PRESIDENT ZUMA : Education 101

This morning I discovered splashed across the The Times : Mugabe tears into Zuma. I guess this isn't much of a shocker. Uncle Bob has torn into many a fine statesmen before. Indeed he has even done this at the UN, the result being many mass walk-outs. The amazing thing was the presidencies response. He fired Lindiwe Zulu. A certain political analyst suggested it was because Zuma was walking the mediation tight rope, in case there is problems with the election, then Pres. Zuma can mediate effectively. Also SADC has given mediation powers to Pres Zuma alone. As true as that is, my question here is, for how long will, our 

South African government and/or presidents continue to cow-tow to this man? Is it not about time someone told him something? Lindiwe Zulu did and she was quickly removed out of the way, even though the previous week the media and a few politicians had been singing her praises: specifically about her rise in the ANC ranks and her having the presidents close ear.

What information does Robert Mugabe have on the ANC and our presidents that he continues to insult us, to the very end? Is it something that he learnt during his time at Forthare? Maybe I am just being paranoid and it is just a common neighbourliness that we South Africans have for our Zimbabwe brothers and sisters. But we have never heard any of our presidents, since 1994 anyway, lambaste or insult any leader from any country, anywhere. Yet we must continue to turn the other cheek when Mugabe goes on one his rants. Is it, perhaps, that Pres. Zuma doesn’t have a moral leg to stand on if he was to confront Pres. Mugabe? Maybe he is afraid that Pres. Mugabe will air his (Pres. Zuma’s) dirty laundry out in the open, as he is often fond of doing. I suppose this is the same situation that our leader finds himself in. Where, it is often difficult, to fire a corrupt or inefficient minister, mayor, councilor or MP. It is not easy for Mr Zuma to do these sorts of things when he himself has been in the middle of the worst scandals this country has ever seen. The Bible says: “He who is without sin should cast the 1^st stone”. The reality is that on some or other level we are all sinners, but the grading is different when you are in public office. You work for the people, not they for you. It is not a monarchy. Accountability should be your staple diet when you hold the highest office in the land. But no, not our “supreme leader”, according to him he owes us the people absolutely nothing. He doesn’t even have to answer our questions if he doesn’t feel like it. What then are learning from comrade JZ?

When we look back years from now, what lessons will we say that he taught us with authority. Is there anything we can pass down to our children? In light of us celebrating Nelson Mandela’s 95^th birthday, and we celebrating what he has meant to and still means to South Africans and humanity and a whole, what do I tell my nephew or niece or son (in future) if he or she asks why there is a shower on almost all Mr. Zuma’s cartoons or caricatures? Perhaps it us who are not listening to his lessons, and in actuality he is teaching us to take what we can no matter the cost to anyone for the end is coming. I wonder if the next president of our land will want to out-do Mr. Zuma and go for a R500 million rand house, just because he can.

President Zuma can only be described as a malignant cancer on the South African nation and society. He, together with many of his comrades in power, need to be cut out and removed. Sadly this probably won’t happen for a long time as we have yet to have an effective opposition party in this country of ours.

Until then the president can continue to teach, I just prefer to continue bunking class.

My Top 20 Favourite Nelson Mandela Quotes

This is a list of my top 20 favourite qoutes from the great man. I am sure that
many of you have your own. Enjoy these, and I hope they help you to re-member the the essence of the man.

“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” - Nelson Mandela

 “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” - Nelson Mandela

 Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Nelson Mandela 

 I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Nelson Mandela

 If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. Nelson Mandela

 "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." - Nelson Mandela

 There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires. Nelson Mandela

 "Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated." - Nelson Mandela

 In my country we go to prison first and then become President. Nelson Mandela 

 I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man. Nelson Mandela

 If the United States of America or Britain is having elections, they don't ask for observers from Africa or from Asia. But when we have elections, they want observers. Nelson Mandela

 If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness. Nelson Mandela

 Any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose. Nelson Mandela

 I am confident that nobody... will accuse me of selfishness if I ask to spend time, while I am still in good health, with my family, my friends and also with myself. Nelson Mandela

 If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. Nelson Mandela

 I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. Nelson Mandela

 I made a mistake by being ejected from the presidency. Next time, I will choose a Cabinet which will allow me to be life President. Nelson Mandela 

 It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea. Nelson Mandela

 Where globalization means, as it so often does, that the rich and powerful now have new means to further enrich and empower themselves at the cost of the poorer and weaker, we have a responsibility to protest in the name of universal freedom. Nelson Mandela 

 Our human compassion binds us the one to the other - not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future. Nelson Mandela

BARACK OBAMA: FINALLY A BLACK PRESIDENT, NOW WHAT?

On Tuesday November 4th 2008, an amazing event occurred. Barack Obama, a black man, was elected the 44th President of the United States of America. By all accounts, this was a truly ground-breaking event. The entire world was enthralled as a black man took the helm at the most powerful country on earth. A mind-blowing and historical event that many people, myself included, had never thought was possible. It was an important victory, not only for Barack Obama and Americans, but for countless other (especially oppressed) people across the face of the globe. It gave us hope for things to come. I personally found it inspirational because, I felt that in Barack Obama, we had finally found a champion for the 3rd world. Minorities in America would now be given more acknowledgement and respect. The injustices (of invasion, occupation and slavery) perpetuated by western powers against many countries all over the world would finally be acknowledged and accounted for. The west, particularly the United States, would now start to operate and ‘do business’ in a more progressive and different way. Therefore this was to be the ‘change we can believe in’ that Mr. Obama had promised during his campaign and subsequent election. It is now June of 2013. Almost 5 years have passed since Barack Obama’s election. Has he delivered on his election promises or has he chosen to forego that option and opt instead for the well-trodden, universal, political path of empty promises and unfulfilled ambitions? Has he increased spending on education and welfare for the poorer citizens of the country? Has the president reined-in Wall Street and repealed the billions of Dollars worth of tax cuts afforded to corporations and to the wealthy? And has he managed to affect the troop withdrawal he promised in Iraq and Afghanistan? What of the closing of the now infamous prison in GuantanamoBay? In short, what effect and/or impact has his election had on America and the rest of the world? According to The New York Times (1 June 2013) Guantanamo Bay is still not closed, but its population has decreased from the 245 he (Mr. Obama) inherited in 2008 to 166 currently being held. Although it has to be noted that as many as 103 detainees (6 June 2013, The Guardian) are on a protracted hunger strike with 31 of those being force-fed. Education and welfare cuts are the order of the day, as the Obama administration continues where the former President Bush left –off. Increasingly more schools are being closed while benefits for the poor and the elderly continue to be decreased. Another bone of contention has been the troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan. Whilst he has succeeded in significantly decreasing the number of US troops in Iraq, there has been a subsequent increase in the number of troops deployed in Afghanistan. That figure currently stands at 68 000 and is expected to be reduced to about 60 000(Washington Post). Prisons continue to be built as the ever-increasing population also increases. Granted he did inherit an economy that was in sharp decline, and under the worst recession since the 1930’s. Therefore it was with this in-mind that the US government bailed-out the countries biggest banks, injecting more than $700 Billion Dollars into their coffers. But the desired trickle-down effect has not transpired as expected. The gap between rich and poor remains ever wider. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in May 2013, official US unemployment stood at 7.6% (almost 12 million people). Some independent commentators dispute this figure, putting instead the rate at ‘more realistic’ 14.3% (June 22 2013, Wall Street Journal, Market Watch).