Lock Them Up and Throw Away the Key

I'm a huge survivor fan, the American version. I could watch that show for hours and never once having the inkling to change the channel. However, I started watching the South African Survivor, the celebrity season and although it's gotten a bad rap in the media, I sort of enjoyed it. I don't like the fact that we piggyback on the American shows, but show me a country that doesn't do that? They've set the benchmark.

So while watching one evening, one contestant stood out for me, Jub Jub.....What's in a name you say? His arrogance and ego mania made me quite angry and I was disappointed that South Africa was being represented by a person like that. However, he left, due to a "life threatening" rash and I was happy to continue watching. But a shocking and bone chilling story has hit the media in full force about this South African rap star, that is sure to have the country reeling for some time to come.

Firstly, the charity that he had chosen to support didn't exist. It was actually a fund set up by his mother. Pocketing money that was supposed to have gone to charity.....it makes the skin crawl. But it gets worse, much worse. Jub Jub and a couple of buddies decide to drag race on a two way street in Soweto, drunk and high on cocaine and landed up killing four school children when they crashed, which we all know was inevitable. Certain rules in this life apply purely for safety reasons, it's not a hard concept to grasp.

I cannot even begin to imagine how the parents of those young boys must feel right now. Four senseless killings at the hands of a person who is clearly a detriment to the South African community. This is a man, that I am quite certain, has been put up on a pedestal by many young South African children, aspiring to live the rap stars dream. And this is the example he sets. Drugs, stealing, drag racing and just an overall attitude that reeks of arrogance and selfishness.

I believe that justice needs to run it's course and that these men MUST be held accountable for their reckless actions. You're not a hardcore rapper if you haven't gotten yourself locked up but somehow I don't think our Jub Jub is going to make it in the merciless prisons of South Africa. In everything there is a lesson to be learned, get ready Jub Jub, this is going to be a hard one. To the families of the victims, we send our condolences.

High Flyers

News reports indicate that the 15 South African Airways crew members who were arrested in London on drug-related charges are getting off, high and dry. British authorities have dropped all charges on the SAA staff who were due to appear in court in London after they were apprehended with 50 kilograms of Mary Jane and apparently some snorting snow supplies hidden in their bags.

What was really shocking about the story was that it didn't just happen once but twice, within weeks of each other. So you can imagine the synchronised eye roll from members of South African tourism, government, SAA (we assume), media and the general public at the thought of another demerit in the Global Behavioural Tally. Another one. Generally speaking, very few get the benefit of the doubt so everyone immediately assumed their guilt (nothing says "drug smuggling" like 50kg's of The Green Dream, you know what I'm saying?). There were some who went with the theory that these drugs were actually in spiritual support for the English Rastafarian's, a bit like the missionaries who smuggled Bibles into Communist China, but its unlikely.

Tourism usually keeps things in perspective though. While some are still expecting politicians to change and complaining about government, inflation, the recession and service delivery, the South African tourism industry can guarantee Table Mountain, a hole in Kimberly, the Cape Wine Route, the Battlefields in KwaZulu Natal, game reserves, beaches, modern cities and rural villages, ex President and legend Nelson Mandela and the Big 5.

So what if our drug exports make the news? We've got fynbos for goodness sake. Fynbos. And safaris (the British love that). I do have to admit though that the charges seemed to have been dropped without much fanfare, wheeling, dealing, none of that. Suspicious? I know I am. But for now, we'll assume that all is indeed well. just be sure to pack your own bags on an SAA flight, bless them, and if the offering extends beyond chicken and beef to dope and crystal meth we'll start to worry.