SPRINGBOK CYBER NEWSLETTER
July 2016 edition
Often in the past we have been criticised for being too optimistic and over-confident about the future. The result the EU Referendum of 23rd June has shown however that our optimism and confidence regarding the future of the British nation and peoples has been well founded!
Not only was the result of the Referendum most exciting and inspiring in itself, but the incredible rapid aftermaths only added to this sense of exhilaration. The first of these was of course the speedy resignation of David Cameron (and of course David Cameron must be congratulated upon fulfilling his election promise by holding the Referendum, and then for doing the honorable thing by resigning immediately after the result contrary to his own personal position became known. History will undoubtedly judge him kindly). This of course was followed by the installation of Theresa May’s government pledged to ensuring that “Brexit means Brexit”, and then by massive convulsions within the Labour Party meaning that this retrograde party will almost certainly now split in two, and hopefully then be consigned to the dustbin of history. Even more encouraging have been the increases in active opposition to unrestricted immigration voiced by so many British citizens, who alas had previously been so cowered by the constraints of “political correctness”.
Two aspects of the Referendum have worried us deeply however, Firstly we were dumbfounded by the fact that in Gibraltar the result went so catastrophically the other way. In view of the fact that as recently as 2002 the Gibraltarian people voted by 17,900 votes to 187 to remain British rather than to become Spanish (i.e. more integrated within the EU), yet only 14 years later voted by 19,322 votes to 823 to remain in the EU (i.e. to become closer to Spain) rather than to assert its British identity, this outcome becomes a most worrying mystery. It must be explained. Secondly the result in Scotland, where 62% voted to remain entangled in the EU against 38% who voted for national independence, is a matter of great concern for the future unity of the British nation. The fact that well over a third of Scots voted “Leave” when all four major parties advocated remaining in the EU shows that the outcome there was perhaps not as bad as may have been first imagined. [In Northern Ireland the less than emphatic victory for the “Remain” side can be realistically ignored, as quite clearly the vast majority of the majority voted to Leave. We wonder however how Mr.Nesbitt and his UUP cronies can explain the fact that for all their claims of being staunch Unionists they were prepared to vote the same way as the SF/IRA terrorists!].
Apart from these two worrying concerns the Referendum result brings us nothing but unqualified glee however. The result was not “narrow” as suggested by many “Remain” supporters; the victory margin was over one and a quarter million, which by any standards was both significant and substantial. Furthermore the fact that both Wales and Cornwall voted “Leave” in similar proportions to England gives the lie to the idea floated by the SNP and their fellow-travellers that the Keltic areas of the country were fundamentally more in support of EU rule.
As for the subsequent propelling of Theresa May into No.10 Downing Street, we can certainly think of some far worse potential successors to David Cameron. Theresa May was clearly only lukewarm in her support for the “Remain” side, and indeed once made a speech during the campaign which could have been interpreted as supporting either side. The composition of her new cabinet contains several enlightened appointments, most notably Boris Johnson to the Foreign Office, coupled with several appointments which give great cause for concern, specifically that of David Davis. Likewise the sackings of George Osborne and Anna Soubry were most welcomed, whereas the dismissals of the likes of John Whittingdale and Theresa Villiers were to be regretted. It is far too early to judge whether Theresa May’s government should be praised or condemned however, so we wish her well, and will reserve judgement until sufficient time has passed to make informed comment.
Now is time to rejoice and to celebrate however – but the job is by no means completely finished. Just as we demanded freedom and independence for ourselves, so we should also support efforts by our European friends and allies to achieve similar freedom and independence for themselves. Already the terms “Frexit”, “Nexit” and “Grexit” have entered the international vocabulary - though we do not believe that it will end there. Furthermore a post-Brexit Britain must not become just a glorified Switzerland. Britain has always traditionally been an adventurous outward-looking nation, whose vision and destiny was to look West towards the Open Seas and the Empire/Commonwealth, rather then looking East towards an inwardly-orientated Europe. This traditional national place in the world must now be resumed, particularly in alliance with our brother countries from the Commonwealth. It is our task to put this neo-Imperialist vision firmly back on the agenda.
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SPRINGBOK CLUB NEWS
The Springbok Club held a couple of informal get-togethers last month in order to celebrate the Brexit victory, one in London and the other in Kent. It was particularly pleasing to be able to welcome two old colleagues and supporters at these events, both of whom we hadn’t previously seen for several years – and one of whom had travelled half way round the world just to vote “Leave”!
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Later this month the Kent Branch of the Springbok Club will be staging an informal pub gathering in Dover at which a visiting supporter who sailed back from the Caribbean in order to vote “Leave” in the EU Referendum will be telling something about his recent travels to the West Indies and Bermuda. All members and Kent Branch supporters of the Springbok Club will be informed of the precise details of this event in due course.
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In August the Springbok Club will be holding an event in central London to welcome a prominent conservationist from Zimbabwe on his trip to the UK. Full details will be given in next month’s SCN.
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All supporters are also reminded that once again the Springbok Club has been specially invited to participate in the annual “Raising of the Flag” ceremony in Norfolk. This year this event will take place on Sunday 11th September, so it is hoped therefore that all friends and supporters will diarise this date, and will make a special effort to attend this most inspiring and enjoyable event. Overnight accommodation can always be arranged in Cromer, which is only a few miles away from where the event takes place. For more information please either ‘phone: 07711188430 or e-mail: springbk@netcomuk.co.uk
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SWINTON CIRCLE NEWS
The Swinton Circle was successfully re-established at a re-launch meeting held last month. In view of all the disasters which were encountered at and following the disrupted meeting of 31st July last year it was unanimously decided that three former members of the organization who were implicated in the problems which occurred both on this date and subsequently should be barred from ever joining the re-launched Swinton Circle, and that the organization would advance only slowly in order to ensure that it was firmly established before embarking upon any large-scale expansion. One positive and very encouraging development was that the 343 Group has agreed to merge with the re-launched Swinton Circle, and it is also anticipated that another patriotic organisation will be doing likewise soon. The first event being planned by the merged organisation will be an Autumn Buffet, which has provisionally been arranged for central London in October, at which it is hoped to welcome a prominent personality from the “Vote Leave” campaign as guest speaker. For more information please e-mail: swinton@netcomuk.co.uk
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MEET A SURVIVOR NAMED VINNIE
We have recently received the following important message from the SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary :-
“In South Africa rhino poaching continues to escalate rapidly leaving rhinos defenseless and at the mercy of ruthless poaching syndicates. Extinction is no longer a by-product of poaching but it’s very objective. Every 6 hours a rhino dies a brutal death. Others are orphaned, injured or maimed for the rest of their lives.
“This mail is about one such survivor; a young rhino bull called Vinnie. He was very small when his entire family was wiped out in a single poaching incident, but Vinnie survived; desperately clinging to life despite the injuries he sustained. Against all odds Vinnie made a full recovery and is now a young rhino and in urgent need of a new family. Vinnie lives with a Brahman bull that has been his constant companion. It is however now time that both find new families of their own, but in Vinnie’s case he will need to be relocated to a reserve where he can be physically protected against poachers.
“SanWild has been working very hard to facilitate this. We have found a protected and well-armed reserve at an undisclosed location that can accept Vinnie and introduce him to another survivor who also escaped a brutal death. When her partner was gunned down and his horn removed, she managed to get away despite being shot high up on her back where the bullet intended to kill her, narrowly missed her spinal cord. She has made a full recovery.
“There are a number of on-going fundraising drives for Vinnie like our new online shop where you may purchase a variety of ‘I love Vinnie’ items including T-Shirts, Tank Tops, Sweat Shirts, Hoodies, Coffee Mugs, Pillows and Tote bags. Kindly please note all these items are manufactured in and shipped from America. They are of a high quality and dispatched within days of your orders being received. Some people may find the items expensive, but please do try and keep in mind that they are sold to raise funds for Vinnie's rescue and not necessarily to create awareness for our project.”
For more information about how you can help Vinnie and other animals threatened by poachers in the “new” South Africa contact the Sanwild Wildlife Sanctuary direct at: www.sanwild.org
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BREXIT BRINGS RESULTS!
It has been incredible to witness the escalating number of international sporting triumphs achieved by British teams and individuals in the days immediately following the EU Referendum victory for the Brexit campaign. These have included :-
1) A whitewash series victory by the England Rugby Union Football side in Australia.
2) Series victories without any defeats by the England Men’s Cricket team against Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in all the Tests, ODIs and T20 tournaments.
3) A total whitewash of victories by the England Women’s Cricket team against Pakistan in both the ODI and T20 series.
4) Unprecedented success by the Welsh Association Football team by reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA European Championship.
5) Triumphs for Andy Murray in winning the Men’s Singles titles at both the Aegon Tournament and the All-England Lawn Tennis Championship.
6) Victory in the quarter-finals of this year’s Davis Cup by the Great Britain Lawn Tennis team against the much-fancied Serbian side.
7) Triumph for Chriss Froome by winning this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné.
8) Five stage wins so far in the Tour de France by British cyclists, with (at the time of writing) Chris Froome wearing the Yellow Jersey.
We are of course not trying to claim that all these triumphs were a direct result of the vote to Leave the EU. What we are saying is that this outcome has increased national self-confidence and euphoria significantly, and that this may well have had a knock-on effect on the performances of British competitors. In fact significant increase in national self-confidence and morale actually started with the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games – whose successes were mainly due to the organizing genius of Lord [Sebastian] Coe and the then Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. Although Boris Johnson of course subsequently played a leading role in the “Vote Leave” campaign, we don’t know for certain what the position of Lord Coe was on this issue – but even so his role in increasing national joy and self-confidence so massively by organizing such gloriously successful Olympic and Paralympic Games probably qualifies him to be hailed as another – if somewhat unlikely – hero of the “Vote Leave” triumph!
[ The one major sport where British competitors have not achieved significant post-Brexit success seems to have been Golf – so perhaps in view of this year’s Open result we should now be expecting “Swexit” shortly to be on the cards! ]
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REMEMBERING DR. VERWOERD
Our friends from the HNP of South Africa are to be congratulated upon reminding us all that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the tragic assassination of Dr.Hendrik Verwoerd, and have done a most praiseworthy service by circulating a series of five articles about the great man’s life and career. Although these articles are all in Afrikaans (we could always forward copies to anyone upon request) one quotation in particular stands out to remind us all of what Dr.Verwoerrd managed to achieve for South Africa whilst Prime Minister. This quotation was from Lord Deedes, the former Bill Deedes - British Cabinet Minister, editor of the Daily Telegraph, confidant of Sir Dennis Thatcher (husband of Margaret Thatcher) and admirer of Dr.Verwoerd. It reads as follows :-
“While South Africa (in the Sixties) grew to be the economic giant of the continent, the other (Black) Commonwealth members sank into poverty”..
Hendrik Verwoerd was of course not born in South Africa, but in the Netherlands. With the current upsurge of self-assertion throughout the European continent exemplified by defiant opposition to Third World immigration and by Britain’s “Brexit” vote, is it being too melodramatic to hope that somewhere in the Netherlands today there is another little boy (or perhaps girl!) who one day will help re-assert the outward-looking destinies of the great European nation-states, and will thereby help to re-establish civilised rule in South Africa?
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SEARCH SERVICES FOR THOSE SEEKING LOST RELATIVES
Find any South African, even those who have emigrated. We also search Botswana, Namibia and ex-Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.
Please use the search request form at :-
http://www.bellemodel.biz/emails/emails.php?id=emails_from_SCN
Also check the list of South African expatriates/emigrants web-sites, which can be found at :-
http://www.bellemodel.biz/emails/expatriates/toplist_expatriates.php?id=toplist_expatriates_from_
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BOOK OFFERS
"LIEUTENANT COLONEL ALFRED JAMES TOMLINSON: MEMOIRS OF AN AFRICAN PIONEER AND BSAP OFFICER" is now available at Amazon.com, and can be shipped to anywhere in the world. This book contains excerpts from Lieut. Tomlinson's writings detailing his experiences as a member of the BSAP in Southern Rhodesia, where he rose from the rank of an ordinary trooper to retire as the commanding officer. It also includes the personal story of Majaqaba Ncube, a man who was enslaved by Lobengula when his entire village was massacred by the chief's soldiers. After he escaped, Lieut. Tomlinson saved him from certain death and gave him a job. They lost contact and were reunited after 45 years, when Majaqaba presented Lieut. Tomlinson with an earthenware jar.
Trish also writes romantic suspense and romantic comedy fiction. www.trishjaxon.com
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"BLUE WATCH" by Gwyn Fford-Osborne
Rhodesia, in 1975 and a bloody vicious civil war is at its height. A war between the White minority supported by the Black majority and the ZAPU and ZANU terrorist groups, supported by Zambia and Mozambique. Kensington, a small town in the farming belt has been the subject of several terrorist attacks but with only a small police force for defence, the local T.A. unit having been called up for service on the Zambia border the situation appears grim. Until Iffor Meredith turns up on a pilgrimage to meet up with his wife and son of his old army buddy, recently murdered by terrorists. A deadly ambush on the "Dix" family and his escape from a land mine attack makes Iffor determined to offer resistance of some form or other to the terrorists. His application to join the Rhodesian Army has been accepted and he sets about forming a small militia. With all the fit men already on call up, who can he recruit from. Then he's invited to a darts match at the Moth Club and meets up with the remnants of the town's Fire Brigade, the men considered too old for call up. Blue Watch.
Available from: www.diadembooks.com
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CREST PUBLISHING BOOKS
The latest book published by Crest Publishing is entitled: “BOWLS - QUIRKS, CHIRPS AND ANECDOTES". This is not an instruction manual but rather a cheerful, humourous and sometimes controversial chronicle about the game and its history worldwide. Written to celebrate 40 years in the sport by the author, Glenn MacAskill, it should be of interest to all bowlers and other sports enthusiasts.
For more information about all books published, or to make an order, please contact Crest Publishing at: P.O.Box, 4178, Honeydew, Johannesburg, 2040, South Africa, e-mail: glennallanmacaskill@gmail.com, or visit the Crest Publishing web-site at: www.crestpublishing.co.za. Special discounts are available to ex-servicemen, Rhodies and Springboks!
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"THE SAINTS" – a unique documentary in support of the book on the brief history of the RLI.
DVD available along with other premium titles of historical interest from Msasa Enterprises. Visit www.rhodesianvideos.co.za or write to msasasa@iafrica.com for more information. UK contact telephone: 07415 753 340.
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?
No.212 – Mnr. MARTIN SCHONTEICH of Durban and Cape Town
Martin Schonteich was of German ancestry, and when we met him and got to know him well he was studying Law at the University of Natal, Durban, during the mid-1980s. He was a very friendly, genuine and intelligent person, and could always be relied upon to do as he promised. He was also very active within the Conservative Party of South Africa, and once stood under their banner for Gillitts council, and also served as Chairman of the CP’s Youth Branch at UND. Around 1990 he moved to Cape Town in order to further his studies, specializing in criminology. He maintained good written contact with us throughout the early/mid 1990s, and indeed spoke at the first Springbok Club meeting following the merger of the White Rhino Club and Rhodesian Forum in 1996 when he toured the UK and Europe with his fiancée. He spoke then of moving to his ancestral homeland of Germany once he was fully qualified, but unfortunately contact with him inexplicably ceased shortly after this. We would therefore be very keen to learn what happened to him and where he is now – be it still in South Africa, in Germany or elsewhere.
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RECOMMENDED WEB-SITES OF THE MONTH
Michael Shrimpton has written a most thought-provoking article about the tragic assassination of Jo Cox MP, which appeared in the on-line publication UKIP Daily. If the assertions made are true then it answers many questions about this fiendish crime. This article can be accessed at :-
http://www.ukipdaily.com/assassination-jo-cox-mp/
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
LAND LIES
Sir,
Sadly, the majority population is still given to believe by ANC and EFF that the land was "stolen" from them by Whites. The fact that there was no "ownership" of land before Europeans introduced this concept to southern Africa is not taken into account. Land was occupied by conquest or because it was sparsely inhabited by nomads, and it was the tribal chief's prerogative as to where his people could graze their cattle or plant their crops. Title to land is a foreign concept. The ruling party has taken the place of the tribal council, with its leader as the chief African-style democracy in respect of land ownership is evident in Zimbabwe.
Yours etc.,
Johan Geelvink, Pretoria, South Africa.
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TRUMP CARD
Sir,
Donald Trump is a bit of a Curate's Egg. Last week Trump gathered 1000 Christian and religious leaders mainly evangelicals in a meeting and promised to :-
1 - Defund Planned Parenthood (BIG PLUS)
2 - Stop Obamacare, forcing people and companies and organizations to fund birth control and provide abortion to their members
3 - Took a couple of heavy hitters on as advisors on faith
4 - Says he will remove the 501C charitable status on Churches which will let them speak freely and endorse candidates. The Church should never have agreed to this.
So things look different. Trump is better than Clinton, but I still prefer Putin to them all!
Yours etc.,
P.W.N., Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
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LEARNING THE LESSONS
Sir,
This latest attack in Nice just proves that Brexit was the right thing to do. Why can’t people see this?
Yours etc.,
Craig Selvage, Sydney, Australia.
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OBITUARY
CHERYL RODRIGUES
It was with great sadness and shock that we learnt of the recent tragic death of Cheryl Rodrigues, the wife of Johnny Rodrigues, the founder and Chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.
Cheryl Rodrigues was born as Cheryl Whyte on the 15th December 1956 in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. She came from a family of avid motorcycle enthusiasts and rode a motorcycle herself in her youth. As a young girl, she was labelled as “quite a tough cookie” and a bit of a tom-boy. She was only 5ft tall but nothing stopped her fiery, witty and determined spirit from achieving anything that she set her mind to. As well as riding motorbikes, and racing her cousin’s go-kart around the farm roads, affectionately named “the race track”, she also did a spot of ballet - which she hated. She made all the clothes she wore too. Cheryl was a stunning woman with brownish black hair and beautiful brown eyes which would captivate your soul if you ever did have the pleasure of meeting her.
She was a very intelligent lady who excelled at school and wanted to go onto university. Her command of the English language was exemplary as well as her artistic skills and she could play the piano and piano-accordion by ear fluently. Cheryl painted some of the most beautiful works of art, which people would ask if they were in fact paintings or photographs. Her attention to detail was impeccable.
Cheryl met Johnny Rodrigues in 1974. She was crossing the road in front of his car which was parked at the robots…..he had never seen such a beautiful woman in all his life. He told her that he would be coming to visit that afternoon, to which she aptly replied…”well, I won’t be there”. On arriving at her house in the morning, as promised, she had gone off on her motorbike to the swimming pool. On her return, later that afternoon, Johnny then told her that he was going to marry her; her response was “sure buck”. Needless to say, they fell madly in love and were married in Salisbury later that year. A year later Lorraine came along, followed by Brigitte and later on Shane.
During Cheryl’s 42 years of married life to her love, Johnny, she played softball and was selected to play on an all girls football team in the Currie Cup in South Africa, which she received her Provincial colours for. After relocating back to Zimbabwe she was selected to fish for Zimbabwe under the National Bank Angling Team and fished the Tri-Nations International in Namibia and did very well. She received her National colours as a result of her efforts.
Cheryl also started writing a book about the ZCTF and Johnny, which she only completed 12 chapters, which it is hoped to complete and make available to the public so everyone can hear her story.
She supported her husband Johnny, her children, grand-children and son in-law Gavin, wholeheartedly in everything they did. She was Johnny’s fishing partner attended all the car races that he and their children competed in as well as supported her children in their karate at the World Championships in 2014 where her daughter Lorraine and grand-daughter Kylie both won silver medals. Her son Shane has also made a name for himself with his life-like pencil drawings of animals too.
Cheryl always loved animals. In 1998, Johnny and Cheryl formed The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. Cheryl would do oil paintings of the animal’s native to Zimbabwe to try to raise awareness and funds to help the ZCTF grow. The funds raised were used to help send anti-poaching units run by Johnny in the Kariba area to stop the netting of tiger fish. They also raised funds towards saving Hwange when it was hit by the severe drought in 2005. The ZCTF bought fuel, spares for pumps, uniforms and boots and assisted towards the National Park’s rangers’ wages during that time. Cheryl accompanied Johnny on one of the trips to Hwange to deliver the first batch of 10,000 litres of fuel, from a total of 65,000 litres actually delivered. After installing the pumps and the water began to pump into the pan, they witnessed the thirsty animals coming out of the bushes to drink the much needed water. Many different species came down to the watering hole that day. Cheryl was awe-struck by the euphoric atmosphere in the air whilst the animals drank water at the same time…… they did not sleep that night, they sat at the watering hole savouring the moment before them.
There are so many instances whereby the efforts of Johnny and Cheryl resulted in animals being relocated to safer areas, M99 being purchased for the local vets too. Only a few of their accomplishments have been spoken about as there are too many to mention. This was all made possible from the proceeds of Cheryl’s paintings and the many donations that came in from animal lovers all over the world.
Cheryl sat tirelessly for days and nights sending out the ZCTF reports and helped Johnny expose the truth about the famous Lion, Cecil who was killed by the infamous Walter Palmer. This led to the Cecil Act being passed by the US government preventing all imports of trophy hunts from Zimbabwe into America, as well as many airlines coming on board to stop the transportation of any trophies in the future. The United Nations have tabled a wildlife act to protect all endangered wildlife and aquatic life around the world. We still await the outcome of their decision. There will be a Cecil rally in Washington DC, USA on the 30th July 2016 in honour of Cecil and the growing continuous efforts to save the endangered lion. This has all come about because of the Cecil Act; the King of the Jungle, Cecil, never died in vain. To date this has to be one of the greatest achievements accomplished by the ZCTF and for conservation world wide.
Today, the world has lost a great conservationist; a lover of all things created by God and has left everyone connected to her empty, full of despair and sorrow. Although she has taken a leave of absence to go and help God care for Cecil the Lion and Tusker the Elephant and the animals she so dearly loved and tried to save, she did leave us with one thing………..her legacy. A legacy that will live on in our hearts forever and that we will continue to fight for the animals until our last breath and we meet her again because she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“Take nothing but pictures,
Kill nothing but time,
Leave nothing but footprints”
John Kay
The quote above was written by John Kay, and pretty much sums up everything Cheryl Rodrigues believed in and lived by. Our sincerest condolences are extended to Johnny, his children and grandchildren – and to all the animals which Cheryl cherished.
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