​Whatever the cause, Zuma’s incarceration has laid bare the underlying fault-lines of desperation anger, hunger and hopelessness that divide the majority of SA citizens from the affluent few. These divisions were engineered by man. And while they deepened in the post democratic era, they predate even Apartheid, originating in the colonial era. And their sole basis was racial oppression, starting with the hut taxes.
 
The first ‘Hut Tax’ was a proxy for installing capitalism, with the demographic majority occupying, both structurally and by legislation, the lowest rungs of the system. By this means, an unbroken chain has been maintained to the present. This is why most of the black majority has been confined to the periphery of economic activity, mostly as labourers. During the height of this week’s riots, many reasonable voices called for a restoration of peace and the rule of law.
 
Restoring order and the rule of law would, however, fall short of the true goal, that of setting the nation on a course of future lawful behaviour, prosperity, and peace. On the contrary, restoring the status quo ante, if not accompanied by fundamental changes to the very structure of our economy, will only guarantee more unrest, looting, desperation and hopelessness. That, at least should be one of the lessons learned from the recent widespread burning and looting.
 
The past week has seen us go through several steep learning curves as South Africans, and each of us will assign a personal hierarchy to these lessons. On the one hand, if these waves of lawlessness were a declaration of war, then the protagonists thereof have now learned how  to modify and refine their strategy to avoid the countermeasures being put in place, to maximize their return on future input.
 
For the rest of us, including our rulers, there is a lesson of the greatest importance to take home from the past week’s turmoil. It is that the economic order bequeathed to South Africa in the 18th century has to be demolished and replaced with a new, inclusive one. And without delay.

 

Because of a resurgence of Covid-19 infections countrywide, it is still crucial to avoid being either the transmitter or recipient of this infection. In other words we must continue to take precautions against Covid 19. No one is safe from it when conditions for its spread are ideal. Remember how it recently spread amongst US college students as they partied in their summer.

This was also true in Cape Town in September when 73 individuals in their late teens went to a celebration at the Tin Roof Bar, and the 30 Fort Hare University party-goers who also became infected last week. From all of these, the message is clear: avoid gatherings, specifically indoor ones.

And for a basic reason: the virus spreads most easily when there are big indoor events. And we must not forget that at this phase of the pandemic - in spite of the hype about vaccines - what works without doubt is still, hand cleaning, sanisiting, masking, crowd isolation, screening and avoidance.

So what to do with the festive season weighing against sensible Covid pandemic behaviour? The joyful season is a time of socialising, relaxation, holidaying and indulging ourselves. We need  a joyful season, specifically at the end of such a terrible, tragic year as 2020.

Anti-Covid Festive Behaviour
This requires anti-Covid festive behaviour which is, simply to continue doing what we know works. It needs unity of purpose,t hen the rise of infections will surely be contained as a result. Importantly, we need to curb our propensity to socialise, in this most social of seasons.

Enjoy Yourselves Outdoors, when with extra friend or family
There are 2 outdoors activities we can do with family and friends who have visited our homes: Picnics and choosing walks or long strolls. We are fortunate in Joburg to have numerous safe walking trials, with many integrating picnic areas along the way. They are a great method to bond as households and with guests, but when selecting one, ensure that you select one that is child-friendly.

Five Child-friendly Walking Trails Nearby
1. Braamfontein Spruit (Craighall). Tel: 0860 562 874.
2. Klipriviersberg (Kibler Park). Tel: 011 712 6600.
3. Gillooly's Farm (Bedfordview). Tel: 0860 543 000.
4. Walkhaven Dog Park.Tel: 071 212 9955.
5. The Wilds (Houghton) Tel: 011 643 2313.

- Don't forget what works: Mask, sanitise, soap hand-wash, social distance.

We don't want to usher in the new year with a difficult lockdown or other Covid stress, it needs to remain in the (quickly to be) past, in 2020. Here's a wish for all of us to enjoy a Covid-Safe Johannesburg Festive Season.

(Visit: https://www.weforum.org/videos/19494-coronavirus-using-crowd-simulation-to-encourage-social-distancing-uplink)

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e English bulldog is a brawny little powerhouse whose characteristic crablike waddle radiates great strength, stability and vigor.
The pet dog's head is round and large, and the muzzle is very short, offering the face a flattened appearance. The English bulldog's eyes are dark and set large and low on the forehead in the frontal plane. The nose is black and slightly upturned. The jaws (or "chops") are huge, broad and undershot. The lower jaw juts out in front of the upper jaw to hardly expose the lower incisors, producing a humorous grin. The lips are pendulous and fleshy. The cheeks are well rounded and protrude sideways. The ears are thin, small and angle forward like flaps that frame the forehead.
The English bulldog's neck is thick and brief; the shoulders are huge, muscular and broad. The chest is full and deep, and the back is barreled and a little arched. His rounded hips extend somewhat above the level of the back. The stubby tail is thick and either straight or screwed. His short, stocky legs have excellent muscle meaning. They are splayed out and slightly bowed at the elbows and hocks to form a tough, base-wide stance.

The English bulldog stands about 40cm high. The female weighs about 23kg, and the male weighs about 25kg.

The English bulldog's skin is loose and pendant with heavy wrinkles and thick folds on the face and a dewlap hanging from the throat. The coat is short and well- textured. The numerous color scheme are brindle, piebald, and solid white, red, fawn or fallow.

Personality
The English bulldog has a sweet, gentle disposition. Reputable and predictable, the bulldog is a terrific family pet and loving to many kids. People-oriented as a breed, they actively obtain human attention.
However, they have actually retained the courage that was initially bred into them for bull baiting, so they make great guard dogs. Although they generally get along well with other household pets, English bulldogs can be aggressive to unknown pet dogs.

Called for its usage in the sport of bull baiting, the English bulldog seems to have originated in the British Isles sometime prior to the 13th century. Among the couple of references to the sport dates back to 1209, and speak about a butcher's pets that chased after a bull through the English town of Stamford. This pursuit so delighted the earl of the town that he inaugurated bull baiting as a sport in his domain.
Today, the English bulldog makes a fine family pet. acknowledges the type merely as the bulldog.


Coping with the English Bulldog
English bulldogs make great house pets and do not require a lawn. Typically low-endurance dogs, they need only a moderate quantity of workout. They flourish best in temperate climates; they easily overheat and have breathing difficulties in hot weather, and they chill easily in cold temperatures.

Generally loud breathers, English bulldogs tend to wheeze and snore. They are moderate shedders and their brief coats require little grooming.



The English bulldog is a brawny little powerhouse whose characteristic crablike waddle radiates great strength, stability and vigor.
The pet dog's head is round and large, and the muzzle is very short, offering the face a flattened appearance. The English bulldog's eyes are dark and set large and low on the forehead in the frontal plane. The nose is black and slightly upturned. The jaws (or "chops") are huge, broad and undershot. The lower jaw juts out in front of the upper jaw to hardly expose the lower incisors, producing a humorous grin. The lips are pendulous and fleshy. The cheeks are well rounded and protrude sideways. The ears are thin, small and angle forward like flaps that frame the forehead.
The English bulldog's neck is thick and brief; the shoulders are huge, muscular and broad. The chest is full and deep, and the back is barreled and a little arched. His rounded hips extend somewhat above the level of the back. The stubby tail is thick and either straight or screwed. His short, stocky legs have excellent muscle meaning. They are splayed out and slightly bowed at the elbows and hocks to form a tough, base-wide stance.

The English bulldog stands about 40cm high. The female weighs about 23kg, and the male weighs about 25kg.

The English bulldog's skin is loose and pendant with heavy wrinkles and thick folds on the face and a dewlap hanging from the throat. The coat is short and well- textured. The numerous color scheme are brindle, piebald, and solid white, red, fawn or fallow.

Personality
The English bulldog has a sweet, gentle disposition. Reputable and predictable, the bulldog is a terrific family pet and loving to many kids. People-oriented as a breed, they actively obtain human attention.
However, they have actually retained the courage that was initially bred into them for bull baiting, so they make great guard dogs. Although they generally get along well with other household pets, English bulldogs can be aggressive to unknown pet dogs.

Called for its usage in the sport of bull baiting, the English bulldog seems to have originated in the British Isles sometime prior to the 13th century. Among the couple of references to the sport dates back to 1209, and speak about a butcher's pets that chased after a bull through the English town of Stamford. This pursuit so delighted the earl of the town that he inaugurated bull baiting as a sport in his domain.
Today, the English bulldog makes a fine family pet. acknowledges the type merely as the bulldog.


Coping with the English Bulldog
English bulldogs make great house pets and do not require a lawn. Typically low-endurance dogs, they need only a moderate quantity of workout. They flourish best in temperate climates; they easily overheat and have breathing difficulties in hot weather, and they chill easily in cold temperatures.

Generally loud breathers, English bulldogs tend to wheeze and snore. They are moderate shedders and their brief coats require little grooming.

In summary, English bulldogs are eccentric, loving, brave pets that are very loving and devoted. They do however, need extra attention as they snore and may have breathing problems due to their sqaushed nose. As they may overheat or lose heat easily, they do best in temperate climates.

Taking place between October 1963 and the following June, the Rivonia Trial led to the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela and his co-accused. They  were convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial is named after Rivonia, a Johannesburg suburb where Lilieslief Farm is situated. This former farm is where African National Congress activists had gone to ground and where they were arrested by the State security police. It is synonymous with the birthplace of the armed struggle against apartheid through the creation  of the  uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) unit.


Today, Lilisleaf is a heritage site and museum of apartheid resistance. Cedric’s Cafe, on the premises, is so called because liberation activists had code-named the farm "Cedric". The cafe is open to the public -- patrons need only pay an admission fee if they opt for a tour of the historical site.


On arrival, visitors are shown a 12-minute introductory film in the Liberation Centre.  An exhibit named uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) and the Africa Hinterland Safari Truck explores the history of the ANC's military wing. It reveals the inner workings of the Africa Hinterland company and other covert MK operations. Africa Hinterland was founded as an operator of overland tours. These were popular with British, Australian and Kiwi youth visiting the so-called ‘frontline states’, the name given to the postcolonial neighbours of apartheid South Africa.


Under the auspices of then MK Chief-of-Staff Joe Slovo, the company was originally registered in Britain. Africa Hinterland operated a converted Bedford truck whose routes extended as far south as Cape Town. Luggage and camping equipment were stored under the Bedford's passenger seats, but with access only from outside the truck body. Unbeknown to South African border officials, the cavities went an additional 10cm deeper along the entire 5m length of the passenger section, but were accessible only from under the passenger seats.
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In the compartments under the bottoms of unsuspecting tourists, MK is estimated to have smuggled up to 30 tons of arms into South Africa between 1987 and the early 1990s. This accounted for as much as 90% of all weapons brought into the country in the span leading up to the negotiated end of apartheid.

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With a collection spanning more than a century, the James Hall Museum of Transport  deserves the title of "the largest and most comprehensive museum of land transport in South Africa", which it conferred upon itself. Go and be gobsmacked at the number of contraptions that have been dreamed up for getting around Johannesburg (It is on Turf Road, Wemmer Pan).
The exhibit of animal-drawn vehicles covers the years 1870 to 1910. Much as modern cars all have names for specific builds, so too among the carts of yesteryear are the Surrey, the Governess and a Victoria, which was mostly used as a taxi in towns and cities. The Zeederberg coach on display is a replica, the original being housed at Museum Africa. There's even a horse-drawn tram that was in service until 1906.

Also of local interest are the Cape carts, in two-seater as well as four-seater variants. A prototype of the all-purpose vehicle, the Kakebeenwa (jaw-bone wagon) has gone down in history for its role in the Voortrekker migration. Rounding out this part of the collection are a number of other ox-drawn wagons.

The cycles on display include penny-farthings, an early tandem and tricycles for riders of all sizes. In the motorised two-wheeler section are bikes by the likes of Levi, Birmingham Small Arms and German manufacturer Neckarsulm, but there really isn't enough space in this post to do justice to the thematic displays and exhibits in the different halls.

For the little boy inside every man of a certain generation, one section is dedicated to fire-fighting equipment. These fire engines range from a 1913 Merryweather Steam Pump to the 1947 Dennis boasting an 8-cylinder Rolls Royce engine. There is also a 1936 Magirus Deutz with a ladder that can be extended to a height of 45 metres.

In the buses and coaches section is a 1952 RT London Bus. This is still in use, ferrying passengers on sightseeing tours across Johannesburg. The 1958 GUY double-decker diesel bus might have been lost to posterity, except for the fact that the museum acquired it from the now defunct Durban Historical Transport Society.

Among more than 2,500 exhibited items, the museum boasts a noteworthy car collection. There's a Model-T Ford, a 1963 Porsche 356 C Coupé and a black 1959 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud. Of all these, the 1900 Clement-Panhard is the oldest. One of the electric models on display is an example of the Joule, a five-seater passenger car built by Cape Town's own Optimal Energy.
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Johannesburg owes the James Hall Museum of Transport to the late Jimmie Hall, a car nut who established it together with the City Council in 1964. Entrance to the museum is free 7 days a week except for being closed for lunch from 12 to 1 p.m.

Not many Johannesburg establishments can claim to have been in continuous existence for 3-billion years. But Melville Koppies can.

Fair enough, Melville Koppies Nature Reserve was  created, and the area declared a Johannesburg City Heritage Site with a view to conserving the last of the Witwatersrand's ridges, only after gold mining had largely rearranged the rest. But the rock formations go back 3-billion years.

We know people were living here as long as 500,000 years ago, thanks to a late Stone Age living floor. That's a layer of earth with tools and artifacts that can be dated to that epoch, with items left by later inhabitants lying in shallower soil. These other residents arrived recently, only about 1,000 years ago. Their remaining stonework (thought to have been a complex of cattle kraals) still stands on the northern slopes of the Koppies. In 1963, or in geological terms, yesterday, an ancient  iron-smelting furnace was excavated and is on exhibited to the public.

Proclaimed in 1959, the 50 hectares of Melville Koppies central is the oldest part of the reserve. Access through this point is allowed only to organised tours and hikes. Both Melville Koppies east and west are open to the public daily for walks, which are scheduled for the latter. If you enjoy fresh air, a bit of sun and a good climb, then the Koppies are for you.

Vegetation on the Koppies is indigenous throughout, a remarkable example of Highveld grasses, flowers and trees, overlooked by progress and preserved intact, virtually in the city centre. The forest is mainly brack thorn acacia and blue gwarrie. At the crest of the reserve, the city stretches out all around you. Except for the traffic noise below, you could easily imagine yourself hiking in the wild, hours away from Johannesburg.

Flowing along the western boundary of the Koppies is the Westdene Spruit. Together with the Braamfontein and Jukskei spruits, this is one of several streams flowing northwards from the Witwatersrand watershed. The banks of the Westdene create a special environment in the Koppies, where giant stinkwood trees dominate. There are also large bushwillows, wild olive trees and wild peach trees.

The 3-hour guided tours through the heritage site cover about 4km. The cost was R60 per person.  At the end of that, you'll be  glad so many Melville establishments minister to the thirsty. In contrast to most of Johannesburg, Melville like some of Braamfontein, Emmarentia, Greenside or Parkhurst, still has restaurants and bars giving directly onto the street - which is better for heritage than having them tucked away in some featureless mall. There's also a choice of more than 30 guesthouses around and about, if you need accommodation. 

Their contact details:
Phone: +27 11 482 4797 
 email: wendavid@mweb.co.za

A visit to Johannesburg's Lion & Safari Park is almost like a visit to the Kruger National Park, only without the four-hour drive from Lanseria Airport. Compare this with the 12 minutes it takes to reach the Lion & Safari Park (from the same departure point) along the R512 Pelindaba Road, and you'll agree that for Johannesburgers, there's just no contest. 


At the Lion & Safari Park, guests have a choice of guided game drives and self-drives, starting at ZAR195 per adult in your vehicle. On guided tours, visitors may hand-feed the giraffes, ostriches and various antelope species roaming the 600-hectare property. Children aged 12 and under enter free, paying only for activities. 

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Besides a lion population of more than 80 individuals – including examples of the white sub-species – the Park is home to cheetah, three varieties of hyena (brown, spotted and striped), leopard and African wild dogs. Of course, there’s a choice of guided tours, with plenty of interesting facts from the guides. The tours can take as little as an hour, and up to 3 hours for the Safari. This is billed as the flagship tour, ending with drinks and snacks on the banks of the Crocodile River. 

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Until recently, most tours of Johannesburg steered clear of Soweto. Happily, that ignominy has ended with the official recognition accorded to certain monuments and important spaces in the 200km2 area.
 
A must-see, now preserved as a place of significance, is the house occupied since around 1934 by the “Father of Soweto”, James ‘Sofasonke’ Mpanza at Hlatywayo Street in Orlando. Mpanza was a larger-than-life character, who converted to Christianity and became a preacher while doing time for fraud and murder.
 
Released after a pardon to mark the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1927, he taught in Pretoria and like thousands of other blacks, later moved to Johannesburg. Towards the end of World War II, blacks in Johannesburg suffered from an acute shortage of housing. The government, mines and other industries employing them had failed to make any provision for them.
 
In 1944, thanks to his stature as a reformed man, Mpanza was able to organise a squat by 8, 000 followers on municipal land. After clashes with the police left two dead, but failed to move the squatters, municipal resistance crumbled. An emergency camp was declared on which 991 families would be sheltered.
 
In 1946 another 30, 000 people congregated in a squat west of Orlando. The municipality immediately declared a new emergency camp named Moroka. These camps were meant to be used for only five years, but when they were razed in 1955 to make way for more formal, serviced structures, Moroka and Jabavu housed
89, 000 residents.
 
Also in 1955, a dusty field in Kliptown, the oldest settled part of Soweto, was the venue of an unprecedented Congress of the People. It was attended by about 3, 000 members of organisations resisting the white supremacist government. The Congress adopted the Freedom Charter, a list of demands canvassed from blacks across the country and synthesised into the final document by various leaders.
 
In 2005, 50 years after the adoption of the Freedom Charter, then-President Thabo Mbeki lit a flame of freedom at the venue of the Congress. The ceremony marked the opening of the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication. In the square stands a memorial to the document, 10 large triangular concrete slabs on which the principles of the Freedom Charter are etched.
 
Mandela House is another popular tourist stop in Soweto. Officially the Nelson Mandela National Museum, this is the house on Vilakazi Street in Orlando West where Mandela lived from 1946 to 1962. Together with Tutu House – a property belonging the family of Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu – this gives Vilakazi Street the distinction of being the only street in the world to have been home to two Nobel laureates.