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KINSHASA, Congo: Two boats capsized over the weekend in separate incidents on Congo's vast rivers, leaving 70 people dead and 200 others feared dead, and both vessels were heavily loaded and operating with few safety measures, officials said.
Early on Saturday, a boat on a river in northwest Equateur Province hit a rock and capsized, provincial spokeswoman Ebale Engumba said Sunday. She said more than 70 people are believed dead among 100 estimated passengers. She said officials are investigating why the boat was traveling through the darkness without a light.
In a separate incident in Kasai Occidental Province, 200 people were feared dead after a boat loaded with passengers and fuel drums caught fire and capsized in southern Congo, a survivor said Sunday. Another survivor confirmed the account and said local fishermen refused to help drowning passengers who jumped off the crowded boat.
The incident in southern Congo would be the deadliest boat accident in the Central African nation this year, and among the worst in Africa this year.
The boats that traverse Congo's rivers are often in poor repair and filled beyond capacity. The industry is not well-regulated and boat operators are known to fill boats to dangerous levels.
In the first incident in northwest Congo, Engumba said officials think the boat's lack of lighting was responsible.
''We are going to arrest people involved who are in charge of regulating the boat's movement who failed to stop that boat from traveling at night,'' she said.
In the second incident, survivors said the boat was overloaded with people and goods. A local official said two of the boat's crew were arrested but both refused to say how many people were aboard. The official said the passenger manifest apparently vanished in the fire.
Fabrice Muamba, who said he was on the boat when it caught fire Saturday night on the Kasai River, said he thought only 15 of the more than 200 people he thought were aboard were able to swim to safety. He said passengers began to jump overboard when the engine caught fire as it passed the remote village of Mbendayi, some 45 miles (70 kilometers) from the town of Tshikapa, which is north of Congo's border with Angola.
Another survivor, a woman named Romaine Mishondo, said the boat was already packed with ''hundreds'' of passengers when it stopped some 10 minutes before the fire to pick up more people.
She said she did not know exactly how many people were aboard, but said the boat was so crowded it reminded her of ''a whole market in the village full of people.''
But when the fire started and people began jumping overboard, she said nearby fishermen ignored drowning passengers' pleas for help.
''Fishermen attacked the boat and started beating passengers with paddles as they were (trying) to loot goods,'' she said. ''The fishermen refused to save passengers, instead taking goods into their pirogues. ... I survived because I hung onto a jerrycan until another vessel passed by the scene and rescued us.''
Boat owner Mwamba Mwati Nguma Leonard said a survivor and an employee called to tell him the boat caught fire when workers spilled fuel and ignited the engine.
''At the moment I am crying after learning my boat caught fire,'' Leonard said. ''I was just told on phone that it was while seamen were putting fuel into the tank that an explosion occurred after the oil touched the vessel's battery.''
He said he has asked police to arrest the boat's managers as he believes they employed unskilled workers.
But he said he had no further details because he was in Congo's capital, Kinshasa, some 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the scene, and because his employees on the scene did not answer his calls Sunday.
''Since I am far away in Kinshasa, I cannot confirm at the moment the exactly what happened,'' he said.
Leonard also confirmed Muamba's account that the boat was carrying many drums full of fuel on its journey through Kasai Occidental Province. Leonard said the boat also was carrying sacks of maize. He said he did not know how many people were aboard.
Francois Madila, an official from the navigation department in the province, said police arrested two crew members and are investigating the incident. Madila said the sailors have not said how many people were aboard and that the passenger list appeared to have disappeared in the fire.
Other officials and witnesses in the remote area could not be reached for comment Sunday.
The incident is the deadliest of several boating incidents reported this year in Congo.
In July, officials said at least 80 people died when a boat ferrying about 200 passengers to Congo's capital capsized after hitting a rock.
In May, dozens of people died when an overloaded canoe capsized on a river in eastern Congo. And last November, at least 90 people were killed after a logging boat sank on a lake in Congo. The timber-carrying vessel was not supposed to be carrying passengers. – AP
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Tags: congo boat capsize accident
this is nothing, the kind of poverty n hunger we see in our country, i must say these people r blessed
Jose Luis. Un saludo y quiero agradecer el aporte tan grande que has hecho con estas fotos. La foto numero 4 es impresionante. Por eso es que la fotografia es tan importante. Se registran instantes sobre los cuales se pueden tejer historias y se pueden deducir cosas sin necesidad de estar uno alla. Definitivamente un valioso documento.de fotografia reportaje.
De nuevo gracias. Un abrazo:
Bayardo San Roman
So weird to see white people in poverty (form my point of view), one is accustomed to see the rich white boys, and the brown or blacks are the poor people, it is strange to see blond formed in a line for free food, it seems more a scene of devastation after a hurricane or something like that.
The pictures are schoking due to the history of South Africa. here is a few facts.
"Solidariteit helping hand" took Pres Zuma there to show him that there are poor whites as well. They even took the leader of the communist party to see for himself. There is a perception that whites benefit so much from apartheid that they will never get poor.
Please read how much public money is spend, by black officials, on worldcup tickets. This while Eskom wants to cut off power while account are not paid.
It has nothing to do with condoms or race, this is what happens when the economy breaks down. Condoms can't stop you from losing a job you retards! I look at this and can't help but to think about those kids and how little of a chance they have, they deserve more. Their government is more corrupt than the US government. I also can't help to think that this is entirely possible in the close future in the US if we don't start electing the right people. Obama seams like he's pushing us toward this end. Pathetic. Most government employees (meaning the Congress and Senate, the people that actually make policy) show themselves as highly fed and lowly taught, that's probably the way it is all over the world.
Shocking photo's but I feel very little sympathy for them. I grew up poor, I had nothing. I started working at 17 years old for very little money, barely enough for monthly food. After 10 years of working and studying and doing my best, I have achieved alot more than anyone ever expected me to. In SA we have lots of opportunities, all of us, regardless of colour. But you have to be willing to work your butt off, for a long time. There is no excuse for a young person to sit at home doing nothing in the middle of the day, go out and work!
Reading this conglomeration of positive and negative comments, interspersed with those of extremely ignorant ones (especially those empathetically-blind, who missed the bigger picture and only saw the ART, heaven-forbid - the ARTISTRY in the photos!!!), it was like a roller-coaster ride.
To # 133 &156 : you've put it in a nutshell - I hope that every blogger reads yours repetitively until it sinks in and etches the picture in true perspective in their minds, Congratulations on being honest, open-minded white citizens and sincere humane persons!
To #100, Extremely well said! In light of all the ignoramuses, perhaps you should have broken it down a lot more for the dummies who have made their tunnel-visioned comments.
Well said, # 80, 81 & 82 too!
Poverty can strike anyone, irrespective of race or colour. What you do to get out of it is what matters, and to get down to grassroots, it is based on the values your parents set for you to empower you with the will to succeed and rise from adversity. Poor children and rich children have something in common - they are both victims of their circumstances. How they are made to feel about taking their stand in life is what determines whether they get out of that hole of need or greed. Some people just accept their circumstances as being their comfort zone, so to help them get out of it, educating their young would be one way of enlightenment. No amount of money or hand-out is going to 'teach' them life-skills....resetting and developing their thinking, supplemented by training them to acquire constructive skills will motivate them to create a better future for themselves. The will to succeed has to come from within.
(Incidentally, as a 'coloured' person who grew up under the Apartheid Regime, how could I have been brainwashed into believing that those dark people were in fact white, when they are visibly darker than my own family, and we had to suffer the indignation of the 'white' regime?!) Does # 106 actually realise that his first paragraph applies to EXACTLY what we had to go through and some of our friends' family members were MURDERED by the white police for just being in an area where riots were taking place? They were on their way home from school and work, with no other entry to their area, and were shot down simply because they were there?! Their bodies were refused to be released to their parents without them signing a declaration that their children took part in the riots! So you either signed the form to give your child a burial, or your forfeited your child's body to be true to yourself. Was he faced with such a decision? These were people who lived on the borderline of poverty too, because we were denied the same wages that white people earned.
What you reap, you will sow. The ones I feel sorry for are the innocent children who are born into unfortunate circumstances, irrespective of race, creed or colour.
With regard to the smoking and contraceptive comments, please do not deprive them of everything. Contraception is a personal thing; procreation is a gift from God. Smoking, while it is a waste, if that is their only pleasure, then at least grant them something that is affordable to them while those more fortunate have a greater variety of pleasures available to us.
To JJ (post 71)....this is exactly why those photos are interesting....because they could have been taken anywhere
Great idea & great pictures (especially portraits)!
There's poverty all over the world. In many cases far worse than the pictures show. Many cases are the result of self inflicted poverty, meaning people too lazy to work and living on the handouts because that's easier than working. Most cases are the result of governments and businesses preaching human rights this and fighting poverty that, but only caring about the profit margin.
South Africa is slowly turning out to be one of the most expensive countries in the world because business ONLY cares about the profit margin and government are incapable of regulating price fixing properly. I am specifically talking about business in South Africa which produces consumer goods like food and clothing. These companies churn out BILLIONS in profits each year yet they are fined mere millions for price fixing which does not really benefit the poor.
A point in fact is one specific company being fined $11 to $12 million for colluding with other companies in the fixing of the bread price - a very basic commodity - and then increasing the price of a loaf of bread the very same week that the fine is issued.
Where did this investigation by government and fine to the company benefit the poor? Nowhere. The poor ended up paying more for basic food stuffs and the working tax payer footed the bill for the investigation. VERY CLEVER NOT!!!!
The point I am trying to make is that there is more than enough wealth in the world to give every single person a proper education and a proper job with which he or she can live comfortably.
The problem is NOT race or apartheid as some of you so stupidly believe.
The problem is the current economic model of the world where only a handful very powerful people control the finances of the world and then not even doing such a great job at that.
This problem directly effects 90% to 95% of the people of the world and if only we could leave our petty differences aside and take control of the wealth which is our right as human beings then maybe the world could become a better place.
But then again we as human beings need to change first - rich and all the poor - before that can happen and I honestly do not see all the different people of the world standing together for a common cause, unless some unfortunate disaster threatens our existence as a species.
Posted by James July 11, 2010 01:40 AM Comment 106
Are you serious? You make me laugh! Genocide? I'm sure 25yrs ago you would've been alot more comfortable hey?
I am a coloured South African, not white enough under the old regime not black enough under the new regime, however I have friends of all race's(including Afrikaaners) and every morning I get up and work hard at improving my life and accomplishing my goals. Yes alot of these people are in dire circumstances but I was taught from a very young age that every man makes his own destiny. There is work out there and in order to get ahead you need to work hard which is what I have done without help from the government or anyone else. So I think poverty is only really applicable to children and those physically not able to work. We come from the land of Nelson Mandela who showed us with the will to work hard anything can be achieved. I wake up every morning in this beautiful land and I don't complain, I put my head down and work hard and I think everyone should do the same and we will grow as a nation.
Yes I do feel for the people in these photo's they are South African which make's them my brothers. I give when I can and donate old clothes or items I dont use to charity and those less fortunate and I think everyone should but playing the blame game only causes problems. Its time for everyone to realise that they need to get up and go work to better their circumstances. There is money to be made if you are willing to work.
It is so sad to read many of the comments here. The pictures do depict the status change in South Africa. But it is wrong to blame it entirely on reverse apartheid. The difference is many of these whites were protected by apartheid in the past and for that reason where not so disadvantaged.
It is also wrong just to feel sad for the whites when there are millions more blacks in the same situation. Yes reverse apartheid has made it difficult for many to get a job because they are white and that is wrong. But we should all be fighting to help everyone live a better life, not just whites.
The tide will turn and hopefully everyone will stand the same chance of getting a job. For now, we as South Africans should be working on improving the economy as a whole and that will mean more jobs for everyone. Hopefully the world cup will be a start and soon everyone will have equal rights.
I really feel for the kids living like this. How do you get to develop yourself when you live in such impoverished circumstances?
To the leaders in power, give us all a fair chace, otherwise one day it will come back to bite you.
Awesome photography!
"Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you."
Any of us could find ourselves in a situation like this, depending on circumstances, and I can only feel empathy for the people in these photographs. This incredible photo essay shows us that one person living in poverty is one too many, and that poverty knows no racial boundaries.
The fact that the people depicted here are white doesn't detract in any way from the fact that many black South Africans live in similar or much worse conditions, it only serves to make the picture of poverty in our country more complete.
Approximately 40% of the South African population lives on $2 (about R15) a day, and unemployment is as high as 38%. The vast majority of those living in poverty are black, partly because of the legacy of apartheid, and partly because this reflects the demographics of the country (there are approx. 49 million citizens and approx. 79% of these are black, a figure which excludes the estimated 5 million undocumented refugees living in the country, most of whom are black too).
Suffice it to say that democracy has failed in our country if so many of our people - black and white - live in poverty. As Nelson Mandela has said, one cannot live a happy and secure life if one's neighbour is hungry and vulnerable. It is up to each and every one of us to work diligently to change the course we are on, and to re-define what it means to live equitably and democratically.
I don't doubt that the people pictured here have it bad, nor do I discount the circumstances of these people, but there is a much larger population in South Africa of black Africans in similar and worse situations. Keep that in mind as you see these pictures.
It looks like the girl who was beaten in #25 was the same person who was grieving at the funeral in #20 earlier that day. Tough life
remember each person in SA is only a paycheque away from ending up in one of these places....there but for the grace of God go I....Do not judge lest you be judged by the same token.
@112 It is normal for kids to go barefoot to school in many Afrikaans schools in South Africa.
Here in Finland we have things like public healthcare and social security. The weird thing is that african immigrants get higher support than the poor native people. All homeless people who live on street are white. The black people who cannot the language etc... they are serviced so well by the government that they get everything what they need. Home, furniture, decoration, clothes, food, hobbies as much as they dare to ask. They are like kings in a foreign country.
COMO O SER HUMANO É UMA CRIATURA INJUSTA........
TANTOS BILHÕES JOGADOS NO LIXO..............
TANTA FOME, TANTA DIFICULDADE, E O SER HUMANO GASTA O QUE NÃO TEM PARA PROMOVER UM EVENTO QUE DURA 30 DIAS.....
LAMENTÁVEL...........
MAS DEUS ESTÁ VENDO TUDO, E TUDO TERÁ UM RETORNO.......ESSAS PESSOAS AVARENTAS TERÃO O QUE MERECEM E PAGARÃO POR ISSO............
I dont understand why this is so hard for people to digest,this is nothing new and why should it be such a shock to us all just because these people are white?Well more than half of the black south african's live like this but thats just become the norm.
I feel sorry for these people.
However, it will get worse and never better.
This is not their country, they had a good life but it has now changed.
I have no idea how they will do it, but they need to leave and go where there is some hope for them.
What needs to be addressed here is the fact that the USA, Canada and the Western European countries coerced South Africa to turn the country over to black rule. What is happening to the white working class and lower middle class should have come as no surprise to anyone.
The USA has a dry land clause for Cubans. This country is letting in Haitian refugees, Somali refugees and basically winking at their own immigration laws to let all of the brown-skinned of Latin America in. However, there is no plan on the books to let poor, dispossessed South African whites (who are reasonably skilled, educated and know English) in, not even on a humanitarian basis, even though many of these people are facing genocidal conditions at the hands of a racist regime who likes to sing "Kill the Boer" at public gatherings.
Europe, too, is letting in every brown Muslim and black African. England could have reserved any openings for white Anglo immigrants from the former Rhodesia and South Africa. Yet, England has made no move to do so, flooding the country with Pakistanis, etc. Holland had a celebrity murdered in her streets by one of the many Muslim immigrants they imported, yet it never occurred to that country to give refuge to the Dutch Boers; skilled, white, Christian and whose tongue is very similar to their own. Same with Germany.
The hostility against the white South African minority is that the politically correct see them as occupiers who should vacate the area for the black indigenous majority. Fine. The white indigenous homelands of Europe should expel anyone not of European lineage and sanctuary status should be offered to the white South Africans. The USA and Canada need to do their share, too.
Last, but not least, I am appalled by the number of white people pompously clucking their tongues over these white squatters having children to feed. These are the same bunch of people who felt very saintly and self-righteously throwing more money at black Haitians breeding like rabbits, who only bred more like rabbits.
They live in a country where white, self-supporting parents of large families are treated like freaks (the Duggars, anyone?) but don't blink an eye at bilking the tax payers to pay for black welfare queens with ten different brats by ten different baby daddies and don't dare even look so much as cross-eyed at them. Not to mention encouraging Pedro and Conchita to cross the border illegally, get on welfare, while working for cash under the table and ... you guessed it ... breed like rabbits!
The white race has to be the dumbest, most suicidal race on the planet. With the attitude on this board, I expect the white race to be totally extinct in the next 200 years, if not sooner. Dummies!
'Nuff said!
STOP HAVING KIDS!
problem solved
I am a 66 year old white male born and bred as they say in SA and would like to say that the people who have been photographed in this camp are the real lowdown and useless whites.Most of them are to lazy to work and always have excuses when they are approached with job offers.They remind me of the whites that I have seen in Kentucky in the Apalachian mountains.
These people seem to have money for cigarettes and booze.
I also do not believe there are 450 000 unemployed whites in SA.For the most whites if you want to work there are SA. I know we have a useless and corrupt government but this does not memean that you have to be lazy.
I am always amazed by the critical comments posted mainly by the Americans toward white south Africans. Its like you dont even know your own history. You do realise that the klu klucks clan began in your neighbourhood dont you? Tell you what give all the starving apartheid survivors free passes to your beautiful country, give it 50 years and then comment on the racist South African white. Are you all born narrow sighted or is it just a general belief that the world ends with the borders of America. The pot and kettle come to mind.
Why is the world living like this? Poverty should not exist i do think we need new politics ,,,And for the photographer great job. So the next time you have a hard time to decide what size of TV you want or if your if the water your drinking is not cold enough ...Think of them ,,,,Thank you,,,
Maybe since these horrible images depict white people suffering, someone will actually care enough to try to help.
This breaks my heart! Not because of the colour of their skins, they could be asians, blacks and indians for all I care. They have been dealt the bottom side of the coin, it could be anyone of us upper earners, and educated people living only about 25km from them!
I do not understand the cigarettes that they will always find the money to purchase, and basically condoms and the pill are FREE, so why have extra babies in those conditions? How do you bring up kids like that? Also you can see that most of the men are hard time drinkers - where the money for booze comes from-such a shame actually!
Where are all the Fat Cat Afrikaaner Churches/Christians who believe that they are the "Chosen Race" in this sorry mess? I do like the one where the black man hands out food aid to whites.. In the days of Apartheid, the reverse would never have been seen.
ex Krugersdorp resident.
I beleive there is poverty in this world but also laziness. We have the same problem here in australia. Lately a family of 5 have told a journalist that they have been on the doll (unemployment benefit) for the last past 12 years for the youngest one and were happy about it!!! (the grandparents and parents have never work in their life and who pay for them? US. They are a burden and parasite to our society. This lazy people have been offered good job, decent housing commission houses etc.... but they refused it. Yes there is poverty and its hard to see who is real and who is not. I feel sorry for the people who are really poor and if the people on these photos are the real poor I do hope that God will help you to go out of your poverty.
I am South African and all I can say is that poverty affects everyone. There's no genocide or trying to hide the real race issues in SA(like 106,113 and the lot said). I think there's enough freedom of speech in the media to know more or less what the social climate is like in the country. Fact: White people are still way better off than black people(economically). Crime also affects everyone in this country(if not mostly black people). Affirmative Action is a failed process in the private sector(where the money is). They simply do not comply because of the slow filtering of skilled black people from the education system. I have yet to find a white person that has gone to college and is qualified struggling to find a job. And there is, for every white person struggling for a job, there's 10 black people in the exact same situation and that have the exact same skills. Maybe take away the language barrier from the whites, seeing that most business use English/Afrikaans to do business(spoken mostly by whites).
Another thing about South Africa(like someone stated in these comments) is that we're a capitalistic country. The businesses are simply out to milk the people(mostly poor) of every last cent they've got.
From the banking, motor, mobile phone companies and all the way to the government. This country is a great country if you're well off.
The problem is not race or this looney talk of reverse apartheid. It's your age old the rich getting richer and the poor(some previously middle class) getting poorer. White/Black people in SA should stop playing victim about who suffered/suffering the most.
These look surprising because this is not something you'll see white people experiencing. Even their own kin would rather donate to a black squatter than help their own(at least for people that see this as a race issue). It's almost embarrassing for them see a white man struggling. How many garden workers, house maids, cleaners or construction workers do you get that are white? Very minimal to non-exist-ant!
The government can mess up all they want to but that comes to nothing compared to power that the big corporations have over the the state of poverty. As long our problem with poverty is thought to be a race issue, then the big white shareholders(partnering with some AA fat cat for perks) will carry on laughing all the way to the money bin. Poverty affects everyone!!!
Wondering!!! As there were no black people in Africa?
In response to comment 112 - I have been there to drop off things, some families are worse off than others. it is so very sad, I beleive that some people are there for the "freebies". However in a way you are correct, as children in some schools in SA, can (are allowed) to school without shoes (brefoot) in summer.
Poverty is evolving .... the world is changing ... a new type of poverty is rising in the developed world ... psychological poverty ... when people suffer from isolation, abandon, neglect, exploitation, hypocrisy ... when they no longer correspond to what society wants them to correspond to. Alongside the succeesful story, they are more and more people who feel neglected by life. Our global world is producing today loads of sole people, loads of isolated people, loads of poor.... Veronique Fagel, Belgium
Poverty is evolving...in the developing world, there is a new type of poverty... wether we are black, yellow or pink. Many people today live alone in the big cities. In our modern, global society, there is very little place for the one who do not correspond, who do not belong.
Without prejudice,i would like to say that whilst South Africa,including most countries are being affected by the "credit-crunch",there are some factors which cause white people to end-up in places such as these.
Positive Attitude,and resilience is always a lacking factor,where people who may have been,"previously-advantaged" are not willing to do menial jobs in order to make ends meet.Many white people in Pretoria West,were once accomodated in "free-housing" schemes which was sponsored by companies such as Iscor,and which was part of their income-packages,while being employed,as operators,cleaners,storeman etc....
A lack of qualifications and work-flexibility also plays a part in the make-up of folks,who in this case,come from extreme "rasict" backgrounds,and may not have been willing to blend-in with the new democracy!!!
I was employed by ARD (Arthroplasty Research and Development) in Pretoria West,Industrial area as a CNC-foreman(Toolmaker) for 9years, and had many young white males,working as operators in my department at the time,who had primary-school qualifications and no more.
The sad thing about these pictures,are the negative effects that the situation will have on these poor children,who will grow-up with a mental attitude of "lack" and bitterness,and eventually follow in their parents footsteps.
Last,but not least.......I have lived in a caravan-park,and have lived in a garage(with my sons) for a short period...which was out of choice.....and became part of a sabbatical for me.
People who are affected by poverty,are not always unintelligent/unqualified.....yet sometimes lack the will to go out there,and change their circumstances to a positive outcome.!!!!
"I REALLY DO NOT BELEIVE IT. lOOK AT PICTURE #9 WITH THOSE CHILDREN'S CRISP SCHOOL UNIFORM. How do they afford those wonderful uniforms but no shoes?"
The same reason you see pictures of poor black children with crisp uniforms and no shoes. The uniforms are something to cherish, like church clothes. Because schooling and education is something to cherish. It is something to be proud of that you can send your child to school. It is something you give your children even if it means taking the shirt off your own back and the food out of your own mouth. Your child will wear good clothes to school and be proud, schooling will hopefully give them a better life. Shoes in some places are just not as important.
Those uniforms are not just clothing, they are special, they have meaning. There are many pictures of all races where the children live in poverty, no shoes, tattered bag, but the uniforms, those are crisp and clean and taken care of, proud.
But by the way you spell and express yourself, I don't think you will ever understand that.
Barefoot children going to school in photo #19 reminded of my wife as a child who walked to school barefoot on muddy streets & in rain in rural Philippines. She has come a long way since then. She's thankful for nameless American missionaries and Peace Corps volunteers who came over to teach them livelihood methods, and increased their faith in a God who is ever merciful for each one of us. These people gave a part of themselves never expecting anything back, never expecting instant results, even got rejected by some people, persecuted, even kidnapped.
Some comments here criticize the attitudes of these poor people and some gave up on helping too. Results don't come overnight. It may take months, years, a lifetime, beyond a lifetime and even generations for results to occur. The only assurance of good results is known by God. Goodness He has instilled in each man and woman works wondrous ways. It's like a seed planted, which though dormant, will one day spring up to be a beautiful plant. Nowadays we share our blessings with other family members, friends, orphans, widows and the poor. Anyone can do likewise whether rich or poor.
We need not go to South Africa to help. As said in #109 let us start in our own places in helping/blessing others-.the fatherless, orphans, the dying, the sick, those in prison, the aged. We can give, not only money, but our time, prayers, and talents. These weren't given to anyone for themselves. Plant seeds of goodness and one they will blossom. Negative criticism when planted would yield negative results. Let us be positive as the world is pressing all negative things towards us. Let us ask ourselves always each day- what good have we done today? Even a bit of good does make a difference.
If they can afford the cigarettes it is NOT that bad then !
incredibly REAL photos, incredibly touching...
The dark side off the white dominants. Looks to me that all are smokers.
it just shows that they cant run a country! :(
Apparently cigarettes stave off hunger pains. I think it would be wonderful if the residents could somehow start growing their own food and become self-sustaining, If I lived there, that is what I would like to do - teach them how to take care of themselves. Taking handouts is easy. Taking responsibility for yourself is priceless.
y pensar q yo era el unico en mi clase de pobre pero esta gente es mas pobre q yo me da mucha lastima ver como mi raza humana sovrevive en este mundo solo tenemos q pedirle a dios q nos cuide y nos proteja
y pensar q yo era el unico en mi clase de pobre pero esta gente es mas pobre q yo me da mucha lastima ver como mi raza humana sovrevive en este mundo solo tenemos q pedirle a dios q nos cuide y nos proteja
nothing really surprising for me despite i've never been there...
we'll never say it enough, technicaly speacking, SA is one of the richest countries on the world with it's natural resources
pradoxically and sadly, it's also one of the places where there is the most cruel forms of poverty and inequality.
from casablanca, morocco.
I have also been to South Africa about 10yrs ago and didnt see anything like these pictures show. The tables have turned, there once was a time when the white man was at the top of the food chain - now it is the crippled black folk who had and some still have nothing, have finally been given a step to climb and have risen to the top of the pot.
Slowly but surely.................
That may be truth,of course!But why should'nt some white people live under poverty in SA while some live in less better conditions in USA or EUROP?Then compare the rates of white and black people living there in poverty!And notice that since that abomination called apartheid some white people live in poverty in SA.
Stop telling nonsense if you do not have any subject to talk about!BECAUSE YOUR ARTICLE CAN INCREASE RACIAL HATRED..!
For years and years the whites where quite during apartheid where blacks where not able to even drink at the same water fountain as "whites"! So people rebel and end the apartheid, but they don't redistribute the land or money! Most wealth is STILL in hands of whites in SA, to not say all!!!!!!
Take these pictures for what are, pictures of poor whites, this is not the general images of whites in SA, I mean come on!
And I'm whiter then white, you should know.
One general rule that people should learn. Land and money are power, you cannot have democracy (rule of the people remember?) or change if power is not distributed to the people! There are corrupt blacks as there are corrupts whites of course, skin pigment doesn't usually affect your morale...
uff. thanks.. god bless you..
Wealth that should be made available to uplifting the poor comunities via jobs/work programs etc is being used to fuel the gravey train for the extravigant pleasures of the wealthy beurocrats.
Everything on Earth is arranged in such a way that the strong survive and the weak are destroyed. This is nature. When we start altruistically trying to protect the poor, uneducated and unhealthy with resources that are not their own, we throw out the natural balance and end up with this sort of thing.
If people can't afford to eat (white, black, yellow, brown), or can't be bothered to grow their own food, then let them starve to death. Populations will drop to a sustainable level and there will then be more resources to go around. If someone has a terminal illness, instead of wasting food and money keeping them alive, give them a few days to say goodbye, then put them to death like you would a diseased cat.
Otherwise every other species on the planet will end up suffering along with us because of our so-called "helpfulness". It is sad that some animals (including humans) are born into less than adequate environments, but frankly, that's the way the world works.
Oh god, #20 is so sad. It's so heartbreaking.. look at the expressions on their faces. My heart goes out to them.
To all the people: green ,white, orange, yellow ,black , pointing figures will not get us anywhere .
We live in a world in a country where things are not transparent fair and balanced , it’s always easier to label and discriminate.
If it’s not a race thing , it’s a gender thing .
Under the gender “class”(green ,white, orange, yellow ,black) “female “ & males they is discrimination between the beauties and the brains , the skinny vs. the obese , Rich vs. the Poor , Educated vs. Uneducated , Porch drivers Vs BMW drivers , Zulu’s taxi driver vs. other race drivers , white middle class vs. white trailer trash, Government school kids Vs Private School kids …………Rugby Vs Soccer ……(people enough is enough )
They are many reasons why we should hate and breed more hate and instill detestation to the next generation to carry forward our legacy of HATE . It’s easy to HATE and its cowardice, let’s build our nation one brick by brick ,starting in our homes by using the right foundation and teachings .
Some one asked where the help is...Im kinda wondering if you viewed picture 4 and 23?
Any how, why are they not integrated with the rest of the poor pple in other squatter camps?? Why are they living separately?
Reading the posts of most of the Boers here is quite telling. Firstly, they come to South Africa and introduced their peculiar ugliness to the ugliness that was already there.
Apartheid had to be the next logical step because the bible and the gun made them what they were and still are.
Had the British not beaten them, they would have been more unbearable than they are now.
Since things have changed, they have deserted the poor boers but they still keep a hand or two extended towards them (" at least they have community organizations and the church ") because if things do get serious, they will need them as fodder.
Boers are like the Zionists in Israel. Nature and time will do the job of weeding them out and making them more human than the beasts they presently are.
Everyone is moved because we see " blond haired" poverty ! the kind of thing we associate with and only want to see with blacks and other"inferior types"! We get foolish remarks such as "apartheid was designed and implemented to protect the poor uneducated whites" and other clap trap about people being lazy and some Boer spouting off about offering a job to a black which was refused etc,etc.
The fact is that whatever they accuse the blacks of, they themselves are guilty of also. This includes governing a country.
When it was only poor blacks, all we heard about was that these people cannot be helped because they are designed to fail ( so says the Bible and the boer with his gun). Now that they are poor whites also, it becomes a "it's not about race, it's about poverty" blah,blah,blah. Oh Really!!!!
Had the Dutchman ,when he came to South Africa instead of killing off the Bushmen and engaging in fights and games with the Zulus, since he as a European was superior to these savages, implemented a system of government whereupon merit and ability regardless of the bigoted racial nonsense of the bible,was utilized to develop and civilize the country,we would have seen the transition of power to the Blacks,which was inevitable due to the population density, a thing of wonder because we would have had qualified and educated people from all background doing their part and all credit would have gone to the Boer. However, we have one series of ignorance replacing another and things worse than ever.
On top of it all we have the Boer trying to convince the world that at least he was a better savage ?????.............
The situation is bad. I agree. But you have to agree that many folks in these pictures seems happy. Money =/= Happiness . Life is about happiness not how much money is in your pocket.
Proof in these comments that liberals and minorities hate poor whites.
Poor whites of the world must revolt and kill their oppressors.
#181-Thanks for sharing this concerning being barefoot in school. In much of Asia it's the same thing and it's not a big deal. It's only a big deal with emotional people who can't imagine having no shoes at all and who have no clue of the world beyond theirs.
By the way, we have similar scenes in America-right in our low income apartment compounds (or so-called "hoods") where you see a lot of mothers with children but no fathers. Not meaning to be racist or demeaning but just speaking out of experience helping the kids. It does affect African-Americans most. Most of them are either in jail, gangs, drug dealers or plainly abandoned their families and not wanting responsibility. One cannot simply blame the government because it's actually people who make the choice to be poor. I've seen it all over the world.
I HAD TO LOOK AT THE PICTURES OVER AND OVER AGAIN BECAUSE I COULD NOT GRASP THE SITUATION OF POVERTY THAT I HAD SEEN AND I WAS NOT USE TO SEEING WHITE PEOPLE LIVING IN THIS CONDITIONS. LORD HELP THEM IN THE NAME OF JESUS! Amen
I'm from Brasil and could not imagine that in SA exists white people in poverty. Here the most of poor people are the black and mixed. This camp will be a source of prostitution and drugs and crime like here and in USA.
Here we have a strong policy to sharing wealth and programs to include the poors in the universityes. I hopé the SA politcs act to relief the suffering of these people, and of the black in the poverty also. This will avoid many problems related to drugs an violence.
Looking over again at the pictures, I pray that GOD will help them. I have to wonder about history? Are these people suffering because of what their forefather's did by stealing and causing division among the African people to take over a land, diamonds, gold, oil...etc... that was NEVER their forefathers from the beginning? Could it be the CURSES that they must suffer and endure until those in control of South Africa do the right thing and give back to the African people what they have now stored up? We all have to ponder the thoughts...
For those blaming the present South African government for the poverty realize that the Present government has to care for 50million people while the Apartheid government had only to care for three million whites.The present government has quite an enormous task in trying to correct the imbalance of the past.
saddening.... why why why?
Human beings should not live in poverty but they do and it happens all over the world, people are not immune to suffering based on the colour of their skin. Is these people's plight seen as worse because they are white, is that now the fault of a government that is black, would this not be the case if the ruling party happened to be white?
I would like to think that the people commenting here are educated in some form and not completely ignorant. Think of the many Eastern European countries with people living on less than $1 a day, yet no black man in sight to blame. I am in America and have seen real suffering, white black hispanic asian, who do you blame? and where will blame get these people?
South Africa has one of the most open constitutions in the world. Think of your own countries and all the suffering that takes place, is anybody immune to it. Those of you who think this is reverse apartheid have clearly never been to South Africa, and those that have and still say it is are blatantly dishonest.
Claiming apartheid was ethical is like saying the Jews didn't suffer the holocaust.
The pictures are heartbreaking. And it doesn't matter if they are white, black, or anything else. No one should live like that.
However I'm stunned at the people saying how they've never seen white people living like this. Where do you come from exactly? Have you never seen homeless people or beggers on the street? Why is it so shocking to see white people living like this, when instead it should be shocking that *people* live like this.
And you guys can look down on me if you want, but I agree with the not having any/more children when you live like this. If you can't feed yourself, then you can't feed your kids. And it's just cruel to bring a child into a life where they have to struggle and live in filth.
And again this won't make me too popular, but if you are living like this then the smoking and the drinking need to go. Buy food, or save money to try to get out of there. Don't waste it on booze!
yes i been in this camp and manage it for the past 4 years.the flow of people that was in this camp +-4600 till now.curently only 230 people but they get job`s and move on.people still come here for help.we help them 2 get back in a normal life by helping them 2 get jobs and support them during this periot.no one return after they left this camp deu to the fact that they manage. remember this can happen 2 any one. "YOU ONLY A PAY CHECK AWAY "thank GOD it did not hapen 2 you jet but please dont judge this people rather help them.if you need more info contack us "caringangels.hugo@gmail.com"phone begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +2776-246-5710 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +2776-246-5710 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +2776-246-5710 end_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting+2776-246-5710
To #220:
"Boers are like the Zionists in Israel. Nature and time will do the job of weeding them out and making them more human than the beasts they presently are."
What has this got to do with the price of cheese? You're an unadulterated anti-semite looking for an opening to ply your trade! In other words, a plain idiot!
Black or white, same difference! Poverty is poverty. Blacks have been living like that since Jan Van Rebeck graced our shores. And atleast there are people providing them with food!
No child deserves to live in such conditions regardless of their race. Well, i guess only education can save them!
Poverty has no race, skin, and culture, we are all the same and we have needs and wants that are the same. It is so painfull to see that while other people have the previlage to live thier lives luxurious, there is a lot of the people who are suffering and living with porverty. I think the government should pay more attention and put more effort on helping these people.
To Seymore's comment on Minette's e-mail. No she did not run away - we work with these very same people. Have you been there Seymore? Have you ever played with these kids, sat in their shacks and cried with them over the loss of a mother or a child? Have you ever dirtied your hands and picked up one of these little ones? Have you used your money to take them to a private doctor because their feet have become infected because of the dirty and wet ground? Do not judge or you will be judged and found to light.
Do you know ANY of these kids by name? Do you know that some of them got burnt badly in a caravan fire? Do you know these children seldome get any real nutrition? Sometimes they go through a week with 3 meals (if they are lucky) for the week?. Cradle of Hope mainly works out here and we support them and we try our best to make an effort to play with these kids at least once a month. Which is not always possible. We need more willing people and hands and feet that can run and play.
So before you feel sorry for them or want to judge people - experience it and go and get out of your comfort zone and and don't just be a spectator jelling at the ref. Become a player in the game of changing lives for the better. I DARE ALL OF YOU!
well in the country of utopia, nobody is not working and nobody is poor.....
I really feel for the kids. #26 it's so sad. Quit smoking lady and buy some fresh water oo keep your kid clean! I think that most of the people here live in those conditions because they are LAZY! Computers, generator, most of them smoking...makes no sense to me.
and yet our government has how many cars? too many....a glamerous house....it is so sick that he lets his people both black and white suffer, as he is only thinking of his needs and his million "criminals" that are working beneath him to keep him in power......
its heart breaking...
@237
wouldn't you also smoke if it were the only pleasure you had left in such a miserable, humiliating life?
shukushukuma in motherwell, soweto on sea, veeplaas, zinyoka missionvalle and whole lot of the unmantioned black own squater camps in port elizabeth have worse than this. they dont even get communal meals its dog eat dog. They cant even afford to bury their own and you tell me that this is worse!!
A Europa vai deixar seus irmãos nesta situação?Os europeus são muito preocupados com direitos humanos, mas esse direito não vale para os brancos.
i must say, the pictures are really something. good job.
My heart bleeds for these people, specially the kids. makes u wonder where's the divine power, hey BIG GUY...... the kids man, help the kids !!!!!
in the USA most homeless people are not only drug addicts or alcoholics, but suffering from mental illness as well. I wonder how many of the adults pictured here are in the same boat-many appear to have faces lined with years of drug and alcohol abuse, prematurely old at 41 or 42. The children-and the young victim of domestic violence-I will pray for them too.
Comment #215... I agree with you Warren
It's all to do with POWER, GREED and CORRUPT GOVERNMENTS... it's as plain as day...
With the amount of financial aid that Africa receives from the rest of the world, the poverty is inexcusable... where are the funds going? Into the Fat Cats pockets. Yet it truly amazes me that there were ample funds available to host FIFA and to build the necessary infrastructure that was needed to play host to wealthy visitors to your country. Share that wealth around. Where are the programs that offer support to the less fortunate in your land? Where are the not-for-profit agencies that offer support to the less fortunate in your land? I am not talking about overseas aid... that's a given. We in the western world are known for our acts of charity and our charitable organisations that go abroard to give assistance to our overseas and impoverished brothers and sisters (worldwide).
Charity begins at home! It is obvious that all the charitable wealth is not reaching the pockets of those it is meant for in your country, it's lining the pockets of the Fat Cats & Beurocrats.
In Australia we have native land rights for our Aboriginal (Indigenous) population... yet they have to prove ownership of that land that was always and will always be theirs - they were here first. I've been to Aboriginal communities in our Australian outback and they reflect what is in these images, I've been to Western Sydney where it is a very low socio-economic welfare population and have seen exactly what is reflected in these images. My point being poverty exists all over... governments create it and perpetuate it they need it to keep their economies balanced or should I say in "equilibrium".
It's all to do with POWER, GREED and CORRUPT GOVERNMENTS... it's as plain as day...
Ecclesiastes 8:9 "All this I have seen, and there was an applying of my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, during the time that man has dominated man to his injury."
What can i do and were do we start
I'm surprised that there are so many people who have commented here that are racist. Growing up in SA, I'm used to racism. But we have comments from people of all creeds here, and I am gobsmacked by the narrow-minded views. People blaming the bible, people blaming the black govt, people blaming zionists, people blaming these families for having more kids!
I will never fully understand racism, but I do know that only knowledge and education can open your mind.
If you have hatred in your heart, please go out there and read. Read. And read some more. Choose a race/religion a month, and learn all there is about their history. Your hatred will disappear. Guaranteed.
what does sustainable development mean for all these pleople; not development nor sustainability is possible when selfishness if the priority in nations.
if whites could swallow their pride and work every job they get then the porverty rate could drop. the peoblem which still lies with whites is that they think porverty is for blacks and the sooner they accept that porverty is for every one who does not have money the better and there are social grants which they can get and stop whirning about the promises of the national party gorvenment. if the youth could go back to school and be educated and get qualifications then the affirmative action i really dont think could work against them becuse education is power not race not color.
although i do feel sorry for these people, this is as a result of their own bad decisions made earlier on in their lives. White people tend to feel like they deserve sucess and that they dont ever have to work for it, this is the result of such thoughts of superiority. People want to blame B.E.E for this, but let's be honest, we all know that isnt the case
its amazing to see and know that this what white people or any other person think its poverty. These people have got shelter, the kids go to school, theey get food and clothes and you tell me this is poverty... maybe it is because we all have different views and explanations to poverty and mine is a black family living in a small plastic shelter with no food and a lot of children who are sick and not going to school.
I was born raised in SA but had to leave the country in the late 80s. I have only been back once and all I saw was poor and displaced black people. These poor white people must be well hidden because as far as I could see the white people still looked pretty good to me. Stop with the barefoot comments. That is a very common thing in my country. Now all you bleeding heart commentaters should stop talking and do something. We all know there is still alot of very rich white people. Why dont they share their wealth with their own kind. In the township I grew up we looked out for each other. Stop blming the government. The white government treated black people like dogs for years and none of you all said nothing because you were reaping the fruits of the black mans labour.I feel as though I am maybe just wasting my time but I had to put in my two cents. Ek haat nie die witman nie. Ek is met een getroud, dankie here hy is Amerikaner, maar ek is moeg om te hoor hoe swaar die witman dit het. As jy dit nie like nie loop. ps whats up with all the smoking. Seems to me itsall a setup
q tengan suerte
If the AWB was in power ,something like BEE-afirmative action wouldnt be in process and as effective as it is now. It is good that we have it because to some extent it is helping in striking a balance between the amount of rich white people and black. Those afrikaaners are getting a taste of their forefathers medicine whom are not here themselve to take the blame,and its unfortunate that their decendents have to take.Those condition are not even as drastic as how some black people have had to live in,in informal settlement,most which wasnt even reported.You lucky that utata Mandela had forgiveness and taught the rest of us to forgive.
Poor whites my foot
I think there are people of all colours living like this all over the world. It's not to compare that we should not sympathise because there are people worse off, but we should look at how fortunate these people are that they have cars, have computers, have matching clothes, have a wellfare truck that delivers food and have a community.
They look happy and if they wanted to make more of their lives I'm sure they would find a way.
I just found this site and some of the comments are disgusting...people have their mouth full about the down and out....the same thing could happen to you "THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD GO YOU AND I!"
if you cant say somthing good then "shut up!....there are small kids and they also deserve a chance....so the photos show people smoking maybe its the only one they had? as for the remark about contraceptives all i can say your parents should have used it to prevent something like you being born!"Laziness? what do you know what happened in their lives? but i can see when you say black yellow and green people you are truely an uneducated person.
@leoshabaan re:"perhaps this photographer shd go to camps bay in cape town and take a snap at how the rich live....incidentally most of them will be all white....in an African country"
OK, so only NO whites or POOR whites are acceptable in Africa for people like you? Do you think the rich whites should be expropriated and their wealth distributed among majority Bantu population? It was tried in other countries in black Africa and had catastrophic consequences. SA Black Economic Empowerment is a (reverse) racist programme any way you look at it. Whites that are qualified for a job have been denied one based on their race or have been replaced by incompetent black people in many cases causing problems South Africa is facing now, e. g. extremely high crime rate. Poor whites have been denied public assistance by even though white taxpayers contribute disproportionately more than people of colour in SA.
ek ken van daai mense en ek weet hoe hard lewe is maar ek stem saam hul moet ophou roooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook al is dit al plesier wat hul het
I would rather live there than a housing estate in England!
When, and if, you have nothing why spend the only money you have on cigarettes and booze? Why spend the days wondering around and sleeping in the daylight where you could have walked around looking for a job. Laziness is all I see. Even the children are brought up to hang around and do nothing. My heart and hand is always open for someone who I can see is trying their best to make something of themselves. But giving money to someone while knowing it's going towards tobacco and booze, I am very sorry. NOT MY MONEY. I have worked my ass off for what I have. Why can't other people do the same. It looks like they are enjoying the handouts and are using their circumstances as an excuse. NONSENCE!!! Try harder and you will get work. Why is it that when someone looses their job, their teeth starts falling out, they never (hardly ever) comb their hair and they are always dirty. If I am in a situation where I need the help of someone else, I will make myself presentable to ensure I make a good impression and succeed in my goal in getting a job (or whatever).
Alot of great commentary and discussion in this comments thread! I actually read this whole thing start to finish.
One point I'd like to make towards giving clarity to what's seen in these photos and how it is seen by some commenters as "not so bad" or "not real poverty". Take two people: one with an education and skillset, the other with no human capital whatsoever. Now deprive both of all material assets and income. Let them stew awhile. Go back and regard their circumstances. Would you be surprised that the first person had put together a more orderly and comfortably furnished shanty? That he had managed to scavenge and reuse materials? That he had jury-rigged access to water or electricity?
This is poverty because these people lack access to an income. That they are resourceful enough to furnish comforts in these circumstances doesn't change that they are in poverty. Poverty is about means and opportunity, not physical comfort.
There but for the grace of God goes I! To say these people are lazy is to simplifyt the situation. Some just don't have the intellectual capacity to find a way out of poverty. Although it is true that it was easier for them to get a job during the so-called apartheid era, ther is nothing wrong with looking after your own people. The racist comments on this web page is a real shame! These people were not the rulers and they don't deserve to live lik this. Blacks don't either. The present government could do a lot more for poor people, but they are such a bunch of corrupt people who only want tot ernrich themselves!
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