When they have finished with him…..best he goes for an HIV test.

Freed - after a fashion
 

Excellent news - David Simpson has been freed from prison (during a riot in which all the prisoners in the jail escaped and the prison was destroyed - an Africa special, this one).

Very good telling of the story here:

Briton behind bars in Central Africa freed during riot - Telegraph

That's what I call a result. But I there's probably some idiot who'll reckon that he really ought to hand to hand himself in to the authorities. After all he was legally detained. Wasn't he?

I hope he is at home with his loved ones.

If you'll read the article, you will notice that he was released by a judge during/after the riots, is in a kind of "house arrest", but expects full and legal release shortly. Curious story.

Surely the moral of this story is- DON'T go to work in one of these god forsaken places in the first place!

the reason why..
 

My grandmother was a KC - a Kenya Colonial. She lived and died in the days before Political Correctness. But from when I was knee-high to a grasshopper I recall she used to tell me this:

"If you want the best life in the world, be a white man in Africa. But never forget, one day you'll walk home in your underpants - if you're lucky."

As true now as it was then. Some of us love the reward and are prepared to run the risk. Some fear the risk and will never taste the reward.

That is so true. I remember telling my very intelligent but uneducated Xhosa 'maid' in Cape Town that I was going to live in Europe for a while. She asked if I would take her with and I said I couldn't. She asked me who was going to clean my house etc, and I said I would have to. She said : "That is not how a white man should live!"

For sure be all that and wallow in the pseudo-colonial self-righteousness of the 'Happy Valley' set, however be clear that there will always be another Mugabe to positively re-dress the balance.

@Tableview

Said the, To the unintelligent but 'educated' non-Xhosa footman?

sAx_R54

Please clarify your meaning - if any. Thank you.

Read your original post, the meaning could not be clearer!

Tableview:Very intelligent because she knows how to please and talk to an arrogant white man?

@KAG

Although I chose the antonym, my sentiments entirely!

From whence do you deduce the 'arrogant' white man part?

At last KAG has the courage to say what he means.

I thought the problem was one of clinical proportion, so courage (lack of) was not within my consideration!

My question was simple (evidently too simple), was it YOU that the intelligent but uneducated Xhosa maid was speaking to? If so, then clearly you are the antonym!

Simple enough??

I take you are trying to imply that because I referred to her as uneducated (which she was, albeit through no fault of her own) you are labelling me as 'arrogant'. If so, that says more about your lack of understanding than it does about me.

I take it you don't know too much about South Africa and the background.

Tableview,

I suspect that the fact you dared to have a maid upsets KAGs' sensibilities. It probably doesn't matter what you wrote, he would have found fault somehow.

I have had employed maids, gardeners, cooks, etc. in many countries I have lived/ worked in - including Europe. Does that make me a really nasty person, or does it mean that I am being helpful by employing people?

I only endorsed the sentiment of 'arrogance' from another poster, and would not have chosen such a lofty description for you myself. If you actually read my post (that is if you can actually read), you will see that I chose unintelligent but 'educated' non-Xhosa footman!

Clinically 'thick' in other words!

sAx_R54 : If you can only respond by personal insults then you are best ignored.

Jesus! Calm down! Tableview was not being derogatory. He was merely stating a fact - she was uneducated - not a criticism, just a victim of circumstance. He also observed she was highly intelligent.

I'm "uneducated" - left school at 16 - but I've done pretty well :) I'm not saying I'm highly intelligent but I'm not stupid either!

Your comment (sAx_R54) "... if you can actually read...." rather demeans YOU.

Don't be so sensitive and go looking for malice when none is meant.