We ignore resentment at our peril . . .

Ours is a beautiful country, at least so I am told. Well, often Table Mountain is pointed out and some unspoilt beach, a botanical garden or some panoramic view in Mpumalanga. Ok, I concede, it is a beautiful country and largely, with beautiful people in it. It is also a place where resentment thrives . . .

It is also only 14 years ago that I could call it my country as opposed to just living here. Less than 20 years ago, my fate was in the hands of less than a third of the population of this country, who by whatever other description you choose, were to vote yes or no to the proposition that I am human and worthy of citizenship. And then there were the negotiations preceded by a shameless scramble and subversion of my claim for freedom and fairness. This was of course lauded as courgeous act of self-less forgiveness. All of this personified in one man, a great man but one man nonetheless. From then on, you were either like him or against what he stood for. The political negotiators agreed a peaceful resolution of the preceding conflict. With white privilege safely secured, we all embarked on the road to the new South Africa. A South Africa that was to be colour-blind lest it noticed the plight of Black people or the privilege of White people.

Then there was the expectation, the optimism that things would now turn for the better for everyone; which meant for Black people, considering that things were pretty much ok for everyone else but Black people. There were also some belief among young people that they could now go wherever they want whenever they chose, to do whatever took their fancy. "Admission Reserved". In the meantime history slowly started to decay, Dorkay House, Kippies, Sobukwe's home - Does anyone remember who Zeph Mothopeng was, or what he stood for? A commemoration of a massacre swopped for some cosmetic nation building public holiday, an unforgettable winter of butchered children and innocence lost, swopped for some neutral day of song and dance. These things take time the youth is told; it took us years to get us into this mess, it will take years to get us out - in the meantime, let us go about it the least disruptive way - we have lots of time. Besides, by the time it really begins to matter nobody will remember where or how all of this came about. Rwanda just happened because that is what happens on this continent. Mobutu had nothing to do with those that killed Lumumba, nothing.

Everywhere else in the world is better than here. Here with the crime, the corruption and lawlessness, is the worst place on earth. Vietnam, Block-5, Sayana-Porto - all names of a small section of an even smaller township, none of which conjuring images of peace let alone security. All these names but one pre-date my birth. The Drum era gangsters - msomi gang to the wire gang to the hardlivings, all as old as the neighbourhoods they terrorised then and continue to terrorise in one guise or another today. Now I read that the only other places in Africa that are less safe than SA are those at war or struggling with ceasefire arrangements. Whichever way you slice it, this is a pretty terrible place. I guess not all crime is equal. Violence, murder, rape, slavery, grand scale theft - none of it is new. It is the equal opportunities approach that all of these now take that seem to have woken us all up to the sins of our fathers. It is never understood when I show confusion at being told just how safe this country used to be. I suppose being attacked by students (pupils) from Volkskool Potchefstroom - just because. Maybe I just don't know what safe means. How about having a university campus being turned into an army barracks - a student leader falling out of the window of his 3rd room? Maybe I'm looking at this thing the wrong way- these are the very actions that made this country safe.

BEE was of course another of a list of elastoplast solutions to a problem that required reconstructive surgery. Further confirmation of the kindness of white capital and business reaching out to help the poor "previously disadvantaged". The disadvantage that presumably had nothing to do with white capital and business. Bystanders during the brutalisation of the wretched of the earth, unable to help then and now ready, willing and able to help. In the meantime, it is business as usual in good old SA. This is the very BEE that has resulted in the brain drain; that is making it impossible for gifted bright white South Africans to get jobs. Between crime and BEE they had no other option but to go overseas and take a job with Lehman Bros.

Like love, resentment thrives in its own presence. In our country, resentment is a beneficiary of much love and naturing - everyday.

The present did not just materialise. The present resulted from deliberate choices and actions deliberately carried out. It will similarly take deliberate actions and choices to arrest the decay and turn the tide towards a country we can call home.

Who am I kidding . . . none of this really matter, or does it?

Olympics are gone . . .

And I am pleased to have my wife and the television remote control back.

Elsewhere in South Africa there are questions about the performance of our athletes (the Proteas) or maybe their lack of performance, whichever way you may wish to read it. I am reminded of a spat that occurred between those that are in charge of the national olympic team and those that are meant to be in charge of those that are in charge of the national olympic team. If that does not ring any bells with you, I am referring to the little tiff between one Mashishi and one Khompela, he of parliamentary standing committee for sport and such matters. He who was said to have lost all senses of his extent of power. You will also recall that the two gentlemen (and presumably their respective offices) kissed - ok, hugged - and made up on national television and newspapers.

I still don't know what the apology meant. Was it that SASCOC was not full of Whites and Indians or that it did know what it was doing? I guess we will never know. What for me was telling though, was the statement by SASCOC, through its fearless leader, to the effect that it will take lots of money for our athletes to perform satisfactorily (i.e bring more than 1 medal from the next olympics). One is reminded here of the Great Britain athletes who apparently benefitted from loads of money from the UK lottery and the government. This I hope for SASCOC's sake, is not a recent discovery. The fact that the tennis players had to play their matches in their leisure T-shirts should have alerted them to this, at the very latest.

Just in case there is any confusion; please note that I am very pleased with the distance from which I comment on these matters - in the comfort of my home and not in the shoes of any of those involved. Having said that, I am inclined to think, like Mr Khompela before me, that SASCOC may well not know what it is doing. About the Whites and Indians, that's just a numbers issue and the facts are likely to spoil what is so far a rather nice story. Unlike Mr Khompela however, no-one gives a doughnut what I think.

I would however be interested to see the budget of SASCOC from the time that "operation let's get ready for Beijing" started, to the time everyone who did go to Beijing was safely back to his or her home. It would be interesting to see what the money was spent on and how and when - all of the questions us arm-chair sports administrators so love to ask. Do the members of the committee get paid, if so how much; does the committee have full-time staff, how many, who, where, doing what? You can by now see where this is going right? It is all supposed to be in the money isn't it? By the way, would it not just be absolutely entertaining to compare the budget of SASCOC with those of their Kenyan, Jamaican and Ethiopian peers?

This reminds me of one more thing, all the recent medals we got, at the last 2 olympics, did they really have anything to do with what the administrators (then and current) did? Is there one athlete's achievement that the administrators can honestly take credit for?

I ask again, what is it that they do, that the coaches in conjunction with the various codes' associations cannot or do not do? Ok, so we all make mistakes; and we all get lucky sometimes, should we not now get deliberate about our performance and actually formulate a strategy that will bring us some results? The memorandum and articles of association of SASCOC makes for rivetting reading though. There are objects, main purpose and even ancillary objects. There are even processes and protocols.

Hey, I can write and say these things, I have a computer and bandwith.

Sometimes a sword is just a sword . . .

And when thrust into a body of a human being it may maim or kill. By the time one gets to around age 10, one becomes socialised to understand the effect a fast moving sword will have if it were to collide with a human body.

Now, sometimes in a fit of rage, stupidity or callous selfishness we tend to forget these basic truths. Forget yes, but these truths are never "unlearned" they remain known to us. It is with this in mind that I watched all sorts of media reports which set out to prepare South Africa for a disclosure of an unusual murder. This was no ordinary murder, at least that is what we were being prepared to believe. I am unable to find another explanation of how the murder of a 16 year old boy at a school in the west of Gauteng, was treated by the media and how the report was run. For two days the reports did not even mention much of the victim. By the time the perpetrator was disclosed, there was a variety of excuses already lined up; from satanism, to rock music, to drugs.

This reminds me of another school stabbing, this time the weapon of choice was a pair of scissors. Admittedly it was not half as mythical as a samurai sword, in fact most classrooms have these lying in many pencil cases and chair-bags. Those who remember that report will remember how the young man involved was made to bear all responsibility for his actions, correctly so. And of course there were those who were baying for his blood and the blood of his ilk. You see, black people just kill out of primitive passion, they do not need the devil, rock music or drugs to cleave the skull of another.

Another useless trivia about how these events were reported is how long it took for the identity of the perpetrator to be revealed. The young man from the far end of the north-west province was revealed immediately, face and name. The young man from western Gauteng was revealed, name only as far as I know, some 2 days after his rampage.

These are young people caught up in the turbulence of their time. They are indicating to us the trouble that is coming if we do not reach out to them. Their actions are abominable and for that they should bear all responsibility. You will also find that these violent children come in all hues, shapes and sizes.

Maybe all this much ado about nothing is because there are very few journalists among the electronic media news reporters; I don't know maybe the news are scripted badly or maybe there is no script and they are made up as the report goes along. Whatever the case may be, we rely on the news reports, especially electronic news to find out what is going on and what it is that we should read further on, on a given day. We therefore hope for accuracy and abscence of bias.

But then again, maybe we were meant to be kept in suspense, guessing and wondering. Maybe we were meant to consider the influence of satanism, rock music and drugs on our youth, maybe the news reports are just news reports that one should not pay much attention to.

A sword through your gut though, will kill you every time . . .

Time to leave the Boks alone

Back in the day when South Africa was white, had no crime and black people were meant to know their place, the Springboks were the national sportsmen and sportswomen who had the honour of representing the sporting aspirations of the nation. The springbok (a type of an antelope) was the emblem and a symbol under which the athletes representing the then Republic of South Africa competed against other nations. But for a few exceptions all the sportsmen and sportswomen who earned the honour of wearing the springbok colours and being Springboks were largely white and it was allright.

It did not matter what sporting code or discipline it was, those who represented the white republic wore only one colour and had one emblem, the springbok emblem. There were no proteas, no bafana-bafana, just springboks.

Then the Republic of South Africa became the new South Africa and with that came the protea as a national symbol. I am not sure how it all came about or how it was negotiated but, there were all sorts of noises and discontentment at the prospect of the national rugby team having to give up their past and their springbok emblem. This is the very team that is supposed to represent the sporting aspirations of all South Africans. That too, is allright.

Apparently more negotiations ensued and culminated in the government of Nelson Mandela allowing rugby to remain as springboks, how can any South African ever forget jersey No.6? Initially I thought the compromise was for a time being and with the passage of time all sporting codes will represent the new South Africa under one new emblem. That, however was not to be. The rugby players remain springboks, largely white and all is right.

It could be said that I am singling out rugby and turning sport into a whole race issue and so on and so forth. To that I say guilty as charged. I plead guilty even though such arguments are nothing but dishonest and self-serving. I plead guilty because all the goings on about rugby and other sports codes, including the olympic team are just tiring.

Every so often some politician makes equally self-serving statements about transformation of our sport and about some claptrap about creating equal opportunities for all in sport. In the meantime our olympic team is largely white and it's allright.

If I am understood to be saying that we should replace the whites players with black players; allow me please to state categorically that I wish for all such protestations to cease. Let the Bokke be. It is allright. The leadership of both the Bokke and of the country are happy with the things just the way they are. Any statement to the contrary is nothing but an insult to the good people of this country.

This of course goes for sport generally. It serves no purpose to second-guess the coach on his selection of the team. Leave the Bokke alone. The coach was not hired by the nation and does not answer to parliament. Leave the Bokke alone. His performance contract has nothing to do with the number of Black players on the field at any given match. Leave the Bokke alone.

Similarly, I wish Bokke would stop talking about transformation and just do what they want to do. I wish they would stop talking about competence as if it has colour, as if it is white. I really wish the Bokke could be left alone to do what they love to do - beating the All Blacks; because when they do everyone forgets about the emblems and transformation - suddenly everything is allright.

In the meantime, I'm off to go watch my son play scrum-half for the under 12 C's, praying that he never becomes a Springbok.

Just one question . . .

When did it become ok to go past a child that is alone, roaming the streets in the middle of the night?

A portrait of the South African struggle

There is little doubt that the struggle of the people of this country is portrayed in the image of Nelson Mandela. The man is as close as one can get to a Saint, in my view. What I know of the reveals that he does good for good sake, for want of a better description.

Larger than life as this great man may be, the struggle of the people of this country is multi-faceted and happened at different levels, some likely and some not. He in various ways became the culmination of the work of a great many people including himself.

It is with this recollection that I applaud the piece written by Lizeka Mda in this past weekend's City Press, a largely black Sunday newspaper - black by readership that is. I do not wish to question the legacy of Nelson Mandela and his contribution to the struggle that resulted in me being able to write this post without fear of favour. What I do wish to question is the absence of any mention of a great number of South Africans who contributed to the same cause that see us being celebrated in Nelson Mandela, as a nation. It would be a sad day when the greatness of a man of Nelson Mandela standing is a consequence of the absence of celebration of other South Africans.

With perhaps the exception of Orania, most South African towns and cities boast a street named after Madiba and that is a good thing. The coming generations will do well to remember the price some of the South Africans had to pay for them to live under a constitutional democracy. There is a case to be made and, it is ably made by sis Lizeka that we need to look at other inspirational leaders who made different contributions to the liberation of our country. There are many such individuals and their contributions vary from modest to great and took many forms. There are those who spoke out albeit in measured tones and through academic writings and in court papers or in the conduct of their trades and professions. There are those who carried out acts of sabotage and those who fought the then South African Defence Force inside and outside of South Africa as it then was.

What is the legacy of Robert Sobukwe, Zeph Mothopeng and other PAC leaders of the '60s? Is it "one settler, one bullet"? Is it about driving the white South Africans out to sea? Is it about outright hatred for white people? The contributions of the leadership of organisations such as the PAC are just nowhere to be seen.

There are others whose contribution was evidenced in the arts, religion, education and sport. There are those who kept our youth from the streets and prison. Each community needs to celebrate their heroes, those who refused to be dehumanised by apartheid, who rose above it and achieved their goals inspite of it.

Our celebration of all others will not diminish the greatness of Nelson Mandela; I believe it will enhance it. I applaud Madiba for being part of the ceremony held at Wits university a while back, where the writings of Sobukwe were handed to the university by Sobukwe's old friend Benjamin Pogrund.

It is of course the duty of the members of the organisations that were led by the great men and women who are today absent from the story of our liberation, to sing their names and achievements. It is as much the duty of those who are charged with protecting our national heritage.

Most of all, it is the duty of each one of us to find out how we got here.

Round Number Two . . . Ding!!

I have no idea what it is that Sascoc does (let alone what it stands for) I intend to find out soon but in the meantime, who on earth are they? I read somewhere that they (speaking through their fearless leader) one Moss Mashishi, have decided to sever ties with the parliamentary sports portfolio committe. I ask once again, who are they?

Mr Mashishi, in underpinning Sascoc's decision to dissociate itself with the parliamentary committee, says that the head of the portfolio committee has lost sense of the limit of his powers or some english to that effect. Funny that because I thought that it would be opportune at this point for Sascoc to review its own limits of power. Something like whether or not they may be held in contempt and so on.

What seems to have annoyed Sascoc is the statement by the head of the parliamentary committee to the effect that Sascoc is full of Indians and Whites who do not have an understanding of transformation; or something of that sort. It is for this reason that Sascoc believes that the head of the portfolio committee should check his powers. Now let's see, what is the representation of Indians and Whites in Sascoc? By whom and how are they elected? To do what?

These are all interesting questions. The one question that has me completely stumped is, how come there is proportionally such big representation of Indian people in sport yet such small representation of Indian sportspersons? Not to mention the small representation of Indian people among the citizenry? Do you remember Sam Ramsamy, whatever happened to him, what were his extend of power - is he not the gentlemen who decided that hockey players will not be allowed to go to some olympic games, I think because of their composition or performance or both, I can't remember.

Of course the number of Indians, Whites or Chinese is not and cannot be the end of the matter, it is only the beginning. It may well be that these are the people or groups that care about sport enough to make time to go to the meetings and to get appointed to the positions that they hold. I am sure a good debate with the parliamentary committee would have served more purpose than the current name-calling and sulking.

Looking around the country there is sufficient evidence that our sport is in shambles with a few splendid exceptions. This weekend, Port Elizabeth came to some sort of a standstill when the two Greys, PE and Bloem clashed on the rugby field. There were reportedly some 10 000 spectators, at a schoolboy rugby game. Seeing all those people, listening to the passion and the screaming, I realised that this was the source of rugby talent in the country. Maybe Sascoc could do something about getting the township schools more organised in sport and that way have the old rivalries of AB Phokompe, Kelokitso, Orlando West, Tlokwe High School, Matlosane, etc back.

Parents used to pack school grounds to watch some of the great rival schools play soccer.

I miss those days. Not that I played soccer or anything like that. I played tennis, I did not quite like the smell of other guys' sweat and the way the would fall on you or touch you. I don't quite like the state of SA sport at the moment and wish that the portfolio committee would crack the whip and show who's the chief.