South Africa the 'Monchrome Nation'

Its seems Jake white 's book 'In black and white ' reflects the current state of affairs in South Africa.

The rainbow nation is fading and becoming more of a monochrome nation as racism rears it ugly head too frequently for comfort. The past few weeks have proven that race is still a huge issue in the nation. The great Desmond Tutu did all he could to bring about "Truth and Reconciliation". Unfortunately his efforts centered around the main perpetrators and victims of arpartheid. The racism demon is still very much alive in ordinary South Africans. Racist practices and innuendos are still tolerated in the young democracy.

This failure to achieve 100 % reconciliation is shown in the events of the past weeks

January 2008
Andre Nel allegedly rampages through an informal settlement in Skielik , South africa randomly shooting and killing black residents. The backlash from the Black peaopl is huge with Zwelinzima Vavi, a prominent unionist saying Johan Nel is a "young brainwashed racist" with "no regard for human life".Other key black establishments went as far as threatening land siezures to avenge the killings.

February 2008
Irvin Khoza(A prominent black man in charge of 2010 soccer world cup) tells a journalist(a fellow black man) at a press conference to stop "thinking like a "Kaffir". Irvin Khoza is unrepentantant and has to be arm wrestled into issuing a apology.

February 2008
The exclusion of white journoulists from a all black (of the record) meeting with Jacob Zuma.The meeting centered around the revival of the Forum of Black Journalists (FBJ) organisation. The attendance of ANC president Jacob Zuma is interprated to mean that he sees nothing wrong with the existence of the "blacks only" forum.

February 2008
A apparently racist video surfaces in free state The video shows University of Free State students humiliating black workers. The video shows them feeding the workers food tainted with urine.

The video is available on youtube


Apparently the students have apologised for the video saying no malice was intended.

All I can say in response to these recent events is that South Africa is still far from achieving a non-racial society, which is obvious. But what is not immediately obvious is that South Africans apparently do not even understand what racism is.

Before any movement forward can be made South Africans need to comprehend the evils of racism and learn not to tolerate any racist practices, innuendos, manerisma slurs e.t.c.

Castro Calls it Quits

Fidel Castro has officially resigned as Cuba's President.
He made this known in a letter addressed to the nation. The full text of the letter can be found here.

The letter in its entirety is very poetic and carefully crafted and reflects Fidel's last wishes for La Revolución to continue.

A few interesting sections :

"My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath. That's all I can offer."

"My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, much less to stand in the way of younger persons, but rather to contribute my own experience and ideas whose modest value comes from the exceptional era that I had the privilege of living in. ."

and lastly:

" This is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as a soldier in the battle of ideas.

Thanks.

Fidel Castro Ruz"

If only Robert Mugabe would follow suit.(Although he is anywhere near the legendary stature of Fidel, even though he might think so)

Farewell Fidel

Feed him to the MannEater

Today I came across an several articles on Simon Mann which caught my attention. Simon Mann was arrested in Zimbabwe en-route to Malabo to allegedly carry out a coup against the leader of Equatorial Guinea.

So strong was the evidence against Mann that his associate Sir Mark Thatcher paid a 'Admission of guilt fee' for being unknowingly complicit to the coup plot. Mann served four years in a Zimbabwe jail before being extradited to Equatorial Guinea where he is yet to face 'justice'. One article attempts to evoke sympathy for Mann by potraying him as a family man and a gentleman who needs to get back to his family and peers.

Another article talks of the grim conditions in Equatorial Guinea prisons and the alleged cannibalistic tendencies of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

At last we get to the part where I voice my opinion over this racist charade. Personally I think Mann deserves what has befallen him. Mercenaries are the worst scum on earth and have caused untold suffering in Africa. It is true that Teodoro Nguema is a despot and might even have an appetite for human flesh. The truth is Mann was not even driven by the need to end this great evil but by his own greed and pursuit for wealth at the expense of Africa. Mann probably would not have even cared if another 'canibal' replaced Nguema as long as he got paid.

My verdict for Simon without wasting time would be 'feed him to the Manneater!'. He deserves to be strung up like his fellow kind at Fallujah Bridge in Iraq.

The reason I started this blog is to rant about things I feel strongly about. Mercenaries are one issue I feel strongly about. Mercenaries are NOT men of honor and do not deserve the title 'soldier' just as a security guard is not a policeman. Mercenaries have caused untold suffering in Africa dating back to the days of liberation movements when they where shipped from Canada, New Zealand and other colonial ouposts to fight against a people struggling for their independence. They had no interest in the fight except to gain materially and as such as such they deserve to rot in hell.

'Black Americans' or 'African Americans' ?

Today I am going to attempt to ascertain the ethnic title to be awarded to humans of the negroid race residing in America.

A large part of this ethnic group has long advocated to be reffered to as 'African Americans' as opposed to 'Black Americans'. One justification is that other ethnic groups are refered to by geographical origin not skin color for example Cuban-Americans, Asian-American, and so on.

Personally I think the most apropriate title for this demographic is 'Black-Americans'.
An ethnic title is not solely based on skin color or geographical origin but also identifiable cultural norms. Culturally I think 'Black Americans' are completely disconnected from Africa . This is unlike other groups such as Asian Americans who are still deeply connected to their origins.

One common observation is that most Black Americans despise their origins.They mock recent African-Immigrants as Kunta -Kinte's and laugh raucously at their ethnic African Names.
Also notable is that other demographic groups retain their original names for example Jackie Chan, Jet Lee ,Eva Mendez, Antonio Banderas.
If anyone can tell me of an African-African called Will(ard) Smith, Chris Tucker or Martin Lawrence I will give them a million bucks.

So disconnected are 'Black Americans' from their origins they would be completely dysfunctional if they were to return to Africa. This point is proven by the "Grand-Daddy of all failed African States" - Liberia which was formed by liberated 'Black American' slaves.
Other ethnic groups in America have traceable roots and continue to make meaningful contributions to their homelands as oppossed to 'Black Americans'.

Some may view this as an unjustified attack but my opinions are based solely on logic and not emotion or dislike for 'black americans'. At the end of the day they are just Americans longing for their long lost and unrecoverable roots.

Maybe they should officially clasify themselves as niggas (which they consider non-offensive if spelt with an 'a' as opposed to an 'er')

This article might seem like a pointless rant but I just had to share my opinion from an authentic African point of view. This issue has been stewing inside me and I just had to get it out of my system....Cheers

Zimbabwe Welcomes Simba Makoni

A new light is in the African horizon. A breath of fresh air for stifled Zimbabweans.

Simba Makoni former finance minister has announced his intentions to run for president in the March 29 poll.

“Following very extensive and intensive consultations with party members and activists countrywide and also with others outside the party, I have accepted the call and hereby advise the people of Zimbabwe that I offer myself as candidate for the office of president,” said Makoni at a press conference in Harare.

Makoni unlike the rest of the Zanu PF klepto-crew is a self made man, a rare intellectual and a technocrat .
No doubt the ruling party will try to come up with something to scandalize this honorable man. I think Makoni has a Teflon character and hopefully non of the muck tossed at him will stick. Despite fraternizing and having fed off Zanu PF patronage, Makoni is untainted and completely different from the troop of liberation war relics that make up the ruling party.

The main difference lies in the` generation gap between him and most senior members of Zanu PF. This means he is in touch with the needs of the younger generation that make up the most of the suffering populace. The current ruling geriatrics seem more concerned with taking swipes at colonial spooks than addressing the needs of the greater population.
Makoni is a moderate who has a calming demeneaur that will be ideal for the smooth transition of power in the troubled nation. Makoni is also well versed in the corporate world and is most likely to implement orthodox policies, which bring back sanity to the economy.

Makoni is largely unknown in international circles but has been involved in the African region as Executive secretary for the SADC organization. He is likely to get the backing of this important organization.

Some will say Makoni is a spoiler to the election or even part of an intelligence operation to distract the electorate. I say none of this can possibly be true and the only spoiler is a certain robotics scientist named, Arthur Mutambara who is the main cause of discord in the main opposition party.

Whatever the outcome Simba Makoni has proven that Mugabe has fallen out of favor and has lost his iron grip on Zanu PF.
What Makoni has done took balls of steel and has redeemed him from the cowardice he has previously shown. The question that remains is will he be the one to push Zanu PF into the Liberation War museum where it truly belongs?

Why Mugabe-Land will never work.

My first post to this blog is examines the question of whether Zimbabwe will ever stop being dysfunctional under the rule of Mugabe.

Zimbabwe and Mugabe continue to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Zimbabwe is a nation with a assumed population of about 12 million. ‘Assumed’ because the last census was flawed and a huge population of Zimbabweans resides in foreign lands, driven out by grinding poverty and hopelessness.

Zimbabwe's woes are all rooted and anchored by the reign of Mugabe but he is not the sole misfortune to befall the nation.

His ruling regime is a rat-house in the truest meaning of the phrase. I am talking about the corruption that has ravaged that nation.
Not only is his entire regime rotten to the core, but there exists an entire platoon of racketeers who feed of the misery of the suffering population. The shortages that grip Zimbabwe represent opportunity for those with access to resources. As long as senile Mugabe remains in power poverty and shortages will never be in short supply.
Even the worthless local currency (printed on plain paper) is in short supply. The cost of scarce fuel, food and medicine runs into billions of Zimbabwe dollars. The list of the countries troubles is a long and ever growing.

Zimbabwe's salvation requires nothing short of a miracle:
Below I suggest and examine three possible solutions:

1. It is obvious that white farmers will never re-assume ownership of land but consolidation and revitalization of agriculture is crucial. Land reform partitioned commercial farms amongst rag-tag farmers communal farmers. The profitability and feasibility of agriculture hinges on economies of scale particularly when it comes to vital cereal food crops.
Land is not only valuable as a identity symbol as the old man thinks but it is the means by which a entire nation feeds itself.

2. The elimination of corruption. Corruption of unimaginable proportions has become entrenched in Zimbabwe. The anti-corruption movement is nothing but a pretentious farce. Hardly anyone goes to prison in Zimbabwe for corruption yet it is the world capital of corruption. If and when persons are prosecuted it is only for show and propaganda purposes.

3. Total removal of the current leadership. The whole system needs to be completely fumigated and thoroughly disinfected. The current regime is nothing more than a den of crooks and thugs who continue to rape the nation under pretensions of patriotism and nationalism. Just like Bush, they have hijacked the identity of the nation and are using to meet their own selfish needs. Those who do not conform are labeled 'unpatriotic enemies of the state'.
The regional African community refuses to treat Mugabe like the pariah he is, for mysterious reasons. The international community is rendered impotent by claims of interfering with internal matters and tampering with sovereignty.

Conclusion.

A functional Zimbabwe under Mugabe is a pipe dream.
Zimbabwe is not a poor nation. It has huge economically viable deposits of diamonds, uranium, platinum and many other mineral resources.
As long as there is no political change in Zimbabwe this wealth will continue to bleed out of the nation without benefiting anyone but the ruling regime and their associates.
Political change in Africa is a rare occurrence that takes place every couple of decades and its overdue in Zimbabwe.

Even as the country hits rock bottom, the orgy of self-destruction continues at a more frantic pace.
I guess that’s the way it goes...TIA This is Africa