BaldOpinion09
30 May 2012
Ok, so here we are back in
South Africa where the majority holds sway.
This sway is held not because something is right, or wrong, but because
the majority determines the way to go.
Why is it that we forget about
context, about priorities; we also forget that respect, experience and growth
toward maturity – all elements that are earned?
I cannot understand why
people follow blindly. Why do we accept views that are determined by “culture”
without constructive question? Maybe it
is my own blindness. Why do I get the
sense that we are blind to a practice when certain people enact and bright eyed,
even vitriolic, when others do the same thing?
No matter how unreasonable
the practice, or outdated, we chase after the one who questions a culture,
particularly if s/he is not part of that way of life. Why?
Some contend that the ANC has
lost more than its moral compass.
In reference to the 14 year
old girl and King Zwelithini, remember the fracas this caused when people dared
to question? What about the Swazi King Mswati
III who has seven wives and lives large, attends an English Royal wedding and
this, despite his Kingdom being amongst the poorest in the world? Question that
and you’re in trouble.
Readers may refer to this
writing as racist. In South Africa, when you are not able to substantively
argue a point, then you label the one with dissenting view. Today the common refrain is racism. During the
1970’s and 1980’s when it was decided that certain persons were to be discredited
then the label, “police informer / sell-out” was apportioned, remember? The scourge
of community organisation during the heady days of resistance was those, often
among us, who took money from the state in exchange for information.
I am not suggesting that
South Africa has and had no racists and that the past was not plagued by those
who “sold out” to the apartheid government. Of the sell-out people continue to
be politicians, even in the ANC. Today culture is a shield and you use it to
justify why you need so many wives, and as reason for many other socially unacceptable
practices. Racism that is what it is. People who question like this are racists.
Years ago my then colleague,
Thandiwe Kgosidintsi, and I were in conversation. I respected her intellect and her experience
was of another world. I remember many conversations with Thandi. Those about
religion come to mind. “You’re a
Catholic Thandi, and I have spent a substantial portion of my life in environs
influenced by Catholicism, yet… I feel
that the Church and reality, in many respects, are not aligned…” (I have no
reason to be critical of the many splendid Catholic men and women who are my
friends.) However, I have and continue
to question certain practices and beliefs within the faith. Thandi agreed, “But… you know, I know that all of what you say is valid. I go to
church each week because it makes me feel good. I cannot explain it to you. Maybe it is the singing, the incense, others
perhaps. It is much bigger than me, you see. I do not go to the building, to
see the priest, or to marvel at the decorations in the more affluent parish
churches. No, I go to the church to get nourishment for my soul, and it is
something that I get in a Catholic Church.
After all, this is what I am accustomed to…”
Maybe the same applies
elsewhere. We support that which makes us feel most comfortable and often we
have no need, desire, or concern about questioning / examining our practice for
validity in the new world order?
Sis Thandi died two years
ago. It was a heart condition. Thandi
was sad, I think, and I think also that it is fitting that I dedicate this
piece to her memory. I continue to
wonder what my strong resilient, combative and gentle friend would have made of
the recent fiasco sweeping across our South Africa.
You see, the Advocate was
in conversation with a client. “Why did you allow a forensic auditor to change
the document I had written for your signature?” In reply, the Plaintiff, still
shaking, she said, “You should have seen
these people; they were aggressive and I felt intimidated…”
“Yes, but when you
experience an ache in the region of your knee, is it reasonable to consult an
optician…?” – Shame, lawyers also have a role to play.
The Lawyer cried in court.
Yes, Malindi wept. He was representing the South African President in a case
where an artist’s impression included a painted exposed penis. It was a decent
penis; in proportion with the rest of the painting I mean. No, nothing like the David statue, better, I promise,
this was decent.
A silent group, whom I may
not agree with, continue to hold sway that if you have a gripe with what is
immoral and what is not, then do not consult Jacob Zuma; unless you believe
that he has an ability to reason about fairness without allowing old and outdated
cultural practices to determine appropriate behaviour in the new modern world,
particularly if you are the president where the peoples are plural.
“I see, an advocate cried about
your President’s penis”, reads an international text message I received
recently.
I wondered whether all this
howling was because of the penis; was it because the penis had been desecrated;
were the tears as a result of relief, glee, envy, or; perhaps his sob was
informed by the artist’s interpretation, which interpretation the lawyer found
constituted disrespect.
Is culture not defined by
what is practiced over an extended period?
This practice later becomes a norm, the way things are done, culture, voilà!
What is the correlation between
the latter and the historic depiction, which the artist uses to illustrate the
person of our South African President; even though this time the image features
an exposed penis? Is this relevant symbolism or artistic license in need of
censure?
Let’s examine / describe
the subject:
1. He
has Five (05) wives;
2. Is reported
to have a child with his friend's daughter;
3. Has
stood trial for rape;
4. Sports
an affable personality with an inclusive leadership style;
5. Is
the President of one of the leading African countries;
6. Is
alleged to have more than 21 children;
7. Is
older than Seventy (70) years and;
8. Continues
to marry different much younger women –
If
this is the subject and you are the artist, is it not reasonable to include a
healthy penis in your depiction? I mean, what is the role of art if it is not also
to reflect reality, create debate and examine certain practices?
How
can an artist depict the described subject without reference to his enviable
virility?
If
asking these questions makes me racist, then I submit to being incorrigible. There
is no racist as bad as the one who is benign, after all. However, before you
apportion this label, think:
·
Is your labeling me a racist defensible,
given the circumstances;
·
is it justifiable, or;
·
are you using this label to shut me up,
discredit me?
I saw a man being
interviewed on the street the other day.
I saw it on an E TV news broadcast.
Speaking in a particular context, he said “To marry more than one wife
is not love, but lust…” He was speaking as a Zulu man. I question whether this
man is perhaps trying to communicate what he thinks is right in the modern
world, or whether he is merely a sell-out?
View the above as funny,
sexist and discriminatory, help yourself. Remember though, we are here
referring to the President of South Africa.
All South Africans have him as our President. He is my President too.
Meanwhile, here in South
Africa, and on the front page of the Sunday Times, 27 May 2012, is picture of children
learning under various trees and being taught by teachers who are not paid. http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2012/05/27/suffer-the-children
Yes, whilst this
embarrassing act denying our children rains down we bicker about whether a
painting of the President, whom some describe as lascivious, should be depicted
with an exposed penis; whether this is an insult and; whether it is an affront
to the Zulu culture.
I put it to you that this
fiasco we bring upon ourselves is embarrassing.
It is also piffle and trite of law and I wonder whether this is perhaps the
real reason why Malindi shed tears?
It is indeed a crying
shame. I think that we should let the President, the penis, the painting, the gyrating,
and the oft marauding crowds and the large wives, they should all just be man,
let them be. We should allocate this wasted resources and trite, to education so
that the future can be created by teachers who are paid.
I am ashamed, sorry. I herewith apologise to those children, the
ones receiving instruction under a tree in 2012. You will probably never get this message,
children, but I am so sorry and sorry is not medicine, this I do realise. We have to do something about the state of
affairs. We have to shut up and make
this talk about a better life for all real.
Stab the bastard Brutus!
Wow! That was a lesson in the language of english, story-telling, politics and law. I have to sit and think about your views – they are different, but not outrageous, like the topic. Where do you come from?
ReplyDeleteDamn! You write like a white man with a private school education and no idea of what goes down with anyone who may have had a different upbringing to you. You should be ashamed! Stop hiding behind a nickname, come out and let us see you and know who you are. You must be avoided and I know that you will remove this from your page, so I am wasting my time writing this right?
ReplyDeleteWhy is it that people in authority are never wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhat the ANC did in respect of this painting is nothing more than censorship. They claim their action to be in the name of respect for the President. Let’s be real, can one respect a man with a track record like that of the South African President? Maybe he has respect from people who subscribe to this bizarre lifestyle, but he is the leader of the entire country and not only one section of the population. Therefore he has to modulate his behaviour to suit what is generally acceptable – not change, just modulate by not doing what obviously is different to what the majority of people would expect from their sitting president.
When he is done being President then he can marry as many women as he wants, but now is not the time. He has a job to do, an important job, a job more important than getting married and making other women pregnant.
The artist impression is therefore a reflection of the reality and much as it may be deemed offensive in the broader general depiction and role of the artist it is representative art.
The Bald Opinion is and has always been a challenge for me to work through. It is always a superior piece of writing and I would appreciate being able to hear the author speak because he must have of the brightest minds around, an interesting insight with a sense of humour to boot. To refer to him by the label “idiot” is perhaps a hot-headed reaction and my appeal is to read the opinion for what it is.
Thank you for another excellent piece of writing.
Baldy argues from a particular world view and experience that is alien to most South Africans. For one, he argues as if history began in 1994, a colonial construct. Colonial scribes do not see what most South Africans see. We encounter each day grotesque wealth and power acquired brutally over the last three hundred years. Colonial scribes simply do not see this power and so they only talk truth to certain, selected power. Shame.
ReplyDeleteI am unable to decipher what you mean by world view and experience, please clarify?
DeleteWhat is it that most South Africans see and that Baldy does not?
I agree, people acquired power brutally in many instances, but what relevance has this to a President and a Painting while little children are forced to receive their schooling under a tree?
What do you mean by “Colonial scribes simply do not see this power and so they only talk truth to certain, selected power”? I am sorry, but your contribution is not very clear.
Anonymous, please also clarify what is meant by “he argues as if history began in 1994”?
DeleteWith reference to the above article how do you determine that the author writes as if history began in 1994?
What world view is alien to South Africans? Are you suggesting that South Africans are in some way unique and not affected by world norms, standards and behaviour expectations? If this is the case then why are so many foreign systems used in your country? As per the suggestion in your statement and if it is true that South Africa and South Africans have their own way, then why do they not also develop their own systems regarding tax, economic practice, transport and the stupid black economic empowerment policy that you grab from America where there is a minority to be affirmed and apply it to where a majority rule the country? My view is that you apportion too much emphasis on your past and perhaps too little in preparation for your future, is also what Cas writes in a previous article. Colin Mcgregor
DeleteI write from the United States, Atlanta, and read this blog as one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI had the pleasure of meeting the author on one occasion. He is not an idiot. His subject knowledge, stage and set craft was more than informative. He tells interesting stories about South Africa and a place called Cape, “The False Tooth Capital of the World!”, but what astounded all of us was his ability to relate to so many different an unrelated examples when making a point. During his talk friends and I felt that he knew more about American, Australian, English, German and South African politics, the economy and music than us all. He sang during the presentation! Speaks with a musical tone in his voice also, so how can you “label” such a man an idiot?
I no longer call myself an African American. I am American. Sometimes I am proud and other times I am ashamed, but this is where I live, and this is where my people live, so I take the good with the bad.
The story about your President is worrying. Excuse if I aks how a man who carries like that becomes a president - or are the peoples in South Africa subscribers to this male chauvinism?
When someone speaks out about what your president is, or portray him in a holistic manner then the entire country sets out to sensor the person. It is no different to those who hide criminals. That can’t be right. My apologies if I do not understand. You can help me understand, but please do not call me an idiot too?
I read very carefully your article, because I have some unknown words, and I think that is a very deep human article.
ReplyDeleteFor your comments about the artist and his portrait and how people react about this ado, we would say that they are losing the forest and they are looking at the tree.
But i want to ask you if this president is acceptable from the majority of the nation. If the nation approve’s his policy and also his life, then they deserve such a president and they deserve to be undeveloped. If they don’t accept him, why they don’t give him a lesson at the elections? You see what happened here when we don’t agree with politicians. We knock them down.
My colleagues read the article, and they say that they agree with your comments, and that you are years ahead for your environment and for your place. But who can hear you? Don’t stop to resist to this establishment, maybe some of them can hear you
Oh no! I have read your article and it is very sad. I see that there are people who respond here who support this man. It is disgusting and the women who marry him, what is wrong with them? Are all South African mans like that also? Do men generally have many wives and so many children in your country? Sorry for imposing my value system, but I feel embarrassment for you. You get the government that you deserve.
ReplyDeleteYou are the best writer in South Africa - It is without doubt I say this, and some day you will be the best writer in the world. I do not know you, but thank you for sharing you with me – Jeffrey Archer.
ReplyDeleteThe Colonial Scribe is almost blind. He (or she) never sees the ubiquitous colonial power that still exists in our country today, the result of hundreds of years of relentless and violent plunder. The Colonial Scribe is not concerned that the Colonial Class controls 80% of the economy, agricultural land and dominate in almost every sector in the country, including the knowledge sectors, sport, NGOs and corporations. To the Colonial Scribe, this is normal and natural, it needs no discussion. The Colonial Scribe does not see the Group Areas Act that has imprinted horrendous spatial segregation on our landscape, still very much in place. He or she has no idea that many of us pass through areas from which we were evicted in one of the greatest acts of daylight robbery in the history of South Africa. That strange man with the Spear did not inflict this huge corruption on us. The Colonial Scribe would like us to believe that poverty, crime and other social ills have no roots in hundreds of years of colonialism, slavery and apartheid. The historical context is neither critiqued or placed under scrutiny. The Colonial Scribe does not write about the Colonial Party that blinded people in Hangberg, gave them open toilets in Makasa, called them refugees in their country and governs a province with the highest rates of TB and gangsterism in the world. The Colonial Scribe will instead regale us with stories of how well the Colonial Party is governing. Below the line, we Natives just shake our heads in bewilderment. But of course, we are not surprised. For those Colonial beneficiaries who keep on telling us to forget about the past, we liken ourselves to the mythical Sankofa bird of the Akan people of Ghana. It moves forward while glancing back regularly. A people who do not know their history have no future.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have read about the struggle of the Macassar and Hangklip people. I understand the history and the social cohesion, also the lack thereof as emerged particularly during the past 30 years in the oldest city of South Africa. I understand the sociology of urbanisation and that of oppression. I think that I understand all of that and appreciate your explanation, thank you
DeleteYou make sounds that propose building a better future by ridding ourselves first of a past with unfairness in its genealogy. This unfairness, remains and increasing today. You use more elaborate words, but this is the sense I get from your reply.
If I am interpreting correctly then the case you make is that we cannot go forward without looking back continuously, like the bird. I think that you raise an important fact here. The future is not to be found in yesterday though and it is difficult and in most instances it is impossible to fix the past. Maybe you are familiar with the struggle of the people in my country, Scotland, because then you will know that this is the crux of our problem. We are lost, so lost in the past that we fail to clearly identify the future in most instances, but our political discourse remains robust.
To continue labeling each other, whether it be racist, a sell-out, or a colonial scribe is, in my view, not contributing to a solution but mere politicking. The dispossessed has to experience improvement in the future and it is not going to be real if we try to enact a correction of the past first. The balance is needed though, but the greater part is a focus on the future and a decorum that will take us there..
So, that said, what has your contribution got to do with the President, the penis, the painting, the masses who march and the children who receive education under a tree and how do you propose this embarrassment of conflated priorities be addressed, is it by labeling a speaker-outer (one of many) a colonial scribe?
Is this the same Jeffrey Archer, Conservative Party politician, who was jailed for perjury and perverting the course of justice in Britain and was involved in an alleged scandal with a prostitute. Not the kind of guy one would one to get endorsement from.
ReplyDeleteThat is nasty and I hope that you feel better after getting that one off your chest. Does it mean that because the man sinned such a long time ago that he can longer give praise; by the way, where it is very obvious and the right thing to do?
DeleteCas, please remove this comment from your blog because I think that it ads no value. We are discussing and learning from each other about criteria that are of national importance and if a man, one who is probably one of the world great novelists choses to offer unsolicited commendation about writing, being his field of exception, then who is perplexed to discard it on the basis of him having a past. I agree, and it is an agreement that is echoed by many whom I have discussed this writing with, the past is gone, in certain instances we failed ourselves, but the future, that is where we will find tomorrow. What value does annihilating a man because of his past bring to this debate?
DeleteLovely writing – terribly sad topic though. You have a flair with words and I always look forward to reading your articles. Thank you for remembering Ma Thandi. She always smacked her tongue when speaking about you. We only have one computer at our school and I have to wait my turn before I can print for home reading. I came to school early this morning in order to see how I can put this reply on your page.
ReplyDeleteMuch as you give the words taste you do not present a solution. My eyes were wet at the end of the reading last night and my heart is sore. Those who are part of my culture group do not want to speak out about the old odd practices; those who are not part of the culture group do not want to speak out for fear that they may offend their friends who are part of my culture; the politicians say nothing because they fear for their positions and most do the same; the journalist cackle on and; the opposition makes a very loud and unpleasant noise, but who is going to do something to correct this mess, and give the children classrooms to learn in?
To move the painting from Rosebank to Munich and exhibit it there alongside a full photograph of the original serve only to exacerbate the embarrassment. The children remain under the tree with their teachers and the “lascivious” president remains in office and shall probably stay there for a long time yet.
I am a Zulu woman, a teacher in the Midlands of Kwazulu Natal. The practice of polygamy exacerbates heartache and promotes the spread of AIDS in our communities. This area has the highest concentration of HIV AIDS infected people in the world. This President has his homestead nearby and should be leading by example, but we know that he has sex with many women and sometimes marries some of them. It is wrong, this part of the Zulu culture, my culture, is wrong. We have to change and the change must start with all of us, including the President.
Please do not remove my writing because I want the whole world to read this truth. I do not care any longer if people know my name or not because this thing must stop, it is killing our people and if they want to kill me because I say this then that is what they must do. Enough is enough.
Mrs Zwane I am honoured and yet greatly saddened to read your comments. Above all and irrespective of many cultural characteristics we are women and as women we need stand together. Our single purpose in life as women, should be to protect our children. You stand proud and I would like to work with you to resolve some of the material issues you raise. Emotionally I can only experience what you write as I do not walk in your shoes. No one should live in fear of domination. Polygamy may have had its place in agricultural times when we toiled the land by hand and lived off the harvests. Today living off the land in suburbia is a matter of subsistence and producing children indiscriminately is irresponsible. Coupled with the disease and hardships you articulate so poignantly it is reprehensible. Yet our esteemed president continues to do both without recognizing the consequences of his actions stamping a silent sanction into our communities that remain in that cultural state and repugnant to those who do not and yet are in fear of speaking out. As you speak out I add my voice to yours to let you know that there are many who will stand by you in voice if not possible in person.
DeleteHey Colin
ReplyDeleteWe indeed have to deal with our past in a comprehensive way, as an important ingredient for moving forward. I had to do that to deal with the imprisonment and psychological torture at the hands of the apartheid regime. It was painful, but necessary. Millions of South Africans have to delve into their past to come to terms with their anger, lack of self-esteem, feelings of superiority and inferiority, aggression, racism and pain.
I spoke about the characteristics of a Colonial Scribe, rather than a particular person or number of persons.
How did it come about that some children are having to learn under a tree? Is it simply the failings of new elite over the last 18 years. Or three hundred years of social engineering? Once we can admit we all bear responsibility, then we should jointly address the problem - the governing elite, the corporate beneficiaries of colonialism and apartheid and the gloriously wealth sector of our society. After all, it is only because some children study in absolute luxury that others have to learn in primitive conditions.
One learns from the past, you cannot fix it. It's broken so move on!
DeleteYour take on life is interesting, but is it realistic?
DeleteWhat I read is that you propose those who have been denied and those who have been positively affirmed in the past should get together and determine the future jointly? Sure, show us how that will happen?
Those who have better learning conditions should forfeit it, so that a distribution can occur and those learning in the veld can then at least have a semblance of a learning institution? Sounds like back in the day when street committees in of the lesser informed communities would discuss how the wealth is to be distributed when “freedom”comes – that was a long time ago and even those people have learnt that mere entertaining of such a thought is a waste of time.
However, If this is what you are saying then I interpret it as being no different to the concept often described as “an eye for an eye” and we all know the result of that madnes. You probably support black economic empowerment and differentiation between races on entry requirements for universities too?
You can speak about being imprisoned and of being tortured as much as you like. You are not the only one and I have authority to tell you should to get over yourself. The solution rests not in dealing with anger, btterness, superiority, inforiority, racism and irrelevant wordiness, but in creating a better future. Those who are in power and are the “haves” should understand that the future is about progress. Progress is not about having as many wives as you can, about lawyers who cry for you, a wife, one of many, who suggests that an artist consult her before drawing her husbands penis and about how long you were in jail, but it is about what we are doingwith all our experience in order to have worthwhile education. Today matriculants cannot write; they write in short hand, but not even. I want my children and grand children, even great grand children to live in a South Africa where the young can become the old, but with national decorum. At the moment we are growing a nation of delinquents and it is a social, economic and political embarrassment led toward by the current leadership. Look at our politicians. Who among them is respectable, truly honourable and fundamentally committed to building a better world?
… and then you pontificate about colonial scribes and other rubbish that we all know about; but we are more concerned about placing the past in context, so that we can have peace, “Without making peace with the past we will not be able to move into the future”, says Nelson Mandela. So, what is your story, or do you want to continue standing there, nameless, but ready to label, criticise and then deny that you are labelling? All because you have been in jail, tortured and the like? Get a life, or go and write your rubbish elsewhere.
Shame?
What do you mean shame; shame on you?
Dear "Alfred Khumalo"
DeleteYou are so out of touch with the pulse of the nation. You should spend less time in these colonial spaces and move about the nation. We South Africans are concerned about the economic empowerment of a black elite, but not exclusively. We place the spotlight on White Economic Power as well, which is ubiquitous and built up through dispossession of the black majority over 300 years.
My own detentions (two) and psychological torture are not important in the bigger scheme of things. Neither of those of my sister and brother. Or the forced removal of our family in the biggest act of legal theft in our country, euphemistically called the Group Areas Act. The point is that these kinds of horrendous practices were visited on most South Africans, in order to benefit a few. Killings in detentions, death squads, wars against our neighbours, the bulldozing of people's homes, the teargassing of babies were common in apartheid South Africa.
If one of the apartheid prime ministers had many wives, that would have been the least of our difficulties.
My point? the beneficiaries of these human rights abuses have as much responsibility to address our current challenges as have our new ruling elite. How they all meet these challenges is a matter for national debate and discussion.
Lastly, you say I must take my 'rubbish' elsewhere. You clearly think this space is the sole preserve of a selected few. Accept diverse view points, otherwise you will spend a lot of time being angry.
And by the way, I have recovered completely from the effects of the detentions and continue to work to build a country for all South Africans.
I have no idea what you want to achieve by fighting with each other. On the one hand Hairy makes points that are only vaguely related to the article and then also only in small parts relevant. Hairy ignores the other questions by Giles and Pretty.
DeleteAlfred, why are you getting involved with Hairy and making this, probably one of the most widely read blogs, deflect from the points in Cas se article? I get the impression that the author does not want to censor discussions because then he will be acting like the ANC does regarding this painting story.
My roots are in the Afrikaner Community. I do not think that it is fair tohave an argument about what if any one of those black hat ministers of long ago had more than one wife. They did not, so “what if” is irrelevant to this discussion. Adrian Vlok married Du Plessis wife, but only once they were both divorced. PW later married his secretary, Barbara, but only after Elize died. FW married the Greek lady, also after his divorce from Marike.
These things happen, they happened and they shall continue to happen, but nee bliksem! the black hat boys did not marry every big woman who uncrossed its path to them. Maybe because of the protestant dictate the men in black behaved in a particular way, but what influences certain black men’s behaviour today? It is scandalous how the current President conducts his private life. No talk about an aspect of his culture will change my mind. I read an email about this the other day. The writer wrote about the President’s dignity being violated with the drawing of genitalia on an appropriate painting. My view is that it is interesting how the dignity question is tabled at this juncture. When the President admitted to having had sex with a young night guest, a family friend’s daughter, when he admitted to fathering a child with Irvin Khoza’s (also his friend) daughter, then why did we not speak about the President’s dignity with the mentioned instances? The President does an excellent job of messing up his own dignity. Commentators merely reiterate what he tells them about how a sex-obsessed an old man he is. Meanwhile, unemployment soars and children go hungry, receive education under trees and people like Mrs Zwane speak out and fear for their lives as a result.
Is it really very untrue to say that the people who support this kind of behaviour are the ones who vote for Jacob Zuma to lead this country – the majority of us?
We are a country of people who encourage old men to be dirty. All in the name of culture and the ANC can do no wrong. We are being stupid and blinded by our past. In one of the articles Cas writes about how we must vote for a party where the ideas have not expired. The ANC’s ideas have expired.
Why does Hairy not compare our President’s behaviour with those who lead other countries. If we can import all foreign policies from other countries, like affirmative action, capital gains tax, e’Tolling, rates on flats, colonial scribe and a lot more, why can we also not invite and adopt the behaviour of people in those “civilized” countries, or is it civilized the way our president conducts himself? Look at Joyce Banda as an example. What will happen if President Obama impregnates Reg Romney’s daughter? What will the outcome be if David Cameron marries four additional women? Imagine the Queen of England conducts a reed dance to choose a little pale male, one who cannot play rugby, to be her second husband? The world will go mad should this happen. Meanwhile, here in Africa’ the Presidents can rape, lie, maim, steal and marry several women at the same time, among those wives is one who publicly wants to be consulted by artists before he can draw genitals on a painting representing the South African President. No man, this is not right.
Civilised countries? Are you talking about those who use drones to bomb innocent civilians and plunder countries for their oil. Bush and Blair should be tried in the international criminal court. I suppose Clinton's exploits with a 19-year-old child and old Berlusconi's alleged escapades with an under age prossie are among the examples of superior conduct by other world leaders. Prejudice blinds you to the truth.
DeleteI have read each of these articles and many of them I have read more than three times. I have sent them on to friends and have used its reference when I write and in my work. I have been moved by the vivid images that come to mind and I have been saddened by the realness portrayed. I read the comments and many are sad, wordy and unnecessary, but only in my view. Then I read other contributions, like the one by Mrs Zwane, and it moved me to come back to my computer and say the following: For the first time in my life, and I too am a teacher, but for the first time in my life have I read an article that made me stand up and applaud. This may sound silly, but as the author says, If you label me silly then I am silly…, or words like that. I see that your name is Cas, so please excuse me for feeling that I know you. Thank you Cas for facilitating a thinking and for stimulating a discussion as important and catastrophic as this. AW Kajembe, Dar es Salaam, Northern Tanzania
ReplyDeleteLiewe Cas
ReplyDeleteEk het nou darem regtig lekker vir jou blog gelag!
Everything you said, however, is as true as true can be. But how can the situation be changed? Do you have a plan? A good plan? A viable plan? As always I am on your side of the fence, but what a pity I am so bloody old!!! Too old to fight a cause.
Thank you for participating in this discussion, for the comments, criticism and commendations.
ReplyDeleteIt is not my intention to defend the opinion piece. I am not a complete authority on all the issues raised. Instead, my purpose is to test the thoughts. Years ago I discovered that my ideas, thoughts and decisions were, from time to time, devoid of certain critical factors, which factors, if then taken into consideration may have been reason to choose another resolve. This is probably a sentiment that other readers can identify with. We have the right to change our views. This blog is therefore a vehicle through which I test my opinions and views. There are times that I review my views as a result of the critical discussion that is ignited on the blog page and privately. Perhaps readers also have their existing views affected by what is said in topics I choose and write about.
I read every comment very carefully, think about and value the contributions. Thank you for the time you take to respond.
There are times when I strongly disagree with the comments posted. When I worked in trade unions during the 1980’s, workers would chant, “each one teach one”. I like the meaning of that chant, so I use it frequently in my life and work. It is often the simple things that are most important, I think. We go around the world teaching people how to treat us by the way we behave and; in order to have a good friend we have to be a good friend first.
Maybe to know about me is not as important. I spent years on the Cape Flats, near Cape Town City in South Africa and regard it as the most beautiful city in the entire world – the seat of my soul. I have strong views about the politics in Cape Town. The views held by all the different groups there leave me gasping for other air. I moved away 15 years ago.
Mrs Zwane’s comments brought me to tears. To cry is not gender specific. I have a heart and a social brain that is no different to that of Mrs Zwane. I feel the way she does and know that frustration. Be in touch Mrs Zwane and then let’s do something that will make a real difference, even if it is only to a small number of people – after all, the difference we can make will matter to that small number.
Thank you for reading my blog. I am currently thinking about writing a piece about various combustion fuels and related questions; amongst others, I shall include a wonder why we continue to use only one set of combustion fuels and; I shall present alternatives, pose some questions, which questions shall include why there is not a move to introduce less expensive combustion fuels. I shall try and say something comical too, but the comic shall rest more in how the words are strung than in the impact and the intent. Think about how the price of fuel impact our lives and; is it therefore not time that we talk this talk?
Regards,
CAS
Overheard: Jacob Zuma has a ton of wives! Viva load-shedding.
ReplyDelete