Is this the tipping point?

I knew something bad was going to happen, I was running down the escelator after my black colleague pleading for him to stop - but he ran straight up to another black guy and started beating him.  He kept shouting "don't you know what you are doing??" "you stop it now".... then fights broke out all over, people just beating the pulp out of each other - I stopped and was crying - STOP I yelled, just STOP it please...somebody shouted call the paramedics - but i don't know if anyone heard...

This is a dream that I had last night after reading such a disturbing article about the ANC Youth League calling for land grabs in South Africa.  My blood ran cold and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Can it be true?  Can it be that we will become like our neighbour to the north - Zimbabwe? It has disturbed the very root of me, my South African roots. The deep roots that have been here for generations that are now been jarred and told they don't belong here.  Where do they belong then? 

We don't know what we're doing to each other, but the tension is thick.  People are fed up, the intolerance is palpable, a tipping point has been reached...There is a shift that is taking place and I fear what may become of my country.

We have people shouting STOP, Enough!, let's Lead SA - let's work together for our country - but I don't know if anyone has heard...


http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/ANCYL-warns-of-land-grabs-20120601

Then I guess I'm a racist too

Before you get too excited about the title, read the article first. After a week like this one has been, I think racial tensions in SA are coming to a head and, sadly, it doesn't look all that great.  As a whitey I can agree with this article, as everyday I come across bad service / rude treatment / unfairness but don't feel free to say anything for fear of being branded that awful word... "racist"

http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/I-am-a-racist-20120522

Toto - Africa (HQ Audio)

I think it's impossible to come from Africa and not be moved by this song...no matter how hard it sometimes is in this place...I get nostalgic and I live here!

The Mother City

Our Mother City's Table Mountain - no wonder it's one of the Seven Wonders!

On a working holiday in the mother city – Cape Town this week.  I adore Cape Town, always have. The mountain, the coastline, the colourful houses and people. I’ve been here many times in my life and always enjoy it – even if the weather is not always the greatest.  You could literally have 4 seasons in one day – the rule is when flying to Cape Town, take your jacket on the plane – no matter how hot Jo’burg is, even in the middle of summer, you just never know with whimsical Cape Town. 

Tourists from around the world flock to this city, and anyone visiting is in for a real treat. A trip to South Africa wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Cape Town. It is a cultural melting pot, with areas and museums steeped in history, which leaves one feeling quite nostalgic…for some reason…

There’s the old and gracious buildings of University of Cape Town where I was initiated into my first SAP project – I always remember that fondly (not the project, but the time that I spent there J – it was a time in my life that I came to some heartbreaking awakenings and knew deep down that I needed some changes in my life).

The awesome Peninisula with views to die for at Chapman’s Peak and Cape Point – where it feels as if only the horizon stops you from seeing the Antarctic.  Beautiful seaside villages with the houses built up the side of the mountains – Hout Bay, Simons Town, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek.  Constantia in the Southern Suburbs, home to the rich and famous.  The V&A waterfront on the Atlantic seaboard, Llandudno with houses straight out of dreams, dig your toes into the soft white sand at Camps Bay and it’s gorgeous tree lined beach front and view the houses in the cliffs in Clifton where some residences can only be reached via a lift.  Take a walk on the long sandy white beaches at Muizenberg and Blaawberg with its kite and wind surfers. 

That Cape Town Feeling - Sunset over Camps Bay

The awe-inspiring, most beautiful wine routes around Stellenbosch and Franshoek are something to experience and I imagine easily comparable to the wine region in the South of France (will let you know once I’ve been there).

If you enjoy fine dining you will be spoilt for choice in Cape Town.  You will be treated to fantastic 5 star dining experiences around every corner – literally!  A few of my favourites are 96 Winery Road, Morgenhoff Wines, Spier and Vergelegen – all in Stellenbosch area.  The Brass Bell in Kalk Bay for a dining experience over the sea – watch the waves crash right next to you while sipping a cocktail!  Any restaurant on the sidewalk at Camps Bay will give you awesome views of the sunset over the Atlantic while enjoying an awesome dinner and of course, a cocktail or three. The Fisherman on the Rocks in Houtbay for fantastically well priced seafood and of course an old favourite Quay Four at the V&A Watefront – on the harbour.

Then there’s Table Mountain - with its revolving floor cablecar pulling you up 704m to 1067m above sea level – will leave you breathless with the views over Cape Town. There is no other such experience!

There is also a lot of poverty, as is anywhere else in South Africa.  As we drive past these settlements and tiny flats I feel so sad and can’t help but feel hugely grateful for everything I have in my life.  Driving past at night you see teenagers hanging around in gangs, with nothing else to do, I’m sure they’re up to no good.

The visit to Cape Town this time has also been a bittersweet one for me.  For the first time this city is in stark contrast to Jo’burg – Cape Town is clean, the people are friendly and it seems as though things work around here.  There are bus routes everywhere, operational trains, even a hop on and off bus service for the tourists!  I’m not saying that Jo’burg doesn’t have all this, but I’m afraid it pales into comparison with this city.  In the last few years since I was here, it seems that Cape Town is slowly progressing forward and possibly leaving Jo’burg behind – at least when it comes to being a world class city.

Genocide in SA?

Sunset over the Orange River near Bethulie in the Free State

The August winds have started to blow with a vengeance, heralding the coming of Spring.  When new buds blossom and the anticipation of the first Highveld storms is palpable.  But for now though, there is a lot of dust and smog in the air, hanging like a strange cloud over Joburg.  The wind carries with it leaves stripped from trees that managed to cling on during winter, grasses, dust and unfortunately rubbish in the form of plastic and paper bags.

I hate it that some people in this nation can’t pick up after themselves.

I’m feeling sad for my country today.   I read that we were upgraded to a Stage 6 on the Genocide Watch List.  This organisation consists of individuals from all over the world that monitor potentially risky countries and then place countries into categories according to the perceived risk of potential genocide.  Their mission statement is:  Genocide Watch exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder. We seek to raise awareness and influence public policy concerning potential and actual genocide. Our purpose is to build an international movement to prevent and stop genocide.

Reading the explanation of Stage 6, my first thought is that they are exaggerating - it does sound pretty ominous if you look at the definition. 

6. PREPARATION: Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols. Their property is expropriated. They are often segregated into ghettoes, deported into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region and starved. At this stage, a Genocide Emergency must be declared. If the political will of the great powers, regional alliances, or the U.N. Security Council can be mobilized, armed international intervention should be prepared, or heavy assistance provided to the victim group to prepare for its self-defense. Otherwise, at least humanitarian assistance should be organized by the U.N. and private relief groups for the inevitable tide of refugees to come.

I don’t think that we’re at this stage of potential genocide.

What has me thinking though is that we fall into the same category that Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Central Africa fall into.  Round these parts, the rest of Africa doesn’t have such a great name and I certainly am not happy that South Africa is being compared to these countries.  Nigeria is well known for it’s corruption and kidnapping of foreign nationals, while Zimbabwe – once known as the bread basket of Africa – has been stripped dry by their very own rulers who liberated them and brought them freedom.   However, according to the rest of the world, we are no longer any better than those countries mentioned.  I thought South Africa could be different…I still want South Africa to be different… but is the writing is on the wall?  I’m left wondering if I’m the proverbial frog in the pot…

Feeling relatively safe in my home in Joburg (thanks to electric fence and burglar bars), I can’t help but think that this place is about to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.  We have the ANCYL singing a song that was outlawed in 2003, “kill the boer, kill the farmer”, at their rallies, talk of land reform and forcefully taking back what is owed to them, talk of nationalising the mines and imposing a whites wealth tax, every where you turn someone is
being accused of racism. 

I’m starting to feel alienated in my country of birth, and that makes me sad, because where else would I belong?

A few very disturbing articles:

http://www.thetrumpet.com/?q=8592.7333.0.0
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/04/genocide_in_south_africa.html

It snows in SA!

Every few years South Africa is treated to a blanket of beautiful white snow. Not only high on the mountain tops of the Drakensburg, Lesotho or Eastern Cape.  No, the snow I’m talking about falls on the Highveld, across the entire central South Africa stretching from Joburg to Kwa-Zulu Natal, covering the wide open plains in the Free State, blanketing the entire Eastern Cape stretching down the Western Cape to almost reach Cape Town.

It’s really special for South Africans as many of us have never seen snow.  Needless to say many of us prefer to stay at home, revelling in the fact that we can also get a “snow day”.  Snowmen are built, snowballs thrown – allowing us to imagine we’re in another country for a while, carefree.  It also causes chaos since we don’t know how to drive in snow (not that we’re much better at driving on any other day), but this is particularly bad.  Cars were backed up for kilometres with Van Reenens pass closed for almost 3 days – we had to have rescue operations for people stuck in the pass – the army was called out and everything.

I love it when it snows!

Here are some photos of my dogs playing in the snow.  



Man this stuff"s cold!



It's MY snowball!