Bring me my Vuvuzela!

Bafana Bafana's resounding 3-0 victory over Paraguay on Wednesday has renewed my faith...

That's the kind of performance a fan longs to get used to.

Continued success!

No warm winter

Not long ago, Eskom promised us a warm winter.

A cold front over Gauteng and last night (the coldest night of 2008) we were blacked out for 8 hours. Of course, we're committed to saving electricity afterall we are the ones that suffer the power outages (which despite all promises, still happen without notice).

Even as we implement energy saving measures, Winter is coming...

The fact is that South African homes need additional heating during winter because our houses are not built to retain energy well. And we can expect extremely cold weather this winter if global weather patterns (and last winter's experience) are anything to go by.

Now ESKOM is warning that we'll be penalised even more, over and above the 14,2% increase and the 2c per kWh levy introduced by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. If your supply area's total consumption isn't reduced by 10% (not sure if that's calculated per day/week/month) you will be penalised daily.

And the latest news... Eskom is appealing to the National Energy Regulator for a further double digit increase over and above the 14.2% already approved by the regulator.

Looks like it's going to be a chilly winter in our homes and for our disposable income (this on the back of rising interest rates, increases in prices of fuel, food, etc).

Still the insensitive heads of Eskom have the gall to defend their hefty "performance" bonuses and possible share options of R10 million. What rot!

How do we confront this?

I'm just wondering, by what authority (legally speaking), do Eskom (and government), have the right to impose the plethora of penalties on consumers, when electricity supply is monopolised by a state entity which has dictated demand?

Team 2010 rising

Seems soccer fans are not the only ones who've been grinding their teeth over Bafana Bafana's ability to make a good showing in 2010.

My own soccer-loving family is among many South Africans who have been praying that SAFA will hear our cries and take the drastic measures necessary to give us the best possible team for 2010. In fact a little while ago we were analysing the team's performance at the 2008 AFCON tournament (Ghana) when my hubby threw in his 2 cents, suggesting SAFA should sign up a dedicated core team of the top contenders to train and play together in preparation for 2010. His thinking was that it would help players focus on the 2010 objective, without the distraction of club football pressures. It could also help build a stronger playing unit, he suggested. Someone was listening hun...

Here, here to Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile who, according to news reports, is proposing the 'nationalisation' of our national soccer squad ahead of 2010. Apparently government wants to avoid the embarassment of a bad performance by the national (host) team in the 2010 soccer spectacular. The proposal still needs to be accepted by SAFA (the min-istrators). Don't expect too much enthusiasm from SAFA - they've never been known for their insight into the development needs of our team.

I say government (and my hubby) are onto something? We need to do something different than what we've been doing. At this point, we have nothing to lose.

Give us a team we can be proud of!

Beyond the rainbow nation effect

Is the 'rainbow nation' era coming to an end? Time will tell.

I can't say I ever fully embraced the cliched term accredited to our peace-loving Archbishop Tutu. Although it aptly describes SA's diversity, its often extended meaning carries the deceptive connotation of a nation reconciled and unified in spite of its diversity. But that prize has up to now mostly been a figment of our collective imagination. That's not to say that we can't one day claim it in truth.

Perhaps the SA Patriot agenda of responsible citizenship marks a new era in national consciousness that expresses more aptly our identity and aspirations as one nation. The steady stream of new registrations from the SA PATRIOT website are encouraging this point of view.

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?