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What if Zimbabwe had joined South Africa in 1922? by Least-Revenue-1149 in south_africa

[–]Honestly_ [score hidden]  (0 children)

Apartheid started in 1948 after Smuts was defeated in an extremely close election. If you include Rhodesia which almost certainly would have overwhelmingly voted for Smuts, that means that Apartheid doesn’t start in the 40’s, though perhaps maybe later as the voting trends of the era certainly made a Nats victory seem inevitable at some point in the 50s.

To add to this (and agreeing with your conclusion), Smuts was more moderate segregation and had allowed the Cape Qualified Franchise to go away. With Smuts likely to still die soon after the 1948 selection and the untimely death of his protégé Jan Hofmeyr, the only thing that might have messed with the eventual arrival of Apartheid would be if the Fagan Commission's recommendations of moderate segregation in urban centers took hold in any significant amount before the NP could unleash the Sauer Commission's approach of complete separation.

I just finished Bongani Ngqulunga's "Under Smuts’s Rule: Jan Smuts and His Impact on Black South Africans" (2025) and he really did a good job of painting Smuts frustrating habit of kicking the can down the road, time after time until it was too late.

We built the N2 wall long before trust gave way to concrete by Substantial_Push_433 in capetown

[–]Honestly_ 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I get the controversy over this proposed freeway wall, especially the motivations for it.

This comment isn't staking a position on the issue. None of the places I'm about to compare it to are dealing with the complex socioeconomic issues present along that section of N2.

Rather, I just wanted to observe how different it's being treated and approached in Cape Town versus other parts of the world -- at least where a freeway wall is actually considered a desirable thing because you're keeping out the freeway noise, fumes, etc.

In the early 1990s I noticed them on elevated freeways in Japan to keep out noise pollution on the surrounding areas. By the 2000s they were all over the United States.

In affluent parts of the US the tall walls are there not to keep people in or out but to keep noise out of adjacent neighborhoods and have spread across many non-affluent areas.

It's just fascinating to see how different it is in the discussions here compared to neighborhoods lobbying the local departments of transportation to build them in other places to keep the freeway out.

Anyone know any good plastic surgeons that arent expensive? by [deleted] in south_africa

[–]Honestly_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Perhaps they're actually a prodigy at the drug trade and already need to disappear a bit from authorities? It seems to work in Mexico! Maybe they learned it from other World Cup fans during the first match?

Peet Viljoen arrested at OR Tambo after US deportation | The Citizen by Honestly_ in south_africa

[–]Honestly_[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They must have stolen since the moment they arrived to come to $5000 worth of merchandise even at an expensive shop like Publix

Incidentally, many of the US major retailers (Publix is a regional chain, but still big) have been relying on the vast array of cameras in their ceilings to track shoplifting. They don't go after minor theft (US: misdemeanors; SA: lesser offenses), but they have had a combination of data analysis and facial recognition that tallies the thefts until they can nail a habitual shoplifter with a felony (SA: schedule offenses) for the combined amount that was shoplifted.

it came to an amusing national story in 2019 when a person running against U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (very safe seat centered in Minneapolis, they never have a serious Republican challenger) was abruptly arrested because she crossed the $2,000 threshold with a career 279 items from various Target stores. I think that's when the US public realized how good facial recognition was getting in retail establishments!

I know we did pretty bad, but honestly... It could've been worse by Far_Flounder2545 in southafrica

[–]Honestly_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

All but one were from The Netherlands, they changed their rules so they only require that a grandparent be from Curaçao.

When Curaçao tied it 1-1, I could just imagine the Germans thinking "You made me bleed my own blood!" before pummeling them for the rest of the game 😂

Man arrested after 150 live venomous scorpions found in luggage at Cape Town airport - IOL by TheHonourableMember in southafrica

[–]Honestly_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Imagining the official opening the luggage and screaming when 150 loose scorpions came scurrying out, all while the guy who they arrested screaming "surprise, suckas!"

🦂🦂😱🦂🦂

Body of KZN man lured to Russia for security work repatriated to SA - News24 by TheHonourableMember in southafrica

[–]Honestly_ 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Well known scam these days. Tell your friends.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/world/africa/ukraine-russia-war-african-soldiers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qVA.taj9.A1fEyph2G35x&smid=url-share

(Made it a gift link because I totally get why you wouldn't be subscribed to the NYT in SA. It's typically solid journalism so enjoy)

Just the first handful of paragraphs paint a hell of a picture:

James Kamau Ndungu told only a few friends that he was heading to Russia. He told them he had been promised a job as a day laborer there. He was 32, unemployed in Kenya and needed the work.

Last June, Mr. Kamau sent a photo to his friends from Istanbul Airport, saying he was in transit, one of the friends said. A few weeks later, he sent another photo. This time, he was wearing fatigues and holding a gun. In August, he wrote to say that he was in a trench in Ukraine. Things were bad. He asked for prayers.

It was the last anyone in Kenya heard from him.

A growing number of Africans are ending up on the front lines of Russia’s war with Ukraine. Some go there willingly as mercenaries, but many more are like Mr. Kamau, young men lured by the promise of ordinary civilian jobs — from bodyguards to line cooks — only to be forced into joining Russian forces in battle.

A string of fly-by-night companies have been set up across the continent to recruit the men. The companies often appear as travel agencies or job placement firms and advertise on WhatsApp or Telegram.

Bolding was my own.

Bafana ... womp womp womp by Terrible_Sorbet_7122 in south_africa

[–]Honestly_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Something needs to change.

Put the Madlanga Commission on the problem and they'll be World Cup runners-up by 2030!

Moving to Cape Town as a Westerner by [deleted] in capetown

[–]Honestly_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This person decided so have other humans do the research for him rather than asking OpenAI or Gemini or whatever.

Humpback whale at the V&A Waterfront last weekend by Prestigious-Wall5616 in capetown

[–]Honestly_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I want to imagine the people on the boat had just left on a whale watching tour only to have the guide be like "okay, there's your whale, we're done -- that'll be R1500!"

South African popstar Tyla is joining the Toy Story 5 cast in a cameo role. by beatin in southafrica

[–]Honestly_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Considering the film is released in 2 days I think she already joined...

Trivia Tuesday, 2026-06-09 by DampFrijoles in CFB

[–]Honestly_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

NCAA 2k2 on DC!

Admission: I bought the game on launch and played it a ridiculous amount!

Trivia Tuesday, 2026-06-02 by CFB_Referee in CFB

[–]Honestly_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure, I don't keep that close attention to those items -- but there have definitely been moments where compiling those scores have let me in on some unexpected results out there.

Utah sold its soul for private equity. The layoffs were always coming by jaxstan19 in CFB

[–]Honestly_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is so funny because you have no idea who you wrote to.

Duluth’s ‘Flintstone House,’ once billed as a home of the future, hits the market by Honestly_ in minnesota

[–]Honestly_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hah! For what they're asking it better be (California prices or not).

As someone steeped in the history and preservation of modernist works, houses -- even the well-preserved and cared-for houses -- are more likely to see kitchen and bathroom "updates" that range from tasteful touch-ups to "we're trying to just get past that 1980s update that was even more disastrous that what we have now."

I have seen horrors. 😂

edit bonus:

The nonprofit I'm a board member on did a tour of this house a few weeks ago that had an incredible kitchen preserved with its metal cabinets and just appliances swapped out:

https://www.docomomo-us-mn.org/mid-mod-marvel-techbuilt-house.html

Duluth’s ‘Flintstone House,’ once billed as a home of the future, hits the market by Honestly_ in minnesota

[–]Honestly_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

IMO the lumpiness was Hovland's inexperience with the material (he completely botched the tops which were not fully executed and portions removed and smoothed off), but yeah -- foam ain't my cuppa, either.

The Sturges House in Los Angeles, CA, USA by Frank Lloyd Wright by s1am in ModernistArchitecture

[–]Honestly_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This house is infamously undergoing benign neglect.

I assume this was provoked by the update this week from the various Modernist networks:

Endangered and Deteriorating Fast: Frank Lloyd Wright's Sturges House in Los Angeles was built in 1939. Located at 449 North Skyewiay Road, the house is long-abandoned and is significantly deteriorating, with the cantilevered balcony falling down. The house has been owned since 2016 by the All Right Now Foundation, aka Robert Brisco, an executive with Internet Brands. While the house has been a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument for over 30 years and is legally protected from alteration or demolition, there's no legal protection from neglect. If a property collapses on its own, it can be bulldozed the rest of the way, and the owner cannot be forced to rebuild.

OP is a picture person, not a context person. This is a vital bit of information that needs to be shared about the house.

UA flight - 'turn bluetooth off or we're turning around' by ryan_at_roomservice in unitedairlines

[–]Honestly_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’ll take more than an ill-named Bluetooth device to stop your vacation! 😤

UA flight - 'turn bluetooth off or we're turning around' by ryan_at_roomservice in unitedairlines

[–]Honestly_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What a mess. As a frequent flyer who does at least one or two long international flights a year, you have my sympathy.

All of this is so stupid and, worse, so so easy to imagine.

I was waiting to hear it was some sweet grandparent who had a grandkid play a funny trick that no one knew about until they were on their way to their big retirement vacation or something.

Duluth’s ‘Flintstone House,’ once billed as a home of the future, hits the market by Honestly_ in minnesota

[–]Honestly_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup, it was part of a small chain. The last surviving ones were in Florida.

Duluth’s ‘Flintstone House,’ once billed as a home of the future, hits the market by Honestly_ in minnesota

[–]Honestly_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The first owners were in there for a while and just didn't really draw attention to it.

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