South Africa P.I.G.

The difference between Black and White

Sandile Memela is an author and chief director for marketing & public relations at the Department of Arts & Culture. He writes in his personal capacity ... <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_cW6OMjnTmqvtKlRaiVNgBv3KfU3q4z6GE6Yj64fChIKxnZT7_MhLC2HpIXqhBFjqGFrC1lqDPuA5cth29CVbvTHIUlH2k_YQHTYHmDHm3LUuVLBQ2gTE63lnF3wVpkFgNmEhvQX5-vZ/s1600-h/nigger2a.jpg"></a><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425600791886475202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQCs3QAI21sHhd5Bo4HwaWubrLJUv4GsUfvP_DqtttJN0h4in562N-_jY9KO00p5g8YgBGgY62kFZNTpl4QXFK3EdpetMd2nQJaTMltfHc4_JlkgLQ1oXL5JZ-mOBD1aAngiWGb3Emr0a/s400/nigger-maths-fail.bmp" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />For almost 30 years I have debated the subject of matric results with many different people from different walks of life. One thing that strikes those with eyes to see is that white students continue to dominate and outshine the ranks of matric super-achievers followed by so-called Indians. There is a perception that African students are the worst performers. If you look at the faces of smiling and happy pupils who have obtained more than six distinctions in matric this year, they are mostly white. Of course, that tells us something not about who has superior intelligence but who is willing to put their shoulder to the wheel. After all, the greatest determinant of how many distinctions a student is going to get at the end of the year is the amount of work they are willing to put in. One thing that has struck me over the last 15 years is that African students seem to be more interested in song, dance, fashion and booze than self-discipline, focus and hard work. Of course this is a generalisation that makes the innocent suffer but one needs only visit festivals, night clubs and other places of entertainment to find out which direction African students channel their energies. The reality of the situation is that white and Indian pupils are too few a minorities for them to dominate matric results. It is time that we asked a hard question of African students: how long are they going to depend on affirmative action to make headway in life? Of course, it is a justifiable government policy to demand that tertiary institutions make special provision for enrolling African students to be enrolled at universities. But who should be given special treatment between a super-performing white student and a time-wasting African student with low marks? I would be wary to answer, without any reservation, and with the deepest conviction of my heart and soul that the opportunity should go to an African student. It is time that special focus was put on matric results and the performance of African students at high school level and beyond. Since 1994 African students have had the power to choose to be great super-achievers or mediocre talents. Their parents and government continue to make huge sacrifices huge amounts of money for them to attend the best former whites-only schools under the best conditions. It is just an excuse for us to accept that African students face racism, victimisation and that we continue to blame white teachers and principals for their poor performance. Fundamentally, African students are the product of what they choose to be. Their matric results have very little to do with their genes or the upbringing and environment they live in. Certainly, the issue of language, genes and culture, if you like, often influence how students learn but this does not predetermine their results. The excuse that African students are so-called Historically Disadvantaged Individuals has been bandied about for far too long, now. The essence of the difference in matric results between White, Indian and African students is simply a matter of self-discipline, focus and hard work. It is time more was demanded of African pupils rather than encourage them to continue to believe that they future is secured simply because of their skin colour. This whole attitude of entitlement makes it easy for conservatives to say that affirmative action is reverse racism. African pupils make choices based on the values they learn from their families and communities. African leadership and management at family and institutional level is, largely, a product of a culture of entitlement. This misleads the youth. The ability of pupils to reinvent themselves and surpass all expectations in matric performance is what this country needs, especially from African youth. The best gift that the white and Indian youth have given this country is the example of focused, disciplined and hard working young people. Let us not discriminate against them, later, to make way for African youth who are not a source of pride for this nation. It is time that merit and a willingness to work harder were the new criteria to decide who gets an opportunity in the New South Africa and who does not. African pupils must choose whether they want to succeed or perish as fools. If they choose the latter, they must face the consequences of their own choices. The future of Africa deserves better quality leadership than our youth are putting on the table.

The difference between Black and White

Sandile Memela is an author and chief director for marketing & public relations at the Department of Arts & Culture. He writes in hi...

12:59 PM

For your convenience, Mr Zuma

"Vleispasty" (meat pie), my younger, far less attractive sister wants to know why Jacob Zuma hasn't asked for her hand in marriage yet. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3beTp-1ol9AueHJgEC1Vt0PVVrwPByu-Y_qOT_TZruFWnAyd0HbaD_KSjDsuJMXfn1WFAclh4Q_mlKQfN-3V6Oisc3IOjEOyCX0I5qX08kDQQtYR0iIijkH7NXFKGlzljmAFtmHjKy99/s1600-h/zuma-pot-belly.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425607298134660562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB3beTp-1ol9AueHJgEC1Vt0PVVrwPByu-Y_qOT_TZruFWnAyd0HbaD_KSjDsuJMXfn1WFAclh4Q_mlKQfN-3V6Oisc3IOjEOyCX0I5qX08kDQQtYR0iIijkH7NXFKGlzljmAFtmHjKy99/s400/zuma-pot-belly.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 280px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 390px" /></a>With wife number six on the line and the South African tax payer no doubt footing the security, housing and other bills, and with my pudgy little sis notoriously lazy, I can see why she would not mind being the Sunday night chick...unless JZ also rests on that day. It wouldn't surprise me if he did. Busy job running a country, keeping your friends out of jail and dancing in traditional gear on national television. By the looks of things on the e tv news report, our commander in (Zulu) Chief could do with less pap and more balance but, who cares frankly when there's consummation to be had and pardons to be extended. My sister, Mr President, will make a fine wife and add a little bit of vanilla to the harem. In all fairness I feel I need to warn you, however, that old Vleispasty has always had a bit of a temper and does not take kindly to being told what to do. Added to that she's fiercely feminist and opposed to all manner of useless and /or outdated traditions, which means that next year there will be no beating of a bull if you want to get to know her on a carnal level. I also think you need to know that she's got zero to absolutely no time for children and their antics. This, of course, means that you will have to close the kindergarten and get rid of half the country's ministers. It also means that "The Hawks" have more chance of doing anything noteworthy than you will have fathering her child. Just on the topic of "The Hawks" and pardon my digressing, but what have these caged budgies done over the past few months? I've hardly hear a thing bar the latest attempt at halting the merciless crime wave, aka, probing leaks in matric exams. Is THIS the kind of thing the country's so-called "premiere" law enforcement agency should be spending its time on? I bet that a half-drunk private investigator with bad hair and even worse breath, hailing from Phalaborwa where he was raised by a family of Crocodile hunting nomads could crack the case in half a bottle of Crackling. Putting the country's "top cops" on the job is a bit like sending a SWAT team to take down a group of pot-smoking teens on matric vac. Don't you think? I suspect "The Budgies" are in desperate need of publicity and can we expect many meaningless appearances in the media as we build up to the Soccer World Cup. Afterwards they will no doubt retreat to the crime hotspot of Mandela Square steakhouses where they will plan, plot and discuss the road forward - over tax-payer sponsored cigars and single malt whiskey. Tough place this Africa... Anyway Mr Zuma, let me not keep you from your busy schedule. There are breakfasts to be had, state dinners to attend and wives to wed. I am betting you are going to turn at roughly lady number 11, so why not do something for national unity and mix things up - starting with my sister. She's waiting for your call.

For your convenience, Mr Zuma

"Vleispasty" (meat pie), my younger, far less attractive sister wants to know why Jacob Zuma hasn't asked for her hand in marr...

12:46 PM

Traditions plague Africa

Zuma's traditional wedding a "giant step back into the dark ages". Zuma's wedding "to a woman he is reported to have already fathered three children with, and the alarming return to ancestral worship is a giant step back into the dark ages," said CDP leader Reverend Theunis Botha. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423415726199644818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8clLve9HUclzrO6VawJc9ua7x1z1KDMKlYBXuDPg0RMcxo8lR3fZhm4uUV9_nCHK_sQ_3dHs1aLV-lXzKW4e9HbDXA6uze9TfiXwQfy3WZugw5dLJFDc8k9Q4qCq5GPPb6dYg0tzz70x/s400/zUMA-South-African-President-J-002.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 252px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Zuma married his fifth wife, Thobeka Madiba, outside his homestead on Monday afternoon in a colourful traditional wedding which attracted scores of guests and media.'Traditions plagued Africa' It was the same ancestral traditions that had plagued Africa in the past and that had kept it [Africa] in superstition and poverty, and not colonialism as some people believed, he claimed. "Very little has been done since ‘independence’ in the way of development, with few that do not rely on handouts, especially from the West," he said. It was up to the churches to speak out about ancestral worship practices, Botha said. "Political parties doing so, when the churches are silent, are exposing themselves to undue criticism of being anti-black or racist," said Botha. The president's other wives are Sizakele Khumalo, whom he married in 1973, and Nompumelelo MaNtuli-Zuma, whom he married in 2007. He was previously married to current Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, whom he divorced in 1998, and Kate Mantsho Zuma, who committed suicide in 2000. Eighteen children Zuma is the father of 18 children. He is also engaged to Gloria Bongi Ngema from Durban. Her family presented umbondo (gifts) to the Zuma family at the end of December. Umbondo is the last Zulu traditional ceremony before the wedding. It was done after ilobolo had been paid. It was not known when Zuma would tie the knot with Ngema.

Traditions plague Africa

Zuma's traditional wedding a "giant step back into the dark ages". Zuma's wedding "to a woman he is reported to have ...

2:09 PM

South Africa P.I.G.

The difference between Black and White

For your convenience, Mr Zuma

Traditions plague Africa

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