Tag: South Africa

Britbox: Catch Me a Killer is South African Gold

Britbox: Catch Me a Killer is South African Gold

Britbox Catch Me a Killer is South African gold. It is based on the true stories by and about Micki Pistorius. The series shows how a journalist/psychologist steps up to help Cape Town SA police catch a serial killer in 1994. Profilers were not a dime a dozen in South Africa back in the early ’90s.

Charlotte Hope plays Pistorius as an amalgamation of different parts. She shows the vulnerability of the South African profiler. While exhibiting a cast iron determination to catch the culprit; Hope brings the real character, Micki, to living breathing life. It is her multifaceted performance that puts us behind her trial by fire in the first two episodes.

Catch Me a Killer, while based upon the true tale of Pistorius earning her spurs as South Africa’s first profiler, feels almost like an ethereal twin to the South Korean serial killer case in 1986. The South Korean film, Memories of Murder, also uses a profiler. A detective from Seoul trained by the FBI. He had to fight the system as he struggled to catch the first ever serial killer in that country.

Micki’s first case was a two parter. If there is any complaint about this recounting of the profiler’s first outing, it has to do with the first few moments of episode 1. The sticker on the car screamed the murderer’s occupation loud and clear. Of course this made the obstacle of the local coppers’ paradigms even more frustrating.

This South African mini series has been spot on thus far with its depiction of the lawmen who have to rethink their approach. Micki, South Africa’s first profiler, says that the series has really gotten the details down. Charlotte Hope has told of how hard she fought for the role and her admiration of Pistorius as the first South African profiler.

The show is available now on Britbox. Check out the South African 2024 trailer below:

An Open Letter of Gratitude to Apple

Marketing shot of MacBookPro
Dear Apple,

Firstly I have to say that I was a reluctant convert to the MacBookPro. My daughter got one for her studies at University, and the run-up to Uni, College. Her, now aging, MacBookPro stood her in good stead during her time learning about the video game industry and still does quite well considering it is now several years old. She talked me into purchasing a Mac when my old PC bit the big one.

Amazingly enough, the big reason I decided upon the MacBookPro was the iMovie editing capability which, having watched my youngster edit her video reviews on game, looked infinitely easier than anything Microsoft had on offer.

I bought my Pro in 2013. I edited quite a number of videos in the UK, before you went and changed the way iMovie works. Still, I do not do videos that much anymore so that is not a real big issue, plus I’ve gotten used to the changes now so I forgive you for making it that bit more difficult.

So far my MacBookPro has survived being taken to South Africa on a whirlwind fact-finding tour where I had to interview several sources who claimed that Nelson Mandela died in June 2013 and not December as official sources insisted. It made a trip across the ocean to Las Vegas unscathed in 2014 and even managed to escape damage at the many conventions attended at Vegas. From The Amazing Comic Con to the Star Trek Convention, my MacBook resisted all my clumsy handling to stay scratch and dent free.

Later on at the start of 2015, while in the Southwest desert of Arizona, my MacBookPro has managed to keep working after being transported via backpack all over the hardpan floor and the local “one-horse” town. It still performs admirably despite it’s carrier falling down a wash while walking across the desert.

MacBookPro 11.4"
My trusty MacBookPro

It has also survived its owner being knocked off his bicycle by a hit and run driver in Love’s Truck Stop car park. An incident that resulted in my going airborne and landing on my back. The backpack with my trusty MacBookPro clunked heavily on the hard ground and 5 weeks later, when I could finally ride my bike again, I fell off the same bike outside the local Burger King and once again my poor MacBook hit the ground hard.

Despite all these tumbles and falls, the only real damage seems to have been on the case itself. A few scratches and dings that are superficial at best. This “cosmetic” damage has not interfered with the workings of my “laptop” and it still labour effortlessly as my only blogging and vlogging device. On top of being the instrument I used to write nearly 2,000 articles for the newspaper I worked for, it still functions as my main source of news from the outside world via the Internet.

MacBookPro
My Survivor, you have to look close to see those scars…

I mention all this because I’ve never felt the need to write any sort of letter to any company, open or otherwise, about any of their products. My MacBookPro has proven to be the best purchase ever made by this consumer. Sadly, my iPhone 5 has not had quite the same track record, for some odd reason the display screens in my phone go off and I’ve had replacements twice now, but I am not complaining, as your customer service is head and shoulders above the competition.

In closing, let me just say thank you Apple for continuing to make such a workhorse of a laptop. I am writing this open letter of gratitude, admiration and praise about my MacBookPro, the one that I call survivor, and the dependable tool that I plan to use for a long, long time.

A most impressed customer,

Michael Knox-Smith

6 May 2015

Siener Van Rensburg Religious Mystic or Nelson Mandela Media Myth

Siener Van Rensburg Religious Mystic or Nelson Mandela Media Myth

Siener van Rensburg, a Boere farmer born in 1864 grew to prominence as a religious mystic and years after his death would become firmly entwined with Nelson Mandela and be turned into a media myth. Van Rensburg died in 1926 and the Afrikaner cattle herder belonged to a religious sect that specialized in “visions.” “Siener” became the nickname and title of the man christened Nicolaas Pieter Johannes Janse van Rensburg.

Nelson Mandela Siener Van Rensburg and the Chinese Solution

Nelson Mandela Siener Van Rensburg and the Chinese Solution

On December 5, 2013, after months of Nelson Mandela magically clinging to life against all logical expectations, the South African Government announced that the great humanitarian had died. Hence, after an overlong period of secrecy and deception, the icon was finally allowed to die. By the time it was officially announced, even the most devout believers, in the apparent lie pushed by the Mandela family and the South African Presidency, began to doubt its veracity. While the country’s denizens began the mourning process, others in the population; people who believed in Siener van Rensburg and his chilling prophecy, began to make final preparations for the “xenophobia.” Still more of the population eye their new Chinese “neighbors” and fear that they may be part of an end game solution.

Nelson Mandela: a South African Journey Through the Smoke

Nelson Mandela: a South African Journey Through the Smoke

On June 26, 2013 this publication received word that the great Nelson Mandela had died. An article was drafted based on information received from two different sources. It was then placed in a pending file whilst waiting for a third independent source to come forward. A decision was made to publish the news based on the integrity of the two sources who had provided our Johannesburg  correspondent, Laura ONeale, with the information. Within hours of publishing the story,  this website was attacked illegally from that area of the world.