Repentant Car Hijacker Explains How it is Done
It’s amazing some of the articles that get circulated around on email – thanks to Del for this one – which is supposedly an interview with a Hijacker by the Star’s Motoring Editor Dennis Droppa. After doing a little reseach, we found the second article below by Anna Crox – we have contacted Dennis to find out if he can give us some more info on the article which was published last year Ju…ly/August in The Star. A repentant car hijacker (28) stole and hijacked cars for more than 14 years before deciding to go straight. Now he is a struggling fashion designer who presents motivational talks at schools in Orange Farm, south of Joburg, discouraging youngsters from doing crime. He spoke to Denis Droppa about the murky world of vehicle crime. Q. 1: Are most cars hijacked on order by syndicates? Answer: Yes, I would get a phone call to deliver a certain type of car by a certain deadline, and then we’d go out and search for one. If they needed it quickly, I would hijack. If I had a bit more time I’d steal a parked car, as it was safer. Q. 2: Which types of vehicles are the most popular amongst hijackers? Answer: We would get orders to steal just about anything. Double-cab bakkies, any make, were in very high demand. Also, “G-strings” (BMW 3-series), Polo’s, Mercedes and Toyotas. I’d get paid a lot more for a double-cab, around R16 000, but only about R500 to R6 000 for a car. If it was an expensive car like the “Anaconda” (BMW 7-series) I could get about 15 grand, though. Q. 3: Which cars have the lowest hijack risk? Answer: There’s no such thing. There’s a demand for all sorts of cars, old and new. If the vehicle isn’t sold then it’s stripped for spares. The only thing there isn’t really an interest in is expensive exotics. I once stole a Ferrari from a garage just for fun, drove it around for a while and then left it back at the garage. Q. 4: Do most of the cars that aren’t stripped end up beyond our borders? Answer: No, a lot stay in the country. They are given new identities, re-registered and sold here Q. 5: How effective are modern anti-theft and tracking systems? Answer: When I was stealing cars three years ago, most of them were a joke. I could break into almost any car and drive it away within minutes. Some cars were very advanced and a lot of work to steal though, like Volvos. With tracking systems, it was usually very easy to...
Represent Fashion Tips for the Boys
Laugh your head off if you must but we tell you all about it before it happens…watch this space and hang your head in shame… HI TOPS are back – remember those gross shoes from the 80’s? Well they have shrugged off their slime and come back bigger and bulkier and brighter than ever. They may look similar to Converse in this pic but they’re much fatter and bigger. These Nike …SUPREME COURTS are available at about R400 in South Africa. Or go to second hand shops in Boksburg and you’re sure to dig up a pair from the relics of 80s cool. PLEASE NOTE: On another tip – in an attempt to rid society of the Eastern Bloc BUFFALO scourge that seems to stick around and gather bad taste dust, we give you this appeal – pass it on to all that you know- Buffalo’s are just so not cool, if you know anyone with a pair of BUFFALO’s BURN the buggers. If they ever come back into decency you can buy a new pair and that will be…...
Jozi’s biggest turn on – Coke in the city.
We’ve been wondering what the strange new flashing signage is in downtown Joburg (see Hillbrow tower post) …well all has been revealed! It’s the new Coca Cola 3D 4-sided LED magnificent billboard and it’s with us for the next 5 years. We have to admit it looks AMAZING and gives Jozi that ‘NewYorkTokioLondon’ feel. Loving that! Our pic was taken while speeding by on the highw…ay – not v good – just look up at the city and you’ll see it. Or else go to this story on Joburg.org for a better pic and the full story: DOWNTOWN Joburg has a new landmark – a large, state-of-the-art electronic billboard atop the Marble Towers building. The board, erected by Coca-Cola, lights up the city skyline in vibrant colours – the famous red and white combination of the popular cold drink, as well as vivid pink, blue, green, purple and orange. Officially launched on Wednesday, 13 July, the billboard, at the corner of Pritchard and Von Weilligh streets, has been dubbed “Jozi’s biggest turn on”. The board is 44 metres by 32 metres by 12 metres in size, and the four-sided, free-standing towers soar 140 metres above the ground. “As one of the world’s largest free-standing, self-illuminated animated signs – and a first on the African continent – it’s bigger, brighter and funkier than anything we’ve seen in the country to date,” said Delia Maloney, Coca-Cola’s brand manager. The billboard is made up of 1,2 million LED (light emitting diode) tubes. It took three engineers and 15 artisans eight weeks to mount the LED tubes and test each of the 43 500 joints. “With the LED technology we are using it is so much more than just a static, two-dimensional sign with our logo and other branding elements displayed on it” Maloney said. The display of three-dimensional images will enable sponsors to communicate with the public before music concerts, sponsored football matches or on special...
What’s that funny new tobacco stuff called SNUS??
While doing our late-night munchie shopping at our local supermarket i.e. “garage shop”, we spotted these slick little tins with Peter Stuyvesant logos on them sitting in a neat little fridge (fridge?). The friendly guy behind the counter told us they were “tea-bags that you suck”… well he wasn’t far off: SNUS is a brand new new brand of tobacco just introduced by Peter Stuy…vesant to our shelves – it stems from that land of IKEA and blond bombshells, Sweden, where, according to Stuyvesant, more Swedes choose SNUS than ciggies. Here’s the beat from swedish-snus.com and the instructions pack: Snus is a pasteurised tobacco product that looks like a little teabag. It is kept in fridges, you take a pouch out your tin, put it behind your upper lip and let it ‘TINGLE’. Some people keep it in their mouths for up to 30 minutes. Swedish snus/snuff is a ground tobacco product dating from the late 1700s. Approximately 1,000,000 people in Sweden use snus – 90% are men and 10% are women. According to an article on Ebusinessforum SNUS is banned in many EU countries but will be tested on the SA market – “[Snus] is prohibited in other EU countries, but BAT head of science and regulation Christopher Procter showed slides from Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), the anti-tobacco group, that seemed to show it was far less harmful. He quoted Ash saying that snus was over a hundred times less harmful than cigarettes and that the law banning it was contradictory and illogical. Asked whether he thought that snus would be legalised in the EU he replied: ‘There’s not a cat’s chance in hell.” BAT said it would launch snus in South Africa, branded with its Peter Stuyvesant brand, and test it there for a year. South Africa has an advertising ban, so Mr Procter said that snus would have to come with instructions. It also has to be kept in special fridges.” According to our favourite online people’s encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA: “Since snus is not intended nor recommended for inhalation, it does not affect the lungs like cigarettes do, although it does contain more nicotine than cigarettes, and might pose a risk for oral cancer or cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges that Swedish men have the lowest rate of lung cancer in Europe, partly due to the low tobacco smoking rate, but does not argue for substituting snus for smoking, citing that the effects of snus still remain unclear. The European Union banned the sale of snus in 1992, after a 1985 WHO study concluded that “oral use of snuffs of the types...
TWO MUST HAVE CD’s – believe us!
We like to share all things fabulous with our readers – here are two bands that are filling our work hours and play hours – BUY BUY BUY – you may have to buy from Amazon for now or order them from your favourite music shop. PINK MARTINI and LHASA DE SELA. Thanks to Generalista for introducing us to PINK MARTINI an unusual 14-piece band with …the most diverse and eclectic inspiring sounds PINK MARTINI Here’s a review of their latest album “Hold on little Tomato” from the BBC – click here for more: What comes to your mind when you think of a pink martini? A belle ýpoque somewhere tropical? A kind of classy camp that is no more? Glamorous sexuality and silk gowns worn on nights of sin? Well, drink deeply on the cocktail offered by Cuban beauty China Forbes and her 14-piece band (plus her heavenly chorus of male vocalists) and you’ll be sated. Every song on this album is deliciously different. You get the swing of Afro-Cuban rhythms, the existential sadness of Parisian cafý tunes, some Caribbean calypso and then a Hollywood golden-era string arrangement, all of it polished to near-perfection, with the sassy wit of the 1930s and none of the shrinking self-parody of the noughties. China sings in Spanish, Italian, French, Croatian and English, and with feeling and confidence whatever the tongue. Her sidekick Timothy Nishimoto does a song in Japanese, with Forbes on faraway vocals. For the sultry piano bar song, “Veronique”, Robert Taylor sings and plays a wistful trumpet against the tinkling keys of Thomas Lauderdale, the force behind most of Pink Martini’s lyrics and scores. It’s cabaret showtime throughout, delievered by a band that loves live performance. ***************************************************** And thanks to our very own Aquoibon for sharing this incredible voice with us – LHASA DE SELA. Her unique voice is haunting and reaches deep into your soul. The recent career of Canadian singer/songwriter Lhasa de Sela brings new meaning to the expression ‘runaway success’. After sales of her first album “La Llorona” (1998) went beyond cult status to something approaching ballistic, she took fright at the prospect of international stardom. Feeling overwhelmed by the extensive tours of Europe and North America she ran away to France to join her three sisters, who were travelling with a circus. (Pic and info Courtesy of BBC – click here for the rest.) We love them.. Hope you do too. For more info see their sites: PINK MARTINI LHASA...
Proudly brought to you by:
