Industrial Sunset

The dreaded loadshedding has once again popped up its ugly head and showing us that Eskom can't even organised a party in a brewery and that is saying it nicely. Yes the incompetence of our government leaves lots to be desired, in fact Trump can run a government better, or can he?

Anywho, I now needed to find some dinner for the family as we Connect group tonight and our house is in darkness. I first had to rush to Catbox to buy dog food as we were out, then to find a pizza joint that wasn't in darkness too. Eventually I found one in Krugersdorp and this is the photo I took waiting for my pizza to be prepared.

I call it an Industrial Sunset because with the railway tracks and the street lights having no power, all I had is this glorious sunset, oh and pizza on the way.

Still Burning

 

I am still in shock with the phone call I got just before lunch seeking a comment about a death which happened this very morning. At first I didn't know what the person was talking about, then I thought they must be lying, surely it can't be true, then I had to sit down.

The across the valley in Mordor was still burning, although today the news of the death in a tragic car accident of Nkokheli its head, shook my previous company where I worked. So while the fires still burn on the other side, the conspiracy theories begin.

Fires of Mordor

 

Looking across the valley into Mordor, I can see the smoke of lots of small fires burning away along the steep sides of the valley. The lands of Mordor is mentioned in the Lord of the Rings and is home to the dark lord Sauron. I call Mogale City, Mordor as it is the home of Bosasa, where I once did work. 

Standing on my deck, I watched the tiny flames causing lots of smoke and I think about the dark lands of the evil empire of Mordor.

Mist Rolls In

The Jozi weather is slowly changing from summer into autumn. We had a lovely summer thunderstorm mid afternoon then the mist rolled in. Silient fingers of white mist was creeping down into the gorge though the veil of low clouds. Standing on my deck hoping to catch a lovely sunset, the mist had this sinister feel to it with not a sound of birds or other wildlife.

Sunset Competition

After Matthew’s awesome photographs on Sunday with the sunsets in the kloof, I would be hard pressed to compete but today’s sunset just happened to present itself to me and I could not help myself.

Living on the edge

Part 2 of my 50th birthday celebrations is a Photowalk into the wilds that are my back garden ending off in a Cheese and Wine Sundowner. I invited the Joburg Photowalkers and my friends to this event which was aptly called Living on the Edge and quite a number did turn up.

Since I was the host and tour guide into the kloof, I gave Matthew my son my camera and these are a few of his images that he took except the bottom one of me and my Tardis cake which was taken by my friend Zoe. The Tardis cake was difficult to cut on Friday because it was so beautiful. Anyway we did get round to cutting the cake this evening after the Cheese and Wine. More of Matthew’s photos can be seen on my Facebook album Living on the Edge.

Doom to keep your Virginity

Well who can’t argue that this is the sign of the times here in South Africa. The silly season is well in progress and the year well must simply end now. On Friday, my second cousin was tragically killed in a motor accident at the young age of 25. The scary thought is that it is the same age that his dad died, also tragically at the age of 25. This annus horribilis must end already.

The first well the little town of Krugersdorp out here on the West Rand of Johannesburg has only one large gym and that gym in Virgin Active. Yeah I know an oxymoron as if a virgin were active; he or she wouldn’t be a virgin no more. Anyways now Krugersdorp is getting competition in form of Planet Fitness, hence the sign that Krugersdorp is soon to lose its virginity, BOOM!

As for the next sign, well a few weeks back a story broke out here in South Africa, of a pastor from the sticks of Limpopo who used a brand of insect spray called Doom to cast out evil spirits when he sprayed it into congregants' faces. And now this church in Krugersdorp, the Valley Family Church, states that they don’t use the Doom spray, they just prevent men going to their doom.

Maybe a spray of Doom will keep Krugersdorp from losing their virginity.

Breathe Jerome Breathe

Bradley was over for the weekend and Monday is his day off. Unfortunately he is down with some bug so is home in bed and touch wood we mustn’t get it. Today it was the stress all over with trying to finish these impossible deadlines. You know that feeling where you roll a huge round rock up a hill with the hill getting ever steeper, why that is the nightmare that faces me in my constant battle to get on top of things.

Sigh! Breathe in deep Jerome, breathe.

My thoughts go back to that day Rob explained to me the 5 levels of leadership which came from the principles that John Maxwell preached.

5. Pinnacle (Respect)
People follow because of who you are and what you represent

4. People Development (Reproduction)
People follow because of what you have done for them

3. Production (Results)
People follow because of what you have done for the organisation

2. Permission (Relationships)
People follow because they want to

1. Position (Rights)
People follow because they have to

I better just leave my thoughts as inside thoughts as I wonder back to the times when we felt liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted. The sun is setting as I finally pack up and head for the safety of home.

Blast from the Past

And there I thought circuses were no more, with all the stories of animal cruelty gone with them, banished to the past.

But what is this blast from the past then? A blue and white striped circus tent must have come through some creak in the time continuum in Krugersdorp. Surely this is a dying fad, Brian Boswell must have come from the famous Boswell Wilkie circus family of lore. As for animal abuse, I could not see any tigers, lions, elephants, and other such creatures, only some farm animals, ponies and a camel. Oh and no bearded lady at the Brian Boswell Circus.

Kagiso Cricket Team

Driving through Kagiso, I stumbled upon some children playing cricket in the streets. As the name Kagiso means peace in Tswana, it was kind of serene watching these kids use whatever they can find and play a game of cricket. Watch out South Africa these could be up and coming Protea players.

South Africa’s Nuclear Disaster

Forget Ebola that is spreading in West Africa, down south we have our own Chernobyl or Fukushima disaster right in Johannesburg. No I am not taking about the proposed eight new nuclear reactors by 2023. I am talking about a silent killer blowing in the wind.

Driving home after work from the west rand I noticed the dust blowing off the mine dumps. This dust was being blown towards the City of Johannesburg. Little does the public know that this dust is radioactive, yes highly radioactive dust from mine dumps like the one shown above which is situated between Randfontein and Krugersdorp.

Another little known fact is that uranium was mined here for the Manhattan Project which produced the Second World War atomic bombs and continued supplying the United States and the United Kingdom deep into the Cold War. In 50s and 60s the processes was not as refined as they are now and the result is these mine dumps which are still highly radioactive.

A few months back I saw a map depicting the current levels of radioactivity in the areas of Randfontein and Krugersdorp, and it was scary, real scary. It was colour coded with orange and red everywhere. It is red where this mine dump is and there was even a road, the R41, a main artery road from Randfontein going south towards Johannesburg that was red. The road had an arrow pointing to itand text stating that it was built from radioactive material, ouch.

And then there are the mine dumps dating back to the 50s. The other day I saw a small business making bricks for residential houses right next to one of these mine dumps using the very same radioactive sand for the bricks.

Interesting that this mine dump photograph has a cross on the left.

And then the wind blows...

Konsentrasiekamp

It is the last few days till the official end of the summer holidays. It has been a tough Christmas for me and my little family but there have been sparks of blessings.

Skye is home but has to go every day to the vet as his fever hasn't broken, he has a runny nose, and the vet is hesitant to give stronger medicine as his kidneys are not strong enough from the recent bout of IMHA.

This afternoon I travelled up to Krugersdorp to visit a Concentration Camp which the British built during the Boer War. In total the British built 109 concentration camps in South Africa and over 26,000 women and children died. Just walking through the hundreds of little graves of the innocent children sure puts your life in prospective.

Mogale

I was brave enough to cross the border yet again, this time to the west and Krugersdorp in the region now named Mogale after an old Po chief called Mogale wa Mogale. The name means "brave one" which I no doubt was. Being aware of the passport goons around, I kept my passport close as I took this not so elegant photo of the statute of Mogale with the sun in the wrong position.

For Freedom and the Fatherland

When someone thinks about concentration camps they normally think of the Second World War and places like Auschwitz and Majdanek but they forget about the United States concentration camps for the Native American people in 1830s and the ones in the Philippines in 1900s. Spain also had them in Cuba in the 1870s. But today we were wondering around in the Krugersdorp area where one of the 109 (45 for whites and 64 for black Africans) concentration camps was built by the British in South Africa. Over 26,000 Boer women and children died in these camps but sadly I can't find the number of black Africans who also died. At the Burgershoop Cemetery Matthew wanted to know why there was so many small graves all in rows each one with a small headstone which read "Konsentrasiekamp 1899-1902 Rus in Vrede". Records indicate that 664 children under the age of 15 died here at the Krugersdorp Concentration Camp between 1901 and 1902. Somewhere I've read that there are over 1,800 concentration camp graves at the cemetery. Sadly the old cemetery is in very run down and is in need of major intervention. Rest in peace all those women and children who innocently died in a war fought over a hundred years in the quest for gold.