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Los Angeles - For most celebrities, getting smacked with a DUI is an instant image crisis. For Paris Hilton, it could be a career boost.

"Paris Hilton being arrested just makes her more famous," said veteran publicist Michael Levine. "She has devoted her entire adult life to appearing to be the princess of parties."

Hilton's publicist, Elliot Mintz, confirmed the star's festive nature on Thursday: "She's been known to have a drink or two."

Hilton was arrested by Los Angeles police officers in Hollywood early on Thursday on suspicion of driving under the influence.

During the arrest she was briefly handcuffed. Hilton was booked at LAPD's Hollywood station at 01:43 and released shortly afterward, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesperson for the city attorney's office.

This is Hilton's first drunken-driving arrest, Mintz said, adding that he doesn't expect the incident to hurt her image.

"The people who enjoy Paris as a comedian or actress on TV or as a singer on her CD, a woman who seems to have captured the imagination of so many people, I don't know if this is going to have any impact on them one way or another," he said. "But, of course, she regrets what took place."

Hours after her release, Hilton defended herself to radio host Ryan Seacrest during his Thursday morning show on local station KIIS-FM.

'I was just really hungry...'

"It was nothing," said Hilton, 25.

The singer, actress, handbag designer and heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune said she was "starving because I had not ate all day" and possibly "speeding a little bit" in her Mercedes-Benz SLR on her way to grab a bite.

"I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out burger," she said.

Hilton, who made her singing debut last week with the release of her eponymous CD, said she spent Wednesday filming a music video and going out with her sister, Nicky, and some friends for dinner, but not eating. The group then headed to a charity event sponsored by rocker Dave Navarro.

Hilton said she had "one margarita" at the event.

Just last month, she told the Los Angeles Times that she "doesn't like the taste of alcohol".

"It grosses me out," she said.

Hilton told Seacrest that police stopped her for speeding. An LAPD spokesperson said Hilton was driving erratically.

"Officers observed the vehicle driving in an erratic manner so they pulled the car over," officer Marjan Mobasser said.

Hilton's blood-alcohol level was .08% - the minimum to warrant an arrest, Mintz said.

She described the arresting officers as "really nice".

"There was a lot of paparazzi around so I think they were trying to make a statement," she told Seacrest. "Everything I do is blown out of proportion and it really hurts my feelings."

The city attorney's office will receive Hilton's case "in the next few days" and will determine whether to file charges against her, Velasquez said.

If charged, Hilton is expected to be arraigned on September 28, he said.

Penalties for a first drunken-driving offence typically include a fine, probation, an alcohol-rehabilitation programme, licence suspension and "other DUI-related conditions" such as community service, he said.

News source: www.news24.co.za

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Cape Town - Telkom has backed down on a claim that it is South Africa's most cost effective internet service provider after a challenge from competitor MWeb.

MWeb lodged a challenge with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) against an advertisement which claimed Telkom was South Africa's "most cost-effective, reliable, stable and flexible internet service provider".

It also said Telkom "leads the way with tailored internet connectivity solutions".

MWeb said these claims were not only comparative advertising, which was impermissible in terms of the Code of Advertising Practice, but were also potentially misleading and had not been substantiated.

Confronted with this challenge, Telkom told the ASA it would not flight the advertisement again in its current format.

News source: www.news24.co.za

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Cape Town - The recent verbal attacks on President Thabo Mbeki by supporters of former deputy president Jacob Zuma are despicable, says Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

"I would like to... express my deepest concern at the media reports about the vulgar and highly personal attacks upon President Thabo Mbeki by declared supporters of Mr Jacob Zuma in recent days, in KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere," he said in a statement on Friday.

The attacks were damaging the institution of the presidency both locally and abroad.

"Despite my political differences - and they are wide - with the president, I feel it is incumbent upon me to, once again, emphasise that Mr Mbeki is the first citizen of South Africa, and should be accorded the respect and dignity his sacred office deems.

Not African behaviour

"I find it incredulous that in the very same week that the president is batting for South Africa - such as hosting a leader of one of the most important emerging investors and trade partners, (President) Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation - supporters of the ruling-party and Mr Zuma would resort to such despicable conduct.

"In my book, such behaviour is neither consonant with our African tradition, nor concordant with the culture of respect and deference to our leaders and institutions which one associates with the Zulu nation.

"I therefore unequivocally condemn it," Buthelezi said.

Referring to debate around who is to succeed Mbeki when his term of office ends in 2008, he appealed to supporters of Zuma to conduct this "in a manner befitting the continent's most powerful democracy".

If the present culture of impunity was allowed to continue to flourish, then whoever succeeded Mbeki would be prey to the treatment he had received, Buthelezi said.

During the past week, Zuma supporters outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court - where the former deputy president is on trial, facing fraud and corruption charges - have sung anti-Mbeki songs and displayed posters proclaiming, among others, "Mbeki Guilty".


News source: www.news24.co.za

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Nicolize Mulder, Beeld

Pretoria - The principle of willing-buyer, willing-seller was not, and should not be, under discussion when it came to land claims, said Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana on Thursday.

According to her, land reform is a programme based on rights.

"As soon as a claim is valid, there should be no talk of the principle of willing-buyer, willing-seller as it then becomes a forced transaction.

"There is then only one buyer (the government) and one seller (the land owner)..."

Reasonable remuneration

According to her, the government at this stage has only one responsibility in terms of the constitution - to consider reasonable remuneration to the land owner.

Xingwana said when the state paid compensation for land it would have to consider the existing use of the land, as well as the manner in which it was come by and what it had been used for in the past.

Furthermore, not only the market value would be used in determining the selling price, but also the direct government investments and subsidies for improvements on the land.

Xingwana again emphasised that 30% of agricultural land had to change hands by 2014.


News source: www.news24.co.za

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Cape Town - The general secretary of the SA Council of Churches, Eddie Makue, has called for a single law governing all forms of marriage, including same-sex unions, rather than the dual legislation proposed by the government.

He made the call in an open letter, released on Thursday, to the chairs of parliament's home affairs and justice portfolio committees.

"Our national history illustrates all too painfully the folly and injustice of creating multiple legal and administrative mechanisms to perform essentially the same functions for different categories of people," he said.

"Separate institutions are rarely, if ever, equal.

Consulted with key figures

"Their chances of achieving equal impact are further reduced if they are embedded in a society that remains afflicted by prejudice and discrimination."

The letter does not have the status of a full SACC document, but it was drafted in consultation with key figures in several religious denominations.

The home affairs committee is gearing up for public hearings on the Civil Union Bill, a measure additional to the existing Marriage Act.

It will provide for state recognition of a same-sex "civil partnership" or marriage, as well as of what it calls a "domestic partnership".

Makue said the state should craft a single legal framework capable of recognising and protecting the legal rights of all partners who wanted to declare their commitment to each other, irrespective of gender, faith or cultural tradition.

Call for expeditious action

He suggested this should be done by amending the Marriage Act.

"We urge parliament to act expeditiously to reconcile existing marriage legislation with the provisions of section nine of the constitution (the equality clause) within the timeframe designated by the Constitutional Court.

"We trust that, in so doing, parliament will refrain from imposing any duty on faith communities that would inhibit them from celebrating and blessing partnerships in ways consistent with their respective beliefs."

The Constitutional Court last year gave parliament until December 1 this year to correct what it said was the unconstitutional definition of marriage in the act.


News source: www.news24.co.za

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Liela Magnus, Beeld

Pretoria - Suggestive advertisements, adult videos, vertical poles in the dance area and sexually-suggestive menus are not necessarily evidence a place is a brothel.

This was the ruling of acting Judge Kobus van Rooyen in Pretoria High Court in an application from the national director of public prosecutions to confiscate a brothel to the State.

The State applied to the court to confiscate the site of the Ambassadors Hotel in Church Street, in accordance with the Act on the Prevention of Organised Crime.

The site had been held in trust since an earlier ruling after police officials set a trap and two women agreed to have sex with them for money.

Frederik Hendrik "Mannetjies" Geyser and Fakkel Scrap Dealers CC, the owners of the property, opposed the application.

Geyser said he didn't know the place had been run as a brothel.

He said he knew lap dances were taking place on the ground floor.

Ground floor 'decent'

In accordance with an instruction from his lawyers, rooms on the top floor had to be reserved in the names of clients.

He said what took place in the rooms had been a matter between the parties involved.

Van Rooyen said there had been no evidence that striptease dancing had been indecent and the ground floor couldn't be seen as part of a brothel.

He ruled there had been evidence that the top floor had been used as a brothel and some administration took place to make appointments with women.

He ruled the top floor be forfeited to the State, but not the ground floor.

A curator was appointed to sell the premises and split the income.


News source: www.news24.co.za

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Pretoria - The SA Petroleum Industry Association does not expect any shortages of petrol, diesel or jet fuel this year, Sapia director Collin McClelland said on Thursday.

The association did not expect to have shortfalls of petrol, diesel, or jet fuel.

This comes after the Moerane investigating team released a report on the causes of December's widespread fuel shortages during the busy holiday and Christmas deliveries period.

It urged that steps must be taken to prevent another supply crisis.

McClelland acknowledged that there had been shortages of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in the past three months, but believed the shortage was over.

LPG comes in cylinders and is used for cooking, specialised industrial heating and camping and use goes up in winter.

He said that unless there was an unexpected event, there should be no other fuel shortages.

'Imperative a plan is put in place'

"There is more communication this year, we have set up a logistics planning team (LPT) and... (maintenance) shutdowns are much smoother than last year. I am confident we will do a lot better," he said.

On Wednesday, the department of minerals and energy and the governors of Sapia met to discuss the report on the shortages.

A statement released by the department and Sapia said they agreed the report was "sound".

Its finding were generally in line with the industry's views that the shortages had been caused by a "convergence of events".

"The meeting then focused its attention on the anticipation by the investigating team that another supply crisis could emerge in the second half of 2006 as a result of scheduled refinery maintenance work due to be done during that time."

The investigating team advised: "It is imperative that a plan be put in place with immediate effect to avoid this (another shortage) happening."

Monitor the supply situation

Sapia chairperson Rams Ramashia said a number of steps had been taken to avoid the shortages.

"Some, such as clean-fuels changes, were once-off events," said Ramashia, referring to the change to lead-free fuel which required adjustments at refinery and pump levels, and the phasing in of new fuels.

The department would chair the LPT and it would meet regularly to monitor the supply situation throughout the country, and ensure that adequate stocks were being procured to cover periods of refinery maintenance.

The industry's stock was at full-tank levels throughout the country at present.

Some of the measures taken to deal with fuel issues included speeding up the expansion of the coast-to-Gauteng pipeline, initially due for completion in 2010.

This would enable the piping of fuel from Gauteng to the coast during a shortage instead of transporting it by road.

A team would study and make recommendations on the long-term fuel supply-and-demand situation, conduct a review of the regulatory system, re-evaluate strategic and commercial stocks policies, and import LPG to cover shortfalls.


News source: www.news24.co.za

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Hennie Brandt, Beeld

Johannesburg - He only did what he was told to do, says Joost van der Westhuizen, who called up the wrong captain to receive the Freedom Cup after the Tri-Nations rugby match at Rustenburg at the weekend.

The former Springbok captain, who also does television work these days, has been in the spotlight since South Africa beat New Zealand 21-20 last Saturday.

As one of SuperSport's commentators, Van der Westhuizen, had to interview the captains, John Smit and Richie McCaw, after the match.

He also had to hand over the Freedom Cup, a trophy for which South Africa and New Zealand compete every second year, to All Black captain McCaw because New Zealand had won two of the three matches this year.

However, in the confusion Van der Westhuizen presented the cup to Smit, leaving SA Rugby administrators red-faced.

Afterwards, it was even said Van der Westhuizen had been so overjoyed after South Africa's victory that he wrongly handed the trophy to the Springbok captain.

"I only did what I was told to do," Van der Westhuizen responded to questions about the incident.

After the match, having completed his commentating duties, he had to go out on the field for the usual post-match ceremonies.

To make matters worse, there were problems with the communication between him and the TV director and he had no script in his hands.

He knew he had to interview the captains, announce the name of the man of the match (Pierre Spies) and interview him as well.

He then heard through his earpiece that King Leruo Molotlegi of the Bafokeng tribe had to present the Freedom Cup to Smit and responded accordingly.

Anne-Lee Murray of the Springboks liaison team, afterwards told Van der Westhuizen the cup had been presented to the wrong captain.

"I said to her I only did what I was told to do," said Van der Westhuizen on Thursday.


News source: www.news24.co.za

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New York - Top seed Roger Federer rolled to his fourth consecutive straight-sets victory with a 6-3 7-6 6-3 triumph over France's Marc Gicquel at the US Open on Wednesday.

Federer, seeking his third straight Open title, won the first three games of the match without losing a point but the 29-year-old Gicquel settled down and fought gamely.

In the quarter-finals, eight-times grand slam champion Federer will play either American James Blake or Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

Federer blasted 15 aces and had 42 winners, but Gicquel stayed in the one-hour, 46-minute match by committing only 22 unforced errors, seven fewer than the Swiss.

The 79th-ranked Gicquel was playing in his first Open.


News source: www.news24.co.za

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Washington - President George W Bush acknowledged on Wednesday the existence of previously secret CIA prisons around the world.

He said 14 high-value terrorism suspects - including the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks - had transferred from the system to Guantanamo Bay for trials.

He said the "small number" of detainees that had been kept in CIA custody included people responsible for the bombing of the warship USS Cole in 2000 in Yemen and the 1998 attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, in addition to the 2001 attacks.

"The most-important source of information on where the terrorists are hiding and what they are planning is the terrorists themselves," Bush said in a White House speech.

"It has been necessary to move these individuals to an environment where they can be held in secret, questioned by experts and, when appropriate, prosecuted for terrorist acts."

The announcement from Bush is the first time the administration has acknowledged the existence of central intelligence agency prisons, which have been a source of friction between Washington and some allies in Europe.

Names al-Qaeda leaders

Bush said the CIA programme had involved suspected terrorists such as
# Khalid Sheik Mohammed, believed to be the No 3 al-Qaeda leader before he was captured in Pakistan in 2003
# Ramzi Binalshibh, an alleged would-be 9/11 hijacker and
# Abu Zubaydah, who was believed to be a link between Osama bin Laden and many al-Qaeda cells before he was also captured in Pakistan, in March 2002.

Defending the programme, the president said the questioning of these detainees had provided critical intelligence information about terrorist activities.

This had enabled officials to prevent attacks not only in the United States, but also in Europe and other countries.

He said the programme had been reviewed by administration lawyers and had been the subject of strict oversight from within the CIA.

Bush would not detail the type of interrogation techniques that were used through the programme, saying they were tough, but do not constitute torture.

Afforded some legal protections

"This programme has helped us to take potential mass murderers off the streets before they have a chance to kill," said the president.

Bush said the 14 key terrorist leaders who'd been transferred to the US military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay would be afforded some legal protections consistent with the Geneva conventions.

"They will continue to be treated with the humanity that they denied others," said Bush.




News source: www.news24.co.za

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Vienna - Repeatedly shutting her eyes against the glare of TV cameras, the Austrian teenager imprisoned for 8½ years described in a nationally broadcast interview on Wednesday the horror of being locked into her dark underground cell for the first time.

"I was very distraught and very angry," said Natascha Kampusch, now 18, to Austrian public broadcaster ORF in her first televised interview since bolting to freedom on August 23 while her captor busied himself with a cellphone call.

Early in her captivity, Kampusch said she threw water bottles at the wall in frustration and despair and would have "gone crazy" if kidnapper Wolfgang Priklopil had not occasionally allowed her upstairs six months after she was snatched off the street as a freckle-faced 10-year-old.

The wheezing of a ventilator that pumped air into her cell was "unbearable," Kampusch said in the interview - a 40-minute pre-recorded account that gave Austrians their first glimpse of the young woman whose nightmare has fascinated the nation.

Since her escape, Kampusch said she slipped away incognito to enjoy some ice cream.

Thought only of escape

"It was nice to smile at people, and no one recognised me," she said, dabbing with a tissue at her eyes, which ORF said were sensitive to light because she was confined to darkness for such a long time.

Earlier on Wednesday, the weekly magazine, News, and the mass-circulation daily, Kronen Zeitung, published separate interviews in which Kampusch said she "thought only of escape" during her entire ordeal and once tried to jump out of Priklopil's car.

The 44-year-old communications technician killed himself within hours of her escape by jumping in front of a commuter train.

When Priklopil took her out on errands, "he always wanted me to walk in front of him, not behind him", apparently to minimise the chances of her escaping, she said.

Kampusch told the newspaper how she attempted to leap from the car, but Priklopil "held me back and then sped away".

Dreamt of beheading him

She did not specify when that escape attempt occurred, saying only that she felt "it was much too risky" to try to get away because she feared Priklopil would kill her if she failed.

That, she said, didn't stop her from dreaming about beheading him with an axe.

"I always had the thought: Surely I didn't come into the world so I could be locked up and my life completely ruined," Kampusch was quoted as saying by News.

"I always felt like a poor chicken in a hen house. You saw on TV how small my cell was - it was a place to despair."

News printed a large colour photograph of a pensive-looking Kampusch on its cover, showing her with piercing blue eyes and a pink scarf covering part of her strawberry blonde hair.

In the TV interview, she wore a loose, glittery purple blouse and the scarf.

Had dizzy spells

The magazine said it interviewed Kampusch at Vienna's General Hospital, where a cardiologist examined her for possible heart trouble.

She said she had suffered throughout her captivity from heart palpitations that at times made her dizzy and blurred her vision.

It was unclear whether she has been diagnosed with any chronic problems.

Kampusch also said she often did not get enough to eat.

Another Austrian magazine, Profil, had reported that at the time of her escape she weighed just 42kg - exactly her weight when she was taken on March 2 1998, while walking to school.

Kampusch called her escape from her captor's house in suburban Strasshof "completely spontaneous".

"I was there behind the gate to the garden and I felt dizzy. I realised for the first time how weak I really was," she said.

But Kampusch added that she felt well enough - "physically, mentally and no heart problems" - to make a run for it.

No intimate questions

Once out on the street, "I saw a window open and someone busy in a kitchen and I asked the woman to call the police," she said.

At first, she said, the woman refused to let her inside: "She didn't want me to step on her lawn."

ORF said Kampusch had decided which questions to answer and had refused to be asked anything intimate.

Police have said she may have had sexual contact with her captor, but have refused to elaborate.

Kampusch told News she regretted that Priklopil committed suicide, "because he could have explained so much more to me and to the police", but added that she no longer wished to talk about him.

She said she wanted to complete her high-school education and was considering a range of possible careers, including journalism, psychology, acting and art, and that she had not yet decided whether or not to write a book about her ordeal.

'They thought I was dead'

Kampusch also told the magazine she loved her parents, who divorced after she was taken, and denied there was any controversy.

Psychologists treating her have said she has been in touch with her mother, but has not asked for her father since they were briefly reunited after her escape.

"It was worse for them than it was for me. They thought I was dead," she said.


News source: www.news24.co.za

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Jaco van der Merwe, Beeld

Johannesburg - He is much bigger than JPR Williams and plays his rugby in a completely different era, but the new Springbok fullback has more in common with the famous Welshman than a No 15 jersey.

"I also have an R after the JP, because my father named me after JPR Williams," said the 20-year-old here on Wednesday.

Pietersen will make his international debut in the Tri-Nations Test against Australia at Ellis Park on Saturday.

"It (JPR) stands for Jon-Paul Roger, but my teammates call me JP and my family just calls me Polla."

The speedy Pietersen has been in the Springbok squad since the beginning of the Tri-Nations competition, but was overlooked for the first five matches.

"It won't be an easy task to make my debut against a world-class Australian team, but rugby remains rugby, irrespective of the opposition," he said.

"I expect them to try put pressure on me because it happens at every level that a young player is targeted. But I'm ready for their onslaught.

A fairytale two seasons

"I think my strong point is probably my speed. I like to join the backline and create opportunities."

The past two seasons have been like a fairytale for the Stellenbosch-born star.

Soon after representing the Pumas at the 2004 Craven Week, Pietersen joined the Sharks' academy in Durban where he made his Currie Cup debut at the age of 18 last year.

He was included in the Springbok squad soon after his first taste of Super 14 rugby for the Sharks early this year and after playing for the South African Under-21 team.

His involvement with the Springbok squad has limited his Currie Cup opportunities this season.

"I've been waiting patiently," he said on Wednesday, "and did not target a specific Test to make my debut. I just trained flat out and waited for my name to be read out.

"I was on the bench in Wellington (New Zealand), but it's a different story when you begin a match. You're more at ease on the bench.

Christie Noble his mentor

"Now, I have to be at my best and focused from the start. That is why I'm rather nervous at the moment."

The person who has had the greatest influence on his career is his uncle Christie Noble, who was on the left wing in the Natal side that won the Currie Cup for the first time in 1990.

Noble will be at Ellis Park on Saturday to support Pietersen.

"He (Christie) has had a big influence on my career since I was at school," said tPietersen.

"He still helps my by calling me after a match and discussing some small things in my game."

News source: www.news24.co.za

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Alicestine October, Die Burger

Cape Town - South African doctors who are eyeing a future in New Zealand could now face obstacles.

The New Zealand Medical Council apparently has decided to remove South Africa from the list of countries whose doctors would be able to easily set up a practice there.

The New Zealand Herald said this list was composed of countries with more-or-less similar health environments.

Doctors in countries with a good standard of English and where the medical environment was similar, could register more easily in New Zealand.

Health Professions Council spokesperson Tendai Dhliwayo said this was nonsense because more than 600 South African doctors were practising in New Zealand.

"That ought to indicate the demand for the South African product, because we don't produce second-class doctors."

Dhliwayo said the New Zealand decision could work only in South Africa's favour, since there was a shortage of doctors here.

'Nothing wrong' with SA standard

New Zealand embassy personnel could not comment on Wednesday, as they said they were not aware of the decision.

The chairperson of South African Medical Association (Sama), Dr Kgosi Letlape, said it remained the New Zealand Medical Council's decision, but there was nothing wrong with the standard of training of South African doctors.

"I'm satisfied with my medical training and will go to my South African colleagues at any time for medical assistance," he said.




News source: www.news24.co.za

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Danielle Heyns, born and bred in SA, recently moved to New Zealand. As she tries to find her feet she stumbled onto a boobs on bikes rally in Auckland. This is what she found.

Those who complain that there is a shortage of men in New Zealand would have made a bit of a 'boob' of themselves last Wednesday.

I couldn�t believe it myself. All I�ve read since I�ve arrived in Kiwiland about two months ago, is that the country is experiencing a severe man shortage. Women�s magazines claim this. So do newspapers and investigative publications.

It�s been �scientifically� proved by a South African/Kiwi friend of mine who deals with a lot of statistics in her job. This is, naturally, the first thing she checked, given the chance. "It�s true," she says, "there just aren�t a lot of men our age."

"Aaah..." I thought, "now it makes sense!" I�ve just arrived from the UK and, going out in England and Scotland, I would often get the alien feeling that men outnumbered women about five to one. Alien, because this, ask any Capetonian girl, is the complete opposite to the situation in Cape Town.

Hmm... so, could one then deduce that all boys in the Southern Hemisphere are currently living in the UK?

Back to last Wednesday. I arrived in Auckland for a job interview and was picked up at the bus stop by my second cousin. "You�ll have to excuse the crowd," she said. "Some porn stars are going to be marching down Queen Street topless."

I remembered my cousin in Cape Town sending me an email on something of the sort, with the eager request: "Please send me pictures on New Zealand�s moral decline." "Oh, is that today?" I asked. "What timing!"

As we neared Queen Street, Auckland�s main road, it became clear that we might not be crossing the road for some time. The side streets were packed, and we had to fight our way through the crowd in an attempt to cross the streets. The crowd had stopped all traffic.

By the time we reached Queen Street, I realised the crowd consisted almost entirely of men!

There were all kinds of men, and all of them in little packs, like wolves are bound to do. Men in business suits, men in overalls, teenage boys in baggy pants, grungy student boys. Men sitting on balconies and roof tops, even men angrily shoving us out of the way to get a glimpse of the street...

And there we stood, two goed opgevoede Afrikaans girls who hadn�t seen each other since we were kids in the Cape, amongst all these men. "I feel like a pervert," my cousin blurted. I had my luggage with me, so I assured her we could pass as unsuspecting tourists.

A kind of mob mentality seemed to take over the men with their bemused and sometimes outright leering expressions. Some looked at me as if they expected me to start stripping. I started to sympathise with the handful of protesters across the streets, who held placards reading: "Sleaze brings disease to body and mind."

In the midst of all of this, something else was taking place. A union strike was being held in the square behind us. Only many of the strikers seemed to have literally turned their backs on their fellow union members, and were positioned facing the street. "What are you protesting against?" I asked one of these guys. "Ah� the government," he said absent-mindedly, screening the street in anticipation. When I didn�t leave, he handed me a pamphlet � all of this without once taking his eyes off the street. To quote a bystander: "Nice time to take a day off." Indeed.

"If you like hooters, make a noise!" came the shout, and, there it was � the Boobs on Bikes parade. Appreciative shouts rang from the audience as topless women perched on motorcycles, driven by old men, made their way through the streets.

Lots of hotpants, g-strings and leather...

There were also a few topless male porn stars thrown into the equation � one of whom stripped down to a pink underpants thingy and did a... well, �free willy� dance, I guess. Followed by a lot of boo-hissing from the overwhelmingly straight and male crowd.

Let�s face it, the two of us weren�t particularly interested in �hooters�, other than to spot the fake ones, and waiting for all 20 flashers to pass seemed to drag on forever.

One of the female strike leaders was having none of it either, and started shouting about workers� rights over the mic. Just a pity that half of her fellow workers had joined the nipple spectacle.

Then one of the strikers started singing Bob Dylan songs, which was meant, I am sure, to reflect on the workers� situation, but fitted in just as nicely with the �free love� vibe emanating from the street.

After a while, our hunger got the best of us � it was lunchtime, after all � and we left the 20 000-strong crowd behind and headed to the nearest food court.

"Not interested in the parade, then?" I asked the guy behind me at the sushi bar.

"What parade?" he asked, jokingly.

Maybe he, like us, was more hungry than curious. Or maybe he found it "morally repugnant," like Auckland mayor Dick Hubbard.

As for the whole male shortage thing... well, at least that seems to be a bit of a myth. Just to make sure, we went clubbing in the city centre that weekend, and most of the people we met were male. In fact, most seemed to be South African, but that�s a story for another day..

News source: www.news24.co.za

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This small town is conveniently situated for access to the Northern Drakensberg and the Golden Gate National Park. It’s less than 300km from Jo’burg, so it’s a good overnight stop if you want to stay out of the city and have a plane to catch in the afternoon.

Harrismith Wildflower Gardens
Located around two dams fed by mountain springs these gardens contain about 20% of the Drakensberg region's flora. An Anglo-Boer War blockhouse overlooks the dams. It was built to protect the town's water during the war.

Platberg
The 2394m 'flat mountain' is Harrismith's landmark. The annual race to the top, along and down the mountain is claimed to be the toughest in South Africa, if not the world. The race was born when a British schoolteacher, stationed in Harrismith during the Anglo-Boer War disparagingly referred to the mountain as 'that small hill of yours'. Locals challenged him to reach the summit in under an hour. He did, but only just.


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