sad that nothing has really changed 100 posts later

azaad, pure innocent joy



the beauty of harrismith


i've reached that milestone, my 100Th post. not bad for someone who is not very diligent at keeping up her posts. azaad and my posting his pic a day, for the two weeks he spent with us, was the deciding factor, that brought me to post number 100. viva to that.

trouble is nothing much has really changed in south Africa, since my first post.on Monday the 8th of august 2005, i was gatvol to say the least, "gatvol of mediocrity",is,i believe how i put it. seems that 2 years and seven months later we are still lamenting mediocrity.our office renovations which should have taken six months is know on it's twelfth month, and counting. for three weeks there has been no workmen on site, today they burst a water main, in a newly finished bathroom, and have destroyed a couple of months of work,mediocrity at it's best. i simply do not believe that there are many people out there imbued with work ethic, or really any body out there proud to do a job. a lamentable situation. what gets me is the dumb look,ehhhhhhh!! (scratch my head, and look stupid)i ehhhh, don't know what happened. doesn't take a genius, you cut through a water pipe.one could say these are construction workers, so it's acceptable,but this is a malaise that has seeped into all manner of work places, from government bureaucracy right through to other work places. my fear, is that,this is the death nell for any future we might have in this country.what are we when we loose pride in even the simplest tasks.

then there's crime two years and seven months since i started blogging and nothing has improved, it is considered a happy day, if you happen to miss becoming a statistic.we enjoyed a family dinner with the outgoing charge de'affaires at the saudi embassy this week, his family were sad to be leaving south Africa, his wife explained that she found herself here, there was the first world to enjoy, in terms of infrastructure etc, she had wide open spaces, a spacious home to relax in, and the wild outdoors to enjoy when one got tired of the city.everything worked in their favour, friendly people, beautiful weather, great outdoors.which leads me to believe that it is not all gloom and doom down south, so what would it take for the government to sort out issues of crime,increases in rates,tax,interest rates,duties.the normal day to day existence of south Africans is being stymied by this and lots more, we pay more for less, as it seems that the job of government is to collect revenue, but not to spend the money in the right places,it will get to a point though when our citizens will just refuse to be taxed to death,it's the balances that we never seem to achieve, balances between collecting revenue and giving services.

everywhere one goes, you will hear the same litany, unfortunately it does not seem to reach the ears of government, more fool them, some idiot still had the audacity to make the statement that this is Africa, and we have no place in Africa for Indians or whites.tell that to idi amien,he destroyed Uganda's economy, committed untold atrocities, and ended his days in Saudi Arabia because no one else wanted him.

in my first post i quoted Khalil gibran from "the prophet"
"i found in silences that i may dispense with confidence?
if this is my day of harvest,in what fields have i sowed the seed,and in what unremembered seasons?"
in that first post, i thought this sentiment was really apt,if we are still sowing seeds of discontent, what future do we leave our children.

ivan khosa, in a press conference used the term "kaffir" he has been lambasted for being racist, a black man using a derogatory term like "kaffir" shame on him. the problem is mr khosa, was trying to tell people that we should dispense with a "kaffir" mentality, the idea that we are mediocre, we bought into the idea, as a result of apartheid, and it has perpetuated, into the new dispensation. i say mr khosa should be lorded for telling people to get of the fat asses, and take ownership, to get rid of that , "ehhhhh, i no see how that happened,(while scratching my head,and looking dumb)attitude". the future of a prosperous south Africa rides on the fact that people should have more pride in what they do and say, we are not "kaffirs" but we sure go out of our way to behave as though we are.

the human rights commission, attacked mr khosa, threatened legal action, and all manner of chargers because he was "being racist" suffice to say he was forced into an apology, the government moron, who's name i have forgotten(perhaps because he is not worth remembering)was not even reprimanded for being an out and out racist.what really constitutes an "African" not race because then half of this countries "black" south Africans would also have to pack and move across the border. it is just these blind near sighted opinions, that make me afraid, that all we have done, is changed the colour of the skin of people in control,and the new dispensation, is just as, if not more racist then the last. troubling thought.

on the bright side, azaad arrived to brighten up our lives, his sister is soon to follow this july.my wish is that we manage to save the future of this country for these gorgeous little one's that they might have a bright and prosperous future.it is criminal when we start thinking of "packing for perth,".our future is tied to south africa, how we go about securing an equitable future is the challenge.