Irish actress shot on ‘kill a tourist day’ in South Africa

Satan is truly alive and well on planet earth. . .it is so doomed because people turn to evil instead of to God/.

@IrishAndProud. 1) Having lived through Apartheid, I can assure you MANY things were kept secret. Our government controlled the media, and so the killing waves in those days were simply hidden from us. 2) Yes, our previous president made tragic decisions concerning the cause of AIDS. Fortunately we have organisations like the TAC who fight for people's rights and dignity. 3) I am a white SAn and have not left the country. The world has changed; people can move more freely now than before. E.g. http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/04fifty.htm: "At the time of the 2006 Census, Australia's population was 19.9 million, with nearly one in four people living in Australia born overseas (...) Of those born overseas, the United Kingdom is the largest overseas-born group (23.5 percent) followed by New Zealand (8.8 percent), China (excl SARs / Taiwan) (4.7 percent) and Italy (4.5 percent)." Does this mean that the UK and other countries are also "going to hell"? 4) I think "worse" is relative. We are reeling from the effects of having kept people in submission, and from giving shoddy (or no) education. 5) All over the world, countries do what they can to free people who they think are being oppressed - e.g. '88 to '91 the Irish Army was on the border between Iraq/Iran. As recently as 2007, the Irish Guards were training the Iraqi army. 6) I honestly believe in "Be the change you want to see in the world". Regards, Estelle

AWWW how sweet!I grew up in Anderstown in the 60s/70s and regularly visit SA,I find it quite exciting at times especially round Joburg.I suppose when you feel whizzing bullets at 8 yo they don`t frighten you much in your forties.

EstelleG: CERTAIN things were kept secret under the old Apartheid system...but an AIDS explosion (like exists there now and which the CURRENT goverment is in denial of, regarding its causes) would have proven impossible to keep under wraps -- the same with the massive crime wave in SA. Further, why are white South Africans leaving the country in the numbers that they are, if things are NOT 'going to hell'? Some of their neighborhoods have become high-crime areas, and they spend their time at home behind locked gates and high walls; they don't dare do otherwise. Businesses are under armed guard because of high crime. None of this was the case (certainly not to this massive an extent), under apartheid...and while that system was really repugnant, the ANC is WORSE, coming to power as a basically Marxist organization, that had to back away from it a wee bit ONLY after the collapse of the Soviet Union forced it to. Remember the ANC had the full-fledged support of Moammar Quadaffi, Fidel Castro and Yassir Arafat (as Nelson Mandela verbally and proudly said -- I heard him, myself) -- and any movement that THOSE folks endorse cannot be stellar.

“Yet when they called South African police to report the incident, the officer just said ‘yes, thank you,’ and hung up.” Welcome to the “New South Africa,” Comrade Smurfit! Given that you work for the BBC as an “actress,” you probably wanted “wicked” and “hateful” Apartheid to end, and worked for such in the 1990s. Also, you would have probably chortled with glee if the ANC had done this to a “racist” Afrikaner actress at that time. Now, you have a realistic end to Apartheid, to base your childishly egalitarian fantasies on. How do you like the reality of your anti-racist “dreams” now, Comrade Smurfit? Better still, maybe you should channel through an ANC psychic and “speak” with Amy Biehl, if you if you have any lingering doubts?

“Yet when they called South African police to report the incident, the officer just said ‘yes, thank you,’ and hung up.” Welcome to the “New South Africa,” Comrade Smurfit! Given that you work for the BBC as an “actress,” you probably wanted “wicked” and “hateful” Apartheid to end, and worked for such in the 1990s. Also, you would have probably chortled with glee if the ANC had done this to a “racist” Afrikaner actress at that time. Now, you have a realistic end to Apartheid, to base your childishly egalitarian fantasies on. How do you like the reality of your anti-racist “dreams” now, Comrade Smurfit? Better still, maybe you should channel through an ANC psychic and “speak” with Amy Biehl, if you if you have any lingering doubts?

“Yet when they called South African police to report the incident, the officer just said ‘yes, thank you,’ and hung up.” Welcome to the “New South Africa,” Comrade Smurfit! Given that you work for the BBC as an “actress,” you probably wanted “wicked” and “hateful” Apartheid to end, and worked for such in the 1990s. Also, you would have probably chortled with glee if the ANC had done this to a “racist” Afrikaner actress at that time. Now, you have a realistic end to Apartheid, to base your childishly egalitarian fantasies on. How do you like the reality of your anti-racist “dreams” now, Comrade Smurfit? Better still, maybe you should channel through an ANC psychic and “speak” with Amy Biehl, if you if you have any lingering doubts?

It was Kill a Tourist Day,” she explains. “And we were in the way. No, you weren’t “in the way”, you were the target. It is frustrating not knowing who the shooter was. Not as frustrating as it must be for him, unsure if he is now a murderer. Perhaps there is a bit of truth in that; he’d probably be quite proud to find out that he was one … Maybe he is only 12.” Or maybe he had an IQ of 12. This woman is so utterly naive that it’s painful to read her statements. What will it take for her to wake up? The death of a loved one? Or would even that fail? I shudder to think of what it will take …

@IrishAndProud: yes, we do have problems here in SA, but our country has certainly NOT "gone to hell". Perhaps we all need to bear in mind that during the Apartheid era, much information was kept from us, and from the rest of the world - so it is really not fair to try and compare what we know and hear about now, with what we probably did not know then. Regards, Estelle

I am a South African. I have lived here for 50 years. In all my days, I have NEVER heard of "Kill a Tourist Day"! Whilst I am sad when anyone is hurt or injured, I am also sad when rumours are given an international platform without the rumour being interrogated to find the truth. I wish Victoria and her family a speedy recovery from the trauma.

Excuse me, but I've just scratched South Africa off of my list of places to see. How about "Kill a Gang Member Day" instead. It will make the world a better place.

story sounds a bit weak. Was she shot or believed she was shot at? Blood seeping out of veins in elbow? There is no detial if there was a bullet hole in the windshield and whether she needed medical attention for a gun shot? Sounds like maybe her arm was grazed by a bottle rocket.

Wow, mikedelta12...concern and compassion must be foreign to you, except on your own behalf, of course. I think your opinion is N-A-I-V-E and dangerous! God bless Victoria Smurfit for her insights. In spite of her own close call, she was able to consider another person's predicament...(however self-inflicted it may be).

Totally scary. Too much violence all over the world.

Disgusting. Thanks be to God she is going to be alright.