Number 1 - A photo blog

Election time in South Africa

A family in Democratic Republic of the Congo

The national road that connects Uganda and the DRC with one another

Self Portrait 1

Poverty Eradication versus Economic Development

This is in response to President Zuma's State of the Nation Address. While many analysts regurgitated rhetoric and criticized the quality of the President's speech, I would like to offer a solution to poverty. It is a conceptual solution with regard to policy formulation and implementation. In this regard, I propose that the ANC led government's focus must be poverty eradication and not economic development. Economic development must be one of the strategies in the fight against poverty eradication.

What I am essentially suggesting is that we rethink the fight against poverty. The goal so far has been economic development so that it can reduce poverty and create jobs, and since 1994 we did not get any far. This simply resulted in some economic growth without significant reduction in poverty and almost stagnant unemployment figures.

My suggestion is that we make poverty eradication the goal and economic development as one of the strategies to eradicate poverty. This approach recognise poverty eradication as multifaceted and not just as a simple result of the lack of economic growth.

A multifaceted approach would thus include land reform, agricultural development and industry reform as poverty reduction strategies.This approach recognises poverty as the greatest challenge and align resources and effort accordingly.

This is a new way of thinking and obviously there would be resistance to this approach because after volumes of rhetoric and conventional wisdom, it is only the brave that would risk the unknown.

However, remember not so long ago conventional wisdom let people to believe that the world was flat and that you if you walked far enough you will get to the end of the world. Also, not so long ago it was believed that the earth was at the center of the universe and that everything orbited around it and those who dare to challenged it was ridiculed and faced the death penalty.

So, let it begin.

It is better to be a dog than a poor ‘black’ child

I can’t help but wondering about the value of a ‘black’ child in society; that is when you consider that dogs are treated better than starving ‘black’ children. It is safe to conclude that it is better to be a dog than a poor ‘black’ child.

As a dog you will at least have three meals a day. You will also have a comfortable place to sleep, be protected by high security fences, and receive regular pampered treatments by the owner.

As a dog you will not be abused by your owner because animal ‘brutality’ has become a greater sin than child abuse. Now days you cannot even swear at a dog because you will be crucified by animal activist all over the globe (like I would be after writing this).

And dare you defend yourself when a dog attacks you, you will be threatened and abuse by the owners. I know this because my brother not so long ago was attacked by a dog and when he defended himself, one of the ‘white’ (I have to emphasize the ‘race’) owners threatened him, and tried to chase him out the area.

She (the owner) said to my brother that he was not allowed in ‘their’ neighbourhood and hence, the dog had all the right to attack him (in a public road). When he stood up for himself and said that Mandela and others fought for his freedom he was cursed at and threatened more.

Minutes later after the incident on his way home he was almost ran over the other ‘white’ owner (husband). He brought a friend with and they threatened him. He was also advised never to set foot in that neighbourhood again.

This all happed because he did not allow a dog to bite him in a public road. Thus, my conclusion: it is better for a poor ‘black’ child to be a dog, than to be a poor ‘black’ human being.

P.S.: At least some celebrities stopped the dog trend and are adopting ‘black’ African children, but still I cannot help but wondering how much they value these ‘black’ children. 

Racial Segregation of Sport at UWC

Over the past eight years I have seen the transformation of UWC in terms of physical structure and the demographic composition of their student base. However, two things have stayed the same: the demographic composition of the university staff and how money is spend on the various sports codes.

Rugby who is played and enjoyed by only a handful of students gets the bulk of the resources. Cricket who is played by also a handful receives the second most resources and soccer who is played by the majority of students are receiving the least amount of resources.

What is troubling me is the racial segregation of sport at UWC. For example, rugby is largely dominated by coloured and white students whilst soccer is dominated by black students. Many might have noticed this, and thought of it as a coincidence but I see it otherwise.

Let me ask you this question: Is it a coincidence that the majority of Sport Admin staff is coloured and that sport dominated by coloured students are receiving the best resources and treatment? Given South Africa’s past I do not think this is a coincidence; I think it is racism (whether this racism is intentional or unintentional it is a discussion for another day).

For those of you who do not agree with me let me briefly explain how this is racism (if you after this explanation are not convinced, I would refer you to my manuscript The Runaway Slave). I define racism as the justification of exploitation and/or discrimination of the inferior ‘other’ on the basis of ‘race’.

Discrimination, exploitation and ‘race’ are the golden key words of this definition. ‘Race’ here refers to the classification of people based on their skin, morphology and ancestry with the aim of creating a superior other and an inferior other. So if we consider the ‘development’ of sport at UWC it tends to discriminates against black students, which is the way UWC treat black dominated sports. Black dominated sports do not get enough exposure and prestige as rugby at UWC.

UWC tends to exploit black athletes (generic terms for sportsmen and women) to promote rugby. Budget allocation is skewed in favour of rugby and critic, and neglected is soccer. Every year soccer players literally have to beg the UWC community for money which would allow them to attend USSA events. Sport Admin give these players forms where you can choose how much money you would like to donate. Rugby players do not pay for anything, not even the gym, whereas soccer players have to pay for access to the gym.

In addition, last night (03 February 2014) they asked poor black students living on residence R10 to enter the stadium. According to UWC Online approximately 3500 people attended the match which would amount R35 000. This money will go back into the coffers of rugby. The irony is that black resident students were the ones who filled up the stadium.

Considering this, it is clear that the university Sport Administration are racist towards black athletes, which is a pity if you take Prof Jakes Gerwel’s vision into account. He was the one who opened the doors of this historically ‘coloured’ university to all ‘races’ in South Africa. His vision established this university as the university of the working class; for those who are exploited and discriminated against in society, but it seems like we have become what we never wanted to become. 

Jacob Cloete