BaldOpinion 11
10 September 2012
‘I wonder how many times you’ve been had…’
says Rodriquez.
Sam
wondered too.
Rodriquez
was not allowed to be ‘in’ the wireless.
A
chronic thumb-sucker was our Sam. Blonde
curly hair, knock knees and the always right thumb in the mouth aptly describes
the bare footed child on a farm in the wine producing region of Cape Town, Sam.
Too
lazy to speak was this Sammy. Drew
attention because of his different look and the always thumb.
In a
squeak-like clip of words and baby-like tones the farm women, speaking in
yet another dialect of Afrikaans, would say, whilst ruffling Sam’s hair, ‘Argh, so cute man’ and another would
say, ‘…what are you going to be when you
grow up my boy?’ Removing his thumb
briefly to say ‘happy’….
The
dialect of speech differed from one region to another. People spoke the same
core language though, Afrikaans. The many versions of Cape Afrikaans are a
colourful cacophony of gripping, expressive and humorous language. For Sam it
is the language of his nostalgia.
Farm
workers of the Western Cape have over the past three hundred and fifty years
developed habits, inadvertent dialects and customs.
Recreation
was the wireless/radio. Football too;
across the dirt road on the grass patch, that’s where the children played the
beautiful game. The situate of the
makeshift football pitch, there between arum
lily plants on a flat surface before the topography rises up into the
Hottentots-Holland mountain range, that’s where the children played the
beautiful game. That is where Sammy tuned his rhythm with the round ball –
often a plastic bag stuffed with paper; but his incredible knowledge of music,
that is derived from loneliness where the radio and a thumb were ample
substitute for friends. You cannot miss an experience if you’ve never had it.
Sammy’s
mother cooked the family meals on an enamel coated green and cream coloured
stove, Dover. It was a coal burning
stove. They used wood instead. Hence, there always was a lingering smoky smell
in the white-walled house nestled under that old grass roof, gables protruding
on either side - worse was the smell of burnt wood during winter and on windy
days, particularly because the worn stable-styled kitchen door remained closed.
The
use of a gas cooker was too dangerous, ‘…
the gas tank can explode you know!’ There
are several instances to fuel this fear.
For quick and cheaper cooking pumping paraffin in the base of the little
primus stove and then lighting the wick with methylated spirits remains the
preferred alternative. Dangerous too ….
Most
fires in informal settlements and townships are caused by paraffin. There are many more instances, but the aunties
on the farms, in the townships and informal settlements continue to proclaim
that ‘gas is the most dangerous, because
it explodes!’ ….
Years
ago I had reason to be shown around the Red Cross Children’s’ Hospital,
Mowbray, Cape Town – a lesson in humility. We have too much to be thankful for.
During
the late 1960’s an embargo was placed on the supply of crude oil by the
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Alternative
combustion fuels were sought.
With
the experienced energy shortages the precautionary storage facility situated on
the South African west coast and elsewhere proved inefficient. Own oil reserves were sought. The State
created a company that uses soot derived from burning coal to manufacture oil
(SASOL).
Methane
gas reserves were located beneath the sea surface off the Southern Cape Coastal
town of Mossel Bay (MOSGAS).
Australia
too was affected by the oil embargo. They found sustainable gas reserves inland
near the Western Australia city, Kalgoorlie – the Johannesburg of Australia.
Natural
gas became a combustion fuel in Australia.
It is distributed ‘Australia wide’ is the turn of phrase used, but also
to Malaysia and other countries who chose to embrace a cleaner and cheaper burning
energy source.
To encourage
fossil gas usage incentives were created to encourage the use of gas. Today 23%
of the world's energy requirement is derived from gas.
Octane
fuels derived from crude oil release toxic pollutants into the atmosphere
during the refining process and again when it is combusted.
The
South African Oil industry is regulated. The State determines fuel prices and
any changes are not legal. This is how
it has always been. Higher fuel prices result in higher fuel levies being paid
to the State.
South
African socio, political and economic issues are no different to the same in
European, American and other African countries.
Like most countries, we too have challenges that are unique. Often what is wrong derives from different
self-imposed socio-political and economic policies that we practice.
‘…
So, how did Apartheid affect you, Sam?’
‘No…, apartheid, (he
said questioningly whilst pausing to think) I
was not aware of how apartheid was affecting me. It felt like normal to live like we did. I
had the radio and my thumb.
I knew what poverty felt
like. When my tummy grumbled at night and I wished that sleep would replace it.
No matter…, today apartheid
is replaced by affirmative action. The poorest of the poor do not know how this
is advancement.
The South African education
system is rated in position number 133 out of 142 countries measured by the
World Economic Forum. (August 2012)
The poor continue to know
poverty, what poverty feels like and that more people are becoming poor;
The poor also know that no
respite is looming;’
There
is a current issue about whether or not to release natural gas reserves located
in the Karoo. The question about whether
to extract or not to extract this fossil fuel is concomitant with the vigorous
and sometimes vitriolic toing and froing of whether to, or whether not to….
‘What is the environmental impact when hundreds and
later, thousands of well pads are constructed in the Karoo?’
The
Chairman of Shell (SA), Bonang Mohale, refers to new drilling methods,
environmental impact assessments and job creation in defense of why gas should
be extracted from its Karoo bed.
Lest
we forget, the same Royal Dutch Shell plc, and the Ogoni People of South
Eastern Nigeria, via their organisation, MOSOP, fought bitterly about the
environmental damage Shell visited upon the now perilous, but previously
sustainable Niger Delta region. Oil
spillage and no regard for the environment is why the Niger Delta became unsustainable. Oil spilled due to negligent drilling
processes fuel by greed.
Lest
we forget, the Ogoni people, MOSOP, the writer and MOSOP Leader, environmental
activist, Ken Saro-wiwa and eight others who were executed because of their
stance against Shell’s exploitation, corruption and resultant devastation – 10
November, 1995.
Has
the Niger Delta been restored; is it sustainable again and what sayest the
Ogoni People?
Will
Shell and other companies have learned, or is the learning limited to more
sophisticated means of exploitation?
•
Why has Shell not brought
LP Gas to the forecourts in South Africa;
•
Why does Shell, Exxon,
Total and BP make gas available on the forecourts in other countries, but not
in South Africa;
•
Is it an okay excuse that
LP and LN Gas is too expensive for it to be brought to the forecourt and sold
as a cleaner burning combustion fuel;
o But
it is in order to permanently affect, alter/damage potable water and an icon
region belonging to the world, the Karoo?
Increasing costs of refined
crude oils is a norm.
Increasing unemployment in
South Africa is also a norm.
The traditional band of
people who are class defined - the poorest of the poor is expanding.
Those in power eat with abandon, but;
The term ‘load-shed’ refers to an act of
saving electricity.
‘…four
legs good and; two legs bad’, says Eric A Blair (G. Orwell – Animal Farm), back
in 1945
Meanwhile, South
Africans remain cautious about the use of gas in their homes. Gas to run cars,
buses, trucks and trains remain a fallacy for most. Yet, the practice is a norm
in many countries. The conspiracy theorist claim that fear of gas is a norm
created by the price regulating cartel, which cartel includes the State. Has
the conspiracy theory merit and; what is the State doing, this time, when the oil
embargo is more sophisticated?
Given that the price
of everything is affected by the rise in cost brought on by our almost
exclusive reliance on refined crude oil what is the State doing about
preventing the band of poor from expanding?
What is the gas we propose
to extract in the Karoo going to be used for?
Creating jobs is not
good enough. We should create Sustainable Jobs.
Gas extraction in
the Karoo has potential to deliver many benefits for the people of this African
region. Sam, now an adult, wants to support fracking in the Karoo. However, like
Rodriquez, he wonders:
•
Is it to
create sustainable employment
•
Provide
cleaner, less expensive fuel to the people of Southern Africa and;
•
Will
fracking be environmentally friendly and ethical?
The African sky is
awash with sunshine. In many countries people farm with solar energy. Solar entrepreneurs use what they need and
sell/feed the rest to the national electricity supply infrastructure.
In South Africa, we
battle to entice people with ‘pay as you go’ electricity meters; we use
television banner advertising to warn that big appliances should be turned off
in order to prevent electricity outages.
We refer to this as ’load-shedding’.
In the workplace first
we bicker, fuss and then fight.
Thereafter we investigate for acts of bribery in the awarding of
contracts.
Senior people are
suspended on full salary and service conditions. After a protracted puerile and posture filled
legal tussle the person is frequently found guilty. The matter is settled and
the guilty is sent packing together with an excessive severance pay-out.
‘I wonder how many plans have gone bad…’ says Rodriquez
