Jacob Zuma ia all set to be the next president of South Africa. tomorrow we will be heading to the polls to cast our vote in this, the fourth democratic election since the ANC first won an election. i believe they are headed once again for a 2/3rds majority, despite all the negative publicity and the fact that the ANC president, just couldn't stay out of trouble.
i watched Jacob Zuma, at his press conference this morning, and despite getting off corruption and rape chargers, he comes across as more intelligent, dignified,and able to deliver than all the Patricia Delill's and Helen Zilla's put together.
most of the other political campaigns were about gunning for Zuma, not a policy or workable idea in the bunch, then you have the man who has fifteen years of policy, and deliverance behind him as president of the ruling party, despite the corruption chargers, and lack of delivery in some if not most constituencies,... he is undoubtedly the popular candidate. hell wasn't Hitler voted in by democratic election, and isn't this what democracy is all about. if the ANC is not your party of choice, and Jacob zuma not your choice as president , you have every right to cast your vote elsewhere. and that is the beauty of democracy. despite my vocal and some what vociferous rejection of having to go out and cast my vote, i will most definitely take an early morning walk, green identity document in hand, and make my mark on a ballot paper, after all this is a fundamental right of all citizens, over the age of 18, and what right of complaint do i have if i do not exercise my mandate as a voter.
there is i have to admit a sense of pride, that comes with the privilege of having a vote. for so long people in this country, were denied an opportunity to be a part of the decision making process, a democratic election gives us that, yes there is all the negativity of corruption, failure to deliver, infrastructure deteriorating, but then which country in the world can claim to be absolutely free of any of the former , what is important to me, is how much has been achieved, what have been the improvements, for one thing after 3 successive elections, the Anc have retained a 2/3rd's majority and have not in any of the preceding years attempted to change the constitution. so to answer Helen zille why would they do so now?
the failure of the NPA to convict Jacob zuma, does not mean he will now go about changing the south African constitution to suit his own ends or those of the ANC...that is why we are a democracy.if the fear is that the ruling party is to powerful, and controls to much of the voting publics loyalty, then the indictment is on the parties, who have not done their jobs in convincing us otherwise.perhaps the oposition have failed dismally to deliver. the idea of an opposition is not just to but heads with the ruling party, to block every effort at governance, but rather to work together as a government of national unity to provide for the people of south Africa what our constitution promises. our oppposition parties have not proven any willingness to participate and be effective, they have proven that they are good at complaining, much like armchair sports fans.
to date all the opposition has been able to come up with, is mud slinging, and nay saying, and they have secured their financial future for themselves and their biggest supporters, so how are they any different to the ruling party. instead of bitching, why not get off your overpaid fat asses, and work towards producing on promises the government has made to the people of south Africa. each party represents the ideas and aspirations of its supporters, so bring it to the table and learn to work together rather than against each other.
the only thing that elections highlight for me, is the number of hungry dogs in the kennel, each one growling for the biggest, juiciest, slice of steak. the end result is how politically sussed are the voting public, and how far are we able to see beyond the blarney, to cast votes, that will count in strengthening rather than weakening our country and its people.
yes we are a banana republic, like all others, but there is always hope, when your population are more informed and aware. education is always the key,so go out there and read, get informed about who delivered what, listen and learn. and go out and make your mark. democracy is what it's all about.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
ELECTIONS
it's that time again...elections. in a month which is riddled with endless public holiday's we get another mid week holiday on the 22nd of april. election day.
with the world economic situation and the yoyo rand wreaking havoc, surely it is absolute stupidity to loose another productive day.
and then the question becomes. who do we vote for? why? because all that is on offer sucks big time.(rhetorical question, because we all know the answer to that....no one)
like vikram seths mosquito's, political parties attack with malevolent pertinacity, these vultures all come out at election time, to secure four more years in a job, they are incapable of handling, in a year that is so economically and financially debilitating, it erks me to pay my tax bill. government has only been effective in wasting tax payers money.
R100 000 000 on the Jacob Zuma affair, for a charge that amounted to R4 000 000 rands. Come on...every sane business person knows you never throw good money after bad. this was an exercise in futility, Zuma is off the hook, Shaik is out of prison. i worked my @#$$% ass off, to earn a living paid my tax, and the money was wasted on a moronic legal battle...oops. why not tell that to the morons, burning up schools because there was no money to play soccer, or the shack dwellers torching suburbs and behaving like ill bread waste of timers, because they have not received housing yet. i think the R100 000 000, could have been better spent elsewhere, don't you?
not to mention the assholes who get there housing sell it to foreigners or whoever, then fraudulently apply for another, why can they do this? because of lazy ill educated bureaucrats, and a system with so many holes, it resembles Swiss cheese, another place the R100 000 000 could have been deployed.
but instead it was used as a panacea to bureaucratic ego, which highlights the sad truth that people in government are all but brain dead, and then they are trying to solicit my vote.
the ANC goes one further, they employ Sanjay Dutt, to campaign in the Indian areas, to secure votes. HELLO...this really confirms my belief, that to have a job in government, one needs only have the fact that you are a dishonest, uneducated crook,on your cv and the job is yours.
at election time they drag out the likes of Mohammed Valley Moosa, to his credit he left government with his reputation in tact, and a good few billion the richer for it. why would he engender any kind of trust in the millions without even the proverbial dollar. i listened to the stupid so called debate on SABC last night, unfortunately Mr. Moosa could only trot out the platitudes of the past, we brought liberation, we devised the constitution, the little booklet, held proudly up for public scrutiny. cut the babble, liberation is over, you are no longer a liberation organisation. the ANC, represents the largest political party in our Swiss cheese democracy, and you have only delivered, embarrassment in the last four years.
a president who was fired, a trial that cost millions, a national air carrier, in debt up to its eye balls, with its useless, crooked CEO, getting a 33 million rand payout for driving it further in debt than it already was. the like of Karl Niehaus, who turned out to be a bigger crook, than the Shaik. Karl really committed fraud and theft, is still on the pay roll, the Shaik, did not steal tax payers money.
a minister in the office of the presidency that is so thick, i wouldn't hire her as a domestic, but she has a job, with the movers and the shakers.she gets moved and Shaiked and perhaps some big multi national corporation continues to make millions.
Julius continues on his pedantic, juvenile mission, and we are meant to vote ANC. there is no point, in continuing to play on the achievements of the past, we have all been there and done that, the ANC has not proven or maintained a track record that engenders trust in any way. it has become the newest member of the African conspiracy, which is steal as much as possible, and keep control at all costs, so i am sure military coups, overthrows, mass genocide,might all become ANC vocabulary as some point. a sad indictment for an organisation and a country that held so much promise.
then there is Cope, who claim to sow Hope. so why would you vote for Cope, except to create an opposition...then the members of Cope are all the disgruntled members of the ANC, and then some. yes they are more intelligent than Julius, but they were there and party to all the !@@#3 ups of the last four years. their presidential candidate is a reverend, what do you think a man of the cloth knows about being president of the country? quite capable of a coup i suppose if they don't win an election. don't know if i would vote for them.
neither the ANC nor COPE, are representative of a rainbow nation. besides "black" candidates, there are no other people represented, on their election list. racism in reverse, these chumps are doing no better than the NP, did under apartheid.
ah ha! the DA, now why on Gods green earth would we vote DA. without being bigoted, they represent a percentage of south African population, which i will term the white middle to upper classes, their driving force is to secure the future of said south Africans, they have no leaders that can inspire confidence, though helen zilla looks much better after the makeover, amazing what a little botox and hair dye can achieve. all their electoral rhetoric smacks of sour grapes, and they are good at apportioning blame, the DA is fond of highlighting corruption when it suits their purpose, but never expose where their campaign funds come from, or what deals those in control have on the go to keep their pocket books flushed, if the ANC, wasn't so busy fighting their own power struggle, they might be keen to do an expose, what do you think? the DA, and now i will use history, is historically a sitting on the fence party, as the pfp, and the Democratic alliance etc, they were very much a part of the old regime, they claimed it was better to fight apartheid from within, they obviously were quite in effective, as apartheid lasted over forty years, but they did secure the comfort of the white English speaking middle and upper classes, under an Afrikaans, right wing, christian government.
they also did their best to secure "Jewish" wealth and rights in south Africa, i say Jewish, as there is no other way to describe the community, though small in number, they describe themselves as "Jewish", the term used descriptively as a nationality, nothing to do with religion.not south African, but Jewish, and white of course. their numbers make up the captains of industry in south Africa, despised by the right wing afrikaans government, they none the less made inroads in business, and funded both the DA and the NP, thus securing their financial dominance, today they fund the ANC, the DA and possibly any other party, thus securing their stranglehold on all real business in south Africa.the DA really only have the interests of this lobby on their agenda. they were happy to expose Shaik, but nary a word is heard about the deals secured for this lobby.
then there was Helen Suzman, the ANC lorded her as a stalwart of the struggle, please!, truth be told, as a member of parliament, and the PFP, they did nothing to aid the struggle in any true sense of the world, i welcome anyone to prove me wrong. so that takes care of the DA.
the rest of the political party's represented, are nothing to write home to mother about.so i will not waste space here.
my sad conclusion, is that there are no real choices here. it is a matter of which crooked party will triumph over another. in the meantime, the country will continue to prosper, and survive, on the backs of real south Africans, who wake at dawn, find their way to places of work, and pay their taxes.this is the real rainbow nation, who sadly have been ignored by their country, despite which, we work, and are patriots, people who in the true sense put their money where their mouths are, only to have government squander this in every sense of the word.
we understand that all governments are corrupt, as i've said before, as long as they do not steal the entire pot, please realise that at the very least 80% of the money, should be sent on the country and it's people, as yet we in africa have not learnt this,....case in point our neighbour zimbabwe, we are fond of bringing out the begging bowl. can we change?
with the world economic situation and the yoyo rand wreaking havoc, surely it is absolute stupidity to loose another productive day.
and then the question becomes. who do we vote for? why? because all that is on offer sucks big time.(rhetorical question, because we all know the answer to that....no one)
like vikram seths mosquito's, political parties attack with malevolent pertinacity, these vultures all come out at election time, to secure four more years in a job, they are incapable of handling, in a year that is so economically and financially debilitating, it erks me to pay my tax bill. government has only been effective in wasting tax payers money.
R100 000 000 on the Jacob Zuma affair, for a charge that amounted to R4 000 000 rands. Come on...every sane business person knows you never throw good money after bad. this was an exercise in futility, Zuma is off the hook, Shaik is out of prison. i worked my @#$$% ass off, to earn a living paid my tax, and the money was wasted on a moronic legal battle...oops. why not tell that to the morons, burning up schools because there was no money to play soccer, or the shack dwellers torching suburbs and behaving like ill bread waste of timers, because they have not received housing yet. i think the R100 000 000, could have been better spent elsewhere, don't you?
not to mention the assholes who get there housing sell it to foreigners or whoever, then fraudulently apply for another, why can they do this? because of lazy ill educated bureaucrats, and a system with so many holes, it resembles Swiss cheese, another place the R100 000 000 could have been deployed.
but instead it was used as a panacea to bureaucratic ego, which highlights the sad truth that people in government are all but brain dead, and then they are trying to solicit my vote.
the ANC goes one further, they employ Sanjay Dutt, to campaign in the Indian areas, to secure votes. HELLO...this really confirms my belief, that to have a job in government, one needs only have the fact that you are a dishonest, uneducated crook,on your cv and the job is yours.
at election time they drag out the likes of Mohammed Valley Moosa, to his credit he left government with his reputation in tact, and a good few billion the richer for it. why would he engender any kind of trust in the millions without even the proverbial dollar. i listened to the stupid so called debate on SABC last night, unfortunately Mr. Moosa could only trot out the platitudes of the past, we brought liberation, we devised the constitution, the little booklet, held proudly up for public scrutiny. cut the babble, liberation is over, you are no longer a liberation organisation. the ANC, represents the largest political party in our Swiss cheese democracy, and you have only delivered, embarrassment in the last four years.
a president who was fired, a trial that cost millions, a national air carrier, in debt up to its eye balls, with its useless, crooked CEO, getting a 33 million rand payout for driving it further in debt than it already was. the like of Karl Niehaus, who turned out to be a bigger crook, than the Shaik. Karl really committed fraud and theft, is still on the pay roll, the Shaik, did not steal tax payers money.
a minister in the office of the presidency that is so thick, i wouldn't hire her as a domestic, but she has a job, with the movers and the shakers.she gets moved and Shaiked and perhaps some big multi national corporation continues to make millions.
Julius continues on his pedantic, juvenile mission, and we are meant to vote ANC. there is no point, in continuing to play on the achievements of the past, we have all been there and done that, the ANC has not proven or maintained a track record that engenders trust in any way. it has become the newest member of the African conspiracy, which is steal as much as possible, and keep control at all costs, so i am sure military coups, overthrows, mass genocide,might all become ANC vocabulary as some point. a sad indictment for an organisation and a country that held so much promise.
then there is Cope, who claim to sow Hope. so why would you vote for Cope, except to create an opposition...then the members of Cope are all the disgruntled members of the ANC, and then some. yes they are more intelligent than Julius, but they were there and party to all the !@@#3 ups of the last four years. their presidential candidate is a reverend, what do you think a man of the cloth knows about being president of the country? quite capable of a coup i suppose if they don't win an election. don't know if i would vote for them.
neither the ANC nor COPE, are representative of a rainbow nation. besides "black" candidates, there are no other people represented, on their election list. racism in reverse, these chumps are doing no better than the NP, did under apartheid.
ah ha! the DA, now why on Gods green earth would we vote DA. without being bigoted, they represent a percentage of south African population, which i will term the white middle to upper classes, their driving force is to secure the future of said south Africans, they have no leaders that can inspire confidence, though helen zilla looks much better after the makeover, amazing what a little botox and hair dye can achieve. all their electoral rhetoric smacks of sour grapes, and they are good at apportioning blame, the DA is fond of highlighting corruption when it suits their purpose, but never expose where their campaign funds come from, or what deals those in control have on the go to keep their pocket books flushed, if the ANC, wasn't so busy fighting their own power struggle, they might be keen to do an expose, what do you think? the DA, and now i will use history, is historically a sitting on the fence party, as the pfp, and the Democratic alliance etc, they were very much a part of the old regime, they claimed it was better to fight apartheid from within, they obviously were quite in effective, as apartheid lasted over forty years, but they did secure the comfort of the white English speaking middle and upper classes, under an Afrikaans, right wing, christian government.
they also did their best to secure "Jewish" wealth and rights in south Africa, i say Jewish, as there is no other way to describe the community, though small in number, they describe themselves as "Jewish", the term used descriptively as a nationality, nothing to do with religion.not south African, but Jewish, and white of course. their numbers make up the captains of industry in south Africa, despised by the right wing afrikaans government, they none the less made inroads in business, and funded both the DA and the NP, thus securing their financial dominance, today they fund the ANC, the DA and possibly any other party, thus securing their stranglehold on all real business in south Africa.the DA really only have the interests of this lobby on their agenda. they were happy to expose Shaik, but nary a word is heard about the deals secured for this lobby.
then there was Helen Suzman, the ANC lorded her as a stalwart of the struggle, please!, truth be told, as a member of parliament, and the PFP, they did nothing to aid the struggle in any true sense of the world, i welcome anyone to prove me wrong. so that takes care of the DA.
the rest of the political party's represented, are nothing to write home to mother about.so i will not waste space here.
my sad conclusion, is that there are no real choices here. it is a matter of which crooked party will triumph over another. in the meantime, the country will continue to prosper, and survive, on the backs of real south Africans, who wake at dawn, find their way to places of work, and pay their taxes.this is the real rainbow nation, who sadly have been ignored by their country, despite which, we work, and are patriots, people who in the true sense put their money where their mouths are, only to have government squander this in every sense of the word.
we understand that all governments are corrupt, as i've said before, as long as they do not steal the entire pot, please realise that at the very least 80% of the money, should be sent on the country and it's people, as yet we in africa have not learnt this,....case in point our neighbour zimbabwe, we are fond of bringing out the begging bowl. can we change?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
gaza latest pics received...and my blurb
the above just shows that even famous people are stupid and ill informed. some of this crap is why we can never get out of the BS surrounding the problems in Gaza. if in fact any of the above is true.
Here we are i am not sure how many weeks into the Gaza situation. my cell is inundated with calls to boycott this or that product, say a duaa, attend a protest action. some i can entertain, others not. where were all these people in the last fifty years. this crisis really is nothing new.
i just got invited to attend a khatam,(prayer where quran will be read and completed) for the crisis in Gaza. are we only praying now? if not,..then in the last fifty years these prayers seem to have got us no where. with all due respect, is there not a clear message from Allah, that we have not approached this situation correctly, if Allah does not answer your prayers, that does not mean he has not heard you, on the contrary He has, and His answer has been a resounding no.
or He has given us signs which we have doggedly chosen to ignore. for what it is worth, lamenting the ifs whys and wherefore's is neither productive nor is it going to help the situation any. we must insist on condemning these atrocities, be they in Palestine,Somalia,Ethiopia,the ivory coast,Haiti,and countries ad infinitum.
the cruelty that human beings can exhibit is frightening, there are just as many who can be kind and wonderful, so how do we go about effecting change for the better. i seriously do not believe in pointing fingers and making accusations it never works, people need to reach deep into that part of themselves, their moral centers (provided they have one), and see what is important in life,taking a life any life is never justified,using religion to excuse it, is a bigger injustice nay crime.
the leaders in control, both Palestine and Israel, need to put the people first. it was the Palestinians that welcomed displaced Jews to their country after world war 2 neither America nor Britain wanted the Jewish question to be brought to their doorsteps, so they found suitable accommodation in Palestine. what have they achieved in fifty years? the state of Israel. They have systematically displaced and victimised their hosts, into poverty, deprivation, and death.
all this by claiming that Allah promised this land to the Jew, mighty crap promise, if you need to decimate an entire people, just to retain control of a piece of land, and then to fly in Jews from around the world to populate it. perhaps we worship the wrong God, since it was not Allah but the USA and it's stooge Great Britain, that helped in creating the state of Israel. so then if Palestinians are terrorists, and Arabs are to be decimated, what does that make Israeli's...see pointing fingers. whom does that help. perhaps if we tried to entertain truths, and realised, that all people have the right to their existence within "Israel", their need not be a crisis.
why does not Israel acknowledge, the welcome it's people received after Hitler spat them out, and live in harmony with those that opened their homes to you.what goes around comes around. the Jew will forever be displaced,disliked,despised,if the behaviour he shows to others, is what the state of Israel perpetuates.there can be no sympathy for the Jew, when the Jew has no sympathy for his fellow brothers and sisters, this has been an ongoing saga, since biblical times. Jews seek sympathy because of the holocaust, do you think Hitler was a Muslim? did they not suffer greater persecution under Christianity then Islam?
why not acknowledge that the Jew lived happily and prosperously under Islam, more than under any other regime, find that inner truth and perhaps the situation in Gaza can be solved.Goliath can never win the battle with David, David's home is threatened and his territory invaded, his vested interests are greater than all the flown in props from around the world, his blood and the blood of his forefathers seep deep into the soil. and with every new generation of David's born the war continues.
take away the need for David to fight, give him back his place under Gods son, and learn to live as the brothers and sisters we are once again.....to much to ask i am sure.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
oh God not home affairs
proudly south african
sitting here staring at the screen, what the hell to write...bloggers don't get writers block, cause this really is not writing....hehehehe..
we are presently enjoying the fruits of democracy, their are serious if somewhat unsubstantiated rumours that a new political party is in the offing. this is a good thing. the ANC, which has been the largest political party and has secured the majority of voters, will no longer have it's stranglehold on all things political.
president mbeki, is calling for his day in court to clear the allegations of collusion by his administration in the zuma saga. basically to clear his name. the new broom is off in India trying to secure trade deals between India, south Africa and Brazil. it always amazes me how things change yet they remain the same.
my feeling is that zuma might have something to worry about if the new broom entrenches himself, the twit malema is falling out of favour all over the place, and the votes will swing towards a new party, they might not take an election, but they will present some serious competition, zuma just might find himself, not being voted into presidential office, wouldn't that be ironic.
i just wish local government, could get it's act together, and government offices could be cleaned up, made into a more pleasant place for the ordinary citizen, i think that might be to much to ask. all this stems from my visit to the regional offices of the department of home affairs. that place you go to in case you are not sure you are a citizen.
citizens, pay R3000.00 get fake documents and live large. the idiots like us, have to struggle through pushy salesmen wanting to lead you into dingy dirty stores, for identity or passport photo's. after you have blown them off, and navigated your way to the entrance of the building, the outer facade, is enough to send you running back to your illegally parked car, for which you will fork out more change, to the drunken, guy wanting money for pointing you to a parking spot. this done, you close your nostrils to the stench, walk through the doors, it is dark, disgustingly filthy, i don't believe there has been a broom used in the place in twenty years or more, security check, what the hell for,..then the lifts are out of order, so you ask, a seriously retarded looking security person, who stares at you, because i presume English is a foreign language, the lifts are out of order, i don't bother to ask, since they could possibly have been out of order for years. getting in would be risky as well, if they were in order. so i navigated the stairs five storeys up.
i needed a death certificate not a passport, by the time i got up there, the home affairs official had the demeanour of a dead person, the ugliness of the building her place of work, just reflected in her attitude and behaviour. if i didn't need the passport i was tempted to say something really crass, and bitchy. the guy who took my thumbprint was barely operational. the entire place, is emotionally and physically draining. had i been in government these are the things i would be changing, instead of wasting tax payers money, erasing our countries history, whether good or bad, by changing street names etc.
the entire stinky inhuman experience left me with a headache, and a fervent desire never to go to home affairs again. alas this will never be.who am i without a travel document, it is issued for ten years, i shudder to think what it would be like dealing with them after ten years. dear lord save me from bureaucrats, and bureaucracy. do you think their homes are as filthy as their places of work, seriously what stops you from just wiping off your own desk. in this country, if there is no one around to clean up for you, we just deteriorate into wallowing in our own filth.
tax payers money would be better spent in teaching people that cleanliness is next to godliness. that begs the presumption that people believe in the existence of god, and that debate could fill an entire blog space...perhaps when next i have writers block
Monday, September 22, 2008
recalled
Monday morning dawned and it was business as usual. there were staff in my office who didn't even know that the president of our country had been recalled/fired. isn't it amazing, we cook, eat, sleep, make love, shop. do what people all over the world are doing at some time or another, but we don't read a newspaper or watch the news. life continuous while the political landscape of a country changes.
life went on, despite the momentous happenings this weekend.
our president made the most dignified resignation speech of any i have had occasion to witness, admittedly i was moved to tears, and might i add pride in the manner in which he acquitted himself in his address to the nation.
This was the president we had voted in, this was the man who has steered south Africa, towards economic growth, put us on the map internationally, who was instrumental in negotiating our peaceful transition to democracy. where was this man in the last couple of years, when opposing voices were baying for his blood. this was the man, who should have had his feet firmly planted on south African soil. i cannot help but feel, had he been or appeared to be a hands on president, who had spent more time addressing the concerns of his citizens, rather than sorting out the problems of Africa, he might have served his full term.
he is an ANC stalwart who has given his life to the organisation and to the freedom of the people of this country, while i have lamented ad nauseum, on the failings of the MBEKI government, to address issues of crime, aids,unemployment,rising taxes etc. it has been the axing of jacob zuma, that has been instrumental in bringing down the mbeki government.to his credit mr Mbeki, was gracious in defeat, a man who had the best interests of this country and his political party at heart.
it was good to see democratic processes win the day, as opposed to anarchy and violence, unlike most countries on this continent, the rule of law, and respect of our constitution are what emerged from this fiasco. this is politics, the dog eat dog world of power and behind the scenes machinations. politics is a dirty game, and those in power are loathe to relinquish it, once they enjoy the fruits of high office. much to his credit, Thabo Mbeki addressed his detractors and supporters alike, with a call to work towards a better future for all.
my fear is that the men who have come out in support of jacob zuma, our future president after the next election, are a bunch of uneducated ill informed noise makers, in this i refer to the president of the ANC youth league malema, and those that are fond of violent rhetoric. it remains to be seen, how Jacob zuma will acquit himself and the type of leadership he aligns himself with. the axing of thabo mbeki, and previously the election of Jacob zuma as president of the ANC in polokwane, highlighted the schisms in a seemingly invincible political party.
but even politicians are human, and once the fight for freedom had been won, the fight for control, would inevitably rear it's ugly head. Thabo Mbeki pissed of a few of his comrades, in trying to achieve his vision of a free democratic Africa, and those pissed off comrades, who are now very rich because of BEE placement, have gone for the jugular.tit for tat so to speak.
all it took, was a lone judge (nicholson, a name that will be remembered in the anals of history) in the non descript town of pietermareitzburg, to rule that jacob zuma had been unfairly prejudiced, that the president behaved immorally in firing his deputy president, and the death knell was rung. our president was recalled in the same manner in which jacob zuma had lost his post. the presidential advisers were short sighted in their assessment of the zuma issue, and extremely shortsighted when they assumed that his popularity was not great enough to orchestrate a take over. well hahaha to you.
two strikes, and it is game over for the mbeki camp. or is it? as south Africans we should be proud, that changes like these can take place without prejudicing safety and security, as long as the likes of malema, are not put in charge, i have great hope, that the economy will tick over, that i will continue to bitch about high taxation, crime, and lack of delivery. fully well knowing that things will be business as usual, and that we will have democracy work for us.
to mr mbeki, i wish you every happiness and success in the future, and it is my fervent hope that you will always be a part of steering this country towards achieving it's greatest potential.
i thank you, for the last 52 years, and most especially for being the great mind, that negotiated and still negotiates the peaceful and successful rise of our fledgling democracy. i wish that the man who represented himself last night, had been the man that we saw in the last decade, a leader of great skill, intelligence, loyalty and dedication. hopefully you will not leave us to suffer the malema's of this world alone....but then it is the price of democracy.
life went on, despite the momentous happenings this weekend.
our president made the most dignified resignation speech of any i have had occasion to witness, admittedly i was moved to tears, and might i add pride in the manner in which he acquitted himself in his address to the nation.
This was the president we had voted in, this was the man who has steered south Africa, towards economic growth, put us on the map internationally, who was instrumental in negotiating our peaceful transition to democracy. where was this man in the last couple of years, when opposing voices were baying for his blood. this was the man, who should have had his feet firmly planted on south African soil. i cannot help but feel, had he been or appeared to be a hands on president, who had spent more time addressing the concerns of his citizens, rather than sorting out the problems of Africa, he might have served his full term.
he is an ANC stalwart who has given his life to the organisation and to the freedom of the people of this country, while i have lamented ad nauseum, on the failings of the MBEKI government, to address issues of crime, aids,unemployment,rising taxes etc. it has been the axing of jacob zuma, that has been instrumental in bringing down the mbeki government.to his credit mr Mbeki, was gracious in defeat, a man who had the best interests of this country and his political party at heart.
it was good to see democratic processes win the day, as opposed to anarchy and violence, unlike most countries on this continent, the rule of law, and respect of our constitution are what emerged from this fiasco. this is politics, the dog eat dog world of power and behind the scenes machinations. politics is a dirty game, and those in power are loathe to relinquish it, once they enjoy the fruits of high office. much to his credit, Thabo Mbeki addressed his detractors and supporters alike, with a call to work towards a better future for all.
my fear is that the men who have come out in support of jacob zuma, our future president after the next election, are a bunch of uneducated ill informed noise makers, in this i refer to the president of the ANC youth league malema, and those that are fond of violent rhetoric. it remains to be seen, how Jacob zuma will acquit himself and the type of leadership he aligns himself with. the axing of thabo mbeki, and previously the election of Jacob zuma as president of the ANC in polokwane, highlighted the schisms in a seemingly invincible political party.
but even politicians are human, and once the fight for freedom had been won, the fight for control, would inevitably rear it's ugly head. Thabo Mbeki pissed of a few of his comrades, in trying to achieve his vision of a free democratic Africa, and those pissed off comrades, who are now very rich because of BEE placement, have gone for the jugular.tit for tat so to speak.
all it took, was a lone judge (nicholson, a name that will be remembered in the anals of history) in the non descript town of pietermareitzburg, to rule that jacob zuma had been unfairly prejudiced, that the president behaved immorally in firing his deputy president, and the death knell was rung. our president was recalled in the same manner in which jacob zuma had lost his post. the presidential advisers were short sighted in their assessment of the zuma issue, and extremely shortsighted when they assumed that his popularity was not great enough to orchestrate a take over. well hahaha to you.
two strikes, and it is game over for the mbeki camp. or is it? as south Africans we should be proud, that changes like these can take place without prejudicing safety and security, as long as the likes of malema, are not put in charge, i have great hope, that the economy will tick over, that i will continue to bitch about high taxation, crime, and lack of delivery. fully well knowing that things will be business as usual, and that we will have democracy work for us.
to mr mbeki, i wish you every happiness and success in the future, and it is my fervent hope that you will always be a part of steering this country towards achieving it's greatest potential.
i thank you, for the last 52 years, and most especially for being the great mind, that negotiated and still negotiates the peaceful and successful rise of our fledgling democracy. i wish that the man who represented himself last night, had been the man that we saw in the last decade, a leader of great skill, intelligence, loyalty and dedication. hopefully you will not leave us to suffer the malema's of this world alone....but then it is the price of democracy.
Monday, September 15, 2008
taking the piss
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how could any responsible adult, produce such trash.
jacob zuma just cannot seem to get out of being fodder for the press.while i agree that his actions have been less than exemplary, he just cannot seem to keep his pants zipped, zapiro's cartoons, were just tasteless and uncalled for. if david bullard got fired for a racist column, then zapiro should be headed out of the door as well. the biggest culprit is the idiot editor, who okay's trash before it goes to print, why the hell doesn't he get his ass fired, (oh sorry his black)...therefore exempt from being fired.
the brutality of the cartoon was in bad taste, showing a woman being gang raped, hell that's not sarcasm, that is just down right BS,..since zuma was acquitted on rape chargers, seems it was all fabricated, that is, ....the rape.zapiro, could have chosen some other avenue, to take the piss. the sad part is that the press and thabo mbeki, have paved the way for a depraved, corrupt man to become the next president of our upwardly mobile banana republic.
mbeki who is meant to be so intelligent has single handedly, (with the help of his Rottweiler ministers of cause) managed to divide the anc, into warring factions. each faction, lead by idiots who are unable to string two coherent words together, and who's only rhetoric calls for death and destruction. for a man who promised great things, to a mascot championing the course of the haves to accumalate even more filthy lucre, thabo mbeki, will leave office under scandal and embarrasment, any positive achievements eclipsed, by the duplicitous behaviour, in handling his deputy president, for heavens sake, a judge called his actions in firing zuma immoral, and if zuma is an immoral man, what does that say of our president. who as it happens is permanently out of the country, when there are pinnacle happenings in the zuma soap opera.
when will the clowns in government, get a grip and sort out the BS,...the media does nothing to improve the situation, appearing at best racist and at worst irresponsible and reckless. come on guys how about some genuine intelligent reportage.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
what is the point of complaining?
can a country be termed ignoble? i don't suppose so, as it is not a person, therefore it cannot have character flaws, the country cannot be shameful or not be honourable in purpose, but i am fast running out of expletives to voice my growing shame, no not shame deep routed disappointment in the manner in which our government handles anything.
i have lamented ad nauseum on the effects of crime, high prices,rip off taxation and the list obviously never ends. this week there are a couple from johannesburg's southern suburbs critically injured and fighting for their lives after having been mistaken for robbers at their Johannesburg home, they were shot by police, who believed that they were thieves intent on a quick get away,the sad thing was, their daughter had been gang raped by intruders, and they were returning from holiday, the cops were responding to a call out,as the modus operandi of Johannesburg criminals is to load up the victims goods into the victims car and leave, since the car was loaded with luggage,it was dark, the car was reversing out the drive with no lights on the automatic assumption was that the thieves had the car....well in this case obviously not. obviously the thieves and rapists got away.
can one blame the men in blue? i think not,...thieves are, well armed, there had been a rape, how are they to react in the circumstances. cyril rhamaphosa, formally a trade union man, now a multi gazillionare, into big business and black empowerment, seems to think that ordinary Joe schmo should be doing more, how much more i ask you? our police force are overburdened, underpaid and totally corrupt, joe schmo is forking out thousands of rands every month on private security high walls, barbed wire fencing, ( i think I've mentioned previously, that our private budget per capita on security, is more than the united states government spends on security).turning homes into prisons, when is enough, enough. when does crime become intolerable? crime is a threat that the government of this country has failed to address in any meaningful way. government response is to ignore crime, and tell it's beleaguered population that crime is not an issue, that it is under control...tell that to the rape victim or her seriously injured parents fighting to survive in a Johannesburg hospital.
if it's not crime, then we are embarrassed by the 15 million rand wastage, which was our supposed marketing of the 2010 world cup, our display that never happened, all paid for by tax payers money, so what the hell are we paying tax for? what's worse is the way this fiasco was dealt with, essop pahad our minister in the presidency claimed, it was just 'WHITE' people complaining, sour grapes, because a black country was hosting 2010, bull shit uncle of mine,...the idiots in Beijing couldn't even explain away, why we hired empty hotel rooms, that remained empty,..why there was no material on hand to advertise 2010, why basically we paid money to showcase our country and there was no show case, oh uncle gee, this is definitely not a case of whining white people again, but a case of an incompetent government and the inept uneducated people you employ, simply because they are black.
if the current administration is this inept and corrupt, what the hell future do we have? what is to follow is definitely not any better. jobs for pals, pals in jobs...the situation is disgraceful and quite embarrassing.
hopefully fifa will finally awaken out of their stupor, open the blinkers and realise that the 2010 world cup, is in the hands of some very rich, very nasty (dare i say it) black people, none of whom have the wherewithal to host a competent and successful world cup, however they are intelligent enough to make a great deal of money out of television rights, kick backs, construction of stadia, trains etc, all going nowhere slowly...we are about to be thoroughly embarrassed world wide and nobody gives a damn, least of all those in control. will i eat my words. i dearly hope so.
i have lamented ad nauseum on the effects of crime, high prices,rip off taxation and the list obviously never ends. this week there are a couple from johannesburg's southern suburbs critically injured and fighting for their lives after having been mistaken for robbers at their Johannesburg home, they were shot by police, who believed that they were thieves intent on a quick get away,the sad thing was, their daughter had been gang raped by intruders, and they were returning from holiday, the cops were responding to a call out,as the modus operandi of Johannesburg criminals is to load up the victims goods into the victims car and leave, since the car was loaded with luggage,it was dark, the car was reversing out the drive with no lights on the automatic assumption was that the thieves had the car....well in this case obviously not. obviously the thieves and rapists got away.
can one blame the men in blue? i think not,...thieves are, well armed, there had been a rape, how are they to react in the circumstances. cyril rhamaphosa, formally a trade union man, now a multi gazillionare, into big business and black empowerment, seems to think that ordinary Joe schmo should be doing more, how much more i ask you? our police force are overburdened, underpaid and totally corrupt, joe schmo is forking out thousands of rands every month on private security high walls, barbed wire fencing, ( i think I've mentioned previously, that our private budget per capita on security, is more than the united states government spends on security).turning homes into prisons, when is enough, enough. when does crime become intolerable? crime is a threat that the government of this country has failed to address in any meaningful way. government response is to ignore crime, and tell it's beleaguered population that crime is not an issue, that it is under control...tell that to the rape victim or her seriously injured parents fighting to survive in a Johannesburg hospital.
if it's not crime, then we are embarrassed by the 15 million rand wastage, which was our supposed marketing of the 2010 world cup, our display that never happened, all paid for by tax payers money, so what the hell are we paying tax for? what's worse is the way this fiasco was dealt with, essop pahad our minister in the presidency claimed, it was just 'WHITE' people complaining, sour grapes, because a black country was hosting 2010, bull shit uncle of mine,...the idiots in Beijing couldn't even explain away, why we hired empty hotel rooms, that remained empty,..why there was no material on hand to advertise 2010, why basically we paid money to showcase our country and there was no show case, oh uncle gee, this is definitely not a case of whining white people again, but a case of an incompetent government and the inept uneducated people you employ, simply because they are black.
if the current administration is this inept and corrupt, what the hell future do we have? what is to follow is definitely not any better. jobs for pals, pals in jobs...the situation is disgraceful and quite embarrassing.
hopefully fifa will finally awaken out of their stupor, open the blinkers and realise that the 2010 world cup, is in the hands of some very rich, very nasty (dare i say it) black people, none of whom have the wherewithal to host a competent and successful world cup, however they are intelligent enough to make a great deal of money out of television rights, kick backs, construction of stadia, trains etc, all going nowhere slowly...we are about to be thoroughly embarrassed world wide and nobody gives a damn, least of all those in control. will i eat my words. i dearly hope so.
Monday, July 07, 2008
what's new?
apart from having a new baby in the family, things in south Africa just plod along as they always do. the trade unions are complaining about ridiculous bank chargers, we have the highest bank chargers in the world, Barclay's bank, were pulled out of trouble after their purchase of absa bank, they made their highest profits ever, as a result of bank chargers.
what's worse is the ordinary south African worker can barely afford,to make ends meet, and have no understanding as to the amounts their banks debit for silly things like checking your balance. what do they bill for:
1. cash withdrawal
2. cash deposit
3. statement
4. checking a balance
5. transfers, costs more if you do it in the bank, using a teller
6. cheques
7. debit orders
8. basically any transaction utilising a Bank is charged for.
quite frankly it's crap, the costs are so prohibitive, the banks make huge sums just from your money sitting in an account, so why the fees? i like to believe that it is legalised theft. a theft that not many of us object to, but we do object to being held up at gun point, what is the difference here. none that i can see.
as always, government will do nothing about it. i do however support cosatu in their attempt to get at least some charges reversed, but i hold out no hope that it will ever get done.this is not the UK/USA. complaints are generally ignored, third world condition? you tell me.
the justice tslope saga continues, he denies all wrong doing, the justices are having their say, and the mud slinging goes back and forth, even the judiciary can't seem to agree on anything.
the african union, couldn't tell robert mugabe where to get off, it was to be expected, practically all countries on this continent are run by dictators, mubarak,gadaffi,mugabe,obasanjo,kabila,abdullahi yusuf ahmed......, to name a few, why on earth would they oppose mugabe, the AU is a bigger farce than the united nations.then there's the G8, the promises made to africa regarding aid, are yet to be met, two years on, then,.... there's global warming, according to president Bush, it's not an issue. There are greater problems to deal with, would that be his getting his grubby hands on all the fuel reserves the world has to offer, who says, the americans have not achieved their aim in iraq, of course they have, it was never about stability or democracy, it was about control of the oil fields, Bush and his cronies have made billions, the fields are under american control, the war is won, isn't it?
it's all just politics, as they say the rich get richer, and the rest who cares.
what's worse is the ordinary south African worker can barely afford,to make ends meet, and have no understanding as to the amounts their banks debit for silly things like checking your balance. what do they bill for:
1. cash withdrawal
2. cash deposit
3. statement
4. checking a balance
5. transfers, costs more if you do it in the bank, using a teller
6. cheques
7. debit orders
8. basically any transaction utilising a Bank is charged for.
quite frankly it's crap, the costs are so prohibitive, the banks make huge sums just from your money sitting in an account, so why the fees? i like to believe that it is legalised theft. a theft that not many of us object to, but we do object to being held up at gun point, what is the difference here. none that i can see.
as always, government will do nothing about it. i do however support cosatu in their attempt to get at least some charges reversed, but i hold out no hope that it will ever get done.this is not the UK/USA. complaints are generally ignored, third world condition? you tell me.
the justice tslope saga continues, he denies all wrong doing, the justices are having their say, and the mud slinging goes back and forth, even the judiciary can't seem to agree on anything.
the african union, couldn't tell robert mugabe where to get off, it was to be expected, practically all countries on this continent are run by dictators, mubarak,gadaffi,mugabe,obasanjo,kabila,abdullahi yusuf ahmed......, to name a few, why on earth would they oppose mugabe, the AU is a bigger farce than the united nations.then there's the G8, the promises made to africa regarding aid, are yet to be met, two years on, then,.... there's global warming, according to president Bush, it's not an issue. There are greater problems to deal with, would that be his getting his grubby hands on all the fuel reserves the world has to offer, who says, the americans have not achieved their aim in iraq, of course they have, it was never about stability or democracy, it was about control of the oil fields, Bush and his cronies have made billions, the fields are under american control, the war is won, isn't it?
it's all just politics, as they say the rich get richer, and the rest who cares.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Flames of Hate - Alive Man Being Burnt To Death
if these can't be accessed, please check them out on youtube.the pictures tell a horrific tale, which as the saying goes, says more than a thousand words.
shame on you south africa, this is a wake up call to our government, which as usual will go unheeded,
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
xenophobia
south africa, is once again making world headlines for all the wrong reasons.
the townships are ablaze, with rampaging criminals, intent on rooting out foreigners,
where does one lay the blame for these atrocities.
government:
1. ineffectual immigration laws
2. badly policed borders
3. sorry excuse of a home affairs department
4. corruption.(pay the right official get an id document)
5. inadequate service delivery.
immigrants
1. illegal aliens
2. illegal business. (crime, drugs, house break in's, armed robbery,car hijackings, the list is endless.)
3. no regard for local municipal by laws
4. no regard for the rule of law, period.
not every immigrant that has entered our borders, is deserving, of the list above, there are those that have brought in invaluable skills, who have provided much needed services to this country, then there are those, who have added to our bad reputation of being the most violent, criminal riddled country, on this planet, we put the Brazilian ghetto's to shame. our governments lack of foresight has allowed,disgruntled south african's to be roused into a mob, on the hunt to root out the immigrants in their communities, it has been a systematic, countrywide purging of foreigners from the mainly black townships, minister essop pahad, is sighting right wing elements,he might be correct, as seen in Italy, and other parts of Europe, xenophobic attacks, are usually carried out, by the ultra right wing, grow up,.... south Africa has far more sinister issues at work here,
lack of service delivery, an unwillingness to inculcate in the local population, the need to work, for what one needs in life, the abolishing of a feeling of entitlement, without a strong work ethic,an understanding that we all need to come to the party, these attacks will never stop, once the foreigners, are rooted out, why not move in on the minorities, hell they are doing better than the township dwellers, it is a cycle that will never end.
what i believe.
1. government should jack up immigration controlls
2. genuine refugees, should be put in camps, run in conjunction with the UN
3. allowing people to get lost in the townships, doesn't help. you have a singularly large, unemployed population, who's work ethic is sorely lacking,who will use any excuse, to demand services, and not work towards earning it.
4. provide essential skills training for your local population, so they may be gainfully employed
5. embark on an education campaign, to teach your population, that nothing, comes for nothing.
6. all those who think, that this, is an encroachment of human rights, can jump in the lake, south african's need to be taught work ethic, government running away from being hard on locals because they are black, doesn't work, it just encourages people to be lazy,
7. south african businesses are taxed a skills development levy, so dammit get off your lazy bureaucratic asses and go about teaching people skills, what are you taxing companies for, if you are incapable of utilising your resources properly.
8. police those places that are largely populated by immigrants, and ensure that local by laws are adhered to. instead of taking bribes from illegal roadside hawkers, get them off the streets, into organised, shopping areas
9. where immigrants, are dumping garbage, as if downtown Johannesburg, is downtown Mogadishu, charge them, enforce municipal by laws that regulate garbage dumping, don't take bribes and turn a blind eye.immigrants in Europe seem to be able to live within the regulations, why should it be different here.
10. when your local rebel rouses, spout crap, about so called Indian areas, being cleaner, instead of allowing it to develop into racial crisis, why not educate them, by letting them know, that it is the homeowners in those arrears that are out there everyday, getting their streets swept,what harm is there in sweeping the pavement outside your own properties.but if you said that to a "black" person, you would be a racist.
11. hell, all that is required is to teach your population common sense, and most especially teach them that every damn thing in life comes from hard work.
for the past 16 months, we have literally been living on a construction site, a job that should have taken 6 months, is know into it's 16Th month, no work ethic,
the electrical company, sends out a team of no less than 12 men.
they arrive at 7.30 am. start work just before 12am, leave by 2.30 pm. in that time, they play football in the room they should be chasing, to lay electrical wiring,one guy uses the machine to cut into the floor, eleven guys have on music, play football, talk about sex they had the night before, sleep on any available space, the result, there work is shocking, and i would never recommend them to anyone.
the contractor on sight, chargers R20000.00 a month for a foreman, who spends all his time sleeping in his truck, the workers spend all there time sleeping, he never comes in to supervise.
that is unskilled and skilled labour on a small contracting job, what does that say about the mentality, and caliber of workers in this country.
then there was the plasterer, he was from Mozambique, started at 8am, and didn't leave the job, until he finished what he was doing, efficient and talented, what does that say about the caliber of the south African worker.
the same for the Angolan painter,the Mozambican tiler....so the lazy nincompoop south Africans are on a mission to get rid of the only people who have any real work ethic, all because we are just to lazy,that feeling of entitlement, that should be wiped out of our psyche, we need to learn that nothing comes for nothing. i cannot say that often enough.
the townships are ablaze, with rampaging criminals, intent on rooting out foreigners,
where does one lay the blame for these atrocities.
government:
1. ineffectual immigration laws
2. badly policed borders
3. sorry excuse of a home affairs department
4. corruption.(pay the right official get an id document)
5. inadequate service delivery.
immigrants
1. illegal aliens
2. illegal business. (crime, drugs, house break in's, armed robbery,car hijackings, the list is endless.)
3. no regard for local municipal by laws
4. no regard for the rule of law, period.
not every immigrant that has entered our borders, is deserving, of the list above, there are those that have brought in invaluable skills, who have provided much needed services to this country, then there are those, who have added to our bad reputation of being the most violent, criminal riddled country, on this planet, we put the Brazilian ghetto's to shame. our governments lack of foresight has allowed,disgruntled south african's to be roused into a mob, on the hunt to root out the immigrants in their communities, it has been a systematic, countrywide purging of foreigners from the mainly black townships, minister essop pahad, is sighting right wing elements,he might be correct, as seen in Italy, and other parts of Europe, xenophobic attacks, are usually carried out, by the ultra right wing, grow up,.... south Africa has far more sinister issues at work here,
lack of service delivery, an unwillingness to inculcate in the local population, the need to work, for what one needs in life, the abolishing of a feeling of entitlement, without a strong work ethic,an understanding that we all need to come to the party, these attacks will never stop, once the foreigners, are rooted out, why not move in on the minorities, hell they are doing better than the township dwellers, it is a cycle that will never end.
what i believe.
1. government should jack up immigration controlls
2. genuine refugees, should be put in camps, run in conjunction with the UN
3. allowing people to get lost in the townships, doesn't help. you have a singularly large, unemployed population, who's work ethic is sorely lacking,who will use any excuse, to demand services, and not work towards earning it.
4. provide essential skills training for your local population, so they may be gainfully employed
5. embark on an education campaign, to teach your population, that nothing, comes for nothing.
6. all those who think, that this, is an encroachment of human rights, can jump in the lake, south african's need to be taught work ethic, government running away from being hard on locals because they are black, doesn't work, it just encourages people to be lazy,
7. south african businesses are taxed a skills development levy, so dammit get off your lazy bureaucratic asses and go about teaching people skills, what are you taxing companies for, if you are incapable of utilising your resources properly.
8. police those places that are largely populated by immigrants, and ensure that local by laws are adhered to. instead of taking bribes from illegal roadside hawkers, get them off the streets, into organised, shopping areas
9. where immigrants, are dumping garbage, as if downtown Johannesburg, is downtown Mogadishu, charge them, enforce municipal by laws that regulate garbage dumping, don't take bribes and turn a blind eye.immigrants in Europe seem to be able to live within the regulations, why should it be different here.
10. when your local rebel rouses, spout crap, about so called Indian areas, being cleaner, instead of allowing it to develop into racial crisis, why not educate them, by letting them know, that it is the homeowners in those arrears that are out there everyday, getting their streets swept,what harm is there in sweeping the pavement outside your own properties.but if you said that to a "black" person, you would be a racist.
11. hell, all that is required is to teach your population common sense, and most especially teach them that every damn thing in life comes from hard work.
for the past 16 months, we have literally been living on a construction site, a job that should have taken 6 months, is know into it's 16Th month, no work ethic,
the electrical company, sends out a team of no less than 12 men.
they arrive at 7.30 am. start work just before 12am, leave by 2.30 pm. in that time, they play football in the room they should be chasing, to lay electrical wiring,one guy uses the machine to cut into the floor, eleven guys have on music, play football, talk about sex they had the night before, sleep on any available space, the result, there work is shocking, and i would never recommend them to anyone.
the contractor on sight, chargers R20000.00 a month for a foreman, who spends all his time sleeping in his truck, the workers spend all there time sleeping, he never comes in to supervise.
that is unskilled and skilled labour on a small contracting job, what does that say about the mentality, and caliber of workers in this country.
then there was the plasterer, he was from Mozambique, started at 8am, and didn't leave the job, until he finished what he was doing, efficient and talented, what does that say about the caliber of the south African worker.
the same for the Angolan painter,the Mozambican tiler....so the lazy nincompoop south Africans are on a mission to get rid of the only people who have any real work ethic, all because we are just to lazy,that feeling of entitlement, that should be wiped out of our psyche, we need to learn that nothing comes for nothing. i cannot say that often enough.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
so, mr zuma are you a crook?
. the times ran this headline, on mr zuma on the 14/02/08. i had to post this here, inteviewed by fergal keane on bbc's current affairs show "panorama"..the discussion is just hilarious:
keane: a lot of people think you are a crook
zuma: is that so? (laughs)i want to see those people so they can tell me why i am a crook.
keane: well, therte is a whole army of prosecutors who clearly think it.
zuma: eh-ha?is that so?serious?
keane: are you a crook?
zuma: me? well, i don't know, i must go to a dictionary and learn what a crook is. i've never been a crook.
keane: somebody who takes money from other people for corrupt purposes.
zuma: have i ever done so?
keane: i'm asking you.
zuma: no, that's a mistake i think you guys have made and i've said, i can't have two trials-a trial by the media and trial by court. i'm saying i'm not a crook. i have never been a crook. i will never be a crook.
lol:) i think he finally understood the definition of being a crook.and this will be the next south african president. i have nothing against mr zuma, surely he could have handled keane with more finess and intelligence,
a lot of what has been played out in the press has been political grandstanding, at the end, regardless of who is in power corruption exists and that is a sad fact, the question clearly is if government understands that they cannot missapropriate/steal all the money, there needs to be a balance, as the country and it's infrastucture are important as well, not just the new armani suite/flashy car/big mansion/swiss bank account/6th wife etc.etc. some of it needs to be utilised for the greater good :)
Thursday, January 03, 2008
2008
4 days into the new year,....and i can only wish that the holiday weekend was a little longer...:)here's wishing all my friends and family,...and all you bloggers out there a great 2008.
2007, left a bitter taste in the way it ended....the death of Benazir Bhutto was shocking and uncalled for. it is a challenge to democracy everywhere,and a cowardly act that should never have happened.whether you agreed with her politics,or took accept ion to the way she governed in her two terms as prime minister,..not withstanding allegations of corruption and misconduct. BB stepped up and made her mark in a very male dominated arena. politics in pakistan cannot be an easy bus to ride, politics in an islamic country less so,...there are no politicians in the world who make great strides to high office without some of the wheels being greased. don't get me wrong,i am by no means advocating corruption, just pointing out that politics is a dirty game,...that murder/assassination under any circumstances is unacceptable. the death of BB is intolerable .the cowards who sanctioned this, should be brought to book,to the full extent of the law,..unfortunately i don't believe the truth would ever be released to the world...and so she will quietly become a distant memory and a name in a history book.i believe that this loss does not bode well for pakistan or it's people and hopefully the political mover's and shakers will strive to seek the best interest of the people of pakistan.
back home,...jacob zuma became president of the anc,...recharged for fraud and corruption ... he none the less ascended to the helm of the largest most powerful political party in the country. VIVA LE DEMOCRACY...that is what democracy is all about. no assassination of the man because he is a political threat, yes character assassination in the press,but he was the popular choice and it was the vote of the masses that held sway. what it portends for this countries future remains to be seen, jacob zuma (acquited of rape chargers)/winnie mandela (i didn't kill stompie)/tony yengeni (still serving time for taking a bribe)the motly crew of youth league misfits have all made the top fifty on the executive committee, our president thabo mbeki and his crew have all been voted off the podium. agree or disagree the processes of democracy took their course,hopefully a course we will not live to regret over the coming years.
crime moved over the border for the "festive season" as millions returned to zimbabwe and mozambique with their spoils from 2007,..my thought was that the government should take the opportunity and close off the borders, so the criminals would have no chance of returning, no such luck,...that is the price of democracy...perhaps greater policing in the new year could be the solution :)
Jacob Zuma, will make his official address on the 8th of january as the new party chief, we wait in anticipation for the rand to reach new lows :) just being sarky.
to my countrymen/women i wish us all a prosperous hassle free year
2007, left a bitter taste in the way it ended....the death of Benazir Bhutto was shocking and uncalled for. it is a challenge to democracy everywhere,and a cowardly act that should never have happened.whether you agreed with her politics,or took accept ion to the way she governed in her two terms as prime minister,..not withstanding allegations of corruption and misconduct. BB stepped up and made her mark in a very male dominated arena. politics in pakistan cannot be an easy bus to ride, politics in an islamic country less so,...there are no politicians in the world who make great strides to high office without some of the wheels being greased. don't get me wrong,i am by no means advocating corruption, just pointing out that politics is a dirty game,...that murder/assassination under any circumstances is unacceptable. the death of BB is intolerable .the cowards who sanctioned this, should be brought to book,to the full extent of the law,..unfortunately i don't believe the truth would ever be released to the world...and so she will quietly become a distant memory and a name in a history book.i believe that this loss does not bode well for pakistan or it's people and hopefully the political mover's and shakers will strive to seek the best interest of the people of pakistan.
back home,...jacob zuma became president of the anc,...recharged for fraud and corruption ... he none the less ascended to the helm of the largest most powerful political party in the country. VIVA LE DEMOCRACY...that is what democracy is all about. no assassination of the man because he is a political threat, yes character assassination in the press,but he was the popular choice and it was the vote of the masses that held sway. what it portends for this countries future remains to be seen, jacob zuma (acquited of rape chargers)/winnie mandela (i didn't kill stompie)/tony yengeni (still serving time for taking a bribe)the motly crew of youth league misfits have all made the top fifty on the executive committee, our president thabo mbeki and his crew have all been voted off the podium. agree or disagree the processes of democracy took their course,hopefully a course we will not live to regret over the coming years.
crime moved over the border for the "festive season" as millions returned to zimbabwe and mozambique with their spoils from 2007,..my thought was that the government should take the opportunity and close off the borders, so the criminals would have no chance of returning, no such luck,...that is the price of democracy...perhaps greater policing in the new year could be the solution :)
Jacob Zuma, will make his official address on the 8th of january as the new party chief, we wait in anticipation for the rand to reach new lows :) just being sarky.
to my countrymen/women i wish us all a prosperous hassle free year
Monday, November 12, 2007
comment
things plod along in johannesburg as usual, headline news in the weekend papers is the deepawali, releases of om shanti om and saawariya, srk seems to be trying really hard,...to stop the looming spector of sony, taking over the distribution of movies,....mmmmm power struggles in bollywood.
judging from the trailers, can't say i would be stirred enough to watch om shanti om, did u see the check jacket, and srk's goofy facial expressions, the new six pack, isn't exciting enough. sorry srk.
i believe he know refers to himself as chak de :) now that movie had heart and spirit.
talking about power struggles, the anc are gearing up for the big showdown, who will be the next president of the ANC,..not zuma since the scorpions are after him again, ..the indians in natal have thrown there votes behind the ex-president. all said and done he has done more to unite natal, and brought about some great changes in the racial landscape there,...what kind of president would you make, when you have been charged for corruption, dabbling in arms deals etc,?..however jacob is really popular with the masses. really that is no reason to qualify, but it's the masses who vote.
then there's cyril ramaphosa, ex num (trade union) now head of johnnic,...into big business thanks to black empowerment, who now has not much time for the trade union, he is being backed by the liberals, democratic party etc, as being the next great black hope, give us a break,...cyril should be left making billions, and smoking cigars at the johannesburg club,
thabo mbeki,..is not mr. popularity presently,the office of the presidency,...though is doing it's damndest to make sure our president is remembered in all the right circles.
manto tshabala msimang, first female president, that is a laugh a minute,..health is in crisis,rapes and shootings at public hospitals, stolen baby cots,delays with treatments and results from consults, how on earth does that qualify you, to be head of the biggest political party in the country,oops i forget, you are black and female, that is qualification enough.
then there's the minister of foreign affairs, nkosazana dlamini zuma, (yes jacob's ex) and another useless candidate, who if it wasn't for her deputy minister aziz pahad, would be running another useless government department. the man works to hard,...but the job gets done, perhaps he should be the next ANC president, i would vote for him...
none of the candidates, have elicited much excitement in me as is evident from my comments, politics really is a huge soap opera. i am anxiously awaiting the day, that things are done in the best interests of the country, and it's people rather than the filling of private coffers,and men's quest for ultimate power.
the Americans have brutalised the world, trying to control exclusive excess to the world's energy resources, and the excuse is safety and security.that's a riot,...do the American population even remember the reason, for going to war in the first place, do they even know they are at war?
benazir bhutto, is under house arrest "for her own security" apparently there is a suicide bomber out to get her, one would imagine that the suicide bomber would have better things to do with his/her time.meanwhile the lawyers are being brutalised, arrested etc, what happens to the rule of law, does it exist, not really, in every banana republic,"law" doesn't really exist, it really is there to be utilised, like a fancy dress,brought out on an occasion, the occasion being when the government needs an excuse to usually do something "un-lawful"
judging from the trailers, can't say i would be stirred enough to watch om shanti om, did u see the check jacket, and srk's goofy facial expressions, the new six pack, isn't exciting enough. sorry srk.
i believe he know refers to himself as chak de :) now that movie had heart and spirit.
talking about power struggles, the anc are gearing up for the big showdown, who will be the next president of the ANC,..not zuma since the scorpions are after him again, ..the indians in natal have thrown there votes behind the ex-president. all said and done he has done more to unite natal, and brought about some great changes in the racial landscape there,...what kind of president would you make, when you have been charged for corruption, dabbling in arms deals etc,?..however jacob is really popular with the masses. really that is no reason to qualify, but it's the masses who vote.
then there's cyril ramaphosa, ex num (trade union) now head of johnnic,...into big business thanks to black empowerment, who now has not much time for the trade union, he is being backed by the liberals, democratic party etc, as being the next great black hope, give us a break,...cyril should be left making billions, and smoking cigars at the johannesburg club,
thabo mbeki,..is not mr. popularity presently,the office of the presidency,...though is doing it's damndest to make sure our president is remembered in all the right circles.
manto tshabala msimang, first female president, that is a laugh a minute,..health is in crisis,rapes and shootings at public hospitals, stolen baby cots,delays with treatments and results from consults, how on earth does that qualify you, to be head of the biggest political party in the country,oops i forget, you are black and female, that is qualification enough.
then there's the minister of foreign affairs, nkosazana dlamini zuma, (yes jacob's ex) and another useless candidate, who if it wasn't for her deputy minister aziz pahad, would be running another useless government department. the man works to hard,...but the job gets done, perhaps he should be the next ANC president, i would vote for him...
none of the candidates, have elicited much excitement in me as is evident from my comments, politics really is a huge soap opera. i am anxiously awaiting the day, that things are done in the best interests of the country, and it's people rather than the filling of private coffers,and men's quest for ultimate power.
the Americans have brutalised the world, trying to control exclusive excess to the world's energy resources, and the excuse is safety and security.that's a riot,...do the American population even remember the reason, for going to war in the first place, do they even know they are at war?
benazir bhutto, is under house arrest "for her own security" apparently there is a suicide bomber out to get her, one would imagine that the suicide bomber would have better things to do with his/her time.meanwhile the lawyers are being brutalised, arrested etc, what happens to the rule of law, does it exist, not really, in every banana republic,"law" doesn't really exist, it really is there to be utilised, like a fancy dress,brought out on an occasion, the occasion being when the government needs an excuse to usually do something "un-lawful"
Friday, October 19, 2007
Benazir Bhutto: Overwhelmed With Emotion
thought i'd post this little snippet. are the tears and emotions for real, or is this just political grandstanding.? being south african i know what the trauma of exile can do to people,..so i am sympathetic.BB has always struck me as an intelligent and strong woman, to be a woman and prime minister of an islamic country, well that is a helluva achievement.i don't think that politics in pakistan is an easy "game" for that matter it is dirty all over the world, power,money and men a pretty lethal combination,yet she managed to become prime minister twice.
on the corruption chargers, sham or reality? who can really say it's politics. if she manages to ride the storm, and bring "democracy" to pakistan or atleast a dispensation that would see growth and economic advancement that in itself would be a victory. i don't see general musharaff wanting to give up his hold on power,so the lady is in for a tough time.
good luck BB. it is going to be interesting watching the unfolding of the political situation in pakistan.
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About Me
- africanfragments
- johannesburg, gauteng, South Africa
- passionate bout all things literary. dislike, stupidity and insincerity.