Did 863 Commonwealth Soldiers really have to die on the last day of WW1?

By Dean McCleland in History, Military History 2 Comments

Nowadays most generals are extravagant in their use of ammunition but parsimonious with the lives of their troops. Not so during WW1. By the end of WW1, the British Commonwealth had suffered more than 1.1million deaths and countless millions more maimed and injured. Most of the deaths on the last day occurred between the Armistice being signed at 5:10am within a railway carriage in Compiegne Wood and the ceasefire coming into effect at 11am that same morning. How could 10 000 soldiers become casualties that day when the Deed of Cessation of hostilities had already been signed?

For those with a conspiratorial disposition, be assured that there was no significance in the fact that the time and date of the cessation of hostilities comprised the number eleven. This was pure happenstance. The German delegation led by a civilian Matthias Erzberger had arrived some days earlier to conclude a peace treaty. In spite of the Allies being aware that the German’s mandate was peace at any cost, the Allies under Marshal Ferdinand Foch was truculent and in no mood to make any concessions to the Germans. This truculence was to delay the peace by three days.

Main picture: Carriage in which the Deed of Armistice was signed
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What will Shopping of the Future be Like?

By Dean McCleland in Other Miscellaneous Topics, Other Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

There are two types of shopping. To differentiate them I will classify them as consumables such as groceries, cleaning materials and toiletries and personal and luxury items such as clothing and appliances. To date internet shopping has not superseded personally shopping for one major reason; the cost of the delivery. Secondly should internet shopping become the norm what will the role of physical shops become?

I have been a keen follower of the internet shopping from its exuberant birth in the 1990s. The prognosis was that within 10 years, the demise of physical stores would become a reality. Reality TV shows showcased celebrities attempting to survive without ever entering a shop. Doomsday predictions abounded. Even within the steel industry where I was working at the time, the death of the steel merchant was predicted.
Main picture: A worker is seen in the Amazon.co.uk warehouse in Milton Keynes, north of London

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Omar al-Bashir: South Africa sides with the Oppressor

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 1 Comment

On obtaining power in 1994, there was a wide-spread expectation that South Africa’s foreign policy would confound the trend of realpolitik and support the underdog and oppressed wherever this situation was manifest in the world. Today African Solidarity triumphs over such high-minded ideals. The Omar al-Bashir incident is but the latest example of this trend where the Dalai Lama is banished but a tyrant like al-Bashir is lauded. How far has South Africa fallen from its ideals and sullied its image?

 The democratic South Africa was conceived in a wave of optimism that finally there would be a nation which would buck the international trend and base its international relations on a firm foundation of human rights.

Main picture: Omar al-Bashir attending the AU Summit in Sandton

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E-Tolls – The Tale of Two Cities

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 1 Comment

Normally they just stand on the overpasses with their banners unfurled. “NO TOLLS” they read. Last Friday was different. Instead of a peaceful protest against the iniquities of the e-toll system, the Metropolitan Police descended upon the small bunch of protesting claiming that they were disrupting traffic. Instead it was the 10 police vehicles which were causing the obstruction. A visitor from Dubai then enlightened us what was their experience with toll roads. It could not be more different than Gauteng’s response.

Like all protest action, facts and reasons are lost in the squabble. So it is with e-tolls. Regurgitating the arguments at this juncture is pointless. In his revised proposal, the Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa did make two salient points. Firstly, somebody has to pay for the new roads. By converting the e-toll to a fuel levy as advocated by OUTA, the poor would bear portion of the cost as taxis would also be liable for a fuel levy whereas if the cost were split between tolls and other taxes, the effect would be felt mainly by the affluent citizens.

Main picture: E-Toll gantries are now part of the landscape of Gauteng
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Meeting the Neighbours or How the Other Half Lives

By Dean McCleland in Other Opinion Pieces, Running 0 Comment

Road Running certainly exposes one to how the other half of South Africa lives. To be more mathematically correct: how most South Africans live. Last Saturday, the Solomon Mahlangu half marathon ran through Mamelodi and today’s race – on Youth Day – was held in Kagiso in the far West Rand.

When I first started running about 31 years ago, running through the black townships was considered life threatening for whites in light of the “antipathy” with which whites were regarded in the townships. Most whites would boycott such races but by participating in the 1000 Km Challenge as well as the Around the World Challenge, certain of us had no option but to participate in all races including those running through these supposed death traps.

Main picture: The township of Kagiso is surprisingly clean. Very few corrugated iron shacks are to be seen. In fact, the township has uplifted itself over the the past two decades to represent a lower middle class black stratum with mainly well-maintained livable houses maybe not with the opulence of Sandton or Steyn City but certainly comfortable.

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Photographs of Berlin in 1945 and Today

By Dean McCleland in Historical, History 1 Comment

Hitler’s decision to fight until the last man and boy had been killed resulted in Hitler retreating from the Wolf’s Lair in Eastern Prussia and ensconcing himself in the so-called underground Fuhrerbunker near the Reich’s Chancellery in Berlin. Large swaths of Berlin had already been laid to ruin due to the continual bombing sorties by the British and American Air Forces. Now it was the turn of the Russian Army to complete its destruction.

Main picture: These photographs, taken by the Boston Globe, show the same location in 1945 and in 2015.

Cloistered within the fetid and otherworldly atmosphere were Adolf Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun together with the Goebbel’s family – Joseph, Magda and their six children. In spite of the German Wehrmacht being woefully inadequate to prevent the demise of Deutschland, Hitler and his closest aids still lived in a dream world. Accompanied by Albert Speer, Hitler even took a tour of the Reich’s Chancellery in order to view a model of the future Berlin; such was Hitler’s unwavering belief in Germany’s invincibility in spite of the deteriorating military situation.

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Do They Really Think that we are that Stupid?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 4 Comments

Of course they do. And we are. First we had President Zuma laughing his way through a Parliamentary session on the Budget. Then the Minister of Police had to the temerity to insult our intelligence by baldly stating that the most unlikely expenditure on Nkandla, Zuma’s private residence, were all installed for security purposes. Then FIFA bribe scandal broke. To cap it all, is the ongoing saga about Eskom.

After Nkandlagate the next episode of the soap opera that is South Africa under Zuma was released. Then came the FIFA imbroglio in which the American FBI allege that the South Africans paid a bribe to a FIFA executive amounting to $10 million. What has been the government’s reaction? Bluster, lies and cover-ups from the Minister of Sports, Fikile Mbalula. At the best of times, he first has to remove the one foot from his mouth before he can insert the other one. Upon closer inspection after every denial, investigative journalists would undercover another piece of the jigsaw puzzle which would undermine part of the denial. Like the seasoned politician that he is, he just dug himself a bigger hole through more bluster.

Main picture: Silo collapse at Majuba Power Station

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Signs that prove that South Africa is different

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries, Other Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

The ubiquitous sign in bold lettering PENIS ENLARGEMENT is plastered on almost every stop sign, wall and bus shelter especially in the decrepit ramshackle areas. What image does this conjure up in the minds of foreigners about South African males? In less bold lettering beneath the prominent words will be a whole plethora of ailments and desires which this magic potion or muti, in the local Zulu parlance, can remedy.

The list will include items such as finding a job, retrieving a lover from the arms of another man to finding another wife. Of course the whities or mulungus sneer and roll their eyes at such quackery but in certain segments of black society, these concoctions clearly have credence and an allure otherwise these flyers would not be as prolific.

Main picture: Perhaps in the case the muti will be effective because all it is “designed” to do is to enlarge and not to find a girlfriend

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The Lipid Hypothesis of Heart Disease under Attack in South Africa

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Health 1 Comment

With the eminent Professor Tim Noakes facing the wrath of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for advocating the LCHF diet for all people, this issue has again been dragged into the public domain. What particularly irked the Professional Board for Dietetics and Nutrition in South Africa was his assertion that his diet was suitable for infants. What is the significance of this decision and what are the long-term implications of general adoption of this diet?

A Personal Odyssey

Of the few struggles in my life which I have lost convincingly, by a knockout and not on points, has been my weight. At periodic intervals I would yet again attempt to lose 8 to 10kgs. After six months of excruciating hunger, lassitude and enervation, I would have attained my desired weight level only to regain it within one month thereafter as I resumed my normal eating habits.

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Are these really South Africa’s Top 10 Landmarks?

By Dean McCleland in History, Opinion Pieces 2 Comments

This is the list compiled by the Trip Advisor. It is always highly debatable what the top ten items are in any category; similarly with this list. Do you also have other landmarks in mind which are more significant like Kimberley or the Castle in Cape Town which should be on that list? Being totally unbiased I nominated Number 7 Castle Hill Port Elizabeth for the top position. The owner of the oldest extant house in Port Elizabeth and I have something in common. The Reverend Francis McCleland was my great great grandfather and the minister of the first church in Port Elizabeth.

According to the Heritage Collection:

No 7 Castle Hill was the residence of Rev. Francis McCleland and his family. He built his parsonage in 1825. The picturesque cottage is one of the oldest remaining dwelling houses in Port Elizabeth and is furnished as a family home of the mid-Victorian period, depicting the early Settler way of life. The house was declared a National Monument in 1962 and became a museum (No 7 Castle Hill Museum) in 1964.

Main picture: Number 7 Castle Hill in Port Elizabeth

 

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