Attie Heunis's Journey

The ramblings of a Caucasian African American

recent posts

about

Originally from South Africa’s magnificent Eastern Cape, my family and I now reside in Pennsylvania in the United States. To earn my keep I’m an executive for a multinational company in the Healthcare sector. I’m also a serious amateur photographer. Pro-environmental and conservation views.

  • Max takes the easy route

    Max du Preez is depressed. Read why.

    This is quite predictable from our Max. Our country is going to the dogs. Not because of an isolated incident at UFS (which is appaling, but isolated), but because all our government institutions are failing; one by one.

    But all Max can moan about is the easy one: oh the the racist Afrikaners. The thing is Max, you are not a journalist anymore. You take the easy route. The UFS incident is an easy target; visual and sensational. But its not a national issue. Why don’t you do your damn job?

    There are national issues that undermine the stability of this country far more than the UFS incident. Crime, Zuma, poverty, Eskom and our bureaucracy. Why don’t you investigate those, Max? We need real journalists in this country; desperately. We need people who can ask the tough questions to Mbeki, Zuma, Selebi and the Eskom management.

    No, our journalists are really hardcore on racist Afrikaners & rugby. But anything more than that is just no good for the career.

  • Kruger National Park visit

    Recently our friends from Germany, Dr. Carsten Holtmann & Anke Plog, visited us. When they visited us in England I kept on (sometimes I think too much) about Africa’s wilderness. Carsten specifically showed a real interest in the topic so I decided to take him to Kruger National Park. The Kruger and the Kalahari Gemsbok Park are the best options for “real Africa” in South Africa. Regrettably Anke was pregnant and couldn’t go (because of the Malaria risk) so she and Lené relaxed in the Eastern Cape.

    As expected it was a great trip. And yes; we did see the big 5. My personal highlight was a leopard which we saw on our last drive of the trip! Before this I had never seen a leopard in the wild in South Africa. He was very close to us – in fact he was so close that my 500mm lens wouldn’t focus! Despite this temporary setback we took some great photos. Check them and others out at Kruger National Park Photos.

    Irving Knight, Attie Heunis & Eliab KhosaAnother highlight was a morning walk we did with guides Irving Knight & Eliab Khosa. I can definitely recommend this. The guys are very experienced and they can teach you so much about the bush. From the word go we went looking for lions. That was very exciting, but unfortunately we didn’t find any. Our best sighting on the walk was an African Buffalo that was about 25-30m away from us. I love the fact that you can get so close to these magnificent creatures while on foot. Irving also kept it very interesting by telling us some entertaining stories about Kruger. He also told me of some awesome tricks to find predators and kills. Thanks Irving!

    Unfortunately there were disappointments as well. They were the same as the last time I visited Kruger, namely: the restaurants. We had a buffet dinner with no service, a bottle of water and a beer and the bill came to R310!! My best advice is just to stay away from the restaurants; it really isn’t worth it. We had another minor disappointment when they overbooked a morning walk; but this was when we saw the leopard so in the end it worked out perfectly.

    All in all the trip just proved again that you can’t beat Kruger! And I’m very pleased to see that arguably our greatest treasure is in very good hands – except the restaurants. 🙂

  • NHBRC is a bureaucratic nightmare

    NHBRC Corruption
    NHBRC Corruption

    In November 2007 I submitted the relevant documents to enrol my house with the NHBRC (National Home Builders Registration Council). With these submissions I paid them R7,500 by bank transfer. I was told at this time that I should have my certificate in a couple of days. It is now more than 3 months later and I still don’t have my enrolment certificate. If the certificate was just a piece of paper I wouldn’t have cared, BUT by law you need this certificate before you can gain any access to finance. Until now we have been building with our own money, but to have the finishing Lené wants 🙂 we have to get some finance.

    After phoning the NHBRC every day for the last 2 weeks I have finally been given a name of Mario Scheepers – he is supposed to be the guy to authorise the issuing of certificates. After having spoken to Mario I was more upbeat because he sounded like he would make things happen. But I have been led down the garden path again. Every time I speak to Mario Scheepers he promises action and to phone me back in just a while. Turns out Mario Scheepers is as pathetic as the rest of the NHBRC – he just makes promises and promises but nothing seems to happen; he doesn’t even bother to phone me back.

    And this is not an isolated incident. Many other builders I have spoken to have the same issue. I am really concerned as I don’t know what to do next.

    Unfortunately this is the banana republic that South-Africa has become. All the government’s bureaucratic institutions (the liquor board, the NHBRC, Health Care etc) are becoming non-functional black holes where money just disappears into. If it weren’t so serious I would be laughing right now.

    Update: I eventually had to get my attorney to sue them before they issued my certificate. I heard afterwards from other builders that the NHBRC use this tactic to try and solicit bribes.

  • Huis Heunis

    Huis Heunis; designed by FD Theron
    Huis Heunis; designed by FD Theron

    Ons 1ste huis is nou op so te sê dakhoogte. Hierdie is ‘n foto van die straat af. As jy sukkel om die huis te sien is dit doodreg; dis hoe ons om ontwerp het.

    Dis ‘n lekker groot erf (1200m2) en ons het ‘n lekker groot tuin voor, met die huis wat agter weggesteek word. Ons begin nou al ‘n gevoel kry van die huis en dis presies wat ons wou gehad het. Ons is ook aangenaam verras deur die grootte van die tuin agter.

    Nou wil ons net intrek!

  • My bad experience with Bernie Habana & Don MacRobert

    I am a huge Blue Bulls fan so a couple of years ago when Bryan Habana joined the Bulls I was delighted; I instantly knew this kid was going to go places. This prompted me to register BryanHabana.com. I tried on several occasions to get Bryan Habana through Bernie (his dad also his agent) involved to no avail. Bernie only saw the negatives and moaned about everything. I never took/made a cent for all my troubles although I explained to Bernie many times that a website with their input could be profitable to them. But Bernie struggled with this concept.

    Part of the website was a “Write to Bryan” webpage. We had thousands of awesome letters to Bryan, especially during the Rugby World Cup. I had already started working on a Letters to Bryan Habana book that I wanted to present to him. Again I would have done this at my own cost and I would not have made a cent from all of this. It was just something I thought he would want to see and with his attitude and what he has done for SA I would have been honoured to make the effort.

    However yesterday, Don MacRobert, an attorney/lawyer threatened me with legal action!! To be honest I was getting no joy whatsoever from the site anymore. It started feeling more and more like “stank vir dank”. So I have shut down the number 1 search result for Bryan Habana for good. It was something I did with the best intentions, but it has turned sour for me. I don’t blame Bryan at all though; I never had any contact with him personally. But to say that Bernie Habana is my favourite person would be a lie. 🙂

    I have subsequently heard from other well-informed sources that Bernie is a notoriously difficult individual. Apparently he insists on attending Blue Bulls team talks and he is the only non team member allowed in because of Bryan’s value to the team. This and other ‘interferences’ have made Bernie unpopular at Loftus. I have also heard Bryan himself sees Bernie as a little bit of an embarrassment, although this source is questionable.

    I think Bernie Habana is delusional about his own importance. I think he loves to be The Man instead of realising he is The Meddling Father and Bryan is actually The Man. Also, I think Bernie should take heed of the saying You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I don’t like Bernie Habana. The phrase “pompous ass” comes to mind.

  • Elke in hospital from Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder

    On Monday night Elke swallowed/inhaled some Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder. She couldn’t breathe for a couple of seconds. We got a massive fright & rushed her to our GP. At the time we got there she had calmed down to such an extent that the doctor sent us home. But that night and the next day she struggled breathing.

    This morning we took her to another GP who after examining her told us she needed to get to the hospital ASAP. It was a shock although I did suspect her condition was more serious that everyone first thought because I also have asthma and I recognised the symptoms. By the time we got to the hospital (which is a 120km away from where we live) she had started turning blue in the face because she couldn’t breathe properly.

    The nurses immediately put her on Oxygen and Cortisone. She really looked bad (especially with all the tubes coming out of her nose/mouth) and she was so subdued; it really was heartbreaking. She has now had Oxygen for the whole day and her respitory function was at 97% when I left the hospital. Lene is spending the night with her.

    The doctors don’t know how long she’ll be in for but I’m hoping she gets released by Friday. I just really hope that this doesn’t permanently damage her lungs.

  • New Opel Astra

    Today I traded my Opel Meriva 1.7 CDTi for a new Opel Astra 1.8 (Petrol) Sport. So far I have to say it is a superb car.

  • Maatjies by Hogsback

    Mia, Gustav & Elke
    Mia, Gustav & Elke

    Ons het die naweek saam met vriende (Mike en Tanya Smuts & Sven en Katinka Ladewig) op Lowestoffe by Hogsback gespandeer. Dit is ‘n asemrowende deel van die Oos-Kaap. Die legende is dat dit die laaste plek is waar feetjies nog natuurlik voorkom 🙂

    Soos die foto aandui het die kinders (vlnr. Mia, Gustav & Elke) die plaas atmosfeer ingedrink.

    Dankie baie dankie Kwitansie!

  • Opel Meriva 1.7CDTi Engine Trouble

    I bought a Meriva 1.7CDTi last year in September. Both my wife and I love this car, BUT it has an unexplained engine problem. It will sometimes randomly just not start. Then usually when you leave the car for a couple of hours it starts no problem. The intermittency makes it very difficult to find out what is wrong with an otherwise great car. I don’t know much about cars, but I think it has something to do with the Diesel Injection.

    My dealership, Kenrich Delta in Grahamstown, aren’t able to fix it. They said they fixed it and it was fine for almost 6 months but now the problem has inexplicably creeped back. If anyone has any thoughts/advice on this PLEASE leave a comment.

    UPDATE: GM could never tell me what was wrong with the car, but they said they don’t have this issue anywhere else. Judging by the number of hits I get on this post I’m not sure that is true. To their credit GM settled. I am now driving an Opel Astra 1.8 Sport which is an amazing vehicle, but not as family friendly as the Meriva. If anyone has the same problem I suggest phoning Garry Botha of Kenrich Delta in Grahamstown. His number is 046 622 7312; he might be able to assist.

    Update: Judging by the insane number of hits I get on this page I would guess that there is a real problem with these engines.

  • Is Hasim Amla a quota player?

    Its the old cliche: There are no quotas in South African cricket. And yet looking at Hasim Amla’s stats you could find plenty to challenge that. Our best batsmen of my generation, Jacques Kallis, has an average of the mid 50s. Behind him Graeme Smith & Herschelle Gibbs hover around the mid to high 40s, AB de Villiers & Mark Boucher hover around the mid 30s. Hasim Amla on the other hand is currently at 26 (after 25 innings). Surely something is wrong with this picture. Your No. 3 batsmen is “supposed” to be the best batsmen in the side and yet Hasim Amla’s record is worse even than Shaun Pollock who is more a bowler than a batsmen.

    I’m afraid I cannot see how Hasim Amla can represent South-Africa other than through political interference. I have nothing against Amla – he seems to be a very decent level-headed sort of guy, but right now he is not good enough to be in the team.