By Lamese Abrahams

We have had such a huge response to last week's feature article 'Gas the Saffas?', that we've decided to follow it up with comments from our readers.

Last week’s feature article in the South African, in which we highlighted a poll from the discussion forum on the Gumtree website asking whether Saffas (South Africans) should be gassed, has caused immense reaction from our readers and has appeared in a South African newspaper.

The Rapport newspaper published a story about the poll and highlighted the fact that posts exist by South Africans on other websites, that substantiate those posted on the Gumtree.

Of the letters we received following the article, many readers related experiences where they were targeted because of their nationality, with one reader revealing that he received death threats.

“I live and work in the south of England together with my wife and two children. In the two years I’ve been here, several people have treated us like aliens. We have not gained many friends and even at church you are treated as someone that should be kept at a distance.

“Recently my wife caught two teenagers stealing my bicycle and when she approached their parents, she was attacked by the woman while the man was screaming at the top of his voice that we South Africans must p*ss off back home.”

“They also said if they got her alone in the street they will kill her. We had to ask for police protection because of this incident,” the reader explained.

While this might be an isolated incident and we admit the rest of South Africans in the UK are probably not being subjected to anti-South African sentiment, it is however transparent that there is a problem in terms of the way South Africans are viewed and the way in which some South Africans, however small the group, are acting.

“The fact is the media in this country have absolutely defaced us as a result of apartheid. If you see anything on television about South Africa, it’s either a sob story, or hero story about black people, or a damnation of the whites involved in apartheid.

“In many ways South Africa has overcome racism in a much more constructive way because we have had to face our own racist feelings and work to change them. We must be proud of our South African heritage, learn our lessons while we’re over here, and try to educate people about South Africa where we can,” another reader Andrew stated.

A few also felt the poll should have been ignored and that attention should not have been given to it. It does however take a few bad apples to spoil the bunch with the ramification possibly being a ripple effect of generalisation that will not benefit any South African in the UK.

Another reader feels that because of South Africa’s history it makes for automatic targets but also feels that Britain is an extremely tolerant society.

“As upsetting as the forum is, it is best just to ignore it, get on with life and make sure we paint ourselves in a good light at all times. Our past makes us automatic targets, unfortunately more so than other nationality.

“Britain is an extremely tolerant country and most people I have met, regardless of nationality or ethnicity, have been the most friendly and accommodating,” she explains.

Another reader states: “Coming from South Africa, we’ve all had apartheid hammered into our faces, our noses rubbed in it, and it thrown, like salt, in our eyes. I’ve got friends who are white, black, coloured, Indian, black wanting to be white and white wanting to be black.

“Whilst I speak for only the minority that I can speak for, we are tired of this stigma. It seems that is not the South Africans who need to learn tolerance, but the rest of the world, for it is the rest of the world who keep bring up this issue of racism.”

South Africa like any other country in the world has its own share of problems, but what it has achieved in the last 12 years is something that most countries will never be able to do. The post in the forum, as well as the article in the Rapport stating that there are people in the UK on other websites promoting anti-South African sentiment, brings the reality to the fore that there’s still a minority out there trapped in the past.

The most striking result of the article is that the number of people who are proudly South African far outweighs those who are not, and those proud South Africans are firmly against anyone who condemn their homeland.

“I was perhaps not the proudest Saffa (South African) when living back home, but being here, I couldn’t be prouder of my country, of being South African. I feel very passionately for our people,” a reader discloses.

By Lamese Abrahams

A recent poll which appeared in the discussion forum on the Gumtree website asking users whether Saffas (South Africans) should be gassed, has caused outrage about the way South Africans are treated here in the UK, as well as why such an appalling and demeaning poll ever came to exist.

The Gumtree was founded six years ago and has proved to be a massive hit with South Africans coming over to the UK, as it is a website that helps people settle in by providing information about accommodation, employment and social opportunities.

This website, which is mainly used by antipodeans, recently launched a discussion forum section, intended as a platform where people can ask for assistance or get help from others, has spawned a mouthpiece for vitriolic anti-South African sentiment of the worst kind.

In a statement received from the Gumtree, their official spokesperson revealed that, “As soon as this thread was brought to our attention, we removed it immediately as it went against the rules we have for the forums.” The thread was started on the night of Saturday 25 March and removed during the late afternoon of Monday 27 March, so while Gumtree made an effort to remove the thread this was done almost 48 hours after it first appeared.

The fact of the matter is that the poll created a platform for users with names such as ‘Kill The Boers’ and ‘Saffa C*nts’ to incite hate speech. Although we have been informed that the parties involved have been banned from the forums, we believe that a site as popular as the Gumtree should not rely on users to report abuse but attempt to be more vigilant in their monitoring of content on their forums.

To poke fun at South Africa’s past and make uninformed comments, as the users in the thread did with posts such as “only kill Afrikaans speaking Saffas”, and “gassing is too good for that racist filth”, is absolutely unacceptable.

What the hell is going on?

Another post in the thread says, “It does not matter what language they (South Africans) speak, it’s the way they act that identifies them.” Giving the poster more time than they deserve - what does this mean? Are we being marked by the way we act, and if so, in what way are our actions inciting such a degree of hatred?

Is this the reason why South African John Stanford was beaten up recently outside a nightclub in Clapham by two thugs hurling xenophobic remarks while they punched him into semi-consciousness? Or maybe it’s the reason why Grant Nock lost an eye last year after being attacked by a group of youths. Did the Springbok jersey he was donning after watching a rugby match at The Walkabout make him a sitting duck?

Grant and two other men who were with him were attacked with bricks, broken bottles and told they should leave the country “or carry the consequences.” A mere six weeks after Nock’s attack, 28-year-old Stanton Ashton, from Durban had a broken beer glass smashed into his right eye at a wine bar in London Bridge.

Following the attack, for which Ashton can think of no possible provocation, he told a news agency that he doesn’t think that leaving Durban for London was worth it. He went on to say that there are a lot of things that young people do not realise and that the quality of life in South Africa is much better than here in London where people live on top of each other.

South Africans of course come to London for many different reasons but none come here expecting to be faced with abhorrence.

A South African on a working holiday visa who wants to be known only as Grant, says that London was not what he expected and sometimes wonders why he bothered to come over at all.

“I thought people would be more open-minded but I often find that it is not the case. We South Africans that speak Afrikaans are still judged because of the Apartheid that took place,” he said. “I am not racist but many people still perceive Afrikaans speaking white South Africans as being racist and I think it’s unfair to be judged on what the previous generation did.

“The last thing I wanted to be faced with when I came overseas were demons from South Africa’s past,” he explained.

Mark, who has been in the UK for three years, revealed that he was left traumatised when he just arrived in London. “When I was working for a charity organisation, an Englishman came up to me and shouted that South Africans are stealing all of their jobs”, he said.

Charles on the other hand, who is classed as coloured in South Africa, says that the last thing he expected here in London was racism from fellow South Africans.

“I was shocked that even though I was so far away from home, I had to experience racism from a fellow South African,” he explained. “To be honest I was expecting some anger from British people because you always hear stories but I was disgusted when it came from someone from my homeland.”

The poll found in the forums of the Gumtree has raised two important issues for South Africans here in the UK to consider.

Firstly, we will not tolerate arbitrarily being judged for the sins of the past and just as importantly, if we are inciting hatred by our general conduct we need to look at ourselves to see if this accusation is true.

How do you feel about the recent forum on the Gumtree? Have you ever been the victim of hate speech in the UK? Email us at editor@southafrican.co.uk

Look at this bril pic my mate took on his recent visit to his family back home.

... to a copper.

1. I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer.
2. Sorry, Officer, I didn't realise my radar detector wasn't plugged in.
3. Aren't you the guy from the Village People?
4. Hey, you must've been doin' about 125 mph to keep up with me. Good job!
5. Are You Andy or Barney?
6. I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to be a police officer.
7. You're not gonna check the trunk, are you?
8. I pay your salary!
9. Gee, officer! That's terrific. The last officer only gave me a warning, too!
10. Do you know why you pulled me over? Okay, just so one of us does.
11. I was trying to keep up with traffic Yes, I know there are no other cars around. That's how far ahead of me they are.
12. When the Officer says "Gee. Your eyes look red, have you been drinking?" You probably shouldn't respond with,"Gee Officer your eyes look glazed, have you been eating doughnuts?"

THE PENIS WANTS A RAISE

I, the Penis, hereby request a raise in salary for the following
reasons. I do physical labor. I work at great depths. I plunge
head first into everything I do. I do not get weekends or public
holidays off. I work in a damp environment. I work in a dark
workplace that has poor ventilation. I work in high temperatures.
My work exposes me to contagious diseases.

THE RESPONSE:

Dear Penis, After assessing your request, andconsidering the
arguments you have raised, the administration rejects your
request for the following reasons: You do not work 8 straight hours.
You fall asleep after brief work periods. You do not always follow
orders of the management team. You do not stay in your designated
area and are often seen visiting other locations. You do not take
initiative. You need to be pressured and stimulated in order to
start working. You leave the workplace rather messy at the end of
your shift. You don't always observe necessary safety requirements,
such as wearing the correct protective clothing. You will retire
well before you are 65. You are unable to work double shifts. You
sometimes leave your designated work area before you have completed
the assigned task. And if that were NOT ALL, you have been seen
constantly entering and exiting the workplace carrying two suspicious
looking bags.

Sincerely, The Management

There have been rumors for some time and now it's official...

StormPay.com is Gone -- More or Less.

If you're using StormPay to accept payment on your website, you
need to switch to another service right away.

Paypal

Greenzap

E-Gold

So what's the story?

Well, if you log in to your StormPay account and scroll to the
bottom of the page, you'll see a policy change that will rock
the foundations of many online business owners.

Basically, as of 2 days ago, StormPay only handles payments for
items bought and sold in StormPay Auctions. Yes, StormPay
Auctions only -- nothing else. You can no longer accept payments
on your website nor can you send or receive any kind of payments
outside of StormPay Auctions.

According to their update, they've done this "to insure a safer
online experience for both buyers and sellers" and to make sure
"that sold items are within StormPay’s acceptable use policies".

This is probably down to StormPay's recent 'complications'. Run
a search at http://news.google.com for "stormpay autosurf"
(without the quotes) to learn more about what's been going on.

Anyway, that seems to be it as far as StormPay is concerned.
It's crazy to think that they didn't even contact their users to
let them know.

In fact, the policy text itself is hidden away at the bottom of
the page under the very happy-clappy title "What's New". Sort of
an "Oh, by the way..." thing.

At least they're nice enough to "apologize for any inconvenience
this may have caused".

Inconvenience? What inconvenience...!?

If you need to switch to another way of sending and receiving money online, you can do so right here by signing up to any of these well known, and trusted servive providers.

Paypal

Greenzap

E-Gold

An American woman of 40 wants to get married, but she is only willing
to marry a man if he has never been with a woman.

After several unsuccessful years of searching, she decides to take out
a personal ad. She ends up corresponding with a man who has lived his
entire life in the Australian outback. They end up getting married.

On their wedding night, she goes into the bathroom. When she returns
to the bedroom, she finds her new husband standing in the middle of the
room, naked and all the furniture from the room piled in one corner.

"What happened?" she asks.

"I've never been with a woman," he says, "but if it's anything like a
kangaroo, I'm gonna need all the room I can get."

Ok, this is not the usual, "Pay me some money and make a bit more" opportunity. This one i'm using myself. Have a quick look. The whole Package is worth $2200, but on my site you can get it all for only $49.

Yes i just had a near death experience. lol I was on my way out to go and fill my car up with petrol and delivering my wife's Avon stuff. Anyway, as i opened the cupboard door to get my coat out, the flippen Yellow pages fell out, and onto my foot. At this time i only had flip flops on. It nearly killed me. We all know about the pressure point on ya foot that when you stood down on it hard enough will kill ya instantly, well the book fell about half an inchfrom that spot. Oh, and yes, it made me bleed!!! And by the way. It's my 8th day of going cold turkey and the good old fags. hehe

8th day now. I must admit. I have thought about cigarettes a few times now, not really about having one, but they just seem to be in my mind alot, hehe.

Lat time i gave up, it got bad headaches. But this time i have had none. I hav had some really weird dreams though. Sherri has joined me this time in giving up, and she is doing great. She's on the patches though. Hopefully she won't need them for much longer.

I'll keep you updated.

Have a great day

THIS IS A E-MAIL THAT I GOT THIS MORNING, HAVE A LOOK, HEHE

Read before you view the picture

The guy in the photo went to the Sundarbans with his friends and he
asked one of his friends to take his picture in that very place.

While his friend was taking the picture, he screamed and fainted. Two
days later he died in the medical college. Doctors said he died because
of heart attack.

When the photos were exposed, in the last photo there is a lady standing
right beside him standing alone. Many people said it is a rumor and the
picture is the result of the blessings of latest technology.

However, the photo itself is very scary and I'm sure you'll also feel
the same way I've felt. Here you go with the photo!! A navy officer sent
this letter to 13 people and he was promoted. A business man received
this letter and threw it away... Not believing in it.. and he lost
everything he had within 13 days.

It reached a labourer and he distributed it to 13 people he was promoted
and all his problems were solved within 13 days.

So you must send this e-mail to 13 people for something good to happen
to you so people..get sending !! don't be lazy

Hey all. I just got back from making 14 chinese deliveries tonight. Flippen hell, it went mad. Since only starting to deliver a few weeks ago, i'm still getting to know our town. Luckily i have a tomtom navigation system in my car. That things is great!!! Anyway, made quite a bit tonight, £32.50 in total, not too bad for a sideline job,D have a good night, bye bye

Hey all.

Today has been a very lazy one again. I have in fact, just woken up from a one and a half hour nap, hehe. Sherri and i took ithe kids into town today. We went shopping for a few bits and took them to the memorial park for about half and hour. it was absolutely freezing, so we didn't stay for as long as we usually do.

On our way back, i got some KFC (MMMMM). After stuffing ourselves, Cameron went for a nap, and me and sherri just had to do the same. Lucas was quite happy playing games on sky tv.

Now i'm just waiting to go and do my Chinese deliveries from 17:30 till about 21:00. I usually get about £20 inclding the tips. Not too bad really.

Anyway,speak soon again.