SA’s Leadership crisis

I had the misfortune of listening to Julius Malema [ANC Youth League] on Carte Blanche last night and decided that each day is getting just that little bit harder to see the leadership light in this country.

If this guy is the kind of leader that the ANC deems to be the future, then we are doomed to a future of anger, killing and war. Sadly there are many underlying nuisances when these leaderless leaders actually open their mouths lets review…..
Julius as a point in case in the Carte Blanche interview said 2 things [without actually saying them] sending a kind of coded message out. Malema- ‘They try to sabotage our government, they try to use the media to discredit black leaders; project them as racist, as corrupt, as people who need easy money.” For me this begged the question…Why is the word black relevant in this case? It prompted the interviewer to ask if he was in fact referring ‘to whites’, to which Malema responded "No, we are not talking about white people. Even black people there are counter-revolutionary forces which are also black, and very black for that matter." Sorry I may be confused… why mention black then? What was the point other then to send a message that whites are behind the ‘Zuma conspiracy’?

To add fuel to the fire his second ‘revolutionary code message’ was ‘ “they are serving the 'master'. They have been incorporated into the agenda of the imperialist." So once again a reference to the word ‘master’ [which clearly has apartheid connotations] and another Mugabe-like reference to imperialism…I fail to understand the need to for that comment either and what relevance it has to Mr Zuma’s corruption trial…I may just be missing the boat. Lets not even mention the other ‘k…’ word, kill that is, that just makes me feel ill, I am at a loss for words on that one..

As a white person in this country that has now had a 99.99% black government for 14 years I do not understand the hints of whites as the ‘enemy’…it is all very Zim-like…Mugabe has ruled for 28 years and still blames ‘colonialists’ for what is happening in Zim…its just to easy to put a colour to the problem in an effort to unite people playing on the memories of their pain and anger. Will we ever move on?

The use of words as tools of ‘war’ is nothing new, but is it really necessary in our fledgling democracy… Sadly Malema has been supported by others. Cosatu’s, Zwelinzima Vavi's ‘shoot to kill’ support statement is just one point in case. What are we seeing here and should I even be surprised that Zuma did nothing on the day to rebut the statement made by Malema. I suppose for a man that’s theme song is about a machine gun it makes perfect sense to say nothing against the killing speak..

Sorry I really don’t hold much faith in a majority of our people not buying into these coded messages…we just have to look at the group mentality of the Xenophobic violence to see that a few can lead many to hell with a few simple words [many examples exist worldwide…Hilter is a perfect example]. Timing is all important and it is clear that knowing that Zuma may be found guilty is resulting in some ‘leaders’ in the country resorting to desperate warring tactics that are irresponsible. What is even worse is they are not being condemned by our highest office.

This ‘Zuma strategy’ is clear and dangerous: Threaten and create enough fear and talk of war to ensure that a trial is compromised in the eyes of the public, holding our legal system to ransom. These groups keep questioning a fair trial…this current behaviour is far from fair and their constant undermining of, not only our legal system, but also our constitution is appalling and should be stopped and retracted [its actually too late for that in my view – what has been said can never be undone].Just one problem, with the total lack of leadership who will stop it…..?

I could not help but hear the faint chants/echos of some of the worlds most dangerous dictators….

“The only white man you can trust is a dead white man.” -Robert Mugabe
“He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.”-Adolf Hilter [Maybe Malema read this one]
“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it” -Adolf Hitler
“All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.” –Adolf Hitler
“We pride ourselves as being top, really, on the African ladder ... We feel that we have actually been advancing rather than going backwards.” – Robert Mugabe.

We need help…and quick…

A bit of funny!

This is a very very clever Ad from Vodacom!

Obama wins! WhooHooo!

Obama is ‘King’ of the Democrats…!!!
There is hope in the world once again! Lets just hope the Americans see that a democratic presidential nomination is the only way forward.

I appreciate that nobody could ever be like Madiba, but is this man not pretty close? He appears to be a mix of Madiba and Martin Luther King! Wow! The best thing is that he is African! What a combo….! He is an inspiration and although I doubt any politician [or person!] is ever 100% authentic in nature, Obama comes across as pretty damn close. He seems to really be for the people!

Sorry Hillary, I like you, but now in order to ensure the democrats win against the Republicans [is McCain not 2 old- seems to shuffle everywhere?] you need to stand by the man!

Check out his acceptance speech...

Can there be any justification for Violence?

Should violence have a ‘good side’?

I have been reading a lot about the recent Xenophobia attacks in SA and as usual I gravitate to the blogosphere to get the general take on the whole sad story. There is a broad condemnation, which is obviously good, BUT there also seems to be to be a growth in the amount of bizarre comments made by some black people that ‘black on black’ violence is ‘unacceptable’ as we are ‘all Africans’. A question to those people....does that mean that black on white/indian/coloured/asian violence would be acceptable in SA or anywhere? It appears the mentality of a few commenting on posts is that ‘whites deserve it’ or simply that no other colour or creed is as relevant in SA other than black people? Is this just because you happen to have a browner skin than mine? I am also African, South Africa is my home. I was born here and my family have been here for many generations.

I just don’t get it. Why do people even make comments like that? Violence is violence; it is unnecessary and will not aid us in building a united ‘Rainbow Nation’. A nation, that was supposed to be built on the fundamental pillars of tolerance and forgiving?

What has become evident in South Africa and in Africa as a whole is how much African on African violence seems to be linked to a lack of self worth. Sure we can blame this on colonialism, as years of oppression and abuse by ‘whites’ will definitely create that problem, but when will that stop…? When will it be appropriate to stop using that as an excuse. We need to stop looking into the rear view mirror. Why is ‘black on black’ oppression [which has been happening in many African countries for decades] not as bad? Is it because its seen as 'more' African because the leader happens to be black? When will the future become more important than the past in Africa? I am not being sarcastic when I ask this question, I am seriously concerned. I still maintain that whlist we all busy fighting amongst ourselves, we have another form of 'colonisalism' or control seeping into Africa. Greedy, African oppressors selling our mineral enriched continent off to the West and China under our noses so eventually we will never really own this land, only 'rent it'. If we dont stop it, corruption and greed will kill our country and our continent. They are the enemy.

A few of the people making comments on blogs used the ‘self worth/ oppressive whites’ argument as a reason for the latest Xenophobia violence. Lack of service delivery by our government to the poorest of the poor over the past decade is not cited in many comments I have read.

I am painfully aware that there will be those that will see me as a ‘foreigner' in my own country, [because of my skin colour] and that is sad. I also realise that there will always be people, both black and white, that will not move on. In the end though nothing will change if these views persist, as we will end up with the circle of hate that apartheid brought flying back at us again and we will forever be prisoners of our own mentality. Stop the violence.
Free South Africa. Free Africa.

The SA 'bubble' divide...

The Xenophobia catastrophe has reminded me once again that there is still a large portion of South African’s living in a bubble [surprise, surprise you say]..well yes and no..

After chatting to people I think that bubble has got bigger because certain sections of the population are ‘shutting down’ from communication and what’s happening around them in order ‘to cope’… How much can people take with the constant reports of corrupt officials, lack of leadership, greed, crime, violence, rape [including children] etc etc. it all seems to have just got too much for some to bear.

Giving, caring and humility has been ‘drummed’ into me my whole life, as I result I have a mindset [according to my mom] of trying to save the world. I have an extreme dislike for violence, unfairness and anything that is inhumane and I have admittedly had a few sleepless nights about the Xenophobia massacres. The whole thing has challenged my constant quest for balance. On one side I get involved and feel I need to be informed but I realize that this also makes me sad and depressed, especially when faced with the detail of the crimes. The other side of me wants to make this all go away [push the ‘undo’ button]. Now I have recently had a new thought emerge..… I understand why some chose to hide in the ‘shut down bubble’. I know that kind of thought process will not help matters but I understand it. Its hard to manage when you have been taught to put yourself in another’s shoes and tap into their pain. So, are we building a country a thick skinned, heartless people? I think not, it has alot to do with survival. The bubble = survival, the ostrich syndrome...you will be familiar with that tactic...we have 'leaders' who teach it well.

What has recently happened in our country is a serious blotch on our human rights record. We cannot take back what has been done and I am finding it harder and harder to find hope and faith knowing we have no Leadership. The future is now an uncertain place. A good friend of mine lives and works in Liberia and she recently gave me sound advice to ‘take a conscious decision not to be discouraged’ as 'South Africa has been through a lot worse'. I suppose it has, but the fact that I live amongst those that think burning people in the street is funny, or bashing old people to death is their right ..etc etc just because they are foreign is a frightening thought]. It does make the rest of the world question [and yes we should ‘care’ about the rest of the world, we need investment, skills, tourism, 2010 etc] whether we are what they thought we were…the Rainbow Nation...the shining light of the ‘dark continent’. One other thing differs, we have less skill to lose now then we did in 1994. We simply cannot afford to not be investing in our future.

No matter what anyone says, the recent events have shown that this time, we are very much part of the ‘pity box’ that is seen as Africa and we clearly don’t have the tolerance or control we should have for our African brothers and sisters or their children. Even when our people [in years gone by], have been hosted by other African countries in their time of need. Someone mentioned the government is to blame for allowing poor communities to be burdened with more poverty. I agree with that, but we as South Africans still have a choice, why such violence? Some people do need to wake up and get involved but we are still grappling with the problem of the ‘emerging world’ meets ‘first world’ conflict in our country with the divide being enormous between rich and poor and having a deaf government just adds to that divide. The 'emerging world' needs help, not more pressure....whilst some in the ‘first world’ look on, living in their bubble in order to ‘cope’ and not feel the pain of their brothers and sisters. Sound familiar…? So I am making attempts to not 'be discouraged’ and retreat to the 'safety' of the bubble. I know we need to work hard to fix the pain otherwise very soon we could all be burning in the streets [lets hope that never happens]…So try leave the bubble and help us try save SA from itself, the fight is worth it.

Thanks Zapiro for another 100% interpretation of recent events: