“How sweet it is to be ‘loved’ by you. I needed the shelter of someone's arms, And there you were, I needed someone to undestand my ups and downs, There you were, With sweet love and devotion, Deeply touching my emotion, I want to stop, and thank you baby” – Marvin Gaye

This by the way has absolutely nothing to do with this weeks email, just had that song in my mind since the beginning of the week, hmm I wonder why J

So whats happening gangsters? I can’t lie to you, as I sit here today, I am in such a good space, I cant remember the last time I was at such peace with myself and the world. Where does it start? It all starts with knowing who you are, accepting your faults and your short comings and giving thanks to the most high for your blessings! Everything goes in cycles, cos a couple of months ago I was in a pretty restless space, work wasn’t inspiring nor motivating and that’s a huge part of my life, things with the lady were on the rocks…everything in cycles, it’s a beautiful thing! I hope you guys all find ur ‘happy space’….long may it last!

21st March…Remembering Sharpville 1960, South Africa’s Human Rights Day…
Anyway, my inbox has been inundated with an email sent by a young man called Bonga Bangani, an email which I have attached to this email. He tells a story of his year at one of SA’s premier investment banks, Investec. He tells a story that many an aspiring black professional has experienced. And trust u me Investec is not the only institution where these concerns have been raised. I am not trying to separate myself from this but I was vocal and fortunate enough not to have experienced this first hand, but I observed it. During my article days, if you walked around the office at any one time, the majority of the people that you would see sitting around the office were…yes you guessed it Black. Coincidence, I think not! I know of someone who has recently left her auditing firm to join another because in her 2 odd yrs of training she is doing arb stuff that even first years aren’t doing anymore! There are those that have made it and I think of Jacob, Rachel, Marang, Baba, Nana, Mogul, Chairman, Gorgeous, to name but a few, and very few (mention too many names and people think they were overlooked). But I look at these people and what sets them apart, well black, pink whatever they were destined to make it, because they are go getters, they don’t sit down and take ka ak. They know what their worth is. They believe the world owes them nothing. And they believe they are good enough. And if what you are saying is nonsense, you will hear it straight from them. You my friend must try and tell Rachel that all she is going to do is sit in the office and do arb work, we’ll see where you’ll get off! J

This is a never ending story, blacks in every sphere have to do so much more to prove their worth. It is what it is, I always use rugby as my point of reference. A player like John Smit, De Wet Barry, Percy Montgomery (even tho he has been playin some decent rugby of late) have been playin the shaitest rugby for eva. Yet they are always picked in the Springbok team, then you have guys like Hanyani Shimange and Lawrence Sephaka catching splinters in their bums cos all he does is warm the bench. Let one of the front running players get injured u think the so called no 2’s will get a run, hell no, we will fly in some other player to take their place. It’s all a farce to be honest. If the guys aren’t good enough to be no 2’s let them stay in their provinces, get some game time and hopefully hone in on their skills so they can actually be ‘legitimate’ no 2’s. Pick a young black guy, no he is too inexperienced he’s too young, pick Pierre Spies or Francois Steyn, and sheesh what took so long…it aint easi! Same too goes for in office transformation. Hire me cos you think I am good enough to do the job and every opportunity will be given to me to train, challenge and test me. Its just that simple! Transformation like most activities have to be sincere for it to have a meaningful and rewarding effect, if you are doing it only because government says so well the cracks will show!

Actually u know what this topic bores me cos we pay far too much lip service to it. At the end of the day your destiny is in your own hands. People are there to assist you along the way. Just like with everything in life, you must go for what you think you deserve, THE WORLD OWES YOU NOTHING!! Apartheid…boo F lippin hoo! It is no longer, fair enough the legacy lives on, but boys and girls now is our time, all of our time. A lot of people tell me there is no opportunity for white people there is plenty of opportunity. White people have the skills in this country. There are many youngsters, determined and raring to go. They definitely need some guidance. I have many mates who went overseas cos they were scared of the “swart gevaar” (black danger), many have returned and landed pretty flash jobs. There are jobs here! I used to be in the finance industry before my new life. Anyone who tells me BEE is only benefiting black folks is most mistaken. The sellers get their money up front and the BEE guys work for the bank for a good few years, fair enough there are transactions where there is a bit of vendor financing. You should see the amount of money some of these people make. Selling at ridiculous prices, but I guess ridiculous is all relative…willing buyer…willing seller. So where does all this money go. Well it goes with those people that say screw this place, I am moving to Oz. Instead of reinvesting it in the country and trying to make a difference. Give a person a job, give them the opportunity to better themselves, why would he want to steal from you? Just being civil to another person, you will see what a difference it makes in disarming them, something as easy as a hi, how u, taking time out to talk to the guys selling stuff on the street. We are quick to point fingers at the government that doesn’t seem to know what its doing, hence why the interest rates are where they are, the ALSI is where it is, all sectors are booming, we have had an influx of foreign investors, if I am not mistaken there was a trade surplus last fiscal. (sarcasm incase it wasn’t picked up)

We CAN all make a difference. Let me tell you about this man I know called Michael. He is not even from this forkin country, but he does more for the less fortuntate in this country than plenty of us put together. Last year he tried to go around corporate SA to raise funding to send a group of Marimba kids from Dobsonville in Soweto to Canada, to raise funds for their school etc. Many corporates said soreee, so you know what he did? Cos he had raised these kids expectations he sold his Ducati to fund as many of them as he could, not only that he used his own cash to help build new Marimbas whilst in Canada, all this just after he had resigned from his job. He does a lot of work for Cotlands that he funds himself a lot of the time.

Black…white…pink…f uck it all I say! Cant we all just get along?!! We can and should we work together to make this place all it can be. Affirmative action, Employment Equity, its been around forever. Lets look beyond it and see how we can make this place work for all of us, cos I believe it can. Govt alone cant do it. You and I are definitely in a position to make a difference, even to one person’s life. Corporates make such big ammo, pay a single person plenty million in terms of remuneration, cut it by 1% invest it in policing, education, whatever. I know it’s a socialist thing to do, which I am not entirely but you have to give to receive. It’s the way of the world!

Sterotypes must go! I am going to reiterate something I read recently in President Mbeki’s letter… get to know one another, we are all so similar in many ways. Stop slating this country guys, problems don’t go by telling each other there is a problem. I don’t care about problems, I prefer solutions personally. Let me hear no more about crime, corruption etc. u want to stop corruption, stop paying bribes when u r caught speaking on ur cell phone…it starts with u!!!

All I can say is thank the almighty for places like Umtata, meet a person who grew up in Umtata during the 80’s and you’ll understand what I mean.

CANT WE ALL JUST GET ALONG????!!!! I guess I am an idealist, but if u believe it, there isn’t much stopping you from living it!

Birthdays
18th Nasrin
22nd Emily
23rd Glenda

That’s enuff ranting for another week

Maximum respect! Have a great week… Attached please find the presidents letter, the letter from Bonga Bangani and Steve Koseff’s response

Y
‘Que Sera Sera”