UnSAFE, UnRELIABLE and UnAFFORDABLE

Safety and affordability means customer care.

I took an Intercape Mainliner bus from Pretoria on the morning of 23 May 2015 at 05:30 bound for Maputo through Nelspruit. The bus arrived at Johannesburg Park Station at approximately 06:35. The bus conductor advised passengers to grab coffee as the bus was going to depart at 08:00. Myself and two other passengers took the opportunity to grab a bite at Wimpy. When we returned to the bus at 07:40 we were told that the bus had left at 07:30. We quickly rushed to the parcel weigh in point to request assistance. We were directed to the Intercape front desk where we had to seek someone either called Desmond or Monde, who we were informed was the Manager.

The ladies there nonchalantly wanted to know our ticket numbers. One of us had her ticket with her while we had left ours inside our bags in the bus. We however had our ticket numbers which we gave to them. They idly got on the phone and told us that the gentleman denies that he said the bus was departing at 08:00. They insisted he said 07:30. We inquired how could the three of us who were sitting at different sections of the bus hear the same ‘wrong message’. The ladies were adamant that we heard it wrong as the departure time was 07:30. We insisted that there is no way that three people who did not know each other until a few hours ago could have schemed to lie about departure time.

They sent us to a gentleman named Mhlambi who was on the boarding terminus and alleged to be the manager. When we finally found Mhlambi he started by giving us a lecture about how the bus left at 07:30 and refused to listen to our complaint beyond the fact that the bus had left us behind and was carrying our luggage. We then inquired about the next stop and he said it was Bertrams, roughly two kilometres from Park Station. We requested him to delay the bus as we would find a way to get there. He told us that the Intercape bus is like an aeroplane; it cannot be stopped once it has ‘taken off’. Time was 08:10. When we asked him what time does it leave Bertrams he assured us that it departs at 08:30 and that its next stop is Witbank.

We rushed and booked a R100.00 maxi taxi to Bertrams. The driver drove fast through traffic and finally arrived there at 08:21. When we inquired with the ticketing agent she said the bus left long ago. “It left at 07:50” she assured us. We stood there wondering why the bus conductor and Mhlambi gave us wrong information about the departure times of the bus.

We then called Intercape Customer Care to lodge our complaint. We were not getting any useful help even when we gave them our ticket numbers. At the end of the day, after failing many times to get assistance the other passenger we were with managed to have her ticket converted by the agent at Bertrams so she can board Translux bus service to Maputo through Nelspruit. When it became obvious that we were not getting relief from the Intercape Call Centre and the agent who told us that her system cannot print Translux tickets even with our ticket number we finally decided to buy Translux tickets so we can get to Nelspruit and rescue our luggage. We both paid R520.00 for Translux even though we were supposed to have travelled on our R209.00 Intercape tickets each.

Once in the Translux bus an Intercape consultant called George called to inquire about the descriptions of the bags and their code so that they can be dropped at Nelspruit where we would salvage them. We described them and minutes later he called to confirm that the bags have been found and they will be left at Nelspruit. We asked how do we lodge an official complaint and he said a consultant will call us about that. The call never came but we got a Ref number C63459. Our complaint to George was that we wanted a reimbursement of our R260.00 since we were not at fault and we had spent R100.00 on a metre taxi and R260.00 on a new ticket.

When we got to Nelspruit at 12:57 and rushed to the Intercape office we found it closed. The security guard told us that the lady had left for the day and we can only salvage our bags either on Sunday or Monday. Everything that I owned was in that hand luggage; house keys, toiletries, clothes and sensitive documents. I come from Bushbuckridge which is roughly 80 kilometres from Nelspruit and the thought of going home without house keys frustrated me. I wondered why did the Intercape office worker leave before 13:00 which I believe is the knock off time.

I called the Call Centre and spoke to a consultant called Sharon who we requested to call the Nelspruit lady to release our bags since she had not been gone for ten minutes and was still around. She refused to call and to give numbers for us to go fetch her and take her back to the taxi stop if she was there.

I ended up booking accommodation in Nelspruit for the night so that I can salvage my house keys and bags the following Sunday, 24 May 2015. I only managed to get my back on that Sunday and left for Bushbuckridge.

I should confess that I felt abused, inconvenienced and short-changed by the service I received at Intercape and proposed a remedy in two letters sent to them. They ignored them and when I finally called a lady named Jessica on the 2^nd of June 2015 she was firm that they will not compensate for any of us. She was firm and cocky that Intercape did nothing wrong and that they will not compensate. I said fine; all I knew is that I will share my story with as many media as possible and we will see who will suffer reputational damage in the long run.

My advice to you: DON’T BOARD INTERCAPE. OR. DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. THEIR STANDARDS ARE THE LOWEST I HAVE FOUND IN A BUS SERVICE. Hahahahahahahaha! This is funny.

MPUMALANGA'S FINEST

Mpumalanga Languages Act - New Bosses Annoucing their Arrival?

In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, in preparation for the establishment of homelands, tens of thousands of Mapulana were forcefully relocated to Bushbuckridge. It was zoned by apartheid architects into what they called Mapulaneng. This zoning was done to irk Amashangaan who resided fifteen metres away in Gazankulu; in a region called Mhala which means ‘bushbuck’.

In 1972 Lebowa was founded as a bantustan for BaPedi. My family settled in 1973. The aim behind Lebowa was to erode all other Sotho groups in the Transvaal and manage them under one identity. Social-engineering tried to produce a homogenous bunch of niggers void of culture and diversity.

Based on the apartheid language policies it meant that every language once spoken and written by the ‘lesser humans’ was reduced to a dialect and no resources will be availed for its development. When this apartheid experiment was completed there was only nine indigenous languages left and tens of ‘dialects’. In Northern Sotho ‘a dialect’ is called ‘polelosemmotwana’ – or a language for a region.

Our democratic order had an opportunity to redress this setback; if not in 1994 probably twenty years later as part of restoring indigenous people’s rights.  Twenty years later our official language designation is structured along the nine bantustans plus English and Afrikaans. In this respect, nothing has changed as far as restoration of dignity is concerned. The wagon has not moved a single inch since 1994.

I was recently invited to a Mpumalanga Languages Act Awareness workshop. As a language activist the first anomality I picked on the Act was its designation of Siswati, isiNdebele, English and Afrikaans as the official languages of the province. This according to government means these are the only languages where state resources will be committed to promote, develop, protect and use in daily government communication.

In Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, a municipality in Mpumalanga, people speak Shangaan and Sepulana. My grandmother and thousands of others brutalised by apartheid’s Group Areas Act cannot read, speak or write any of the languages which are now going to be used by the Mpumalanga government to communicate with them. Siswati speakers are a minority in Bushbuckridge, no known isiNdebele speaker and probably less than 100 English and Afrikaans speakers.

To suddenly elevate the languages of minorities to those used in government communications, marketing, signage and branding is a recipe for ethnic conflict. It is a short-cut to reversing gains made in 1994 when bantustans were dissolved. People will not take it lying down and might start talking limited autonomy or secession.

I raised it with the house that the Act was not progressive, it was counter-development and did not reflect the population but power dynamics in the province. MaSwati, AmaNdebele, Afrikaners and English are in power and they want the Shangaan and Mapulana to feel it. It feels like the new bosses are announcing their arrival.

I explained to delegates from PanSALB that apartheid history was not taken into consideration while drafting the legislation.

In his presentation PanSALB Mpumalanga Chairperson Dr Thulani Mbuli said that Sepulana was a ‘community language’ which is ‘level seven’; one level away from becoming official. During question and answer I asked him what measures need to be undertaken to promote a language from being a community to official since I am itching to have Sepulana be the first reason to amend this archaic Mpumalanga Languages Act. I asked him; given that PanSALB only funds languages already declared official; how does government help in that process?

Dr Mbuli was honest that he had been asking the same questions for ages and the response he’s got is that there are no guidelines for a language to become official. Simply put, the eleven languages at the dinner table have tossed away the key and they don’t want anybody joining their sushi feast.

A PanSALBs advocate said there is a debate amongst linguists whether Sepulana is a language or a dialect. She said there was no consensus on that. So, these people who enjoy a seat at the dinner table have been given the power to decide on who should join them.

Truth is; research conducted by academics at Wits University largely supports the fact that Sepulana is a language while that conducted by academics at Limpopo usually supports the notion that it’s a dialect of Sepedi. However those who have been following the language debate will know that there is even a protest about why languages such as Khilobedu, Sexalaka etc are collectively called Sepedi while Sepedi is just one of them. What is this Sepedi that refuses to be an equal?

The argument by these Limpopo-based academics fails to explain the history of Mapulana prior to 1972. Wherever they were living they must have been speaking, reading and writing their distinct language. If they were speaking Sepedi they would not have been forcefully moved by simply absorbed into Lebowa. Sepulana only became a dialect in 1972; while Mapulana civilization has existed for thousands of years before that with their traditions, culture and traditional leadership which are so different from everyone else’s it’s like cheese and chalk.

In this sense the Mpumalanga Languages Act, which also fails to promote Shangaaan ‘because it’s already promoted in Limpopo’ is a backward Act which I doubt can withstand constitutional rigor. Its authors fail to know that Shangaaan is exclusively a Bushbuckridge language while Limpopo has Xitsonga. There’s nowhere where Shangaan is promoted and it’s only in Mpumalanga where such protection could be granted. And how do they justify English which is official in 58 countries and Afrikaans which is promoted in all nine provinces?

To both Mapulana and amaShangaan of Bushbuckridge and those Mapulana of Thaba-Chweu (Mphato, Hlabekisa, Matibidi etc) the Act is a fascist piece of legislation that did not warrant the quality of discussion it was afforded given that it’s a perpetuation of the apartheid legacy of divide and rule.

MPUMALANGA'S FINEST

Now, here's some raw stuff you'll never get to read anywhere else about my 'hood. Not only is it a lovable 'hood but it also has culture, serious lifestyle and culture that makes it a serious contender for the Presidential Orders, if only they were given to 'hoods. So, this year it was not that different.

Mpumalanga’s flagship hip hop pilgrimage, Luv Ur Hood (themed Marope Ra Maja - we are eating dumbies) kicked off 2011 with a bang. A bang it could be heard in the Libyan cities of Misrata and Benghazi.

Within a short space of four months the stellar session hosted two spasmodic shows that exposed new emcees (cats with rhymes), new voices (poets with lines) and new patrons to this grassroots hip hop extravaganza pioneered by Katsuko (Khutso Malele) and Masta H (Hlompho Lekhuleni).

The 2011 revolution, immediately after the successful Tunisian and Egyptian insurrections started off on 26 March with an outing to Love Life Centre at Acornhoek. Luv Ur Hood has never been held outside of its homebase Ga-Kabila, which is a chillaz doubling as a car-wash and other things the police with ugly berets wouldn't want to read about. F-ck it, those dudes can't read.

In its inaugural outside venture it attracted new emcees who have performed in bedrooms and garages thinking the world was four by four metres wide. You know those cats whose parents bought desktop computers and installed them FruityLoops and Q-Base and who have always rapped their lungs out inspired by the latest video on TRL.

The Luv Ur Hood show exposed the talent of cats such as Eardrumbusters from Bushbuckridge whose intimidating lyrics reminds one of deceased geniuses, Tupac and Biggie - especially on that fearsome 'i f-cked your b-tch' ripper. There was also Thulamahashe’s finest in Crazy Doggz, who are a tight set led by C-well, a veteran of the game. C-well's involvement in the game is as old as Cashless Society.

Mesmerizing was the performance of KFB (who never really jots down his lyrics) and newcomer to the game Young KCee with his mohawk. Modelling his style and swag after the Young Money crew, KCee had half the crowd eating out of his tiny palm as he was accompanied by his cousin and hype-man for the day Masta H. For a moment it reminded me of the old Busta Rhyme and Spliffstar. At least a hundred patrons were entertained. With regulars DJ Sparkle, newcomers JOP, Wonder, Chris Force Feed and two DJs from Radio Bushbuckridge KP and Matt the show gave a platform to b-boys Wild Cats. KP is the older brother to prolific producer and rapper AB-Crazy and him and Matt hosts a show between 18h00 and 21h00 every Friday on Radio Bush. There were also life skills offered by the Love Life team.

On 24 April, barely a month later the duo took the session, themed Mangozi ya tala ka Spice (Raw mangoes eaten with spice), back to its spiritual home, Ga-Kabila in Shatale. Characterised by a proliferation of tight emcees and ghetto merchandise on sale and display, the Freedom Day eve show was off the hook. Snoop Dogg would have said 'off the hinges'.

Krazy Doggz brought their whole entourage, numbering a staggering eight or ten to the show which was graced by hundreds of good-looking clean patrons. Blue Noise from Sabie performed and bootlegged their CD titled Focused. The trio still need a stage act and presence. They looked a little disjointed.

Young KCee held down the stage but the show was flipped by Dwarsloop’s hardcore-manic Dialectic. This younger brother to DJ Sparkle free-styled with so much flow that even KFB who free-styles unhindered had to pick up his game or risk obsolensce. On the day Katsuko performed what is undoubtedly going to become the Luv Ur Hood anthem titled Ke Tšwa Bush. On a show that was more about flexing muscles and impressing hordes of sesenhoritas, C-well blasted, KP and Masta H spit rhymes in Get Your Swag On, a song from H’s still-in-the-kitchen mixtape.

On sale were mixtapes from Krazy Doggz and Blue Noise. Also sold were tons of t-shirts by 100% Lepulana/Tsonga, Re Phela SOH, Luv Ur Hood, Shatale Ya Rocka etc. Langa Media’s Nellie Ndlovu (publisher of Bushbuckridge News) graced the event and showed interest in a partnership. The next Luv Ur Hood show will be hosted by Krazy Doggz in Thulamahashe in June.

Honour Amongst Dogs

On a week that we saw a lot of altercations between the media and people who think they are above the law isn’t it interesting that it ended on an encouraging note. Not only did we see the Visagie AWB chap being hackled by e.tv’s Chris Maroleng after he blew his lid while being interviewed by the daughter of a pan-Africanist Lebogang Pheko.

The week ended well because finally ANC chief Jacob Zuma decided to develop some teeth. On Saturday he finally promised to sink them so deep into Juju that the poor boy with a Sandton address will get rabies on the spot. But our understanding of their fragile relationships has informed some of us that JZ is a ram and Juju is trusted lapdog – more trusted than Mo Shaik.

See Juju started off as a Chihuahua – back in the days when spooks like Mo were vultures staking Thabo Mbeki. Juju was a Chihuahua with an in-built alto vuvuzela, a cheerleader really. Now Juju is barking like a German shepherd and his latest bark is ‘rubbish is what lies under your trousers, that’s rubbish… bastard…bladdy agent’. Poor Jonah Fisher timidly walked out since he couldn’t imagine ANC security guards who massacred so many people when Luthuli was still Shell House throwing his ‘white’ ass out of the skyscraper.

As journalist we always expect blood and gore when we go out on assignments but none at a Luthuli 11th floor media conference. Yes, most of the times we go out and really have to step over dry blood as we take pictures of warm corpses, but such an expectation will never cross our minds when invited to a Zimbabwe Tour Report Back media conference.

Now you see, these conferences are supposed to be choreographed by folks like Floyd Shibambu (he of Floetry fame) and no insurance taken since people hardly die at media conferences. We even leave our bulletproofs in the boots of our cars when we go to media conferences.

That’s until Juju stepped in and turned them into battle zones. Now JZ says he will hang him high by the balls. I’m surprised cuz I doubt if Juju does have balls. However it’s a welcome development.

The Jub-Jub Reality Show



MPUMALANGA'S FINEST

Do We Need A Truth Commission, Would the Teachers Line Up to Confess?
We are a nation obsessed with the truths we can handle. We bury under the rubble of patriotism anything that exposes our vulnerabilities like the Ralushai Report on Traditional Leadership, Operation Dribble, Jali and Khampepe Commissions’ findings, Inquiry into Umkhonto we Sizwe Atrocities and Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft in Limpopo. We settle for forums where liars can perjure and escape like the Desai, Harms, and Goldstone Commissions, SABC Commission of Inquiry into Blacklisting and Related Matters, Hefer and Truth and Reconciliation Commissions etc.

Today in South Africa, especially brazenly so in Bushbuckridge we are faced with teachers who will obstruct any investigation into their sexual conduct with learners. At the same time we are burdened with teacher unions which instruct their members not to co-operate with whoever tries to investigate such atrocities. And then there are learners who are bribed and intimidated not to talk to any investigator about what they see happening in and outside of classrooms. Incidentally, we have School Governing Bodies which are run by political appointees who themselves are often guilty of the same crime or are taking instructions from their political bosses not to act.

On the ‘blamed’ side is the department of education that is incapable and ill-equipped to execute ‘truth’ investigations of this magnitude. South African Council of Educators does not have a lie detector to know if a teacher is lying about his liaisons with learners and its scope is limited. On the final end we have a Jacob Zuma government that is so focused on its own public image that it spends a lot of time and money on PR than investing in the future. The future is education and education is only feasible when learners don’t fall pregnant and drop out, are not abused by teachers and parents and are afforded the best protection by society. Half the abuse happening in black schools will not suffice in hoërskools and where the SGBs are made up of lawyers, accountants and company executives.

The atrocities committed by teachers in Bushbuckridge warrant a commission of inquiry with judicial powers to subpoena and charge people with perjury if they lie under oath. SADTU has shown its unwillingness to discipline its own members and only a process whereby ten years of abuse will be revisited and people punished can remedy this practice with the potential to arrest development. One wonders why would teachers celebrate an own goal when they score with 14-years old girls?

Without any intervention of judicial proportions there is no future for the girl-child. The Cell C Take A Girl-Child to Work campaign, which Zuma takes part in every year is just a futile money wasting exercise because the girl-child is not going to work but to labour.

Any investigation without judicial powers is a mockery and this year arrogant teachers in Bushbuckridge will be impregnating another bunch, it collapses into the social net and the teachers’ own children will be wearing their shiny blazers as they saunter into hoërskools and seminaries in town. South Africa had cold-blooded killers confessing at the TRC; it can’t fail to get confessions from teachers and former learners – for the sake of our future.

What Teachers Are Now Famous For

If you have opinions about this cartoon go to The Kasiekulture Blog and post your comment

Become A Book Name in a World Full of No-Names




MPUMALANGA'S FINEST

Do I Look That Stupid?

Hello,

I have to thank God this moment for his direction as regards thismission. God want me to complete this mission hence, I got your contact.I know you maybe wondering how I got your contact email.

Actually when I heard from the doctor that my condition has become socritical, I had to reach out to a Christian sister, who assisted me insearching for your contact in order to help me utilize this wealth theway I am going to instruct herein, and even the sister that helped me inthis regard doesn't know the purpose for which I intend to use it I haveprayed about it and it has been revealed to me that you can makejudicious use of the resources for its intended purpose.

I am currently sending you this mail from my sick bed in the hospital.My husband earned these funds (10,800,000.00 USD) but he died in a planecrash and left everything behind for me and I will join him soon due tomy ill health. Due to my infertility resulting from medical problems Ibecame barren.

God has a reason for everything. I would want you tocontact my lawyer; he will inform you on what to do.

Contact him withthe below details:
Barrister Henry Slater Email: henryslater@unlimitedmail.org Telephone: +44-701-113-6910

Ensure to use a greater portion of the funds for its purpose infulfilment of my last wish. Furthermore you will never have any problemwith the law as you will only pay some amount to the government as taxand a minor percentage to settle the bill of the bank and the most majorpart you will use to bless God's Children all over the world.

You are blessed.

Mrs. Magret Winters.

Shepherds & Sheep - a song exposing child molestors

Shepherds & Sheep

Composed by Modise Mogakane

Written by Dido & Tshwarelo Mogakane

Produced By Modise Mogakane

Mastered by Modise Mogakane & Bentar Sibuyi

Recorded @ 1335 Studios

Arranged & Mixed @ 1335 Studios

Published by MegaMak Muzik

Track

Dido

I will go down with this ship,

And I won’t put my hands up, and surrender

There will be no white flag above my door

I’m in love…

And always will be… x 2

Intro

(Aha

And I can see you baby girl, and how you feel

You’know, those hundred feelings

Of bitterness, desperation, confusion

Yeah

Ribelatti’s here

Ribelatti loves you

Shepherds and sheep

Ah)

Ribelatti

Verse 1:

In the blanket of night, he creeps in her room

He’s sick, the creep trade-marking her doom

Takes off his pajamas,

Everything on the floor, including his tangas

In the other room sleeps her mama

The death of world peace, sorry Mr. Dalai Lama

I’ve got to speak it as I see it

If they ban me from talking my mind, so be it

I got beef with motherfuckers who murder chickens

As they say it in they drama, the plot thickens

I think this kinda shit sickens

His dick on Viagra, so nothing weakens

Alright Majita let’s talk this walk

You might be a globe-trotter

But don’t ever cross this border

What kind of a father

Sleeps with his own daughter?

Ke re a le none le a bola

A ke repe eke a sola

Yo useless, ga le na mohola

Le madimoni, kefa ba e rola

Even the devil shakes in his boots

During the day, y’oll dressed in you suits

Fela boshego, le di asshole

How you gonn shove yo penis in yo girl’s hole?

Explain it to me

Be an artist, motherfucker paint it for me

It might be nothing to you, but it’s a pain for me

What you call drizzle, is nothing but rain to me

And I can see tonight it’s raining (tonight it’s raining)

And my heart is paining

Yeah, Ah

Chorus

Dido

I will go down with this ship,

And I won’t put my hands up, and surrender

There will be no white flag above my door

I’m in love…

And always will be… x 2

Verse 2:

Ribelatti

Now…

She’s 25 feeling ready to date

But the monster already decided her fate

Her friends don’t know

Today Mr. Boyfriend wants some more

But she feels violated and dirty

What she gonn do when she turns 30?

Only God knows what goes on in the potholes and the pits of her heart

But I’ma sing these hundred feelings into something Mozart

Baby girl please smile

Forget yo dad, just delete his file

Permanently remove his ass from the recycle bin

I know it’s hard dealing with this cardinal sin

Even Social Development ain’t put money on it

Where them politicians is at?

What do I call it?

A crisis, a syndrome, a disaster?

Worse because one of these porn-star fathers is a pastor

Daddy took her panties off

You tell mommy and all she can do is laugh

Scold you and rough you up

Hey people what the fuck is up?

Did you bring children into the world just to fuck ‘em up?

For them to die?

For them to keep quiet and protect the lie?

This is a family matter

You tell that little girl

I swear it would have been better

Had she been born in hell

Outro:

(Yeah,

Dedicated to all the girls… who slept with they fathers

Imagine shepherds having sex with sheep

Leaders attacking followers in sleep

Doesn’t it bother that this happens under yo nose?

Right under yo nose

It’s not a secret, everybody knows

Because the truth is strange

But it’s time for a change…

Ribelatti…)

– ends –

419?

Today I am in a mood to share with you a letter I got earlier this week. I have been getting this letters recently and my gut feeling tells me their contents are bloody bullshit. What do you think about this letter;

Dear Partner.. I am Mr. George Bamogu a citizen of Sierra Leone. I got your contact through my search for a business partner. I am searching for a reliable and honest business knowledge citizen, who can partner with me into an investment due to the unrest in my region. I am ready to discuss with you, if you are interested to partner with me. Kindly provide me with your mobile telephone number, so that I can call you and we can discuss in details towards our partnership investment. Kindly reply back on my private email address (georgebamogu@gmail.com) Best Regard. George Bamogu

The 'Hood Diary

The holiday season was the finest piece of detox anybody ever needed. Especially on the heels of a crippling recession and an inflation rate that is daily defying gravity. For some of us still rooted in our ghettos it was quite an intriguing time. Folks we haven't seen in years pitched to appease the old bones of their ancestors to 'help' them navigate the financial crisis. But I mean if your grandparents died broke why the hack do you think they can hook you up R12000 installment for your wheels?

However, beef aside it was quite an interesting time in Shatale, I don' t know about your 'hood but mine was the ultimate 'hood. Here we now have a Luv Ur Hood culture, it's monthly hip-hop sessions hosted by Katsuko at Kabila's and which feature a whole bunch of talented folks with skills still to be unearthed for the mainstream.

During the final show I was disturbed when I heard that this year's gonna happen artist Abe-Crazy demanded R1500 to perform for the 'hood. I mean not at the time that Nas is contemplating hiring the whole Trump Towers top floor for the 'hood at no cost. I mean for the better part of December I have been listening to Abe's music and it is brilliant and I am thinking this dude needs as much publicity as possible and a platform to showcase his skills and potential and I get told that the dude wants R1500. I'm like 'no ways' and I get told that's his condition.

But I mean the whole Luv Ur Hood concept is to encourage people to 'thand' ikasi' which subtracts a transactional relationship. To make matters worse the session contiues with much flav as there are more cats with swag and then Nkoto Malebye, yeah, you know here - the lead singer from Kwani Experience decides to bless the session with a free rap performance.

I should have written free with a capital letter. A recording artist who have travelled the world with an uber group giving a free performance while a dude still hustling for a deal wants money? Tell me I'm being judgmental and I will apologise. Abe is my dog and I shall be the first dude to give his music love cuz it rocks - and I shall be the first to correct when he goes wrong.

Overall the 'hood got love from the regular 'hood cats over the holidays with the MONICE brothers bringing the roof down with their ritualistic gigs, Katlego Mashego mingling with the 'hood commoners during one of the gigs and well - 2010 we are here, regardless of spoilers on New Year's Day. Go out and achieve greatness comrade. Welcome!

Just Being Brutally Honest

Three things got me fascinated recently and laughing all the way through my nationwide travels. Me and my friends have been having abridged conversations about the tender system. You all know the government's flawed procurement system that doesn’t always deliver the best results because the chaps hired to man it are bloody greedy and want a slice of every pie they have to offer to hungry contractors. Now, our conversation was largely about how this system undermines excellence and rewards mediocrity and incompetence. Herewith are three scenarios.

ONE: The way the tender system is so corrupt it is most likely that if the South African Blood Service issued an invitation for a qualified company to supply it with 100 litres of blood a month for the next five years you would get comrades winning it and later supplying chicken, goat, sheep and cattle blood to the bank. For all you know people might start dying in droves, all with their blood sucked out.

TWO: if South Africa desperately wanted to win a gold medal at the next Olympics and issued an international invitation to bid from a person who can run on our behalf and win the tender, believe me the tender would go to the obese guy who drives an ML Class, that’s even if confirmed fastest man on earth Usain Bolt bidded. The fat comrade will the be told by his inside connection to go and hire Bolt since he scored high in functionality.

THREE: An initiation school is a very important institution to some of our tribes since it lies at the belly of our very survival. Thus, such a ritual is carried out first; by a trained minder who at times should be the child of someone who has run such a school for generations; second; it should be someone with the right ethnic orientation and blessings from the tribe’s elders, traditional leadership and traditional doctors since they are going to entrust their kids with not only his scalpel but his vision. One of my friends said that if such a service was put to tender you would get tenderers from tribes that don’t even initiate bidding or it, claiming that once they win it they will hire a MoPulana, uMndebele or UmXhosa to run it for them as they will be putting invoices to the House of Traditional Leaders.

What a fucked-up patronage rooted system we have for procurement. No wonder two-thirds of government services, that which is procured sucks. Government should stick to supplying IDs, imagine what would happen if they were supplied by a dodgy company called UMXABULO IDENTITY SOLUTIONS?

Immortal Technique on Russian television

God is white – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!!!

This is not a conspiracy theory because I’m not trying to conspire against anyone; it’s a fact base opinion, if there is such a thing. I’ve grown to learn and know about God our father, who art in heaven, its lovely story of a lifetime that gives a man like me hope and hope is not something you can pick up from a street. Hope brings life and life…..! Well, Common says life is a bitch depending on how you dress it, I say life is but after death now back to my story, I say I’ve seen God and the dude isn’t black. In my 29 years on this earth I’ve seen everything in black translated into a white superiority. What I mean is, there is a certain favour that is bestowed upon the Caucasian nation and there’s nothing we can do about it. My black consciousness brothers and those who embrace Africanism preached to me about the false ideologies of the white man, through the demonic media, I received and repented but my repentance fell short. They told me about the history of African colonisation and how the white man stole everything from us. I pondered the story and realise that, if the white man can do that, have that kind of power and the rest of wasn’t sleeping then he’s got some godliness behind him. In the bible, which I grew up reading, it is said that God favoured certain people and certain nations (Israel to be specific) just to show-of his glory, well there’s no reason in there why he chose Abraham to be the father of all nations or why he chose Abel over Cain, so I assume it is for show-off…after all he’s the creator. You might be thinking blasphemy at this moment but like Eminem said I’m just giving you things that you think about or talk about in the living room but I have guts to say them in front of you. Ironically Marshall Manthers is a white rapper who dominated the genre, which is known to be a black music or black culture, like poverty over Africa. Now you tell me if that’s not favour bestowed by some high power? Beside, Em’s story, there is a whole lot of the world’s spectre that is dominated by Caucasians like the Media, Entertainment, music, business, finance, sports and controversially, even religion, they presided over us and other races to level where Chika Onyika (the author of The Capitalist Nigger) lambasted to the African nation. Who can blame him?

Although it sounds cliché and funny in a way, but it is true that when you have the favour of God like Moses did, you walk on water or part seas, while your counterparts are just the King Pharaohs following suite but failing to do the same. The charismatic preachers will and can agree with me on this one. Now, the race which I’m accusing of being godly, has apparently stolen everything from the Egyptian philosophy, our resources, history, religion even our identity but they didn’t just steal it they turned it into class. I mean the Germans made cars and we feel like god in them, Russians made guns and feel glory with them, Swedish made porn glamorous and we are addicted to it and the American took a black man to slavery and made American out of him and we cherish him. Now how’s that for being on the Almighty’s side? I sometimes think that maybe my mind is colonised by the white man mentality which sometimes I’m accused of but religion states clearly that there are those who are chosen and those that aren’t, like there’s right and wrong, heaven and hell, white and the others. It is evident that religion is classed according to race and ecology but one thing in common is the fact we put a spiritual figure (God) which we pray to, unfortunately on this case also there is a dominating religion which is run by them white folks. The Veticans, Catholics, they dictated the figure or the picture we should have about their God because they were favoured amongst others. This is not blasphemy; I just saw everything in black translated into white superiority but we don’t see the same…..”Sepedi sere, sehlare sa mosotho ke lekgowa, and the bible says God is our healer”

Chapter 2 (the Bible version coming soon)

The Truth

Two weeks ago City Press publhised article penned by talented and award-winning poetLebo Mashile (Live, Love and Belong) once again exposed the high levels ofintellectual bankruptcy in our society and our ongoing celebration ofmediocrity. For anyone to have opted for Mashile to deliver such a flawedspeech during such an august occasion insinuates that South Africa has runout of history scholars with a proper grasp of anthropology – I protestthat Mashile carries such a mantle lest I proclaim our collectiveappraisal of mediocre intellectualism.First; there is no ‘small’ nation in the face of the earth calledBapulane. There is a ‘big’ nation called Mapulana rooted not inBushbuckridge (as a matter of fact Bushbuckridge is in Mpumalanga and notLimpopo) but Mapulaneng which covers a sizeable chunk of Mpumalanga.Mapulana are found in every corner of South Africa, largely in Gautengwhere they have a footprint. This is information so in the public domainthat a first year anthropology student could have delivered a betterpresentation on. That Mapulana did not have their own Bantustan and arecognized (official) language does not make them less of a nation thesame way Palestinians are not less human by virtue of being denied landand self-determination.Mashile should also understand apartheid’s (especially Bantustans) role incrafting the modern South African identity. Tribes and languages weredeliberately suffocated under the homeland system. I know not of a singleMoPulana who is “very comfortable referring to themselves as both Pedi(sic) and Bapulane (sic)”. The biggest insult one can dish against aMoPulana is to call them a MoPedi.To position Mashile’s flawed analysis within a cultural context I wouldprofess that identity is inherited and never chosen to suit a populisthegemonic agenda. Contrary to her calculated definition of her ownidentity the Mashiles are not Basotho (from Lesotho) but one of the fiveoffspring of the lion (Bana ba Tau Sethlano). They are royalty inMapulaneng. They are in the same league with Mashego, Malele, Chilwane andMogane.Given that Mashile’s diatribe was during the World Summit on Arts andCulture one can sadly conclude that the world now carries that distortednarrow interpretation of our cultural identity as fact. It will beencouraging next time for the organizers to offer such a privilege tosomeone more qualified on the subject like Professor Pitika Ntuli or DrMathole Motshega instead of a poet.All Mashile had to do was to Google ‘Mapulaneng’ and she would have endedup with more academic references, websites and Facebook groups aboutMapulana to assist in her speech instead of perpetuating a dangerousfascist analysis of Mapulana, a victorious and proud nation.

Oppression redefined!!!!

For the first time in my life, I really understoond what it meant to be the "token BLACK person".

From people making sure that I knew that I was different even with my good accent and "great" people' skills to putting in extra hours and effort so that others can see my worth in the work place and not see me as the person as the person they hired just to ration out the whole "affirmative" action thing that - for a long time didn't matter much to me.

In the 9 months that I have spent in this company, I have felt emotions I had not felt in a long tme - anger, hate, frustration, weakness etc.

I had to teach myself most of what I now know, deal with a woman (that has spent the last 18 years of her life in the same company) that wanted to prove to everyone that she knows all things related to work and we (the whole department) are nothing without her, defending myself every second day because no matter how good I thought my work would be - she would always find an error, insults from retailers and so on!!!!! I t goes deeper than this though, more on a tip of "corporate sabotage" as I would call it!!!!!


People just do not want to see other people succeed or simply being better at certain things than them..... you see that, that is what makes people go to hectic extents to destroy all that is good in a person - I would call that evil behaviour and a different kind of oppression.

For that reason and more personal ones ( me failing to see how I could possibly grow in a company that had an extremely intelligent person working a junior position for 12years only to be promoted just because we spoke out when an idiot of not - who happens to be white- got promoted to a more senior position in less than 2years in the same company) and 1 woman that has made me feel how it is to despise a person that I have only known for less than a year.

What angers me more is that I have put myself in an invironment that has changed the person I had been for 25years into this petty thinking, uncreative, nagging person that I have grown to dislike! I don not want that for myself and am leaving it for those who are willing to put up with all types of bullshit in a work place for a constant salary that amounts to peanuts. I have turned myself into a prisoner and have deprived myself of the things I actually do want in my life!

If you are wondering what I am bitching about........... I have just resigned for my job!

The MADNESS has to stop!

If The Bible Carried Ads…

Here I am having an inspirational talk with a guy from the left and he wants to know how far is the South Afrikan media with the discussion on who should dictate editorial policy between the advertisers and the readers. We end up on politics really; I bemoan the fact that MDDA is not well-funded and that government should put more money into the agency to unearth more grassroots media with a pulse.

I go as far as mentioning that those who run the media actually set the agenda on what national discourse should be. Then we come to the point I have been wondering relating to the influence of ads on content. Okay, Google Ads can not do that because they are content relevant. You publish stories about Mandela and the Long Walk To Freedom book retailers’ ads pop up. You write about China and The Dalai Lama’s ads dominate your page. But the real talk is about the ads that try to influence content – by throwing money at the publication.

Then our discussion came to the point where we wondered why is the Bible, thick, printed on the best paper on the market retail so cheap? If those who are propagating the spread of Christianity can put so much money into its production and distribution why can’t those who want to propagate their own leftist rhetoric do the same with newspapers. For all I know newspapers are published on cheap newsprint, are less than forty pages thick and are distributed at restaurants and beer halls. Where’s the hiccup?

Then my friend wanted to know my take on how ads influence content. I told him that I reckon if the Bible welcomed ads, you would have a lot of inaccurate information and omissions in the Holy book. Imagine this scenario;

Obviously SARS would have loved putting ads next to Jesus’ sermons about ‘giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’. Picture reading about all the taxes that Jesus preached about and at the bottom of the page you get a strip ad from SARS, reminding you of your obligations.

Also imagine reading about the miracle of walking on water at the Sea of Galilee and then getting an ad from Vodacom or NOKIA. After St Peter failed to cross to Jesus due to his lack of faith you can have NOKIA claiming, ‘connecting people’ or Vodacom advertising its power of connecting people.

On another note you could be reading the story of Christ’s crucifixion and at the bottom you have an ad from AVBOB, selling their funeral covers. I’m quite certain Kaizer Chiefs would have bought a half page to advertise Ikusasa LaMakhosi.

Now something that would tickle the fancy of our plastic millionaires. Imagine reading the parable of the Lazarus and the Rich Man and on the reversal of roles. And then there is an ad from ABSA selling an investment scheme. ‘Don’t end up like the Rich Man, Invest with ABSA, today, tomorrow, together’.

Well, I can dissect the inspired book to shreds because I know it so passionately but I reckon you can also think of ads to go with the story. On the issue of influence I swear to you after Cain killed Abel you would have an AK47 influencing the content by claiming that Cain used a Kalashnikov to pop Abel and not a stone. Then they would buy the strip and sell the AK47.

Share your thoughts with me, choose a scripture in the Bible and tell me what ad do you think it would go with it. Go to Facebook and post me your thoughts, you might become a copywriter someday.

barbarians uprising

it's the rise of the barbarians

it's the rise of the black afrikans

it's the rise...

the rise

the rise

the rise

the uprising...

x2

they call me a barbarian/ a communist/ a killer terrorist/ not rastafarian/ i'm madiba' it's 1976/ locked on the island outside they killing my kids/ my own comrades eating my bitch/ amandla,they scream as they skit/ sweaty lips licking her tits/ but this is the work of apartheid, i know what it is/ they don't know what it means/ how it feels, being judged based on yo skin/ being separated from yo next of kin/ for a stupid job groveling in town/ far from home you travelling for brown/ bread and achaar, these people is clowns/ but nobody gives a fuck/ fuck, all they know is to fuck/ fuck, all they know is to klaap/ chisa mpana, chisa lebutsi la leburu/ chisa stlamatlama ke black mapuru/ i'ma shock everybody when i come out a guru/ an awesome god, ka go loya ke thuru/ that's the barbarian mind rising to the fore/ that's the henrietta marie anchoring on the shore/ welcome home as we sing the barbarian song/ come for a ride, let madiba feel the billa bong...

it's the rise of the barbarians

it's the rise of the black afrikans

it's the rise...

the rise

the rise

the rise

the uprising...

NOW WE IN THE ZONE/ I'M TELLING THEM LEAVE A NIGGA ALONE/ THEY GO FOR SEKHETI LE BRUKU/ VOROS LE KUKU/ BUT THEY WARNED YA, SHUT UP SPOKO/ SKATLO TSOSA DIMOKO TSA BO KOKO/ DIPOKO TSA MEKHUKHU/ DIPUKU, MAFOKO, DIGLOGO MADI MO SETUPUNG O SETOPO/ YOU FUCKING DIE/ LOL, NIGGA LMAO/ NIGGA LE WENA MMAGO/ I LOST AND FOUND THE PLOT/ SOON AS I DOWNED THE TOT/ GALLOP GALLOP, KA PHOLOSELA KA QUART/ YOU KNOW, WITH SMOKE EVERY CORNER NIGGAZ BLAZING THE POT/ IT'S FREEDOM GAINED AND LOST/ CHILDREN ON THE STREETS KHENKING THEY LEGS AIN'T CROSSED/ THEY FATHERS ON TOP/ THEY MOTHERS ARE FLOP/ SHE GAVE HIM A DROP/ NOW HE GAVE HER THE POP/ SHE'S LICKING FROM NINE TO FIVE, HOLDING DOWN A BLOW JOB/ COME TO POPPA HE KICKS HIS CLOTHES OFF/ TIME TO FUCK HIS OWN DAUGHTER/ IT'S DARK AND IT'S GETTING LOUDER/ DON'T WORRY THE MADAM AIN'T HOME BA OWNER/ MEET THOMAS, MAKGOLWA KA GO BONER...

it's the rise of the barbarians

it's the rise of the black afrikans

it's the rise...

the rise

the rise

the rise

the uprising...

this is the south african story, very real, very sad, but be glad, for you can still change it, and make it better. RIP to those that got killed in this song. Mr CEO, Mr In-Charge, you know who you are...

MegaMak, 2009

What Law?

Today is my birthday: September 22. On this day God has just proven to me that I was born for a purpose. For years I knew that there was something that I could contribute to the lives of people that had never, or at least, been scarcely contributed. You may ask, what's new under the sun? Nothing really. Nevertheless, old things can be renewed until they look 100% new. Today I will share with you the next wave of esoteric revolution that the Lord has been keeping for times such as these.

At Divine Construction Ministries (DCM) we are aware that you have been looking for ways to connect yourself to the Law of Attraction. Well, you don't have to waste your time. Laws are meant to be broken and no one can follow the law to the letter, for “The letter kills but the Spirit gives life.” You do not need any rules to attraction. You need grace. Therefore, let us welcome you to the beginning of an explosive ministry: The Grace of Attraction.

In these series of teachings and reflections, you will learn how to do everything wrong in relation to the law of attraction and still get all the results you want. You see, Ronda came with the Law but Awesome God has come with the Grace. The Grace of Attraction will lead you into new paths of Balanced Thinking. It's really not just about positive or negative thinking. It's about which Company you are working for.

Fact: No matter what you can try to do, it is only natural to think negative thoughts. There is no one person who can think positive thoughts only. With all the negativety happening around the world, people killing, people raping, people stealing, people destroying, etc, how can you claim that you don't see what is going on? Is the law of attraction supposed to be denial? Just by merely noticing the blatant negativity in the world, we are admitting to thinking negatively. You can't see it and claim that you don't perceive it. You can't perceive it without using your mind's thought channel. Whether we would like to admit it or not, we are all negative thinkers, and also positive thinkers. The challenge is how do you balance it? Remember, even the Lord Jesus Christ himself more often thought negatively, attracting poverty, sickness and death on our behalf. Therefore, we don't have to pay transgressing the law of attraction any more. He did it all. That is the Grace of Attraction. All you have to do is believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Lord. Negative thinking is just like stinking breath, just like smelly armpits and a dirty body; it's all natural to the mortal man. Just like sin was. So, instead of fighting to think good thoughts, how about accept that he fought on your behalf? The bible teaches that “They that receive the abundance of grace, shall reign in life.” All you need is to receive grace and give thanks to the Lord that all good things in life are coming your way. When you do this, the Seven Waves of Prosperity will sweep through your life and you will be called the most blessed person on earth. This is real and very biblical. This is not just prophetic, it is apostolic. This is the beginning of the manifestation of the sons of God. We are moving from potential to substance. Aren't you just tired of being a Walkie Talkie Believer? You have been declaring and confessing for years but you are still attracting all the wrong things in life. Well, here is an opportunity to become a Talkie Walkie Believer – You Speak the Word and You Walk in Victory. Indeed, in him we move, in him we have our being.