ZAFB: December 2012

Friday, December 28, 2012

Can you tell me a true South African "spookstorie"?

Can you tell me a true South African "spookstorie"?
It's almost Halloween and my kids as well as the students in my afternoon classes are pestering me to tell them something scary with South Africa as background. Can you help me out? And this is a fun question, guys. No need for any sarcastic answers.
South Africa - 7 Answers
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1 :
NOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!! You request for no sarcastic comments prohibits you from telling how INCREDIBLY scary it will be if OOM JACOB takes over. On a slightly more serious note, East Coast Radios sometimes retells SA urban legends and spookstories. I suggest you have a look at their website too.
2 :
DITTO ON dWali'S FIRST ANSWER! BUT YOU CAN ALSO LOOK ON THE WEBSITE www.ruff.co.za. POST AN E-MAIL ON THE SITE AND ASK THEM TO HELP YOU. YOU CAN ALSO GO TO www.woes.co.za (THE AFRIKAANS VERSION OF ruff) and ask them. THE SOUTH AFRICANS ARE VERY PROUD TO SHARE THEIR CULTURE WITH ANYONE AND I AM SURE THAT THEY WILL GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO HELP YOU. UNFORTUNATELY WITH TELEVISION ETC. "SPOOKSTORIES" ARE DYING OUT. THESE STORIES WERE TOLD TO OUR PARENTS ETC, AROUND A FLAME ON THE BOER FARMS OF YESTERYEAR. GOOD LUCK! NADIA.
3 :
I know of one spookstorie...there's this one deserted road going out from Meyerton to somewhere else (whoopsy, dnno where to) but anywho, apparently a ghost of a woman and her child haunt that road at night!! I think she was killed horribly back in the days...like a while after the Voortrekker days!! But there's a bend in the road and she sits on a rock there...my mom and pa both said they've seen her!! I wanted to see it too, but my ma said no!! From the sounds of it, this ghost sounds eeevillllll!! Tell them about how Dingane killed Shaka....oh wait, what about that mountain in KZN (dang, i also dunno what the name is...wait, I've just found it-it's Ghost Mountain), but the mountain gets all misty and people have been said to see flickering lights on the mountain!! Hey, I just rememebered I have a book of eerie things that have happened in SA...let me go find that book quick!! I'm back...hey, what about the Macrorie House in Pietermaritzburg?? My answe's gonna be long...so I'll mail you another FREAKY story...it's freaks the bananas out of me!!
4 :
Hi Porgie. I know you're out of the country, but there is a book that CJ Langenhoven wrote, that is a collection of SA spook stories. He travelled all around the "Ou Kaap" interviewing people and collecting theses stories, see if you can find out anything about that online. I have loads of stories, I'll tell you some. Well first there is the "Spook van Uniondale" there's actually a song about her (Blommetjie gedenk aan my) She is a girl who died on a cross road near there on a Easter weekend. Many people who have driven on the old road on Easter have reported seeing a young women hitch hike there, shortly after seeing her, motorists report feeling their cars getting colder inside and smelling apple blossoms, motorcyclists report feeling the weight of someone getting on the bike and holding on around their waist. Rumour has it that her soul is trying to escape this crossing. Then of course there is the tokoloshe, he can not be forgotten. There are so many stories of people who reported to have seen him, or to have had things happen to them with clues leading to the tokoloshe. As a small child I was very scared of this little monster, it sounds silly now, but I use to worry that he was hiding under my bed. Here is one from Langenhoven's book, it originally in Afrikaans, and was called "Die vrou voor die hek", but for the sake of all the readers I'll write in English. Once at the turn of the century there was a young man in the Cape who lived on a farm. (I cant remember his name or where it precisely was, but this is true) He went to go visit a young women who he was inlove with on a farm about half a day away ("Om te gaan opsit".) That night when the opsit kers burned out, as tradition had it, he didnt stay the night, but instead got on his horse and faced the journey home. He rode for many hours in the dark, before realizing that he is lost. As he was riding he saw a deserted farmhouse in the distance and decided to go there. But as he approached the front gate his horse wouldnt go nearer. He looked up and saw a women standing at the gate holding both her hands up, as if forbiding him to enter, and his horse wouldnt go nearer, so he couldnt even go talk to her. Eventually he went on his way in the darkness. He came to a fork in the road, and the scene repeated itself. His horse was spooked and wouldnt go down the one road, he looked up and saw the woman holding her hands up standing some distance down the road, so he took the other road. The whole night his journey went like this with the woman appearing ahead of him, guiding him and his horse. Suddenly, a few hours before sunrise he found a small hut in a dark area near a creek. He approached and found there was a small fire, almost burned out inside, but otherwise it was quiet. He rekindled the fire, and then realised there was a dark figure in the corner of the hut. He approached, and found it was a woman cluthing a baby. The woman was dead, her body almost cold, but the baby was still alive. That night he stayed awake and kept the baby warm and alive. In the morning he dragged the women's body out to give it a proper Christian burial. When he got outside in the sunlight and looked at the body he realised with a shock that it was the body of the woman who he had seen in front of the gate and who guided him here the night before. Her soul wouldnt rest until her baby had been saved.
5 :
Blixem Anria A must get ur 10 points! She got me into spookstories now!!!
6 :
Arnie a deserves that 10 points i am covered in goosebumps
7 :
Well here is a "funny" one. For years and years when I went home to my parents who lives in North West; I would see a sign on the road to Rustenburg that said " Hier spook CJ van Rensburg". Translated it means the gost of CJ v Rensburg visits these parts. I must say I was very curious about this ghost and always wondered what happened and if actually there was a ghost...ehm, until I found out it was actually the name of a farm...one of the most originall names I must say, but I could only laugh...

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Friday, December 14, 2012

What is life like in Johannesburg, South Africa?

What is life like in Johannesburg, South Africa?
I am a Canadian and will be getting my Bachelor of Arts degree from York University in Toronto, Canada. I have always wanted to become a teacher but I really want to move to Johannesburg (I hear it's a GREAT life out there). Is there a University with a teachers' college there? How much on average am I looking at to rent a 2 bedroom apartment? What is the cost of living like there (cable, phone, groceries, etc.)? Do you need a car over there? How does an international student get accepted into country? Thanks in advance for your help.....
South Africa - 4 Answers
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1 :
It's colourful and really diverse and at times scary. You meet a lot of really beautiful and really ugly things in virtually the same place. Extreme aversion for the bad will make you miss out on the really great things Johannesburg offers. Rent should be about R4000 including utilities, outside the security of a security guard and off-street parking. You definitely need a car. There are teachers colleges appended to universities - incredibly Adult Basic Education and Training focused interestinly. The cost of living is not too bad.
2 :
A bachelors flat (studio) will cost you between R3500-R4000 so a 2 bedroomed flat should be around R6000- excl water and lights. JHB is one of the most expensive major cities in SA to live in. Property is quite pricey here but the price groceries depends on what your eating habits are like. There shall be new safer ways of travelling with the Soccer world cup coming but Metro bus is one of the safest means to get around. (A car will eventually be a necessity as you may be stranded should Metro bus go on strike). We have thousands of international students in our Universities, and we treat them as we would any of our fellow South Africans. (I've never heard of Xenophobia at any JHB university).
3 :
Johannesburg has two universities with teaching colleges, the University of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg College of Education, which is part of the university of the Witwatersrand. Rent should be about R 3000- R 5000, groceries for one person probably about R 1000, phone depends on your usage but probably about R 200 per month, and about R500 for DSTV (satellite TV, our closest equivalent to cable). You can come on a student visa after applying to the relevant institutions. And you might get by without a car if you live close to your place of study, but I would strongly recommend that you get a car. They are working on improving our public transport system, but for now it is very hard to get around with no car.
4 :
Hi there. Why Johannesburg? Also known as Gold Reef City. It is hectic. Crime is higher in Johannesburg than Cape Town and Durban. It is also spread out over a huge area. Johannesburg is big. There are teachers colleges there, but not sure of names. Why not take a look at Cape Town. There you get Cape Town university, and Teachers colleges. yes you do need a car if you stay in any of the cities. Contact Passport office in Pretoria to find out what you require to get in there. To rent a 2 bed apartment you are looking at R3000 - R5000 per month. Water/electricity is expensie. I would say R200 for electricity a month, and Water could be up to R125 or more. But good luck.

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Friday, December 7, 2012

Want to immigrate from South Africa, but to where?

Want to immigrate from South Africa, but to where?
I finished school, and have been working as a receptionist/secretary for 3 years now at a book keeping company. I need to get out of this country, where can I go that isn't too difficult? I have an aunt and cousins in Australia. But I have found that immigrating there is next to impossible. (Student visa out of the question because I don't have 30 thousand dollars) Considered New Zealand but I have been told their immigration laws are just as strict as Aus. I am looking to start a new, and BETTER life as this country is very poor and anti-white, I fear for my life. Please help?
Immigration - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
back to Ohio ..united states ....is the best place to be Cincinnati... is the city they have good jobs down there and outside cincinnati in the country part is really good as well benefits to help you get on your feet here and make it
2 :
Try one of the Scandinavian countries.
3 :
go in Switzerland or Canada don't even think about to come in America
4 :
Forget about trying to immigrate to Canada. Our economy is in the toilet. We already have zillions of unemployed book keepers of our own who are looking for what few jobs there are. I understand you want to start a new and better life but the situation worldwide is no different and there are millions of others who also want a better life for themselves and their families. Stay where you are. You have a job. If you try to come to Canada, you won't have a job. Sorry but until the economy improves here, immigrating here is a very bad idea. It isn't that you wouldn't be welcome - it's just that now is a really REALLY bad time to try.
5 :
A lot of us feel the same way but I would not recommend emigrating at the moment. South Africa isn't in a recession at the moment due to our higher interest rates which they can lower to help everyone. Other countries can't do the same. Wait until the recession is over in other countries before you go. I would easily get into into Oz or NZ due to my qualifications but have no money to take along. Anyways, I'll rank the destinations like this NZ, Oz, Canada, Switzerland, Netherland, British Islands (England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland choose one). It actually depends on whether you can live in cold weather or not. I ranked NZ above Oz because Oz is becoming a desert (drought) and has too many wild fires burning everything down. They're biggest problem is water at the moment. Problem with EU countries are that they are too dependent on each other and it really is cold. If one country sneezes, all the other countries catches the cold. Thus, if one country decides to cut the gas supply, the other countries die of the cold or can't eat. Which is why Canada is better.

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Saturday, December 1, 2012

Do u know of any cheap or free student exchange programs?

Do u know of any cheap or free student exchange programs?
I Live in south africa and would like to spend a term or so in the usa or somewhere in europe so do u know if i can get sponsored or get a scholarship , if not do u maby of any countries that offers cheap programs?
Studying Abroad - 1 Answers
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1 :
No. And you wouldn't want one that is. The last thing you'd want is to be stranded in a foreign country, with a bad family and have no help. Check into YFU or AFS and see if they have some help or scholarships for you.

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