i’ve just read that parliament has finally scrapped the controversial floor-crossing legislation that allowed members of parliament to cross the floor to a different political party, without losing their seat.
finally our vote has meaning again – so that the party we vote for is the one that has the seat.
Viva democracy viva!
well – history has been made with the first black president!
27 April 1994, South Africa
well – history has been made with the first black president!
04 November 2008, United States of America
another historic day, another lot of news.
the third president of our new democracy has been inaugurated – president kgalema motlanthe. he will be our main man till the next elections in about 6-8 months from now.
and you know what? i already like him!
why? he took our garlic breathed, lemon twisted, beetroot-brained minister of health out of that position. now we can hopefully make some proper headway in the medical department. i can’t say i know much about barbara hogan – but i’m sure she’ll be better than old manto tshabala-msimang.
apart from that, i went to a restaurant launch tonight – 221 waterfront (on the site of the old morton’s on the wharf). they promised us 6 small bite sized tasters of what is on their menu. these tasters were so tiny that we only had 5 of them… they were like proper meals – so we managed to be the first guests to take doggie-bags from 221 J
seriously though, i recommend this restaurant for a special night out – or even just cocktails in front of the largest glass windows in the waterfront.
and i’ve also realized that i can no longer say that i am not a fish person. i’ve just been enjoying too much seafood lately. and tonight i was blown away yet again – we had pangasius. which was described to me as a flaky white vietnamese fish. and boy oh boy, was it good!!!
what bugged me today: nothing, really
what i learnt today: to come to terms with the fact that i am a fish eater
what i am grateful for: having had a good day!
two noteworthy things happened today that affect my life. one more directly than the other. both are big problems, but i can only do something about the one. so, which is now the bigger problem?
there is a hole in my roof. about this i can, at some point after the rain stops, do something.
there is a hole in the cabinet. rain or no rain, i can do nothing about this one. other than living the moment.
l.r. and i had supper together tonight, and chatted about what happened in sa politics today. the biggest news by far was that trevor manuel, our finance minister, resigned in support of mbeki’s resignation. he was not alone – was in fact joined by 9 other cabinet ministers and 3 deputies. but his was kind of considered a “stability seat” – in other words that as long as he stays, the financial situation should be ok (especially in the eyes of the international community). i’ll admit that when i heard he had resigned, i felt uneasy for the first time since this whole debacle began.
the fact that an hour later he announced that he would be willing to stand for any position the new government might want him in, was reassuring. the markets liked it (and recovered a little), i was glad of it (and recovered a little bit) and the country seems to have liked it (and is still being as negative as possible).
i was reflecting on how we are living these moments in this instant gratification time. something gets announced, and we want as much info as possible, immediately. the markets react, the sms channels are filled with messages, the internet is filled with words. yet come 10, 20, 50 years down the line when this is taught in school history classes, that hour between trevor’s resignation and his “i’ll be available” comment will not even be mentioned.
think about it – when we were taught about changes in governments of the past when we were at school, it was generally the big things that were taught. like in this case it might be the request of the president to resign, the coming into power of the ‘great fear’ / ‘great leader’ (zuma) and the split of the anc into 2 separate parties.
i suspect that this will happen. and i think it will actually be a good thing. there have been 2 factions within the party for a long time now. one part is still revolutionary movement, and one part is playing grown up politics. the party has grown too big to be all things to all supporters and members.
i’m sure we will have a new party split off the old block. whether mbeki will play a leading role in this is not clear, but personally, i doubt it. we need this split, so that there is more opposition in government. less majority and more pressure to perform and deliver.
i’m collecting all the zapiro books that have been published – and of the 2 that i am missing, i found & bought one today – “the madiba years” published in 1996. i’ve enjoyed reading it tonight, seeing all the things that happened in ’94, ’95 & ’96. all the dirty tricks, all the fears we had. all the issues that needing dealing – and to see how far we’ve come in 13 years. and what we have overcome.
like the cartoon of trevor manuel as he became the first finance minister “from the liberation movement” – how people were afraid of that. and how he has become the longest standing finance minister in history. of south africa – and possibly the world.
we also chatted about how lucky we are to have had the chance to live through so much in our lives – from the fall or apartheid, the fall of the berlin wall, the rise of the internet, etc etc etc.
sure our parents and grand parents had similar things – but somehow it feels like there is more now. more happening. more international. more instant. more aware of the significance? or am i just being young and arrogant? J
anyway – i had a super late evening visit to t & c for a braai. had a lovely time just chatting around the fire, talking about this & that, catching up, telling jokes and relaxing. it really is so good to have awesome friends like l.r., t & c. they make it all worthwhile J
and now to get some sleep! it is a public holiday in sa tomorrow (heritage day) so i can hopefully lie in.
peace.
what bugged me today: this damn head cold!
what i learnt today: that the monthly instalment on the entry level model of a maybach is r78’000 a month… who, apart from the king of swaziland, pays that??
what i am grateful for: the interesting times we live in
a very interesting thing happened today, that you see in the movies sometimes, but has never happened to me.
i got a call, at work, from a political party, the da (democratic alliance). i wasn’t there, i tried to call back, and after too many engaged signals i left it.
and wraggies waar don’t they phone again this evening on my cellphone.
she tells me that they are helping voters to register for the next elections, and could i confirm that i still live at such and such an address?
at this point in did what i always do with an unsolicited phone call, namely ask the caller where they got my details from.
“oh, from consumer databases”
“like what?”
“like from clothing accounts that you have, these lists can be like 5 years old”
“well, there’s something not true there, because i don’t have any store accounts and i have only been at this address for a year”
“would you like to speak to my manager?”
“what is it exactly that you would like from me?”
“are you a supporter of the da?”
“that’s really not any of your business…”
“thank you, good bye”
and she hangs up.
now, i am fastidious about not giving my cellphone number out unless it is absolutely vital, and i think i can trust the cource.
i am also fastidious about making sure that i un-check the little boxes that say “hereby i authorize you to share my details with a third party”.
anyway, so this is bugging me. i wanna know who they got my information from.
so i call back and ask to speak to the manager, who gives me the name of the company that collects the data from whom the da buys it.
so now i will be following that up with them. i’ll keep you posted.
what bugged me today: an incessantly barking dog next door…
what i learnt today: that zimbabwe has won 4 times as many medals in the olympics than south africa
what i am grateful for: friends (again) and learning that they wanna spend time with you
