Girls will be Girls

Parents of 27 girls who were expelled from a school in KwaZulu-Natal are taking on the authorities. The pupils were kicked out of the school hostel after being accused of being lesbians. Parents are demanding the school take the learners back or they will take the matter to court. It all started after two girls were apparently seen kissing in a dormitory. They were apparently reported to the principal who then allegedly forced the high school girls to identify all those with similar relationships. All sounds like a storm in a b cup to me. With South Africa having a high rate of school pregnancies surely some fooling around between consenting girls is minor stuff. Let the girls get back to classes! South Africa has the most liberal constitution in the world and this case has caused a lot of head scratching. At what age can one be protected against discrimination on gender grounds. We await the outcome of the hearings. There is no truth in the rumour that the Katy Perry song "I kissed a girl and Liked it" has been banned at the school. Stay tuned!

Elephants and Mad Hatters

Have we moved into the realm of the Mad Hatter? South Africans are accustomed to weird and wonderful happenings but this one ranks pretty high. An internationally acclaimed artist Andries Botha becomes famous for his Elephant sculptures. The Durban City Council thinks it’s a good idea to have some placed at a strategic entrance to Durban. He duly proceeds with the project. All of a sudden one of the ruling party heavies stops his SUV on the freeway and demands that work on the sculptures cease forthwith. The "heavy" says elephants are the logo of the IFP opposition party and have no place in an ANC run city. When the deputy mayor is asked for clarification he says "the commission must have “slipped through the cracks. What they really want is the “Big Five” to be represented" Council will debate the matter further. In the mean time the Durban Metro becomes the laughing stock of the art world.

Peace or Pieces

At a Peace workshop today in Durban an interesting group of people gathered to discuss how to get along with each other. The occasion was to celebrate twenty years of Mandelas release and the Mandela foundation was the main sponsor. Durban's Albert Park has had its own share of xenophobic attacks. Last year foreigners were thrown to their deaths off buildings. A local city councilor has been accused of instigating the mob and was apparently captured on security cameras. The very same man was a guest speaker today. Truly the world is a strange place. Also present was a man who claims to have walked from Kenya a number of years ago. He believes there should be no borders and people should be free to go where they please. He dresses in traditional Massai regalia and is well spoken. For more info check his webpage http://www.maasaiwarrior.com

House of Death

Eleven children and adults died in this house. Burnt beyond recognition. Sarah Holland was one of those people that was called to help others. She took in in all those in need be they orphans or just people down on their luck. Twenty one of them lived in this farm house just outside Newcastle in Kwa Zulu Natal South Africa. Somehow a fire started early in the morning and pandemonium ensured. Screaming children were overcome by the smoke and flames the adults including Sarah managed to pull out ten of them before they too perished. Firemen and police who arrived on the scene were reduced to tears and in a state of shock. Outside the horses, cows, sheep and pigs continued to graze and frolic in the warm sun.Such is life. May they rest in peace.

Enough is Enough

Residents of Ntshawini near KwaDukuza on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast reckon they are tired of asking officials to install speed control measures on this notorious stretch of road. This morning they tore up road signs and threw rocks at cars and then blockaded the road with rubble, rubbish and poles.This after the death of two children who were knocked down by cars yesterday. They say there have been so many hit and runs over the years with no prosecutions. The fire department under a heavy police escort hosed most of the rubbish off the road by midday.