Rugby.

So here we have it. Breaking news from an EFF rally somewhere in South Africa🤣🤣🤣🇿🇦🏈🤣🤣🤣. Because a certain leader of a certain (radical) political party in 🇿🇦 claims that rugby is not a white a man’s and that “our” people in the Eastern Cape played it long (decades) before “these” people, it must be true. The way he says “these people” mind you, shows his utter contempt for white people. If it was a white person, claiming that rugby was not a black man’s sport, Malema would be getting his supporters to go and harass and intimidate that white person and furthermore that white person would be the most despicable racist. Yet because it is Malema pouring that verbal diarrhoea out, nothing will be done, except for those of us writing about him or the clip being shared on social media, which will make a laughing stock of him in the rugby world.

At least outsiders to 🇿🇦 will know what nonsense the man is capable of talking. I wonder what the people of the town of Rugby/Warwickshire in England would think if they heard that absolute rubbish pouring out that man’s pie hole?! They should have called themselves simply “The Fighters” (instead of Economic Freedom Fighters) because all they seem to want to do is pick a bone and fight. Fair enough, if the team was all white, but is Siya Kolisi, who also led the Springboks to the ultimate victory at the World Cup in Japan in 2019 as well as this year, not black enough for Malema’s liking? Maybe it irks Malema that Siya has been coached by an Afrikaner? Maybe it irks Malema that the team and it’s coaches and management are not totally black – much like the national soccer team. Remind us again when the men’s national soccer team won a major tournament, even in Africa? Of course, Malema will blame the ANC and whites because the mens’ soccer team don’t win a whole lot, especially internationally.

If Malema paid any attention to the World Cup rugby tournament played in France recently he would have seen so many South Africans of all races standing behind the Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi and cheering him and his multi racial team on. Who knows what goes on in that mind of his, but he could well be very jealous and angry that he wasn’t getting all the attention that the Springboks were and how excited so many South Africans of all races were, here in 🇿🇦 and overseas? If he had sat down like a rational person and just researched the origins of the game of rugby/football, he would quite clearly have been able to see/read the history of the game. Who does he think the the William Web Ellis World Cup is named after? Some native gentleman in the Eastern Cape of 🇿🇦? Talk about trying to rewrite history to fit in with his own narrative. Maybe he is angry about the history of colonial and apartheid dominance and the injustices the native peoples suffered, but history, cannot be changed, it happened. Countries have been colonised through the centuries and empires rise and fall, that is the history of mankind the world over. The best we can do, is learn from history and not make the same mistakes.

Although rugby originated in England, it has through the years (almost 200 of them) become a global sport with people (men and women alike) of many nationalities, races and backgrounds, playing and watching the game and yet he has the audacity to claim that “rugby” is not a white man’s sport”. Are white people not allowed to play the game? Is that what he’s trying to claim as well? It is a sport that was originally played in England, but it doesn’t “belong” to anyone. What doesn’t he understand? Not much it seems.

Of course we know that radical left wing politicians (the world over) thrive on causing divisions and Malema is no different. Having South Africans of all races cheering on a common cause is not at all in his best interests because he thrives on causing divisions between the races.

Happy New Year

2023

Another new year has begun. What does it hold? Who knows? It’s best not to overthink such a complex question, because yes, it is a complex quiestion. The best we can really do is take it one day at a time. If the last three years have taught me anything, it’s about taking life one day at a time, for the most part anyway. It’s easier said than done sometimes, and we do need to be prepared for the curve balls that life throws at us, but sometimes also we have no control over those curve balls and when that’s the case, “one day at a time” is the best approach to take.

Last year was bittersweet. This time last year, we knew our dog Fudge had a bladder tumor and the best we could do for her was give her lots of love, watch her closely until the day came that we knew it was best not to let her suffer and that day came at the beginning of May when her condition worsened and we knew leaving her any longer would cause unecessary suffering. Holding her as the vet gave her the final injection and she took her last breath was one of the saddest days of my life. We got her from the SPCA when she was about a year old, but she had been abused and was very skittish initially, but we were patient, and our home was just as much hers, she slept inside with us, as have all our dogs, and our home became her forever home. She absolutely loved playing ball, but when she was about seven years, she developed back pain, due to a slipped disc and we couldn’t play ball with her anymore, which broke my heart because if she saw a tennis ball, all she wanted to do was play, and I couldn’t risk her having more back pain/spasms. Those last four months I gave her as many “Fudgy huggies” as I called them, as I could, and previously when I did, if I overdid it, she would get a bit grumpy, but during those last four months she did not get grumpy once with me, even when I overdid the hugs. She knew. She barely made it ten, but she had a good nine years with us, and we did our best for her. I still think about her every day.

Fudge.

Finally, most of the world began to open up, after devastating lock downs because of Covid. I got to travel to England in November (no covid tests or quarantining, like there had been during the dark days of lock downs) to visit my mom and sister and I spent the month there, with them.

Back from Holiday

There were times, especially during the first year or so of Covid, when I wondered if I would ever travel again or be able to afford to travel. Of course we had our own uncertainties in South Africa with the political unrest last year in July, which brought about serious looting and chaos for a week that month in the country particularly in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Then when Russia and Ukraine became embroiled in war, we weren’t sure if that would escalate quickly into a world war. It has generally been contained within the borders of the Ukraine, but who knows if it may still spill over and more countries become involved in a greater war. Let’s hope not and let’s hope Russia will stop their attack on Ukraine.

It’s been three months since I last posted here. I haven’t been holiday for three months though. Just November. It was a much needed month off, away from South Africa, visiting immediate family in England, whom I hadn’t seen since 2018.

So, I got to England for a month, thankful that Covid tests and quarantines were a thing of the past. Firstly, it was great to see my family and spend time with them after four years. Secondly it was good to spend time in a country where violent crime is not nearly as much of a concern as it is in South Africa.

Sure, no country is completely crime free, but South Africa is a country with a high level of violent crime. We go to bed knowing there is a good possibility that while we are sleeping our homes may get broken into, no matter where we live in the country, and if we are lucky, we will survive. Vehicle hi -jackings are common. Number stories of murders are daily reported in our newspapers around the country. I avoid the CBD of the city I live in, only going if necessary. It is dirty, run down and unsafe. Suburban life is generally safer than venturing into the city, so why should I leave the safety, as far as safety goes, of my suburban home and area, just to take a walk around a messy and run down city, whose politicians don’t really seem to care about, and make all sorts of excuses as to why the city is in a miserable state while they squabble about their internal power politics.

It was good to walk around a large town and surrounding villages, that are well kept and tidy, where there is little litter. It was good to walk around feeling safe. I could take a walk alone to the local park, not far from where my mother lives, and I felt safe walking alone. I wouldn’t go walking alone around the city park where I live – any public park, for that matter. I was always amazed at the amount of people walking around hands and eyes glued to their phones. Surprisingly they never walked into lamp posts or anyone else. Walk around like that in South Africa in a bustling town or city and chances are very good your phone will get snatched from your hand and the perpetrator will disappear faster than the speed of light.

I don’t know when those who run our cities will realise the vale of maintaining well kept and tidy streets. They are full of excuses, and yes, South Africa may well be a third world country where the unemployment rate is high, but if no effort is made from those at the top to run towns and cities properly, the country will never improve. When so many people don’t have pride in their towns and cities and continue to litter and dump rubbish, the country will struggle to move forward. Those at the top set the examples, and right now the only example they are setting is that as long as they are getting good salaries and their power is entrenched politically, they really don’t care about much else. Their rhetoric is simply lip service.

England have their problems, life isn’t perfect there and there are many people who are struggling financially, but not on the level of South Africa. South Africa is a country full of potential and it’s high time the politicians that run this country realised that, instead of looking out for themselves and making their millions at the expense of ordinary South Africans. It would be great if they actually started working for the country like they should and not just for themselves. That’s asking too much I fear, from entitled politicians, who blame everyone else for their problems. When our top politician feels he has to hide cash in furniture, a man who was a millionaire before he got the top job, and still is, it’s no wonder this country is a mess.

At least the weather is warmer in South Africa. That’s one consolation.

Early Morning Runs

Yesterday was a scorcher of a hot day where in Pietermaritzburg, where I live.  It was forecast for 37 C, but with the humidity it felt like it was probably closer to 45 C.  I have lived in this city for well over twenty years, and each summer I have struggled with the really hot days here.  Fortunately, although we may have two or three hot days in a row, we will then have a respite for two or three days, where the weather will cool down a little, or at least won’t be so oppressively hot, but then the heat will build up again and the cycle will continue during the peak of summer, usually January and February, before the grip of summer slowly eases.  I’m sure last month and this month have been the hottest I’ve experienced here.  We moved into our new home in mid 2017, and until then, we’d never had air conditioning, toughing it out like most do, with just fans.  Finally we moved into a home with an air con, which is in the main bedroom.  What a life saver, especially for days like yesterday.  As a night duty nurse, it’s important that I get reasonable rest and sleep during the day when I am working. When I have come off work in the morning and then I have a few nights off, I still sleep for at least half the day, usually going to bed a little later than normal, catching up on laundry and housework, before having a good afternoon sleep, and waking up when my husband gets home in the late afternoon.  Our small house has a tin roof and it just absorbs the heat and the walls are single brick, which doesn’t help on the really hot days.  Yesterday was an exception.  I was in the bedroom with the air con on by 9.30 am and only ventured out after 5 pm.  Even then the house was still cooking.  My hubby took me out for supper, and by the time we got back home after 8, the house was still very warm, even with windows/doors open, so the air con got switched back on for the night.  Only once I woke up at 5 this morning, opened doors and windows, did the house cool down.  Unfortunately in South Africa, from a safety perspective, we always close the living room, kitchen & bathroom windows at night when we go to bed – the only windows we leave open are the windows of the bedroom we are sleeping in, so during summer, it does get uncomfortable on the really hot nights, like last night.  Fortunately though, most of the nights so far during summer have cooled down reasonably enough for us not to need the air con, but as I said,  not last night.

Anyway, it was such a relief to wake up this morning to cool drizzly weather, and I had a lovely 5 K 6 am run on the quieter roads that the weekend sees.   I haven’t run much this year, so I seriously need to start running more, especially if I am thinking of a doing a marathon sometime this year.

As I was running this morning, my thoughts were with Zimbabwe, the country of my birth and where I grew up, until I left high school, and moved to South Africa in 1990.  I nursed in South Africa for four years, before returning to Zimbabwe in 94, for a couple of years, to live with my parents as I hadn’t even turned 18 when I left home.  In 96, I came back here to South Africa, married, and have lived in the same city for well over 20 years now.  Sadly, I don’t think the rest of the world is paying much attention to what is happening in Zimbabwe currently.  There was so much hope at the end of 2017 when Mugabe was kicked out.  Mnangagwa and the Army looked like heroes after convincing Mugabe his time was up, although  Mugabe has gone quietly into the night and I do wonder what that horrible wife of his has up her sleeve.  Sadly it seems he will never answer for what he allowed to happen in Zimbabwe.  Zimbabweans were played for fools.  What did we expect though, really?  I had my doubts from the beginning, despite his reconciliatory talk.  He had been in Zanu from the beginning, from fighting for freedom from white rule in the 60’s through to 1980, and then held Govt. positions until he was dismissed from Govt in 2017, by Mugabe.  Although it was really Mugabe’s wife that wanted him out, more than Mugabe himself.  Even though Mnangagwa, along with the army led a bloodless coup, he was part of an entrenched regime that oppressed and victimized ordinary citizens for nearly twenty years.  Can someone like that change overnight?  Highly unlikely and in the case of Zimbabwe, definitely  not.  During this last week, where social media has been shut down completely and the internet only allowed to open for brief periods, the outside world has no accurate idea of what is truly happening there.  From reports that have managed to get out though, the army have been brutalizing ordinary citizens, by going door to door, especially in the poorer high density suburbs, dragging people out, beating them up and abducting (supposedly arresting) many – most of whom are able bodied young men. They certainly don’t want us to know how many people they have killed so far, and they have killed.  Why able bodied men & mostly young men? It seems the army want to quell those most capable of fighting back against an oppressive regime, that has allowed a 90% unemployment rate to occur since 2000.  The 150% petrol price increase was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  So while Mnangagwa has been gallivanting around certain European countries, travelling around in a US$74 000.00 a day jet, without a doubt staying in 5 star hotels, and drumming up deals for investment (begging), his country has been going up in smoke.  What a coward.  Ordinary Zimbabwean citizens are being brutalized and even killed,  for finally saying “enough is enough” and wanting normal lives and jobs.  Poor and sick people are unable to receive decent healthcare, never mind basic medication.  Mnangagwa blames them for violence, destruction & looting, yet for the last 20 years at least, the Zimbabwean Govt have enriched themselves at the expense of the man on the street.  Zanu PF all but destroyed commercial agriculture in the country and politicians that were wealthy to start with, took most of the best farms for themselves  When a diamond rich area was discovered some years ago, the country’s ordinary citizens did not benefit – only businessmen connected to politicians and the politicians themselves benefited.  The Zanu PF govt are the primary looters of the country, did they really expect they could sit back in luxury indefinitely, while the masses would be content to sit back and live in poverty under an oppressive and brutal regime?  Yet, sadly the rest of the world pays little attention, with more interest in Brexit and the US Govt. shutdown, which incidentally pales in comparison to the Zimbabwean Govt. shutdown – it makes Donald Trump look like a saint.   Let’s not forget Rwanda, in 1994, where the world only intervened after nearly a million people were slaughtered in just over three months.  Let’s hope that does not happen in Zimbabwe, because the rest of the world doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to an all but forgotten outpost of a wonderful country with mostly peaceful citizens, who have had to endure so much difficulty and oppression for far too long.  I take the liberty to post a message from a friend living in Zimbabwe about half an hour ago –

“Back on line for a few minutes. We are safe. Traffic is back on the road. Huge queues for food outside supermarkets. People reporting standing for up to 5 hours to buy what little is left. We are still blocked by the government from social media. This situation is far from over. Please continue to pray for Zimbabwe!”  

A letter I also take the liberty of posting, is by a well known Zimbabwean author who has been sending out regular letters about the Zimbabwean situation for nearly twenty years.

Dear Family and Friends,
This has been one of the worst weeks in Zimbabwe for many years and has left us shocked, frightened and very uncertain about what is happening and what lies ahead for us in the coming days and weeks. I am writing this letter from Zimbabwe during a brief window in which a court order has just been granted to re-open access to the internet but not to social media sites and communication Apps. We all know this window to the world will not last.

It has been almost impossible to follow what has been going on for most of this week. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday it was mostly too dangerous for people to venture out of their homes. A three day stayaway called by the Congress of Trade Unions and other civic groups rapidly spiraled out of control on Monday: violent protests, burning vehicles and buildings, looting shops, barricaded roads and vigilante groups running riot in our towns and cities. Many people reported hearing gun shots, helicopters hovering and pillars of black smoke rising. On Monday and early on Tuesday many thousands of messages about what was going on and what people were seeing, flooded social media, along with horrific pictures and videos showing destruction, looting, injured and dead people and a massive crackdown by police and soldiers. By about 9.00 am on Tuesday morning the government ordered the internet to be shut down and then we were in the dark about what was going on, and so was the world. The silence of our phones and computers was very frightening. We had no way of knowing who was in trouble, who needed help, if it was safe to go out, if we’d be able to get back home if we did venture out; if our children at school were OK, if our friends in other parts of the country were OK.

By Wednesday we heard that over 600 people had been arrested including Pastor Evan Mawarire who led the This Flag movement in 2017. We still don’t know officially how many people have died in the past few days. We have heard that doctors handled 68 gunshot wounds and over 170 injuries. There are thousands of stories and eye witness accounts that cannot be told now.

On Thursday and Friday people have ventured out, restocked as many groceries as they can find and afford and about 50% of shops are still closed. In my home town today there are riot police and armed soldiers on the streets, outside the supermarkets that are open and at the road blocks out of town. The sight of armed soldiers in our towns is very un-nerving. There are big gaps on supermarket shelves where goods have not been restocked because delivery trucks have not been coming from Harare. Vegetables and perishable goods are in short supply, there is no bread and we have not had water for a week. During ongoing internet blackouts we are unable to use our bank cards at many outlets as they require internet connections; we cannot pay for essential services, cannot pay wages, cannot contact our families, cannot keep up with national developments.

We do not know what next week holds for us, we do not know what tomorrow holds; we do not even know if the internet will still be on by tomorrow morning. The silencing of our voices is very chilling. Please keep Zimbabwe in your hearts, thoughts and prayers in this very frightening time in our country. I will write again when I can…”

How, I ask in 2019, when we live in such a high tech world, when so many countries are relatively safe and prosperous, do countries like Zimbabwe end up in the situations they do?  Well, answering as simply as I can, it’s because there are greedy politicians out there who don’t give a fig about their own citizens.  They trample on the basic human rights of their citizens for decades, oppressing them by whatever means they can, then appear unable to comprehend why the masses eventually rise up against them.

At the very least, please keep all the innocent people of Zimbabwe in your thoughts and hope and pray that the situation there does not worsen!

 

 

Mid January

Ten days ago I joined Jeff Goin’s “My 500 Words Challenge”.  Five hundred words a day for a month.  Admittedly I haven’t written 500 words every single day.  Some days I’ve only written a few lines, other days like yesterday, I’ve tripled five hundred words.   As a full time night duty nurse, after  working a twelve hour shift, particularly a busy and or stressful shift, I get home exhausted, mentally and physically and often do not have the energy to string together even a few sentences. Once I’ve showered and eaten, I mindlessly scroll through my face book feed or numbly watch the food channel, and then drag myself off to bed. Days like yesterday, after having worked a busy weekend, I got home in the morning, showered, had breakfast and tidied up around the house, before watching a seventeen year old thriller movie starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman, after which I finally got myself to be bed by midday – for normal people it would been midnight.  Being a warm day, I made sure the air conditioner was on in the bedroom an hour or so before, and it was divinely cool compared to the rest of the stuffy house and I was able to sleep away the heat of the afternoon in cool bliss.  My husband bought us take away, a cheap and simple but delicious and healthy vegetable breyani, so I didn’t have to cook or do dishes. Having had a busy day in the heat, my husband was exhausted and went to bed early, which left me more than enough time to catch up on some writing, which I enthusiastically did, with the 500 Words a Day challenge and with some blogging. This 500 Words a Day is at the very least giving me the impetus to start writing more.

At the start of every new year, I always set myself the same goals.  Generally the same goals.  Write more, read more, run more, get healthier, and lose more weight. I would actually like to get to a new year where losing weight is not on the list anymore.  I lost nearly 6 kilos last year and it definitely made a difference with my running, and my times improved.  Now I need to lose another 6 or so to get to my ideal weight, so a year in which to do it won’t be too hard, provided I put my to it.  As for the writing, once again, if I put my mind to it, I will write more.   I’ve written more in the last ten days than I’ve in the last few months, which is encouraging.  Last year was quite dismal when it came to writing.  I just felt that each time I wrote or blogged, I was writing about negative content, or more rather I was writing negatively, so I didn’t write or blog much.  Rather, I read more and ran more.  It was a pretty good year for running, so that was something.  I’m no speedster when it comes to running, but I improved my time on my second half marathon by twenty minutes, so I was pleased enough with that result.  I read some good books as well, and when I went on  holiday to England to visit my Mom and sister during an unusually warm but glorious July, I took some lovely photos, went on some good day trips with my Mom and had some great runs along the river near where my Mom lives.  It was wonderful to run along the riverside alone and feeling safe.  Sure, I know people can get attacked in any country when running alone, but the chances of it happening in South Africa, sadly, is way more, which is why I do not run alone in isolated areas and most of the time I run with my club or my husband.  In South Africa, it is not advisable for a woman to run alone, especially along the likes of a riverside where there is a lot of bush and trees, ideal cover for opportunistic attackers and criminals.  I could let down my guard for the most part while in England, and I thoroughly enjoyed those early morning riverside runs. That picture was taken around 6 am and it was a lovely cool morning, which became a lovely warm, if not hot day. I completed what our club calls a progressive marathon – 7 ks for six days in a row.  Maybe one day I will actually  run 42 ks all at once.  Maybe this year, although if so, I will need to take my running more seriously than I am now.

When I stayed with my Mom in her apartment, I loved watching the sun set well after eight in the evening and this was one of the last sunsets of my holiday there –

I will go back next year, for this year, I will remain on South African soil.

For now, that’s it.  Time to eat an energy muffin for my club run just now.