Just Thinking

It is less than two weeks before the local government elections.  Political Parties and independent candidates are trying to convince people to vote for them.  There is also talk that this could be the last stand-alone local government elections as there could be an overhaul of the election system and timetable by 2014.  In future, we could be going to the polls to vote for the President, Premier and the Mayor on the same date. What is bothering me is the stance that some people have taken against voting.  These are people who feel that they have been disappointed after lofty promises were made when parties courted their votes and these were not fulfilled.  Others argue that they are being used as voting fodder by politicians who do not have the community’s interests at heart.  This feeling is summed up by the New Frank Talk editor Andile Mngxitama in one weekly newspaper as he laments the loss of democracy’s meaning because the people are called upon ev...

The 2009 Grade 12 results are out and they don’t look good. There has been a 2% decline in the national pass rate when compared to the previous year. The Western Cape has declined by 2.7%. If we believe what the Minister of Education is saying then we are not doing well in an important indicator of the quality of our education system. Our education system is therefore forty percent from being excellent.  The Minister has already identified what she thinks are contributing factors to the parlous state of our education. Backed by a report on the Implementation of the National Curriculum Statement she sees an urgent need to improve the quality of teaching in schools in order to achieve. Her initiative in this regard is the establishment of a Teacher Development Branch that will focus on “increasing the support to teachers in terms of strengthening teaching skills and content knowledge.” Reading through the Minister’s speech one get the sense that she views teachers as the weakest li...

The Times really followed this story in 1959. It is nice to see that they featured a picture of the whole family of mama Elizabeth Mafekeng (Rocky), who was the president of African Food and Canning Workers Union (ACFWU) and the deputy president of the ANC women's league. Apartheid authorities forced her to leave with only the baby, leaving the husband and other kids behind.  (Click on the picture).

The Bafana “gees” has really gripped South Africa. It is heartening to see the patriotism that is expressed through the many South African flags that adorn cars and houses. The green and gold shirts declare in no uncertain terms where the loyalty of the nation lay/lied. It does not matter that the quality of the tee-shirt varies from genuine to imitations of the fakes. My employer is responsible for the two that I have.  Employers are also into the Bafana spirit. Employees are getting time-off from work to watch the Bafana games. Some employers (like mine) bought t-shirts for their employees and some spent a lot of money on match tickets. The controversy on the amount that government departments have spent on match tickets is at this stage not dampening the spirit. I guess we will deal with it later.  The national broadcaster – the SABC, played its role in psyching up the nation and rallying it around Bafana Bafana. It has been exciting to wake up to presenters who are...

The Soccer confederation cup has come and gone South Africa was not disgraced on the field of play. We were pleasantly surprised by the performance of Bafana Bafana. They held their own against big names in international football. Off the field of play a lot of good things were said about our organization of the event. One of the major shortcomings related to the country’s transportation system. The FIFA President, Sepp Blatter gave us a seven and a half out of ten and transportation was one of the issues he raised as needing attention before the Soccer World Cup in 2010.  I think a major problem with our public transport system is that it is not client centered. This is a diagnosis that is based on my experience with taxis, trains the bus service.  There was once a bus service in Mbekweni as I was growing up but we later got to depend more on trains to move to other areas. I still can recall getting onto trains that were, sometimes, without windows in winter and very late....

My hometown is covered in the British media.  This article appeared in The Times (London)  10 November 1959.  Click on the article to make it bigger. 

This is my great grandmother (sitting down) Mamdlane, Tutuse, Nomdimba. She was wife to Charlie Zantsi (Mqwathi). Charlie’s father was Melthafa and one of my grandmothers (we don't have great aunts in my culture) tells me that we have family members in the Eastern Cape who took the name Melthafa as their surname.   Another of Melthafa's sons was Dyan.   Charlie and Dyani’s grandchildren and great grandchildren can be found mainly in the Western Cape townships of South Africa.   Charlie’s children were Toni, Komanisi, Nonkcazelo and Bhaqiwe. My grandfather Toni married Sisiki Khethelo, known in Mbekweni as Tyhopho.