Rush, rush on to the next headline

In keeping with my intention to gain a public platform by capitalising on the media coverage of "The Pledge", I sent out a press release last week. In it I chose to express the need to use this opportunity to facilitate a broader objective around responsible citizenship (as proposed by the SAPI on its founding more than a year ago.)

The most appeasing response was an invitation to interview on SAFM's Morning Talk on Monday (18 Feb). In the allotted 20 minutes, I felt satisfied by the animated interaction of callers, and that we had gained a commitment from some listeners (let's say passive SA Patriots). And we did, as I later discovered when logged on to the 'new registrations' email).

But as always, the media is on to their next headline and I return to my desk to continue the effort to expand the voice of our movement.

To those of you who got my email and managed to tune in on Monday - great!

For those of you would didn't, I'm hoping to post the recording of this and other SA Patriot interviews online. Will keep you posted...

Pledge-arism?

Well the school's pledge unveiled yesterday is getting alot of coverage. Can't say the responses I've heard and read, register overwhelming support for the pledge. Now that it's been released, the Minister of Education is inviting public comment within the next 30 days.
As I said in my previous post, it just so happens that we made a submission to The Presidency (almost eight months ago actually) to lobby them for support of the SA Patriot initiative's efforts to growing responsible citizenship and proudly presented the SA Patriot Commitment Statement we had developed.
We see now, from this announcement that the government recognises the value of our initiative, but for some reason didn't feel motivated to support a civil society movement in this regard. That's the only conclusion I will allow myself (to help me sleep at night) because I cannot entertain the thought that... (no, they couldn't have, could they?)
At any rate I think confining a pledge to school pupils is a bit self-righteous of us as the broader community of citizens. Afterall the decline in values manifested in violence and criminality at school is a mirror on the society we live in. We must not assume to teach that which we do not practice or expect children to do as we say and not as we do.
Now that the discussion has been brought into the public domain, I have decided to see it as an opportunity for us to get a word in, where we haven't been able to before.

I call on all SA Patriots to do the same.

It's Business Unusual for SA

It's been a full couple of days, but I finally read Pres. Mbeki's State of the Nation Address (SONA). As I went through, I tried to remind myself that it is an Executive Summary of the state of affairs, previewing the year ahead and that more flesh would be added during the coming week by the various Ministers.

As someone who has, unlike many people around me, enjoyed the poetic slant of many of Thabo Mbeki's speeches, I was disappointed that this one was all but void of the idealistic voice.

As expected, the ESKOM Power Crisis featured prominently, with an apology to South Africans for the situation, but no executive action to end Eskom's electricity supply monopoly or hold the responsible Ministers accountable for the oversight, following public calls for their dismissal. He did say that he expected us to work together to get through the crises and assured the world that we would deliver the best FIFA World Cup in 2010.

The matter of the incorporation of the Scorpions into SAPS received attention with reference to plans to overhaul the criminal justice system, as did the uncertainty amid Jackie Selebi's prosecution.

Mbeki acknowledged that Healthcare, Poverty Eradication and Service Delivery programmes were all in need of enormous (almost last ditch) effort to improve the lives of all South Africans. HIV/Aids and Zimbabwe, issues Mbeki is often accused of slighting, made it into the speech.

It was a speech themed as 'Business Unusual' and called for Public Servants, Business and Citizens to roll up our sleeves and devote all our energies to improving the current unstable conditions we find ourselves in. Yet, despite the President's intro which created the expectation that his speech would answer our need for the truth, it didn't really provide any indepth insights regarding the state of our political leadership.

As I continued through the speech, noting the points raised, there was one point that hit me like a ton of bricks. It referred to the introduction of a schools' pledge (of allegiance?), which would be unveiled by the Education Minister shortly. Where did that come from?

You see, in June last year, I wrote to the Presidency, like I wrote to various businesses and relevant organisations incl. the International Marketing Council (IMC) seeking their support for the SA Patriot Initiative. I received a reply that same month from the Presidency (Rev Frank Chikane) asking me to expand on my introductory letter, which I did (providing details of our Vision, Mission, Plans, etc.), including prominently, the SA Patriot Commitment Statement. After numerous inconclusive follow-up queries, I assumed that our efforts were just not that important to the powers that be. And now, more than 6 months later, this announcement about a pledge for school pupils. I don't know what it will be called officially, certainly not a Commitment Statement. I wonder what it will say, don't you?

State of the Nation

The State of the Nation Address is online.
Click link below or copy into browser, to access text of the President's speech.
http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/show.asp?type=son&include=president/son/2008/son0208114.htm

I'll be posting my thoughts later...

Come on Bafana: Yes We Can!

I wasn't going to go there, but it's a matter of patriotism you understand.

There is so much hype and PR whenever SAFA signs a foreign coach... and we've had quite a few. Still, I believe our best performances in international football were under South Africans like Clive Barker and Jomo Sono.

It pains me when I hear Mr Perreira tell South Africans that we shouldn't have expected anything more from the team after their departure from AFCON 2008 in the group stage. His excuse is that he is focussing on preparing the team for 2010, so we shouldn't read anything into Bafana Bafana's early exit.

According to Perreira and SAFA, his mandate is to develop a team that will reach the second round of the 2010 World Cup. Given that as the host country we have automotic entry to the 2010 World Cup Finals, shouldn't we be more ambitious? Call me demanding if you like, but that's not the mindset a country cultivates when we aspire to create champions. With players having come and gone on to focus on their club football, coaches having come and gone on to boost the rankings of other teams around the world, one would have expected SAFA's administrators to take a fresh look at its approach of investing in coaches instead of players. Yet the administrators remain. They continue to fail our many talented players, with their lack of inspiration and failure to invest in building a cohesive, quality national side. Perhaps it's time for the administrators to go on to peddle their poor management strategies in the corporate world...

As an SA Patriot, my hope is that our team, coach and SAFA will strive for distinction that achieves far more than a mere pass into the second round in 2010.