Ola,
Another addition to our ever increasing community. Welcome miss Yashika, hope you find these email worth the kilobytes in your inbox  if at anytime you wish to be removed, please do let me know.

SAICA, has come up with this new thing that we need 120hrs of continuing professional development hours over a 2/3 yr period. It was all good and well when I was working for a large corporate cos it was all about training and development…on their account ofcourse, working in your own space is a different story altogether. I have had to resort to attending ‘random’ yet relevant 2 hr seminars which are either free or well priced (‘cheap’).

Last week I started writing an email around one such seminar I attended called finding your place in the sun, a talk given by Aki Kaliatakis, it started off pretty grim but made so much sense in the end, but I think I am going to park that one for now, cos it was very happy clappy and you are in charge of your destiny kind of stuff, I thought it best to tell you of our experience this past Saturday.

Firstly thanks to those that heeded my email and came thru, Dr Phil, Yashika, Simon and Vuyani and her posse.
Last Saturday about 20 of us met bright and early to go do our little bit for society. We drove around in circles for a while and finally we arrived at our destination in Orange Farm, a half built house and an old lady’s house that needed some paintwork. After loads of shaite being spoken we split up and started mixing dugga, fetching bricks and laying bricks etc. To be honest it was a tad disorganized cos the building foreman, the dude who knew what we needed to do wasn’t directing us well but we tried our best. I must add, I have new respect for builders, cos that sha ite aint easy!!

I think I speak for all that attended when I say it was a day well spent. We may not have finished building the house, but our assistance lessened the amount of work they will need to do to complete that particular house and thus could start on the next one.

So once our day was done I was busted, I got home late from Friday nights shenanigans woke up early on Saturday, put in some hard labour my other bro, ‘Die Hard’ was in town so it was going to be another late night. So I told Phil lets bounce. The other guys had other plans, lets go to a ‘chisa nyama’ which is like a braai sort of effort. Happy times, we’ve done a good days work lets go get some meat and a few beers. We hardly ever hang with the peeps so lets. And lets we did. Bought some meat, bought a few quarts at R8.50 what a ripper, played some music, sat on and around the cars and had a yarn. The food came and man did we feast, well I know I did cos I hadn’t eaten the whoooole day!

After the meal, we tidied up and were about 5 minutes of getting the hell out of dodge….
Around the corner came a police van with about 6 uniformed officers, they looked ready to bust up a riot. The occupants came out of the car and headed straight for…yip you guessed it, yours truly, there were about 13 or so of us there all havin some good clean fun, but noo lets head straight for the makwere kwere. I walked without protest straight to the back of the van, with the thought ofcourse that the rest would soon join me, oh nooooo!! The door closed and I was like eish! A few minutes later the door was opened and my good friend Dr Phil was sitting next to me, things were better 

They sped off like we had just massacred a mob and eaten their hearts. We arrive at the station, and the others followed us, very grateful for good mates I tell u!! Still had no idea what we have been taken in for (other than possibly drinking in public), we weren’t being silly just bought some food and drink and played some tracks, some were shaking what their mommas gave em, u know just having a good reward after a productive day. So the cops start taking our details down, their attitude was all hardcore and rof like we are in charge here, we’ll show u. We asked questions they’d say shh go wait over there. Over time their stance became a tad softer when we managed to sneak in that we were just here to help build and paint houses and we had never been there before and we were just taking in the atmosphere etc. had no idea we were breaking any laws, but we don’t mind paying a fine and going home. The dude was like nooooo, u must go to the cell for at least 4 hrs, I’m like bra!!!

Anyway after about 40 min we seemed to be getting thru the one guy, cos the other phuza-face idiot was gone. Then along came drama. One of the members of our party was a tad on the other side of sober, he’d been drinking since we got there in the morning and he had been mouthing off outside…he was trying to assist but his rather boisterous rants got him arrested . Normal people would have heeded the message and bitten their tongue, noo not our man. Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father is (happens to be a pretty top dude on the ANC National Exec) You guys are making a big mistake…blah blah blah, any ideas of being let out early for good behaviour….out the window….

We asked the man to hold his tongue but he started getting even more vocal so the cops said right we’ll teach u my friend and they marched him off to a cell. In the mean time another friend who was outside pleading our case was also arrested and the 3 of us were processed. Any pleas to pay the fine and let us go because there were ladies in our party fell on deaf ears. We were going to see the inside of a police cell. But the cop was reasonable (in words) he said to us he was going to let us out just now as in 10 minutes he just had to do something.

Luckily our other mate who was in with us was pretty connected and they didn’t search him so he had his mobile with him he made a few calls to certain people…anyway about a little over 2 hrs, our other member of our party was brought to join us. The quietest I had heard him the whole day. He soon revealed why. The cops had decided to put him in a cell with some proper inmates, he was kakking himself. He said about a minute before they brought him out the police man had shouted ok lights out….

Anyway after a few minutes he was back to his vocal self. About 15 min after he was brought into our cell, we were all let out after paying a R100 fine each. We were given a form to signed which had our charge as intoxication, before I signed it, I said for the record I don’t agree with this charge but because I want to go home I will sign it. Then they asked the vocal one to sign it he was like what for, I am not drunk, I cant sign this bulls**t the officer looks at him and says oooooh u wont sign it ne? sure! And he duly placed it back in the file. They asked the fourth to sign his paper, he too was hesitant but the vocal one decided to prompt him and said sign it bra and lets go…how things change  anyway he signed his too and we were let out.

What an experience, but it was still a very worthwhile day. It really was a load of fun (bar the last few hrs). But imagine a whole lot of us on a Saturday afternoon, taking some time out, speaking copious amounts of tripe and doing something worthwhile other than parking off on 4th Avenue in Parkhurst having a Cosmopolitan, its such a fulfilling experience, well in my humble opinion.

That’s me for another week

Bdays
8th Simon C
10th Tumi Morule, Sefa
13th Maud, Inge
14th Kyle, Will
15th Kuhle
16th Al
18th Thuli, Chetan, Violet, Tahir, Gerald


That’s me for another week, you all take care of you!

Big love

Ex con 

‘Que Sera Sera’