double-helixed uBuntu.
these interwoven veins,
dna,
double-helixed,
microscopic,
binding us, all of us,
together, as one,
species, one race,
human,
me & you
us,
all,
through
this common
shared
truth:
‘I am because you are’*
all of us
together
as one
me & you = uBuntu*
* – uBuntu is an isiXhosa/isiZulu concept that espouses the “belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity”
We forget the newly independent Tanzania, Zambia, and other ‘Front line States’ in the struggle against Apartheid tyranny.
We forget the burdens they shouldered as they embodied the very essence of that very humane of philosophies – uBuntu – I am because we are.
We forget the Apartheid foe foment civil-wars in Mozambique by incubating Renamo as a counter-revolutionary force against Frelimo.
We forget Unita in Angola battling the MPLA.
We forget Koevoet in Namibia fighting SWAPO.
We forget The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.
We forget The Wankie Campaign.
We forget …
We forget much.
there’s always hope, I suppose,
so I still cling onto it,
a wishful hope perhaps,
that there will come a day,
when,
those who profess to believe in a higher being,
an almighty, or many,
will listen to what the tenets of the myriad creeds of the ‘almighties’ to whom they pray each day,
say.
Yup, a vain hope it may be indeed,
that these holier-than-thou ‘believers’ would,
or could,
for maybe just a little while,
shut the hell up?
and actually listen,
to those humane tenets that we are told are present in every creed,
and maybe then,
if they shut the heavens up for a bit longer,
they may actually,
really,
for once,
to all those glorious words,
pay some heed.
Ps: I mean if one claims to be a ‘fundamentalist’, it follows that its obligatory to follow the ‘fundamentals’, erm like let’s take this really, really ancient one as an example:
“Thou Shalt Not Kill”
Yup.
That would be a good start
peace | love | uBuntu
Apartheitude …
Apartheitude – a personal belief presented as ‘fact’. Most often used to denigrate the ‘black’ government, in an attempt to justify racism.
painful it is to hear,
from strangers, relatives,
steve hofmeyr & company,
friends, both near and dear,
just how fucked-up this country is,
cos´ you see, man,
`these bloody blacks of `ours´ can´t rule´.
`and it was so much better in the `old days´.
note: old days = the Apartheid era.
`oh ja, back then there was no crime´.
note: back then = the Apartheid era.
and no, they won´t say that `back then´ crime only affected the
`blacks´.
no, they feign ignorance of the Group Areas Act and of the
Sowetos of our land.
gugulethu, lenasia, khayelitsha, eldorado park, sebokeng, kwa-
mashu, alexandra township, botshabelo, azaadville, kagiso, riverlea,
mannenberg, roshnee, meadowlands, atteridgeville, chatsworth,
mamelodi, phoenix, newclare, rylands, tembisa,
was it all a dream?
or was it as I´ve so often heard it being justified “you see in
principle, there were `some bad things´ about Apartheid, but overall
the system was not an evil, monstrous, inhumane, tyrannical one”.
no, of course not.
“you guys won´t understand but things were different `when i was
your age´.
note: when i was your age = the Apartheid era.
of course, things were fucking different when you were my age, in
the old days, back then,
because back then, in the old days, when you were my age …
the lazy `kaffirs´ were merrily chilling in their sowetos,
the drunken `hotnots´ were pissing it up in their mannenbergs,
the shrewd `coolies´ were making money in their chatsworths,
and the benevolent white-minority regime of the time was busy
seeing to all these niggling issues,
and there were no electricity cuts for all.
note: for all = for the privileged white-minority.
joburg was so clean,
there were none of these bloody _____________
( fill in where appropriate = zimbabweans, `these foreigners´,
pakis, somalis, mozambicans, `fucking foreigners´ etc ).
so of course things were fucking different when you were my age.
`ag not like today, né, man´.
note: today = all things bad. namely:
a `black government´.
a `fucked-up constitution that gives criminals more rights than
`us´ normal citizens enjoy´.
an `almost failed-state banana republic, but `i tell you, give
this country 5 more years and see what malema does to it, ja bru,
just you check and see´.
and on,
and fucking endlessly on,
and on and on it goes,
a desperate, well-meaning, heartfelt, reasonable, patriotic,
`only because I care´,
meditation on the state of the nation.
yes, oh most definitely yes,
the virus mutates: Apartheid 2014-style.
“Apartheitude”.
with style,
fuck no, not gangnam style, ag nee man
(special thanks to Alan Finlay for his invaluable advice)
On Xenophobia…
‘Xenophobia’ is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as:
” noun:
intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries “
The synonyms for xenophobia are:
chauvinism, racial intolerance, racism, dislike of foreigners, nationalism, prejudice.
_____________
As a citizen of South Africa, I am acutely aware of the many challenges that our young country faces.
The iniquities of our tortured past, the legacy of Apartheid, socio-economic issues etc. are just a few of the many problems that South Africa is grappling with.
What is extremely disturbing for me is something that I have personally encountered, in conversations with friends, family, and fellow citizens from all walks of life.
That something is how rife ‘anti-foreigner’ sentiment is within our various, and still divided communities.
I have heard the most atrocious, insensitive, hate-filled utterances regarding the ‘foreigners’ who ‘take our jobs’, and ‘take our women’, and ‘are the cause of all the crime’, and ‘they must go back to their countries’, and most chillingly ‘we will kill these foreigners’.
I am also aware that many intellectuals, think-tanks, NGO’s, and sociologists etc. have written and spoken volumes about how the failure of proper service delivery by the government and local municipalities, and the myriad other shortcomings that plague our country have played a part in the emergence of this abhorrent xenophobic sentiments that are being spouted almost as if one was talking about culling animals in the Kruger National Park.
We have already witnessed the scourge of xenophobia, and not long ago, when organised bands of people marked, attacked and killed ‘foreigners’ in a frenzy of blood-letting and looting.
This was in 2008.
And today, as the father of the nation, Nelson Mandela lies ill in a hospital bed in Pretoria, I hear similar disturbing and blood-curdling hate-speech directed against ‘the foreigners’.
What is going on?
Where and how have we, as a country, failed, or more worryingly, chose to ignore the signs of this cancer that has to be dealt with, and dealt with as a matter of national priority.
The synonyms for xenophobia include racism, racial intolerance, and prejudice.
The neo-Nazis in Europe and elsewhere are xenophobes.
No one disputes that.
The neo-Nazis in Europe and elsewhere talk in almost exactly the same terms when they spout their rhetoric, when they go on ‘Paki-bashing’ sprees in England, when they deface Synagogues and Mosques and Temples, or when they beat up and kill ‘foreigners’ who ‘take our jobs’, and ‘take our women’, and ‘are the cause of all the crime’, and ‘they must go back to their countries’.
What is particularly disturbing about the rise of xenophobia, especially in the South African context is the complicity of silence, and by extension, a shocking acceptance of these racist and murderously dangerous views, by ‘normal’ citizens.
We are Africans.
And above all, we are all human.
This may seem like an obvious and unnecessary fact to point out, but when certain friends, family members, and people one interacts with daily, spew such xenophobic drivel, it needs to be taken seriously.
Pogroms, xenophobic attacks, racism, intolerance, prejudice, casteism, religious bigotry, sexism, and homophobia, do not simply arise out of nothing.
There are societal, religious, traditional, cultural and other factors that do indeed create fertile ground for some of these noxious sentiments to germinate.
It is incumbent on us all, people, just people, to engage with people, however close they may be to us, and challenge and make our voices heard that we will not stand mutely by, as such hate-filled venom is chucked around nonchalantly.
We cannot be conspicuous by our silence and inaction when a large segment of our society, those who have chosen our country to be their home, often fleeing economic hardship, political and social violence, and numberless other factors that force, and this is important, people are forced into leaving their countries, often making hazardous and painful journeys in order to find safe-haven amongst fellow human-beings.
As South Africans, we know just how friendly countries welcomed us during the darkest days of Apartheid repression and tyranny.
Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and the other ‘front-line’ states paid dearly for offering South Africans fleeing Apartheid a place of refuge as well as a base of operations against the oppressive Apartheid system.
Apartheid agents and security forces attacked, fomented insurrections against the governments in the front-line states, and still South Africans of all races, creeds etc. found a welcome home in these comradely countries.
We should never forget this.
Ever.
Our government needs to be more vocal about its stance on xenophobia, and by doing so it will send a message that it will not stand by idly while people from other parts of the continent are constantly under the threat of being attacked.
That said, we as citizens have a voice, and it is morally incumbent on all of us to do our bit so that the scourge of xenophobia is excised from this land.
There is a simmering undercurrent of the possibility of attacks on foreigners as I type these words.
If this is not taken seriously and dealt with, sadly we may see scenes similar to those we witnessed in 2008.
Mayibuye-i-Afrika!
The Infidel …
The infidel writes,
blasphemes,
rejecting cellophane sermons.
The infidel whispers,
cursing,
the benevolence of the higher power.
The infidel chokes,
gagging,
on the odour that emanates,
from self-righteous mouths.
The infidel waits,
patiently,
for the retribution that must arrive.
The infidel casts off,
the labels of faith,
of belonging,
of sanctimonious snobbery.
The infidel refuses,
To beseech the merciful god,
And to cower,
And to kneel.
The infidel stands,
At times alone …
“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone” – Jesus Christ
Scribbled Verse 