Mzansi Afrika

Forgiveness

The South African, film Tsotsi, got good publicity. What with the Oscar Committee's recognition and all. In France they're showing another South African one, though, that seems to have less hoopla around it. It's called Zulu Love Letter, and stars Pamela Nomvete, Mpumi Malatsi, Kurt Egelhof, Connie Mfuku and Sophie Mgcina. A husband and his wife are killed by the Apartheid secret police, she in the street, in front of her children and other people. The main protagonist witnesses this second murder, and has a hard time living with what she saw, especially that an old lady, 'Mè Tau, enters the story and is looking for her daughter, Dineo, who was murdered.

We all have to learn how to forgive. The critics are rather harsh with the film, perhaps rightly so, because the story-line of a movie is only a small part of the whole. I suspect that I will go see it anyhow, just because we all have to learn to forgive. The saying says that "it takes a strong person to say 'sorry,' and an ever stronger person to forgive." It does. But all those who can't forgive have a right not to. Such people will probably trash their lives and won't get very far with a lot of things, but they do have a right not to forgive.

Forgiving another human being for violating your child is almost beyond human capabilities. It is very difficult for me to stand behind an altar and celebrate the Eucharist and lead people in words of peace and reconciliation and forgiveness when I feel very far from that myself [www.telegraph.co.uk].

That's what The Rev Julie Nicholson, priest-in-charge of St Aidan with St George church, Bristol, said, after stepping down and giving up her function. She couldn't forgive and she couldn't go on telling others to do so, from behind the clout of the pulpit. So she quit. She has every right to do so. I can't repeat myself enough -- I will forever be amazed how and why, once Apartheid was over, South Africa did not sombre into blood-letting madness, fuelled by revenge and the inability to forgive. Chalk it off to gifted and dedicated leaders who were able to take advantage of the fatigue people had with violence and bigotry. Chalk it off to circumstances favoured by a very long history of colour supremacy which was really human weakness. Chalk it off to South Africa's at once real and incredible revenge against the odds.

The ethics of inter-racial adoption

Here in South Africa where we have so many Aids orphans and vulnerable children you get cases of white families that adopt black children. It's not common practice, but it's not unusual either anymore to see white parents with a black child or children. White lesbian couples, also adopt black children.

I sometimes wonder if inter-racial adoption is a good thing or not, I have certain reservations, but ultimately I do think it's a good thing. In South Africa there is not a strong culture of adoption among black families - this is something that child welfare organisations have been trying to change. So if people are willing to adopt, it is more than likely going to be a white family. Sometimes they adopt because they can't have their own children, but it's just as common to have white people who already have their own children to adopt a black orphan.

The main reservation I have about inter-racial adoption is that due to circumstances the black children that are adopted end up losing all contact with their own culture and heritage, they speak English and are unable to speak any African languages. I think this must be pretty hard to deal with growing up, and I'm sure that it would affect your sense of identity, and self-image and lead to a lot of painful questioning and soul searching.

On the other hand there's a part of me that feels it has to be better to lose your culture, but gain a loving family,  a degree of material comfort, stability and an education. Surely in this regard, it's better to have love and security and lose your black African culture and language. I don't know what the answers are, ideally it would be great if you could still have both - and are able to educate the child to speak their own language - maybe in school, or by a private tutor (and take lessons yourself). But even so, they wouldn't really be part of their culture. Unfortunately, the reality in South Africa means that it usually ends up being an either/or situation, and black adopted children end up not being able to speak their own languages.

Somehow though, growing up in a difficult family situation myself, I can't help feeling that love and security wins the day. If you grow up with love and stability, you have a better of chance of gaining the tools to deal with cultural alienation. The alternative is to grow up with nothing at all, no love, no education and a life of poverty.

Did we steal your brick making techniques?

Juan's comment: "I do not see why GP needs to make comments like, blacks were denied educational opportunities,in order to quantify his stance. How did whites deny them education? By tying them up and not allowing them to learn? Since when did it become our responsibility to educate other cultures? Since you advocate so strongly that your culture is equal to mine? Give me proof of where you invented something or built something that we cant or couldnt?

Or did we steal your brick making techniques and sand too? My arguments might seem like typical colonialist arguments, but history has very few instances that help YOUR arguments. We built these universities that you now claim as yours. Your arguments that AA is justified are all based on a belief that you would have built all this and achieved all this if we had never come here. Again history, nor the present, offer much proof to assist you." [Source]

Answering Juan's questions:
GP [Gauteng Blog] doesn't need to make comments like the one you suggest above. GP is under a moral obligation to at least think them. Not to quantify his stance but to prevent what happened from ever happening again. Apartheid South Africa denied black South Africans education by denying it to them. How else would you deny anyone education, when you're in a position of power? You say, "No." They did tie black people up, and banished some to an island, and did others in like only they know how, and not allowed them to learn, yes. In 1978 your folks spent $696 (4 306 Rands) on your education, as opposed to $45 (278 Rands) black parents spent on their child. Your responsibility has never been to educate other cultures, you're flattering yourself. The responsibility of people in power, anywhere, is see to it that everyone has equal access to schooling and to opportunity. No, my culture is not equal to yours. My culture is better than yours. Black people have built many things that white people didn't even dream of building, and vice versa.

You didn't steal our brick-making techniques, you nicked the damned bricks themselves. Your arguments don't seem in the least like colonialist arguments, they are the very definition of colonialist arguments. History says the African was enslaved abroad and on his native content by those wielding more brutal weapons. Of course you built the universities, if by "you" you mean the one who was in power then. Who else could have built them? Oliver Tambo in Tanzania?

I don't know if the black person would have built "all this" if the white person "had never come here." It's hard to say because by coming here the latter destroyed communities and lives and culture and families, and carted the healthiest black people back to Europe and South America to help build those places. However, I'm interested in finding out how you know for a fact that Africans couldn't have. This must sound familiar to you: "[We have] raised the life standards of the occupied inhabitants in all areas (infrastructure, water, employment, universities and hospitals) much more than they could have achieved in any other scenario. [Source]"

Talking to Juan:
Black people have undergone quite a lot at the hands of white people. White people have undergone very little at the hands of black people, all over the world, but especially in America and in South Africa. I've always been amazed at how the transition from minority government to majority government did not turn uglier. There's of course the question of farmers getting killed. While that tragedy cannot be overlooked, I'm happy that there has been no all out bloodbath. From 1652 when Jan Anthoniszoon Van Riebeeck arrived till 1994 when Mr de Klerk stepped down, nastier things than you can imagine were meted out to the black population. That's 342 years, Juan, or three centuries and 42 years. And you can't take 12 years (1994 to 2006) of practically no ill-treatment!

For more than two years, Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission listened as South Africans testified about atrocities committed by all sides under apartheid - abducted loved ones who never returned, torture in police cells, the formation of death squads and bodies burned beyond recognition as their killers enjoyed a barbecue on the side. [Source]

...it is in the economics of South Africa that the greatest crimes of apartheid are reflected, and where the greatest test of reconciliation will have to come. The country had the highest inequality in wealth distribution in the world -- 20 per cent of the population owning 75% of the wealth. [Source]

Just like you, I was scared of the swart gevaar, the bloodbath I thought was coming. But in the end you and I weren't afraid of the same swart gevaar. You were and are still scared of being swamped by the black wave of freedom. I was afraid black people would want to revenge. Well, in relative terms, they haven't. I still don't understand, however, how after more than three centuries of life under the weight of racism, the black South African doesn't beat the racist into a pulp, but instead reconciles with him. And it is the racist who now complains, after only 12 years of no discrimination against him. That's what assures me my culture is better than yours, Juan, and that by quite a stretch.

In your comment to my post you ask for "proof of where [blacks] invented something or built something that [whites] cant [sic] or couldnt [sic]" build. They've built an apartheid-free, bigotry-free, torture-chamber free, pass-law free South Africa, that's what. Want more examples? There's Thomas Jennings's invention.

Thomas Jennings was the first African American to receive a patent, on March 3, 1821 (U.S. patent3306x). Thomas Jennings' patent was for a dry-cleaning process called "dry scouring". The first money Thomas Jennings earned from his patent was spent on the legal fees (my polite way of saying enough money to purchase) necessary to liberate his family out of slavery and support the abolitionist cause. [Source] Let us not forget refrigerated trucks, the telegraphony, the McCoy Engine Lubricator (The real McCoy? It's him), the blood bank, the foil-electret microphone, and many other achievements. And the short shafted assegai.

I want to know why you're scared. You're not angry, as you purport to be. You're scared. Is it because you think the world as you knew it careened and went belly up, and now you have no landmarks? Is it because we "don't really [want] a solution to racism, it's too sweet, this freedom to blame other people for your own mistakes. While I can be racist I don't have to look in the mirror and see what's wrong with me, with my people. I can just find fault with the other side. This is how the human race resolves problems, it's always somebody else's fault. You know what the best part of that is? You. Right now you think I mean somebody else, you think I'm talking about the other race. [Source]"

Affirmative Action

I had lower expectations of blacks than of whites, and so I was willing to excuse poor service merely because the person was black [Source], so says Gauteng Blog, whom I frequent. But that can't be right because at another point Gauteng Blog clearly indicates that there must be "black financial advisors who are highly competent, and white financial advisors who are totally incompetent." So if there are, why would anyone have lower expectations when it comes to black people? That's the first thing that's wrong with this picture. The second thing that's wrong is that when a black professional is incompetent, Gauteng Blog attributes it to affirmative action, which is a system designed to hire minorities in order to eliminate unfair discrimination. Tell me what's wrong with the following:

Employers must make sure designated groups (black people, women and people with disabilities) have equal opportunities in the workplace. Designated groups must be equally represented in all job categories and levels [Source].

Having equal opportunities in the workplace is actually good, it is progressive, and it falls in line with the general direction of the eleven-year-old South Africa. However, the Gauteng Blog reader is led to believe that the workforce is gradually becoming incompetent because more blacks are being hired. That amounts to a bold statement, indeed. The purpose of South Africa's Employment Equity Act is to "achieve equity in the workplace, by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination; and implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups, to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce [Source].

So what is unfair discrimination? Isn't any kind of discrimination unfair (to put it mildly)? When you have two equally qualified potential candidates before you, and you employ the one with the big tits, or with a penis, or with a paler skin, then you're practising unfair discrimination because those traits usually have no bearing on getting the job done. But in reality candidates with a paler skin do get hired more often than candidates with a darker skin, and this of course also happens in other parts of the world.

Show me a text that says blacks, women and the disabled can be hired even when they are less qualified than other candidates, and I'll cry foul with you. I have previously indicated that at the core I was against affirmative action, and I am, but it is essential, much as an anonymous curriculum vitae (which is being debated in France) is essential, until the playing field is level, until the prejudice wrought by Apartheid has been redressed, and until people are given jobs solely because they are the best qualified for those jobs.

Rant

I have the need to rant. I don't often rant, in fact I haven't ranted at all really in all the time that I've been  a blogger. But there is something that really, really pisses me off. Johannesburg is booming right now. Situated in the richest province in the country, people are flocking here from all over the country, and even the continent, in search of work. From poor rural people, and immigrants from other African countries who move into informal settlements, to aspiring middle class professionals who move into the suburbs, they're all coming to Johannesburg, Jozi, Igoli, City of Gold.

Now this in its self, I don't have a problem with. But, obviously because Johannesburg is expanding at such a rapid rate, this means lots of new housing developments, mainly in the form of closed off estates containing hundreds of housing units. They range from upscale multimillion rand luxury estates to more modest and affordable developments.

For the most part these developments are carried out by big companies who make huge profits, and all they are interested in is making money and to hell with the environment. Our so called green lungs are being threatened, ecologically important wetlands are being destroyed and hundreds of trees are disappearing from a city that is seriously in danger of losing it's reputation as being the largest man-made forest in the world.

The part that really gets to me, as that as ordinary citizens, it seems that we have no say over what goes goes on in our own city and our own public open spaces. There is a whole process that's meant to be followed in terms of letting people in the area being developed know about the proposed development, a proper Environmental Impact Assessment is meant to be conducted, there is meant to be a specific time period in which community members and affected persons can lodge their objections. How do you lodge an objection if you aren't properly informed about what's going on?

What's even worse is that there have been a number of environmental whistleblowers who have been taken to court  on various pretexts by the developers in order to shut them up, and these ordinary middle class people are being sued for millions of rands for trying to speak up which is their Constitutional right.

Another example,  I live on a hill a couple of blocks up from a main road which is a commercial road with restaurants and shops and blocks of flats. My bedroom window used to have a beautiful view over the sparkling lights of my suburb at night, until a huge illuminated advertising billboard was slapped up  on one of the blocks of flats. Because of the way my house is situated on the hill, and the height of the billboard, my entire view is now blocked by this ugly billboard which throws light into the room.

I called the City Council to complain and was told that the billboard had been granted the required permission and was legal AND why didn't I complain before the billboard went up. OK, I replied, how was I meant to know that a billboard was going to be put up until I actually saw it? Well, said the Council person knowingly, due process was followed in this case. A notice was pinned to the wall of the building 3 months before it went up, and it was advertised under Notices in the Classified section of The Star and The Beeld newspapers. Hell, how was I supposed to know to check the Notices, I never read the Classified section, and I seldom walk past the block of flats so I wouldn't have seen the notice anyway.

That is a totally ridiculous way of keeping the public informed, they should have to send out circulars to all residents within a certain radius of the proposed development, billboard or what ever else is being planned for public spaces that will affect the people living there.

I understand that Joburg is growing and houses need to be built, but it seems that there is no longterm town planning with foresight that will protect and preserve our environment. Surely the public should be PROPERLY involved and informed so that we can work together with the developers towards a longterm sustainable vision for our city.

It really pisses me off that we aren't properly informed and have no say in what happens!!!!

Tsotsi

The good news is that the homegrown South African film Tsotsi has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Film category. Who the hell cares about Charlize Theron, she's lost her South Africaness - good for her, she's done amazingly well and it's a boon for us, but the Tsotsi nomination is far more exciting. I haven't seen it yet but will be going to as soon as I get the chance. It's been described as a gritty reflection of township thug culture with a pulsing kwaito soundtrack.

"Six days in the life of a ruthless young gang leader who ends up caring for a baby accidentally kidnapped during a car-jacking.

Tsotsi is a gritty and moving portrait of an angry young man living in a state of extreme urban deprivation. His world pumps with the raw energy of "Kwaito music" - the modern beat of the ghetto that reflects his troubled state of mind.

The film is a psychological thriller in which the protagonist is compelled to confront his own brutal nature and face the consequences of his actions. It puts a human face on both the victims and the perpetrators of violent crime and is ultimately a story of hope and a triumph of love over rage.

"Tsotsi" literally means "thug" or "gangster" in the street language of South Africa's townships and ghettos. "Kwaito" is South Africa's answer to American Hip Hop."

Well done to all concerned - I'll be holding thumbs.

Condoms in the classroom

There's a whole big debate going on in the South African media at the moment about whether condoms should be made freely available in high schools. The Education Department has decided against this. Listening to a popular talk back radio show this evening on the topic, predictably most South Africans, at least those who called in to make their opinions known, agreed that condoms should not be provided in the classroom.

The main argument, surprise, surprise, was from the whole moralistic religious viewpoint that condoms encourage sex, and sex before marriage, especially among teens is bad. The other concerns were around sex and HIV/AIDS.

Of course in South Africa AIDS is a huge concern. It's more because of this that I would support the argument that teenagers should not be having sex, especially without using condoms. Where my concern lies, is that I'm not totally convinced that providing condoms causes people to go out and have sex. Teenagers are having sex anyway, so in light of the AIDS pandemic, wouldn't it be better to give them condoms?

On the other hand, a little voice whispers in my head, well what if you could buy drugs at your school canteen? If you had any curiosity to experiment, it sure as hell would make it a lot easier to go ahead.

I think it boils down to education and self-esteem. A lot of people experiment with drugs, and then either either leave it alone once their curiosity has been appeased, or continue to take the occassional drug here and there, no problem. But the one thing that just about every alcoholic and drug addict has in common is low self esteem - the drug of choice gives them a sense of confidence, temporarily removes their sense of being on the outside, and takes away that inner pain commonly described as the "hole in the soul". Girls who become sexually active from a young age, and continue to sleep around, generally suffer from the same problem, low self esteem and a longing to be loved and accepted.

I suppose there's also a gender aspect, boys who have sex are macho hero's, it's about proving your masculinity - so maybe having condoms freely available would make it easier for boys to have sex? And harder for girls to say no - "sorry no condom, no can do".

In an ideal world, teenagers would be properly educated about the emotional and health aspects of sexual intercourse. In an ideal world we would all come from loving families and be able to conduct our lives from a position of self acceptance and relative confidence. Unfortunately, we don't exactly live in an ideal world, and it's more the norm than the exception for people to grow up being emotionally wounded.

So, I really don't know what the answer is.

Slippery slope

Pity about Bafana Bafana in the African Cup of Nations, our national soccer team seems to be on a sad and steady decline. We were unable to score one single goal, that's not even embarressing anymore, it's humiliating! Lets hope that now between Safa, the PSL and the Sports Ministry something is done to save our pride and improve our soccer.

Even the Malawian national soccer coach is warning his players not to waste their time playing league soccer in South Africa despite the lucrative pay.

"Flames coach Burkhard Ziese has advised Malawian players to be more ambitious and dream of playing in more competitive leagues in Europe other than South Africa.Ziese was reacting to Southern African teams’ early exit from the on-going Africa’s biggest soccer showcase—the Africa Nations Cup.“In this part of the continent, the South African league is regarded as the most lucrative and competitive leagues but it is also gospel truth that it is on the decline."

There but for fortune

I hate beggars. Ok, I don't hate beggars. I hate the way beggars make me feel. We have so many beggars in South Africa, and one of their most popular begging spots is at major traffic light intersections. I pass about six sets of beggars on my way to work everyday. I say sets, because three of them consist of couples - a seeing person leading a blind person. It's rumoured that a lot of the blind beggars come here from Zimbabwe.

So there you are, waiting for the traffic lights to go green, and the beggars come up to your car for a donation. What do you do? You can't give money to all the beggars, all the time, everyday. So, do you ignore them and pretend you can't see them, because if they catch your eye it's so much harder to say no. But if you look right through them, without even acknowledging that they exist, not even recognising their humanity, it's as if your treating them worse than you would a dog. If you do look at them and give a weak sort of smile, it's as if you're raising their hopes of a donation. Usually I end up just shaking mu head "no" without looking them in the eye. I can't bear to see the look in their eyes that makes you aware of the lives they lead that they have to resort to begging on a street corner.

Then of course, once you've made it clear that you aren't giving any money, the guilt sets in, and you feel bad, like a greedy, horrible person with no compassion. Sometimes I do give, and another thing we do is when we have old jerseys I put them in the car and then give them to the beggars. It's not even a drop in the ocean.

Every time I see a beggar I feel so grateful for everything I have, and I am reminded of the Joan Baez song lyrics "There but for fortune, may go you or I". I wish I had it in my power to do something about their situation. It really sucks!!!

New local blog

African Voices and Visions is a new South African blog with a focus on Africa. What makes this blog special is that the author is a young documentary and filmmaker with a passion for Africa, and she travels widely through the continent. Her content is original writing with lots of photo's, and she documents some of the fascinating people that she's come accross like the Voodoo Pope from Benin and other interesting characters. These are the untold stories of Africa, giving insight into the side of Africa that the mainstream media media ignores. I look forward to seeing lots more on this blog.

Help....it's an earthquake

Talk about over exaggeration and bad reporting. Today's little earth tremour in the east of Johannesburg is being reported as if it were....well an earthquake? This is way out enough to be absurd.

One woman thought she was going to drown in her bath, another "victim" was quoted as saying, "...it felt like a big earthquake." Sheesh...maybe they should all be sent off to Pakistan.

If I was an ex-pat living in London and I had to stumble across that I'd be booking the next flight out to be back with my family in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Just to put things in perspective, the "earthquake" was measured at 3.2 on the Richter Scale, and 3.6 at the epicentre. According to the Richter Scale:

"Seismologists use a Magnitude scale to express the seismic energy released by each earthquake. Here are the typical effects of earthquakes in various magnitude ranges:

---

Earthquake Severity

Richter         Earthquake
Magnitudes      Effects

Less than 3.5   Generally not felt, but recorded.

3.5-5.4         Often felt, but rarely causes damage.

Under 6.0       At most slight damage to well-designed buildings.
		Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings
		over small regions.

6.1-6.9         Can be destructive in areas up to about 100 kilometers
		across where people live.

7.0-7.9         Major earthquake. Can cause serious damage over larger areas.

8 or greater    Great earthquake. Can cause serious damage in areas several
		hundred kilometers across."

Mixed musings from Southern Africa

There’s never a dull moment in South African politics. It’s January and we already have our first political scandal of the year. Every political scandal gets a name - most of them ending in “gate”. Last year we had Travelgate (MP’s scamming the parliamentary travel voucher scheme), Oilgate (ruling party political funding foulplay linked to the oil industry) and Zumagate (the axing of deputy president Jacob Zuma over corruption allegations). Our latest shennanigans however, makes bold departure from the “gate” terminology, it’s been dubbed the “gravy plane”. Our new deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, it transpires, took a December holiday that wasn’t strictly kosher. She took her family on a jaunt to the United Arab Emirates (possibly via Mombassa) using a luxury military jet at the taxpayers expense. She was accompanied by the wife of a cabinet minister, and it’s alleged that the three adults involved had more than sightseeing in mind, and were rather more interested in furthering their private business interests.

Commentary joins the debate over whether the trip was legal or not: “I’ll concede that Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka’s state-funded shopping expedition probably was legal (if only because nobody bothered to cover it up), and I’ll even concede the principle that high-ranking government officials are entitled to use state-sponsored transport for personal use, due to security concerns and so on. But the real problem here is the amount. R700,000 is insanely high. How did she manage to spend this much on a week-long holiday? Was she perhaps chauffeured around the United Arab Emirates in a gold-plated Rolls Royce Phantom? Ultimately, even if the whole thing was absolutely, 100% legal, it still reflects poorly on the content of her character. “Right and wrong” is not the same thing as “legal and illegal”, and this was definitely wrong, irrespective of what the lawyers say about it.”

Scandal aside, the political atmosphere is becoming hot and steamy as we count down to local government elections on March 1st. The main election issues are the high levels of corruption in local government and the lack of service delivery for the poor, relating to housing, water & sanitation, and the provision of electricity. These two factors have given rise to a series of violent grassroots protests in the poor informal settlements of the country. Last year there were around eighty such protest actions, and we’ve already had two so far this year. African Houseit takes a look at a study on the housing crisis in the Western Cape: “The housing backlog has increased proportional to the growth of the population in the province and has reached a crisis point where it is about to spiral out of control. This study argues that the exacerbation of the crisis in housing is as a result of the overall shift towards market-oriented policies, which shapes the approach of housing authorities. ”

Politics.za writes about tensions within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) relating to their election candidate lists: “The ANC is finding that drawing up electoral lists is harder than expected. [President] Thabo Mbeki has stated that he intends to use these local elections to rid council of corruption and ‘populists’ but he’s going to find that hard to do when local ANC branches submit lists full of the people he is trying to get rid of. I don’t think that the national ANC structure can override to much of the choices of the local ANC wards without straining tensions in the ANC even further.”

Well, it’s not all seriousness and politics in South Africa, Red Star Coven is of the opinion our country has finally managed to deliver the great South African movie: “went to see “Tsotsi” in Glasgow the other night. What an amazing, powerful film. For those who know nothing about it, maybe saying it’s South Africa’s answer to “Trainspotting” or “City of God” will give you a picture. It’s about a township gangster in Soweto who hijacks a car, finds a baby in the back seat and decides to look after it.” Cherryflava shows off a set of gorgeous photo’s from a recent trip to Zanzibar, and Lusharazzi tells us why we should avoid going to Cape Town’s annual high society J&B Met horse racing event.

Finally, moving beyond South Africa’s borders to our north western neighbour, the Botswana blog Mr. Twice, has this to say: “Botswana needs to change and needs the change soon otherwise we’ll end up in the same mess as other african countries who used to have plenty but are now starving. …. i would like to say that there are two fundamental things which do not exist and their lack thereof is already eroding our economy and society like cancer. These two things are 1. Meritocracy and 2. Accountability.”

Cross posted to Global Voices

Notes from Soweto

A Merry Christmas for Orphans

There seems to be a tendency for people in our community to show their generosity to orphans when it's convenient and then to forget them when they are too busy or it doesn't suit them.

There is an orphanage here in Soweto called the Emdeni Children’s Home which is situated in Emdeni, in the very south of our township. Most of the children here have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. What I have noticed is that just before the Christmas holidays, immediately after some fortunate children are taken by foster parents for holidays, those who remain behind are left with no option but to linger around with nothing to do, and the feeling that no one really cares about them. To a certain extent this has created envy and despair among those who are left behind since they feel rejected by the very community which claims it cares and has their best interests at heart.

In 2004 children from Othandweni & Emdeni Children’s Home who were not taken out by foster parents were sponsored by a scripture union to go away for a week to a holiday camp. last year, there were 20 children left behind and no one came through with funding to send them to camp for the holidays. However, some young people from a Christian group in Soweto helped raise funds and the camp was held in Brits from the 23rd till the 30th of December. I went along to visit the children at the camp.

The children ranged in age from about ten to seventeen, and expressed their gratitude at being away from the home which has a lot of restrictions and red tape unlike normal children in the community. “I really enjoyed my Christmas and the food was so delicious, the games we played and mostly, I enjoyed swimming and mountain climbing it was a holiday indeed for me” expressed a young boy by the name of Remember. When I went to the camp on Friday night my intention was to spend a night and leave the following day, nonetheless, I ended up spending my time there until the 26th.

The children get their basic needs provided and paid for by the Department of Social Services, but it is clear to me, that what they really need is to be loved and hugged, and given human comfort, and to know that people care about them.

The challenge that is still left with the community of Soweto is that when we enjoy our time and have World Aids Day’s committing our pledge to the fight against HIV/AIDS we should also consider programmes beyond the days of public awareness, because it seems like these children need us more than we can imagine. Soweto it is time you remain genuine to your own.

Some photo's from the camp:

Nelson Mandela Square

Some photo's of Nelson Mandela Square. This is a kind of huge open courtyard surrounded by restaurants and forms part of Sandton City shopping mall. This is one of South Africa's most upmarket shopping and dining destinations. The area is situated in the exclusive northern suburbs of Johannesburg, and is surrounded by luxury hotels.

Giant statue of Nelson Mandela in the square. It's a great hit with tourists who can often be seen posing for pictures with the statue.

The white building at the back is the Michaelangelo Towers. This is an exclusive apartment building, the penthouse suites at the top were sold for R45 million.

Children playing in the water fountains while their parents eat at the surrounding restaurants.

Eish!!!

I was listening to one of our local music stations today, and it struck me (not for the first time) how many competition promos and ads we have that make use of fake American accents. A lot of young South African TV presenters and celebrities, mainly black people, also talk with these phoney American accents to be cool.

I can understand adopting American culture to a point, like when you get local hip hop groups and slam poets that take an American cultural paradigm and then make it their own by bringing in aspects of their own local languages, culture, ideas and musical forms - and out of this whole mish mash comes something new and fresh.

But this whole adopting of the American accent thing, especially when you've never set foot in America - I just don't get it. What's wrong with our own ethnic African accents? Why do you have to be a pseudo-American to be cool? Frankly, I find it annoying.

While on the subject of language, another thing that irritates me is the number of white people who phone in to radio talk shows, or write letters to the editor, and send in letters to radio and TV stations to complain about how black news readers and reporters "butcher" the pronunciation of the English language. So what if we don't all speak the Queen's English - why can't we be more tolerant of the fact that we live in a multi-cultural society and we all pronounce certain words differently? It's not like the white news readers are any better at pronouncing black words and names.

Welcome to South Africa-We hope you enjoy your stay

Well, if this doesn't take the cake, I don't know what does? Can you imagine arriving at customs at a major international airport in the early hours of the morning. You happen to notice, to your absolute disbelief and surprise, that there are no immigration officials to clear your passport. You wait patiently in line for someone to appear but no-one does. It's 5.00am and you're tired and bleary eyed, so 45 minutes later, you figure screw it, and together with about a hundred of your fellow passengers, you simply waltz through customs, no questions asked, no entry stamp on your passport.

Sound a little impossible? Not at all. This is precisely what happened to a group of Nigerian passengers arriving at Johanneburg International Airport from Lagos last Thursday.

My two choice quotes of the day.

"I've travelled a lot around the world at odd hours, but this was the first time in my life that I experienced an unmanned immigration point at an international airport."
Nigerian passenger

"I am not saying it's correct. It's bad for the integrity and security of this country. We're still trying to find out what exactly happened."
South African Department of Home Affairs spokesman

Fuel shortages in SA

One of the top stories in SA over the past two days has been the fuel shortage - planes being delayed at Cape Town International Airport due to lack of fuel, and petrol stations mainly in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town also running dry. I must admit, I haven't really been following the stories, but what has somehow impinged on my consciousness is that it all seems to have something to do with the fact that as from the 1st of January 2006, the country is switching over to unleaded fuel. Previously one had a choice, but now it's only unleaded petrol.

It all sounds rather confusing to a motoring ignoramus like myself, with all sorts of terms like octane grades, lead replacement petrol and catalytic converters being bandied around. I count myself blessed that my car already uses unleaded so personally it's one thing less in life to have to worry about.

However, if like me, this type of thing confuses you and you need to know what's going on, the ever trusted Sapa has an article explaining the ins and outs in a way that even I can understand.

"Q: What's happening?
A: From January 1, leaded petrol will be phased out. Three unleaded octane grades of petrol — 91, 93 and 95 — will be allowed nationally, and two grades of lead replacement petrol — 93 inland and 95 at the coast — will be available for use in older vehicles. At the same time the existing grade of diesel will be replaced by grades with a much lower sulphur content.

Q: You say January 1: my local filling station already has different labels on the pumps.
A: January 1 is the official changeover date, but some BP service stations have already done it.

Q: What's wrong with leaded petrol?
A: The lead that goes into petrol gets spewed out of exhaust pipes into the environment. It's a poison: it can cause neurological damage, which particularly in children leads to reduced IQ and behavioural problems.

Q: What does "phasing out" mean?
A: There will still be some lead even in lead replacement petrol — albeit in ever-decreasing quantities — until all traces of the heavy metal have been flushed from the distribution chain. This could take up to six months...."

The rest of the article follows.

SA blog round-up

Jonty at The Fishbowl comments on the findings of a new survey showing that Afrikaners have experienced the “most radical change in political outlook” of all groups since the 1994 elections.

“This is probably understandable, given that by fair assumption that Afrikaners had the furthest to move politically after the fall of apartheid. In saying that though, I am in no way meaning to diminish the positive nature of that development. Afrikaners could very easily not have embraced the new rainbow nation, and we would be sitting in a far worse position as a country than where we are right now.”

Daan at In my Nes brings up the ongoing debate of whether a white person and an Afrikaaner can be an African.

“Aha, yet another post on the Afrikaner identity crisis, and now I add another term, African, to the mix…Ha, but try and explain this identity to a black person (or a foreigner for that matter), most often in my experience it would illicit seriously mixed reaction. Interesting, maybe because they are mostly completely and utterly unprepared to deal with such an idea, or maybe they view it as a threat to their ‘New South African’ identity. I don’t know, but it’s not going to stop me from being, and calling myself an African.”

Bilal’s Blog notes the profusion of exclusive golfing estates in South Africa, and comments on how as in other capitalist countries, only the rich can afford to experience some of the country’s most beautiful places.

“I found myself at the Hartebeesport Dam- really beautiful place! There’s something about water that attracts people- even dirty, green water like what we find at the Zoo Lake! But like a true capitalistic nation that we are, prime natural spots like that have been heavily inflated so that only rich, bourgeoisie can afford to live where previously poorer people have been displaced! All in the name of premium golf estate living!”

Vas Lube questions South Africa’s foreign policy move towards strengthening ties with Iran.

“ZA policy in this regard with Iran is unacceptable and counters to ZA’s liberal values which Iran regime is opposed to. ZA will be better off if we moved closer ties with US than those countries like Iran, Cuba, et al. ZA fingers will be burnt very badly. I find this events very unsettling and disturbing.”

One of the big events being reported on in the media this week is that gay marriage became legal in South Africa- although gay people will still have to wait another year while the Constitution is amended to reflect this. Moral Fiber contrasts the South African situation with that in Cameroon where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by up to five years in jail.

“It is painfully ironic that South Africa is one of the most progressive countries in the world in regards to equal rights, while so many countries on the continent are completely backwards when it comes to equality. One would have thought that centuries of struggle against colonialism and racism would have bred some sort of tolerance among Africans for people who are different. It really isn’t surprising that many of the continent’s anti-gay laws were actually put on the books by the colonial oppressors of yesteryear. One wonders what the African Union is doing about human rights.”

Cross-posted to Global Voices.

Update: Heads up to James for spotting my error. As he rightly points out, concerning gay marriage and the Constition - the Constitution isn't going to be amended. Legislation is going to be amended to comply with the Constitution in its current state.

Jozi is tops

The Guardian UK is punting Joburg as "one of the most exciting cities in Africa." Residents of Jozi might also be interested to know that our city is "where Africa meets Europe via southern California."

"Part of the trouble is that white Johannesburg - happy, yet paranoid, behind the walls of its shopping malls and BMW dealerships - is only slowly giving the city centre a second chance. And tell someone from Houghton (Jo'burg's answer to Beverly Hills) you're spending a night in a Soweto B&B and their response is likely to be a look of amusement, astonishment and horror in equal measure. They're more likely to have visited London than to have made the half-hour journey down the N1 freeway, but visit a township and you'll be enjoying some of Africa's friendliest people, not to mention its best music and cheapest beer."

It's true that white people tend towards the paranoid, but the author doesn't seem to take cognisance of the fact that you're just as likely to see black people in BMW's these days living in Houghton. The new up and coming black middle classes move out of the townships and into suburbia at the first opportunity, and you're just as likely to see black people living in cluster complexes in the northern suburbs (this includes our deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka), and the number is increasing all the time.

On the list of top 5 things to do is to visit a muti shop in Diagonal Street - so I definately think it will be a big mistake to get rid of them as I previously posted.

On the list of things not to do is,

" · Visiting the Tuscan villages - gaudy reproductions of Italian towns smack in the middle of the African veld - and gated communities in general. This is white South Africa's neurosis at its most telling.

· Talking about crime over dinner - that's so five years ago. Ditto raving about how fabulous Cape Town is."

While I agree on the gaudy Tuscan Villa thing, equating gated communities with white paranoia only, is well, so five years ago. Nevertheless it's great to have positive things about South Africa being said in the international media.

(via Cherryflava via Gridskipper)

Economic upswing

The World Bank says that South Africa's economy will probably hike up 5% this year, and that that improvement will positively impact poorer economies in Africa. Could that be so positive as to help reduce poverty? Ritva Reinikka, the World Bank director in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa, is quoted as saying that

If this is so, economic growth in SA will be important for poverty reduction on the continent. Reaching the official target of 6% annual growth is not just important for this country but for the rest of Africa. [Source]

It's about time that something happened to mend the present state of affairs. South Africa is the sub-Saharan powerhouse, and the job of powerhouses is to swing up, or down, the economies of neighbouring countries. When those countries are enclaves of the powerhouse in question, the effect is felt one hundred percent. Lesotho's Loti is pegged to the South African Rand, and has been for almost as long as I can remember, as a child growing up in Lesotho. Below and at the back of my memory is a vision of my parents using tickeys (teke, as we said in Sesotho). Even today the word teke is slang for money (dosh, dough).

America's economy influences those of her neighbours. France's, Britain's and Germany's influence Europe's. It's the law of the jungle. But I digress. The World Cup of Football is coming to South Africa in only five years. The whole region stands to benefit from being under the global spotlight, but also from the trade that usually accompanies the Cup from hostellery to food to tourism services. An economic upswing is the best thing that could have happened to South Africa, and hence to regional countries, at this time.

Relevant link: Economic growth in Lesotho Significant

Where was the line?

How did Apartheid South Africa deal with black foreigners? Did a black African from Swaziland, Lesotho, Senegal or Mali have to carry a pass? I suppose not, but one never knows. Were these foreigners treated in the same way as black South Africans were? If so, how about African Americans -- how were they treated? And if not, where was the line and on what basis was it drawn? Passport? Language? Something else?

Has there ever been a diplomatic tussle in relation with a black foreigner being at the receiving end of Apartheid?

Oops....

You gotta love this. Cosatu (SA's largest trade union movement) have of late been highly vocal in their outcry against all the jobs being lost in South Africa as a result of what they say is the flooding of our markets with cheap Chinese imports. A minor protest broke out yesterday when Cosatu members attending a mass rally to celebrate the union's 20th anniversary, discovered that, well, the free t-shirts they were being given were noneother than cheap Chinese imports.

"The 20th anniversary celebrations of the Congress of South African Trade Unions became chaotic yesterday when members of the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu), a Cosatu affiliate, discovered that the T-shirts distributed to mark the occasion were made in China.

The loud protests disrupted an address by Cosatu President Willie Madisha. Cosatu supports the Proudly South African campaign in its efforts to halt the dumping of cheap Chinese imports on the South African market, threatening the jobs of Sactwu members. The offending T-shirts were handed to each of the thousands of Cosatu members who descended on Absa Stadium for the anniversary celebrations, which were attended by ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

The crowd began throwing the T-shirts on to the field, forming a pile which was collected by security marshals who took them to the Cosatu leadership. Cosatu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi halted proceedings and apologised to the disgruntled members who had become rowdy.

"It has been brought to our attention that some of the T-shirts that have been made available to us were made in China.

"The South African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union, an affiliate of Cosatu, are the ones who are directly affected by the dumping of cheap products into our country and we apologise to them and our comrades elsewhere in the country," said Vavi. He said the regrettable error "occurred in the rush of things where we requested some people to arrange for the sponsoring of the T-shirt, resulting in this serious mistake".

When will this stop?

This is so sad and so sick that it's difficult to find the words to comment. Sapa reports that a thirteen month old baby was raped earlier today:

"A 13-month-old baby was raped on Sunday morning at her home in the Wolmaransstad area, North West police said. Superintendent Louis Jacobs said the baby's mother, 19, told police she left the house around 1am to go to the shops. The family stays and works on a farm outside Wolmaransstad. She returned an hour later to find her child naked and covered in blood. The baby was then rushed to hospital. Jacobs said police were questioning three men who had been in the house at the time the attack."

This comes a few days after news broke about a primary school in Thokoza on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg where no less than 52 liitle girls have been raped in the past few years. 52 girls in one school?

"Eleven-year-old Violet* [not her real name] couldn't contain her excitement about a birthday party with her friends. But instead of a few hours of balloons and cake, she came home traumatised. Violet is just one of at least 52 pupils in Tshwaragano Primary School in Thokoza who have been raped in the past few years - raising fears in the community that the children are under siege by rapists.

Principal Mmathoto Tlou said the rapes had been taking place steadily over the past three years. When 15 children confided in their teachers, the school had decided to call in Childline representatives and the Ekurhuleni metro police to hold a workshop in October."

Those are two of the more extreme cases, but a further five rapes were reported in the media today. One of the cases involved a 52 year old woman who was raped by a 15 year old boy, another of the victims was a 13 year old girl. What is going on in our society? Why is this happening? And why do we seem unable to address this problem?

One of the sad parts about this whole horrifying situation, is that as a society we seem to have become totally desensitised to rape - you read these stories and it's just like, oh well another rape, you read about it everyday. The story about the 52 girls did somehow shock me, but the other reports, well, it's just more of the same. That is the horrible and honest truth. It seems that we are no longer outraged by the consistant onslaught of rape and violence against our women and girls.

One study commissioned by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Recociliation provides a partial explanation of why so many girls are being raped. Obviously there are other reasons, and it is a complex situation.

"This review also identified an additional linkage between violence against women and HIV / AIDS not typically identified in the international literature. This was HIV infection as a factor precipitating sexual assualt.

The belief that sex with a virgin (who will usually be a young girl) can cure HIV / AIDS appears to be widely believed in Southern Africa, with one in four young South Africans not knowing that this is a myth (LoveLife, 2000). The choice of younger victims is, perhaps, also a pragmatic one; rapists may be targeting younger girls in the belief that being less sexually active, they are also less likely to be HIV-positive."

Gay marriages to become legal in South Africa

So it seems that gay marriages are finally to become legal in South Africa. I think it's great news. I really don't get what all the fuss is about anyway. Why shouldn't two people who love eachother not be allowed to get married just because they happen to be of the same sex? It's not like it's going to hurt anyone, and as far as all the bigots go, not allowing same sex marriages is not going to make gay people go away.

The organised lesbian and gay sector sent out a press release welcoming the Constitutional Court’s judgment on same sex marriages:

"The organised gay and lesbian sector welcomes this morning's Constitutional Court judgement and urges parliament to rectify the relevant statutory defects, with regard to same sex marriage, in line with the framework of the Court’s ruling.

As the JWG [Joint Working Group] we are proud to be in a Constitutional democracy that honours the equality and dignity of all citizens, as reflected in the judgement. In terms of the current form of both the common and statutory laws of marriage, the Court’s ruling acknowledges the denial of equal protection of the law, as well as the unfair discrimination of the State, against lesbian and gay people.  As such, the Court was unanimous in declaring the common law definition of marriage and the Marriage Act unconstitutional, as they infringe our right to equality and dignity.

Furthermore, in line with previous decisions, the Court re-asserts the rights of lesbian and gay people to access equal benefit and protection of the law and for our relationships to hold equal status in the eyes of the law.  The remedy ordered by the Court is such that Parliament is now required to amendment marriage legislation in line with the framework set out in the judgment. In reality this means that lesbian and gay people cannot marry with immediate effect, as the Court has suspended the invalidity of the statute and common law, to allow for the legislature to correct their inherent defects.

Should parliament not correct the defects within a 12 months period, the Court orders the reading in of the word ‘spouse’ to the Marriage Act. In the case of the Court’s remedy, we do believe that the minority judgement would have been a preferable outcome in that it proposed relief for lesbian and gay couples through an immediate change to the common law definition of marriage. However, the Court “recognises the multitude of family formation in South Africa, and the inappropriateness of entrenching any particular form as the only socially and legally acceptable one.”  We believe that this principle should guide the statutory process of correcting the current defects in marriage laws, such that lesbian and gay people will be able to claim their right to equal social and legal status in marriage.

The challenge is now for Parliament to enact changes to marriage legislation, as speedily as possible, to ensure full equality in status, benefit and protection for same sex relationships.  Anything less than this will remain unequal. 

This press statement is issued of behalf of the Joint Working Group (JWG), which includes the following organisations:

Ø       OUT LGBT Well-being
Ø       Behind the Mask
Ø       Forum for the Empowerment of Women
Ø       The Triangle Project
Ø       The Gay and Lesbian Archives
Ø       Durban Gay and Lesbian Community Centre

The JWG is an informal network of registered non profit organisations providing services to LGBTI people across South Africa. It aims to strengthen the organised LGBTI sector, and to maximise combined responses to LGBT needs through partnerships, the collective use of resources, and by drawing on the strengths of participating organisations."

World Aids Day

Well, World Aids Day is almost over. In South Africa the campaign was huge and I really think that it served to get a powerful message of awareness across. I have battled to think what I would write in a post about World Aids Day which is why I am only doing it now. I feel as if anything I say will be cliched - we need to do more, the government needs to do more, I could repeat the articles and the statistics.....I could blame Western governments for not caring, I could blame African governments for ignoring the plight of their own people, it's all been said before.

I guess the one thing that came across strongly about the World Aids Day campaign in South Africa this year is that Aids is everybody's problem. It's not just the aids sufferers that are affected, it's all of us. We can't just rely on government or wait for the wealthy west to come and rescue us. This has hit me very strongly today.

So as an individual what can I do? I've always thought that to really make a difference, one must do something concrete - join an organisation, volunteer one's time to take action, physically go out there and do something to help. I've always wanted to do something...but you know how it is, life is busy, it's difficult to actually make the effort, and then it could get huge. What if you start volunteering and it just gets too much and you have to drop out and let people down? That's one thing that I'd really hate to do.

I've always somehow regarded donating money to a worthy organisation as a cop out - you just throw some money at an NGO or a charity or whatever, and your conscience is appeased without actually having to get off your rear end and do something. But now I'm starting to think that maybe giving money is not such a bad thing. Today Talk Radio 702 held a fund raising drive for SOS Children's Villages and raised over R1 million  from their listeners. That money is going to go a long way to help children who have been adversely affected by the pandemic. That money is going to help children become contributing members of society. SOS also runs outreach programmes where they go out into the community and help keep families together, and help provide home based care. There are people who have the time to physically do something, and by donating money I would be making a difference even if I'm not physically out there doing it myself. Is this a cop out? I don't know? But maybe for now it's a lot better than doing nothing.

To end off this post, I'll leave you with a quote from Nelson Mandela who has devoted his post-presidential years to fighting Aids and helping children.

"Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times - times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation.
We live in a world where knowledge and information have made enormous strides, yet millions of children are not in school.

We live in a world where the Aids pandemic threatens the very fabric of our lives. Yet we spend more money on weapons than on ensuring treatment and support for the millions infected by HIV. It is a world of great promise and hope. It is also a world of despair, disease and hunger. Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom."

Losing our unique identity

Indian traders in Diagonal Street in the inner city of Johannesburg have been given eviction notices as the area is being upgraded for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The shop owners are pissed off because they have been renting their shops for generation after generation, also they feel that they braved the crime and grime of the inner city and stood by it while everyone else ran away, and now they're just being told to pack up and go.

I thinks it's absolutely disgusting to treat people like this - greedy building owners wanting to cash in on soccer money and make way for branded franchises. Those buildings have character, quaint old Indian shops, there are muti shops there - what a great tourist attraction. Now they want to knock the buildings down and make way for some bland architecture that makes Joburg look like any other city in the world.

Why can't they just upgrade the buildings and let the traders stay?

This is "The Museum of Man and Science", one of the many muti shops in Diagonal Street. The Joburg City website has a wonderful description:

"The 66-year-old museum (why it was originally called a museum seems lost in time) is a traditional muti or medicine shop in Diagonal Street. Walking in to the darkish interior you'll probably bump your head on the ceiling displays: hundreds of bits of dried skins, horns still attached to skins, bits of bones, ox hooves and tails, ostrich heads and feet, strings of beads, seed anklets, and straw hats.

Once you've had your fill of the ceiling display, you'll become aware of a pillar piled with horns and several dried carcasses of monkeys, another one with black and white tyre sandals. Then you'll notice the counters. One is filled with painted clay pots (used by traditional healers for storing the mixtures), interspersed with metal candelabras. The front of the counter is decorated with walking sticks and metal "church sticks" (used by priests of Zion veld churches); drums decorate the front of another."

This picture, and the one below,  I took some time ago of Diagonal Street. The blue glass building is where the old Stock Exchange used to be. It was taken late in the afternoon so the shops are all closed. As you can see the shop buildings are pretty run down, but they have so much character. I just love them.

This picture is of a residential apartment building. To me it's beautiful and full of character and history. It what makes Johannesburg Jozi and Joburg and gives us a sense of who we are and where we come from. What would tourists enjoy more - muti shop or McDonalds? Quaint historical buildings or bland modern architecture? I know which I prefer. If we lose all of this, we lose something of ourselves.

Buying the silence of rape victims

There are rumours here in Soweto, that in many cases, the family of the alleged rapist go the victim’s family and offer them money so that they do not lay charges, and if charges have already been laid, to withdraw them and settle out of court. Now, because a lot of people are poor due to unemployment, particularly young people, families of victims often accept the money, since they need it and they are told that maybe the alleged rapist is the bread winner or a provider to the family therefore if he is prosecuted they (the alleged rapist family) will not be able to survive.

It seems like in the African community immorality is accepted in the name of monetary compensation, not considering the emotional scars the victim has to live with and the possibility of unwanted pregnancy or the scourge of spreading HIV/AIDS. To date although a lot of awareness campaigns have been carried out, this has not yet resulted in any meaningful psychological or behavioural change. 

If this these rumours about payments to the victims families are true, which is probable, this could suggest that the number of of rape cases are higher than those that are being recorded. At the moment, South Africa is busy commemorating the 16 days of activism against women and children abuse, and it seems that during these 16 days more sexual crimes are reported to the local Police Services and more victims are being taken for help and empowerment to the support centers. This indicates, that in Soweto, the camapign does seem to raise awareness, but we definitely also need an awareness programme that goes beyond the 16 days.

Cultural confusion - a wedding and a funeral

The previous weekend here in South Africa was the last weekend for voter registration for the 2006 local government elections. While some Sowetans heeded the call to go and register others went about conducting the normal business of human life, and for some unsuspecting people, this involved experiencing what can only be classified as a major cultural mix up at the Orlando East Catholic Church in Soweto.

It seems as if the confusion was brought about by poor time management which resulted in a wedding and a funeral taking place at the church at the same time. The fact that neither wedding guests nor mourners could be distinguished by their dress code resulted in chaos, as people arriving for the funeral found themselves attending a wedding and vice versa. Making the situation even worse, is that according to African beliefs this is a sign of bad luck for all since death (funeral) and life (wedding) cannot be seen crossing roads at the same time.

What is interesting is the way that the situation was resolved.  Although the funeral procession was initially disturbed, it was still given priority over the wedding. The funeral procession was interrupted, and the coffin had to remain in the hearse while the wedding ceremony was in progress, but afterwards the wedding party were made to use the side hall amid much argument and the exchange of unpleasant words. Also, the celebrating matrimonial family could not demonstrate their celebrations in the usual way of chanting and shrieking so as not to show disrespect to the deceased person. The mourners were then given the the main church with the presiding Father. In an African context a funeral is given priority over any other event or occasion in our society, for example even on the route to the cemetery the funeral would be granted right of way while escorted by road traffic officials.

If this had happened in a white culture, one wonders which would have been given priority and if white people would also have superstitions beliefs that such a mix up would mean bad luck for both parties? Or is it be normal practice for a wedding and a funeral to take place in different parts of a church at the same time?

In Soweto, the cultural superstitions and fears of bad luck surrounding a mix up like this are taken extremely seriously, and what remains to be seen, is whether after being long standing members of the church, and having paid their dues and tithes, is if either family will ever go back to the Orlando East Catholic Church.

South African blog roundup

As we approach World Aids Day on the 1st of December, South Africa’s controversial and unpopular Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala- Msimang, has caused yet another stir. Known as “Dr.Garlic” for her advocacy of garlic, lemon juice and olive oil as a solution for Aids sufferers instead of supplying much needed anti retro-vital drugs, this time around she has been the subject of media attention for blaming the old apartheid government for South Africa’s HIV/AIDS pandemic. Jonty at The Fishbowl has the story:

There have always been those (including myself) that have blamed apartheid for some of South Africa’s worst social ills, but Manto’s statement that “the apartheid government was to blame for the rapid spread of Aids in South Africa” is far off base…Blaming the apartheid regime here is more of Manto’s ‘head in the sand’ mentality. The meteoric rise of AIDS (unfortunately) took place on the watch of the Mandela government, and whilst the early Nineties held the seeds of that exponential growth, the transient Government of National Unity had influence on health policy for the majority of that period. Rina Venter, the National Party who was the health minister of that time alleges that Manto was personally involved in drawing up the AIDS policy in the early Nineties.

Dr Garlic has been lucky to avoid too much attention with her latest blunder, because hogging the media headlines as always, and particularly over the past week, is the saga of South Africa’s embattled former deputy president Jacob Zuma. Not only has Mr Zuma been charged with corruption, but adding to his woes, he has now been accused of rape. His police docket was yesterday handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority who will decide whether or not to prosecute him on the rape charge. He has also been asked to provide blood for DNA testing to see if this matches the semen on the alleged victim’s underpants. Fodder takes a look at how this latest development is affecting Zuma’s support base which comes from Cosatu (the Congress of South African Trade Unions) and the communist party:

The problem for COSATU was their support for Zuma was never a rational policy decision and it soon gathered a life of their own. Unfortunately Zuma was not their best option for a workers leader and slowly they are figuring that out, but now they’re too far down that road for the break up to not be very messy and at the end of the day they’re going to look very stupid and probably weakened.

South Africa is home to a fairly large Muslim community that is highly emotionally attached to the Palestinian/ Israeli conflict. It is also home to a smaller Jewish community which also has a strong emotional attachment to the Middle East conflict. Middle East politics relating to Israel and the Palestinian territories get a lot of media coverage in South African newspapers, and is often the subject of heated debate on radio talk back shows with the two groups seeming to be unable to understand one another or find any common ground. The issue has found its way into the South African blogosphere, most notably with two blogs, one writing from a pro-Israel point of view, and the other from a pro-Palestinian point of view. Steve at It’s Almost Supernatural aims to highlights what he feels is media bias in favour of the Palestinians. In his latest post he blogs about Professor Solomon Hussein, a South African Muslim academic who recently visited the Middle East on a fact finding mission:

Solomon recently visited Israel and the Palestinian territories on a fact-finding mission to explore the conflict. His conclusion? Most South African Muslims do not understand the conflict and at best have a simplistic understanding of it. Solomon’s conclusion is hard hitting and he will no doubt face a backlash from the South African Muslim community…

Muhammad at The Front Line highlights what he seems to feel is the unreasonably brutal treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli’s. He takes a look at the recent protest by Palestinian school children:

“The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressors are the minds of the oppressed.” - Steve Biko
…You can take our land, but you will never take us… you will never win… you will never sleep peacefully while this injustice lives in your name.

Finally, Trudi at The Hope Flower raises interesting questions about so called Black elitism in South Africa:

…the judgement from the left is that Mbeki has contributed to the creation of a ‘parasitic black elite’… I guess the white elite was parasitic from day one. Now it’s not clear what the left thinks on the matter of meritocracy and excellence, but I think they have diagnosed the elite problem correctly. I resent that the fact that any developing world elite is assumed to be predatory, wheras a western one is assumed to have some basis in achievement…

This post also appears at Global Voices.

Down memory lane

I came accross a really great website today, although I guess you have to be of a certain age to really appreciate it. But, if you grew up watching SABC TV during the late 70's and through the eighties, The Punamouse has a collection mp3 files of opening themes for just about all the main TV series that appeared during these years. Knight Rider, the A-Team, Dallas and older stuff like The Brady Bunch, Rupert the Bear, Bonanza and Trompie. There are also the opening themes from the old TV news bulletins.

For even older readers (although I'm not sure that I have any any), you can find the opening themes to old Springbok Radio hits like Jet Jungle and Squad Cars. And even you aren't of that generation, they're still worth a listen to get a taste of the old school broadcasting styles - they're pretty damn hilarous as well.

Get your votes in now

In my recent post about the Ekurhuleni Metro wanting to change the name of the airport from Johannesburg International Airport to OR Tambo International Airpo