Some years ago I had the pleasure of driving a minister of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic and her ambassador from Durban to Johannesburg.

Several times along the N3, she said: “Look at this world class infrastructure. Do you know what you have? Do you appreciate it.”

I recall feeling rather proud and expressed the wish that one day the Saharawis too could  have a motorway across their desert land. 

What might the minister have said had we been traveling along the road on Sunday?

With the burning trucks, it might have reminded her of the war her people have fought to rid their country of Moroccan occupation.

Together with arterial roads closed by demonstrators in Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town in recent days, they are certainly not showpieces for a developing country heading for prosperity.

How do we explain this motorway mayhem to potential investors or tourists?

The authorities warned motorists on Sunday not to use the N3 at night.

Their caution is laudable, even though it sends a dire message to potential investors in and visitors to South Africa.

Such caution is invariably expressed by countries concerned about the well-being of their citizens abroad.

It invariably attracts fury from the targets of their warnings because it tends to deter tourism.

We saw this last month when Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu  angrily responded to a travel advisory from Australia.

She says it casts a slur on the country. 

Sisulu appears to have been responding to media  reports rather than  facts.

The Australian travel advisory was first issued in the year 2000.

True, it advises travelers to South Africa  to exercise a high degree of  caution.

Actually, it places South Africa on the second lowest degree of danger – in the same category as  countries like Belgium and France.

In much the same way as an advisory would use a health ministry warning of cholera to urge travelers take health precautions, the Australian document uses material from SAPS annual reports  to advise of the potential of murder,  rape, mugging and robbery.

The advisory has been updated to include water shortages in the Western Cape – again using language  deployed by the local authority.

I remember after contracting malaria in Zimbabwe , I asked the South Africa health authorities in high dudgeon: why did no-one warm me?

True, there were posters at the border posts. Surely I have a right to expect more from a caring government?

If you are traveling to a country where protestors make nocturnal travel hazardous, would you not expect your own people to tell you so?

It is axiomatic that there are good things and bad things about any destination: from insect-born lurgies and pickpockets to dread diseases and flat out terrorists.

The simple answer to avoiding them is stay home.

If you can’t or won’t accept this option, arm yourself with the information you need for your security. Above all: don’t shoot the messenger.

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Ferguson says she was motivated by the #me too movement of women naming their violators.

Danny Jordaan headed the organizing body for the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa.

He was Mayor of Nelson Mandela metropole until was ousted by the opposition Democratic Alliance two years ago.

He’s not responded to Jennifer Ferguson’s allegation.

Ferguson fell foul of the apartheid regime for opposing conscription and supporting those forced to fight against the liberation forces.

Her activism was recognized by then ANC leader Nelson Mandela who put her on the ruling party’s list to become an MP.

She says she was in her hotel room celebrating this when Danny Jordaan entered and raped her.

Dazed and confused, she failed to report this because she feared it might be though she had provoked the attack.

Speaking from Sweden, where she now lives, Ferguson says there is something in South Africa where the wounded male psyche is expressing itself violently.

She says South Africa’s had a scourge of rape and child abuse since colonial times.

She feels she’s part of a much bigger collective need for truth in order to heal and forgive,

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The South African President says the African National Congress will approach the elections like an army.

The country’s governing party faces its toughest contest since coming to power 22 years ago.

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President Jacob Zuma was speaking at yesterday’s (Monday) signing of the Independendent Electoral Commission code of conduct south of Pretoria.

The 13 political parties represented in the South Africa  Parliament have pledged their commitment to abide by the rules set out by the Electoral Commission.

Zuma says the ruling party is committed to helping give South Africa a successful local government election.

The ANC reaffirms its commitment to political tolerance and peaceful co-existence with other parties.

Zuma says they look forward to a robust and peaceful electioneering period.

No advantage will be given to any party during the election process.

The ANC will canvas and participate equally.

Victors will be congratulated as will those who do not win.

For the first time since winning power in 1994, the ANC stands a chance of losing its majority in Johannesburg, Pretoria  and Port Elizabeth.

Opposition parties say they will be keeping a close eye on the electoral body.

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane says he’s not confident the IEC will fulfill its electoral mandate.

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