 19 preschool children into a small hatch-back car.

Last week, Melanie Minnie, a teacher at Rietfontein Nursery School in Pretoria, decided to take the children in her care on an outing.

Police were alerted by a concerned citizen, who first spotted Minnie parking at a local shopping center unloading 12 children from her car.

She apparently left the kids at a play area and went back to the nursery school, about a mile away, to collect 19 more... read more.

South African consumers win GM labelling victory

The African Centre for Biosafety reports that South African consumers have just won a hard-earned victory, regarding the labelling of genetically modified (GM) foods.

GM crops have been grown in South Africa since 1999. However most consumers are largely unaware that their staple food, maize (or corn), has been genetically modified. GM soya and cotton are also grown in South Africa, and a significant amount of foodstuffs on the supermarket shelves now contain GM components or ingredients... read more.  

Archbishop Desmond Tutu: Outburst at book launch in Cape Town

Archbishop Desmond Tutu seems to be getting in the news a lot these days. He's had enough, and is not afraid to let everyone know.

Digital Journal reported on September 2, that Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu had called for former prime minister Tony Blair and former president George W Bush to face trial at The Hague International Criminal Court for their roles in the Iraq war.

Now Tutu has shocked an audience at a book launch at the District Six museum in Cape Town, with an outburst of anger and sheer outrage about the state of South Africa today.... read more.

Review: Constantia Vista — Ultimate hideaway in Cape Town, South Africa

If you are thinking of a trip to Cape Town, South Africa, this is the ideal place to stay. A luxury retreat at an affordable price in the beautiful countryside, but close to all the major attractions.

The writer has personally stayed at Constantia Vista twice as a guest, and even did a stint at managing the property in the owner's absence some years ago. The comfort was amazing and everything was there, right at her fingertips.... read more.

Arrested Marikana miners assaulted in jail by S.A. Police

More than 100 cases of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm on mine workers, arrested during the recent strike at the Lonmin mine, have been opened against the South African police in the last 48 hours.

Digital Journal reported on the strike by Marikana mine workers at the Lonmin Platinum mine near Rustenburg, South Africa. During the incident a shooting massacre killed 34 miners, with a total of 45 people dead and 78 wounded.

Almost 260 of the striking miners were arrested by the South African Police and are being held in custody in police stations around the Rustenburg area... read more.

Op-Ed: South African revolution: Taking back South Africa 2012

The people of South Africa have had enough. Enough of the government, which gives them nothing. Enough of the corporations taking from their country, and giving nothing back.

On the "Taking Back South Africa!" website is the following statement:

"We are the people of South Africa of all different races, cultures and backgrounds. We came from a painful past of Apartheid only to realize that after decades of hard struggle, in 1994 in exchange for establishing a symbolic multicultural ‘democracy’, real control of our country was handed over to Western corporations. This led us straight from the frying pan and into the fire."

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'Education crisis not Verwoerd's fault' — anti-apartheid activist

President Jacob Zuma blamed a Limpopo text book scandal on apartheid era Prime Minister H.F. Verwoerd. Anti-apartheid activist, Mamphela Ramphele, says ANC is to blame.

There is a huge scandal going on in South Africa over text books for the Limpopo province. In early July, a clerk at the Limpopo department of education was arrested in connection with the dumping of school text books in Giyani.... read more.

Concern over many deformed babies in Eastern Cape, South Africa

There is much concern in the Eastern Cape in South Africa as to why so many babies have been born with deformities in the province.

The Eastern Cape Health Department is calling for more research into the shocking number of deformed babies, with 50 deformities reported in the last two years.

Eastern Cape spokesman, Sizwe Kupelo said, “We are counting 50 deformities within a period of two years. We don’t have a documented cause.”

In the most recent example of deformed infants, a baby girl was born at the Dr Malizo Mphehle district hospital in Tsolo, near Mthatha last Saturday.

Kupelo says, “She was born with a small penis on the forehead and one eye on the forehead. She was born with no nose and where there are supposed to be eyes there was nothing – skin covered the area.” ... read more.

Gay rights activist killed in South Africa

According to a South African gay rights group, a 23-year-old gay man was killed and mutilated on Saturday in a hate crime. Police are investigating.

Thapelo Makutle was found dead early on Saturday morning, with his throat cut. Police say they are investigating the crime as a murder, and that a motive is unknown.

However, a spokesman for the gay rights group in northwestern South Africa, Jabu Pereira said today that the killing was a hate crime... read more.

'War of the Flea' — documentary on farm murders in South Africa

Independent filmmaker and director, Rian van der Walt, has created a moving and shocking film showing the genocide which is being carried out against white farmers in South Africa.

"War of the Flea" is a 93-minute documentary, released in November 2011, which examines in depth society in South Africa since Apartheid, and how this society has led to vicious farm murders.

The name "War of the Flea" derives from a military term:

"The guerrilla fights the war of the flea and his military enemy suffers the dog’s disadvantages: too much to defend; too small, ubiquitous, and agile an enemy to come to grips with. If the war continues long enough – this is the theory – the dog succumbs to exhaustion and anaemia without ever having found anything on which to close its jaws or to rake with its claws." – Robert Taber

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Durban cops caught with prostitutes in their marked police van

According to a report on Thursday, 2 police constables in Durban, South Africa were arrested after being caught with prostitutes in their police panel van.

According to News24, at around 01:00 on Monday this week, metro officers from the dog unit walked up to the van in the Clairwood suburb of Durban. They saw a man sitting in the front seat, with a woman crouched on the floor.

Apparently the man immediately pulled out a firearm and attempted to drive over the metro police officer before speeding away. 

A chase ensued and when the van was stopped, the woman tried to run away... read full article.