Filed under: 1 — shayne at 7:24 pm on Monday, August 11, 2008
“Feel the rhythm, feel the ride, get on up, it’s bob sled time”
These are the classic words from the movie Cool Runnings, about The Jamaican Bobsled Team first gained fame during their debut in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary. So what does this have to do about anything?
I am down in the Eastern Cape on South Africa’s own “Cool Runnings” story. There are two boys from a village in Barkly East and Rhodes that are tipped to be South Africa’s hope at the next winter olympics in the Alpine Skiing event. The story first ran on Carte Blanche a few weeks ago, and the idea blew my mind. So, I am sitting in East London at the moment and I will be leaving first thing in the morning to go and meet the boys.
Keep an eye on this pace for more information over the next few days…. SKR
Filed under: Latest News — shayne at 7:57 pm on Thursday, July 3, 2008
I know that I am not the most wholesome looking chap in the world! Yes, I dress in cargo pants and a black t-shirt every day of my life. No, I have not shaved for a while. Yes, my dark complexion has on occasion lead people to believe that I am from the middle east.So here I sit at the Gibbs Institute in Illovo at a forum that the Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein is supposed to address tonight. The first thing that strikes me is the amount of “security” there is here.The Men in Black, with their little earpieces are out in full force and the second they see me they are on me like a fly on you know what! “Where are you from?” “Have you got identification?” “How many other people are with you?” Hmm, paranoid by any chance? So, while clenching my teeth I comply and provide the necessary information and my press card, thinking that this will be the end of that.
Fat Chance! Every time one of the MIB walk past me they look me up and down and then form a huddle with fellow MIB’s to discuss my presence. I swear if one more of these wannabes gives me another “who the hell are you looks” I am going to loose it and turn into the terrorist bomber that they think I am.
I am a journalist; I have identified myself - now bugger off!
It is the same thing every time I attend one of their events, I suppose now I have the “smallest” idea of what the Palestinians go through.
Guys, seriously - The whole world is not after you, you really are not that important, Get Over Yourselves!
Filed under: Latest News — shayne at 10:26 pm on Thursday, June 5, 2008
On Monday 2nd June 2008, two weeks and one day after he was burnt to death in the streets of an informal settlement far from his family and loved ones, at 5am his body completed its 1000km journey from South Africa to the dusty little village in rural Mozambique.
We were there to greet him, two photographers and one journalist who witnessed the events of the 18th of June. It was important to take this journey, important to let people know that he was a real man with a wife and three beautiful children.
It is surreal that one of the photographers, Simphiwe Nkwali who was there that day, would also be the person who delivered Ernesto’s body back to his family. Nkwali was following the body from the mortuary in Johannesburg to Mozambique when it broke down. He loaded the coffin on his hired 4×4 and enabled Ernesto to be re-united with his family.
Beauregard Tromp and I spent the night sleeping in our hire car waiting, afraid that we would miss the return. We both felt that it was important to be there, at the village when he came home. We could not have been more right.
The funeral that we witnessed was one of the hardest things that I have ever done in my life, I feel that I have a link to Ernesto and his family that will never go away. It was a beautiful ceremony and I feel privileged and thankful to his family that they let me be a part of it.
Closure. Many people told me that I needed to make the journey to achieve this. But, it is not closure that I have found! I have found purpose in my life and my pictures. Ernisto’s death will not be for nothing, I will see to that.
I have decided to start a trust fund in Ernisto’s name, the aim of which will be to benefit not only his direct family, but also the people of the area around his village. I would like to get a well dug, so that they have water to irrigate their crops. I want to get the school sponsored, so that children have an opportunity to make something of their lives. There are many other ways that we can impact on their lives, and I feel that we owe it to them. As South Africans we took him away, we have no choice but to do something in return. We need to make amends!
More details on “The Burning Man Trust” will be available soon, watch this space……SKR
