Bye, Bye Mbeki...

What is our president thinking when he says 'Zimbabwe is not in crisis'..? People are starving, leaving their homes to cross our border… with nothing and in total desperation and yet.....'they are not in crisis'?? Thabo has finally lost the plot…..totally….maybe he has spent 2 much time out of the country and cant remember who he is and that S Africa is an important leader country on this continent… Any leader that treats his people the way Mugabe treats his people should never be tolerated.
In retrospect it is now clear what an ostrich Mr Mbeki has become…..
Supporting people within his team that are non-performers, taking a apparent Marie Antoinette [‘Let them eat cake’ or rather garlic and herb] approach to important problems such as HIV/Aids, Crime and lets not even mention his 'silent leadership' style which has positioned him as a remote leader with limited personality and now sadly a limited credibility.

It would be a lot easier if we had a powerful, credible leader waiting in the wings to lead us to salvation and deliver us from ‘evil’ intentions…
Whatever your intentions are Mr President, it seems you are supporting evil in Mugabe…. if I were you I would make some attempt to salvage the shredded threads of your credibility and do the right thing!
I cannot believe I voted for you.

Unfair Dismissal: David Bullard

It is totally undemocratic and sad for me that David Bullard [who I am personally not a major fan of personality wise] was fired yesterday for his controversial article. I do enjoy reading his column even though I don’t agree all the time.

Assessing the situation there are a few dodgy things with the whole firing episode:
The guy is paid to be controversial. He is paid to piss people off… is he not? I know that I have been mad a few times with what he has written BUT that is his opinion and if you don’t like it don’t read it..The last time I checked we lived in a democracy? I mentioned to someone earlier today that part of a democracy is that you will sadly always have to listen to some siloed arse’s view of life on a topic…tolerance in these situations is key [even with arses]. We seem to have a lot to learn looking at the reader comments made under David's post.
Secondly, it seems he submitted the copy for checking to the Sunday Times 3 days before ??? Who is getting chopped there???
An important point that seems to be missed was his mention of China. I have a strong view that....a new, silent form of colonialism is being driven by greedy African leaders. ‘Selling’ our precious Africa bit by bit to the Chinese for 100 year [concessions] at a time. These guys don’t care, they will be a long time dead when the African people wake up to the fact that they don’t own Africa anymore! Is that not the colonialism we as Africans should all be fighting?? That would be better than fighting each other! I just wish we would stop looking back to the old form of this problem and start seeing the new looming problems so we can deal with them..
It scares me a little that things like this Bullard thing can happen…what does it say about our democracy..? Sure we preach Freedom of Speech but the small print seems to read ‘only if you conform to 'our' view’….We need help. [Sunday Times has lost so much credibility with one stupid political decision which seemed to be based on uncontrolled emotion]

The Tale of the Africa Liar..

Being such I lover of this magnificent continent I simply could not avoid the Zim discussion. There is so much to say….

Robert is a very clever man. He has successfully managed to ‘convince’ [force whatever you want to call it] the few that seem to have voted for him that ‘colonialism’ is the real reason his people have no food and are entirely isolated from the ‘West’. What is sad is that some actually believe that story.. and some of those people, [with their anti colonial thoughts] have probably hopped into SA.
So that brings me to my questions/comments….

1. I wonder how some of those Zimbos see the white people in SA? It would be interesting to see if violence against white ‘colonialists’ by foreigners has in fact increased over the last year or so, now that we have millions of illegal desperate people trying to survive in a new country… are whites targets? [I am a white African and proud of that fact]
2. When will Africa move on from the tired ‘colonialist’ speech? I am certainly not saying we should forget the past BUT I really wish that as African’s we would spend more time talking about our independent futures – now that we have had them for years.
3. What is scary is that ‘Mug’ has clung onto power for so long committing horrendous human rights atrocities yet he can still find a ‘home’ for his ‘hard earned African wealth’ in Banks in the west?. How is that possible? How can financial institutions be allowed to harbor this kind of ‘wealth’? Where is George on his ‘white horse’ running in to save the day…..OH YA I forgot…not enough oil there to give a damn. [I don’t believe that would be a solution anyway, real change comes when the people rise up and say enough is enough]
4. When are African people going to reject the rape of their own country by their own leaders? Ahhhh Leadership…..something we in SA once had…Many times I have mentioned that Leadership is a servanthood. Serving ones people not taking from them… novel idea…one that Madiba clearly understood.

So I have heard that a lack of strong opposition Leadership in a policed state is the reason for Mug’s long political ‘career’. That may be very true, lets be honest Tsvangirai is opposition but the simple fact that he is not Mug makes him better. Not sure if he will set the world on fire. As for Makoni…the dude is pretty…Mug hasn’t thumped his face in yet…? I would question that…a puppet maybe?

I hope for the people of Zim that this whole sad tale is sorted soon, and that they finally get their democracy without violence and further pain.

As for Africa, I may well be blogging about my dreams for this continent for many years to come. Lets just hope by then Africans still own it…A different form of ‘colonialism’ approaches… a silent one driven by personal greed has been unleashed by our so called African ‘Leaders’. Land concessions for 100’s of years are being signed and land handed to foreign countries like China without much thought for the future. The people are the only ones that can stop this… Long live Africa for Africans

The Pain of Parenting

Being a parent is something that really amazes me everyday. My daughter is growing [thank heavens!] and each day brings a new set of new questions and interesting situations to deal with.

A friend of mine recently had the awful experience of facing the fact that her grandson has a malignant life threatening brain tumor. He is 7, the same age as my daughter. A religious friend of mine made the comment that ‘we all have a path’. As an adult I understand that philosophy but as a parent I don’t. It may just be that I do not have as much faith? The pain of watching my child in pain and being helpless is something I am not sure I could bear as a human being.

Having to face the hard choices when you have a sick child and knowing that either choice involves suffering or even the potential of death. How does a parent explain that to a child, someone you are supposed to protect?

A child’s sickness or death is something no parent should ever have to endure, yet every day 100’s of children and parents live through that suffering and pain.
As someone sitting on the outside watching the drama and pain unfold, I am reminded of the value of my life and that of my daughter and family. I cannot help feeling guilty that I have options and other families are so focused on living that few options exist other than surviving as people and a family unit.

This post is a tribute to those that have had to endure this kind of suffering, I do not profess to understand what you are feeling, but I can vaguely feel your pain as a parent when I look at my daughters laughing face.

May this be a reminder to those of us that are more fortunate to never take life and people for granted. Live life, Love lots.

The 'Free' State?

Zaprino captures the essence again...

I am more than horrified at the behavior of the 4 kids at Free State University [the irony in the Free State name has not gone unnoticed for me either]. It is painfully clear that they are bewildered by the attention that they have received following their humiliation of elderly cleaners on their campus. That in itself is scary.

There are 2 points I have noted here:
1.It is clear they come from families that are of the opinion that black people are beneath them because of their skin colour .
2.What is also evident is their lack of respect for elders. Once again something you are taught in your family.

The way we bring our children up will define the very future of this country and it saddens me that there are still those that seem to seek refuge in the wings and hatred of racism. It puzzles me really…… it is something that I simply do not understand, why would you want to burden your children with your own hate? I am not naïve and realize that these people both white and black alike, will exist for many years to come [not just in SA], passing on their hate for skin tones and different cultures. What then becomes important is how we as a society/community view and treat the actions of these people. We need to unite against it, not against each other.

Preserving culture is understandable but at the same time it can be dangerous as it sometimes enables judgment and intolerance. Cultures need to adapt and move with the times as much as people do, otherwise they become out of place in the modern world [dangerous topic I know especially since we have many different cultures in SA]. As a white English speaking S African, we probably have a very English [colonial- to some otherwise known as- the enemy] type culture mixed with bits and pieces from other cultures that exist here in SA. I consider myself African and I find Europe a foreign place that I do not feel comfortable in –my family has been in African for 6 generations or more. What does that make me? It seems we as country have not dealt with racial/culture issues that have been festering beneath the service of our Rainbow Nation. I will never understand the Free State kids mentality, as I was brought up to respect people and approach every person as an individual no matter what their skin colour. So I may have white skin, but that is the only thing that I have in common with the hatred those people carry with them. That in itself is a burden, hell on earth.