News24 Picks Up Mbeki Bodyguard Story

Nearly two weeks after the murder of Mbeki’s bodyguard, Captain Francois Ramashile, News24 has finally done a follow-up to the story. As many of you know, I wrote an article about the incident last week and, more specifically, about how it had received rather poor press coverage.

We’re not given much in terms of new information, except that the possibility of a hit has still not been ruled out. The fact that the story has made it back into the media does however mean that we may be getting some more answers in the near future.

Although I’m really pleased that the story’s been featured, I’d just like to point out a small detail: the title of the article is “Mbeki’s Bodyguard Executed?” We all know he wasn’t executed. What we’d really like to know is whether or not he was assassinated. He may have been killed execution-style, but he was not executed. Executed is when you get lined-up against a wall with a blindfold on and a bunch of rifles pointed at you. Usually because you did something that people didn’t like.

Milling About at the Neighbourgoods Market

With the very small gap in the torrential downpours that seem to be the staple of Cape Town weather at the moment, my husband and I managed to squeeze in a session at the Old Biscuit Mill for some long-overdue family time. Located in the heart of Woodstock at 375 Albert Road, the market takes place every Saturday morning between 9am and 14pm. Red brick buildings, frilly flower pots and silver space trailers that may have caused the confusion out at Roswell, all set the stage for this cleverly created vintage experience.

Home of the trendy Shabby Chic, the market primarily caters to what the French would refer to as the Bourgeois Baba Cools or rather as the old quip goes, hippies with gold cards. For all its good intentions, the market is one of those unmistakably see-and-be-seen Cape Town venues, and seems to have become the hunting ground of the film set crew and attached nubiles.

Serving up lavish helpings of organic, wholesome fare, regular visitors can be spotted with large loaves of wood-fired bread and lush veg tucked safely under their arms as they proceed to get rather unelegantly wasted at the bloody mary/mojito tent. This often leads to women with low-slung hipsters inspired by the plumbing industry, sprawling over the plastic-covered hay bales. This seems to be an ideal venue for discussing preferred waxing methods, cigarettes dangling a la Andy Capp. This led my husband to off-handedly remark that should those bales catch fire, nether-region waxing would become a concern of the past.

That said, the charm of the market lies in what it purports to be selling: good, old-fashioned values in the form of Real Food and Slow Living. And we’re all wanting a slice of that home-made pie. My issue is not the market itself, nor the current fad of all things vintage, but rather the fact that we’re all buying into an idea that we could quite easily achieve in our own backyards . Without the premium.

Even the clever name, NeighbourGOODS Market, instead of Neighbourhood Market, hints at our strong focus on product rather than people. Whilst we think we’re reconnecting with the wholesomeness within, we’re really only reconnecting with our bank cards. The reality of a market such as this is that it’s selling ideals. The kind where we all spend time with our grannies, aunts and uncles. Where the dodgy neighbour with the comb-over comes round for scones without suspicions of paedophilia, and is appreciated for his good humour and eccentric scientific dabblings. You see, you really don’t need to waste your hard-earned cash on a so-called antique colander that Aunt Doris would quite happily hand over post-hummus and blinis on some idle Sunday afternoon lunch.

It reminds me of a certain “green” retail outlet that tried to sell driftwood last festive season at R185 a pop. Driftwood – the stuff you get for free at the beach. The irony is that we’re all so busy at the office earning money to buy things we don’ really need and could probably get for free, a dose of sunshine thrown in to boot. I was so appalled by the driftwood incident that it prompted me to unceremoniously cancel Christmas, turning it into an old-school family luncheon instead. No baubels. No trinkets. No tinsel. It was our best Christmas yet.

What we’re actually yearning for is a reconnection, and we’re even willing to buy it. Trouble is, what we’re looking for cannot be bought. We need to start focusing on truly living, and realise that we don’t need to work harder to pay for it. It’s all out there, ready for the taking, gratis.

Mbeki Bodyguard Killed: Silence Continues

It’s been six days since E-TV reported the slaying of Captain Francois Ramashile, one of Thabo Mbeki’s close protection guards. I wrote an article about it when the news first broke, noting how the SA media seemed suprisingly quiet. Since then it has continued to receive poor press coverage, with a few scattered mentions here and there. The silence is so deafening that it’s practically ringing in our ears.

Judging by the recent traffic directed to this site, I am assuming that the public is also waiting on some sort of follow-up to the story. I know I certainly am. After unsuccessfully attempting to track down further information on various media platforms, I made contact with five of our leading news services in the country.

My first call was to a prominent weekend publication where I was informed by a member of the newsdesk staff that she had also noticed that the story had been insufficiently covered. She immediately put me through to their sister paper which publishes daily. The person who answered was unaware of the story, and promptly shuffled me along to someone else. This person claimed “the police have ruled out an assassination,” but then changed tack and said that although my concerns were valid, the story probably just got lost in the current furore over Mbeki’s resignation. When I asked whether she considered the story to be newsworthy , she agreed and said, “We’ll see what we can do.” I’m not holding my breath.

I then called a broadcaster who, although thankfully aware of the story, said that they were currently focusing all their resources on the “constitutional crisis”. Interesting, and slightly misguided, terminology.

My next attempt is the real killer. I called a publication whose investigative journalism is generally to be admired. A gruffly efficient voice said “We’ve been told that it was an assassination, but I don’t think we’ll get very far. The police aren’t telling us how to contact the family. And nobody has given us any reason why he would be assassinated.” I didn’t know that investigative journalism entailed getting other people to do your work for you. Although I’ve never been to Shoshanguve, the home of the late Ramashile, I figure it’s pretty much the same as any local township here in Cape Town, where I’ve spent much time working. My guess is you make a few calls to local leaders and bob’s your uncle; you’ve tracked down the family. As to the reasons behind a possible assassination, well that’s for the reporters to find out.

As a last gasp attempt,  I called another daily publication where, although sympathetic, lack of resources and some other equally vague reasons were cited. They would, however, note down my call and talk about it at 14:00 today. Great.

While I’m not pointing any fingers, I maintain my position on the relevance of this story. Whether Ramashile is just another unlucky blip on our crime screens, or something more sinister, is yet to be discovered. Was this an assassination and if so, who did it and why? Not only does the public deserve to have this information, but more specifically, we need to know if it is in any way connected to the current political context. How can the electorate be expected to make informed decisions when a veil of secrecy is hanging over the death of a high profile public serviceman?

Mbeki Bodyguard Gunned Down: SA Media Quiet

Mbeki’s bodyguard of 13 years was gunned down last night at his home in a township North of Pretoria.

According to ETV reports, Captain Francois Ramashile received three bullets, fatally wounding him. His wife was unharmed and nothing was stolen from his Shoshaguve home. Police have opened a murder investigation, although the possibility of an assassination has not been ruled out.

I unfortunately didn’t have a chance to read the papers today, but I have been looking through my regular online media sites, and it seems eerily quiet out there. Our local media, excluding ETV, have not made mention. Other international publications have however taken note, including the International Herald Tribune, Bloomberg and the New York Times.

Perhaps SA journos are preoccupied with the outcome of the ANC’s National Executive Committee discussions as to whether or not they’ll be asking the President to resign, but surely the uncanny timing of a story such as this is newsworthy?

Is it just me or is it getting a little chilly in here?

Janine Benyus and Biomimicry: Heroes at The 11th Hour

The 11th Hour

I first heard about Janine Benyus and Biomimicry whilst watching The 11th Hour, an environmental awareness film produced and narrated by Leonardo Dicaprio. A documentary-style feature, the film opens with a devastating photomontage of destruction, inter-sliced with commentary from leading scientists and thinkers trying to find solutions to our current state of environmental despair.

Although I found it difficult to take the narration seriously, somehow never quite able to shake the image of Leonardo and Kate quivering on the bow of the Titanic, I do of course applaud the intentions behind the film.

I originally saw it when it first came out, but rented it once again the other day, purely because I wanted to hear more about Benyus and her work in Biomimicry. More specifically, I wanted to listen to her lecture to be found under the DVD’s extras.

Climate Change and The Goldilocks Effect

When scientists talk about the Goldilocks Effect, they’re talking about the factors that would make a planet a likely candidate to host life. In other words, why is there life on earth and not on other planets?

What they’re actually referring to is the distance of the earth from the sun. Almost like the porridge, it’s not to near, not too far, but just right. This perfect balance is very much akin to the harmony found in nature between organisms and systems, each one feeding off the other in a perpetual cycle of life and death. It is the existence of these mutualisms that has allowed organisms to either live, and thrive, or die. Global warming and climate change are now threatening this delicate equilibrium.

The Human Mind and its God Complex

With the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s, we witnessed a shift in how we conducted our lives here on earth. According to scientists, the difference lies in the change from using Current Sunlight to Ancient Sunlight. For thousands of years, the human species used Current Sunlight in order to survive. Governed by natural cycles, we operated on an early to bed, early to rise principal, much like other natural organisms. On the other hand, with the discovery of Ancient Sunlight (oil and fossil fuels), we started using non-renewable sources of energy. Suddenly, we were no longer in synch with Life’s natural rhythms.

Adopting this anthropocentric approach, we became disconnected and started not only to believe, but also demand, a higher ranking in Life’s priorities. Religious texts only confirmed and bolstered our belief in our own superiority and of our dominion here on earth.

This new knowledge, coupled with our own opportunism and greed, led to an acceleration in our history. Now that we were able to clothe, feed and heal with new, advanced technologies, we had a much higher survival rate, with life expectancies suddenly shooting up. In fact, just before the 1800s, we had reached our first billion. This figure doubled in a mere 130 years, and 30 years later, in the 1960s, we’d grown by another billion. That’s a staggering extra 2 billion people in 160 years.

Heat, Beat and Treat

Because of using these non-regenerative forms of energy, we have had to adopt what is known as Heat, Beat & Treat in our design and manufacturing processes.  This system is aggresive, energy draining and wasteful. Not only that, it simlply isn’t sustainable. The mainstay of our industrial civilisation was based on the premise that nature was not only a commodity, but also limitless, which we now know to be fundamentally untrue. Instead of living in symbiosis with our natural environment, we have been beating it into submission. With mother nature on the brink of unleashing her fury, we have reached a tipping point in our existence, and the race for survival has begun.

In comes Benyus, author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature (William Morrow, 1997), challenging conventional thinking about how we design and create our materials and products. She delivers her message of hope with such love and conviction, that it has me wondering why I never had the good luck of a teacher such as her, sadly dropping both biology and science in Grade 10

Biomimicry: Nature as Model, Measure and Mentor

Blue Water Lily

Biomimicry is a multi-disciplinary approach that sees the collaboration of a wide range of fields, including design, architecture, engineering, science & technology, and even art. “Nature cannot afford brute force,” says Benyus, and instead of working against it, we need to ask the question “how would life do this?” She feels that 3.8 billion years of success has proven that there are alternative methods of creation and production, and it is therefore nature that we should use not only as a model, but also something against which we should measure our innovations.

By listening to life’s lessons, we will learn how to make cleaner, better-adapted designs. Benyus tells us that in nature, organisms thrive through optimizing, rather than maximizing. They do chemistry in water, self-assembling by using the least amount of free energy possible, all the while depending on local expertise in a spirit of cooperation and diversity.

So how does the spider make a material that is comparatively five times stronger than steel? And how does the abalone make its shell, a substance twice as a strong as our best industrial ceramics? What about the Blue Mussel that can stick to a rock with an adhesive substance that can dry underwater? Most importantly, how do they manage to do all this in way that is non-toxic, silent and at room temperature?

By closely studying nature’s examples, we will truely be able to move towards a cohesive, clean and sustainable future. This full-integrated approach to our manufacturing will allow us to feed, clothe and heal ourselves using only the lowest impact, energy-efficient processes. From losing 50 to 55 thousand species to extinction every year, we should “begin to see ourselves as simply a species among species, as one vote in a parliament of 30 million“.

Biomimicry, the Individual and the Lesson in Humility

One of the most exciting aspects of biomimicry is the role that individuals have to play. Drawing on your own observations in nature, you will be able to come to your own conclusions. From finding new ways in which you lead your life to discovering more efficient techniques, these investigations are no longer just the realm of scientists. Each one one of us stands naked and humbled before nature.

Benyus believes that in the end, “biomimicry’s greatest legacy will be more than a stronger fibre or new drug. It will be gratitude, and from this, an ardent desire to protect the genius that surrounds us”. She continues her work in the field of biomimicry as a writer, teacher and lecturer. You can find out more about her efforts at the Biomimicry Guild, of which she is co-founder. In the meantime, go outside and see for yourself.

The Mystery Behind Danie Krugel

The recent disappearance of Kerry Winter in Dubai has once again thrown the spotlight on the controversial inventor-investigator, Danie Krugel. The young woman’s family had reportedly called upon his services after she was last seen three weeks ago being brutally assaulted and shoved into the boot of a car by her boyfriend. Dubai authorities have, however, rejected his offer of assistance.

Danie “The Locator” Krugel, an ex-detective of the missing children’s unit in the South African Police  Service, claims he is able to find missing persons using a device that he calls the Matter Oriented System (MOS). Using quantum physics, GPS Technology and DNA samples, his invention allegedly allows him to pinpoint on a map the exact location of missing persons. How the device actually works remains a mystery, as Krugel has repeatedly refused to submit his invention to independent scientific scrutiny, citing concerns over patenting and commercial exploitation. Krugel insists that his invention is still in an experimental phase, and not yet ready for release.

With exposure not only in the tabloids, but also in more mainstream media, Krugel has been labelled everything from crackpot to genius. He first gained recognition after an hour long feature in Carte Blanche entititled, “Fingerprints of Fate”. With Ruda Landman investigating, Krugel pinpointed what he claimed to be the resting place of The Missing Six- a group of schoolgirls that disappeared during the 1980s at the hands of the now notorious paedophile, Gert van Rooyen, and his female accomplice Joey Haarhoff. The pair committed suicide before the police could arrest them, forever taking the secrets of the girls’ whereabouts with them. In 2007, Carte Blanche aired the insert, showing how Krugel, with the help of psychic Marietta Theunissen, pointed out the site where he believed their bodies to be.

5 of The Missing Six

Krugel did indeed find six remains, which were then verified as being human. Four of them, however, were male. Because of the extreme degradation of the bones, the remaining two could unfortunately not be linked to the DNA of any of the girls’ mothers. Although the possibility of a match could not be excluded, the results were inconclusive, earning Landman severe criticism over what was judged as poor investigative journalism.

Madeleine McCann

Subsequently, Krugel was called in to assist in the case of Madeleine McCann, better known as “Maddie”, who had disappeared from the family’s holiday appartment in Portugal whilst her parents dined nearby. After receiving information about his work from the public, the McCanns appealed to Krugel for assistance. Using a hair found on her clothes, he was able to give coordinates of where he believed her body to be buried at the Praia da Luz beach. Careful not to hamper with police investigations, Krugel handed over the information to relevant authorities. According to him, as the focus of the investigations turned to the parents of the girl, nobody followed up on his leads, not even bothering to take sniffer dogs to the site. To date, his claims have not been verified. Whether or not his invention actually works is debatable, but in missing person cases, where time is of the essence, the answer to the question “Where’s Maddie” may never be found.

Earlier this year, the search for a missing man Ray Flanagan, who disappeared whilst hiking in the Outeniqua Mountains, was also called off after efforts to find him proved fruitless. Krugel had mapped out the area where he believed Flanagan would be found. The results were unsuccessful.

Lack of empirical evidence has led the scientific community to dub him a fraud, with often vitriolic attacks on his character to be found in the media and on the blogosphere. One blogger, Dr. George Claasens, Director of Sceptic South Africa, has even challenged Krugel to accept the James Randi Education Foundation Challenge. The Prize is a $1 000 000, which will go to “anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event”. Still, Krugel remains unmoved.

Yet while critics label him  a quack, according to media reports, private investigators and police officers continue to make use of his services, which they claim have been very helpful. Krugel himself claims a 80% success rate. On his website, ostensibly set up to not only give him exposure, but also, judging by its title “Danie Krugel Facts“, to debunk the myths surrounding his work. A portfolio of news coverage samples, as well as glowing testimonials from satisfied “customers” bear witness to his work over the last few years. Included are even letters of appreciation sent to him by members of SAPS, as well as a recent document allegedly submitted by a panel of experts and specialists, backing the efficacy of his invention. A small preface to his site interestingly also states that his services are free, and he claims to pay his own accommodation and travel expenses. According to reports, he says his motivation lies in the satisfaction he gains from providing answers to distraught family members and loved ones. He maintains he’s no psychic, and insists that his success can only be attributed to his invention.

So where lies the answer to the mystery that is Danie Krugel? Dedicated hero or unscrupulous fraudster, here is a man spending considerable energy and ressources for what could be described as little personal return. Is it that he’s simply a man hungry for media attention, or is there something more to his claims. The truth may never be discovered, yet somehow it seems that many would like to believe in the power of his miracle invention, however fanciful these feelings may be.