|
Last Update: November 26, 2001 |
| RSA-O Homepage | Live Chat | Find-A-Friend | Events/Announcements |
| Previous Editions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 |
|
Houston test: Boks stumble to unimpressive win Centre Adrian Jacobs provided the dimension that was missing against England and France but there was not enough overall in this slightly flattering 43-20 Springbok win over the United States in Houston to justify any euphoria back home. The Boks recovered from a strong Eagles start to take almost complete control in the early part of the second half. The US did fight back to score a try of their own at the end but the South Africans did enough in their period of dominance to put the result of the match beyond doubt and ensure that an otherwise disappointing tour ended on a winning note. Yet the win was not nearly as one-sided as might have been expected against a team of mostly part-time players and for long periods the United States were more competitive than anticipated. Indeed, the South Africans were fortunate in the first half that the American defence never quite matched their lineout organisation and general fluidity on attack. If it had, the Boks might well have found themselves behind after a less than impressive start as they allowed their opponents to dominate the battle for territorial advantage and draw a large crowd in behind them as chants of "USA, USA, USA..." resonated around the ground. On the televised evidence the match was played amidst a wonderful atmosphere, with the crowd of nearly 20 000, many of them expatriate South Africans, representing the largest turn-out ever for a rugby test match in the United States. For much of the first half the Springbok play was blighted by many of the same old problems that kept them from firing against England and France. While there was an improvement in the alignment of the backs and the speed with which the ball was off-loaded from the tackle, with Jacobs providing many of the more encouraging moments, the phase play was still poor and so was the discipline. Prop Cobus Visagie was yellow carded halfway through the first half for the sort of elementary error that you would not expect from a team as experienced as the Springboks and the old bogey of conceding penalties at the breakdowns was again much in evidence. As many as six penalties were given away in the first 15 minutes and this played no small part in preventing the Boks from picking up the necessary momentum. Although they did open a lead with the tries that they scored, the Boks conceded 17 penalties or free kicks in the half and if you take the territorial spread of the match into account you would have to say that they were a trifle fortunate to be ahead 22-15 at the break. For the Eagles, No8 Dan Lyle playing a stormer of the back of the scrum and the Americans asked unexpected questions of the South African defence. While they did not concede a try in the first 40, it has to be said that the Bok first time tackling was not always the best and in one prolonged sequence of play the American players were repeatedly able to wriggle out of first time attempts. At the time it brought no more than a dropped-goal to wing John Niqica, but this poor defence culminated in the end in a try for US prop Mike McDonald late in the second half. Though it came too late in the match to make much difference to the result, the South Africans should not have been happy with the ease with which the US crossed the line. Earlier in the match centre Philip Eloff was a real thorn in the side of the Boks and with a surname like that (he played Craven Week rugby) Bok coach Harry Viljoen must have wondered more than once whether the US No13 should not have been wearing a green and gold jersey rather than a white one. It was not all bad for the Boks, however, and the quick hands and penetrative running of Jacobs was much in evidence in several of the tries. That said, the South Africans were a trifle fortunate to score their first try through Conrad Jantjes as it looked suspiciously as though the ball had gone forward during the buildup. In the first half the Boks tended to score each time they went into the United States half. Jantjes' try was followed up by one from Lukas van Biljon, who exploited an awful defensive lapse from the US by romping over in the left corner to reclaim the lead for the Boks after they had fallen 6-5 behind to a second Wilfley penalty. Van Biljon, who won the official man-of-the-match award, also featured strongly in the third try, which was rounded off by stand-in skipper Andre Vos. The No6 flank ranged up outside a strong surge down the left from the Sharks hooker after an impressive buildup from the Springboks. But it was not until Pieter Rossouw, playing on the right wing this time rather than the usual left, waltzed over early in the second half that a Bok victory became a foregone conclusion and it was from there that they started to find their range. The game hosts never gave up and were behind just 36-20 and attacking the Bok line when they conceded a last minute try to Jantjes, which came against the run of play, to put a bit of false gloss on the final scoreline. Scores: South Africa 43 (Tries: Conrad Jantjes 2, Lukas van Biljon, Andre Vos, Pieter Rossouw, Dean Hall; Penalty: Louis Koen; Conversions: Louis Koen 5) United States 20 (Try: Mike McDonald; Penalties: Link Wilfey 4; Drop-goal: John Naqica) Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Kytie Koekblik ColumnKytie Koekblik Washington D.C. - In hierdie kolom hierdie week gaan ek al my geheime uitblaker. Dit voel mos vir my in elk geval asof ek al elke Kytie-leser leer ken het oor die afgelope jaar of wat. Julle almal weet mos van my verlange na Bloubergstrand en my ma se groenboontjies en die Berg-siekte en hoe ek soms net na die Suid-Afrikaners se warmte en oop geaardhede verlang. So hierdie week moet Kytie confess: Ewe skielik lyk Amerika so effe anders. Maar laat ek by die begin begin. Hier is Kytie se opwindende US dating history. Kytie is die afgelope jaar en ‘n half in Amerika mos ‘n vreeslike single-girl gewees wat foonnommers versamel en die restaurante en jazz bars en ski-oorde uitcheck saam met verskeie El Salvadorians, Fransmanne, Rooinekke; Indie-Washingtonians en ander ouens. No commitments. Fun and friends. ‘n Lovely leuse vir ‘n girl wat nie weet of sy kom of bly of na Kuba gaan immigreer nie. Ek moes eers die kat mooi uit die boom uitkyk. En daar is mos dinge omtrent die Amerikaanse ouens se psige wat ek nie altyd mooi verstaan nie. Dalk het dit iets met te veel Baywatch te doen. Of te veel Pearl Harbour tipe movies of ’n oordosis M-TV videos of te veel /Wit Huis retoriek of dalk het die probleme al in hulle kinderjare begin met te veel lego en te veel speelgoed. Eerstens moes ek die konsep “dating” leer soos dit Amerikaanse ouens dit doen/dit nie doen nie. Kyk, met Amerikaanse ouens is die fondamente van vriendskap 90% van die tyd op die sand i.p.v op die spreekwoordelike rots. En soms is daar nie eers fondamente nie. Met ‘n Amerikaanse early twentysomething weet jy nooit wat sy agenda is nie; met ‘n late twenty something weet jy presies wat sy agenda is; jy’s of sy girl of jy’s past tense. Meeste van my vriende moan juis oor dit glo so moeilik is om mense te ontmoet in hierdie disposable society. Dis omdat hulle vriende maak op hoerskool en universiteit en daai vriende is for keeps en daarna het die meeste van hulle one-track minds: Money and a spouse. So ek het besluit, basta met boyfriends, ek gaan vriende maak. Goeie vriende vir wie ek eindeloos lief is en vir wie ek enigiets sal doen. Kyk, dit was die moeilikste ding onder die son om mense in hierdie kosmopolitaanse city van acquaintances na regte vriende te convert. Ek is nie gewoond daaraan om my lewe te probeer skeduleer nie, op Grahamstad en klein plekkies soos Kuilsrivier pop jy mos net in. Hier in hierdie stad teen hierdie pas sien ek soms sommige vriende./acquaintances een maal elke vier maande en ander so gereeld soos een keer elke week. Die enigste vriende wat ek elke dag sien is die vier gesigte van my male housemates op die couch voor die TV met die remote control in die hand… Ek bly saam met vier ouens. Die enigste een met ‘n meisie wat simply ‘n platoniese vriendin is, is van Marocco. My heeeeel beste vriend wat ALLES van my af weet , is Suid-Afrikaans; my ander beste vriend is Frans. En my beste Amerikaanse vriend het issues gehad met die fyn lyne tussen vriendskap en verhouding. Hy het eendag vir my gese “What do you mean when you say you care if you’re not in love with me?” Hy het ook aan my gese “It scared me because I became emotionally attached to you.” That explains it. Die Amerikaanse latte sukkel maar met die vriendskapsbande. So my LEUSE was: VRIENDSKAPPE, nie hierdie ge-date en serious girlfriend stuff nie. Die naaste wat ek gekom het aan ‘n potential hart-verloor was met ‘n Suid-Afrikaner in San Fransisco wat deesdae my sielkundige, baby-sitter en liewe buddie is. Dalk as hy nie in San Fran was nie sou ek en hy ons single-streke kon laat vaar. Die enigste Amerikaner wat dit reggekry het om my hart te chip was Rich Boy wat oor die wereld rondflenter en elke keer as die wind hom na Washington toe waai het hy aan my deur kom klop. Dit het so aangehou vir tien lange maande en ons sou seker kon aankarring maar: Nou’t Kytie ewe skielik ‘n Amerikaanse boyfriend. (hoor my giggel) Toe my goeie vriend Toast Coetzer van Cradock, die kult-figuur van die nuwe Afrikaner-generasie, hoor ek het nou ‘n boyfriend, boonop ‘n amerikaner , toe stuur hy vir my die volgende e-mail: a) jy't talle boyfriends. b) obviously amerikaners... en kubane, suid-afrikaners... c) ag kom aan, ons ken tog vir kytie beter as dit. Nou kyk wie’t ‘n boyfriend nodig as jou vriende soveel faith in jou het??? Ek het nie eers ‘n boyfriend gesoek nie. Miss Independence moes ‘n mind-adjustment maak om aan myself te dink as “girlfriend.” Of om aan ander te se, “My boyfriend and I…” Deesdae moet ek vir nee se vir alles-gratis dates in hierdie vreemde land…. Dit het so skielik gebeur. Rich Boy is die naweek voor halloween weer na colorado of ohio of iewers heen. Daardie naweek wou ek nie na paarties toe gaan nie, ek wou sulk oor my en die Rich American se nerending games. Nou ja toe. Expect the unexpected. My liewe SA vriend forseer my toe om na ‘n Halloween partytjie toe gaan in die woods in hierdie beautiful mansion. Dit was die 15de Halloween paartie en het soos ‘n movie gevoel. (Ek was laasjaar ook by dieselfde paartie waar ek toevallig ‘n prisoner ontmoet het . Dit was ‘n kortstondige ervaring op my resume wat presies twee weke gelast het? ) Laasjaar was ek ‘n witch, hierdie jaar wou ek ‘n angel wees. (Stereotipiese boring halloween en volgende jaar is ek dalk ‘n oranje pampoen want elke kind moet mos witch, angel, pampoen en ‘n feetjie wees) En toe sien ek ‘n monk raak. Oombliklik besluit die single girl toe op ‘n smooth pick-up line, sommer net vir die pret. Ek se “HI monk, I think we need to convert all these people at the party.” Toe merk ek die girl op wat langs die monk staan. Sy is aangetrek soos ‘n hond en sy het ‘n halter om haar nek, en sy het mooitjies die halter in die monk se hand gestop en gese, “The dog needs a master.” Haar pick-up line en outfit slicker as myne. Ek dag toe, ek gaan g’n die speletjie so vinnig verloor nie. Daarom skryf ek toe my foonnommer op ‘n sweterige stukkie papier en ek stap na die monk toe en ek se: “I know you have a woman on a leash, but if you need a guardian angel, give me a call.” Drie hoeras vir die independent Afrikaanse assertive girl. Obviously het almal guardian angels nodig. So hy se toe vir die hondjie om ‘n ander baas te kry en voor ek weet toe ontmoet ons ‘n coffeeshop en gaan op ‘n 15 myl rollerblade marathon en elke keer as ons by ‘n intersection kom hou hy my hand want ek kan nie stop op die rollerblades nie. Wat ‘n picture perfect storie. Ten spyte van so ‘n paar hakplekke met ‘n girl van Las Vegas uit die verlede en Rich Boy komplikasies wat ons moes uitstryk, bevind ek en die Misterieuse Rollerblader ons toe een aand op die sirkel van Dupont Circle. Hy kom toe met die voorstel dat ek my status moet verander van “single girl” na “girlfriend.” Nou kyk dis nie maklik vir my nie. Ek deel mos my besigheidskaarte met foonnommers uit asof ek ‘n charity is. If you’re single, I am too. And even if you’re not single, don’t make your problem mine. Dit was my leuse. Maar toe se ek vir die Misterieuse Rollerblader: “You don’t need no guardian angel. You need a girlfriend.” 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 ] Another rape: 'Child rapists trying to outdo each other' Organisations fighting child abuse have reacted with shock and anger after the rape of a five-month-baby girl in Joubert Park, central Johannesburg, at the weekend. Ellen Methven, of the Child Abuse Action Group, said she was disgusted by the rape. (see full Child Abuse story below - scroll down) "They (rapists) are doing the country devastating harm. They are doing women and children harm, too," said Methven. "It seems that each rapist tries to outdo the other because they keep raping younger and younger babies." She also blamed the judicial system for its lack of uniformity in handing down sentences for rape. "We cannot have one magistrate or judge handing down one sentence, and another handing down a much lesser one for the same crime." Miranda Friedman, a spokeswoman for Women and Men Against Child Abuse, said the government needed to impose mandatory life sentences on convicted rapists. The rape of babies had reached a crisis level, said Friedman, who termed it "a war on our children". Coalition for Children's Rights chief executive Nicole Barlow said it was high time that President Thabo Mbeki set aside time from his busy schedule to meet NGOs to try to find solutions to the problem of child abuse. She said she had written two letters to Mbeki, to try to arrange such a meeting, but had not received any response. "If the president is so appalled (by the spate of rapes on young children), why doesn't he take a little time from his busy schedule and meet us?" asked Barlow. More children were raped and abused across the country CHAOS reigned in South Africa over the weekend as dozens more children were raped and abused across the country. A five-month-old baby became one of the latest victims, raped by two men in Joubert Park, Johannesburg. In the Free State, boys aged four, six and 10, were accused of gang-raping their seven-year-old friend near Harrismith. In another incident, a man allegedly paid eight young girls 50 cents each for showing him their private parts. Johannesburg police representative Captain Lungelo Dlamini said two men, aged 17 and 24, were arrested for the Joubert Park baby rape on Saturday night. Dlamini said the child was raped after her 24-year-old mother apparently left her alone inside a room in a building previously used as a cinema. "When the baby's mother returned... (she) discovered that the child was bleeding and rushed the baby to the hospital." The girl went to theatre on Saturday night in the Johannesburg Hospital for examination. The senior matron on call said she was in a stable condition, but was unable to say whether the girl had undergone an HIV test. Free State police spokeswoman Captain Veronica Ntepe said a woman, four teenagers, and ten children aged between six and 12, were sexually abused in several incidents in the Bethlehem area in the eastern Free State over the weekend. On Saturday, a seven-year-old girl in Intabazwe near Harrismith told her mother she had been raped by four boys -- two of them aged 10, the others four and six years old. The five of them were playing in the street when the four boys ordered her to lie on the ground. They took turns in raping her. Police said the boys would probably be arrested and be sent for counselling. In another incident, a man allegedly approached eight girls, aged between six and nine, who were playing at a site in Ladybrand. He ordered them to pull down their panties. He licked their private parts and masturbated on them. Each girl was then given 50 cents and the man walked away. Ntepe said the man was wearing black denim jeans, a blue shirt and white takkies. He is of average build, light in complexion and has grey hair. In another case, a 13-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised by his friend, aged about 15, who attempted to drown him afterwards. The incident happened on Friday around 8.30pm at a river between Petsana and Reitz. Also in the Reitz area, a 17-year-old girl was raped by two men at Bietjiewater picnic spot on Saturday. Two of her school friends followed her to the toilet and overpowered her. No arrests were made. On Friday, two friends aged 17 and 19, were allegedly raped by their boyfriends and two other men in Tebang Village, Makwane in the Qwa Qwa area. The two boyfriends, aged 18 and 22, were arrested. A 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her stepfather in Bereng township near Bethlehem on Friday. She reported the matter to the police and the man was arrested. In the last incident in the Free State, a 25-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-girl in the Kestell district. The girl went outside on Friday night to go to the toilet and the man followed her. He threatened her with a pair of scissors and then allegedly raped her. At least three cases of child rapes were reported in the Northern Cape over the weekend. The 32-year-old uncle of a six-year-old girl was arrested for allegedly raping and sodomising her in Wrenchville, Kuruman, on Saturday afternoon, Superintendent Hendrik Swart said. A 16-year-old girl was raped by two men in Postdene, Postmasburg on Friday night. A 14-year-old girl was raped by four men in Newtown, Postmasburg, around 3am on Saturday. In the Eastern Cape a crowd of 200 people stoned and beat a man who had allegedly raped a ten-year-old girl in Kamesh township outside Uitenhage on Sunday morning. The girl was asleep at 1.30am when her mother's boyfriend allegedly raped her and then tried to sodomise her, Inspector Marianette Olivier said. In another incident in Uitenhage, a two-year-old girl from KwaNobuhle township was raped by a 15-year-old family member. He is still missing. Other cases in the area include the rape of five victims ranging in age from 14 to 83. In Delville, Germiston, a man was arrested on Friday for indecently assaulting a five-year-old girl over a period of five months, Superintendent Andy Pieke said. Northern Cape safety MEC Connie Seoposengwe said on Saturday there was a growing myth in South Africa that Aids could be cured by having intercourse with a baby or a virgin. Seoposengwe visited the family of a two-and-a-half-year-old baby girl in Port Nolloth, who was raped by a 19-year-old man last week. In Hlogotlou in the Northern Province a 12-year-old boy was arrested on Friday after allegedly sodomising a nine-year-old boy at their school in Dindela Village, police said. Captain Isaac Magakwe said the boy allegedly sexually molested the nine-year-old in May and the matter was apparently resolved at the school when the parents of the two boys were called in. A charge was laid on Friday after the boy allegedly repeated the act on Monday. He was arrested and released in custody of his guardian and will appear at the Nebo Magistrate's Court on Monday. The New National Party on Sunday called for an emergency plan to address the increasing number of child rapes. "The government should send out a clear message that child rapists will be tracked down and removed from society," safety and security representative André Gaum said in a statement. He said an "Operation Crackdown" to deal with child abuse should be put in place. "The government's plan to introduce harsher sentences and stricter bail conditions for these criminals should be implemented as a matter of extreme urgency, even if it would mean that Parliament has to be reconvened." [ Top ] Madiba opens Robben Island gateway South Africa's most famous political prisoner Nelson Mandela on Saturday opened a R40-million "gateway" to Robben Island, where he was jailed for 26 years, with a plea for tolerance. "Our motto should be: let us make peace so that we can concentrate on the really important work that needs to be done," he told more than a thousand invited guests at Cape Town's Waterfront. "That is, alleviating the plight of the poor and the defenceless.... Poverty is the greatest threat facing us and if we don't solve that question it is difficult for us to make progress." The gateway, named after Mandela, includes a newly-completed three-storey building that will serve as terminus for the 250 000 visitors that take the ferry to the island every year. It will offer introductory exhibitions, and also houses a restaurant. Mandela said Robben Island played a central role in giving birth and life to democracy in South Africa, and it was humbling for those who had been jailed there when their role was acknowledged today. "That this gateway is named after one individual cannot obscure the fact that what we are celebrating are the collective achievements of a struggle for freedom and dignity." He said the greatest challenge for those who had been jailed on the island had been not to change the country, but to change themselves. "We had to reconcile our emotions with our logic. We hated apartheid and the men and women who applied it. We did not want to talk to the enemy. But our brain said, if if you don't talk to the enemy, this country will go up in smoke. "We did what our feeling said we should not do: we changed ourselves." Mandela also said there was a tendency in history books and lectures delivered particularly by Africans to forget the role played in resistance to colonial occupation by indigenous inhabitants other than Bantu-speakers. It was true that they, because of their greater social organisation, made a greater impact in fighting the imperialists. But the sacrifces of the Khoisan resistance fighters should not be forgotten. Among the guests at the cermony were several other former political prisoners, including leaders in religion and business arenas, and members of parliament. There was an emotional moment when they were asked to stand up so that their presence could be acknowledged. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Nel's KitchenRagel Nel Ragel Nel Washington D.C. - The Christmas spirit has officially arrived on the street in Baltimore where I live. I think I’ve mentioned the garden war on the street before. It’s not a regular, vying-to-get-your-prized-roses-in-the-January-edition-of-Garden-And-Home-before-the-neighbours-do kind of war either. It’s more like a let’s-see-who-can-have-the-most-garden-gnomes-elves-and-other-plastic-accessories kind of competition. Not that I have anything against a gnome here or there. But I must say, it makes the few of us (a sad, distinct minority we are!), on the street who prefer to have real plants and flowers in a gnomeless setting feel rather out of place, but that’s neither here nor there in this tale. Every year the same type of enthusiasm that the neighbours display when filling their gardens with said accessories, spills over when it’s time to decorate for the holidays. One neighbour in particular takes this holiday decorating business extremely seriously, even more so than all the rest. I’ve had nearly two years to see her in action, and it is truly astounding, because it happens more than merely once a year. The first ‘holiday’ – which I don’t really regard as a holiday in the first place – was Valentine’s Day. By the time we had moved in, the decorations were already up for the occasion: A flag with pink and red hearts hanging from a flagpole next to the front door, pink and red heart-shaped balloons bobbing from the porch railings, and – to further top off the ‘understated elegance’ – another flag-like cloth in more or less the same theme of hearts and still MORE hearts, draped down the length of the front door. I thought that was it, until I noticed a peculiar reddish glow outside when I looked out my window that night. Suspecting a fire or – at the very least – the landing of an unidentified flying object (this IS the United States after all!), I rushed outside. To my further astonishment and slight horror, I saw what it was: strings of red and pink lights – similar to Christmas lights, but only in heart shapes (surprise, surprise!) – were strung along the fence and around the porch. In all the windows, a succession of Cupids outlined in the same kind of lights, blinked on and off and alternated between red, pink and white. Perhaps it all wouldn’t have been THAT bad, had it not been for the fact that it had just turned January and the day of St. Valentine – the inspiration behind that festive glow – was still more than a month away. Believe it or not, but we eventually got used to it. Well, actually it was more like ignoring it than getting used to it, if you know what I mean. By the end of Valentine’s Day, though, we were shocked anew. The Valentine’s adornments that we had grown to detest so, were conspicuous in their absence. Unfortunately, this didn’t mean that the little garden was back in its ‘natural’ and quintessentially Baltimore state of gnomes and plastic flowers (really, the kind with little propeller-like leaves that is set off spinning in a blur of bold colours at the nudge of even the most gentle breeze.). Instead, all the Valentine’s decorations had been skilfully replaced with Easter fare. I’ll only say that I genuinely never knew that one could get strings of bunny lights and flags decorated with Easter eggs, and yes, even more bunnies! By the time the red, white and blue flags, streamers and lights went up for a very patriotic Independence day on the fourth of July – before the sun had even sunk on Easter Sunday, mind you – I finally reached a profound conclusion. I realised that the woman was an obsessed decorator (and not even in a Martha Stewart kind of way either!), and that she simply HAD to be the first one to have her decorations up for the next holiday. One of the younger neighbours tried to beat her to the punch (for Thanksgiving, I think, for which the decorations come out about a week after a flag with a yellow and brown leave motif announced the start of autumn. Oh, did I forget to mention the seasonal decorations?), but she must have had a secret informer, because she returned home early from work that day and (perhaps out of revenge, I suspect, but can’t be sure) out-decorated the entire neighbourhood with turkey flags, stuffed toy turkeys along the stone path through her garden and a larger-than-life scarecrow. And yes, of course she won again. (But in the defence of the neighbour who tried to beat her: she is only 11 years old and the woman in my story is about 35.) But if I had thought that she was overdoing it the rest of the year, I was in for a serious surprise. You see, I was to learn that the epitome of her decorating …um…talents are saved up to come to its full glory only for the Holiday of all Holidays: Christmas. But before I get to that, let me tell you about the seasonal decorations. Regardless of what the weather is like, on every official calendar day that marks the start of a new season, her old decorations are promptly taken down and the new ones go up. Last year, we were horrified to see her take the same stance regarding the few natural flowers in her garden. On a beautiful day, she was out in her garden, viciously ripping out all the natural flowers in sight (And no, it wasn’t weeds, it was real flowers.). Shocked beyond belief, I asked the 11-year old what was going on. "Oh, don’t you know? Today is the first official day of fall." "But it’s still so warm!" I exclaimed. She merely shrugged, and sympathetically patted me on the shoulder as if to say: "You’ll get used to it one day." It’s a year later, and I’m still not used to it (even though she uses the exact same decorations year after year.) I saw to it that I wouldn’t be here this year when she ravaged her flowers. (And yes, of course they are replanted with military precision on the first official day of spring, whether it’s still minus forty degrees outside or not.) Back to Christmas. The Thanksgiving turkey wasn’t even cold yet when she went outside and started ripping off the decorations. That night, when we emerged from the house again to see off a friend, Christmas had arrived. I don’t even know where to START describing all the decorations: stuffed Santas, reindeer made out of wire, blinding Christmas lights everywhere (so from now until Christmas, we will not have one night of complete darkness. Instead we will be ensconced in permanent twilight, but in a way that is very fitting, because it DOES feel like one is trapped in the twilight zone.), the ever-present flag, and the best: A life-size nativity scene with all the figures (multiracial, I must add.) made out of plastic. At night they light up as well, and with that special effect they do seem like glowing idols. Later that Thanksgiving weekend, we had a terrible storm that ripped through the area, complete with rain and howling wind gusts. When we left our house on the first sunny morning, I looked over at the Christmas palace. At first I thought she had taken the nativity down, but then I looked closer. Mary, holding the baby Jesus, the three wise men (an African-American and two Middle Easterners), the donkey and the sheep all lay facedown in the bare and muddy flowerbed. Only Joseph was still standing – or rather, leaning – and also just barely, because he was merely held up by the porch railing. I had to wonder: was it Divine Intervention? Well, whether it was or not, the nativity has been resurrected and this time, she had securely tied them to the railings with rope, where they shall remain hostage until Christmas day. © RSA-Overseas [ Top ] Rand's dip set to hit consumers hard Consumers, especially those travelling abroad or buying imported goods, will have to tighten their belts even further as the rand continues to slide. It set a new record low of R10,45 to the dollar on Friday, before firming later in the day. The currency closed at R10,26 to the dollar - almost 29c weaker than the previous close, while weakening 40c against the pound to close at R14,60 and almost 28c against the euro, closing at R9,15. But crude oil, the one commodity falling faster than the rand, may save South Africans a wallop where it hurts most. Despite the rand's beating, it was announced on Friday that the petrol price will drop by 21c a litre to R3,47 at the coast on Wednesday. Diesel will drop by 4c a litre and paraffin by 10c. Standard Bank's Goolam Ballim on Friday sketched a profile of the typical currency speculator: "These are the guys who just have to have bigger and better apartments in London and New York or are looking to supplement what are likely to be shallow year-end bonuses. So what do they do? They gather their friends and raid the rand. And boy, are they brave! Not even a credit upgrade deters them." Credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service gave South Africa a pat on the back with an improved international rating just hours before Thursday's plummet. Normally, this would have been good news for the rand. "But it dropped like a stone," Ballim said. South Africa has long been the speculators' happy hunting ground. "The rand, for a very long time, has been seen as a one-way bet - in other words, that it will only depreciate," Ballim added. The fall of the rand could soon bring about a dramatic increase in the prices of luxury electronic goods after retailers have placed their new-year orders. Retailers could see an increase in the price of products such as watches, cameras and cellphones. The same could be the case with imported specialist foods and liquor. Airfares, too, could soar. And South African producers have been biting the bullet for some time already, but might now be forced to up their prices. Monica Ambrosi, also of Standard Bank, said producers' prices had been contained by sluggish demand. However, with the new, even higher cost of imports, they might now be forced to ask higher prices. But local consumers' saving grace could come from crude oil, now down to just $18 a barrel. "Crude oil's price, with its continuing downward bias, may help to counter the inflationary effects," said Ambrosi. In other words, cheaper petrol prices could nullify the extra cost of imports. But after announcing that he will not introduce exchange controls to save the rand's fall, the only option left for Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni might be to increase interest rates. This would cut speculators' profits by increasing their cost of borrowing money to fund their cunning deals, said Econometrix's Azhar Jammine. However, Jammine said, an interest rate hike presented the threat of hindering job creation. It would therefore be a tough call to make. Jammine added that the rand's fall was not justified by the principles of economics because even when positive developments happened, the currency depreciated anyway. Pointing out Moody's upgrading of South African credit rating on the country's debt, he said: "This shows that the fall of the rand is not justified by the principles of economics. "However, I don't expect the rand to depreciate any further in the near future. It may even bounce back very powerfully, it's not impossible." Jammine said that at the current rate, people travelling overseas for holidays would encounter shocking exchange rates. "A dinner at R100 per person would cost you three times more in London than what you would pay in this country. And hotel accommodation would cost you three times more than at a local hotel," he said. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] |
|
