2 great fallen soldiers of our democrcy

Its been an insanely long time my dear friends trust the world is alright with you. Laziness has been my friend as well as the lack of anything positive to write about. I am not sure if its just me being sensitive, but as human beings we absolutely love to moan and complain. Everyday its I cant believe this guy or girl did that, why cant things just work out, why do they have to be like that blah blah bleedy blah, so I decided I don’t want to add to that, because all the news of today is nothing but negativity. Lets see, this 500m building in SA for the police that doesn’t want to die, the ANCYL’s annual conference and JuJu being likened to Madiba and Oliver Tambo, I mean really???!! Same guy waxing lyrical about nationalization and land grabs without compensation, let me not get into it, just rather choose to shake my head. Cops getting killed, Cops beating people. Earthquakes, volcanoes, Greece’s flailing economy. I am not trivializing these issues because Lord knows that these issues are real particularly the ones that JuJu raises regarding land reform etc. we would be very dof and naïve to think that the status quo can remain in place. That people who were forcefully removed from their land and placed in crappy areas with NO compensation can just carry on plodding along without shelter or land to call their own. We know what happened in Zim, same story and people got fed up , the country and its people suffered yes, but the people got their land. Lets look at whats happening in the middle east, lets not fool ourselves and say that Juju is just causing problems. There are real problems in this lovely land of ours, and the sooner those that are continually benefitting from the ills of the past are addressed the sooner we can live in harmony. Our current ills aren’t racially driven, they are possibly communicated as such but they are economically driven, and it just so happens that the majority of those that are not well to do are blacks (African, Coloured, Indian) and those that are styling are white, so it is easier to classify it as a race thing…lets call a spade a spade its real and it must be addressed and you and I can address it, because even if you are not earning millions you have old clothes you can give a bergie or some dude on the street. You think its not a lot but trust you me its more than you will know, cos if I have clothes, I can use the little I have to get food, if I have none of those I will always be at a loss so I will take. Enter the police, fools they are becoming. They beat up and kill protestors, because they can,they get military style training which ofcourse plants firmly in their heads that they are above the law. Criminals say right, dog eat dog, they have guns we’ll get guns, instead of running we will shoot the popo! I’m no psychiatrist or psychologist, but I only see one ending to this story, anarchist state akin to the likes of Mexico…it’s a jungle out there I tell you. Yes there is a great chasm in the current leadership echelons, but we cant really be too surprised because as sad as it is it’s a function of the quality of education afforded to some who are part of the ruling party. Transformation isn’t an option in this country, its imperative. The current ruling party and those that are tasked with delivering services and revving up the masses were afforded a standard of education that will only allow them to be someone’s helper or gardener. A lot of those with a better education I guess aren’t in public service. It’s a situation that was created yet we complain when the chickens come home to roost…. I can go on but I said no dwelling on negativity. During the period since I last wrote and now, 2 really great South Africans have left this world. The saddest thing about their passing is that not too many of us actually got to appreciate who they are and what they stood for. Not too many of the young crop of wannabe future leaders interacted with them and if nothing at all managed to receive an inkling of their ethos and what it truly means to be selfless in the fight for the rights and to be for or of the people….what it truly means to be selfless in the fight to better the plight of others. My mate Shaka’s grandmother, Ma Albertina Sisulu, wife of the late struggle hero, Walter Sisulu was born in Tsomo in the good old Eastern Cape in 1918, she was the first of 8 daughters to a sickly mother. Due to her mothers ill health she adopted the role of nurturer from a young age. She was constantly away from school looking after her younger sisters. She was bright at school but she was a few years older than her peer because of her absenteeism from school. Regardless of her absenteeism, she was a pretty top performer at school and was the recipient of a high school scholarship. So selfless was she that after school her mind was set on being a professional somebody, so she could look after her family instead of being somebody’s other. She got into nursing because back then people were paid to study for the profession. She qualified at Joburg Gen as a midwife, cruised the streets often on foot to see patients in the townships. She met Walter in 1941 and they married in 1944, he was a lawyer and a young activist and Madiba was the best man. They stayed together for 59 years, 5 kids and 4 adopted kids…Robben Island robbed Albertina of Walter for 25 years and death permanently in 2003. She also spent a few months in Jail. Inspite of all this ‘adversity’ or challenges she faced she managed to help raise her siblings and gather enough resources to educate her children outside the country, away from the bantu education system that they would have been subjected to had they stayed in the country. She was part of the launch of the Freedom Charter, the only woman present when the youth league was born, she marched with the women to Pretoria to protest against the passbook rule (a day celebrated today as Women’s day) Part of her legacy was the recruitment of nurses to Tanzania to replace the British ones that were leaving as well as a life long commitment to the improvement of the lives of children and the elderly. A committed wife, dedicated mother and a selfless member of her community, will there ever again be such women in our life time? If there are lets celebrate and give praise to them now!! Not when they are gone!! The other great South African to pass on are Laila and Zahira’s uncle Prof Kader Asmal. Never had the pleasure of meeting this great man, but you could tell that when he spoke he had something of substance to say, unlike the political mumbo jumbo that sprays forth nowadays when the powers that be step to the mic! Oh yes by the way I am not sure if you heard the big thuds on both occasions…don’t mind it too much it was me just dropping names ;) So where was I, Prof Asmal from Stanger…man was a proper smart guy who was vocal when there was someone in the movement that was out of order. So strong was his conviction that he stood down from active ANC duty when he found out that the Scorpions were being disbanded aaaaand some of the government officials that were investigated and found guilty voted against it. He was also one of the vocal ones against uncle Bob Mugabe. Recently he had this to say about the very controversial and potentially detrimental Information Bill: "Since this has not happened, my conscience will not let my silence be misunderstood. I ask all South Africans to join me in rejecting this measure in its entirety,"… he was calling on all South Africans to oppose this bill. No one was safe when he was around, he attacked Fikile Mbalula who was then the deputy chief of police when he suggested that the Police should be militarized, labeled Juju a tenderpreneur and even the National Youth Development Agency was described as a farce, which is in my mind not far from the truth because all I know is what I read, and what I read isn’t too complementary about the agency. I have scoured a few websites to find as much as I could about this man and all that stood out was the glowing yet consistent message about his intellectual capacity, selflessness and his inability to stand down where matters contrary to good governance, common sense, (which appears to be a whole lot less common nowadays) and a fight for the people were concerned. He was from Stanger in KZN, moved to London as a teacher, furthered his studies at the London School of Economics and Political Studies where he qualified as a lawyer. Whilst in exile, he was a professor at Trinity College where he specialized in International Law, Labour, and Human rights for 27 years. He was one of the custodians of the international anti-apartheid movement. In 1990 when he returned he was instrumental in shaping our democracy and the constitution he served in both President Mandela and Mbeki’s cabinet, first as mister of Water and Environmental affairs and later as Minister of education. Will this current generation be able to deliver to this nation people of similar ilk? My answer is an optimistic No. No because we as tomorrows leaders are too focused on the advancement of self…good or bad you decide. As tomorrows leaders our thoughts aren’t on the plight of tomorrows people at all. As tomorrows leaders, we seem to have lost comprehension of whats right and wrong. Optimistic in that there is always a breaking point. Something always has to give and hopefully it gives before the horse has bolted Birthdays…. Shoo I have missed sooo many since my last email so no disrespect intended I will just do this weeks birthdays please. 21st Kgash and Jake 22nd Simmybunny, Dakes and Zulfiq 23rd Kroppies and Redhead Ed 24th Gretchen 25th Dolce and Ofei To all you others that I didn’t give special mention to, im sure I mailed you texted you or Facebooked you, hope you had sublimely stupendous birthdays. On that note I’m out my dear friends you take care of you and 2 things to remember: 1) Whatever you think it is that its insurmountable, trust you me it too shall pass 2) 2 even little old you can make a difference 3) if none of these 2 thoughts made any difference in your psyche, its Thursday or Friday depending on where you are so go on and get dronk ☺ Peace, happiness and maximum respect to you all Y