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Last Update: April 1, 2001 |
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9 rugby players arrested for murder Divers were still searching for the body of a student who had been murdered allegedly by rugby players on a farm who then dumped his body in the crocodile infested Arabies Dam near Marble Hall in Mpumalanga on March 26. Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Captain Malculm Mokomene, said divers were still searching parts of the dam pointed out by one of the nine accused as well as sniffed out by specially trained dogs. The victim, Tshepo Matloge, was killed after being allegedly caught poaching with two cousins on Appelfontein in Dendron, north of Pietersburg, on Sunday. Police were only notified of the incident on Monday when one of Matloge's cousins, Alex Motlokwane, 17, limped to a neighbouring farm. He had been shot in the arm and leg. Another cousin, Nelford Motlokwane, 19, escaped unharmed. Tshepo's body was spotted with five dead dogs on the farm on Monday, but is believed to have been loaded onto a bakkie and taken to the dam, before police could find it. Nine members of the Noordelikes Rugby club in Pietersburg were arrested for the shooting. It is believed they were on the farm at the time of the murder for team building. Anxious members of Motloga's family on Saturday were watching as divers searched for the body. It is believed that sunken buildings and dead trees were hampering the search and police have been using specialised under water cameras to try and assist. "We will try everything to recover the body," said Northern Province police spokesperson Captain Ronel Otto. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Kytie Koekblik ColumnKytie Koekblik Washington D.C. - Ek was nooit eintlik ‘n vreeslike vleiseter nie. Veral tydens my studente-jare was dit burgers by die Spur wat my my proteine vir die maand sou gee. Kytie Koekblik kook mos nie, sy is die mees on-domestiese afrikaanse girl op die planeet. Om die waarheid te sê, dit is hoekom ek gedink het Amerika is soos ‘n land van wonderwerke, omdat ALLES in fastfood-format en blits-in-die-mikrogolf en koop-en-eet specials verkoop word. Ek het gedink ek sal sommer gou hier inpas. Ongelukkig besef ek nou, agt maande te laat, dat die kos hier is soos gif: gepreserveerd, low-fat en met genoeg suiker/sout om jou lyf te flous sodat jy nie weet jy word vergiftig nie. Ek het al selfs die raad gekry om nie low-fat kos te koop nie, want die suiker-inhoud daarvan is hoër. Dus het ek en Amerika ons eerste bloutjie geloop toe ek nie meer in my jeans kon inpas nie. Die laaste twee maande, is ek dus in ‘n konstante oorlog met die fastfood-chains. Ek loop verby. Ek gaan koop gevriesde groente en aartappels in die Safeway en ek het selfs chicken nuggets gekoop en gemikrogolf vir protein, tot ek gewaarsku is daarteen. Daarom stuur ek deesdae e-mails huis toe waarin ek vra vir resepte. Ek mis regte kos. En natuurlik mis ek my ma se kos. Groenboontjies opgekap en ingemash met uit, die tradisionele styl. Ek het nie eers behoorlik besef HOE BAIE ek daardie kos mis nie. Tot hierdie week. Die onoffisiële SA ambassadeur, my baas, daag toe op met boerewors in ‘n plastiek sakkie, sappig en fyner as die SA weergawe, maar daardie koriander vat my toe terug tot in my kombuis in Kuilsrivier. Dit is ongelooflik hoe reuk ‘n mens op ver paaie kon neem. Ek wou sommer begin huil. Ewe skielik ruik ek die braaipan, proe ek die pap oor die mieliepap. En ek onthou daardie dowwe aandkleur in ons sitkamer, die vae geel ligte, die tv se flashes, ses-uur op ‘n wintersnag voor die tv net ons ou viertjies wat Sewende Laan kyk, mam, pap, boet en die twee hondjies op Kytie se skoot, almal saamgebondel voor die verwarmer. (En dit was nie eers koud, in Amerika standaarde nie; net cosy) En ek dink aan daai heerlike skaaptjoppies drooggebak in die pan. Ek is ‘n tjop-tipe, nie ‘n steak-tipe nie. En ek ruik Suid-Afrika en Kuislrivier en my kombuis hier in my kantoortjie in Washington DC met elke hap van die boerewors. En ek weet dit is nie eers soseer my land of familie wat ek mis nie, dit is die twee in ‘n kragtige kombinasie wat my laat besef die tyd hol met my weg. Daardie dae is lankal verby, ek is oud genoeg om nie weer in my ouerhuis te gaan woon nie, en boet se dae is ook verby want hy bly deesdae in ‘n kamertjie op Stellenbosch en hy groei so ‘n punk-baard, en af en toe stuur hy e-mails huis toe en noem homself “Koos van die bos.” Kytie en Koos, ons was op ‘n stadium van Kuilsrivier. Deesdae bly my ma’le nie eers meer op daai klein dorpie nie. Ek het nie ‘n huis nie en weet nie hoe die huis lyk nie. Dit is ‘n tragedie. Ek mis nie net Suid-Afrika nie, ek mis nie net die fam nie, ek mis 'n tyd in my lewe. Die tyd toe ek op die vloer kon lê met my bene in die lug en die honde wat oor my rol en toe my ma nie sou sê, Hey, jy is nie meer 'n kleindogtertjie nie. Ek dink ‘n mens kry jou eerste midlife krisis op 23. Skielik is jy post-universiteit, jy is veronderstel om die drome te leef oor daai “grootmens lewe van eendag.” Jy het byvoorbeeld gedroom van oorsee gaan eendag. Nou bly jy oorsee. Jy bevind jouself mid binne ‘n vreemde land en jy voel nie eers meer vreemd nie want jy was jonk genoeg om nie regtig te weet wat presies jy mis nie want jy leef mos vir die toekoms. Jy weet jy moet move, move, en die verlede agter jou sit. Kuilsrivier, universiteit, Suid-Afrika, klaar en verby. Deesdae droom jy nie van oorsee gaan nie, jy droom van vakansies in vreemde eksotiese lande…Amerika is nie meer ‘n vakansieplek in my kop nie, dis ‘n leefwyse. Mid-life crisis. Is ek gelukkig met hoe my grootmenslewe besig is om uit te draai, is ek besig om my drome na te jaag bla-bla-bla… Ek word ouer. Ek lag as hulle vir my id vra en ek wys na die lyntjies langs my oë en hulle sê, she’s old enough. Ek het die twentysomething American slang opgetel en praat nie meer van “dof” of “kief” of “dodgy” nie, ek praat nou van “totally” en “neat” en dit sonder om daaroor te dink. Ek is gelukkig ook. Dis net daai oomblikke wat my soms onkant vang. Daardie oomblikke, wat ‘n hele verlede skielik voor jou oopgaan Wanneer jy weet met so ‘n lag-traan dat al wat jy eitnlik wil he, is ‘n doodeenvoudige boereworsrol. Kytie K. Kytie Koekblik would like you to respond to her tongue-in-cheek running commentary on suburban life in America in this editorial. Fresh off the boat, she is ready to explore and experiment with American bath plugs and to drive on the other side of the road. You can contact her here. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] Gemsbok threathens missile activities in the US A reduction hunt starts on the 1st of April at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to control the large numbers of gemsbok that interfere with missile activities.  The big 450 pound African Antelope are breeding out of control in America's wilderness area and national parks. The gemsbok is able to reproduce throughout the whole year, whereas in South Africa the reproduction cycles are seasonal due to rainfall. The gemsbok was introduced onto the White Sands Missile Range by the state of New Mexico to establish a big game population for hunting. Despite constant hunting, the gemsbok bred prolifically and there are now well over 3,000 on the range. Some have managed to cross over into a neighboring national park, the 144,000 acre White Sands National Monument. The White Sands National Monument contains the world’s largest gympsum dune field, and over half-a-million visitors year visit the ever-changing, sparkling white dunes every year. The antelope have spread throughout the Tularosa Basin at the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert. The National Park Service considers the gemsbok a threat to the natural environment of small animals and plants that have struggled or survive in the desert conditions. Ironically, the American habitat for the gemsbok is lush in comparison to its natural home in the Kalahari Desert. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field in New Mexico, only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by moving dunes. The Park Service has expelled the gemsbok from the White Sands National Monument. They erected a fence in 1996 to keep the gemsbok out of the Monument and mounted several game drives using ATVs (all terrain vehicles) and a helicopter to chase the animals through a 100 m wide temporary gap into the missile range. In a planned three-year operation that involves numerous partners, the National Park Service drove 46 gemsbok out of the monument in 1999 using helicopter hazing methods. In February 2000 an additional 31 animals were tranquilized and relocated by helicopter to the adjacent U.S. ArmyWhite Sands Missile Range. The gemsbok were originally brought from the Kalahari Desert to an experimental range at Red Rock in New Mexico. Originally the larger Kudu was considered for the huntable big game but the animal turned out to be highly susceptible to diseases that cattle have so it was never released into the American wild. Federal law prohibits the introduction of a wild animal from another country into the wild in America, so the gemsbok’s offspring were obtained at the Red Rock experimental range to introduce onto the White Sands Missile Range. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish released approximately 100 gemsbok at the missile range which is adjacent to the national park in the 1960s and early 1970s with plans to establish a population of large game for public hunting. Annual hunts for the gemsbok began in 1974 on the range. Licences have been made available to 500 random applicants for the upcoming reduction hunt. Hunters are allowed to use centerfire rifles, handguns, and with the exception of the crossbow, bow and arrows. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] White pupils flocking to private schools The increase in the number of black pupils at former Model C schools has led to the flight of white pupils to private schools, a study has found. The study, which was commissioned by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and conducted by Jane Hofmeyer of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa, is expected to be released next month. "Principals confirmed the existence of a 'flight syndrome' among white pupils in certain schools when increasing numbers of black learners enroll," the study says. However, it adds that the racial backlash caused by the changing of pupil composition at schools has also turned into a class issue. "Middle-class black parents indicate that they do not want to send their children to ex-white schools that become black. They still associate whiteness with quality education." The flight syndrome, coupled with state subsidy cuts that have resulted in exorbitantly high fees at independent schools, have turned private schools whiter and wealthier, the study adds. "The challenge for expensive, independent schools is to re-examine the question of affordability so that they do not exclude all but wealthy white pupils." The report cautions that although the flight syndrome is real, it is sometimes exaggerated. It also indicates that parents have an impression that the quality of education at public schools is deteriorating. This is cited as a reason for the meteoric rise in the number of private schools, which stood at 518 in 1994 and increased to more than 2 000 last year. "The spate of new education policies since 1994 has been generally welcomed but has also fuelled confusion and uncertainty among education stakeholders and the general public. Some of the proposed policies have sent signals that school quality could be threatened," the study says. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] Fate of SA white homeland being decided A cabinet decision crucial to the future of the Afrikaner settlement, Orania, is expected on Wednesday, the town's Representative Council said. Chairman Carel Boshoff said the decision could pave the way for the town to retain an own municipality. The decision would be based on a Cabinet Memorandum drafted jointly by the council and the Department of Provincial and Local Government Affairs, he said. The decision would not be a simple "yes" or "no" to an own municipality but would likely be a mutually acceptable solution that would include surrounding local government structures. "This is not a matter on which central government, even at Orania's request, can make a unilateral decision. There are other roleplayers that must be consulted and we believe everyone will have to sit around a table, look each other in the eyes and find a solution with which we can take into the future," Boshoff said. The negotiations that led to the memorandum followed a court decision in December last year. Orania had asked for an court order halting their integration into the Orange Karoo Municipality Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] Afrikaans dictionary for new South Africa in US AFRIKAANS is definitely not a dying language. To satisfy demand for Die Taal in the USA, a second Afrikaans/English dictionary was recently launched in the United States. With the click of a button, South Africans in the US can now order the Afrikaans-English/English-Afrikaans practical dictionary. Hippocrene books, a New York-based book publisher bought the North American rights to Pharos Dictionaries’s best selling Afrikaans/English dictionary. Within two months since its publication, Hippocrene Books has already sold more than half of the limited print run of 1, 500 dictionaries. Their 1993 edition had a few reruns after the initial 3,000 print run sold out. According to Caroline Gates, the Associate Editor of Hippocrene Books, the new dictionary has special emphasis on “new words that have gained currency as a result of political transition in South Africa. ” Published by Jan Kromhout in 1997, the 13th edition of the “Little Dictionary” has been updated to reflect the language patterns of the new South Africa. Special attention was given to vocabulary growth through transitional and technological developments. Abbreviations for Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK) and the Azanian People’s Organization (Azapo) can now be found in the new Afrikaans dictionary. The new, hip Afrikaans dictionary even includes South Africa’s favorite swearword. Kak translated as shit, or “dung” “There is definitely an interest,” said Gates. “We have no problems in selling the dictionary.” Currently Hippocrene attempts to target the immigrant community in addition to their main audience, traditionally U.S travelers going to South Africa or American communities with an interest in the country and its languages. Travel agencies, exchange programs and universities that offer Afrikaans as a foreign language often buy the Afrikaans/English dictionary. The University of Berkeley in California, the University of Los Angeles, Brintham Young in Utah and the University of North Carolina in Chapels Hill offer courses in Afrikaans. Hippocrene brought the rights to the dictionary from Pharos, who has taken over the publication of all the dictionaries previously published by Van Schaik Publishers. Pharos specializes in dictionaries for the bilingual market, and they also publish unilingual Afrikaans dictionaries. Hippocrene books is a thirty year old independent book publishers specializing in reference works of international interest. They have 15 African languages in their program, including a recently published Swahili-English/English-Swahili Practical Dictionary. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] |
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