What is missing in Cameroon [is] social capital [or] trust. [In poor countries] it’s in most people’s interest to take action that directly or indirectly damages everyone else. The rot starts with government but it afflicts the entire society.

There’s no point investing in a business because the government will not protect you against thieves. (So, you might as well become a thief.)

There’s no point in paying your phone bill because nobody can successfully take you to court (so there’s no point being a phone company).

There’s no point getting an education because jobs are not handed out on merit (and in any case, you can’t borrow money for school fees because the bank cannot collect on the loan, and the government doesn’t provide good schools).

There’s no point setting up an import business because the customs officers will be the ones to benefit (and so there is little trade, and so the customs office is under-funded and looks even harder for bribes).

One simple reform is to cut red tape, allowing small businesses to be legally established, which makes it easier for their entrepreneurs to expand and borrow money. The legal reforms necessary are often trivial; and while they still rely on sensible and benevolent government, all it takes is a single minister with his head and his heart in the right place, rather than hoping for an entire civil service to permanently reform. Another option, and a vital one, is to enlist the world economy for help.

Wiki entry

Thirty years ago in South Africa, there was white power. Then there was black power. And now there is no power.

No really. There isn’t. The electricity-generating company over there has just announced that the power stations are not capable of meeting demand and that there will be outages for two, three or six hours a day for at least the next seven years.

So far as I can see, no one is asking why this has happened. Everyone suspects it’s because the power company, since it took over the reins from De Boer Pik Racist, has been operating a policy of only employing black people. So the whites, the ones who know how to run a power station, have left the job of generating electricity to a bunch of guys who don’t know how to.
– Clarkson on electricity

Sadly I’m posting this about 15 minutes after a 2 hour long power outage. It’s so ridiculous it’s almost funny….almost.

Not content with just being a tasty model, she’s branched out into film with her roles in Crazy Monkey Presents Straight Outta Benon, Lord of War, Maya, and the in-progress Gallowwalker.

Maxim gallery – IMDB movie gallery – Celebridex.co.za profile – TanitPhoenix.com – FasionModelDirectory.com profile – Unofficial blog – Icemodels portfolio – Myspace page (legit?) – Loads of YouTube videos

Judging by the amount of traffic on Amatomu‘s trends graph, the SA blogosphere doesn’t get enough traffic to monetize with Google Adsense or Amazon affiliates, especially when complete unrelated products are shown, e.g. a post on How Creativity Works gets a link to a book on “Getting Started with Home Internet Pornography” (okay, so maybe it’s slightly related). But are there enough South African readers in the audience to make a high-payout affiliate program like ZA OfferForge work? I’m sure none of my American readers want a quote from Outsurance or ADSL from DataPro, but I don’t think I get nearly enough SA visitors to make any real money out of it either. And I hate blinking ads with a passion. Let me choose related text link ads to put at the end of posts, then we’ll get somewhere.

Are you having any success with monetizing your blog? What works? Affiliates? Adsense? Selling nudey pics of your co-workers? If only there was a way to make money from posting viral ads…

Update 2008-03-29: After running with Offerforge for a while I’ve started getting really decent payments. I just wish it was less labour intensive, with a Google Adsense component to automatically pick campaigns related to the content. Then again, picking campaigns related directly to blog posts may be far more efficient until we have AI to do it for us.

p.s. I can highly recommend Joomla CMS. Quick to setup, easy to use, and loads of components to do forums, galleries, polls, events, etc.

She attended High School Stellenberg, and that school seems to be a magnet for hotties. If only I’d learnt Afrikaans so I can’s like to be going there. Forget edumacation, there’s more important criteria for choosing a school!

Minki made news headlines in South Africa in 2006 when it was revealed that photos of her sitting in a bathtub drinking champagne were leaked onto the internet. The photos were taken on her 21st birthday while she was getting ready for her birthday party. Sorry, you’ll have to find those yourself, no smut here (although we all know Minki is one classy babe, so they’ll probably be tasteful nudes). Did I mention we have a comments section?

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Gallery – Profile and galleries – Wallpaper set 1 – Wallpaper set 2 – Die Burger gallery

Profile and gallery – Wallpaper – Her 2001 Wonderbra ads – Sexiest SA Woman 2002 – January 2007 FHM Calendar wallpaper and interview video – JHB Live interview

Born in Mooi Rivier – a small farming village in the Midlands of KwaZulu- Natal – she was spotted by model scout Kevin Ellise in a Durban flea market at the tender age of 15, and by 16 she was earning more in a day than the rest of us schmucks get in a month.

She’s been on the cover of Vogue, in adverts for Diesel, and modeled for everyone from Tommy Hilfiger to the smaller designers – the ones that make their models roll in mud and wear dead squirrels on their heads.

She dropped out of school to pursue a career in modeling, which must have been difficult, because at that age you really need family and friends in your support group, not greedy fashion people, but she’s gone up against the big names on the catwalk and she’s winning. Way to go Candice, we’re all so proud! Now can someone please tell me where the hell Mooi Rivier is?!

Carte Blanch article – FMD profile – Ice Models profile

Update: Other galleries: The Bastardly Minute – Style.com – The Golden Fiddle (looks like some of these are personal photos off a camera phone?)

Born on the 9th of December, 1982 in Gauteng, she’s been on more magazine covers than I care to list here and she was FHM’s sexiest woman in the world 2005. She also played the part of “dream girl” in The Crazy Monkey Movie, and that alone might get me to watch it.

Lee-Ann is the type of girl that every man wants, but knows that if he ever gets her she’ll be walking all over him in no time. Of course, that’s just the vibe I get from that sweet but domineering look of hers; in real life she’s probably all soft, and gentle, and….what was I talking about again? Anyway, she seems to have a myspace page, though I don’t know how official that is. And her official page is unfortunately still under construction. We’d like to thank Lee-Ann for bringing glory to South Africa with her unique brand of hotness, and she can contact us to collect her prize…

Born in Port Elizabeth, she’s been all over SL, FHM, and Sports Illustrated, and she’s also made it on to the top 20 sexiest women in SA. For good reason too!

She has the sparkly eyes and mischievous grin that promise an unpredictable and exhilarating time in men’s fantasies, and yet she seems down to earth enough to keep up with the boys on a surf. Fantastic cleavage at both ends too.

Hopefully she stays with the brunette look, because blonde just doesn’t suit her. If you have more photos or information about Roxy, or you’d like to see another lass on our new weekly feature, drop us a line.

View her gallery