Quirky SA news...

An interesting day in South African quirky news. A police vehicle runs out of petrol while pursuing a suspect, and then has to turn back to fill-up. Four teachers arrested for beating a pupil. The incident left the learner with no sensation in one of his testicles. Ice suckers doctored with “mampoer” gets sold to unsuspecting people at a Rugby match, one of the individuals was a school pupil.

This really got me off the “political news” trolley that oh so forms part of our daily lives. Although these stories are interesting the underlying tones are somewhat concerning, that the respect for Human rights are some what blurred, except for the police incident that is....its home time. Time to unwind a bit.

Cape Town's leadership.....no comment

Okay, so Western Cape Premier Helen Zille's twitter comments have come back to bite her in the behind. Earlier this week she tweeted another comment saying that those people coming from the Eastern Cape in search of work and food are refugees. Now where does that leave us young people in Cape Town, because most of us are in search of just that?

I'm like seriously confused, firstly its hard enough finding work in Cape even though you are educated, but its easier to find work  in other provinces within South Africa. But you see we are stuck in a catch 22 situation. No money, working for peanuts and still having to sustain families etc. Where and when does this dilemma end someone's definitely pulling some dodgy strings around here. I read the New York times article on Cape Town http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/world/africa/in-cape-town-many-black-south-africans-feel-unwelcome.html?_r=1&sq=In%20a%20divid%20city&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&pagewanted=2&adxnnlx=1332482484-GWS8ouJG0Glsq4eBUvAkYQ, which ultimately reiterated what I had been thinking for quite some time, but was afraid to mention. This obviously indicates that with the birth of democracy in SA some years ago, this country still has a long way to go. Honestly I believe that its up to the younger generations to liberate thought processes in SA or we may just head back into the deepening slump of racial segregation. Wow....profound....time for some coffee.

P...for Protest

Protests were reported across South Africa yesterday. While protesters turned on each other in the Western Cape Town of Grabouw, reports emerged that violent protests in Mpumalanga's town of Ogies and Heidelberg in Johannesburg, had police on high alert. In Mpumalanga its understood that residents burnt vehicles demanding that service delivery be improved. The same went for the other town's where similar incidents were reported.

Service delivery has been a touchy subject in South Africa, but has also become a problem that requires to be addressed urgently. While protests in Grabouw were mainly due to poor education facilities, the incident then turned into racial battles. Its understood that while, some felt that they needed to burn down the the “overcrowded” high school in the area, others felt that it was their children's right to get the education that so many of them were not afforded in the Apartheid era.

Moving across South Africa's landscape the protests reported in Johannesburg yesterday, resembled that of the one in Grabouw, however, the racial tone was not present. The protests in Jo'burg were sparked once again by the same underlying topic, service delivery. Its understood that residents there looted the homes of ward councilors who they have accused councilors of selfishly addressing their own needs. While the protest in Mpumalanga was the result of residents not being employed by the local colliery. Well as the country finds its democratic feet, and politicians finally address the problem of in fighting within their political groups, maybe one day some day this problem could just be addressed. Funny how all these protests come a day before Human Rights day.

A Day in the Life....

So, almost two years later, I'm still fighting with call centre agents and customer service people, who try to find out why my accounts are in arrears. Well, the answer is: "I've been unemployed since 2009 and am currently not earning the "fantastic" salary I did before. Vacant stare, that's all you get. Nevertheless, I face each day positively by motivating myself and wading forward in completing my BA in Language and Literature.

Today was my chosen day off and funny enough I received a call from an agent saying that the Sheriff of the court will be due soon as I owe just over two thousand rand on my credit card. Wow, two thousand rand what about those who owe millions? Anyway, as I am trying to get myself out of this slump, I'm also trying to figure out my next career move.

That is tricky in itself. A few years ago I made the decision to do so and found myself without a job. So, as I apply for numerous jobs across various industries, I'm like so hoping that one day, maybe in the next century I'll get a response. Such a pity that the world economy is in its worst slump in over eighty years....If this were not so, then I could have had a decent job by now or better yet, could've gone to Greece.