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What about 2010?
In two years time South Africa will be hosting the second biggest sports tournament in the world. The soccer world cup scheduled for 2010, will do SA some good, more so in terms of international recognition and putting our continent on the map. One particular concern however in the seven year power crisis predicted by main power supplier Eskom.
They have predicted that due to the large demand of power, South Africa will have to endure hectic load-shedding over the next seven years as they attempt to distribute power accordingly. Dispite some of the incoviniences that this has caused for businesses across the nation, my biggets concern is how these power-cuts will affect the soccer tournament loaming around the coner.
It is common discourse that as the host, South Africa will have to live up to standards set by previous hosting countries such as Germany, who handled the event like pro’s. The country will not only accomodate the event itself, but the thousands of soccer fans. Media from around the world will be covering the event, and internationally suitable standards will have to be met.
There is no doubt that some matches will take place at night. nothing has been said about how the government will work around the issue. This is quite unnerving as it will only be two years into the foreseen crisis.
The question to ask is: Why Eskom and local government waited so long to do something about the issue? Surely! Surely! They must have known about it way before it came to cruch time? Why wait untill the continent’s most prestigious tournament to tackle it? It will however be interesting to see how Heads of State handle the situation…
For a better understanding of issues around the power crisis read this Article
The Law at its Best?
After months of fighting what felt like a never-ending battle, she finally got the verdict that she wanted. At least that’s what she thought she wanted.
The cops had finally decided to do something about the charges she’d laid against her “friends”, the same ones who had assulted and broke her eight months earlier.
She had been attending the court case for the last three months, and for the majority of the time felt as though she was the one who had done something wrong. Constantly forced, by law to cancell appointments and postpone deadlines to watch as they stood in front of the magistrate and lied through thier teeth. It made her nervous to listen to thier testimony, like they would reviel something about her that would discredit everything that had brought her to this point in her life.
Each time(she was forced to appear in court) she would meditate silently in a corner she had come to know all too well. She felt confortable when she sat in her corner, because from there she could watch them, how they tried to hide thier fear with continuous giggles while the court was in session…it infuriated her and they knew it, but she just sat there and watched.
When her turn to take the stand finally came, she could hardly breath, and her heart felt as though it was going to jump right through her chest. She spoke too fast and was constantly repremanded by the magistrate to slow down…she tried, and tried…but couldn’t.
The fear and panic increased with every word that she spoke, although she told the truth about how it all happened. It felt as though everyone in the room was waiting for her to say something that would paint her as an unfit witness a.k.a the complainant…but she knew what she had to do. When the procecutor cross-examined her, she felt her knees buckle beneath her. She was glad that one could see her loosing her balance from behind the dock as she spoke.
On that last day/judgement day she walked into court A, for what felt like the millionth and first time, feeling more nervous than usual. It didn’t take long for the magistrate to call him up to the stand. There was only one left now, as the charges against his accomplice had been thrown out…
His mother sat by herself, looking straight ahead, at her son, with a particular look in her eye. She didn’t look scared nor did she look particularly arrogant…she just had a look.
As the judgement was being given, her heart creeped closer and closer to her throat. She eventually zoned out, in attempt to calm her nerves. Her vision started to blur and her ears started ringing, making it impossible for her to hear much of what was said…untill right at the end when she heard the words she’d been waiting for.
It had been almost seven months since the incident, the words seemed to roll off the magistrate’s toungue in slow motion, “GUILTY AS CHARGED!” he said.
When her heart started beating again, she didn’t know what to do. That was what she wanted, wasn’t it? A wave of relief washed over her instead and a little smile started to form arching her lips in an upward direction. “That’ll teach him a lesson” she thought.
As she walked out of court A for the millionth and last time, she turned to look at his mother still sitting there. She didn’t move, just stared at her son, who was now being led down a flight of stairs (that looked like a whole in the ground) to his cell. There he would remain untill all the necessary fines had been paid.
Still feeling victorious, her smile quickly turned into a frown as she looked at this woman, just sitting there. it made her sad, to know that it was because of her actions that this woman sat there, now just staring at the ground…
The law had run its course and the truth had prevailled, but she couldn’t shake the mixed emotions that suddenly overshadowed her victory. She had every reason to celebrate but couldn’t, all she could do was smile and that was the end of it. no more, no less. Just a smile.
For part one: go to Vuvuzela Portfolio and scroll down to article tittled Mesuring a life worth living
Zuma for President!???
Photo: www.flickr.com
A personal encounter with someone from my past got me thinking about the place that this proud nation of our was heading… consider this: Polokwane has spoken and there is no two way about it. Zuma is the newly elected president of the ANC, and potentially (come 2009) the president of the republic. scary thought. it seems however that this is not the feeling amongst all South Africans. After a lenghty conversation this morning at the office, a few of my collegues said Zuma could bring about a much needed change, trying to console themselves, after analysing Mbeki’s lack of judgement in policy decision of late.(the sacking of former health ministerNozizwe Madlala-Routledge and the backing of current health minister Manto, in her recent scandals, came up). Perhaps he will, perhaps he will not, that’s usually the case with these things unfortunately…but is Zuma the man fit to represent the nation? i think not…his characture has been brought to question way too many times. i don’t know about the masses, but i also happened to hear a few more people complaining, saying they just wouldn’t vote in the next elections. Will Zuma divide the nation? he seems to already have. What are the potential reprocutions of Zuma being president? what does he stand for? better yet what does he represent? these are some of the questions i asked myself when the voting results finally came in…is this the man to lead our counrty to greater hights? im not too sure about that. this is all my opinion and has no bearing on the ultimate outcome, but it brings to the fore, some of the questions i believe South African should be debating about, because no matter how far away one is, or how politically dettached they may claim to be, but, the rulling party has an impact on the life of every South African, rich or poor. Now that the decision has been made, how will the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) act on the corruption charges against “our” president ? perhaps a conviction seconds from 2009 will save South Africa from this ordeal? only time will tell…
Its about attitude!
In this country, there seems to be an attitude, especially amongst men that they can have whatever they want. not to pick on our brothers of the opposite sex, but it’s just been proven way too many times. from the regular Joe on the street, to big shot men who sit in parliament, but unfortunately it is this self-serving attitude that makes our country, more specifically black people of this country look bad to the rest of the world. yes i know South Africa is not unique, every country including the high and mighty United States experiences crime…but we seem to take it to another level. without going into the crime stats, the issues with SA crimes is the violent nature in which they occure. very seldom do crime victims survive their ordeals. and it is this attitude of entitlement that is the cause. crimes of a sexual nature are often driven by this feeling…”we’ll if you won’t give it to me i’ll just take it then” or “i’m sorry, but i just couldn’t help myself” and of course my personal favorite “it’s Zulu culture” and “she was asking for it”. this is the kinds of things that perpatuate the never-ending cycle. 16 days of activism against women and children abuses are on, and so is the abuse.
“PRETORIA – Richard Nyauza was not the Casanova he portrayed, but a ruthless serial killer who had raped and murdered 16 women because he believed women did not deserve to live, the prosecution told the Pretoria High Court.”
this is another example of how, self-serving, selfish and lead by the belief of some form of entitlement, our brothers actually are.
Zuma for president?
Pictures courtesy of: www.flickr.com (left) and Palesa (right)
The nominations for ANC presidency are embarassing, what does this country stand for really? it’s actually unbealivable that our country’s leaders are backing the one person who has the potential to bring this country to its knees. if Zuma becomes the next president of the ANC the consequenses will have the worst impact on the country, especially in terms of foreign investment. Zuma has managed to embarrass himself and the nation in a manner that will never be forgotten, and especially not by our international trading partners. what makes the situation even more unbearable is Zuma’s nomination by the ANC womens league…what does that say about the women of this country? have they no shame? after all the media frenzy over his rape… it is quite clear that this county is run by fraudsters willing to compromise moral values just to conform with policy values. if zuma becomes president the ANC is bound to loose it’s credibility…the nominations in Polokwane will hopefully yeild less controversial nominations, it’s not like the list of potential candidates is limited, Tokyo Sexwale, Ciril Ramaphosa…think about it, the nominees are plenty, the niminators however leave a lot to be desired in thier choices.
All about Jessica
Photo: courtesy of Saving Jessica Project.
Picture of the band (Saving Jessica) performing at Tanz cafe. the lighting in this shot is excellent, and it captures band members almost perfectly…a lovely piece of photojournalism.
For more SJ pics click here
Shabir in court
Shaik Brothers, Mo, Younis and Chippy at the Constitutional Court in May to support of their brother Shabir, who’s been convicted of fraud and corruption, at his third and final attempt at freedom. this slide show is a short documentation of the Shaik brothers’ stay at the country’s highest court.
