What does a Holy man and Gadhafi have in common, not much other than being on this blog :)

I need a dollar dollar dollar is what I need hey hey…

Another Monday, another week ends a new one begins, a chance to right the wrongs of the week before, a chance to say and do the things we didn’t the week, but most importantly a chance to grow and become a better self…top of the morning to you my good people.

There are 2 topics pounding in my head like the aftermath of a red wine hangover for the last few weeks and I have sparked many debates with friend and foe alike to get their take on these topics.

The first one was this thing with the Dalai Lama wanting to come to SA for the Arch’s birthday party. Let me start off by saying as a citizen of this nation, I don’t think I have a right to know when Faithfulness Ndlovu from Harare’s entry visa is denied, towing that line, I don’t think that I have any right to know whether the Dalai Lama’s visa has been approved or not. The government doesn’t have to tell me jack, buttttt, where I lose my nut is when the government, in its infinite wisdom, decides they need to help the SABC reach its revenue targets and speaks but such speech is heavily laden with untruths such as “its still in process” (2 weeks or so later). Neaaaggaaaa, best you hush your mouth man, my mama didn’t raise no fool!!!

That leads me to my next point on this, why not grant a harmless old man a visa to visit his fellow freedom struggler, spiritual friend on his birthday? Does SA recognize Tibet as a nation, ehhh No, therefore in conclusion ne, its so called spiritual leader should be a non entity and his application should have been viewed on its own merits, just like any other individual visiting this nation of ours. Its not like he came here to march with Juju for our economic emancipation or to sing everyday I’m shuffling with JZ, he was just here to have a cuppa tea. The irony in this whole debacle is that through refusing the man a visa, the plight of the Tibetans was once again put to the fore along with our hypocrisy

Hypocrisy you might be asking…yes hypocrisy…. how soon we forget, (we being the government of today) that not so long ago it was them self same non-visa grantors who were oppressed and considered persona non-grata on their own land, it was them, that were the persecuted and down trodden and many pockets of this world stood beside them and with their help managed to gain the emancipated of the people of SA and with that those that were once spat on can now spit on people too…haaa (but you know what I mean) yet here we are… turning our back on a man of peace….shame on us

Ok so I say those things, then I hear something. Cha ching is what it sounds like, almost like the sound of a slot machine once you have stuck it…I think a few weeks prior to this debacle I had read that China had pledged over 20bn in trade with South Africa. Note I wrote trade not grant/donation, we have something that they want. That being said though, put yourself in the shoes of the government. You have a nation that you have set growth targets of 7% for, but for so long we cant even make 3% consistently, we promised millions of jobs but with the economic slow down, we cant even make a couple of thousand a month…along comes Bruce Lee’s father with deep pockets and a kick to boot and offers to spend money in your country that will:
- help you in terms of getting your economy moving forward;
- hopefully reducing unemployment;
- and also creating an opportunity for your fellow government employees to earn some supplementary income
…what would you do??

I know what I would. I would try my best to be an independent, self regulated and run nation, obviously taking into account what at the end of the day is best for my people. More importantly however would be that I want my people to know that I am an honest government, my moral compass is set right, I do the best for my citizens and I can not be bought.

What do you do? Let him in and potentially anger your (soon to be, if not already) biggest trading partner, so 2 old men can kick it and have a yarn or don’t let him in and the world thinks you are a puppet nation that can be bought, yet potentially stimulate your economy…

Speaking of puppet nations, Libya, in my view is now enroute to becoming such a nation! Prior to the recent uprisings, yes Gadhafi (rest his soul) had been in power for decades, blamed for the Lockerbie Bombing and he accepted it. I am sure he was far from a saint in many respects, but I am not so sure if the images of his capture and death being so freely broadcast over the news networks are deserved, even if he was nutjob!

Now I don’t believe everything that I read, but I did a little google search on this and there is nothing that shows the points below to be a fabrication. Have a read of these:
- There is no electricity bill in Libya; electricity is free for all its citizens.
- There is no interest on loans, banks in Libya are state-owned and loans given to all its citizens at 0% interest by law.
- Home considered a human right in Libya.
- All newlyweds in Libya receive $60,000 Dinar (US$50,000) by the government to buy their first apartment so to help start up the family. Is this what you call a dictator Traditional wedding in Tripoli, Libya.
- Education and medical treatments are free in Libya. Before Gaddafi only 25% of Libyans are literate. Today the figure is 83%.
- Should Libyans want to take up farming career, they would receive farming land, a farming house, equipments, seeds and livestock to kick-start their farms – all for free.
- If Libyans cannot find the education or medical facilities they need in Libya, the government funds them to go abroad for it – not only free but they get US$2,300/mth accommodation and car allowance.
- In Libyan, if a Libyan buys a car, the government subsidized 50% of the price.
- The price of petrol in Libya is $0.14 per liter.
- Libya has no external debt and its reserves amount to $150 billion – now frozen globally. Great Man-Made River project in Libya… $27 billion.
- If a Libyan is unable to get employment after graduation the state would pay the average salary of the profession as if he or she is employed until employment is found.
- A portion of Libyan oil sale is, credited directly to the bank accounts of all Libyan citizens.
- A mother who gave birth to a child receive US$5,000.
- 40 loaves of bread in Libya costs $ 0.15.
- 25% of Libyans have a university degree.
- Gaddafi carried out the world’s largest irrigation project, known as the Great Man-Made River project, to make water readily available throughout the desert country

Now say Gadhafi was indeed a dictator and offered his people even a third of the items below, in my mind he is streets ahead of many (if not all) of the so called leaders of the free world, a free world where the taxpayers money is being used to bailout reckless behavior of a few individuals.

The saddest thing is, in as much as the world would like us to believe that Libya has been ‘freed’, I think its going to be in a MAAASSIIIVEE world of pain before it sees any sanity, if it actually ever does see any ‘sanity’ at all. The country has been ruled by one government…family for about 4 decades, there has been no opposition. No one else knows what it takes to run a country. You want to tell me that the county is better off? Under Gadhafi, at least you knew that if you were an upstanding citizen that towed the line, when you went out in the morning, it was almost guaranteed that you will return home to la familia. I see another situation like Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt…just sheer lawlessness, but I guess that was all part of the plan so that the powers that be can rape and pillage the resources. NATO comes and states that it helped the rebels, perhaps, but what’s the price for this so called help…what’s the price!!!???

Anyway same conversations I am sure many of us have been having, nothing changing, but I must take this time to make special mention to JZ for actually stepping to the plate and swatting aside 2 shall we say…rogue ministers today and suspending the chief of police(even though its with full pay and benefits…cant have it all can we). That’s the kind of decisiveness that the voting public seeks in its leadership, next time, a little more swift but alas baby steps! More than we can say for the previous government, now lets see some action plans to stimulate this economy of ours yeah?!!

Birthdays
17th Leila, Tshepo
18th Sylvia
19th Khudu
20th Thandi
23rd All Blacks win the world cup ;)
24th Philip
27th Chief


And to you my dear friends, here’s to a fabulous week!

Massive respect!

Y