The Sunday Tribune (August 10, 2008) today reports that there have been calls from the ANC Youth League for the suburb of Amanzimtoti to be renamed after Andrew Zondo who set a bomb in a shopping centre there. The bomb killed five people, including two women and three children, but the ANC went ahead with its plans to rename Kingsway in Amanzimtoti after him in spite of widespread objection from many quarters, including Zondo's own father.
Now the grinning idiots want to rename the whole suburb after him. The odd thing is that the present name, which means sweet water in Zulu, is not a colonial one. Legend has it that it was given the name by King Shaka himself, when he stopped off at the river with his impis.
Very bad things were done in the name of apartheid but, and this is a very big but, the majority of whites, including myself, voted to end the system as soon as we were given the opportunity to do so. Villains must be punished and heroes praised but the lack of sensitivity shown by our new rulers is way over the top. They are frightening off the very people who were inclined to support them, and the bad news for the ANC is that the people who are currently leaving the country in droves, are the ones who have the knowledge of how to make things work.
The Eskom debacle, where there are not enough trained people to maintain the power grid, is one example. News of another example in the SA Air Force broke recently when it was revealed that the force had lost 91 pilots and 822 technicians since 2005. The Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota put the situation down to the fact that "White members have a perception that there are limited career opportunities within the organisation." Another story reported that we have only 20 fighter pilots. That's not the major problem it sounds however, because we apparently haven't got any fighter aircraft, until the back-ordered Grippens arrive.
Come on guys! Your insensitive and confrontational approach is losing you support hand over fist. By all means rename public buildings and highways and new streets; you will get little argument there. When you rename a street or or suburb without any regard to the feelings of the people actually living there, you are cutting off your own noses to spite your faces. If a majority of Amazimtoti residents want to call it Zondoville, then by all means go ahead. Otherwise, leave well alone.
** The paper also reports that the Olympics has cost China an estimated R300-billion. Durban hasn't got that kind of money now and I'm guessing it still won't in 2020.
On a more cheerful note:
Now the grinning idiots want to rename the whole suburb after him. The odd thing is that the present name, which means sweet water in Zulu, is not a colonial one. Legend has it that it was given the name by King Shaka himself, when he stopped off at the river with his impis.
Very bad things were done in the name of apartheid but, and this is a very big but, the majority of whites, including myself, voted to end the system as soon as we were given the opportunity to do so. Villains must be punished and heroes praised but the lack of sensitivity shown by our new rulers is way over the top. They are frightening off the very people who were inclined to support them, and the bad news for the ANC is that the people who are currently leaving the country in droves, are the ones who have the knowledge of how to make things work.
The Eskom debacle, where there are not enough trained people to maintain the power grid, is one example. News of another example in the SA Air Force broke recently when it was revealed that the force had lost 91 pilots and 822 technicians since 2005. The Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota put the situation down to the fact that "White members have a perception that there are limited career opportunities within the organisation." Another story reported that we have only 20 fighter pilots. That's not the major problem it sounds however, because we apparently haven't got any fighter aircraft, until the back-ordered Grippens arrive.
Come on guys! Your insensitive and confrontational approach is losing you support hand over fist. By all means rename public buildings and highways and new streets; you will get little argument there. When you rename a street or or suburb without any regard to the feelings of the people actually living there, you are cutting off your own noses to spite your faces. If a majority of Amazimtoti residents want to call it Zondoville, then by all means go ahead. Otherwise, leave well alone.
** The paper also reports that the Olympics has cost China an estimated R300-billion. Durban hasn't got that kind of money now and I'm guessing it still won't in 2020.
On a more cheerful note:
(c) 2008 Allan JacksonHere's me being a bit arty. A view under the pier on the Ushaka Marine World beach taken with a long exposure and sepiarised (if there is such a thing) on computer.
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