In a perfect world:
Posted on December 17th, 2007 by Richard Catto 2,535 views
- Jacob Zuma and all the rest of his uneducated and ignorant supporters would be cured of AIDS by having a shower
- Manto would be able to drink alcohol to her hearts content without it affecting her brand spanking new liver and then heal any ailments by eating beetroot.
- Nelson Mandela would live to be 100 years old
- 3rd degree would actually make sense sometimes and not just be a TV show with a presenter full of attitude
- Tokyo Sexwale would be voted in as president and not jump on JZ’s band wagon like he has done
- Neledi Pandor would have more of an effect on the department of education and 2008 matriculates would have a higher standard of pass rate
These things are highly likely to not ever happen. So what do we do instead? Some of us ignore the issues going on around us (like I do), some of us write political articles (such as this one) in the hopes of creating some awareness, some of us kick up a fuss and down our country at every opportunity, and a lot of us plan to make a difference, tomorrow. For most of us, tomorrow never comes.
What is the solution?
Immigration for those of us who can’t handle “third worlding” any longer. That way, you will solve your problems, and eliminate a small amount of negativity from our country.
If immigration is not for you, support our government as far as possible, without compromising our morals. Don’t become another negative statistic that aids all the corruption, dishonestly and crime factors.
Vote in the election. Have your say. Your opinion does count. Imagine if 20 000 other people also stayed at home that day and thought the same insecure thought ‘it won’t make a difference if I vote or not”.
We are South Africans. Yes, there is too much crime. Yes, rape is inhumane and unjust. Yes, there is corruption more deep rooted than even we know about. There are far too many cons of being in this country.
But there are a lot of pros too, that sometimes we overlook or dismiss as unimportant.
This is South Africa. In less than 13 years, look how far we have come. We have won two world cups, we’re hosting another in two years, black people are now licensed to be human and do what whiteys have long taken advantage of, such as going to watch a movie at ten o’clock at night, or shopping in the same malls, or drinking from a tap in a public bathroom.This is an enormous change!
When I go abroad to travel, I’m looking forward to defending my country and setting the record straight “Not only do we not have lions as pets, we also have malls with electricity, we have streets of tar, we have multi racial schools, sports events that involve every single South African citizen, we have local productions on TV that are worthy of International broadcasting, such as Isidingo, or the Oscar winning movie, Tsotsi, which was remarkable to watch”.
I am proud to call myself South African. You should be too.
Tags: Politics
Filed under Education, electricity, Ex-pat South African, Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, Parliament, Sheena Gates, South Africa, Statistics, White South Africans | 29 Comments »
Koeberg Unit Two down – AGAIN!
Posted on November 6th, 2006 by Richard Catto 1,720 views
Eskom investigates Koeberg reactor shutdown
The Mail and Guardian article (linked above) contains a factual error. Koeberg’s two nuclear reactors each produce 900MW (Megawatts) of power for a total of 1800MW, not 900MW as stated in the M&G article. I know this from the background research I did earlier this year for the article I wrote at that time regarding Koeberg’s problems.
Koeberg Unit Two shut itself down automatically yesterday (Sunday Nov 5 2006). It is now operating at only 6% capacity, while they struggle to get it back up again and investigate what caused the shut down.
This is the ongoing saga of electricity supply problems in the Western Cape. In August this year, Eskom said that it was not negligent in respect of the power outages the Western Cape experienced earlier this year.
Eskom is the company responsible for supplying ALL of South Africa’s electricity needs. Yet another South African monopoly. Cities are, however, allowed to operate their own local power stations.
However South Africa’s electricity regulator did find them to be negligent and guilty of not living up to their licensing agreement.
Then there are a lot of meelie mouthed words by the head of Eskom, Mr. Thulani Gcabashe, but the bottom line is that Eskom did not have its shit together then, and perhaps not even now, because Koeberg has suddenly become unreliable after all these years of giving reliable service. The problem is that basic maintenance procedures are not being followed.
Gcabashe is a bullshitter.
Filed under electricity, Koeberg | 3 Comments »
