THABANG MAUPA DIES HORRIBLY

Just as he was about to tuck in his car with his wife, death in a form of several bullets ripped through his body and he died instantly. This was how ANC Ward councillor Thabang Maupa, 49, met his mysterious death!
Apparently
the Councillor at the time of his death, he had just finished helping his wife to close their liquor restaurant situated at R37 Road, Riba Cross Village outside Burgersfort in Fetakgomo Tubatse Local Municipality, Sekhukhune District of Limpopo Province. When they had climbed in their car and ready to leave, an unknown man approached their car and started firing several shots at the car, killing the Maupa and injuring his wife who was with him in the car.

SAPS in Tubatse have confirmed his death and a huge reward is being offered to anyone who can assist with the arrest and conviction of the culprits.

The deceased family said, they are still reeling in shock, and are trying very hard to come to terms with the tradegy that just hit them. No one had anticipated this but it has happened, said one of the family members who wished his name not to be mentioned.

The police have confirmed that they are investigating a case of murder and appealing for anyone with information to come forward as soon as possible.

Take back our forefathers land.

Something is brewing in South Africa, as good as its variety of ingredients, it is emitting an intoxicating smell. So many sober minded people are turning into drunkards daily as they continue to inhale this toxicating smell coming out of the brew.  The issue of Land is grabbing attention from all angles and the narrative points to an unfavourable direction. Land is sought at every angle but so far the hasn’t been any pointable action from the powers that be. The election of Cyril Ramaphosa at the 54^th Conference of the ANC heralded a vigorous pursuit to the land issue and many, particularly black South Africans drank to the well as he (Ramaphosa) kept scoping out the contends.

Let me say up front, I support the idea of expropriation of land without compensation, even thou it goes against the prescripts of the constitution. However Ramaphosa should know that, those who took away the land wont give it back without a fight and definitely the will be casualties along the way to claiming that land. It will be naïve for the Government to talk expropriation of land without compensation on the same breath as without compromising the economy, food stability and marginalisation. South Africa must expect the economy to be shaken, food stability to be challenged and minorities to be marginalised as government expropriate land without compensation. But lets face it, those whites when they took our forefather’s land; they also ignored the economy, food stability and marginalisation. In fact they never cared at all, all they wanted was to grab as much land away as possible now why should we care?

When the apartheid regime in the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga) sought the fertile land in the then Mashishing region, now known as Lydenburg, they pushed and shovel the swatis and Pedis people who had dwelled on that land for many years. The Swati and Pedi people had established themselves on those sprawling mountains of the bushveld. The formed small scale farming activities which were flourishing, their cattles and goats had ample fresh lands to grace, multiple water streams to drink from and a beautiful nature to enjoy. Those people were living among each other, as diverse as they were in peace and harmony until a white man arrived. Their economy was tossed aside, food provision destabilised and deeply marginalised by pushed and thrown into disarray. Those white men forcefully removed, uprooted from their land, chased down the bushveld escarpment my forefathers without any consideration or mercy.

The Marais, De Kocks, De suissas and their companions occupied that land without any shame. They settled on the land from the mountain top all the way down to what is known today as Motsepula. Those white farms in Motsepula are built on land stolen by force and violence from our grannies and no mercy was shown to them. Burgersfort and Steelpoort are two towns build on land stolen from my forefathers with impunity. President Cyril Ramaphosa I hear you when you say, we must expropriate land without compensation, but it should be done without endangering the economy, food stability and all, however it is going to be impossible sir. I don’t expect you to understand the humiliation and shame suffered by my forefathers, but again South Africans cannot be expected to play nice with the whites when they didn’t in the first place. They continue to occupy almost all the fertile huge land in our country while we the rightful owners and heir continue to live in squalor.

Lets move fast, expropriate land including Motsepula, Burgersfort and Steelpoort without compensation, then we can come back to worry about the economy, food stability, etc. we cannot continue to be subjects in our land, live at the mercy of our colonisers and beg from those who oppressed us. Black people who were chased violently away from their land in Mashishing, Motsepula, Burgersfort and Steelpoort expect it back. This government dare not disappoint the many South Africans, including these Swatis and Pedis, who placed their hopes and faith in its hands.

Dear Mr. President....

Yesterday I watched you on television trying to convince us how the ANC NEC has error in elbowing you out of government. I also watched as you kept on maintaining that you have done nothing wrong. Mr. President, you continued to cry and reason with every issue that you discussed with Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa (even thou you tried hard and succeefully not to mention him by name, but I knew you meant him.)  you went on and on how you talked and agreed on ways in which the two of you are going to work together, introduce him to the SADC and BRICS Leaders, because you knew this leaders thinking. When you said this, to me it sounded as if, Mr. President this leaders won’t take Ramaphosa seriously if “you” don’t introduce him properly.

You spoke and said so many things on that national television but what really caught me is when you said, you have done nothing wrong and asked the ANC NEC to furnish you with evidence of wrongdoing. This you asked after the NEC decided to recall you from government and you had refused.

Well I thought I should share with you the narrative on the ground so that you get the grip of things and don’t become ignorant anymore. The people of South Africa are further up with you, your cabinet and your leadership. They simply want you gone! They accuse you of selling their country to an Indian family called the Guptas; they believe you are so corrupt together with several of your ministers that they don’t wish to see you at the Union Buildings any more. Mr. President since you took office, your government has been mirrored in controversy after controversy. You are the first president with first times for everything that is not right.  You are the first president to laugh at every turmoil befelling this country, you are the first president to preside over a state filled with incompetent ministers, the first president to lose every legal case before a court of law, first president to throw every individual that defend and defy you under the bus. First president to face more than “700” charges, first president to survive more than four motions of No Confidence, and still show no concern at all, first president to appoint a minister for four days and then remove him. Mr. President, you’re a survivor no doubt about that but your also a tainted man. You have caused your party to lose every city in which you and them live and work.

I think it’s a little immature for you to now rock up here and claim you have done nothing wrong. Yes, it may seem so on the basis of legality but hey! President your image and your actions are good enough to ask for your resignation. Leave Mr. President while you still have a little bit of your dignity still intact. The party cannot continue to be associated with you or your carhorts. That Indian family you thought are your best friends went way beyond and crossed an uncrossed line, subsequently messing up your presidency. You gave them too much power and made them feel as if they are running government instead of you. President you shouldn’t have done that at all. I know they took your son, gave him a job when nobody wanted anything to do with him.

Just resign Mr. President and go home to Mahlambandlovu to rest from all this attacks and hatred the nation harbours over you. Trust me; nobody wants to see you continuing as president. Even the so-called Transform SA cannot transform nor save you. They don’t represent anybody significant that South Africans know. You will be fired even if you refuse because as I write an axe is wielding in parliament in the form of a Motion of No Confidence in you. This time you WON’T survive it because your defenders have been runned over. Your life as President end today, right now before 12 O, Clock and no one is going to sympathise with you. Your time is up, your record is brocken, your totally defeated this time.

I hope by the time this letter finds you Mr. President; your senses would have prevailed and hopefully done the right thing. You would have resigned and saved yourself the embarrassment of being pushed out on the streets with all those heavy bags you still have to carry heading back home to KZN. I wish you all the best as you pounder on your next move.

Burgersfort is a Disaster. This town does not ignite a Spark.

Not long ago the Mayor of Greater Tubatse Fetakgomo local Municipality unveiled a multimillion rand budget during the municipality’s Integrated Development Programme (IDP). According to Councillor Johannes Phokane this budget is intended to accelerate service delivery to the citizens of the Municipality. The IDP’s total budget stood at a whooping R 600 Million and it has been more than six months since this massive budget was presented to the masses.

But until today communities have not heard nor know anything about the whereabouts of that budget. People don’t know whether the many promises made by the mayor at the event are being implemented or what? Because the town, Burgersfort is turning into rubble of mud and rocks, it is resembling a battered zombie. Under Greater Tubatse Fetakgomo local Municipality, Burgersfort is stagnant, roads are peeling off the ground, buildings are depilating and some are flung far apart from each other. The is not even a single branding of the town, but the municipality has a huge budget available. Burgersfort is serving more than 200 000 shoppers and visitors on a daily base, this people access the town via a small and depilating road. The road R37 is a single lane coming into town and until today it is still a single lane. They are properly maintained streets, actually the is only one street inside town that serves as both the main alternative road and a street for shoppers to access shops. This street was recently poorly upgraded to more than a million Rand, but today it is back to its disastrous state.

Why unveil such a huge budget and still fail to fix a simple town? How is the municipality going to be able deliver services to vulnerable communities if it fails to fix its back yard? This and many other questions that others like me may have remain unanswered till today because our municipality is unresponsive.  I understand that its not the local government’s responsibility to fix a national road, but its the municipality’s responsibility to fix all internal streets and infrastructure in town, so neglecting this is purely reckless and ignorant. Burgersfort has more than 20 active mines, 38 wards and a high level of commodity transit daily, this often lead to traffic congestion, especially during month end. So to allow it to depilate like this, so fast is not right. Burgersfort does not ignite a spark. Instead it is broken, falling apart and development has virtually taken a back sit. Communities are losing confidence in the municipality’s ability to deliver services.

Wards are broken down, councillors are no longer serving the communities that elected them, instead they have politicised everything. If you differ with them, they label you a rebel and overlook you and your entire household when providing services. Poor ordinary citizens remain hopeless and helpless, but the mayor unveiled a budget and still we don’t know how far they are in implementing the promises of the IDP\Budget. The political will of the masses that elected the current leadership has not been fulfilled, Greater Tubatse Fetakgomo Local Municipality’s Burgersfort with its 20 mines resemble one of those isolated Villages in Zimbabwe.  I don’t know what kind of contribution these 20 mines make in our town and villages because everything resembles a “Fuck up”.

The Mayor and his ExCo. must rise above pettiness and show some political maturity, begin this by implementing the promises of the IDP openly, fix the broken town and stop denying ordinary citizens the right to enjoy the fruits of democracy. Atleast in that way we will know that we have a functioning municipality with a dedicated leadership at its helm.

LET THEM HEAD TO SCHOOL, NOT A HOME.

 

LET THEM HEAD TO SCHOOL, NOT A HOME.

The number of homes headed by school going children (Child-headed) is at an alarmingly high now in our democratic dispensation than before. We continue to experience a low level of children going to school; instead they are looking after their parent’s homes, caring for their siblings, providing shelter and food. These children are denied the chance of experiencing the joys of being just a kid, play with kids his/her age and do things that normal kids are suppose to do. You would find them (kids) stuck between the walls of an impoverished home concerned about the health and safety of his/her siblings and not school books.

There are many factors at play which contribute to this but that is no excuse to deny a child his/her basic right to be educated.

 As a society we have accepted that as normal and allowed it to flourish without doing anything. Our communities are continually aware of that parent (Mother) who has since passed away leaving small children destitute. Or a neighbour who is a single parent working far from home and has left children with a reckless aunt or a drunkard uncle who are forever absent, yet they pretend as if its normal and acceptable. Our communities are often absent from key issues affecting child-headed homes and impoverished families because they say it’s none of their business. Failing to realise that it takes a village to raise a proper child. It is no wonder we have a high crime rate, young girls turning to prostitution and a teenage pregnancy that leave us tarnished. Not mention the school dropout that has turned our country into one of the highest illiterate nations in the world.

Let’s get our country, rural or urban going back to basics, where children remain children and adults doing adult work. Its time communities unite and rally support for those children whose parents have passed away, and chastise that reckless aunt or drunkard uncle for the wrong they’re doing. Going back to basic means elders recognise that every child in the community is theirs and make their wellbeing their concern. Going back to basics means allowing children to play without worry, while elders provide safety and security.

Let them head to school, not a home because they belong in class, studying and playing with peers their own age.  

LINK YOUR CAREER TO YOUR TALENTS.

“What do you want to be when you finish school?” I’m sure that everyone is familiar with this kind of question, because each of us has been asked or asked someone this question before and i believe it is still being tossed around. The question has been doing the rounds for decades and the answers continue to be varied and vaguer. What is the right answer to give when confronted with it? Why should it continue to be answered when so many young people are clueless and unable to give positive answers?

Many young people today are bombarded with so many career opportunities that choosing the right one for each individual has become a difficult task to execute. So what could be the solution to eliminate this confusion that continues to overshadow our young people? The answer is simple, according to recently released statistics by Foundation for education, on the right career choice, it was discovered that those who succeeded and excelled in their chosen careers are people who normally had the opportunity to first tap into their talents. It doesn’t help much to expose young people to career exhibitions if those careers do not link with their individual talents. Its important that we link our education system with the talents of our children, so that when time come for them to pursue a certain career path it won’t be a taunting task.

Talent is a gift that everyone is born with and to find yourself in an environment that encourages you to showcase that talent will lead to a right career choice. For example, many successful musicians and Actors tell us that, they discovered their gifts either in church or in school plays. They were mostly encouraged by their teachers or pastors, creating environment in which they can continue to flourish through showcasing that talent. With their passion and dedication, and the support from their teachers and pastors, today they are pursuing successful careers. Many young people, particularly in rural areas continue to make flopping career choices because their environments don’t encourage talents to flourish. Our young people find themselves in careers that bore them to death and this lead to unproductiveness. We have a lot of students dropping out of University because of wrong career choices.

Our education system needs to be fashioned in such a way that it leaves space for talent to play a role. In the talents of our young people lies the best and interesting career. Young people must not be fooled by money and toy around with their career life. You can’t choose to be an engineer when you are a talented writer or a Doctor when you are a talented cooker. No ways! Young people must be channelled to careers that resonate with their individual talents. This is where Educators, Pastors, Parents and Career Coaches should play a pivotal role to ensure that young people are exposed to their talents before exposing them to career exhibitions. This will help a lot with reducing university drop outs, unproductive workplace behaviour and the rate of unemployment.

I believe that talent powered by the right education will breed a successful career. A talent is a young person’s ticket to a healthy, happier, productive and long life.

Fikile Mbalula, Minister of Vulgar Language.

By now South Africans have a clear idea what kind of a leader Mr. Fikile Mbalula is and how desperate he has stooped to try to remain relevant among the nations. Mr. Mbalula, the Minister of Police continue to spit vile insults and vulgar language before the eyes of the citizens of this country with impunity and no one among his comrades in the ANC ever called him to order. Could it be that they are also afraid that they might be victims to his insults?

His only defence is that he is trying to be seen as the right man to lead the fight against crime. No doubt our country is experiencing an unprecedented crime outrage and the rate at which these criminals are mushrooming is alarming and scary. No longer have many ordinary South Africans (Grannies, Girls and Gays) feel safe in the comfort of their own homes. Statistics shows that we are a country with a high level of crimes like Murder, rape, high jacking and kidnapping. The numbers are stacked so high against us that we are the laughing stock of many African countries. Zimbabwe brag that, it only takes one police officer armed with only a knobkerrie and sjambok to control masses of protesters, while here at home it takes an army to control just a few protesters. Such derogatory spits do not argue well for a developed country like ours.

However this does not give the Minister of Police the right to go on our national televisions, radios and newspapers to spit such vulgar language in an attempt to scare these criminals into submission. And Minister Mbalula also must be made aware that pouring outrage on twitter does not bother any criminal because many of them don’t waste their times on twitter and facebook. I think Mr. Mbalula’s problem is trying very hard to be seen as radical and a tough fighter. He does this through impromptu press conferences, while neglecting to realise that, that is not entirely effective. I salute the Minister for springing up with crime fighting programmes, but i shiver at the names he attached to this programmes, naming a programme “Operation wanya tsotsi” is just pure vulgar and unlawful. Besides “tsotsi’s”are used to this words and they don’t scare them anymore. The Minister must also be aware that by sitting there and singing words like “Ba zo uqama ba uphuze” (They will urinate and drink it), crush their balls, no matter how sweet he try to sprinkle it with variety of explanations is just plain silly. Mr. Fikile Mbalula if he really want to fight crime, he must go to the ground, listen to the Policeman’s challenge with regard to underpayments and unfavourable working conditions, then improve them, engage unemployed youth and involve them in police fighting programmes because many of those criminals are themselves. Get a proper police commissioner and leave calling on criminal names to that commissioner.

Mr. Mbalula might mean well at his job, but we have enough insulters and vulgaras we just cannot afford one, especially a Minister who’s suppose to tread well and respect the people of this country. He mustn’t denigrate himself to such low level and bring this country into disrepute with vulgar language. If he can’t withstand speaking vulgar every time he opens his mouth, maybe he should consider letting his spokesperson do that talking. I’m sure the minister has so much work to do than do press conferences where he always had to explain himself because of what comes out of his mouth when he speak. Let Mr. Mbalula go to work, not explaining himself or conducting unending press conferences, no i mean real work of a Minister of Police.