View from a Watchers Point of View

Posted on Apr 25, 2007

Every now and then we like to scan some international newspapers to check out what they’re saying about either Johannesburg or South Africa.  Often their reporters have an “outsiders POV” – so to speak- and are able to write about situations with less emotional attachment than us local journo’s.  Simply put, they often tell it how it is with little or no homegrown bias, hidden agenda’s nor editorial policy at play – it’s interesting to compare.

So today we’re sharing some of their stories with you… under the international buzzwords JOHANNESBURG, 2010 and CAPE TOWN. We search Reuters, the New York Times and the Times UK.

JOHANNESBURG
Reuters is a good place to start.  Reuters is like the mothership of journalism, their writers and photographers are spread throughout the world, all sending their words or images back to the central planet for distribution to outlying stars.  Their local correspondent Rebecca Harrison recently wrote a feature entitled: “Witness: Pizza and machetes: living with crime in Johannesburg” which shed’s light on the day to day motions of living in Jozi.  You know how the perceptions go… I say Jozi you say crime… Jozi…?… Read more here.

“One break-in, one stolen car, one gate ripped from its hinges, an attack for a slice of pizza and two men ambling through the garden with axes: do you stay until you’re killed for a cell phone?

I have lived in Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic capital, for about 2-1/2 years and have been a victim of six different crimes.  Thankfully, none was violent. But after the latest break-in at my house in broad daylight, I am starting to wonder what will happen next.

Crime in South Africa is haphazard. Some people, even those who have lived here a long time, have never directly experienced any crime at all.

But plenty of others I know have suffered badly, including one who was shot in the arm and another who was tied up and locked in the trunk of her car while burglars looted her apartment.

These incidents pale in comparison to the murders that fill the newspapers: five small children killed and piled up in a bath of soapy water, or three women beaten, stuffed into washing machines filled with chemicals then strangled with ropes. “

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2010
The muchos respected New York Times (hope you all read the fantastic NYT supplement free every Sunday in the Sunday Times Lifestyle section) talks about 2010 with the headline “South Africa vs. Itself, in Race to Get Ready for World Cup”  (you may need to subscribe to read this story). The article is written by Joao Silva and was published on the 22 April. Read full story here.

“A giant race is on to renovate airports, build a high-speed rail link from Johannesburg’s airport to the suburbs and erect or renovate stadiums here and in eight other cities. Thousands of new police officers must be hired and trained; hundreds of buses purchased; an untold number of bed-and-breakfast inns rated and registered. It is at once nerve-racking and exhilarating, South Africa’s own slow-motion, nail-biting contest with itself.

As the first Africans to stage one of the world’s most popular sporting events, people here are exquisitely aware of their chance not merely to burnish their image as the continent’s leader, but also to erase a whole host of stereotypes about Africa and its people.

They insist that they will be ready — and in general, officials with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, say they are pleased with the state of preparations.

By at least some measures, however, South Africa is cutting it perilously close. In early January, Joseph S. Blatter, FIFA’s president, complained that the margin allotted for delays in stadium construction had been eaten up even before building began.

Work has now started on all five new stadiums, after a series of legal challenges and budget problems. Renovations of five existing stadiums are either under way or imminent. Still, South Africa’s organizers say that the timetable is so tight that even a three-week rain delay could wreak havoc.

Building a modern transportation system almost from scratch in three years may be even more difficult, analysts say. Then there are the dauntingly high crime rates and the fact that no one is sure how many beds actually exist at the bed and breakfast inns on which many fans must rely.

Keeping the fans safe could be as tough as moving them about. South Africa suffers a daily average of 50 murders, 700 grievous assaults and 356 aggravated robberies. “Who is going to be interested in spending a significant amount of money coming here on holiday to have a good time when you are concerned about the possibility of getting hurt?” Eric M. Bost, the American ambassador here, said last November.”

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CAPE TOWN
Lastly, a look at a UK publication, the good old Times.  Looking for Slaapies on the site gave us numerous options however tourism stood out boldly.  Cape Town has for a long time been considered a “must see” destination all over the world… we gotta get those folks to Jozi too.  Read the full article here.  We love the “babymoon” concept!

On the kloof in Africa
Claire McDonald found that being pregnant was the perfect excuse for a bushman’s ‘babymoon’

Mission
To go on a “baby-moon”, a couple’s last blast holiday before they become parents. “Isn’t that just a clever marketing ploy by travel agents?” ask friends, who invariably don’t have an exotic two-week holiday booked. Maybe so, but who cares if it means another rites-of-passage holiday? At four months pregnant I felt it was my duty, and my right.USP
Deciding where to go was easy. As it was February, it had to be somewhere hot, so probably long haul (as it would be the last long flight for a while, our carbon conscience was eased). But anywhere with dodgy water or potential for runny tummies was out. I’d always fancied going on safari, so South Africa it was. Bushman’s Kloof, a reserve and retreat set in 7,500 hectares (18,500 acres), is 200km (125 miles) from Cape Town, in the Cedarburg Mountains, where there is no risk of malaria. And with only an hour’s time difference, jetlag wasn’t a problem.