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In Any Colour

There are few things that paint can achieve. It can hide cracks on a wall but not the severity of the cracks. It can turn ugly structures into beautiful ones which’s value does not really improve but which can be delusion enough to warrant a higher currency while they shouldn’t. Paint can create colour that later becomes a multi-million rand identity. The Kaizer Chiefs’ black and gold colours are worth hundreds of millions on the market. Reportedly, Vodafone had to pay tens of millions to Cell C to have exclusive rights to use RED as the colour of their trademark. Cell C had no option but to shift to BLACK - which is perceived to be a negative colour.

South Africans have always had a unifying pastime – which later on becomes a national identity. Having a braai was (and still is) our pastime. We are a braaing nation. So, it was quite inspiring to see that on Mandela Day our age-old pastime was suddenly replaced by painting. The legacy of a human rights fighter as dignified as Mandela is suddenly reduced to 67-minutes of changing the colour of structures. South African Airways repainted the whole fleet to celebrate Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela 93^rd birthday.

A weekend newspaper columnist alluded to this ‘cheapening’ of Mandela’s 67- years of being a freedom fighter. I concur that this whole hype of turning Mandela Day into Graffiti Day must be subjected to investigation.

We all know what Mandela Day should be but maybe we need to debate what it should not be. I watched in my neighbourhood and on television as scores of people flocked to schools, crèches, orphanages, clinics etc with paint and brushes over the weekend as their celebration of Mandela Day. I found the gesture quite noble. Those structures obviously would have used another coat or two, which is what the hordes of charitable South Africans provided.

However I was surprised to see community leaders in some areas converging to schools with questionable reputations with hundreds of litres of paint to gloss their reputations. They say ‘no matter how much lipstick you put on a frog it will remain as ugly as it is’. There are schools in Bushbuckridge whose reputation is teachers who sleep with learners and later get support from their unions when they are called to account. There are civic leaders and School Governing Body members in these communities who don’t want to hound these teachers because they don’t want to rock their fragile friendships.

And for me seeing the same hypocrites pretending to care by painting the same schools helped by the same teachers got me wondering if the 67-minutes couldn’t have been better spent discussing with these paedophiles asking why are they abusing their authority over teenage girls? What’s the point of covering cracks of a decaying moral fibre with oil paint when the decay will continue unabated?

I have seen politicians donating clothes, blankets, food and houses to the needy on Mandela Day. And what I have always observed is that none of them use their own money to extend this charity. They use government resources to buy credit for a service they should be delivering everyday – not only on July 18. People must use their own cash to show their gratitude to Mandela. Otherwise, all our activities will soon be as tired as the paint left on the walls, which might not stand the test of Spring.

It is futile to think that paint will wash the conscience of our nation and the sins committed behind classroom doors. All it will do is to hide our shame, conceal the cracks and once Mandela Day has lost its novelty – expose us for the hypocrites we really are.

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VIDEO

the shatale biography

weekends are now exclusively reserved for goodbyes & lullabies

no longer do we watch soccer we watch caskets going down

we count blessings every step we take from the womb to the tomb

HIV/AIDS on the rampage communities perish like flies

sisters is shedding sweet tears finally paroled from brothels

go to confession mami make the church your haven

friendships replaced by conspiracies judas is reincarnated

hugs conceal real motives & the backstabber's Okapi

welcome to my township - mi casa su casa

why did we nip love @ the bud when they showed us the dollar

how can we all scream aluta when some are rested in Benzes

marijuana's now our messiah guarantees redemption

it's a cold-cold world father i'm down on my knees

rescue me from temptation i see the bait of lucifer

bullets still lick asses of brothers who forgot how to act

we misled now believe black sheep should die in the dark

install doors on caves & disappear from your glory

my township is contradictions prays to god but praises satan

we wonder why he's your son but lacks your light

we gave our faith to mighty dollars that never bought us life

brett kebble caught hollows left us wondering why

tens of millions couldn't bail him from the angel of death

last night i humbled myself & dialed mary the virgin

to save me from my fears of dying before turning 40

give me a reason to live while everyone is dying

take me to heaven if it's there i'm converted sans faith

i'm blind can't close my eyes i pray with them open

for everybody i love to have eternal life

everybody that left to be forgiven they sins

everybody on they deathbeds to get well before christmas

for shatale to be bold enough to bury its dead

TO COMMENT ON THIS POST GO TO OUR FACEBOOK PAGE: THE Kasiekulture BLOG & write your comment on the wall

TRU

Slaughtering A Holy Cow - 46664 Under the Microscope


The difference between when Nelson Mandela was incarcerated and now is;

1. Racism has moved from overt to covert, apart from a few Skielik incidents.
2. White business has created a screensaver called Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) which is in reality an illusion only the converted can see.
3. Europe and the US finally have one Houghton token to patronise instead of 28million darkies stacked in shacks and four room municipal houses.
4. Perceived crooks have the power to disband law enforcement agencies investigating them.
5. The much-hated Ossewa is still there with new darkie occupants preaching transformation
6. White women finally have a voice instead of one Helen Suzman being a lone voice of reason
7. Springboks have a token darkie coach and naturalised players of colour
8. Makhaya Ntini and Monde Zondeki finally got Protea call ups.
9. Multibillion rand development projects have stalled as comrades grapple with who deserves a bigger slice.
10. The media has become too white as racists dig in on this final frontier of influence
11. South Africa has moved from Christian to Secular to Satanist just to appease a bunch of heathens.
12. The rand has plunged from R2 = $1 to R8 = $1
13. Tito Mboweni's Monetary Committee still looks like Gehard de Kock and Chris Stalls'.
14. Government refuses to back victims of apartheid in their fight against multinationals who threaten it with investment boycott
15. More darkies own German models than property now than ever
16. Mandela is out and his jail cell is a tourist attraction and museum.
17. Winnie Mandela has downgraded from First Lady to Madikizela-Mandela and has become as obsolete as a Telkom switchboard operator.

A lot has changed since Mandela came out of prison. Share your analysis with us.

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Have you Ever Wondered?


Interesting isn't it? That tamper tantrum princess and supermodel Naomi Campbell who has got an assault conviction for using her cellphone as a missile against a maid and for air-traffic violations against British Airways has been banned from sharing the stage with her long-lost grandfather Nelson Mandela during his London birthday bash at Hyde Park.

It's trivial given that talented crack queen and self-confessed 27er Amy Winehouse is billed to perform for Madiba tonight (June 27,2008) at 18h30 GMT) a song called 'Free Mandela'.
Question: What kills more celebrities, cellphones turned into missiles or drugs?

It's like saying conservative George H Bush (father to George W) will break bread with self confessed marijuana fiend, misogynist and porn producer black Snoop Dogg but he won't shake the hand of white trash rapper Eminem.
Question: What harms more kids, trash rap lines or exploitative pornography?

Also it's like Pope Benedict XVIII saying he'll rather sip red wine with Judas Iscariot in the St Peter's Cathedral and bar Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan from the communion.
Question: Who betrayed the Holy Sheep?

By extension it's like British PM Gordon Brown opting for lunch with Zimbabwean election thief Robert Mugabe at the expense of South Afrikan president Thabo Mbeki.
Question: Is genocide as forgivable as ignorance?

Finally it's like Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni inviting leftist activist Trevor Ngwane for a meeting on revamping the monetary policy and leaving Finance Minister Trevor Manuel out in the cold.
Question: Does socialism stand a chance over market economics?

No prizes for guessing how sober Ms Winehouse will be when she finally meets the icon of morality.