From Crook to Cop and back again

South Africa is slowly becoming the land of opportunity...well for some.

Today we bring the heart warming tale of a crook turned cop.

Here is a typical, only in South Africa tale. Brigadier Musa Khumalo had a fine record of bringing down crime syndicates. His record boasted the recovery of over 40 stolen vehicles and hijacked cars. What a crime buster.

Then our super-cop's face was recognized by his co-workers in KZN when Johannesburg police circulated a photo of him. Then the story unfolded...Khumalo escaped from jail about a year, with the help of a warden..fled to KZN where adopted a senior police rank and proceeded to act in that role for around a year, undetected. He was initially arrested for murder and was thought to be involved in a car theft and hijacking syndicate. It emerged that his proud arrest records was in fact his way of ridding his syndicate of the competition.

Musa entered South Africa legally from Zimbabwe and then proceeded to obtain false documents. According to Home Affairs, Khumalo was declared dead in 2008.
After his escape from custody in Jo'burg, he fled to KZN, making friends with policeman and introducing himself as a brigadier from the Hawks unit. Soon he was insisting with investigation and gaining the trust of the other cops. With his 'working' knowledge of the crimes, he was handy in bringing his rivals down.

He has since disappeared once more and is being sought by police. Watch your local police station....or he may be our next general....got to love it..

The Police Chief's Side Step..

Finding a South African Police Commissioner has been an uphill battle in South Africa...all have been political appointments and all have turned up full of dirt. Drum roll....the first female police commissioner is appointed with all the blah blah and promises that comes with the historic appointment and the top post. For a while, we thought we could have smiled....and then, the curse struck...

It turns out that Newly appointed Police Commissiner General Riah Phiyega was a director of a company called Lefatshe Technologies. On the face of it, there appears to be nothing wrong with this. However, things are never so simple. The sting comes when we find out that Phiyega resigned as director a few days before she headed a probe into the company for fraud and corruption. 

She sees this as no problem, as she resigned before heading the probe....

For the record- the probe found against the company and the CEO and several top managers dismissed. A bullet well dodged on the general's side?

Further to this, she is also linked to a company, Kapela Capital, which owns 40% share of XON, which company supplies the SAPS with IT equipment. 

Once again a politician is appointed a Top Cop to protect our president and once again, there are skeletons in the closet. If the government were serious about fighting crime, they would appoint a career police person, who had the experience in the force and who did not have shadows they had to hide. 

The magic wall and the police minister

Politics in South Africa, has a long tradition of thinking the public are a bunch of idiots...so, I bring you the next exciting installment.

Police Minister Nathi Mtethwa (dude featured above)was cleared of wrong doing by the Auditor-General Terrence Nombembe (his highness pictured below) of claims of corruption. This stemmed from claims about our honest Minister of Police, using state funds to build a R200 000 security wall around his private residence.

The official findings were that the R200 000 did in fact come from a police crime intelligence slush fund (the same one used by other high ranking police for private use) but (and this is the howler) Mtethwa did not know where the money came from.
Somebody..maybe the Wall Fairy, withdrew the money, without anybody knowing, had the wall build, without the minister's knowledge, overnight, also, without him knowing it..paid for the wall in cash..and Nathi woke up to find a fine wall surrounding his abode.


...how stupid do these fools think we are. And obviously the AG is doing his job, covering for his ANC buddies, so all is well in ANC-Ville...

To put further perspective on this Nathi guy...he stayed in a Five Star hotel on the Cape Waterfront, at the taxpayers expense...and was cleared because 'he did not realize it was a 5 star hotel'....really..I cannot make this up. So he wandered into the first hotel he saw, did not look at the proud advertisements that all 5 stars have everywhere..did not even see how much the rates were, or the grand total after his luxury stay. .and we have to buy into this rubbish....We are being screwed over....from pour President who somehow thinks he deserves a customized 300 seater Jet, to the minister etc...and it is all at the poor taxpayer's expense.....

Another pathetic plea agreement.

Chanelle Henning was shot dead in front of her son, whilst dropping him off at school, in a hit last year. 


Gerhardus du Plessis, Ambrose Monye, Andre Gouws and Preshan Singh were arrested and are to stand trial for the murder and conspiracy to commit murder. 

Now comes news that Singh is expected to do a typical South African thing and settle into a plea and sentence agreement with the state in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court. The agreement seems that Singh pleads guilty on a 'firearm related charge' and his sentence would amount to a suspended sentence with community service. This is due to this gun runner admitting to furnishing the revolver that killed Chanelle. His powerful argument- that he was unaware that his unlicensed weapon would be involved in a crime. 
Number one, why did he have an unlicensed firearm and number two, how stupid is the state to accept the argument that he did not know it would be involved in a crime. What did he think he was giving it to the other suspects for- to take it to the movies? 

It is beyond worrying that the state is so quick to enter into please agreements. Many high profile cases have revolved around some of the accused getting favourable plea agreements, in exchange for giving evidence to use against a primary target. In many cases the evidence given is weak and the primary target walks away. Surely if you agree to give evidence and fail to give sufficient evidence, the plea agreement should be cancelled. In essence, everybody walks away )- look at the cases involving Glenn Agliotti as well as that of Brett Kebble...all went free, despite those who entered plea agreements not coming to the table with their cards. And nothing is done about it. 

Yet again, we have somebody who possesses an unlicensed firearm, a crime in the first instance and then gives it to somebody else, thinking no crime would be committed. His punishment- nothing really. 


In short, it is looking very good to be a criminal in South Africa.....

Why do some deserve any human rights?

I am always left wondering why right's groups go out of their way to fight for the rights of people who have done so much wrong to others.

Murderers of all kinds, child sex offenders, rapists, people who cause harm to others and animals....why do they deserve to have their rights defended? It is beyond me, how somebody who has raped a child, even deserves rights, or somebody who has shot a mother or father in front of their children.

I am not saying all prisoners should not have rights. Minor offenses like theft of food and money, without harming the victim is not that serious in the big scheme of things. Perhaps I am practicing double standards, and if I am, I really do not care. Under the right guidance, many minor offenders could be rehabilitated.

Having said that, I do not have much hope for the serious offenders. If you have the cruelty built in you to ruin somebody else's rights, then I cannot for the life of me see, why you deserve to be afforded even basic human rights.

We hear about so many robbers, shooting their victims, for no reason. Even people who comply, are liable to get a fatal bullet. How many cowardly men abuse small children, ruining them psychologically and sometimes, physically- for life. What to me is even more worrying, is that you still get people who defend and worry about the treatment the perpetrator of the crime is getting.
How in the world, can anybody but the waste of breath's family care. Those same brave defender's of the low life's right's do not even bother to defend to follow up on the progress or the broken rights of the innocent victim.  They try to portray themselves as great liberals and fighters of rights, but all they are, are a bunch of idiots looking for attention. Trying to look academic and so humane.

If anybody commits serious crime, where innocent life is taken or seriously violated, that person should be stripped of ALL their rights and thrown into jail til they wither away and die. Cruel, in a way I guess it is. But why do they deserve any better. Many will repeat the offence if they ever see freedom, as has been proven in many cases. Some people are beyond rehabilitation.
Then, from another aspect, the price it costs to house, feed and educate a prisoner, per year, could better be used feeding and clothing the homeless or used for other projects. I am an advocate of the death penalty. Especially in cases where the evidence is overwhelming. Why should tax payer's money pay for these flesh waters to live for another 20-30 years.Again, some will see this as barbaric, and again, I do not care!!

I am sick and tired of criminals getting it better than innocent, tax paying citizens. Surely I am not the only one who sees something seriously wrong with this.

TheWicket-Keeper who did!

This piece is one like I have never done. I do not usually write about sport or glorify anybody. But I feel moved to write a piece on a cricket player who, in my view, was the best wicket-keeper cricket has seen.

Today I pay tribute to one Mark Verdon Boucher.

Boucher, born in East London in the Cape Province, in 1976, he made his International debut in a test match in 1997, against Pakistan. Since that debut, Boucher has set more wicky records than anybody else. The fact that he has played for so long and been the first choice wicket keeper for most of this time, tells the story.
Mark embodied what South African sportsman are known for- the never give up and never say die attitude, especially when your back is against the wall. Small in size but massive in heart, Boucher did not know how to surrender.

His good looks made him popular with the females, his cricket ability and attitude made him a hero to many youngsters and the men loved him for his ability to save a cricket match and his cool personality. And after all of this, somehow he remained so humble.

He has played 147 test matches and averages a decent 30.30. This average betrays the number of times he has been the street fighter in the team and hauled the South African side from the jaws of certain defeat. Boucher embodies the Big Match Temperament that is needed in a player and even when he is not on form, leaving his experience and fight out of the team, is a danger. In one day matches, his contribution in the lower end of the batting was often the difference between winning and losing. In a test he could hold up his end to either pile on runs, or hang on for an unlikely draw. He was unmatched for this solid base he could provide.

Many who read this, will not be cricket fans, so I will not be too technical.

Mark holds the record for the most catches by a wicket keeper- 532 as well as that of total dismissals- 555. He surely had the opportunity to add to this with South Africa in England and vying to replace England as the number on test playing nation. His records are unlikely to be broken.

And funnily enough, he has a test wicket to his name.

It all tragically fell apart yesterday in a warm up game against Somerset. A bail was dislodged and flew straight into Boucher's eye. It damaged the eye enough for him to require an emergency operation last night and the medical team still do not know the lasting extent of the injury.

This was probably his last tour and he would have wanted to end his career on both his own terms and on a high. He would have reached the milestone of 150 tests, probably added to his massive dismissal total and probably dug South Africa out of some dark holes.
Sadly, Mark Boucher has played his last match for South Africa and it is heartbreaking to see such a perfect example of a South African sportsman end his career like this!
To say he will be missed by the team and all South African cricket fans, is an understatement.