SOUTH AFRICA

Well, you may have heard about the Sri Lankan cricket team that was attacked in Pakistan. Due to further security worries in the Pakistan-Indian area, the Indian Premier League chose to move their cricket tournament to South Africa. I think it may do well here (in terms of ticket sales) since South Africans love cricket. I think it was a good move since India’s government said it could not guarantee security for the tournament which was set to occur at the same time as Indian parliamentary elections. It starts this weekend (Palm Sunday weekend) with exhibition games, but officially kicks off Easter weekend.

A big shocker over here was that South Africa actually denied a visa to the Dalai Lama. Can you believe it? There is a planned Peace Event in Johannesburg that will take place alongside the 2010 World Cup; the event will use the World Cup to promote peace. And the Dalai Lama was coming to attend. But South Africa (possibly due to pressure from China) denied access to the Dalai Lama to enter the country. All the South Africans to whom I have spoken about South Africa’s decision, so far, think it was a poor decision.
The biggest piece of news is the election. Poverty, housing, unemployment, corruption, recession of the economy (only a matter for those gainfully employed or with investments or perhaps for those searching for employment). The election is only a few weeks away in April. And the front-runner, Jacob Zuma, is still facing a future legal battle for corruption. He will most probably become president and face trial while acting as president. But recently, there has been a change. The National Prosecuting Authority (similar to the Attorney General’s office in the U.S.A) is considering throwing out the case which would encourage some and enrage others. An answer should be coming out today (6th April 2009).

I just found out this week that I know two of his daughters. I’ve told you about one of his daughters who I went to church with and produced a show at my church at which the choir first performed last June. The other one was much nicer to me and always made me feel welcome. She called me Victor Hugo all the time but sadly moved to Joburg (there are more acting opportunities for Black South Africans there). She came to visit last weekend. She reminds me of issues of race that plague this country, even within the church (where there should be no such partiality).

"When I raped my cousin," one 14-year-old says, "I didn't know I was going to get AIDS, and I didn't know that it was rape."
I wanted to share an article about rape. The article, from which comes this quote, estimates the annual number of rapes to be in the tens of thousands. My actual estimate is somewhere in the hundreds of thousands. I’m guessing tens of thousands probably means reported rapes. But with statistical extrapolation, my guess would be somewhere around 500,000 in a year. Just a guess. I do know not many are prosecuted. The article says maybe 24 in 25 rapists walk away with no punishment. So it’s a huge problem. Remember the country has only above 45 million.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102654478&sc=emaf