The South African fifth-dom

About two weeks ago the news broke that the controversial Gauteng tolling rates have been approved by parliament or whoever. The rates where introduced stating around 40 cents a kilometre for a car and so on, then the moment we all have been waiting for came introducing that taxis and buses will be exempted from this tariffs. A light bulb came on and i thought maybe it is time i look at buying a taxi myself and start a taxi empire, why not. Taxis are a law to themselves, we have the government and the taxi industry. The taxi industry is  so feared by our government it is scary, just to mention a few things that the taxi industry has been involved with, whenever they do not agree amongst themselves about routes they shoot and kill passengers and no one says anything, they always get away with murder named "taxi violence". The taxi recapitalisation programme was introduced to ensure that road worthy cars are used to transport passengers, they fought against it until the governments shelved it. Then Reya-vaya was introduced, they again went against it and threatened violence, closed roads, etc. and then the government handed them a share of the Reya-vaya. May i also mention that this is a multi billion rand industry and still contributes nothing towards tax, which is used to build the same roads they drive as if they own, skipping red robots, driving on emergency lanes, pushing in front of everyone and abusing women on the road and inside their taxis. The indication of the profitability of this industry is an airline they are about to launch, now tell me taxis qualify to be exempted from the tolling system.

Small business in South Africa is killed by all the laws we have, tax we pay and also the cost of doing business in this country, taxi industry is exempted from all this, what is the difference between them and the guys selling pirated goods? How many of our politicians own taxi businesses? Maybe i speak too much and should mind my own business, but guess what, The Champ has something to say!

Things I don"t understand

So much things I don't understand so much I will never know but the one thing that really bothers me and cant  get out of my mind is man's (that includes women) need to always protect themselves even in times when we are wrong. How we can fight even in situations where we only need to say I am sorry, how we often miss an opportunity to make things right because we wont listen to the other person because we think they want to fight us or win over us. how sad it is that those we love end up hurt because we cannot accept where we went wrong, how we are willing to give up on the best things we have because we are not willing to take responsibility, now in the fight that you are engaged in do you still remember what is it about? or why you are fighting, is it still relevant and necessary?

The second thing is how we are fighting over opinions and ideologies instead of reality, but what is reality do we even know it? most of the time we do not even care about reality because it will not help us advance the fight, what we want is to fight not something that is going to stop the fight. Even when our opponents give in we still can't see it because it is a fight we want not retreat. But after it is over is there a rewards, are we really fighting for something? We ask so much opinion and get so many people involved that we cant even go back to stop and think about what we are doing because the people we have involved begin asking why are we stopping to fight when we are about to win, why surrender when we are right, when our opinions are the sound ones.

This is the art of war, many innocent souls are crushed, families destroyed, companions estranged all in the name of fighting, but why should we back down when we are right, why should we let people win over us, why should we be weak? this are questions we use to justify the means to this fighting, but do we even pause and ask ourselves other sets of questions such as, what is it worth, what is at stake and am I actually right? We go forth and say so much hurting and destructive things about those we fight against, family, loved ones, friends, etc. and after we say all this things we are reminded always by those we speak to about the status of our relationships. How do we love in the mist of all this battles, how do we remember the good things, how do we move on?

I wish i had answers to all this questions but I am also just a mere mortal that is faced with the same challenges day in and out, feel and then hurt others as much as everyone does, i am a soul, a soul with love and adoration and soul hurting from the pains of battles lost, battles that caused happiness, relationship, love, i am a soul that carries the pains of failed marriages.

State of the youth

In the past month I have visited a number of schools as part of my continuing tour. The main aim of this tour is to motivate the matriculants or should I say Grade 12. I did not choose between the so-called multi-racial and township schools, I visited both. A number of realities struck as I went from school to school, township to township, village to village and suburb to suburb, our youth in is a desperate state of destruction, hungry for leadership and guidance. I am meeting thousand of young people whom still have no idea of what they want in life, where they are heading, why are they studying what they do and most have not even applied for financial assistance nor admission to tertiary institutions, this here is the future of our country, our holy grail. 

The kind of leadership that I have observed differed from one school to the other and with it the level of discipline, courage and zest to succeed measured in learners. Some of the principals and teachers I have met from schools perfectly describe the word shame and have not place in a schooling system, individuals that embarrass the profession, this is a mirror reflection of some of the officials at the department of education. If things are to change we need to real have a look at what role are we as individuals playing and our contributions in the building of our youth.

The 20 year Philosophy

The 20 year Philosophy

In order for us to quantify the progress and

success in our lives we have begun to divide our

lives into three periods of 20 years each,

estimating an average of 60 years life

expectancy, and to make sure that we achieve

what we have planned at each stage of our lives.

For us to reach our potential, we need to identify

at each stage of life what our goals are. These

goals need to be written down for each stage of

our life, to reflect the road map of our journey;

and as we go through these stages we need to

reflect on the map, so that we do not get lost.

The first 20 years of our lives are the most

crucial in our development, first as infants to

becoming teenagers and then adults. This is the

stage where we learn language, learn to walk,

explore sexuality and build character. Things

that we learn during this stage normally stay

with us throughout our lives; this is when our

building blocks are laid, when we need more

nurturing than we can imagine. Peer pressure is

high, even leading to suicide when we feel

rejected.

It is the stage when we are still finding out who

we are and measure ourselves through the eyes

and approval of others. It is the stage which

normally ends with us graduating from college or

university.

The second 20 years of our trajectory is referred

to as young adulthood. At this stage we hold a

fulltime job and develop more serious

relationships –probably getting married. We

begin acquiring material possessions; at this

stage in life we seek recognition from others for

our achievements. We are motivated by material

things, financial rewards and by recognition from

our peers. We start small businesses or hold

important positions at work; this is a stage

where stress levels in our lives are at the highest

and we need to take some time to sit back and

recharge, listen to relaxing music, listen to some

motivational talks, read a good book. This is the

stage which ends with us being on our path to

wealth, debt or comfortable living.

The third 20 years of our trajectory begin at the

middle adulthood stage and our road map is

drawn up until the end of this stage, because the

average life expectancy is debatably around 65

years. Even if we make it past this stage, we are

no longer living in the competitive stages of

growth, but are referred to as mature: we take

time out to enjoy the best things in life and tell

our grandchildren stories of our lives. This is the

time when we retire, hopefully with enough

investments or financial reserves. The physical

body is at the stage where we cannot sing many

praises to its abilities: some have reduced

hearing, begin to lose sight and their physical

mobility begins to fade. Around this time we can

no longer rely on our physical strength and good

looks. This is phase when all that we have

worked for, is available for us to enjoy; but it is

also the time when our health begins to require a

lot more caring from us.

When we live our life in accordance with this

philosophy, we begin to quantify our efforts,

understand our strength and measure our

progress; this in turn helps us to focus our

energies towards achieving to the best of our

abilities. Then the forbidding words “impossible”

and “can‟t”become just words, not worthy of

note.

During the approximately 200,000 years that

humans have inhabited the earth, a number of

preconceived ideas and expectations have been

built around what is success and when should

this success be achieved? The stress that comes

from the pressures brought about by these beliefs

is extremely harmful to us emotionally,

spiritually and physically; largely due to the

presence of these beliefs in all facets of our

society. Our families, friends and colleagues all

believe in this universal perception of success

that has been developed over many past

generations.

We are constantly judged by others against these

standards; our compatibility and suitability in

relationships are evaluated against these beliefs;

our ability to lead is judged on the same basis.

Our emotions are so filled with fear of not

achieving this „success‟, that we even forget to

identify and evaluate our potential; it is at these

times that we need to be motivated and reminded

of how to evaluate our lives and the successes

achieved.