OZ ATV :: The Australian ATV Forum

[WHATEVER]

Sorry to put a damper on you guys. Just a little information, if you wondering why there are soooo many South Africans in Aus ...

Why crime is destroying the fabric of our society!

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary
act." George Orwell, 1984


WHY I'M FLEEING SOUTH AFRICA
by Anne Paton (widow of Alan Paton)

(London Sunday Times)

I am leaving South Africa. I have lived here for 35 years, and I shall leave with anguish. My home and my friends are here, but I am terrified.

I know I shall be in trouble for saying so, because I am the widow of Alan Paton. Fifty years ago he wrote Cry, The Beloved Country. He was an unknown schoolmaster and it was his first book, but it became a bestseller overnight. It was eventually translated into more than 20 languages and became a set book in schools all over the world. It has sold more than 15 million copies and still sells 100,000 copies a year.

As a result of the startling success of this book, my husband became famous for his impassioned speeches and writings, which brought to the notice of the world the suffering of the black man under apartheid.

He campaigned for Nelson Mandela's release from prison and he worked all his life for black majority rule. He was incredibly hopeful about the new South Africa that would follow the end of apartheid, but he died in 1988, aged 85.I was so sorry he did not witness the euphoria and love at the time of the election in 1994. But I am glad he is not alive now. He would have been so distressed to see what has happened to his beloved country.

I love this country with a passion, but I cannot live here any more. I can no longer live slung about with panic buttons and gear locks. I am tired of driving with my car windows closed and the doors locked, tired of being afraid of stopping at red lights. I am tired of being constantly on the alert, having that sudden frisson of fear at the sight of a shadow by the gate, of a group of youths approaching - although nine times out of 10 they are innocent of harmful intent. Such is the suspicion that dogs us all.

Among my friends and the friends of my friends, I know of nine people who have been murdered in the past four years. An old friend, an elderly lady, was raped and murdered by someone who broke into her home for no reason at all; another was shot at a garage.

We have a saying, "Don't fire the gardener", because of the belief that it is so often an inside job - the gardener who comes back and does you in. All this may sound like paranoia, but it is not without reason. I have been hijacked, mugged and terrorised. A few years ago my car was taken from me at gunpoint. I was forced into the passenger seat. I sat there frozen. But just as one man jumped into the back and the other fumbled with the starter I opened the door and ran away. To this day I do not know how I did this. But I got away, still clutching my handbag.

On May 1 this year I was mugged in my home at three in the afternoon. I used to live in a community of big houses with big grounds in the ountryside. It's still beautiful and green, but the big houses have been knocked down and people have moved into fenced complexes like the one in which I now live. Mine is in the suburbs of Durban, but they're springing up everywhere.

That afternoon I came home and omitted to close the security door. I went upstairs to lie down. After a while I thought I'd heard a noise, perhaps a bird or something. Without a qualm I got up and went to the landing; outside was a man. I screamed and two other men appeared. I was seized by the throat and almost throttled; I could feel myself losing consciousness. My mouth was bound with Sellotape and I was threatened with my own knife (Girl Guide issue from long ago) and told: "If you make a sound, you die." My hands were tied tightly behind my back and I was thrown into the guest room and the door was shut. They took all the electronic equipment they could find, except the computer. They also, of course, took the car.

A few weeks later my new car was locked up in my fenced carport when I was woken by its alarm in the early hours of the morning. The thieves had removed the radio, having cut through the padlocks in order to bypass the electric control on the gates.

The last straw came a few weeks ago, shortly before my 71st birthday. I returned home in the middle of the afternoon and walked into my sitting room. Outside the window two men were breaking in. I retreated to the hall and pressed the panic alarm. This time I had shut the front door on entering. By now I had become more cautious. Yet one of the men ran around the house, jumped over the fence and tried to batter down the front door. Meanwhile, his accomplice was breaking my sitting- room window with a hammer. This took place while the sirens were shrieking, which was the frightening part. They kept coming, in broad daylight, while the alarm was going. They knew that there had to be a time lag of a few minutes before help arrived - enough time to dash off with the television and video recorder. In fact, the front-door assailant was caught and taken off to the cells.

Recently I telephoned to ask the magistrate when I would be called as a witness. She told me she had let him off for lack of evidence. She said that banging on my door was not an offence, and how could I prove that his intent was hostile?

I have been careless in the past - razor wire and electric gates give one a feeling of security. Or at least, they did. But I am careless no longer. No fence - be it electric or not - no wall, no razor wire is really a deterrent to the determined intruder. Now my alarm is on all the time and my panic button hung round my neck. While some people say I have been unlucky, others say: "You are lucky not to have been raped or murdered." What kind of a society is this where one is considered "lucky" not to have been raped or murdered - yet?

A character in Cry, The Beloved Country says: "I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving they will find we are turned to hating." And so it has come to pass. There is now more racial tension in this country than I have ever known.

But it is not just about black-on-white crime. It is about general lawlessness. Black people suffer more than the whites. They do not have access to private security firms, and there are no police stations near them in the townships and rural areas. They are the victims of most of the hijackings, rapes and murders. They cannot run away like the whites, who are streaming out of this country in their thousands.

President Mandela has referred to us who leave as "cowards" and says the country can do without us. So be it. But it takes a great deal of courage to uproot and start again. We are leaving because crime is rampaging through the land. The evils that beset this country now are blamed on the legacy of apartheid. One of the worst legacies of that time is that of the Bantu Education Act, which deliberately gave black people an inferior education.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that criminals know that their chances of being caught are negligible; and if they are caught they will be free almost at once. So what is the answer? The government needs to get its priorities right. We need a powerful, well-trained and well-equipped police force.

Recently there was a robbery at a shopping centre in the afternoon. A call to the police station elicited the reply: "We have no transport." "Just walk then," said the caller; the police station is about a two-minute sprint from the shop in question. "We have no transport," came the reply again. Nobody arrived.

There is a quote from my husband's book: "Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much."

What has changed in half a century? A lot of people who were convinced that everything would be all right are disillusioned, though they don't want to admit it.

The government has many excellent schemes for improving the lot of the black man, who has been disadvantaged for so long. A great deal of money is spent in this direction. However, nothing can succeed while people live in such fear. Last week, about 10km from my home, an old couple were taken out and murdered in the garden. The wife had only one leg and was in a wheelchair. Yet they were stabbed and strangled - for very little money. They were the second old couple to be killed last week. It goes on and on, all the time; we have become a killing society.

As I prepare to return to England, a young man asked me the other day, in all innocence, if things were more peaceful there. "You see," he said, "I know of no other way of life than this. I cannot imagine anything different." What a tragic statement on the beloved country today. "Because the white man has power, we too want power," says Msimangu. "But when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted. I have seen it often. He seeks power and money to put right what is wrong, and when he gets them, why, he enjoys the power and the money. Now he can gratify his lusts, now he can arrange ways to get white man's liquor. I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power nor money, but desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it.

I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to
loving, they will find we are turned to hating.
_________________
Mikey got 3rd in the Nationals!!

It would not have been possible without the help of ...
Hustler ATV Racing
Thanks Dominic!!

[Banshee250R]

huh???

dude you lost me after the 2nd line
_________________
Doin skids for the kids and doughnuts for the grown-ups
------------------------------------------------

[WHATEVER]

hehehe ... It is just sad ...
_________________
Mikey got 3rd in the Nationals!!

It would not have been possible without the help of ...
Hustler ATV Racing
Thanks Dominic!!

[toolbox]

all we have to complain about is taxs,the shitty road and no where to ride legally.

[Ferret]

toolbox wrote:

all we have to complain about is taxs,the shitty road and no where to ride legally.

Amen to that
_________________
stock 07 shee

[hammer686]

Whatever I can understand your heavy heart but leave that behind bring your SOH and welcome to the land milk and honey - I think you found a new home.
If ever you get down south my banshee is your banshee - actually its my mates banshee but I know where the keys are.
_________________
Raptor 700

[Ferret]

hammer686 wrote:

Whatever I can understand your heavy heart but leave that behind bring your SOH and welcome to the land milk and honey - I think you found a new home. If ever you get down south my banshee is your banshee - actually its my mates banshee but I know where the keys are.

lol now I'm scared.

*Ferret goes and hides banshee keys
_________________
stock 07 shee

[yogie]

WHATEVER wrote:

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act." George Orwell, 1984

found this, this morning...

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=297055
_________________
2005 KFX700
With a few bells and whistles
and the twin yoshi's
American Star A-arms, tie rods
elka stickers
Shorty Shifter
I have a Waco
rossco gave me a flexx sticker
honda thumb
Great at climbing trees
durablue stickers

[fossil800R]

yogie wrote:

found this, this morning... http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=297055

So much for freedom of speech

Nothing they do over there surprises me any more. All I can say is that thank god when the ship I emigrated on docked for the last time, it was here in Australia.
_________________
I'm not suffering from insanity, I'm enjoying it!!!

Last edited by fossil800R on Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:52 am; edited 1 time in total

[yogie]

yamaha06blaster wrote:

huh??? dude you lost me after the 2nd line

I'm most likly wrong, but, the sad reflection of what society has become and where it is unlikly to stop has created a international middle class transiants.

I suppose its like leaving broadmeadows to go and live in Doncaster because nof the crime, and hoping the crook hasnt lived in doncaster the whole time...
_________________
2005 KFX700
With a few bells and whistles
and the twin yoshi's
American Star A-arms, tie rods
elka stickers
Shorty Shifter
I have a Waco
rossco gave me a flexx sticker
honda thumb
Great at climbing trees
durablue stickers

[Banshee250R]

well said yogie
_________________
Doin skids for the kids and doughnuts for the grown-ups
------------------------------------------------

[cowchaser]

I is sad I spent a couple of weeks in Africa in 1999 fantastic place. I'd love to take Nic back over to show her but their in no way i'd do that at the moment
_________________
Smitty

[WHATEVER]

hammer686 wrote:

Whatever I can understand your heavy heart but leave that behind bring your SOH and welcome to the land milk and honey - I think you found a new home. If ever you get down south my banshee is your banshee - actually its my mates banshee but I know where the keys are.

Thanks dude ... you guys really are fantastic!!!

I just need to get there now ... and it can "take up to another 2 years"!!!
_________________
Mikey got 3rd in the Nationals!!

It would not have been possible without the help of ...
Hustler ATV Racing
Thanks Dominic!!

[fossil800R]

WHATEVER wrote:

Thanks dude ... you guys really are fantastic!!! I just need to get there now ... and it can "take up to another 2 years"!!!

Have you looked at coming over on a working visa initially. We have several guys working for us on 457 visas which allows them to work here for up to four years. It may be a way of getting here sooner and giving you time to sort out permanent residency.
_________________
I'm not suffering from insanity, I'm enjoying it!!!

[WHATEVER]

fossil700R wrote:

Have you looked at coming over on a working visa initially. We have several guys working for us on 457 visas which allows them to work here for up to four years. It may be a way of getting here sooner and giving you time to sort out permanent residency.

REALLY ... I am listening ... What do you do?

I am going through a migration acency ... they are busy with the process. I just want out ASAP ... like today ... if I could!

Anyone wanna give me a job?
_________________
Mikey got 3rd in the Nationals!!

It would not have been possible without the help of ...
Hustler ATV Racing
Thanks Dominic!!

[fossil800R]

WHATEVER wrote:

fossil700R wrote: Have you looked at coming over on a working visa initially. We have several guys working for us on 457 visas which allows them to work here for up to four years. It may be a way of getting here sooner and giving you time to sort out permanent residency. REALLY ... I am listening ... What do you do? I am going through a migration acency ... they are busy with the process. I just want out ASAP ... like today ... if I could! Anyone wanna give me a job?

PM me your e mail address and I will send you the Visa 457 information documents. They will answer all your questions.
_________________
I'm not suffering from insanity, I'm enjoying it!!!

[WHATEVER]

fossil700R wrote:

PM me your e mail address and I will send you the Visa 457 information documents. They will answer all your questions.

Thanks!! PM sent!
_________________
Mikey got 3rd in the Nationals!!

It would not have been possible without the help of ...
Hustler ATV Racing
Thanks Dominic!!

[hammer686]

Anyone wanna give me a job?[/quote]

what line of work are you in/looking for? PM with email address
_________________
Raptor 700

[WHATEVER]

hammer686 wrote:

Anyone wanna give me a job?

what line of work are you in/looking for? PM with email address[/quote]

IT ... PM on its way ...
_________________
Mikey got 3rd in the Nationals!!

It would not have been possible without the help of ...
Hustler ATV Racing
Thanks Dominic!!

[HoleshotQR#24]

the 457 visa is good if you have a university qualification or qualified trade and it is on the list of skills. Take a look at the australian immigration website, i think it is www.immi.gov.au. You should be able to get all the details from here

Like previously mentioned by others, the 457 allows you to work in australia for 4 years ($42K/year salary). I'm pretty sure After 2 years you can apply for permanent residency. With the 457 though you are tied to that employer for the 4 years, if it doesn't work for either party then I think its back on the boat, perhaps unless you can come to a mutual agreement and find another employer to take you for the remainder of the visa.

We've been looking into this as an option for our business.
_________________
Proud Member of QuadridersSA
www.dualroost.com.au

[bigjon]

yogie wrote:

found this, this morning... http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=297055

The tasered guy was an attention whore.
He was asked repeatedly to be quiet and leave and he didn't.
If they started kicking him until he pissed his pants then I would be worried.
Nothing wrong with a good tasering to get idiots to shut up & leave.

Anyway, back to topic.
It's sad to see once a prosperous & rich nation such as S. Africa turn into a hell hole.
_________________
Don't close your eyes during the crash, you'll miss the best part

[yogie]

bigjon wrote:

Anyway, back to topic. It's sad to see once a prosperous & rich nation such as S. Africa turn into a hell hole.

I suppose when the whole mandela and apartiad thing was just a catalyst and the down it came. Maybe botha should not have dug in so hard for so long. Could be like letting the kids run the lollyshop.
_________________
2005 KFX700
With a few bells and whistles
and the twin yoshi's
American Star A-arms, tie rods
elka stickers
Shorty Shifter
I have a Waco
rossco gave me a flexx sticker
honda thumb
Great at climbing trees
durablue stickers

[hammer686]

If stalled on imigration try a boat - one thats going to start leaking inside Australian waters near rescue vessel should work out ok before election.
Don't think Howard will sell that one twice. Note: put pontoons on quads first.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_overboard_affair
_________________
Raptor 700