WRAP-UP Pt. I

       

by:   Doug Roland

  This post is the first step a series to sum up what we have found here, what we have done and what it means.  

I begin with a listing of incidents and problems that we have encountered during the 28 months we have lived here.  It is a compilation of observations that, in the aggregate, suggests that a social, moral and and political cancer is threatening the people of South Africa. 

        I am keenly aware that I am here by invitation, a foreigner, a temporary guest.  So the litany of items below are filtered by my own culture. It's risky business.  In the eyes of South Africans, this may be seen as alarmist, biased or unnecessary.  Nevertheless, I must be honest in recording what I have seen and experienced. 

For my friends back home, the intention is to share a sense of what it is like to be here day in and day out.  It may help make it clearer if, after you read this, you try to imagine what it would be like if you were here.  How would you act and think?  How would you feel?

 

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Things seen, read, heard or experienced:

•   frequent power outages and water main breaks

• the solid waste pickup takes one vehicle, the driver, and about four others 

• a deep hole in the sidewalk, large enough to swallow a small child, resulted from the repair of a water main break; the hole remains 5-6 weeks later 

• about 20 yards from the hole is a street named "hores", or at least it was 2 years ago;  recently the sign was repainted, "Shores";  glad they cleared that up

• potholes in our street are not fixed for 3-4 months

• robots (stop lights) go out regularly, usually during rush hour

• police investigation of the burglary at our house last February; a promise from the Captain to send a fingerprint team.  The prints remain on the wall; the team never showed

• car accidents near us, glass and debris on the road is swept into a pile and left

• street lights on our street and a street nearby have been out more than on in our 28 months

• there are high schools with libraries of empty shelves; but, outside there are athletic fields sufficient to accommodate soccer, cricket, track and others;  most have competition level swimming pools, including primary schools

• the nearby university has built separate clubhouses for rugby, field hockey, cricket;  and an array of outdoor lighting for the fields even when no one is there (these lights seem to always work)

• proportionately more Mercedes and  BMWs than I see on Florida roads;  this in a country of  27% unemployment

• a trip or phone call to any public office is often depressing due to employee incompetence and dreadfully slow pace;    

Recent stories from the evening news:

     ●   miners go on strike, express their demands by marching, singing, shouting slogans;  police open fire, killing 31 miners.  200 police are involved

●     wildcat strikes have broken out in mines and agricultural areas; strikers sing, march and dance;  demanding up to twice existing salaries

     ●  a platinum miners demanded equal pay for all the regular miners regardless of skill, years with company, absences;  also demanded that the job of foreman be eliminated, i.e., no bosses

       ●   nearly every newscast begins with 100's of strikers, their, families, friends and hangers-on demonstrating for their causes; it has been said that this country is the only place where people express their anger by singing

●  the economy's growth estimates are adjusted downward;  the value of the country's currency has dropped during these strikes

     ●   a school has one bus to pick up students;  it's either late, broken or doesn't show up at all

     ● 5-6 children ride to school in the back of a pickup truck as parents have no other way to get them there;  truck crashed into another vehicle;  all children were killed

     ●  an adult was carrying three young children to school in his car did not arrive;  children found dead, including a girl who was raped 

     ● in a protest against failure of the government to provide help to a poor community, parents kept their children from going to school  (think about that)

       ● in one of the provinces, a supplier failed for over 10 months to deliver books to schools; one truckload was found along the roadside, simply dumped; investigation continues

      ●   a week ago a 12 seat van belonging to the seminary was stolen from within the seminary's  apartment complex secured by metal fences 

      ● some universities lower their academic standards because of unprepared students;who can't cope; otherwise, if students are failed, there would not be enough to remain open;  in short, institutional dumbing-down

•   there is a constitutional right to a college education;  last January
• thousands of hopeful students en mass tried to get into one of the
• universities that could not accommodate even a fraction of them;  a riot ensued

     

      ●  the president of the country is a grade school dropout;  he  approved a project to "improve" his personal home for himself and his several wives at a cost of about $25 million of taxpayers money;  the home is in a far rural area;  the president answered the critics by saying that the millions were being spent because of security issues; [Note: it is not an "official residence" that would qualify for security as a government expense.]

• the ANC (African National Congress) has been the dominant
• political party in the country since the end of apartheid and has
• commanded about 2/3 of the electorate; every province in the country,
• save one, is governed by the ANC

• the president has had some setbacks from the Constitutional Court. 
• He is fighting a movement from critics to hold a vote of confidence. Fearing the Court, the president has called for a return to the "Traditional African Court" way of doing things, thereby showing an indifference to the rule of law.

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        Folks back home, I think  you should be very thankful.