The reward you get when you act against poor service delivery in SA.



KILLED FOR BEING AGAINST POOR SERVICE DELIVERY : Ficksburg Teacher, Andries Tatane lies bloodied and lifeless after being beaten and allegetly shot by police.

(Picture by: Willem Van Der Berg/Volksblad.)





 Andries Tatane was killed on April 13, 2011 , during a march against poor service delivery in Ficksburg, Free State Province.

I've always believed that he was an innocent man who was killed because he hated poor service delivery, but Johann Nel, one of the seven policemen accused of beating Tatane to death, said the Teacher was not a peaceful protester who tried to protect older people during a protest march in the town as it had been alleged by the media.

Nel said in a video of the protest, shown to the court on Wednesday, a discussion could be heard that Tatane tried to enter the municipal building unlawfully.

"Tatane tried to enter... tried to get the keys of the building and is not the peaceful man you tried to convey to court."

Let's look at this naked issue from a PR view, surely we all know that a lot of service delivery protests in South Africa always turn violent. We've seen in the past people turning protests into opportunities to steal from others or vandalising property.

We may all been convinced that Tatane was just an innocent man trying to voice out his views just like any other person, but the media always wants to sell and will go an extra mile by sensationalising and twisting stories.

As much as I believe that the shooting by the police took place, I think we can argue that perhaps the police are just unfortunately being framed  by the media to look like they're are heartles and brutal (the framing theory).

Sometimes our police face the danger of losing their lives as well due to unruly and violent protesters and they have to respond by force,  isn't there a possibility that the same thing might have happend in this incident?

The media is there to keep us informed about what's happening around us, but we need to understand that they also choose what they tell us, how they tell it and also how they want us to react to what they tell us (propaganda). Which is probably why police often appear as the monsters in our society.

This is my view, what's your view on the matter?

Zuma leading by example on culture?

PREPARING FOR THEIR BIG DAY: South African President Jacob Zuma with his fiancee Gloria Bongi Ngema

 Photo: EPA

















Jacob Zuma, the South African president will soon wed Gloria Bongekile Ngema, the two have a three-year-old son together.

A traditional ceremony is expected to take place in Zuma's home village of Nkandla, in South Africa's eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.

There's always been concerns from quite a number of South African citizens about the president's value in his cultural practice (poligamy).

A lot of people were arguing that the tax payers' money was being misspent on maintaining the life of Zuma and his family rather than using it on service delivery.

Perhaps we can all relax now because things are going to be different in this case, the spokesperson to the president, Mac Maharaj said in a statement: 

" The cost of the ceremony is to be paid by the president with there being no government expenditure involved."

Maharaj also said that the spouses will also pay for their own living or household expenses, be it food, mortgages, lights, and water.

The public relations angle in story can be derived from  the theory that in today’s sensitive business environment, any organization’s ultimate survival may well depend on developing and maintaining a recognizable image and favorable reputation.

We can argue that Zuma is trying to create the perception that as the head of state, he is able and willing to relief tax payers from funding yet another wedding.

He may be successful in this endevour because this suggests that he is not prepared to use ordinary citizens for his personal benefit as president.

We all have our own cultures that we cherish, but I've personally noticed that at any point of our engagements our cultures will clash.

My question therefore is:

When someone becomes president of a country, would it rather be easier to put personal culture aside and let it not interfere with their professional role or would that be a sign of looking down on our own cultures?  

Why wait for Mandela Day to make a difference?



NO CHOICE: Children have their lesson under a
 tree at one of the poor schools in South Africa.


Source: omeidatrading178.co.za

 

A new campaign to alleviate the infrastructure backlog in primary schools in poor communities will make a significant contribution to fulfilling Nelson Mandela’s dream for every child in South Africa to be educated. 

The primary objective of the 94+ Schools Project for Madiba is to celebrate Mandela’s 94th birthday by giving hope and dignity to children in at least 94 schools, among them schools in Johannesburg, through improvements to school infrastructure.

The initiative was launched by the Department of Basic Education in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation ahead of this year’s Nelson Mandela Day, which is celebrated every year on the former statesman’s birthday, on 18 July.

It was officially declared in 2009 by the UN as an annual international day in honour of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The aim of the day is to inspire individuals to take action to help make the world a better place.

The initiative was launched by the Department of Basic Education in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation ahead of this year’s Nelson Mandela Day, which is celebrated every year on the former statesman’s birthday, on 18 July.

It was officially declared in 2009 by the UN as an annual international day in honour of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The aim of the day is to inspire individuals to take action to help make the world a better place.

At the campaign’s launch, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said that the new project would change the lives of thousands of pupils.

Her department has identified 94 schools in all nine provinces in need of urgent infrastructure upgrades. Children and teachers in some of these schools get by with less than the basics. Children are taught in mud structures and don’t have any sport facilities, any sanitation or running water.


“Former President Nelson Mandela’s 94th birthday presents the [department] with a rare opportunity to do good with our school infrastructure,” Motshekga said.

Basic Education’s director-general, Bobby Soobrayan, said that with the campaign, the department wanted to create an environment that was conducive to quality teaching, learning and improved performance in targeted schools.

“Public-private partnerships are one of the most effective ways to meet infrastructure backlogs,” Soobrayan said.

Motshekga said Mandela forged invaluable partnerships with the private sector towards the building of schools, particularly in poor communities – an initiative on which the education sector could build.


It is good that the poor schools will benefit from this kind of project, however, there're so many challenges in this country that need to be addressed. The issue of poverty is still ongoing, unemployment, poor service delivery, and not forgetting corruption!


Why must we wait for Mandela's birthday to make the difference where it is needed? shouldn't it be an everyday thing to help those who are in need?