south africa

“I am being briefed on those investigations‚ in fact I was briefed yesterday on this very matter‚” said Abrahams.

John Jeffery‚ the deputy minister of justice‚ added that he had been raising concern regularly with Abrahams as there were recommendations for three people to be charged.

“The Nokuthula Simelane matter is in court‚ those people have been charged but there are delays as there is dispute around legal representation‚” said Jeffery.

Abrahams said “challenges” within the criminal justice system‚ including lack of resources and investigative capacity on the police’s side and in the NPA‚ were hampering their work.

They’re the dedicated pair of journos who’ve introduced many a city slicker to the pleasures of the South African platteland through the pages of three successful books on the Karoo and numerous articles for the likes of Country Life magazine.

It has been more than a decade since freelance writers Julienne du Toit and Chris Marais traded in their hectic, big-city lives in Jozi for a change of pace in a comparatively quiet and unpretentious Eastern Cape town.

“We chose to live in Cradock because of the people in this town: hardy, authentic, mostly friendly and blessed with a special sense of humour,” Chris and Jules say.

“In its own way, Cradock is also a beautiful town in a remarkable mountain setting and, for us at Karoo Space, the perfect geographical springboard for our regular travels into the semi-desert interior of South Africa.”

Following their move here in 2007, the two award-winning journalists became independent publishers. Now, along with countless other “semigrants”, they present the case for relocating to the countryside in a new book, Moving to the Platteland, which is due for release later this year.

“If you ever wanted to swap the urban rush for a fuller life with wide open spaces and more hours in the day, then Moving to the Platteland should be your faithful companion,” they reckon.

The full title of the book is Moving to the Platteland – Life in Small Town South Africa and it will be launched at the end of July at the Schreiner Karoo Writers’ Festival in Cradock.

While researching it Chris and Jules not only drew on their own experiences but on those of many of the city-turned-country dwellers they have interviewed over the years.

Some of the fascinating characters they have encountered now also feature in a slide-show themed Creative Karoo. Whether in Cradock or Calvinia, Clarens or the Tankwa Karoo, Chris and Jules find interesting and engaging personalities and faithfully document their remarkable stories.

The slide-show was screened at last weekend’s Karoo Food Festival and the responses were so encouraging they are now planning to take it on the road to coincide with the launch of the new book.

“We’ve got a gig with our band, Ginger’s Fault (which includes another Karoo author, Antony Osler, on bass, his brother Maeder on harmonica and Ginger Seipp, the banjo maestro from Cape Town) at the Williston Winter Festival at the end of August,” Chris says.
“And then, sometime early in September, we’ll begin our launch trip down to Cape Town, starting with Prince Albert. But more on that closer to the time.”

• The couple’s current stock of books is available in print and e-book formats on their website at www.karoospace.co.za. Look out for Karoo Keepsakes, Karoo Keepsakes II, Road Tripper – Eastern Cape Karoo, Shorelines, Coast to Coast, The Journey Man – A South African Reporter’s Story and, later this year, Moving to the Platteland.

In sync with the seasons

The National Prosecuting Authority is to prioritise the prosecution of people linked to the murders of anti-apartheid activists.

National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams revealed in parliament yesterday that there were about 15 cases the state was considering for possible prosecution, including the murders of Victoria Mxenge, the Cradock Four and trade union leader Neil Aggett, among others.

“We are absolutely committed to delivering justice to the victims of crime, especially the victims of past atrocities,” Abrahams told journalists at a press conference held before the presentation – by Minister Michael Masutha – of the budget policy statement of the justice department.

Abrahams said it was regrettable that matters arising from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) had not been given “the preference they should have been given in years gone by” but that significant progress has been made in the past three years in addressing them.

“I personally made a decision that the perpetrators in respect to the disappearance of [Umkhonto weSizwe combatant] Nokuthula Simelane must be prosecuted.

“I personally made the decision and recommendation to the minister of justice in relation to the reopening of the inquest into [anti-apartheid activist] Ahmed Timol’s matter,” he added.

The inquest into Timol’s murder was reopened last year and it found that he was murdered and did not commit suicide.

It also recommended that three individuals be investigated for possible prosecution.

Deputy Minister of Justice John Jeffery said he has been raising regular concern with Abrahams as there were recommendations for three people to be charged.

“The Nokuthula Simelane matter is in court, those people have been charged but there are delays as there is dispute around legal representation,” said Jeffery.

Abrahams said recommendations have been made to him in respect of the Aggett murder and he has referred the matter back to the prosecutors and directed that further investigation be conducted.

He also sought to assure SABC journalist Lukhanyo Calata that “TRC matters” were high on the NPA’s priority list.

Lukhanyo, the son of Fort Calata – a UDF activist who is one of the Cradock Four murdered by the South African police in 1985 – had asked Masutha about the government’s commitment to ensure justice for victims’ families.

My Father Died
for This by Lukhanyo Calata
and Abigail Calata (Tafelberg)

When the Cradock Four’s Fort Calata was murdered by security agents of the apartheid machine in 1985, his son Lukhanyo was only 3 years old. Thirty-one years later Lukhanyo, now a journalist, is one of the SABC Eight.

He has defied Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s reign of censorship at the public broadcaster by writing an open letter declaring: “My father didn’t die for this.”

With his wife Abigail, Lukhanyo brings to life the father he never knew and investigates the mystery that surrounds his death despite two high-profile inquests.

A poignant and inspiring journey into the history of a family, the book traces the
struggle against apartheid, beginning with Fort’s grandfather, Rivonia trialist and ANC secretary-general Reverend James Calata.

The introduction is by anti-apartheid activist Paul Verryn.

Ministry of Crime: An Underworld Explored by Mandy Wiener (Pan McMillan)

Wiener is one of the country’s best known and most credible journalists and, as an investigative reporter, has uncovered some incredible but true high-profile cases.

A follow-up to the bestselling book Killing Kebble: An Underworld Exposed (2010), Wiener’s latest tell-it-all examines how organised crime, gangsters and powerful political figures have been able to capture the law enforcement authorities and agencies.

According to Wiener, these various organisations have been eviscerated, hollowed out and left ineffective.

They have been infiltrated and compromised and, as a result, prominent underworld figures have been able to flourish in South Africa, setting up elaborate crime networks with the assistance of many cops.

She traces an underworld trajectory from Kebble to prominent underworld figures like Radovan Krejcir after having gained exclusive access to on- and off-record interviews with underworld characters and police officers at all levels.

Similar to The President’s Keepers, this explosive and immaculately researched book tells a frightening story of how frighteningly intertwined the worlds of politics, law enforcement and organised crime are.

The “Ministry of Crime”, says Wiener, runs from the very top ranks of senior politicians and high-ranking police officers all the way to the murky depths of the underworld.

‘Speak No Evil’ by Uzodinma Iweala (John Murray)

On the surface, Niru leads a charmed life. Raised by two attentive parents in Washington, DC, he’s a top student and a track star at his prestigious private high school.

Bound for Harvard, his prospects are bright.

But Niru has a painful secret: he is gay – which is an abominable sin to his conservative Nigerian parents.

No one knows except his best friend, Meredith, who appears to be the only person who doesn’t seems to judge him.

When his father accidentally finds out his secret, the fallout is brutal and swift.

With her own troubles to deal with, Meredith finds she has little left emotionally to offer him.

As the two friends struggle to reconcile their desires against the expectations and institutions that seek to define them, they find themselves spiralling towards a future more violent and senseless than they can imagine, in which neither will escape unscathed.

Speak No Evil is a novel about the power of words and self-identification and who has the power to speak for other people. 

There was a brief period in the mid-1980s when a rural town brought to life what the Freedom Charter meant by the ideal “The People Shall Govern.”

It was 1985 and that town was Cradock. More specifically it was the township of iLingelihle – the home of Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkonto and many other heroes of our Struggle.

The three, together with Oudtshoorn teacher Sicelo Mhlauli, would later become known as the Cradock Four.

They were murdered by an apartheid hit squad after being ambushed while returning home after a UDF meeting they had attended in Port Elizabeth in mid-1985.

Like the indomitable Gauls of my favourite childhood comic books, Asterix and Obelix, who held off the Romans, the people of iLingelihle would not be moved.

Cradock would show the blueprint for resistance for the rural oppressed of South Africa to counter apartheid in a way the government of the day would never have anticipated.

It moved the apartheid government to contrive a village council of apathetic leaders to control the municipality with the town as one of its guinea pigs. But they were no match for the formidable civic movements of Cradock, aligned to the UDF and formed by teachers and activists Calata and Goniwe.

In the first few days of January 1985, these council officials eventually relented and resigned in the midst of a 15-month school boycott as part of a tireless campaign by the community and its leaders. Cradock – and specifically Goniwe and Calata – was a headache for the apartheid regime.

This brief window of self-governance, free from the reach of the brutal regime, is described in a new book My Father Died for This, co-written by husband and wife team Abigail and Lukhanyo Calata.

Lukhanyo, the son of Fort Calata who was just 3 when his father and comrades were murdered, writes of that time: “The resignations of the members of the town council had effectively rendered iLingelihle a ‘liberated zone’.

“The small location boasting around 24000 residents was no longer governed in any way by the apartheid government.

“The people of iLingelihle through Cradora (Cradock Residents’ Association) were governing themselves. They, and they alone, were the ones deciding the kind of future they wanted for themselves and their children. The people of my home town were now the masters of their own destinies.”

How powerful is that? In the months that followed, the people indeed governed.

The community started a literacy programme for those affected by the school boycotts and opened a crèche as well as an advice centre to administer grants for the aged, children and disabled.

The Cradock Youth Association was responsible for community safety. Lukhanyo’s mother, Nomonde Calata, recalled that during that period iLingelihle had been virtually crime free.

Apartheid brigadier Joffel van der Westhuizen wrote in a report: “Goniwe played a prominent role in the aforementioned revolutionary onslaught in the Eastern Province. He was one of the leaders of the United Democratic Front and to the best of my knowledge, Cradock was the very first town in the Republic of South Africa where they successfully implemented alternative structures (of government).”

But such an uprising came at grave costs. In June 1985 a plan was made by the state security cabinet and endorsed by PW Botha to assassinate Goniwe and Calata.

Abigail and Lukhanyo take great care in their book to establish the genesis for activism in Cradock with the arrival of Lukhanyo’s great-grandfather and Fort’s grandfather, Canon James Arthur Calata.

Canon Calata worked tirelessly for decades to improve the lot of black people in the town. His work eventually saw him elevated to secretary-general of the ANC, succeeded years later by Walter Sisulu.

Canon Calata took his grandson Fort under his care and would lay the foundation for activism in Lukhanyo’s father. The legacy from grandfather to grandson would set the tone for iLingelihle’s resistance as Fort later joined forces with Goniwe.

In the unfolding chapters, Lukhanyo movingly documents the harrowing days of unrest leading up to the murder of his father and the rest of the Cradock Four. He writes of the powerful funeral that followed, which bolstered the resolve of the people even further.

He then bravely and painstakingly details the betrayal by the very movement the Calatas had played such a seminal role in to help liberate South Africa and the lingering agony that his father’s killers were never brought to book.

As one reflects on this book just days after another celebration of our liberation this past Freedom Day, we dare not forget. My Father Died for This makes sure we never forget the sacrifices made by so many for that freedom.

Also read: Calatas are an ordinary couple who are extraordinarily brave

* Follow more of Abarder’s musings on Twitter – @GasantAbarder.

“The alleged cellphones were reported stolen from a local furniture store in Hartswater. The cellphones and many items including television sets‚ electric appliances were stolen during service delivery protests where looting was (the) order of the day. Two arrested police officers were also seen being part of community members who looted business premises in Hartswater and Pampierstad.”

They were arrested after Crime Intelligence‚ Counter Intelligence‚ the K9 Unit‚ Tactical Response Team‚ Public Order Police and Hartswater Police followed up on information that implicated them in the looting of businesses.

“One of the suspects was found with a cellphone in his possession‚ while other phone was found at the other suspect’s house. The suspects were handed to the IPID for further investigation‚” said Tawana.

Last week marked a milestone in South Africa’s democracy, Freedom Day; however, the day garnered mixed reactions, with some lauding the fact that SA has come this far and others saying that their freedoms are limited as [they] have felt excluded.

The royal family also had a new addition; this, coupled with the upcoming royal wedding, has the family in the public’s fave spot.

The Democratic Alliance and Patricia de Lille are also a talking point as a new motion of no confidence in Cape Town’s mayor has shown that the numbers may or may not be stacked in her favour.

Dr Eve explores new thoughts on an old institution: marriage, it has opened up an interesting conversation around some of the approaches which society has placed on coupling.

Take some time out of your long-weekend activities and indulge in a bit of early-morning binge-reading of our best offering from the blogs desk.

1. Verwoerd’s Great-Grandson: ‘Dealing With The Past Is By No Means Easy’

Verwoerd’s great-grandson wrote for HuffPost: “This challenge — of dealing with the past — is by no means easy. It involves, in whiteness’ case, questioning those whom you hold dearest and value most – previous generations of relatives.” Read more.

2. Land-Reform Success Hinges On Trust Between Public And Private Sector

Agricultural economists Wandile Sihlobo, Tinashe Kapuya and land policy analyst Theo Boshoff write about the fundamental factors in the land-reform debate, highlighting that trust needs to be built in order to ensure the success and sustainability of the land programme and the agricultural sector. Read more.

3. [EXTRACT] ‘My Father Died For This’: The Agony Of Fort Calata’s Death

When the Cradock Four’s Fort Calata was murdered by agents of the apartheid state in 1985, his son Lukhanyo was only three years old. Thirty-one years later Lukhanyo and Abigail Calata unpack the events leading up to his father’s death. Read more.

4. Relax, Folks, AfriForum Is NOT Prosecuting Julius Malema

AfriForum wishes to create the impression that it is pursuing and prosecuting Julius Malema, but this is not true. For AfriForum to announce that it is prosecuting Malema is taking liberties with facts — the announcement was 30 percent fact and 70 percent fiction; a cocktail of political communication, writes Lukhanyo Vangqa.

5. Five Handy Tips For Vicki Momberg And Company

Momberg has become the poster child for unrepentant bigoted behaviour that seems to beset our society almost 25 years after the end of apartheid. It is unclear whether it is simply ignorance or downright hatred of those different to themselves that motivates such repugnant references to fellow South Africans, but one thing is clear: instead of the use of demeaning words receding into the past, their use remains rampant today, writes Jeanette Buis.

6. DA Scores Spectacular Own Goal – Cutting Down Their Tall Poppy

Ferial Haffajee writes that the numbers may not be showing it yet, but the DA is going to have to fight to keep Cape Town. Haffajee notes that the DA governs with a big majority, but that with the Ramaphosa effect and the water crisis and now the distractions of the De Lille debacle, mean the party goes into the 2019 election fighting a defensive strategy rather than the offensive one it would have preferred. Read more.

7. ‘If Royalty Is A New Religion, I Think I’m An Atheist’

Do I care what the new royal baby is called? I’m not sure I do, because if royalty is a new religion, I think I’m an atheist, writes John Davenport.

I woke up one morning recently, April 1 to be exact, to find that my life’s calendar had gently tipped over into that big number that all us Baby Boomers fear: 65.

There was no rush of blood, no feeling of excitement or despair. In many ways it was just another day. I woke in a strange bed, that of the Lowlands Country House and Manor, somewhere in the middle of the beautiful Karoo, roughly halfway between Steynsburg and Cradock.

It was the third day of a five-day cycling tour through the Karoo (www.gkcycle.co.za) and was my personal “retirement” gift to myself and family. Far better than yet another boring old lunch with a group of grey and greying people, whether family or friends. That would come later.

This was a gift of a different kind to myself: to be doing something exciting with the people near and dear to me: wife, children, daughter-in-law and step-daughter. I recommend it to anyone as a sort of passing out gift. We cycled well (over 220 kilometres in total) and saw some parts of the hidden Karoo which very few South Africans see. Do it: you owe it to yourself and the Karoo. And if you haven’t been on a bike for 20 years or more, fear not, the world of electric bikes has also reached the Karoo.

It also got me thinking about retirement. Or the fact that the traditional retire-at-65-and-live-happily-ever–after as a lifestyle simply does not exist for me. And I intend on keeping that way for as long as I can…..

And the truth of the matter is that it exists for less and less people in South Africa today.

I look around me, at friends, family and even clients, and I battle to find someone who has retired in the traditional manner — namely retire and draw down on your capital until you die. After all, wasn’t that the dream sold to you 20, 30 or even 40 years ago? For the rapidly dwindling number of retirees who managed to remain on defined benefit funds, this still might be an option, but the chances of their incomes keeping up with inflation is also dwindling.

Who moved the finishing line?

Wasn’t 65 (or 60, or 55 or whatever age) the finishing line? That’s when life suddenly turns into this blissful age of carefree living and travelling, depicted in so many grotesque ways by these nauseating images of this perfectly preserved older couple with perfect teeth, hair and skin. I so hate those images that are still dreamed up by 25-year old marketing yuppies who have had no experience in life.

I think all advertising related to retirement should be drawn up by people already retired. All financial planning should be done by people aged 65 and older, who have seen it all. I too find myself in that category. More than 25 years ago I sat down and penned a little book on retirement, called How To Plan for a Happy Retirement. I cringe today when I read what I wrote so many years ago…

However, the book The Amazing and Scary Truth About Retirement (2002), which I penned with Bruce Cameron, was a bit more realistic and reflected a more experienced approach to the curved balls that life throws our way. In the book we warned as follows:

“Your retirement is not what you think it is going to be. Therefore, throw out any preconceived notions that you may have about how you will retire. A radical new paradigm is developing that will change how you invest and dream for the future.”

See what a little bit of real-life of experience can do to blind idealism?

The book tried to warn people planning their retirement about the drastic changes heading their way, not least the dramatic increases in longevity, economic uncertainty and lower investment returns. We furthermore warned that “putting money away for retirement is a postponement of gratification”. But, even at that time it was clear that the average South African was not saving enough, rather spending money hard and fast on conspicuous consumption.Today, a mere 15 years or so later, we are seeing, first-hand the implosion of retirement dreams all across the country. The collapse in residential property prices and the lacklustre growth in the SA stock market has just added to this problem. For many, retirement is going to be a cold and lonely place.

My inbox is often filled with these hard-luck stories. “I have X-amount to invest but I need to draw about 15% of the capital annually to pay all my expenses.” Most financial advisors have similar stories. And the expenses? These include the boat at the Vaal, the beach house in Plett/Sedgefield, maintenance to the ex-wife, children still at school etc. We all carry battle-scars. And this can go on for another 20 to 30 years until the money runs out at some stage, which it will.

Some rules about retirement planning

Here are some universal truths for everyone planning for or approaching retirement:

All retirement planning projections are bound to be wrong. In a perfectly predictable world, they might have some value, but we don’t live in a perfect world, especially not in SA. Stock markets can crash (1987, 1998, 2008), companies go bust (Steinhoff etc.) and global macro events often make a mockery of long-term forecasts. Think about those poor investors who put all their trust in gold and precious metals all those years ago. Gold shares have lost 70% to 80% of their value over the past 20 years. Or imagine having a couple of farms today as your retirement plan.

Ten years or so ago I came across many investors, for instance, who created these (perfect) retirement portfolios on a spreadsheet, based on buy-to-let properties with rising incomes and capital values without any bad debts, a collapse in the property market or errant tenants not paying their rent. Today this a very real nightmare for thousands of amateur property landlords. Property prices on average are down by about 22% in real terms over this period of time. In many parts of the country, property has lost all its value.

Even stock market projections can be dangerous. Take the last three years for instance. Most pension funds or stock market portfolios have not beaten the average inflation rate of 5.4% over the same time. Go and check yours if you don’t believe me. And it doesn’t look like turning around very soon. I previously wrote about the destruction former pres. Jacob Zuma has wrought on the private wealth of SA’s citizens.

They often don’t make allowance for the unforeseen. Life comes with things such as death, divorce, bankruptcy, betrayal or bad health, often blindsiding your meticulous preparation. You cannot plan for these things, yet more often than not we all have to deal with them. Who teaches you those skills?

My advice is to plan for a very long and often active life after retirement. The unofficial retirement age for those who can afford it or is able to arrange their affairs in such a manner, is now well into the 70s and soon, like the Japanese, will be in the 80s.

Your health is almost as important as your wealth. A recent study by Swiss bank UBS reveals that high-net-worth individuals (assets of more than $1 million) will gladly give up to a third of their wealth to live a longer and healthier lifestyle. There is also a very strong correlation between longevity and wealth: the wealthier you are the longer you tend to live, by almost 10 years when compared to less wealthy people. Money buys you better medical treatment, better nutrition and more time to exercise.

Also, plan your post-retirement career. I often come across retirees who immediately embark on a post retirement career, either consulting, assisting spouses or children in their businesses or even starting their own small business. I had lunch the other day with investment guru Mark Mobius, formerly with Franklin Templeton, who on his retirement at the age of 81 earlier this year immediately started a new global fund management company. Warren Buffet manages money at the age of 86 while his partner Charlie Munger is 93 — both of them still mentally very sharp and able.

The best advice I can give people approaching retirement is to simplify their lives. Scale down in almost all respects. Sell that second or third car, likewise the property at the coast (which must be the worst investment for most, in any case), scale down from the mansion to a small cluster and give all your accumulated rubbish away. You are never going to use/repair that old fridge, microwave, couch or broken lawnmower gathering dust in the garage. Oh, how we accumulate rubbish in our lives! But keep your old wine, whisky and all those books that you have been planning to read … “one day when you are retired”.

Consolidate all your investments into a coherent portfolio, one that you understand and can sustain you for the rest of your life. Your investment strategy in retirement should (in theory) be simple for most people. How much capital do you have? How long will I live? And what income do I require? Will it be enough? If it’s not — spend less.

Finally — externalse a great deal of your assets. I know I have been saying this for a long time but it bears repeating. SA is not creating much wealth as a country. Invest for yield in SA but look for long-term capital growth elsewhere. The past ten years in the property market and the past seven years in equity has shown this to be the correct investment strategy. I don’t see this changing. I somehow remain suspicious and cynical about Ramaphoria, and so seems the rest of the markets.

And don’t forget that cycling trip in the Karoo…..

*Magnus Heystek is the investment strategist at Brenthurst Wealth. he can be reached for ideas and suggestions at magnus@heystek.co.za