I am sitting at the Frankfurt airport, waiting for the departure of my flight to Mexico City where I will attend a Congress of international constitutional lawyers. It’s a tough life but somebody got to do it, I guess.
Reading the London Guardian newspaper, which is filled with more revelations from US diplomatic cables obtained by Wikileaks, including suggestions that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi runs his foreign policy towards Russia on the basis of personal corrupt business interests with Vladimir Putin, a few thoughts came to mind.
I was struck by the fact that the Guardian published these allegations without getting any comment from anyone in Italy or Russia. If this was South Africa and the allegations had dealt with our own President, some people would have attacked the newspapers for its “irresponsible” journalism and would have argued that this is exactly why one needs a Media Appeals Tribunal.
And even if someone in Russia or Italy would have lodged a complaint with the South African Press Ombudsman – under the present self-regulation system — the newspaper would probably have been found guilty and would probably have been ordered to place some correction. Paging through the Guardian just reminded me again at the utter absurdity of the debate that raged in South Africa about whether we needed a Media Appeals Tribunal (MAT) and how anti-democratic the proponents of a MAT all are.
In a democracy with a free press, politicians are not entitled to the same privacy and dignity than the rest of us. In any case, when one becomes a politician one already has very little dignity left. Just think of a man like Jeremy Cronin – who is a politician with a relatively high level of integrity — who got into so much trouble during the Thabo Mbeki era when he warned about the Zanufication of the ANC, but now that he is a Deputy Minister sounds more and more like a Minister in the Zanu-PF cabinet. Politics is a dirty business and if one has too many scruples one will probably not get very far.
A second thought that came to me while reading the Guardian is that even half of these allegations now emanating from the USA embassy cables are true, it would mean that many political leaders in many parts of the world are just as or even more corrupt than our own leaders in South Africa. This does not make it right, but it does put paid to the silly argument that anyone in S0uth Africa who expose corruption in the government or criticise politicians because of alleged corruption are racist, “Afro-pessimists” or in cahoots with what is sometimes quaintly called “liberals”.
The last time I checked, neither Berlusconi or Putin are black or from Africa. They are both from the bastion of “Western civilization” – Europe.
What ANC leaders should do is actually address the corruption, or to ensure that corruption is actually properly investigated and prosecuted. This is, of course, not easy to do when the President of the country escaped prosecution from corruption merely on the basis that he was going to become the President of the country.
If the ANC does not address corruption in their midst (which they are not going to do with sufficient vigour because in the short term too many people are benefiting) they will one day wake up and will realise they have no credibility left with the voters. And when the voters who still vote for them (many already having stopped voting at all) they will be out on their ear.
Prof, enjoy and authentic tequila in Mexico. The WikiLeaks Jukain Assange story has fascinated me. To be honest more than the content of the cables, I find Julian Assange quite fascinating in a positive way. I have also found our own media’s repsonse to WikiLeaks quite tepid, and almost trying to frame it as tabloid and not hard news, and therefore undermine the stories. Further for all their screaming and shouting from the rooftops about the media freedom being under threat and the warning of the end of democracy with the arrest and treatment of Mzilikazi wa Afrika, I find their silence deafening and their attitude hypocritical in their lack of support for Assange, especially in the light of Sweden’s obvious harrassment of him on molestation, rape charges (or are they charges yet?). Clearly, our media seems to believe in freedom for themselves and their masters, but nobody else. The charges they lay at the door of the government can be equally laid in front of them.
Donovan is right.
We all struggled and died for a free press.
But sometimes when I read the Business Day, I see why the Press Council may not be such a bad idea.
Case in point: the report on page 4, saying that McKinsey has rated the Western Cape as having one of the most improved education systems in the world. This is the kind of Zille boosterism that we get so long as the press is untransformed!
Hah! Pierre is logging up more frequent-flier miles than Buyelwa Sonjica.
About that problem with the engines in the A320 as owned by Lufthansa….
Hey, Dworko, you’ve done the struggling; when are you going to do the dying bit?
I do believe Pierre, that before the people stop supporting the
ANC there will be a mass and violent uprising against the middle class once that happens and South Africa’s ‘wealth’ is ‘redistributed’, and the people see that it makes no difference then, and only then the people may, perhaps, maybe, stop supporting the ANC, it certainly wont happen before that uprising. This I think is inevitable.
All the accusations of racisim are so much crud its not worth discussing, SA’s problems have little to do with race and much to do with social injustic and the gap between the poor and the middle class (the rich being untouchable for some reason, something about them having access to a Princess’s army?)
It suits the ANC at this stage to foster the myth that white South Africans are racist and are actively preventing black South Africans from accessing the countries resources. The more the ANC and their minions bleat about racisim the less likely the masses are going to be to worry about corruption.
As long as the massess have something to vent their anger against (the racist middle class white South Africans) they wont pay too much attention to corruption, after all most South Africans expect their lords and masters to take the cream off the pie its the way it is as you so rightly pointed out here in Africa as well as the rest of the world.
Of course, the problem with this scenario is that once all the middle class peeps have been either burnt out or kicked back over the ocean, and things still dont improve the ANC will then probably have to start blaming racist governments who are stealing South Africa’s resources. (sounds a little like Zim ne?)
Good question Graham. You liberals look forward to my redeployment to heavan!
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
December 3, 2010 at 16:58 pm
Hey Dwork,
“my redeployment to heavan!”
A bit presumptuous aren’t you?
“A bit presumptuous aren’t you?”
But, Maggs! The Dworkster said “heavan”, not Heaven … heavan is a place on Earth, you know. Or did he perhaps mean Havana?
Actually, I’m a bit disappointed in this Assangel character. Not even the tiniest tidbit about who benefited from our late, great Arms Deal scandal!
Hey Claraty,
“Not even the tiniest tidbit about who benefited from our late, great Arms Deal scandal!”
Don’t hold your breath.
Wikileaks.org was shut down, according to some reports.
Now isn’t this interesting?
Maybe our politicians will learn about access to information from an unlikely quarter.
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — A court in Pakistan rejected a citizen’s petition seeking a ban on the WikiLeaks website, a Pakistani government official told CNN. …
“Information should not be hidden, especially in the 21st century,” the Judge said in court, according to Salim. “One should bear the truth no matter how harmful it is.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/03/pakistan.wikileaks/index.html?hpt=T2
Wikileaks, the biggest non-event of the year.
The Empire Embarrassed
Hey Brett,
Sorry that you emigrated before the truth has outed. Consider turning the dingy dinghy around. Bring Brandon with.
A comparison of fear of crime over time revealed that although in 2002 more white people (48%) than non-white people (30%) expressed fear of being victims of crime, there has been a decrease in the number of white citizens claiming frequent fear, notably in 2008 (21%). In fact, fear of crime has increased slightly for black people (from 30% to 35%).
While just over 25% of South Africans reported that they had something stolen from their home in the past year at least several times, white respondents (11%) were less likely than all other race groups to state that they were frequent victims of theft from the home.
White and coloured respondents experienced less fear of crime in comparison to black respondents. Only Asian respondents appear to have significantly more fear of crime than black respondents.
Poverty has a significant influence on fear of crime, with those living in poverty tending to be more fearful. Education has no effect on fear of crime, but urban respondents have more fear than those in rural areas.
The research also showed an association between fear of crime and confidence in the future direction of the country, with those who fear crime more likely to think that the country is heading in the wrong direction, whilst those who do not fear crime tending to be more ambivalent about the future.
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-12-03-study-shows-white-people-feel-least-threatened-by-crime
@ Maggs
You overlook that the study surveys perceptions of crime, not the reality. Brett never denied that liberal whites had been lulled in disbelieving the objective fact that GENOCIDE had been declared agains them.
P.S. Did you notice that ANCYL has now led the people of Makhaza to reject the inferior latrines that the DA and Judge Erasmus have sought to foist upon them?
.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/we-don-t-want-these-toilets-1.912984
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
December 4, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Hey Frank,
Did you notice that bertween 2002 and 2010 the Whites fearing crime has dropped fro 48% to 21%.
Could it be that those who were afraid has jumped on Brett’s Ark?
Or could it be the 27% have been GENOCIDED?
p.s. Judge Erasmus has allowed himself to be used so it was to be expected. When last did you see a judge passing er, judgments in a corrugated steel toilet?
Maggs, will you support my demand that Cmd Malema lead our people to demolish ALL facilities in DA controlled areas, until such time as “cockroach” Zille scuttles back to Germany?
Russians Europeans? Pierre, you’re pushing it. And Italy was generally referred to as “North-Africa” when I grew up in Europe!
But point(s) made, and whilst much of the Wikileaks content seems more like ‘official gossip’ than mindblowing policy revision, the trend is getting clearer. As for the arms-deal beneficiaries – so far, they’ve released less than 0,1% of the 250,000 cables, so who knows what’s still to come! The revelations this morning around the ‘real’ Copenhagen process are enlightening. Bribery as policy, gotta love it.
Of course you’re right about the local press. Pussies, even when they try and be ‘hard hitting’. They don’t know ‘hard’ when they trip over it – they think claiming dr Mengele binged while in hospital shows courage, rather than bad taste. And as the anc growls at them, they fold. When I think ‘free press’, I assume something like ‘free of Murdoch’, but maybe that’s only V2? But it’s why we don’t have quality papers (like the guardian), and why we should be grateful for the internet access to them. Long way to go. Maybe the next generation of journo’s understands that you judge the press not by the level of person they offend, but by what is not being said.
And so we plod on, while some of us get to hang out in mexico? Is that like a gathering of 1,000 pierres?
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
December 4, 2010 at 16:21 pm
Hey Frank,
“Cmd Malema lead our people”.
Ok you win.
Since we’re eradicating cockroaches, Doom (vas Dyroach) is the weapon of choice.
So it’s face off time.
The Prophet of Doom vs Madam Cockroach.
I had hoped to motivate Pierre to ask the airhostesses whether he was on a Airbus A320 like the ones Qantas grounded but it seems Maggs and Dworky have hijacked another blog.
Dworky, I have asked you a couple of times to spellcheck your punchlines!
Why do you two not try engage on the substance?
The cops have done a marvellous job with some of those farm murders, don’t you think?
But: Try deny that during the World Cup there was not one fatal farm attack? Try explain why just one paper carries so many stories of whites murdered by black perpatrators during the Appeal of the ban on ‘Kill the Farmer’?
Must be because white murder victims, black perpetrators is a pretty common occurrence, huh?
And then reconcile that with the crap which Terence spewed which is the crap Michael spewed which is the crap Maggs spewed which is….
Oh, you get the idea!
He who controls the off-switch….
Maggs, I hate to admit it, but Brett makes a good point here. How do you explain that govt was able to close off the spigot of the ongoing GENOCIDE of white South Africans during the FIFA World Cup, as factor that has yielded a slight “spike” in the white population?
P.S. Brett, isn’t “spellcheck” spelled “spell-check”?
Before we get completely off the topic of being stuck at Frankfurt Airport did I tell you guys about the time my dog Icon almost got stuck at Frankfurt Airport?
[Dworky, Icon was born in Croatia - his daddy Nico is Italian residing in Croatia...]
I phoned First Card 4 times in the couple of days before his flight to make sure that everything was prearranged and I warned them a couple of times that the Rand was seesawing against the Euro and I did not want problems at the last minute because the cost of the flight had crept over the limit when converted to Rand.
Guess what happened? Guess who phoned me from Frankfurt Airport to tell me they could not load my dog?
Stupid, silly fkrs!
Not a word of apology to this day.
FIRST NATIONAL SUCKS!
Er, Pekkil:
As a European mongrel who grew up there I have to tell you that Russians are, too, Europeans. You might even say – at a push – that they have a kind of “Western civilization” there. As for Italy, I have never heard that country referred to as “North Africa”.
Er, Mikhail:
Why on Earth should Helen Zille scuttle back to Germany? She was born in Johannesburg to parents who fled Germany to avoid prosecution by the Nazis. And please note that I take exception, on Helen’s behalf, to the word “scuttle”. Another thing: I don’t believe for a moment that you are a Slovenian. The Slovenians are exceptionally nice people.
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
December 4, 2010 at 17:27 pm
Dworky,
Stop being so picky about Brett’s spelling, soon it may be thought that you don’t have any real substance (no, not the substance that causes the ‘spike’ in the population). Also let Brett know that we two do not ‘engage on the substance’.
But as you now know, the G’cide did not stop then – FIFA insisted that only news about the matches was to be published. Even Wikileaks had to sit on 250 000 documents until FIFA left with all our money (oops I mean their money).
It’s best that you stop offending Brett – especially note the Italian connection (who will make you an offer that you cannot refuse if you persist).
Brett Nortje says:
December 4, 2010 at 18:32 pm
Hey Brett,
“did I tell you guys about the time my dog Icon almost got stuck at Frankfurt Airport?”.
No you did not.
It sounds interesting.
Do tell.
Clara says:
December 4, 2010 at 18:38 pm
Hey Claraty,
Dwork has indeed been very offensive.
Scuttle is what cockroaches do.
Did you know that there’s even a Scuttle Cockroach Gel?
p.s. do you believe that Brett’s pit bull, Icon, is Croatian? Or is Brett just pretending to be connected to Silvio Berlusconi?
@ Clara
“[Zille] was born in Johannesburg to parents who fled Germany to avoid prosecution by the Nazis”
Clara, for what offence were her parents being prosecuted? Couldn’t they afford a lawyer?
@ Brett
Much as you sometimes push the whole GENOCIDE thing a bit too far, I do empathise with the experiences of your spaniel at Frankfurt. My duck Matilda was once held in a hanger at Ljubljana international without food or water for nearly 48 hours!
Thanks
Maggs, interesting that you mention Berlusconi. Let me assure you that, were I a lifelong supporter of Forza Italia, I would demand that Silvio stay leader until the very moment he found guilty in a Court of Law. I pay no attention to “allegations” and “charges” until a man is FORMALLY CONVICTED!
Thanks.
Dworky, Icon, my Croatian dog, is very quarrelsome and protective over me but lacking in courage and hardness. His cousin Sharky has much higher levels of courage and hardness and is very sociable and outgoing – but the last thing on his mind is protecting me. He’ll bite you if you get clever with him but that is because it is a macho dog – he won’t bite to protect me.
You Balkan-types are a constant source of puzzlement. The Iron Curtain was not all ‘bad idea’.
I have a liking for Peking Duck myself. There is no such thing as a ‘Slovenian cuisine’ is there? The Count of Celje told me when he wanted to pig out he headed for Serbia.
So what exactly is Slovenije’s contribution to the world?
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
December 5, 2010 at 2:01 am
Dworky,
Did Matilda pen any of her thoughts while hanging out to dry?
Please share.
@ Maggs
“Did Matilda pen any of her thoughts while hanging out to dry?”
Maggs, may I remind you that “this blog deals with political and social issues in South Africa, mostly from the perspective of Constitutional Law”?
I am tired of your silly diversions, and of Brett’s hijacking the debate into sentimental accounts of his spaniel’s (ICON’s), sorry fate in the left-luggage corner of Frankfurt airport.
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
December 5, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Dworky,
May I remind you that ducks have constitutional rights. As do cockroaches. And snakes.
Brett’s contribution is iconic. Nobody else has taught us that we can learn all about human behaviour from dogs. Dogs are after all man’s best friends. And Brett’s too.
Do you think that Brett, having studied Icon rather carefully, has learned well from Icon? I think not. It would be wrong to say that Brett, like Icon, should be described as “very quarrelsome … but lacking in courage and hardness.”
@Mikhail:
Typo, I meant “persecuted”, for having Jewish origins.
Thanks for reminding us that this is a blog on which matters constitutional ought to be discussed. One thing that springs to mind is the unconstitutionality of travelling the globe for the sole purpose of having some kind of talkfest or another with one’s peers when this could be achieved just as well by staying home and using modern technology. And it’s not just Prof, I’m thinking of those thousands of happy travellers who have gathered in Cancun for the World climate talks, which never achieve anything. Just think: gazillions of litres of fossil fuel burnt to add to the dreaded carbon dioxide already in our long-suffering atmosphere, not to mention all that hot air emanating from the participants at these gatherings. It’s just not SUSTAINABLE! And doesn’t our own Bill of Rights tell us that we are entitled to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations … blah blah blah … but does anyone take any notice?
And, contrary to what Maggs says, animals have no constitutional rights in South Africa. He knows that as well as I do, so why say such a thing? At the moment, I’m outraged to hear that canned hunting has now been given the green light. We as South Africans should all be outraged, because it’s not going to do our country’s reputation any good. Would our Constitutional Court care to comment? I think not.
Clara, I can also not see what sport it can be to shoot a lion that would come and sit for its food in front of you like a dog if you whistled.
BUT
Can you fault canned hunting on conservation grounds?
Nice deflections, Dworky and Maggs…(Well, not really….)
Our reality is pretty harsh, so it cannot really be held against you when you resort to denial as a coping mechanism.
Clara says:
December 5, 2010 at 15:01 pm
Hey Clara,
“I’m outraged to hear that canned hunting has now been given the green light. We as South Africans should all be outraged, because it’s not going to do our country’s reputation any good”.
Why should we be outraged about canned hunting?
If hunting for pleasure is allowed then it does not matter much how the “hunters” go about it.
As far as I am aware, our country’s reputation as a hunting destination is very high.
We’re a known base for rhino horn, elephant tusks, zebra skins, shark fins, perlemoen, animal trophies, biltong.
We also do drugs, arms deals, golden handshakes, assisted suicides, pyramid schemes, company hijackings, price fixing, counterfeit money acid mine drainage, cricket match fixing and much more.
We’re not called the rainbow nation for little reason.
Brett Nortje says:
December 5, 2010 at 20:57 pm
Hey Brett,
“Nice deflections, Dworky and Maggs…(Well, not really….)”.
Damn. You’re onto us. I must warn Frank.
You’re one smart feller, Brett.
@Maggs
Our friend might not need his briefcase of GBP, he is listed as the 4th richest South African by Sunday Times.
Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder says:
December 5, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Hey Dworky,
It has just come to pass that Matilda has indeed used the time in the hanger, in transit, to put together her thoughts.
These are available through http://www.wackyleaks.org, which, given its fowl nature and poultry thinking, may not be easily accessible.
Please be patient, I will share some of Matilda’s contributions to political and social issues as and when those become accessible.
p.s. Matilda has expressed disgust at Clara for suggesting that ducks don’t have constitutional rights and is reported to have said “Clara is a bloody agent. She must not come here with her CIA (i.e. cruelty in abattoirs) thinking. Tjatjarag!”. I hope that is accurate – google translate does not have a very efficient quack to english translator.
Gwebecimele says:
December 6, 2010 at 7:47 am
Hey Gwebs,
Yeah – saw that.
And the magistracy has suggested that the cash are proceeds of criminal activities.
Wikileaks can be found at :
http://213.251.145.96/
Gwebecimele says:
December 6, 2010 at 7:47 am
Hey Gwebs,
According to the report a statement issued on Thursday by the UK Border Agency said Wiese “claimed he had transported the cash out of South Africa in the form of travellers cheques to avoid exchange controls there”.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/business/article800282.ece/Shoprites-Wiese-wants-his-millions
Prof
Just make sure you dont make some walkabout in some of the gangsta-controlled slums there in Mexico in an attempt to do a quick research on how the “poor” are living there. I know you are for the poor at heart
Prof the capitalist system is more anti – communist than anti – black, do not forget that. Putin may not be BLACK or from AFRICA but he is a communist and hence will be vilified by the White Capitalist controlled media of course.
@ Maggs
The CEO’s of Netcare, Pioneer Foods, Woolworths and Wiese are a good reflection of the kind of executives we have in South Africa. The Government/Treasury has been relaxing exchange controls and now we know whose interests are they serving in this regard.
The shareholders, JSE and the Hawks must take a closer look to these little matters.
Some have made sure that people like Yengeni are taken care of from every legal angle but do not utter a word when their favourites are involved.
Prof
Get some real tequila whilst you’re there – like Anejo. Stuff you get in a in SA pub is flavoured petrol.
Gwebecimele: Yengeni was a sacrificial lamb, thrown out there to make the ANC look good. Same as Shaik. Both have been looked after royally whilst trying to deflect attention from the center of corruption.
But Prof’s posting is basically right, we’re no different from any other place on this planet – guess the major difference is the feeling of helplessness in putting the brakes on it.
@The Dworkster:
“Tjatjarag!”
Pah! Tell Matilda from me that her comment runs off my back like ducks’ water.
Fools Rush In ( How stupid can you get?)
IN GRAHAMSTOWN the other day I picked up one of the local papers. Its front page lead was a story we are all in danger of forgetting because it’s happening to a small town far away and the nation’s big media are chronically distracted by the events under their noses.
What’s happening to Grahamstown is the wanton, vengeful and wasteful destruction of a settled and productive community for the sole reason, I suspect, that its economic and professional elite is still mainly not under the ANC thumb. Justice Minister Jeff Radebe (hasn’t he been doing well?) wants to close down the High Court in Grahamstown and move it to Bhisho. It is hard to think of anything, anything , the ANC has done since coming to power that is more stupid. There is some stiff competition for that prize, too.
Grahamstown is a centre of excellence. It has a great university (with a great law faculty), wonderful schools and a creative population. The people who live there are not fly- by-nights. When you put your money into a property there it’s because you’re committed to it. The National Arts Festival takes place in Grahamstown but the principal nonacademic pursuit in the city is the law, and the High Court — it is a reason that clever people stay in the town. The contribution the judges, clerks, lawyers and silks make to Grahamstown is beyond measure.
Radebe wants to break all this down. He wants all the tradition, expertise and grounded intelligence of Grahamstown’s legal community to be moved lock, stock and barrel to Bhisho, the dusty, characterless Bantustan “capital” near King William’s Town that now serves as the capital of the Eastern Cape. That in itself was an idiotic decision that plays out every day in the economic and intellectual performance of the Eastern Cape — the worst- run, poorest, most corrupt and generally hopeless province. The reason the Eastern Cape is the failure it is, is mainly because of where the capital is. No one in their right mind would want to live there or raise a family there. And no one in their right mind does.
So you can imagine what kind of High Court will grow there once Radebe has finished his demolition job on Grahamstown.
Someone has to stop this madness. It’s pointless appealing to the president because Radebe is one of his chief political indunas. Parliament is unlikely to be much help as its majority and its committees do what they are told to do and don’t think. The only refuge for Grahamstown is going to be the courts themselves. It is probably aptly apt.
This issue has been going on for some while and is coming to a head. The report I read there was about how one of Radebe’s advisers had gone to Grahamstown to do what the ANC types like to call “consulting” (that’s when they tell you what is going to happen or stage a “consultation” where they already know the outcome) and had walked out after speaking. He refused to entertain questions and, quite literally, left.
That’s how this is being done. What’s more, Radebe will have to spend R250m at least to do it. Knowing our inability to calculate costs, let’s assume it’ll be closer to R1bn. The smart thing, obviously, would be to move the Bhisho court to Grahamstown. But there’s probably money riding on it somewhere.
Here’s a cause for all thinking people in our country to unite around. Save Grahamstown from Jeff Radebe. The people of Grahamstown — including the mayor and ANC leadership there — are appalled at the prospect of the court closing. They need our help.
PETER BRUCE
Published: 2010/12/06 07:26:22 AM
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=128658
Bloody Agent says:
December 6, 2010 at 14:39 pm
Hey Clara,
“Pah! Tell Matilda from me that her comment runs off my back like ducks’ water”.
Matilda is rather concerned about your antagonism towards animals and suggests that you seek some spiritual guidance. Matilda says that she has heard that there are some experts to help you. Prof Karim, Prof Oyo Khan, Mama Noor or Doctor Jeanette.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/wealthy-women-sucked-into-sangoma-scams-1.981910
The son of a man who was shot in Australia by an unprovoked sniper from a high rise building said his father left SA where this is an “everyday thing” this morning on 702.
Well I was not aware that we have snipers shooting daily at citizens from high rise buildings.
How does one get to 50 murders without being caught?
This requires a press conference and headlines with explanations.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/most-wanted-man-killed-1.1000624
Dearest One,
I know this mail will come to you as a surprise. I am Stefan Ibrahim Coulibaly and my sister Fatumata I am 19 years old from Ivory Coast in West Africa, the son of Late Ibrahim Coulibaly. My late father was an Ivory Coast’s best-known military leader. He died on the Thursday 28 April 2011 following a fight with the FRCI,” Republican Forces of Ivory Coast. You can read more about my father in the link below.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/28/ivory-coast-renegade-warlord-ibrahim-coulibaly
I am constrained to contact you because of the maltreatment which we are receiving from our step mother and my uncle’s. They planned to take away all my late father’s treasury and properties from us since the unexpected death of our Father. Meanwhile we wanted to travel to France, but she hides away all our travelling documents. Luckily she did not discover where I kept my father’s File which contained important documents.
Now,we are presently staying in the Mission guest house here in Abobo. I am seeking for long term relationship and investment assistance. My father deposited the sum of 25.7 Million dollars in one bank here in Abidjan with my name as the next of kin. I had contacted the Bank to claim the money but the Branch Manager told me that I have to attend a stipulated age of 23, before I can have access to the deposit.
However, he advised me to provide a trustee who will stand on my behalf because the money was to be use for his foreign investment project. I had wanted to inform my step mother about this deposit but we are afraid that she will not offer us anything reseanable after the release of the money. Therefore, I decide to seek for your help in transferring the money into your bank account while we will relocate to your country and settle down with you. As you indicate your interest to help us I will give you the account number and the contact of the bank where my late father deposited the money with my name as the next of kin. It is our intention to compensate you with 20% of the total money for your assistance and the balance shall be our investment in any profitable venture which you will recommend to us as i have no any idea about foreign investment. Please all communications should be through this email address only for confidential purposes:
( fatumatacoulibaly@yahoo.com )
Thanking you a lot in anticipation of your quick response. I will give you details in my next mail after receiving your acceptance mail to help us.
yours sincerely
Stefan & Fatumata Coulibaly