A different view on current affairs & history
Unlike most countries South Africa has an array of climates such as the mediterreanean of the Western Cape, the subtropical of KwaZulu Natal, the deserts of the Kalahari and the bushveld of Limpopo. Each produces its own nique scenic wonders.
For this reason, South Africa can truly be described as a world in one country
Main picture: Valley of Desolation
Against the odds, the Greek Parliament passed the necessary austerity legislation as demanded by the EU. In all likelihood it was a grudging acceptance of the harsh conditions and an even an enduring lesson for all politicians with populist proclivities, but its adherence does not bode well for Greece and the EU. Moreover it highlights the dangers of post 2008 growth in sovereign debt and the future of banks too-large-to fail.
Of more immediate concern is whether Greece truly possesses the political will and societal cohesion to fully implement what is expected of them. The extent of what is demanded of them is without precedent except for the onerous conditions imposed on Germany at the Versailles Conference subsequent to WW1 during 1919.
Main picture: Santorini
After a hard day at the office, I felt like a cheer-me-up uplifting story, something that would elevate me morally & emotionally. With its numerous problems – many self-inflicted – South Africa offers a smorgasbord of topics on which to vent one’s ire. Foremost amongst them are the avalanche of corruption claims and its handmaiden – incompetence.
PRASA’s – the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa – “faux pas” of ordering trains which were too “tall” for the electric lines transformed into a race issue when the CEO of PRASA – one Lucky Montana – accused the Bleed Newspaper’s white reporter of being anti-black for breaking the story.
Main picture: Their first flight
Seldom if ever in politics do the consequences of poor economic or political judgement force a humiliating volte face as abrupt and as dramatic as the one that the Greek Prime Minister has just had to endure this week. What does it mean for Greeks? Is it emblematic of realpolitik in action?
Like humans across the globe whenever bad things happen to them their response is always to blame a third party. In the case of the Germans after WW1, it was the perfidious Jews who had “stabbed Germany in the back” as they articulated it. In fact this idea was first propagated by General Erich Ludendorff even before the Armistice was signed. Even though it was his personal miscalculations that had resulted in Germany’s defeat, even somebody as resilient and as obdurate as Ludendorff could not utter the words mea culpa – I am to blame. Instead he insulted the virtues of the ardent patriotic Jewish population!
Main picture: Greeks vent their anger against austerity in general and the Germans in particular
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With the 102nd Tour de France currently underway, this epic three-week-long event is emblematic of man’s tenacity and perseverance. The unremitting odyssey encompasses tortuous mountain climbs, harrowing hairpin bends and breakneck speeds through hamlets and villages along the 3360km route from Utrecht in Holland to Paris in France.
The agonies and the ecstasies will be closely followed by hundreds of millions every day. What attracts these viewers is not merely the regurgitation of facts about each participant but more importantly the verdant fields, the Alpine vistas and the quaint forgotten hamlets through which the race traverses.
Main picture: The finish of the first Tour. At the right: the first winner, Maurice Garin. At the left: probably Leon Georget (not sure). Tour de France 1903.
Initiation within the black community is a cultural imperative or rite of passage. With the initiation season barely started, so far this year the death toll already stands at 23. Foremost amongst the various trials that the initiates undergo is a circumcision by a traditional healer. The number of penectomies – the amputation of the penis – has not been recorded and never is as it normally merely included under the figure of disfigurement and other serious injuries. In any other society there could even result in the downfall of the government but in South Africa it only rates a mention on page three or five of the newspaper.
The use of an initiation to induct a member into a society, club or institution has a long history across all civilisations. The form of initiation which subjects the initiate to physical pain, mental torture or death has been severely circumscribed within most of the first world over the past few decades. Within South Africa’s black society on the other hand, it appears still to play a significant role especially within rural communities.
Main picture: Initiates or amaKwetha covered in white clay and the traditional knobkerrie
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For me Port Elizabeth represents my roots, physically and emotionally. It was only the lack of work opportunities after I had completed my Articles of Clerkship, that I was forced to relocate to Joburg in 1980. Emotionally it is more that the place where I grew up, went to school and university. My roots go much deeper than that. One of the first citizens of Port Elizabeth was my great great great grandfather. With his house at Number 7 Castle Hill being a National Monument, I can truly feel a part of Port Elizabeth’s illustrious history.
Main picture: The central suburb of Port Elizabeth.
Two recent events have once again highlighted the bullying uncompetitive attitude of the South African Taxi industry. Firstly there was the shooting of a bus driver in Mamelodi together with the associated violence and then this week the harassing tactics against Uber drivers and passengers outside Sandton City confirming this attitude.
The use of “mini buses” – colloquially called black taxis – as the preferred method of transport for the lower classes in South Africa arose as a direct consequence of Apartheid. The use of these vehicles is an aberration as it is cheaper to use other modes of public transport such as buses and trains rather than these smaller vehicles. Moreover these vehicles were never designed to carry 18 passengers.
Nazi Germany undoubtedly produced some of the most advanced and impressive tanks of WW2 but were they truly better than their opponents vehicles? Were the designs after the Panzerkampfwagen iv including the renowned Tiger 1 as excellent as was claimed or were they merely a vanity project of Adolf Hitler which was ultimately an evolutionary cul-de-sac or did their design presage the future of tank design?
Disregarding the fact that Hitler had been only a corporal in the Deutsche Wehrmacht during WW1, Hitler ever the indolent dreamer had never held a proper job before becoming leader of the Nazi Party. Instead he had been a dissolute layabout without an income apart from charity of family and friends.
Main picture: The 1,000 tonne Landkreuzer
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