“Listen…I woke up this morning, And heard the TV saying something, About disaster in the world, It made me wonder where I’m going, There’s so much darkness in the world, But I see beauty left in you girl, And what you give me lets me know that I’ll be alright” Justin Timberlake, I so hope that song gets stuck in ur heads for as long as its been in mine for and it doesn’t want to leave me!

I sit here and smile quietly to myself. The Boks are world champions. Everyone is proudly South African, flags are waving, Bok stickers and flags displayed on cars, the country is one again. Watching the news yesterday morning and seeing the masses at the airport, irrespective of what one was wearing, the size of their noses, the colour of their skin u name it, all there shouting with one voice. Absolutely lovely to see.

But vark it people, I don’t buy it. What happens in the next week or two post the euphoria. Are we back to normal? Do all of the expats living in the UK, OZ, New Zealand or wherever else, who are all now talking about our country our this our that, do they go back to their prior country bashing ways. Saying THOSE people are screwing up THE country. 2010, what a joke, its going to be a flop, crime has become so bad in this country ever since the ANC took over. Corruption…and the list goes on.

So prior to Saturday what were we? Unproudly South African? I have to come clean, as most people know I am not a big Bok supporter and that has nothing to do with not supporting the country, its purely for rugby reasons, and for those that do know me, you’ll know that I struggle to follow blindly… and before anyone starts with the but why, cos you live in the country, well so then I guess you good folk living in the UK etc should start supporting England etc.

It frustrates me that one day, week, month whatever we can all just get along and be cool with life inspite of itself and then the next day for 4 years everything is going to the dogs. I sit here and I think about all my mates and other people I know who have left these shores and making the UK’s or Australia’s economy tick over nicely, what a difference they could make to our hospitals, banks, transport system whatever, if they came back and instead of biatching and moaning about what is so wrong about this place we started correcting what we see to be wrong some way…somehow. I am not an ostrich with my head in the sand, this country has some huge problems bubbling under, education to me is the key, because in my mind and with respect, there are some major idiots in some pretty high up places. The schooling system is still fraught with many a challenge, but there are so many well qualified teachers offshore. Yes I know government doesn’t pay well, but what is stopping you all from coming back and starting your own schools? Healthcare another problem doctors are running away and heading overseas to put drips in people and take blood, wasting their damn hard work, get back here start a practice. Crime is pretty nasty, the police cant cope, what is stopping those of us with the relevant training and connections from starting a community policing outfit? This is definitely the land of opportunity, there is money here, Standard Bank has got PLENTY  you only have to look at the amount of damn dust on our cars to see how much cash is being tossed around at the moment. You say there are no jobs, then create jobs.

You keep telling a child they are an idiot when they do something wrong and trust me and idiot they will become, correct solution show them the right way!! All of us home and away if we truly love our country like we have been professing to over the last few weeks, why don’t we channel that energy and positive spirit into making it the country we want to live in.

Enter the questions or statements of really Yaw, what can we do. I know he is not on the same level as we are, but Nelson Mandela was an ordinary guy raised in a little village in the Transkei, he was one man, part of an organization, but one man nonetheless who went to jail for asking why he had to be a slave in his land, he was set free lost most of his life in a jail cell, yet he came out bitter or not, he came out and did his best to unify this nation…well at least try. This one man I know jumped on a bicycle (cos he is a tad mad) and cycled to Tanzania, then climbed a mountain, with the hope of raising some money for orphaned and vulnerable children. He is not trying to save all the orphaned and vulnerable children of this country, but even if its 5…15…30…that’s 5…15…30 less potential muggers, rapists, hijackers etc. and they get given an opportunity to have a life.

We can’t just always be fair weather friends, our country is going through a pretty terrible phase at the moment, I mean who the hell kills Lucky Dube? We need a lot of healing and a whole lot less persecution. We won’t heal by paying lip service. Jake White may well get the good ol axe, good thing bad thing, I have my views, but I will keep them to myself and unleash them on my rugby newsletter , but that doesn’t mean we should start pointing fingers and fueling the fires of negativity!

Maybe it’s the Piscean in me…living in the fairytale land that my mate Tebs so beautifully sang about many a year ago  Maybe…

Anyway birthdays
23rd Pearl
24th Philip
26th Adrian H
27th Chief M

One love and maximum respect!

Y

Que sera sera

PS I’d love some comments on this one maybe I missed the point somewhere in my thinking. Either mail me or www.mondaymail.blogspot.com