Proudly South African!

[Sir-Ominous]

@Wesley

Dude, calm down. I think everyone is aware that SA has some major problems, this thread is for appreciating the good of our country and ignoring the obvious bad.

If you want to discuss the bad of SA, maybe make a thread or something.

[pArkEr]

Lets just say the local commercials industry does rather well every year come awards time, at least the bigger name production houses do. What is really great to see, is the number of small independent crews starting up, with some of them winning some highly coveted awards recently. The talent coming out of places like AFDA really is world class, and the advertising industry is an industry where South Africa is a world leader, and has been for almost 30 years.

And didn't Neil Blompkamp make that awesome ad with the dancing robot?

Also, let's not forget the talent we have. The aforementioned Neil Blompkamp, Gavin Hunt, Charlize Theron, Arnold Vosloo, Seether, Prime Circle, Goldfish... okay, most of those people only originated from South Africa, but I'll still give us pointless credit for it.

And on the football side, we have: Steven Pienaar, and... yeah, Steven Pienaar!

[Sir-Ominous]

And Judge Dredd is being filmed here, Mercenaries(ice dudes) from Infamous 2 are from SA. In Army of Two 2, you go to the SA embassy in Shangai . In Thor Agent Coulsen asks Thor if he's South African. Okay. let's not go off-topic now.

Has anybody been to tsitsikama forest near CT? I hear it's awesome.

[cr@zydude]

I bet it was a really good one too. Like, brown paper bags filled with Mrs Balls chutney.

Most reports claim we had between 6 and 7 nukes. They are most likely in Isreal now.

And didn't Neil Blompkamp make that awesome ad with the dancing robot?

Also, let's not forget the talent we have. The aforementioned Neil Blompkamp, Gavin Hunt, Charlize Theron, Arnold Vosloo, Seether, Prime Circle, Goldfish... okay, most of those people only originated from South Africa, but I'll still give us pointless credit for it.

And on the football side, we have: Steven Pienaar, and... yeah, Steven Pienaar!

Would you really rank Gavin Hunt with the rest? If we go for footballers, Stevie P is the best SA player at the moment, but let's not forget Lucas Radebe, a young Jomo Sono, Neil Tovey, and hate him all you want, Benni McCarthy.

[pArkEr]

Holy ****, did I write Gavin Hunt? Meant to say Gavin Hood.

And of course, how could I could forget our other soccer greats, especially Radebe?

[Garson007]

I bet it was a really good one too. Like, brown paper bags filled with Mrs Balls chutney.

I think you underestimate the scientific community of South Africa.

[Wesley]

I think you underestimate the scientific community of South Africa.

So do I. I had no idea we even had weapons of mass destruction. There isn't even any logic in us having them because we'd never use them. We'd be completely invaded in less than a year if we had to go to war and the other country retaliated with force.

[Legion]

I think you underestimate the scientific community of South Africa.

Agreed.

There are some truly advanced minds in south africa as well.
Sick of people saying our technology is wooden spears and shields.

The USA's proud Apache copter is a modified version of the Rooi-Valk.
Americans could not make the head tracking work after 3 years.
We did it in 3 months.

[Sir-Ominous]

Speaking about science, SA excels once again.

Johannesburg - The trade union Uasa congratulated Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor and her team on Friday for securing South Africa as a location for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope.

In this venture, South Africa would be at the forefront of technology.

"Waiting for the announcement has been reminiscent of the announcement when we won the bid to host the World Cup in 2010," Uasa said in a statement.

"The technical committee, in this instance, did us proud and we are ready to host the world's most powerful radio telescope."

Construction of the SKA is expected to cost about €1.5bn.

Although the location of the telescope would be shared with Australia, South Africa's economy would receive a boost.

The SKA consortium would spend an estimated €100m to €150m a year to operate and maintain the telescope, Uasa said.

A significant portion of the capital, operations and maintenance costs would be spent in the host countries.

"Celebrations are in order, as the announcement coincides with our celebrating of Africa Day today."

Earlier, AFP reported that South Africa would share the SKA location with Australia.

"We have decided on a dual-site approach," AFP reported SKA board chairperson John Womersley saying at a press conference at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, following a meeting of the SKA organisation's members in the Dutch capital.

"We will be installing equipment in both Australia and South Africa and together they will form part of a global observatory," he said.

The SKA would be 50 times more sensitive than the most powerful telescopes presently available.

AFP said the contract, estimated at $2bn, would now increase in cost.

Womersley told AFP the dual site made the best use of the "significant investments" both countries had made in astronomy.

- SAPA

[Wesley]

Here's the best part of that project - Shell can't frack anywhere near the array. It sets everything off and haywires the system when its tuned for picking up vibrations from space. One square kilometre of equipment worth billions of dollars that could listen to you listening to the radio on Saturn.

[Toxxyc]

The USA's proud Apache copter is a modified version of the Rooi-Valk.
Americans could not make the head tracking work after 3 years.
We did it in 3 months.

The USA's all-so-familiar weapons follows the same story, you know? The M16 and the M4 (M16 is the old one, build in the 60's, an assault rifle with a .30-06 round being fired with great force (seriously, it's a sickeningly large round to shoot people with, knowing it can kill a full-grown buffalo), with the M4 being the newer version (somewhere in the 90's I think) of the rifle build for better handling - it's shorter, lighter and fires a .223 round (5.56mm), and it's not an assault rifle but a carbine) both come from SA weapons directly. Yes, the South African R1 was build directly from the Israeli FN FAL, but SA actually got the right to build the FN FAL here on our shores through Denel (and subsequently Vektor). Soon it was discovered the the FN FAL may be a bit bit and heavy, so we made the R1. USA saw this, copied most of the hardware and modified the design. Ta-da!!! M16 is born. Problem? It's inaccurate, unreliable and stores for no good reason. It was a weapon so crap that US soldiers tossed them on a heap and took AK-47's instead when confronted during the time of their use. M4 was build to rectify this - and where did they get the design? Take a look at the South African R4 (and it's shorter brother, the R5).

Also, take a look at Vektor as a brand. Built by Denel, this brand has unfortunately been closed down, but not before building some of the best pistols the world will ever see. Examples are the Vektor SP1 and SP2 (.40 and 9mm P), as well as the Z88, a shameless copy of the extremely expensive Beretta M92. The Z88 was (and still is) used by a lot of officers in our police force who know their weapons and won't settle for a plastic gun when the **** hits the fan. SA was on top of the military tech before 1994, having some of the best cannons and howitzers (G6, anyone?) in the world at the time. Our Elephant tank was sick, and the Ratel is being used all over the world to carry troops around battlefields because, well, the Hummers are kak!

Sigh.

I love this country.

[Legion]

*Snip
I love this country.

Nice find.
But.. are you sure it's all accurate? "no offense meant"
http://world.guns.ru/assault/usa/m16...2-m16a3-e.html

[MonGooS]

I am unfortunately not very patriotic or loving towards our Country. But is there is one thing that I am proud of, its our Military, Scientific and Technological advancements. Our country has breed some of the best minds in the world.

Science and Technology in SA courtesy of Wikipedia.

One thing I must also say. Although our country is fairly volatile and unstable, considering what we went through with the Apartheid, we are an extremely united country. Being a Miner I work in a culturally/racially diverse environment, and even though we have different customs, eat different foods or follow different beliefs we all treat each other like brothers.

[Toxxyc]

Nice find.
But.. are you sure it's all accurate? "no offense meant"
http://world.guns.ru/assault/usa/m16...2-m16a3-e.html

No. I messed up. The FN FAL was Belgian built, not Israeli. Scroll up a bit and you'll see it under "Belgium". But yes, the rest won't always be readily agreed upon, but is accepted as true in my network of shooters anyhow.

With regards to the caliber - I know for a fact the US shot with a .30 round (7.62mm) in their M16 before "revamping" them. Armalite redid the M16 (Called the M16A1 for "Armalite 1" I'd guess) and chambered it in a smaller round. Take a look at the M16 mods - they're not the same as the original M16 anymore. They sport better coolers, more rails and much better mech, but still they have a weak ejection and feeding system, making them very prone to seizing and malfunction. So bad, in fact, that I've seen footage of US Soldiers in Vietnam discarding their weapons (M16A1's and some other variant as well) in exchange for the local weapons they found, because it was a nightmare to keep the M16 and it's variants firing in the damp and cold conditions of Vietnam. It's pretty funny actually when you think of it now!

Also, with regards to the M4 of today - it's still not a very sharp rifle. That round thing on the right hand side of the rifle next to the slide? It's there to jab on the ensure the rifle's lock is properly chambered, as the loading of the first round can prove to be unsuccessful in fully closing the lock on the rifle. That's where the expression "Lock and load" comes from, you smack that bolt to ensure the lock is properly closed, otherwise the gun may very well seize to fire (as is the case with all other weapons - touch the slide/lock just 2mm out of the "locked" position, and the weapon won't fire). Sad, but true.

[Legion]

No. I messed up. The FN FAL was Belgian built, not Israeli. Scroll up a bit and you'll see it under "Belgium". But yes, the rest won't always be readily agreed upon, but is accepted as true in my network of shooters anyhow.

With regards to the caliber - I know for a fact the US shot with a .30 round (7.62mm) in their M16 before "revamping" them. Armalite redid the M16 (Called the M16A1 for "Armalite 1" I'd guess) and chambered it in a smaller round. Take a look at the M16 mods - they're not the same as the original M16 anymore. They sport better coolers, more rails and much better mech, but still they have a weak ejection and feeding system, making them very prone to seizing and malfunction. So bad, in fact, that I've seen footage of US Soldiers in Vietnam discarding their weapons (M16A1's and some other variant as well) in exchange for the local weapons they found, because it was a nightmare to keep the M16 and it's variants firing in the damp and cold conditions of Vietnam. It's pretty funny actually when you think of it now!

Also, with regards to the M4 of today - it's still not a very sharp rifle. That round thing on the right hand side of the rifle next to the slide? It's there to jab on the ensure the rifle's lock is properly chambered, as the loading of the first round can prove to be unsuccessful in fully closing the lock on the rifle. That's where the expression "Lock and load" comes from, you smack that bolt to ensure the lock is properly closed, otherwise the gun may very well seize to fire (as is the case with all other weapons - touch the slide/lock just 2mm out of the "locked" position, and the weapon won't fire). Sad, but true.

ahh ok.
no problem.
we all screw up a bit sometimes.

[Drakus]

I bet it was a really good one too. Like, brown paper bags filled with Mrs Balls chutney.

It was actually six, fully functional, nuclear warheads that were taken apart in 1992. They also developed a very efficient way of enriching Uranium at NECSA's site without permission from the UN. The old enrichment facility still stands today, although decommissioned in 92. Its the building that looks like a power station on the Velindaba side.

Edit: National pride, in my opinion, is stupid. Yeah the country is great in certain senses, but to be honest, you could've been born in any country and you would've been diggin up marvelous facts about that country and marvel at how great you are for being a <insert country name here> born. Your leader, "so and so", will decide your fate when it comes to making alliances and enemies.

[Toxxyc]

Those where the bigger nukes. We also had several warheads for the 155mm howitzers, like the G5 and the G6 (G6 being the G5 mounted on the 6-wheeled Ratel), but they were very low yield, with a complete payload of maximum 49kg's (the entire projectile weight was maximum 49kg's). They had an effective range of about 30km from firing point, and up to 45km if shooting from an elevated position. Accuracy included being able to hit a target the size of a 50 gallon drum at that distance, which is actually pretty damn impressive. And that not even from a tank.

[Soulmantle]

Pratley Putty saved Apollo 11.

[Cranky]

Dont forget the kasper. I dont think any better vehicle has been built and it was build for the SAP on the border war. IT came out in various different ranges.As soon a word was sent back home about a flaw they fixed it and brought out better ones.

When our kaspers ran into russian T34 ( im speaking under correction on the tank model but it was Russian T ) Up in africa they decimated our kaspers and they still brag about that one victory. We sent word back ome and they modifed the kasper to carry a cannon barrel on the side of it and the next time we hit the T series tanks we romped them.

The casspir can survive almsot all mine attacks and small engineering behivles like the meerkat can easily drive in and repair these units and get them on the road.

after 2 years and several IED and mine casualtys in iraq the US started using the casspir calling it the Vtrack

[Legion]

Wake find the cables for the water pump are stolen.
Truly proud...

nou is ek gatvol in gauteng...
Also found like 28 markers in front of my house.