unHappy Africa Day

Oh how much I want to be like everyone, scream, shout and sing Happy Africa Day, how I am tempted to post pictures, put hashtags on, enjoy likes and Retweets.  How I wish I could pretend even if it was just for a moment that Today is Africa’s Day of awakening, day of unity. But then the usual messages of denialisms from those who caused Africa to bleed, to thirst not only for water but the blood of fellow brothers and sisters, those who caused Mama-Africa to miscarry brings me back to reality and my voice fails to be audible in saying Happy Africa Day.

I quickly remembered the condemnation of those that tell me how much brilliant mind I have everytime I say what they want to hear and call me to order and stop doing business with me the minute I am brave enough to tell the truth as I see it. So I went to my naughty corner to correct my behaviour as I was taught. I tried again, I thought of recording a video to sing and speak about a Happy Africa but the screams of the murdered grannies, mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins, friends and colleagues cried out too loud deep from the graves dug by the African men who were meant to protect them, I thought I should wake up and smell the roses but the smell of the mutilated, raped bodies of African women overpowered any smell of roses they hoped to receive while they were still alive and  my voice failed to be loud enough to say Happy Africa Day.

I remembered to be politically correct and not try to be a feminist because I am trash like all of them, I was reminded that I am not clean and not better than any of those men so I shut my mouth too. I do my business the same way I was taught. So I then thought of doing what I was taught by those who have been in the game longer than me, pay my way out of justice but the underdeveloped malnutrition bodies  of Africa’s infants used to demonstrate the philanthropic nature of the West filled my mind and I lost my ability to make out words to say Happy Africa Day.

So let me be not the spoiler of your fun, let me not waste your valuable celebration time because you need to finish so you may go back to your master, work awaits you. Tomorrow is back to the normal unHappy Africa

The impact of COVID19 to the 4IR

So forget 5G stories, the conspiracy theories and all. But what is the real impact of COVID19 to the 4th industrial revolution? 

No question that the  battle with COVID19 has had a very bad impact to the economy globally, but what impact has it had to the introduction of the 4iR into the global economy? The truth is that it has actually fast tracked the progress. Companies had to close doors to prevent human interaction and with it the spread, this has impacted these companies financially and otherwise but also teaching them to do things differently. 

So many have been forced to continue operating even though it was digitally, meetings held virtually, which will ease the flow of traffic when this has become a way of life. Many organizations have had this ability to operate virtually but were never encouraged to do so and with this pandemic the leaders of such organization have now been introduced to this ability. I have always since the early 2000 spoke about the benefit of some jobs being performed remotely, we don’t need some administrators to wake up in the morning get stuck in traffic both morning and afternoon loosing over 4 hours in traffic only to come work for 3 hrs at the office when they could have done more at home. Companies have realized that they don’t need as much office space as they had occupied prior. The banking sector through the use of mobile apps has shown that the is probably no need to go to the bank. 

Service sector could have done better if they had robots serving people, health sector as well. Deliveries using drones, virtual PAs, virtual classrooms for schooling, the cleaning industry could use robot cleaners, etc. The traveling and tourism could have benefited greatly  through virtual tourism while people were at home during lockdown, this would have assisted in also assisting many deal with the depression caused by a lockdown. so after this we definitely now have realized how we less of an impact our lives could have experience if we were in the middle of the 4iR. 

Time

Time

So precious , so plenty
The only thing we all have the same amount of no matter who we are as long as we live
Time the one thing even the poor can give to those they love, time.

Time the only thing thieves can never steal from you to use for themselves nor sell, time
The  one thing truly yours to decide what you do with

Never spend it sad nor in regret
If you cannot find happiness, find memories
Be grateful of Time

Lucas Moloi TheChamp talking about BEING ON TOP

Democratic Elections

As I stand this morning in this queue I reflect on things that have happened since the beginning of this mess on the land of our fathers and mothers. I ask myself if political leadership is indeed what we need and should be striving for, if the meaningless competition between individuals is really our saving grace. Democratic elections they call it, free election they term it. Democracy to who, for what? Free to forget where you come from and what you stand for, in exchange for a T-Shirt and “Amandla” shouting leaders.

My wonder is do these “Leaders” even remember or know the truth of this land? Do they care if the truth about the blood that covered the fields our cattle grazed is told? Are they just, are they genuine? Most of all are they for the people? I am wondering if I should continue voting for the same western civilized laws that have eroded the morals of this continent, the economic systems that continue to keep the majority poor for the benefit of the few. If I should buy the same story Sold by same mouths in different related colours  and equally flawed repetitive manifestos yet claim to be different. I am extremely grateful of the sacrifices of many but remain doubtful that this is actually what they died for. My heart bleeds for the nations torn apart for political gain, the land that is still occupied by those who claim to have found it with no-one living on it, the farms that still benefit a few without even tittle deeds. I am an African, filled with love, welcome those who roam my land and offer them refuge just like my fore-parents did. I am the grandson of Kholokoe, the nation that lost it’s land and had their identity stolen by false history. I am the blood of Wetsi/Oetsi spilled in a cave that ate the nation of Kholokoe for their cattle wealth.  I am the Grandson of Khetsi, the fruit of the tree with intertwined roots called Tabane and Mathulare. I am of the soil, motho e mosotho ka mmala, I am of Kholokoe, Ke Morena MATHOLELA.......

They say: Apartheid is gone, get over it.....

This is a piece of writing I have planned and wanted to write for a very long time but tried with no success to find a way to start it. Every time I hear people telling other to "get over it" and most of the times these are people whom really have no idea or lack comprehension of what the impact of Apartheid really is. Well let me first start by saying, Apartheid was not a bar that one can jump over, it was not an event, it actually was a system created deliberately to destroy a certain group of people. 

Now before you go instruct people to get over it at least try and understand certain things that came with this terrible system designed by those full of hatred then you may understand why others act or behave the way they do. I will list a few things created by this system:

1.     Destroying family values: A scenario was created where men were employed far away from their homes with no option of bringing their families with, the political incarceration of men and women, the exiling of many either as banished or through seeking military training creating an environment where men started multiple families in various places and becoming absent fathers to multiple groups of children, women moving on to be with other men while married to absent husbands and at times bearing children from other men other than their husbands. Today we sit with a community that has less moral fiber and does not understand the impact that absent parenting has and its contribution to the lawless society we now live in. Children growing in homes that have no love, no rule of law and growing to be violent adults who either commit hideous crimes or form dysfunctional families. Now before one makes a comment about how much promiscuous the other group is, perhaps one should consider how that was created and forced into the lives of others. 

2.    A creation of a Violent society: Today South Africa is classified as one of the most violent societies with a high statistics of violent crimes, black and coloured communities as the biggest perpetrators. Now do you remember the time when young people were shot for no reasons? The time when police could kick down your door in the middle of the night and take young men to chastise them for apparent crimes they never committed? A time were children, toddlers stood around burning corpse of an individual who betrayed the community and turned an informant to a brutal government? The era where people disappeared with no trace and family not even afforded burial rights? Can we consider the fact that treating men like little kids at work to even referring to them as "boys" and their women as "girls" can cause them to be violent at home to those vulnerable to their power? Do you still want to talk to me about how violent people are?

3.    Creation of an unequal and unjust society: from the time when the migration of men seeking employment in Johannesburg begun, the work of separating and destroying unity amongst all oppressed started. The classification of people into different groups with different privileges was cultivated to ensure that these different groupings never unite for the same cause. Areas were designated for all the different people so they could remain separated, different classification with different statuses given per group creating the type of society we see today. People were forcefully removed from ideal locations to be place in high density areas were they could be easily monitored as a group and enjoy no comfort provided by other areas such as being closer to the beaches, amenities, etc. Stripping people of dignity by pushing them into places such as Alexander and forcing such quality of life to them.

4.    Ushering of self-hate: after the classification, segregation took place labeling groups of people with pejorative names that did not only make others feel inferior but was also meant to provide a false sense of preeminence. The so-called Blacks calling the so-called coloureds "Boesmans" and visa-versa "Bantus/Kaffirs", the so-called "Indians" although being born here called "Koelies", other African brothers and Sister "Kwerekwere", etc. Somehow this names thrived because those using them felt that they were superior than those carrying such tittles, with this the people began hating themselves as these titles also carried some stereo-types of stupidity, violence, not belonging, etc. while they so-called white meant superior, smart, beautiful, etc.

---

Now perhaps before we talk about apartheid being gone we should remember that the damage caused by it still lingers freshly around in the character of all, whether through calling each other names, believing we are better because of the colour of the skin, etc. We should consider than while it may be gone on paper some of the family members that had disappeared are still missing and those wounds not healed. Perhaps we should realise that the land and belongings that were forcefully taken were never returned to the rightful owners, so before you talk about how people should move right along pass apartheid recognize that they might be unable to due to the unsought comments on social media from those who "have black friends" still trigger the anger of those who have lived through the injustice of it. 

So stop telling people that apartheid has been over a long time and start acting like a person who understands the damage it caused. 

The hijacked blood that screams below the roots of trees of freedom

A tribute to lives never lost

Writing a piece around an event that is in the public eye has never really been my thing perhaps because so much opinion is made public around such and the fight of opinions begin to cloud the core of the event. But also perhaps my difficulty around this piece is anchored on the personal question about my worthiness to write about such giants, but again this is the same reason many sacrificed themselves.

Today as I write this I'm sit in an air conditioned auditorium around the youth that have dreams, goals but most of all opportunities to make all these a reality, a right to be heard and above all a right to live. I write this piece sitting about 10 Km away from where the young people's lives were robbed away from them, a mere 10 km distance from where thunder of blazing guns failed to instil fear in the minds of young lions whose roar was heared across the globe and into the heavens. I sit in a place where the colour of my skin would have prevented me from entering, a place where my only presence would have been as a slave and not an individual who owns his destiny an individual who impacts lives of other young people.

But as I sit here my concentration is called upon by the screams that come from underneath the ground that gives life to the trees of freedom which provides no shade to the poor that burn from the harshness of the one sided economy, the screams that hold strong the roots of trees that bear the fruits of liberation that the people of the land are still yet to taste. The echo of battles for the naming rights of the souls that still lingers over the rivers that fail to satisfy the thirst for true freedom that many will never realise in this lifetime. But what the leaders of today are worried about is who did these young people support, belong to and enjoy membership of, these are the leaders of the same organisations which failed to provide security, guidance and safety to the ranging young lions tired of being bullied around by the bulldogs of the system without humanity.

Today many will celebrate the day, others commemorate it but these are just words from a language that introduced labels such as black, white and savages to define those whose culture they did not understand. The reality is today will be just a day that passes with a lot of noise made, ridiculous speeches and activities, embarrassing drunkenness in school uniforms but no true understanding of the anger, pain and suffering of those that stood infront of the barrel of their oppressor's gun. Today will be another day in the diary of politicians to score political points and credibility, another day for a writer like me to express the frustration of many others that live around them and sadly a day that a mother will remember picking up a bloodied corpse of a 13 years old who was suppose to begin going through a teenage stage of life but had to take a responsibility that their fathers were only too scared face. 

Well this here is not a dedication to the life of those that died for the freedom of others but a tribute to lives that were never lost, a tribute to the souls that resonate in the youth that still fight for the rights of the little man, a tribute to the heroes. #tributetothelivesneverlost