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AS a well-known Eeyore (a person of gloomy disposition) and someone who takes a dim view of the machinations and elocutions of politicians, pundits, celebrities and business leaders, it really pains me to do this, but I simply have to.
I am Going To Be Positive.
It came to my attention that a reader blog on News24 (written by someone calling herself “Suzie” – no names, no pack drill) was doing the rounds, arousing many muttered exclamations of “Yes, yes” and “You said it!”
It was full of statements about South Africa that were deeply depressing, and it was forwarded to me by a friend who wrote, “I feel so frustrated and powerless as a South African”.
My eye was first nabbed by a couple of things I knew to be untrue, so I did a bit of digging.
Basically, the reader congratulated the current South African government on its ‘achievements’ in 19 years, including:
• Official unemployment was about 15% in 1995; by 2000 it was at 30%; for the first quarter of 2013 it was 25.2%.
So yes, it’s gone up a lot – but this against a backdrop where the Eurozone, for example, recorded a record high in unemployment, and globally, unemployment rates have risen steeply.
This is not only a result of the long-running global crisis, but also as a result of changing demand for workers (for example, demand for fewer unskilled workers in a world now run by high tech).
• “The latest crime statistics published by the South African Police Service show that carjacking decreased dramatically by 23.6% to 10 600 reported cases in the 2010-2011 year, down from 13 900 cases reported in 2009-2010.
Truck hijacking cases have been reduced by 29.2% from 1 400 to 1 000, and theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles are down by 10.1%.” (Mail & Guardian, July 13 2012)
• 42% of homicides globally occur in South America, and Honduras is the murder capital of the world, with a “murder rate of 85.5 per 100 000 residents, compared with 56 in Venezuela, 4.78 in the US and 1.2 in the UK” (guardian.co.uk, May 15 2013).
Our murder rate is 30.9 per 100 000, and “Since 1994, the murder rate has decreased by 54%.
"Moreover, during the past decade, from 2002/03 to 2011/12, the total recorded violent crime rate has decreased by 32,2%,” says Lizette Lancaster, Crime and Justice Hub Manager, Governance Crime and Justice Division, ISS Pretoria (from polity.org)
• The rand has actually dropped from its historic high versus the dollar: "The controversial land reform program that was kicked off in Zimbabwe, followed by the September 11, 2001 attacks, propelled [the rand] to its weakest historical level of R 13,84 to the dollar in December 2001." (Wikipedia)
• I recall so clearly writing in about 2006 that it was quite shocking how we now simply accepted a global oil price of $60 or so to a barrel, when it had been $25-30 a few years prior (it was $17 something in 1998).
Now we accept around $85-90 a barrel, so petrol has gone up everywhere - it is a universal fact of life thanks to the issue of peak oil – we are finding less new oil, fields are running out and it's getting harder to pump it out.
• The top ten most corrupt countries are: Venezuela, Haiti, Iraq, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, North Korea and, top of the pops, Somalia. (Forbes reporting on Transparency International’s 2011 results.)
• The growth of informal settlements is a natural result of the dropping of all influx control, and the lack of jobs in rural areas.
People have converged on Johannesburg and Cape Town in particular in search of the streets of gold, and there's just not enough housing, so they build shacks.
And can South Africa be blamed for the immigration issue? The richest country on the continent is a natural place to seek your fortune/escape your own bad government.
• “Motsoaledi said on Friday the statistics that were incorrectly quoted were on an HIV testing and counselling campaign, which actually found a small number of schools in the Natal Midlands were particularly hard-hit by HIV.
"Of the group of children tested there, 28% of girls were infected by the disease compared to 4% of boys.” (Mail & Guardian, March 22 2013)
The latest department of health stats show an HIV prevalence among young women between 15 and 19 of around 12.7% in 2011, down from the previous year’s figure of 14%.
What’s the lesson here? Question facts and figures when they’re flung around by opinionistas, especially on the internet.
There’s a reason why journalism exists and should exist, as a profession (though far from perfect): because we can be called to account for what we write and say.
Bloggers who hide behind first names have agendas, prejudices and preconceived ideas, and they don’t have to have sources for their claims, as we must.
And they can slander, defame and skew reality at will, to the detriment of our country, our economy and our peace of mind.
- Fin24
*Mandi Smallhorne is a versatile journalist and editor. Views expressed are her own.
I am Going To Be Positive.
It came to my attention that a reader blog on News24 (written by someone calling herself “Suzie” – no names, no pack drill) was doing the rounds, arousing many muttered exclamations of “Yes, yes” and “You said it!”
It was full of statements about South Africa that were deeply depressing, and it was forwarded to me by a friend who wrote, “I feel so frustrated and powerless as a South African”.
My eye was first nabbed by a couple of things I knew to be untrue, so I did a bit of digging.
Basically, the reader congratulated the current South African government on its ‘achievements’ in 19 years, including:
- Unemployment has gone up by 60%.
- We are officially the country where the most hijacks take place.
- We are also on the top ten list for the highest murder rate.
- The rand/dollar has gone from R3.41 to R10.00.
- The petrol price has gone from R1.73 to R12.83 per litre.
- We have the most corrupt government in the world.
- We have ten times more people in squatter camps and 1 000% more illegal immigrants.
- 25% of all South African schoolgirls are now HIV-positive.
• Official unemployment was about 15% in 1995; by 2000 it was at 30%; for the first quarter of 2013 it was 25.2%.
So yes, it’s gone up a lot – but this against a backdrop where the Eurozone, for example, recorded a record high in unemployment, and globally, unemployment rates have risen steeply.
This is not only a result of the long-running global crisis, but also as a result of changing demand for workers (for example, demand for fewer unskilled workers in a world now run by high tech).
• “The latest crime statistics published by the South African Police Service show that carjacking decreased dramatically by 23.6% to 10 600 reported cases in the 2010-2011 year, down from 13 900 cases reported in 2009-2010.
Truck hijacking cases have been reduced by 29.2% from 1 400 to 1 000, and theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles are down by 10.1%.” (Mail & Guardian, July 13 2012)
• 42% of homicides globally occur in South America, and Honduras is the murder capital of the world, with a “murder rate of 85.5 per 100 000 residents, compared with 56 in Venezuela, 4.78 in the US and 1.2 in the UK” (guardian.co.uk, May 15 2013).
Our murder rate is 30.9 per 100 000, and “Since 1994, the murder rate has decreased by 54%.
"Moreover, during the past decade, from 2002/03 to 2011/12, the total recorded violent crime rate has decreased by 32,2%,” says Lizette Lancaster, Crime and Justice Hub Manager, Governance Crime and Justice Division, ISS Pretoria (from polity.org)
• The rand has actually dropped from its historic high versus the dollar: "The controversial land reform program that was kicked off in Zimbabwe, followed by the September 11, 2001 attacks, propelled [the rand] to its weakest historical level of R 13,84 to the dollar in December 2001." (Wikipedia)
• I recall so clearly writing in about 2006 that it was quite shocking how we now simply accepted a global oil price of $60 or so to a barrel, when it had been $25-30 a few years prior (it was $17 something in 1998).
Now we accept around $85-90 a barrel, so petrol has gone up everywhere - it is a universal fact of life thanks to the issue of peak oil – we are finding less new oil, fields are running out and it's getting harder to pump it out.
• The top ten most corrupt countries are: Venezuela, Haiti, Iraq, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, North Korea and, top of the pops, Somalia. (Forbes reporting on Transparency International’s 2011 results.)
• The growth of informal settlements is a natural result of the dropping of all influx control, and the lack of jobs in rural areas.
People have converged on Johannesburg and Cape Town in particular in search of the streets of gold, and there's just not enough housing, so they build shacks.
And can South Africa be blamed for the immigration issue? The richest country on the continent is a natural place to seek your fortune/escape your own bad government.
• “Motsoaledi said on Friday the statistics that were incorrectly quoted were on an HIV testing and counselling campaign, which actually found a small number of schools in the Natal Midlands were particularly hard-hit by HIV.
"Of the group of children tested there, 28% of girls were infected by the disease compared to 4% of boys.” (Mail & Guardian, March 22 2013)
The latest department of health stats show an HIV prevalence among young women between 15 and 19 of around 12.7% in 2011, down from the previous year’s figure of 14%.
What’s the lesson here? Question facts and figures when they’re flung around by opinionistas, especially on the internet.
There’s a reason why journalism exists and should exist, as a profession (though far from perfect): because we can be called to account for what we write and say.
Bloggers who hide behind first names have agendas, prejudices and preconceived ideas, and they don’t have to have sources for their claims, as we must.
And they can slander, defame and skew reality at will, to the detriment of our country, our economy and our peace of mind.
- Fin24
*Mandi Smallhorne is a versatile journalist and editor. Views expressed are her own.
