Africa: Land of Danger and Death

*Please note that this post may contain disturbing information about violence and death. I�m not posting this for shock value, but to highlight that those of us who are lucky enough to live in the West are very fortunate. America and Britain both have crime and violence but nothing on the scale of what�s happening in Africa.

I�ve just watched a program on UK Channel 4, called Unreported World. Tonight�s episode was about the rebel revolt in Liberia, West Africa. The reporters were in serious danger more than once whilst filming this documentary. The streets were full of anarchy, burnt out shops, petrol stations and road blocks. Because of desperate poverty, thousands of young Liberian men were flocking to join the army to earn a living. There was a near riot because many were turned away from a recruitment rally, until their unofficial leader came along and led them, but even then the army had difficulty coping with the number of men wanting to join.

It brought to mind another program I�d seen a few months ago about the war in Liberia and the Ivory Coast. It had the usual local villagers running around with AK-47s looking to engage government troops. But what really took me aback was after a rebel was brought back dead � the locals turned on the single government soldier that had been captured � cut out his heart, and ate it! Some of the participants were only about 14 � 16 years old and were shown walking away from the soldiers� corpse with blood on their hands and shirts. I�m not including that information for shock value, but to put the intense violence into perspective.

The BBC has obtained the first independently verified information about the widespread nature of the rebel war in northern Liberia. Independent medical sources say that in the last few months of fighting hundreds of Liberian Government soldiers have been wounded. It is likely that a similar number of combatants were wounded or killed on the rebel side as fighting has raged between rebel forces reportedly backed by neighbouring Guinea and Liberian Government troops. The war in northern Liberia is the latest flare up in one of the world's most unstable regions, where most of the battles are for control of diamonds.

Liberian War Links:

www.nzz.ch...

www.afrol.com...

members.aol.com...

Consider the following two excerpts from articles:

�Approaching the Johannesburg airport, the South African Airways pilot announces, "You are now completing the safest part of your journey. Drive carefully and lock your car doors He might have been particularly mindful of the recent rash of vehicle hijackings, but it appeared to be generally accepted by locals and visitors alike that Johannesburg is now the crime capital of the world.�

In the city centre of Johannesburg, crime and decay are reaching new depths, with churches now being forced to hire security guards to protect their flock. Sally Sara reports from Johannesburg's St Mary's Cathedral, the former home of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, which can no longer operate after dark and has guards stationed at its doors.

VANESSA McKENZIE: We've actually had some of our parishioners physically attacked and who've stopped coming. When you walk around here you are hoping that God will give you an extra two eyes behind your head so that you can see who or what is around you. It happens so quickly.

Parked waiting for her daughter outside a school in Northcliff, a few kilometers from Johannesburg, a young housewife named Cheryl Cronje, four months pregnant, finds a gun pointed at her head. She is robbed of her handbag, watch, jewelry and cell phone. Then the gunman forces her from her car and steals that too. Pat Rousseau, visiting president of the West Indies Cricket Board, gets the same treatment while driving in Soweto with his wife Hester and a Jamaican journalist. A cops-and-robbers shoot-out outside a bank in Sea Point, Cape Town, leaves two men dead and a bystander critically wounded. In KwaZulu-Natal the widow of Alan Paton, author of Cry, the Beloved Country, is planning to emigrate after being hijacked, mugged and terrorized by armed robbers. "Flee the Beloved Country," says a headline.

It's just another day in the life of South Africa, where the institutional violence of apartheid has given way to an onslaught of crime that threatens both the fledgling democracy of the country and its crucial inward investment. In a year-end speech, Deputy President Thabo Mbeki railed against those abusing South Africa's hard-won liberty: "There are people who think that freedom means raping women. Others think liberation means they must go out and steal... Something is amiss here."

Below are my personal experiences:

Last July, I spent some time in Johannesburg, South Africa. Even though my female friend had warned me that it is a very violent and dangerous place, I was still not prepared for what I saw. Besides having the highest rate of AIDS in the world, South Africa is a land of desperate and impoverished people, guns are everywhere and the police and almost invisible. There are squatter camps in Johannesburg, that are so dangerous for whites that even the police won�t respond to a call or go in there. A middle-aged couple were murdered in broad daylight just two blocks from the home where I was staying. The murderers ran back into the squatter camp and the police refused to even respond, until the third emergency call � and then did nothing.

In South Africa, many cars are equipped with dual flame throwers mounted onto the chassis. That is a deterrent to the carjackers who rush up to cars stopped for a light or opening their drive gate, and at gun point rob the people and steal their car.

Many stores have their own armed security guards who dress in plain clothes and openly display guns strapped to their waist. I was in a market and saw four men in plain clothes with guns strapped on, I assumed they were undercover police and was told they were store security. When parking on the street, men will run up and offer to watch over your car, while you�re inside shopping � for a fee of course.

I was shocked whilst there when a gang took four men hostage at a 24 hour Shell petrol station in Cape Town, and murdered all of them them � all for about $100! I quickly saw that life is considered very cheap in South Africa.

Johannesburg Crime Related Links:

www.zmag.org...

news.bbc.co.uk...

brandon.allafrica.co.za...

www.abc.net.au...

www.cnn.com...

www.time.com...

Thoughts and comments are welcomed,
Deep

deepwaters,

Good, if not disconcerting post.

No doubt Africa is going through dark times (no pun intended). But let's look at this from a different angle. If one were to have everything taken away including technology, food, way of life etc...stripped of all conveniences and thrust into a survival mode, what would the outcome be?

Is it so hard to believe that what is happening to some provinces of Africa cannot possibly happen in the United States or other supposedly advanced countries of the world?

People are believed to be advancing in intelligence and enlightenment, but if you take away the "feel good" aspect of ones environment, I say that it would be every man for himself.

Mankind is regressing at an alarming rate.

deleted

Africa may be the "Land of Danger and Death" but let we not forget Africa is also the Land of the Original Man.

I do have to agree with Illmatic, Africa is the home of the proto-human at the very least. Austraulopithicus Afarensis, the first of the proto-humans originated in Africa (exact date is a matter of conjecture, but at least 5 million years ago, possibly much further back) in the Afar region, discovered in Oldovai Gorge, Tanzania.

Granted, I do not see a direct connection between this fact and the recent genocide reported in most of the tribal conflicts there. I guess there is some kind of irony there.

ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!
Why does everything have to become a race issue with you Ilmatic?

I think if we locked you and nans in a room together we could predict the conversation with accuracy.

Nans "F$%##ing Powell trying to start a war"
Illmatic "Hey don't pick on the black man"
Nans "F%$#$%ing Macdonalds taking over the world"
Ilmatic "MacDonalds employs the racially pure black man, don't ciritesize it"
Nans "F$%$#@ing american army trying to conqour the world"
Illmatic "There are honerable black men in the army, and we are the original people, don't critize it"
Nans "F#$%$#ing Firestone selling tyres and swamping our car market"
Illmatic "Hey, tyres are black and black is the best. Don't pick on the tyres."

Nans "bugger off american"
Illmatic "Piss of racist"


sigh ...

Originally posted by Illmatic67
Africa may be the "Land of Danger and Death" but let we not forget Africa is also the Land of the Original Man.

LOL! Ill, I'm very sure that Deep meant no disrespect in calling Africa that. He was just pointing out some of the mayhem going on there, and actually speaks of his own experiences there. Did you read his post or did the title just piss you off? Lighten up some buddy.

Netchicken,

Are you implying that there is racism being displayed on this board. It must be just a fluke because...well...er...oh yeah, it's the year 2003 and all racism is supposed to have now been vanquished as mankind is evolving into a great oneness of enlightened beings.

(a loud cough is heard in the background)

deleted

First off, let me assure all members of this community that I am in no way racist, or have problems with Black folks. I was raised in a part of Los Angeles that is predominately Black & Hispanic and many of my childhood friends were black.

My reason for posting this is to highlight the terrible conditions in Africa at this time. It appears that almost every government or regime there is corrupt. Whilst the leaders live in luxury and steal millions of dollars from the treasury, the people live in abject poverty. Those conditions create an unstable and volatile situation that is only kept under control by heavy handed police or military personnel. The recent war in Angola and all the white farms being confiscated in Zimbabwe are further examples of this.

There are deep threads of hatred and resentment running in both blacks and whites there. I saw extreme white racism in South Africa, by that I mean white Afrikaners hating the blacks. The blacks took one of two stances; either succumbed to the white establishment and power structure � or revolted in hatred, anger and animosity. Carjacking and murder are commonplace, with people actually being killed in broad daylight for their cell phone. My female friend used to lend me her car to drive around in, whilst she was at work. She warned me to keep the windows rolled up at all times and if confronted by armed men, to surrender the keys and simply say, �Enjoy�. She also warned me not to wear any jewellery, not even a watch in public.

Everywhere I drove, I saw groups of men standing around aimlessly on streets and corners. Many tried to sell fruit (rumoured to sometimes be poisoned) or things like plastic clothes hangers. Life there is desperate and I would hope to stimulate some gratitude and thanks in others for being lucky enough to live in a democracy, where personal rights and freedoms are available to all. It�s so easy to complain about America�s or Great Britain�s faults and problems. But I�d rather have to deal with our lot, than that of those unfortunate people in Africa.

As to the comments that Africa is the cradle of civilization, that�s true, according to many theories. But that�s quite irrelevant to the theme of this thread, as I�m discussing Africa in the �here & now�.

Stay well & consider being grateful for what you have � you could live in Johannesburg,
Deep

I did not say anything to make this post a racial war? If anyone did, it was Netchicken automatically assuming I did.

Netchicken, you assume every post I make is racial motivated and if you think so, don't read none of my posts, ever. I did not say anything that turned this post into a racial debate, I simply stated a FACT that Africa is the home of the Afro-Asiatic Original Man.

Proud American, I did read the post and I know Africa is the land of death, I'm not denying it.. But that's TODAY. Thousands of years ago, Africa was a gold mine, a luxurous land for infinite knowledge and wisdom until it was basically raped by the European Man.

No, I didn't want to get involved yesterday, but you forced me now Illimatic.

The Black peoples have Raped Africa.

They have deforested it out of greed for themselves (all white europeans took was Ivory and Gold and Diamonds, nothing else). Blacks have deforested the land for both more farming space and for lumber, the problem is that has left the ground exposed to the elements making it highly alkalinic. Now making it useless for farming.

They have naturally horrible diseases in the land, and their poor hygene does not help them any what-so-ever.

There is still a tribe in west africa, that has more gold then fort knox, they wear it as if it were paper...and it all belongs to their "king" and no one bothers them about it.

Africa is a wealthy continent, brought to the modern world by Europeans, then when Europe let them go their own ways, they turned on eachother and have not stopped fighting themselves since.

Their 50 years of war, is why they are such a heap of garbage today.

Not because of Europeans.

And for your knowledge, Muslims sold more blacks into slavery than did Black sell themselves into slavery for Whites.

And the Muslims, sold those slaves mostly to themselves. Not to Europeans (Actually Spaniards, no other European nation had slaves)

DIAMOND LIFE, puts the spotlight on the brutal atrocities committed by the Sierra Leone rebel forces (Revolutionary United Front) and the international diamond cartels, who have been willing to pay almost any price to maintain the artificial value of their gems.

Produced in association with Witness and cut to the haunting music of Peter Gabriel, THE DIAMOND LIFE features interviews with UN officials, top political commentators and Sierra Leone television journalist-in-exile Aroun Rashid Deen.

Link - www.guerrillanews.com...

I have to agree with hammerite. A good deal of the mineral and economic "rape" of Africa that Illmatic mentioned was in fact done by native Africans during the great African Empire period before Europeans arrived. There was already extensive mining systems set up, with thriving metals and metallic goods traded far and wide.

The vast majority of the workforce used in these mine systems consisted of black slaves owned by black owners. Black on black slavery existed for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of Europeans.

It has been proposed that the reason slavery really kicked off as far and wide as it did was because white Europeans arrived and started trade with local African warlords to obtain slaves for the New World. That may well be true. However, as mentioned, black on black slavery was already well established: Europeans did not create it, they only supplied a new market and new income stream to help support it.

Agree with you there Dragon!!

Good to hear from you in Real-time!!

Strange!?

I've lived my whole life in South Africa in a town called Midrand that is not far out of Johannesburg.

I'm a white male, 30 years old and married to a British woman who refuses to go back to England as she feels things are worse off there.

What are you people talking about?
I'm suprised that everybody has so much to say about a place they have never been to!

As for a certain tribe running around with more gold than Fort Knox.
I have never heard of anything so ridiculous.

I am still amazed at the perception the western world has of Africa.
Sure some places are bad and yes there is poverty but did you know that countries such as Botswana and South Africa have higher standards of living than most European countries.

The reason why I can say that is due to the fact that I have actually been to a few European countries and did not thumb suck my info from Discovery channel.

[Edited on 11-11-2003 by Jo]

Originally posted by Jo
Strange!?

I've lived my whole life in South Africa in a town called Midrand that is not far out of Johannesburg.

I'm a white male, 30 years old and married to a British woman who refuses to go back to England as she feels things are worse off there.

What are you people talking about?
I'm suprised that everybody has so much to say about a place they have never been to!

As for a certain tribe running around with more gold than Fort Knox.
I have never heard of anything so ridiculous.

I am still amazed at the perception the western world has of Africa.
Sure some places are bad and yes there is poverty but did you know that countries such as Botswana and South Africa have higher standards of living than most European countries.

The reason why I can say that is due to the fact that I have actually been to a few European countries and did not thumb suck my info from Discovery channel.

[Edited on 11-11-2003 by Jo]

WHAT NO COMMENTS YET?!?!?!?!?!

So no where is all the bad stuff about SA?

Mmmm seems the ignoramuses have fled to the hills or on a jet to enjoy wonderful South Africa.

WOW!!!

It's about time someone said it the way it is!

Jo, Im proud of you!

Mine's on pg. 3, the 5th and 6th posts on that pg.

www.belowtopsecret.com...

TY 4 this post deepwaters.

Here is bit more ammo for you Jo to support South Africa:

www.homecomingrevolution.co.za...

www.sagoodnews.co.za...

South Africa is the 32nd best place in the world to do e-business (tied with Poland), according to the Economist Intelligence Report.

South Africa is the best-ranked country in terms of price stability, our fiscal policy is ranked 11th, our international trade competitiveness 21st, and we are the 28th most-attractive destination for foreign direct investment, according to the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005

South African business owners of mid-size companies are the second most optimistic worldwide about their economic prospects of the year ahead, according to the annual Grant Thorton International Business Owners Survey for 2005.

South Africa houses one of the three largest telescopes in the world at Sutherland in the Karoo

South Africa is the first, and to date only, country to build nuclear weapons and then voluntarily dismantle its entire nuclear weapons programme

South African media ranks 26th out of 167 countries in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index, ahead of the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan

The value of South African real estate improved by 30% over the past 5 years

Since 1994, 500 houses have been built each day for the poor

Tax revenue in SA has increased by 220% over the past 10 years

In 2004, 8.7 million people benefited from access to Social Grants

The number of tourists visiting South Africa grown by 116% since 1994

Over the past 5 years, Consumer Confidence in SA has improved by 43%.

In the global measure of women in Parliament, South Africa ranks 8th in the world.

Of the 10 LSM levels ( LSM1=poorest; LSM10 wealthiest ), the average SA family located in LSM6

The current police to population ratio is 1:350.

Of the 230 countries in the world SA ranks 25th in terms of the size of its economy (measured in $US)

South Africa has the longest wine route in the world.

South Africa ranks 2nd in the world for export market diversification and 14th for shareholder value.

That four of South Africa's banks rank among the world's top 500?

In 2003 85% of South Africans are functionally literate compared to 63% in 1994.

In 1994 SA exported just under R4billion a year in cars and car accessories. Today they are worth R40billion.

South Africa has the 5th most productive labour force in the world.

South African tap water is rated amongst the purest in the world.

The average South African business can hold its own against any like-sized competitor in the world.

The JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) is the 15th largest stock exchange in the world

Exports have grown 93% as a proportion of total manufacturing output since 1994.

Murder rate has decreased by 19% in South Africa since 1994 compared to 5% for the rest of the world.