Gone Gaga

Lady Gaga arrives at Lanseria Airport outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

Awaiting fans see Lady Gaga through the glass doors as she arrived in South Africa.

The South African Police wonder why they have such a bad reputation. Well I'll tell you that with the way they sometimes conduct themselves, they should not be surprised. A relatively small group of Lady Gaga fans consisting mostly of teenage girls and feminine guys were waiting at Lanseria to get a glimpse and maybe an autograph from the pop star. Now I can call it a small crowd as I have been at the bigger OR Tambo airport when it has been full of thousands of people waiting for various people including the World Cup winning Springboks, our Olympic team and Manchester United Football club. To tell the truth I thought those situations were handled badly... I had no idea! The Lanseria cops seemed clueless and even though Lady Gagas security entourage had conducted themselves very well, even cracking jokes with the crowd and seeming very much in control. As soon as she came through the doors, the cops decided that they needed to show that they were in charge and haphazardly ushered her round the back (my suspicion is that they wanted pictures with her for themselves, it would not surprise me.) this almost caused a riot. There was many really upset fans, many close to tears.

Although I am no Lady Gaga fan, I must admit that I was impressed by the fact that after the chaos, she must have instructed the driver to come back and got out and signed some autographs for the crowd and under the eyes of her bodyguards the situation was easily kept under control, I'm glad that the police stayed back as it would have been chaos had they tried to control the situation.

Benoni protest

A truck is attacked during a violent service delivery protest in Benoni. Wattville and Actonville residents marched to the Benoni Civic Centre to demand service delivery, but things got violent with windows being broken, bins spilled all over the roads, cars being vandalised, as well as bystanders being intimidated. The march moved back to Actonville resulting in a stand-off between hostel residents and police with the hostel residents stoning passing cars and intimidating people .

A marcher flings a brick at a glass door of a welding company during the march in Benoni.

Hostel residents barricaded the roads and stoned passing cars. 

A video from my GoPro attached to the lens hood of my Nikon D700, please excuse the shakiness, as my priority is stills, but I do plan on getting better at video.

Truck strike march

Marchers flee after police shoot tear-gas and shoot rubber bullets to control the crowd during a march by striking SATAWU union members, in Isando, Gauteng

I was the only photographer at this point of the march, as the march had already been to the offices of the employers and they were near the Isando train station to make their way home. As the large group came up to the station, a few of them started attacking a truck that was apparently broken down at the side of the road, (the driver had wisely left the scene). Police replied with a volley of rubber bullets and tear gas, I found myself in a small field with no cover, and I took a few frames as I dashed towards a electricity box, before I even got there everything was done and the marchers simply continued into the station. There was a few people affected by the tear-gas, but I was 100%, maybe I'm getting used to it.

Truck Strike

A burning soft drink truck is looted on Main Reef road in Cleveland, Germiston on the 28 September 2012. Many trucks have been targeted by striking truck drivers. They usually assault the working truckers then set the truck on fire.

A bakery delivery van on fire, Pretoria road, Isando, 26 September 2012.

Tow truck operators remove a burnt out courier truck near the Elandsfontein station in Jet Park, 9 October 2012.

Fittest Soldier

Soldiers take part in the training surprise during the SA Army Fittest Soldier competition which took place at the SA Army Gymnasium in Heidelberg from the 17 until the 20 September 2012. The competition had various parts which included the training surprise, pool crossing event, bleep testing and a endurance walk with participants carrying a 20 kg pack over a 20km course. General Nobanda emphasised the need for better fitness training in the SA Army and hailed the event as a step in the right direction.Over 300 participants from various units within the Army took part with various age groups in team categories and individual categories for all ranks including the top ranks of Generals and Officers Commanding. 

Participants congratulate their team mate after his first place in the first of 15 races in the training surprise.

Bus Crash

A car that was hit by a bus on the intersection of Black Reef and Dekema roads in Wadeville, 14 September 2012. Two men were killed and two critically injured when a bus carrying schoolchildren hit it, one child was injured on the bus but the other 45 were taken to hospital as a precaution.

Paralympians return

Jonathan Ntutu,Union Sekeilwe, Oscar Pistorius and Kevin Paul pose for photos after the Paralympians returned from the London 2012 Paralympic games in London.Team SA came back with 29 medals and the athletes were given their monetary incentives that were raised recently to be equal to the incentives the Olympic athletes received recently.

Samkelo Radebe receives his cheque for bringing home a Gold medal in the 4x100 meter relay.

Swimmer Natalie Du Toit receives her cheque and a Makarapa (a decorated hard hat) after winning 3 Gold and 1 Silver medals.

Oscar Pistorius gives autographs to awaiting fans.

South African Tattoo

 The finale of the 2012 South African Tattoo at Montecasino in Johannesburg. The show featured a multi-cultural and multi-national cast including Irish dancers, the Harley owners group, Danish acrobats and various military bands.

The Talentholdet gym team from Denmark perform at the 2012 South African Tattoo.

The Transvaal Scottish Regimental Pipes and Drums.

My flickr photostream.

gee-raff's photostream on Flickr.