IS STRIKING THE WAY TO GO?

Truck drivers’ strike continues!!!

 

Parked trucks
Source: Gallo Images/Thinkstock

 

Striking now feels like normality in South Africa, to me as well. I tune on the news they are talking about a new strike. I get that they want wage increase, fair packages but what happened to unions communicating with the management for better deals? After the horrible strike of Marikana you would think that people have learned but no another strike bursts.

  

"Even if we fail to convince the employer on Wednesday, we will continue with our protest until the employer meets our demands," Vavi said, Reported on Times Live (02 October 2012).  The truck drivers are demanding a wage increase by 12, 5% but they have so far talked about them getting only 8.5 this year and 0.5 % next year.

This is affecting South African economy in such a way that because the company truck drivers are not working and this brings delay of transporting goods. Any truck seen on the road will be burned and the driver will face serious consequences, and this is making the fathers, brothers and bread winners very nervous.

Stop truck striking campaign

As Public Relations, in dealing with this matter it will be very good to sit down the unions and management sort this dispute out as soon as possible because people's lives are in danger. Making sure that the image of the truck owning companies does not get bad publicity as well.

The question remains: IS STRIKING THE WAY TO GO?

For more information on the strike please click the link below:

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2012/10/02/truck-driver-strike-will-continue

WAR IS YET TO DISPUTE

Picture:http://en.wikipedia.org.
Jacob Zuma the president of south africa.

The battle of the ANC nominations of the new members of the parliament is yet to come at the conference that is going to be held in Mangaung. The conference will be held during the month of December (Reported news24, 26 September 2012).

“Infuse a young leadership into ANC…we need to be led by our own” said Mr Lamola the deputy president of ANCYL.  First of all he is sending out the message that the current President is not one of their own and that statement is being questioned what he meant about that.  

The students of wits made it clear that they are fully supporting the following members of the parliament to be the next effective members:

·         Kgalema  Motlanthe (deputy president)

·         Julius Malema(Expelled ANCYL president)

·         Fikile Mbalula (minister of sport)

The wits students want Mr Motlanthe to be president, Malema to go back to his old position and Mbalula to be their general secretary. These nominations will bring the party to fight against each other. What is going to happen at Mangaung is exactly what happened to the former President Mr Thabo Mbeki.

Picture:http://www.telegraph.com
Expelled ANC Youth League Julius Malema

As a public relations practitioner I say that before heading to the conference in December, the parliament members who had the deciding vote talk and make it clear that whoever votes makes sure they choose the best candidate for the job not as a friend. In the conference there will be press that I will organise as well.

RISE KHOSI RISE

what a great and strong come back for Amakhosi. 



Kizer Chiefs logo

The old time and well known football club Kaizer Chiefs also known as Amakhosi which has been in the Motaung family for years now. From Kaizer Motaung who is now CEO and chairman of the club to his son Bobby Motaung. Kaizer Chiefs now is at the top of the charts again. Every child in the streets is bragging to be the next Siphiwe Tshabalala someday.

Amakhosi played on Saturday (15 September 2012) and they were leading with 2-0 already and it was still the first half of the game. The people who saw the game were amazed because abafana bokuthula noxolo had so much energy and hungry for a win but unfortunate the game had to be postponed for Wednesday 19 September 2012 due to weather conditions.

The team played well as a whole but people who made it all possible for a win are:

·         Bernard Parker (midfielder)

·         Siphiwe Tshabalala (striker and 2010 world cup goal scorer)



Siphiwe Tshabalala (middle)



Before it was even half time they were leading by a goal and FNB stadium was packed with most Chief’s supporters. When they returned for the second half, Siphiwe Tshabalala the Amakhosi striker helped Kaizer Chiefs to a 2-1 victory over Black Leopards in a replay of Saturday’s premiership fixture at the FNB stadium (Reported on sport24.com).

It was reported that also the leopards had their fair chance of scoring but it did not happen. Leopards came out of the interval firing, with skipper Nkosiyabo Xakane slamming his shot into Khune's side-netting, coming close, seconds after the break. That was a very close attack.

It clearly shows that Amakhosi’s Practitioner has been working overtime because since they came back there has been a change in them. They have changed their attitude, strategies and most importantly dropped the perception of that they are a big and famous team and played whole heartedly.

For more reading on sport please go to:

http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/PSL/Chiefs-surge-to-top-spot-20120919

 

MALEMA SIT DOWN PLEASE!!

Follow up on Lonmin workers strike

Expelled ANCYL President Julius Malema
(www.google.co.za/images)

Expelled ANCYL President Julius Malema is misleading the mine workers by telling them to strike until their demands are met. Malema summoned the mine workers to a meeting on Tuesday (11 September 2012) to tell them they need to strike Five (5) days a month until they get what they want (Reported on news24 12 September 2012). For the past years, Malema has been a strong persuader because he knows what the people want and need and that is when he gets in, manipulates the situation.

 

A cartoon by Zapiro showing members of the ANC
(www.google.co.za/image)

"There must be a national strike at all the mines until (National Union of Mineworkers' secretary general) Frans Baleni and the union's leadership step down with immediate effect" said Malema.

Malema is using desperate people and their situations as a platform to fight their battles with ANC. He is playing hero so that he acn hurt the people who expelled him even though he was wrong.

Our organisation does not condone violence and the fact that workers are not happy is a priority. A campaign will be launched to look into the needs of the miners and the involvement of Malema into the situation.  

What example is he setting? He says he will fight until bitter end to go back to ANC because it is all he knows but are these majors he is taking to do so? The question still remains.

for more information please follow the link below:

http://www.fin24.com/Companies/Mining/Malema-Strike-five-days-a-month-20120912 

WHO IS TO BLAME?

Lonmin strike leaves the nation mourning.



Police at lonmin mine
Picture by:www.google.com



The story has been to every broadcasting station (television and radio) and print media (newspapers and magazines) since last week. The Lonmin mining workers have been on strike since last week and it has turned from being a strike to an event of horror. Police opened fire to a group of striking workers on Thursday (16 august, 2012) killing 34 workers and 74 were injured (Reported on News24).



Parents of the victims at the memorial service
Picture by:www.googleimage.com

The total amount of the people who passed on resulted to 44 and 260 people was arrested. Amongst the people that died were 2 police officers and 2 security guards. At a later stage, it was reported that the wives of the striking workers also joined the strike saying that they will support their men . The miners only wanted a wage increase and they took it to the streets. Today there was a memorial service  of the fellow workers who lost their lives. Amongst those who attended were :

• ANCYL spokesperson Floyd Shivambu
• Police Minister Richard Baloyi
• Rustenburg Mayor Mpho Khonou
• Suspended ANCYL President Mr. Julius Malema



Anti-violence campaign
Picture by:www.google.com


There is a video that was linked it shows that the protesters fired first. The reports state that they were carrying dokipiri, spears, knives and guns. At this point lives are lost and we will not point any fingers. There is a campaign to stop violence towards each other. Let us stop killing each other and violence does not solve anything it only makes matters worse.

Is that we are teaching our children as a nation that if we do not get what we want we hurt each other?

For more information please click the link below:

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Malema-union-attending-miners-memorial-20120823



JUSTICE IS SERVED ATLAST.

If this is what justice in South Africa looks like, then I am in love with it!!!



Thabo Bester
Picture by: www.googleimage.com



Thabo Bester also known as the "Facebook rapist" was sentenced to life in prison on Monday, 12 August 2012 at the Western Cape High Court (Reported on IOL news). The charges that took the final straw on him were those of luring and murdering Nomfundo Tyhulu September last year. Bester and Nomfundo met in Sandton last year where she worked as a car dealer. Bester was there at the dealership and he purchased a BMW car.

He is now called a Facebook rapist as he used the site to his advantage to lure young girls who are looking for jobs. This has become a common thing for criminals to use social networks as a tool for them to assault and kill girls. He also used this site to take advantage of needy girls to assault and rape them.

Bester has been charged with other criminal offences before such as:

· 50 years in prison for raping and robbing two models

· 15 years for each count of rape

· 15 years for on each count of robbery

· 5 years of each robbery sentence was dropped



Stop Abuse Campaign
Picture by: www.google.com



A Public Relations campaign will be done to send out a message to other rapists who are doing the same thing. Justice is there and coming to get all of them as it has done to Thabo Bester. Let us fight against women and children abuse. HAPPY WOMEN'S MONTH.

CASTER SEMENYA HAS DONE IT AGIAN!

We accept the silver



Silver winner Caster Semenya
Picture by: www.googleimage.com



Caster Semenya has experienced difficulties for the past three years concerning her gender. At the age of 18, when she won the world title in a stunningly fast 1 minute, 55.45 seconds. Today that is history she is an Olympic medallist too. She was forced to undergo tests because they believed that no woman can run as she did. She won a silver medal on Saturday 11 August 2012 in the 800m at the London Games (reported the star sport).

 As she went to accept the medal she did not show any resentment and she was quick to congratulate the winner, Mariya Savinova. Mariya Savinova, three years ago was scrutinized for issues other than her athletic performance before being cleared to compete.

Semenya gained attention in 2009 before the World Championships in Berlin, not for her athletic prowess, but because some questioned the then18 year Old’s gender. Her masculine appearance had raised concerns and complaints to the International Association of Athletics Federations, the governing body for all international athletic competitions outside the Olympics. “Unfortunately it was too late. I’m happy with the silver but I know the coach is not really happy,” Semenya said. “I tried hard to get back but the body wasn’t really on fire today. But I had to fight.”

Below are the top 25 medal standings by the Canadian Press, 2012:

1

USAUnited States

46

29

29

104

2	CHNChina	38	27	22	87
3	GBRGreat Britain	29	17	19	65
4	RUSRussia	24	25	33	82
5	KORSouth Korea	13	8	7	28

24

RSASouth Africa

3

2

1

6

The event was a big success as the team SA is coming back home on the 14th of this month. Everything went according to plan and big up to the organisers and the teams.

For more information please kindly click the link below:
http://www.thestar.com/sports/london2012/athletics/article/1240856--london-2012-caster-semenya-wins-silver-medal-in-olympic-800-metres



Caster Semenya
Picture: www.goole.co.za



Gold Winner Mariya Savinova
Picture by: www.googleimage.com



SOUTH AFRICA'S GOLDEN BOY.

 London 2012 Olympics.



Picture by:
Washington Post, ABC, China-mike.com, CBS News,
and The New York Post

The London 2012 Olympics Games Opening Ceremony took place at 9pm on 27 July 2012. The Summer Olympics began Friday, 27 July 2012, and ends Sunday, 12 August 2012. It was one of glorious moments when Cameron Van Der Burgh became the first person to win the Gold Medal. Reported on Sport24 (Sunday, 29 July 2012). He made history on Sunday as the Olympics took place in London. He is 24 years old, very polite and humble. After his performance every camera men and the members of the public wanted a piece of him and he just stood there, let them take photos and answered their questions. He formed a world-record time of 58.46 seconds and crushed the rest of his team mates. Cameron has been to every Newspaper on Monday to show how happy South Africa was.

"It's a feeling I can't describe right now, it has been a lot of work in the making. Everything has paid off tonight," he said. Those words he said them while holding his medal in front of the whole world. They were competing in a 100 M group and Van Der Burgh finished in a time of 58, 46 seconds and 0, 12 faster than the previous record held by Australian Brenton Rickard.

  

The top three (3) is as follows:

· Cameron Van Der Burgh of South Africa in a time of time 58.46

· Christian Sprenger of Australia in a time of 58.93

· American Brendan Hansen who was third in 59.49.

In a Communications point of view, this event was well planned in such a manner that all the participants got to London safe and so far the department have not received complaints.  

For more information click the link below:

http://www.sport24.co.za/OtherSport/Olympics2012/Cameron-van-der-Burgh-The-perfect-race-20120729



 Cameron Van Der Burgh (www.googleimage.com) 







SHOCKING: WE ARE FACING RAPE CRISES IN S.A

                                   Crime on CAUD

 

Lana Stevenson
(http://www.googleimage.com/)

Rape, human trafficking, robbery and fraud, They are all types of crimes that are being committed every day, But since the story of a 17 year old teenager being gang raped broke to the public everyday on our screens somebody is being raped. E news prime time reported yesterday (02 may 2012, 19:00) that a 12 year old boy who has been abusing his 3 year old baby sister has come forward to give the reasons why he was committing such crime. The names of those who appeared were changed to protect them in order for the community not to attack them. "I go to school every day to find peers talking about porn and girls and curiosity got the better of me, when i got home my parents told me to look after my 3 year old sister and that was when i started raping her" said the young boy. It is unbelievable that there are still children who talk like this because the parents were assured that the kids will learn about such at school.





US SA Kids protest (www.googleimage.com)

US SA Kids protest

(www.googleimage.com)

He then continued and said "when I started doing it, I just wanted to know why people talk and have sex all the time. At first I did not feel anything but as time went on, I could not stop even though I knew what I was doing was very wrong". In South Africa sex is linked to manhood, so when a male does not have a girlfriend or she refuse to sleep with him, he then resorts to rape to prove his "manhood". Their victims are usually the ones who are week, cannot defend themselves and sad enough in most cases that will be children. I believe that it is the parent's duty to teach the children about sex. In the olden days it was believed that talking about sex was a shame but things have changed and parents must be able to talk to their children about sex. Parents should not only speak to the girl child, But also to the boy child so that they know how to handle the curiosity stage. Their perceptions needs to be changed and I believe this is what this campaign will do. The Public Relations Practitioner can launch a Stop Rape Campaign and involve an organisation called People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA) and go door to door all over South Africa to speak to parents about violence against children.

For more information on POWA, follow the link below:

Organization URL Link:  http://www.powa.co.za



POWA CAMPAIGN IMAGE
(http://www.googleimage.com/)

PROUD MOMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Not everything about South Africa spells crime, violence and drugs. Today, Thamsanqa Matsane was made the first Black Commander  http://www.flyafrica.info/forums/showthread.php?48344-First-Black-officer-takes-command-of-SA-submarine in Africa. He made us all proud today and his dedication and hard work definitely has paid off. He took over Commander Neville Howell at a ceremony at Simon’s Town Naval Based in Cape Town. He enlisted in the South African Navy in 1998 and today he is a commander. I say 14 years of being patient, sleepless nights and, and, and. He obviously was determined that after this time he will be somewhere and he is.

 “Lucky for me some hard work paid out and I became the Commanding Officer of the submarine today,” Matsane told defence Web. “I’m proud of being the first (black) African to be in command of a submarine,” Matsane continued, “It was hard work to get here, this is not a place where you can just be given command. During training, in 48 hours you might get just two hours sleep, or no sleep at all.” Thamsanqa describe working at the submarine as dangerous but I also think danger is everywhere so people should put determination first and they will achieve their dreams. The statistics has on record that between 1960 and today people that has qualified to be submariners are 1050 and I think that is not enough. People need awareness that there is more to being a teacher, engineer and all other careers, even women can do this job but it is all about being stereotype this could be changed. Matsane is prepared to take on the task ahead and train those who are still waiting to qualify. Thamsanqa can speak to the management on how they can organise a Public Relations person to go address the students about what is really happening in the submarine. This campaign can  raise awareness about their organisation on what it really supply and deals with. This will give the students awareness on that they are not limited the can actually take submarine as a serious  career.  "Everything is about practise" http://thinkexist.com/quotation/for-me-it-s-a-proud-moment-to-be-here-today/550775.html

Matsane and boards on SAS Queen Modjadji I

www.googleimage.co.za 

First Black officer Thamsanqa Matsane
www.googleimage.com

TURNED INTO A SEX SLAVE.

Crying out for help. Image by Galo images

A 17 year old Soweto teenage girl went missing on March 21 and was found yesterday at a 37 year old man's home who stays in Braamfischerville. "The girl often goes missing and it is her mothers negligence", says Soweto community. They are putting the blame on her mother of which at the end it contradicts their statement to the one the sister of the victim has told ETV news crew. Well I personally think that it is not the mother’s fault that all this has happened to her child. Her older sister spoke to the ETV crew and explained that their mother even quit her job just to be home more and look after her younger sister but even that did not stop her from going to have a jol. Later today, the girl was cross examined and she was declared mentally unfit. What does that mean for the accused? It means life in prison. The video of a gang rape was circulating on the Internet and social networks that includes Twitter. To me, this means that after this was done they turned into new media for a show off of what they had done therefore, they do deserve serious jail time. Amongst the co-accused were two minors who are just 14 years of age. The kids are raping other kids, where are they getting such behaviour? and why the elders allowing such?. It is such a shock that the young men of the world are behaving like this. Honestly, nobody has a right to touch you even if their excuse is that you were wearing a short skirt. No means No and today's society thinks No means Yes.

Stop violence campaign(http://www.googleimage.com/).

There is always something extra to be done. If it means do it over and over again then let us do it. An anti-rape and violence campaign against women and children will be hosted until the rapist and women abusers get the message. We, as women of today are strong so I say let us fight for our rights.

Luxury cars, Lavish lifestyles for selfish reasons.



Ekurhuleni Logo(www.googleimage.com).

Mercedes-Benz that was bought by the fraudsters(www.googleimage.com).

It is no surprise that South Africa is still faced with serious corruption. Wednesday, 11 April 2012 it was reported that R21m tender fraud - Mercedes-Benz, Porsche seized (www.news24.com). Properties, luxury cars and trucks owned by suspected fraudsters were spotted by law enforcement agencies on Wednesday the NPA said. They were acting on behalf of the Ekurhuleni metro municipality, which was defrauded of more than R21m in a computer tender, said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga.

"In the combined operation with the Hawks, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), and the Anti-Corruption Task Team, we seized 12 residential homes, several trucks and 27 luxury cars and motorbikes," Mhaga said. amongst the cars that were found, there were very expensive models of cars such as BMW,Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. All the above mentioned cars are very expensive and it is a shock that 27 cars of these models were found. According to Mhaga, Valero David was the sole member of a company, Meropa Sechabeng Technology, which was awarded a computer tender by the municipality. sadly, he is related to Nilesh Singh who is the executive director of the municipality's computor department. This is what is happening in our country, poor people vote for their representatives and at the end this is what happens.

www.googleimage.com

After the tenders were awarded to them, they brought all the cars even for some members of their families as part of celebrating. David, Singh and Mphushomadi were arrested by the Hawks last year and appeared in the Pretoria Commercial Crime Court on fraud and corruption charges last July.Their case is scheduled to continue on July 2 this year. As a Public Relations, i will not rest until fraud in our country decreases. I will host an anti-corruption campaign  to fight for the our country.

Fraud is a very serious crime, Report suspected fraud to the SAFPS helpline: 0860 101 248

Is it poverty or just women with criminal minds?

Footage of a girl stealing  (www.google.com)

It is a shocking discovery that women of today do such things to their own children. Reported in News24.

 On Sunday, 25 March the owner of a store in East Rand Mall reported that she discovered that three women came to the shop and directed a girl child to go and steal two portable PlayStation Vita video game that are worth R3000 each. While the child followed the orders, the three women distracted the staff. The description of a young girl is set to be aged between 5 and 6 years old. The shop owner continued and said that the child then returned, gave the women the consoles and they all walked calmly out of the store. Non of the staff members noticed this until one had to do a stock taking on Monday morning, then remembered that there is a child that often comes in the shop, looking exited plays and the go. The owner then took a look at the CCTV footage when she saw this shocking doing.

"if they use a child to commit theft, what will they use her for next?" asked Karin Gelde nhuys, the owner of the shop. In this case a child does not know what she is doing is right or wrong but the adults does. They are practically training a child to do all these bad things and grooming her to theft. What kind of a woman does that? are we as women not suppose to love, protect and guide them in the right direction? many questions but still no answer. We live in difficult times in such a way that if these women think that they are doing the child a favour they must think again. There are things like:

• Drugs
• Theft
• Prostitution
• Child trafficking

if a child is drawn into these things, where will it end?

21 march 1960

Sharpeville Massacre, 1960. (www.google.com)

Does this day mean anything to you as much as it does to me?. More than 50 people died on this day in a South African  township of Sharpville. People gathered at a nearby police station for a protest that was referred as a "peaceful" protest when policeman opened fire. Eye witnesses said "men, women and children fled 'like rabbits' as up to 300 officers began randomly shooting into a 5,000 strong crowd outside the municipal offices in Sharpeville". Who gave them a right to take lives? today it is called Human rights day but in 1961-1994 it was called Sharpville shooting day. On Wednesday, South Africa was celebrating the freedom fighters who died that day and honouring how brave they were during the tough times. The celebration was in Soweto and some people felt betrayed by the government's doing for him not to celebrate this day where it actually happened. People were complaining about this day being not celebrated in Sharpville and since they were blaming the President calling what happened "diminishing the role played during apartheid by people there". The president emphasised that this day does not have to be celebrated in Sharpville only, but to other places too because it is not owned by anyone.

However, below is a  time line of South Africa:

• 21 March 1960- scores die in Sharpville shoot out
• 31 May 1961- south Africa becomes a republic
• 10 December 1961- apartheid attacked at Nobel ceremony
• 25 May 1963- African state re-units against white rule
• 12 June 1964- Nelson Mandela jailed for a life time
• 10 May 1994-South Africa becomes a democratic country

political cartoon . (www.google.com).

The developments were made and we are now a free country and to show support, Public relations have to host a Non-violent Campaign in order to show people that we have moved passed the struggle but we Will not forget our fellow comrades who fought and lost their lives for our country.

E-tolling system causes havoc.

E-tolling campaing sign(www.googleimage.com).

On the 7th of march 2012, the streets of Johannesburg were filled with estimated 80 000 people who were protesting against the installation of the E-tolling system. The protest lasted for the whole day and people did not go to work, school and wherever they were suppose to go for that day. With this system, the motorists foresee expenses that are unnecessary that will be added to their monthly bills. The E-tolls will be installed on Johannesburg highways that follows:

• N1
• N3
• N12
• R21

E- toll header(www.googleimage.com).

According to the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), the system is expected to roll out next month. Even though people have protested ,it seems like they will start to function at the end of next month which is April. Cosatu is still planning to strike at the end of march since the government is going ahead with it. Vavi announced that the African National Congress Youth League, including its suspended president Julius Malema, would join the strike. Is this our government's way of improving the economy of our country?. According to the report by Mncedisi Ndlovu & Sedumedi attorneys, Dornier Consulting and Blackmagic raised concerns that no mention out was made of public transport in the SA National Road Agency Limited (Sanral) proposals. This means that the government made a decision with the people in parliament about the E-toll and they saw the benefit out of this. As a Public Relations Practitioner, speaking in a communications context, what has happened is not good for our country and it has brought bad publicity for the government. The country has lost a lot of money because of the strike that took place on the 7th earlia this month. If the strikes continue as planned, this might be the start of our country's economic downfall.

If you would like to hear some more on the E-tolling system, view the debate below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzVqp8Gc08g