South African Musings

Dial M for Murdoch

2011-07-22T22:58:00.001-07:00

Phone hacking crimes committed by Murdoch’s foot soldiers brings all the intrigue and conspiracy of that Alfred Hitchcock 1954 thriller, “Dial M for Murder”. Laced with mystery and drama, the ever widening scandal threatens to contaminate the highest echelons of governments around the world.

Bill Moyers, one of the greatest journalists of all time, more accurately portrays Rupert Murdoch as the Antichrist. In this June 2007 clip video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA5z-quW2E8 Moyers describes the vileness of Murdoch's corrupting influence on media and politics. Murdoch, both feared and courted by the rich and powerful across the world, cleverly conceals his hidden agenda beneath a mask of salacious media, while masquerading as a free market capitalist. Unfortunately, he is anything but harmless! Rupert Murdoch's destructive influences have resulted in the steady rise of neo-conservative mainstream media around the world peddling a distinct brand of crony capitalism. The cumulative effect is warmongering over resources in developing countries, especially in the Middle East, Africa and Central and South America, that has resulted in widespread death and destruction.

Murdoch supports Bush (2000)
The neo-conservative agenda of Murdoch’s media empire greatly aided Bush in winning the corrupt 2000 US presidential election and holding onto two terms to execute their neo-conservative agenda. Bush’s razor thin “win”, gave America, once the beacon of democracy, the dubious honor of finally attaining Banana Republic status in the eyes of the world. In 2003, Murdoch turned his dogs of war loose in one of the many the newsrooms of this media empire, Fox News, and in collaboration with the Bush-military-industrial machine, were directly instrumental in initiating two prolonged wars in the Middle East that has killed and injured millions, irreparably destroyed American international standing, and the American economy closer to near financial ruin. Also in 2003, he deliberately mislead the public into believing that invading Iraq will ultimately result in oil coming down to $20 per barrel! http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/rupertbig.gif The subsequent misguided Bush economic strategy of lowering interest rates to almost one percent created the domino effect of a false economic boom fueled by the property bubble, followed by the sub-prime crisis which triggered a worldwide recession that will most likely still wreak havoc for decades to come. US author and blogger, David Swanson covers it best in his investigative writings - http://valoansguidelines.org/2011/07/14/murdoch-has-blood-on-his-hands/ on how Murdoch colluded with US President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australian Prime Minister John Howard and used his media to sound the drumbeats of war just before the invasion of Iraq.

Murdoch attacks Obama (2009)
Prolonging the war was essential to generate obscene profits for the Bush-military-industrial machine complex and Murdoch's rich and powerful buddies in the oil business. So its not surprise that Murdoch's support of the McCain-Palin candidacy resulted in increasing attacks on Obama and his family before the 2009 US presidential elections. A sampling of his extreme
views include:
* Murdoch calls Obama a 60s style communist http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBNjqZcSYYY
* Murdoch actually agrees with one of his Fox News minions that Obama is a racist! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLe-x6bA8G4 btw. this is similar tactic to the charges of "black racism" leveled at the ANC government by many white South Africans.
* Murdoch’s Fox News ratchets up the tempo of personal attacks against Obama and his family just before the presidential elections. Obama was forced to meet secretly with Murdoch http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/inside-barack-obamas-secr_n_123188.html to actually warn him of the repercussions of these unwarranted poisonous attacks from his rabid employees.

Murdoch supports David Cameron (2010)
The fact that Andy Coulson was a former reporter for Murdoch's News Of the World and then became the Director of Communication for British PM David Cameron is no coincidence! Further proof that Murdoch had his tentacles embedded in the highest echelons of the British Government. Just as the Bush-military-industrial machine turned its sights to oil-rich Iraq after his election, David Cameron's recent presidency ushered in yet another oil-crusade. This time, to satiate the thirst of Britain, France and other European countries for cheap oil in the coming decades. Libya is now bearing the brunt of their warmongering.

Rupert “Crocodile Dundee” Murdoch
Of course, as an Australian, Murdoch practically owns the entire Australian media establishment so its no surprise that most Australian politicians are in his back-pocket! When will the people of the Banana Republic of Australia wake up to this systemic corruption?

So how does one even begin to quantify the evilness and destructive nature of Murdoch’s empire in our world? Instigating wars, peddling crony capitalism, propagating racism, corrupting democratic processes, desecrating the memories of victims of war and terrorism, and recently, possibly causing the death of an innocent little schoolgirl, Milly Dowler http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Milly_Dowler.

A few of his minions falling on their swords and their hollow apologies are meaningless, since Murdoch’s stranglehold over international media persists. Just as monopolies are inherently bad for capitalism, his grip on mainstream media across the world is a threat to world peace and democracy. Just a peek at at what is publicly known about his vast media empire reveals a staggering media conglomerate with a global footprint.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corporation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_News_Corporation
http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=newscorp

One small example of the reprehensible tactics employed by Murdoch's media empire, is the recent attempt at damage control from the phone hacking scandal - The Times, engaged in the age old technique to trying to deflect public attention by fabricating a "corruption in the third world" cartoon, depicting a group of starving Somalian children where one of the children says, "I've had a bellyful of phone-hacking." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/21/murdoch-times-cartoon-hacking-somalia_n_905899.html
This constant negative portrayal of Africa has now an intrinsic part of the neo-conservative media agenda. BTW. Similar racist tactics are used by our very own South African media conglomerate to paint our government as utterly corrupt to deflect attention away from the real underlying causes of our vast socioeconomic disparity along racial lines.

Now lets wait and see if the FBI and the US Department of Justice have the courage to unearth the many skeletons in the dungeons of Murdoch media mansions. The hacktivist community are salivating at the opportunity to plumb the depths of the electronic treasure trove of Murdoch’s empire to uncover more damming evidence that shows that Murdoch, together with his mini-me James Murdoch, were complicit in the nefarious activities of their top lieutenants around the world. Murdoch needs to spend some serious jail-time in the US to acclimatize him to his imminent afterlife. But hey, there’s also a high likelihood that Americans will finally get back their beloved Wall Street Journal if the US authorities break up his media mafia!

The real irony however is, convicting Rupert Murdoch for the crime of contravening the phone laws is a bit like how the mafia boss Al Capone, one of the most ruthless heads of organized crime, was finally nailed for tax fraud! Anyway, at least there is a special place in Hell reserved for someone like Rupert Murdoch.

The long arc of history bends towards land restitution

2011-06-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

Yep, I've taken the liberties with Martin Luther King's famous quote "The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice...", but I'm sure he'll forgive me.

Every developing and developed country has initiated major land reform in varying degrees to move away from the oppressive feudal systems that created landless peasants out of the majority that almost invariably ended in bloody revolutions. Here in South Africa however, we have an even more poisonous history of land grabs that were sanctioned initially by colonialism, then imperialism, followed by apartheid - one of the greatest crimes against humanity. Today, a more insidious form of land grab, unbridled gentrification of certain parts of our country, that has gained momentum since our liberation in 1994.

The Problem

A groundswell of support from our youth are now demanding economic liberation in their lifetimes!

This is hardly surprising given the stark socioeconomic disparity along racial lines that's seemed to have worsened in the last decade. The visible component of this disparity is that whites still control the major part of our economy with white men dominating corporate boards since they occupy over 91% of CEO positions, and balk at government affirmative-action initiatives. The invisible component meanwhile is not immediately obvious, but much worse, since true land ownership can be easily be masked by holding companies, fronting entities etc.

Throughout human history, land ownership has been the single biggest generator of wealth in western style governments and leveraged as a mechanism to pass down wealth from generation to generation. Furthermore, in the western tradition, governments made use of awarding and controlling land use rights to expand the power of the state. In Africa the land grab began with the tide of colonialism that swept over the entire African continent as colonial powers plundered the vast natural resources of the indigenous populations. This went on for centuries and is still continuing in various incarnations under the guise of "free trade". In SA however, this problem was further exacerbated by apartheid's draconian laws that dispossessed blacks from over 90% of their lands.

The economic significance of land ownership can be better understood by this incident in the Americas. When black slaves in the US were freed in January, 1865 they were promised 40 acres and a mule - the idea was to provide arable land to enable former slaves to be self-sufficient. The very least they could do to atone for slavery. When the presiding US President Lincoln was assassinated a few months later in April 1865, this promise was immediately revoked! This underscores the value placed on land ownership.

The Causes

Centuries of conflict over land began when colonialists first arrived on our shores but got progressively worse with each regime culminating in an orgy of land grabs during apartheid. Since our liberation, all attempts to correct this through negotiated land reform has had almost negligible success and simply touched just the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile our mainstream media, who are supposedly acting in the public interest have been strangely silent on this crucial issue for decades!

"The Native Lands Act of 1912 prohibited the establishment of new farming operations, sharecropping, or cash rentals by blacks outside of the reserves, which made up only 7.7% of the country’s area. Inside the, reserves an artificial form of “traditional” tenure with maximum holding sizes and restrictions on land, transactions was imposed. Subsequent policies of “black spot removal” transferred the large majority of, black farmers who had legitimately owned land outside the reserves into the homelands where tenure, restrictions, high population density, and lack of capital and market access made commercial agriculture, virtually impossible. Labor laws that discriminated against blacks in favor of white workers and generous, capital subsidies contributed to successive evictions of large parts of the black population from white, farms, where they had been employed as labor tenants and farm workers (Binswanger and Deininger, 1993)."

The destruction and generations of suffering that these laws wrought on black communities, is the real evil of apartheid!

1. Not only were 80% of the population pushed onto 8% of the land that whites did not want, but black farmers where further destabilized inside these reserves as well.

2. The Native Lands Act of 1912 was only repealed in 1993, just one year before our liberation! More damning evidence that whites were not prepared to give an inch until they were forced to.

3. For almost a century, the massive land grab by the whites were "legitimized" by these inhumane laws. Since our liberation, more rules (e.g. willing buyer-willing seller) and more bureaucracy (e.g. Land Claims Commission) have been injected into the process slowing down land redistribution even further.

The Group Areas Act of 1950, lay the foundation for a systematic ethnic cleansing by apartheid government in order to speed up the land grabs. Since these "mixed areas" were a thorn in the side of the apartheid regime's false ideology of "apart-ness" and "group identity", these forced removals also ripped apart the social fabric of settled communities for generations and caused untold pain and suffering for millions of African. Coloureds and Indians. Many of the South Africa's freedom fighters that spearheaded the resistance came from these mixed communities like Seapoint, Sophiatown, District Six, Cato Manor, South End and countless other undocumented, untold stories of pain and suffering brought on by forced removals. The destabilization and destruction of these mixed communities also sought to quash any pockets of resistance to apartheid's grand plans. Another apartheid tactic was to utilize vast swaths of lands as buffer zones to keep races separated and as a means of militarily controlling these townships and in the case of uprisings.

This Act alone resulted in the wholesale expropriation of prime real estate across the entire country and displaced communities were pushed out to outlying areas far from the cities or desirable locations. More destructive however, was the resulting instability endured by millions of Africans, Coloureds and Indians for many generations, who lived in a constant state of limbo, waiting for the order to move out when alternative housing became available in one the numerous apartheid ghettos that were largely pits of poverty, crime, gangs, drugs etc. and lawlessness since the old established communities, with well defined social hierarchies that had existed for generations, were suddenly obliterated.

Thus the grand theft of apartheid intensified.

These days however, a silent gentrification of the Western Cape is currently underway since 1994, under the influence of the Democratic Alliance. This YouTube clip on the Rogues of Cape Town or Tourism is stepping on us highlights one aspect of the tragedy caused by gentrification in Cape Town and surrounding cities. Property in Cape Town in now beyond the reach of over 99% of local Africans, Coloureds and Indians. This is just the tip of the iceberg, since this phenomenon is prevalent throughout the Western Cape. The old money from the spoils of apartheid is now protected under the guise of capitalism and free markets by the government in the Western Cape seeking to turn the City of Cape Town into a "model city" for South Africa through the marginalization of blacks to prove their "white efficiency" in governance - again, more flawed thinking from a political party that was once closely aligned with the old National Party.

The Results

South Africa now has greatest per capita racial economic disparity in Africa, and quite possibly in the entire world! So its no surprise that the latest UN-HABITAT report shows South African cities topping the list of most unequal cities in the world.

The economics of centuries of artificially created land shortage coupled with the the bureaucratic morass of arcane, complex rules, regulations and documentation has taken its toll. To add insult to injury, this embarrassing situation is made worse by the fact that the historic grand theft of land now has to be redressed by the victims paying the perpetrators for land restitution! This has taken the form of an outlandish and totally failed strategy of "willing buyer, willing seller" - a cruel joke which has resulted in the entire democratization of land redistribution coming almost to a grinding halt! At this rate real land reform may only be feasible at the end of the century - 2099!

For many centuries before 1994, white owned farms were heavily subsidized by successive regimes in an attempt to expand its reach and control into the rural areas. This trend has striking similarities to the how American colonizers grabbed most of Mexico and Native American Indian Lands (compared to the early tribes that roamed the east and west) until the days of the brutal frontier expansion into what was commonly referred to as the "Wild West" where the word genocide was not even conceived yet.

The townships, locations, homelands etc. were usually located in lands that whites did not desire or was conveniently located to facilitate a migrant labor pool that usually involved long commutes. The artificial shortage of land created by these laws also resulted in inflated home prices in some of the "wealthier" black neighborhoods. After our liberation, the repeal of these laws resulted in another property bubble as blacks were finally allowed to spread into other areas. In an obscene act of double-dipping, whites largely in control of the private real estate economy, stacked the deck and further capitalized on this frenzied property bubble by selling off their homes at exorbitant prices since banks, in cahoots with wealthy real estate investors, suddenly became lax in their usually strict lending policies. This widened the vast socioeconomic disparity along racial lines since whites were in the prime position to capitalize on generations of property ownership.

Where to now?

Well it all depends...

When the youth of South Africa now demand "Economic liberation in our lifetime", the mainstream media controlled by our powerful media cartel - a relic of the old apartheid propaganda machine, are quick to label it a "land grab" instead of what it actually is in reality, LAND RESTITUTION. Strange that our media elite never exposes the obscene land grabs during apartheid or nobody is stepping forward to relinquish some of their ill-gotten gains!

With youth unemployment at stratospheric levels and a world wide recession that is still ravaging countries across the world, South African youth need to be empowered to spark that entrepreneurial flame and become more self-sufficient. Land ownership is be one way help our youth move towards greater self-sufficiency. There are many novel ways to leverage our natural resources and sustain our economy e.g. subsistence agriculture (similar to densely populated villages in China and India), eco-friendly housing - much of which is already an intrinsic part of African culture, ecotourism - allows tourists to get a real taste of South Africa away from those sterile five-star hotels etc. This will enable our younger generation to participate in building real wealth and creating family owned businesses that could be handed down to future generations.

Its imperative that the beneficiaries of apartheid's great land grab now engage honestly and expeditiously with the government in a good faith attempt to bring about true land reform or face even dire consequences.

The time already squandered since 1994 by legal wrangling, political games, finger pointing, and delay tactics were shortsighted and will certainly result in a even more disadvantaged negotiating position for current apartheid landowners. Claiming the sky is falling because of land restitution, blaming the government, denying that apartheid's land grabs were illegal, equating farming to a rocket science that blacks are incapable of, or simply saying that blacks cannot be trusted with farming land, are all insulting and grossly demeaning to millions of blacks who have borne the brunt of apartheid's evil for generations. On the other hand, acknowledging the current mess and the need for immediate action is a prerequisite to honest negotiations. As many astute observers, analysts and historians have pointed out repeatedly to the beneficiaries of apartheid, that this time around, time is not on their side.

2010-12-29T12:05:00.002-08:00

SA's 2010 World Cup Tops Google's Zeitgeist

As many optimists predicted, the single biggest successful world event this year by far turned out to be our 2010 FIFA World Cup, held on the African continent for the first time in history. This largest single-sport event in the world was a boon to SA's introduction on the world stage, kind of like SA's coming out party, after centuries of a dark, tumultuous and shameful history.

Like a doctor taking the pulse of a patient to gauge the state of one's current condition, Google Zeitgeist's data visualization (http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2010/) provides us with candid insight into what our world is really thinking by cutting through the media hype generated by pollsters and media conglomerates with a multitude of political and corporate agendas. As they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words", and the power of Google's Zeitgeist is that is does exactly that through a graphic showing us how the world searched during the entire year. The top events that rose to the surface after aggregating billions of searches, turned out to be: "world cup" (South Africa), "olympics" (Canada), "haiti earthquake" (Haiti), "oil spill" (US Gulf of Mexico) and "ash cloud" (Iceland).

The graphic below (click to expand) is a snapshot of the summarized timeline of three recent world events that generated HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of searches through the year: "world Cup" (green), "olympics" (blue) and "oil spill" (yellow) and the green, blue and yellow dots indicates where these events took place.

Two things become glaringly apparent after viewing the world through the lens of Google searches. The first is the disconnect between what we see in the mainstream news media and what is really important to billions of people around the world on a daily basis. This disconnect is not surprising given that the majority of the world media are really owned by a corporate giants with hidden agendas that want to influence mass thinking. This internet has emerged as a bulwark against the total dominance of governments and media conglomerates of communication and media i.e. a true democratization of these communication channels for the first time in human history. The second, is the sheer scale of the 2010 World Cup, comparable the earthquake in Haiti, dwarfed the other events, and showed the importance of soccer a true world sport embraced by billions across cultures, geography, age, gender etc. The simplicity of the sport accounts for its scalability i.e. the same game that is played on some dusty field in some rural village can also be played in a state-of-the-art modern stadium viewed by billions across the world.

From another angle however, our South African perspective, there are many long term benefits for successfully hosting such an event.
1. Gaining the world's confidence of the execution ability of SA to host world events in spite of the naysayers in our own media that tried to sabotage the event with fabrications and whipping up hysteria about violence, xenophobia, vuvuzelas and whatnot. In spite of media negativity that contributed to a significant drop in attendance based on initial attendance estimates, it was nevertheless one of the safest and most successful sporting events ever!
2. The development of our infrastructure across the board. Heck, we're the first country in Africa to have Google Streetview - a testament to our openness and willingness to embrace technological progress. The short term thinkers, aka the naysayers, that complain of the billions spent on stadiums are unable to see the larger implications of these investments being leveraged to host other world events, like Durban's bid for the 2020 Olympics to attract more tourism, or being put to other creative uses.
3. An opportunity to market SA as a premier tourist destination. Just the long term benefits of this marketing has many positive implications for future tourism, business and cultural exchanges. The world had an opportunity to experience the graciousness of the South African people.
4. Using sport to rebuild of the fabric of our own polarized South African community. Many white rugby fans gained exposure to soccer for the first time in their lives! Even during Mandela's incarceration on Robben Island, we saw his love of the game and got a glimpse of how soccer indirectly influenced the course of our liberation from apartheid. Also, South African soccer fans felt a kindred spirit with international fans, many for the first time - an eye-opening experience for many in a country isolated for centuries from the international visitors.

We seized the golden opportunity afforded by the 2010 Fifa World Cup as another way to overcome our tragic physiological scars and regain our self-confidence. This self-confidence to realize that, as a country blessed with natural beauty, abundance and diversity, our trajectory towards societal transformation and progress is unstoppable. Its going to be a great ride!

The Myth of DA Liberalism

2010-12-01T19:51:00.001-08:00

Since our liberation, the Democratic Alliance supporters are quick to position themselves as "liberal", "non-racist" and "left leaning" etc. Nothing could be further from the truth! Looking closer at absolute numbers of voters from 1981 to the most recent election in 2009, we begin to see a pattern of voting that brings to mind the old African proverb - "A leopard can't change his spots". Sad but true in SA.

The graph above depicts white voting patterns from 1981 to the most recent 2009 elections for parties garnering more than 3% of the white vote. NP(National Party)/NNP(New National Party) [red], CP(Conservative Party)/HNP(Herstigte Nasionale Party)/NRP(New Republic Party)/(FF)Freedom Front [orange] , PFP(Progressive Federal Party)/DP(Democratic Party) [green], DA(Democratic Alliance) [blue]. Its clear from the graph, where most of the NP voters landed after the 1994 elections. The data speaks for itself!

Those pesky blind spots that just won't go away!
Centuries of white supremacy and apartheid indoctrination has created giant blind spots to where our self-proclaimed "opposition" party actually think of themselves as the official opposition party. They fail to see that even an opposition party needs to be reflective of the demographics of the country otherwise its just another tribal party serving the needs of its own "tribe".

Is black leadership an oxymoron within the DA?
The DA has utterly failed to attract black (African, Coloured or Indian) voters in any significant numbers. The upper echelons of power in the DA are still dominated by whites who have immense difficulty promoting blacks into leadership positions. This is mind-boggling since we do live in an African country that is overwhelmingly black! Recently they DA had to stoop to the shameful ploy of "buying" its way into the Independent Democrats in order to window dress its leadership.

Anyone for some NP-Lite?
The DA is a hybrid relic of the old National Party (NP) mingled together with racists from the CP, HNP etc. and a sprinkling of liberals, depicted in green on the graph, from the PFP and DP. Most of the liberals, a small minority of whites, have either switched to the ANC or abandoned the DA altogether in disgust.

The DA train wreck.
Watching the DA leadership is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. They seem to be stuck in their old apartheid mindset and far more interested in parroting their racist counterparts, the neo-cons of the Republican Party in the US, by employing the politics of division to cling to power in the Western Cape not realizing the political instability they are inadvertently creating in the region.

Instead of taking responsibility and cleaning up the mess created by apartheid which, based on the graph above, they supported until the bitter end in 1994, the DA prefers to persist in engaging in petty politics to cling onto their ill-gotten gains - the wealth accumulated from their privileges and government handouts during the apartheid era and centuries of colonialism. Over the last decade, by hijacking the role of the opposition party, the DA have proved to be a hindrance to our transformation into a Rainbow Nation.

Soccer and technology - another bad romance

2010-06-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

FIFA's ambivalent stance on adopting technology is understandable, since the increasing reliance on technology has several ramifications, much of which is not easily discernible especially when we frantically seek quick fixes to the age-old question of what constitutes fair-play - a multifaceted topic that's only further complicated by technology. I'm no luddite but the recent spate of bad calls during the World Cup games speaks more to the quality of individual referees than any systemic shortcoming of soccer refereeing that's only solvable with technology.

Technology ultimately slows down the game.
Successful hunters, CEOs, military commander etc. all have one thing in common, rapid-decision making in complex situations. FIFA's referee's training course, if one exists, would be perfect for grooming individuals with the attributes to be good "ultimate deciders". A clean line of command is enabled through a small well structured hierarchical team of referees and linesmen. This gives soccer's its elegant simplicity and fast paced tempo. With the exception of the offside rule, most rules are quite easily understood, even by toddlers! The few essential rules of soccer are quickly grasped by people across cultures, languages, gender, age, economic and social classes. Its this immediate shared understanding that gives soccer its mass appeal. The introduction of technology into this mix will simply make things more complex by adding yet another layer of decision-making that's almost guaranteed to slow down the game where almost every call could now potentially be subject to replay, undermining the judgment of linesmen and referees. Some obviously bad calls e.g. Frank Lampard's disallowed goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuzsRzFKAdY&feature=related) during the England vs Germany 2010 match, would have been helped by technology but also inadvertently open the door to even more opportunities for argument, debate and controversy. Just saying that its the refs decision is the simplest and most efficient method to resolve controversial decisions.

Technology does not always lead to optimal decisions.
Human judgment is vastly superior to technology since it operates non-linearly in multiple-dimensions. A referee's decisions compensates for unfairness, unnecessary aggression, unsportsmanlike behavior, weather conditions, player dynamics, human emotions and much more. The application of technology only provides a one-dimensional perspective, albeit from different viewing angles. Technology fails abysmally in capturing other aspects of the play and simply undermines the role of humans in making optimal decisions. Technology invariably dumbs us down since technology becomes a crutch lessening the need of referees and linesmen to stretch themselves and be more attuned the game. Good referees and linesmen play a huge role in making the game enjoyable.

Technology raises the barrier to entry.
The cost of cameras, sensors and additional staff to play games at the professional level will make soccer unfordable to most communities. Increasing reliance of technology in sports like tennis, American football, hockey, cricket etc. have made these sports more expensive to participate in at the professional level. Even high school sports now have greater funding requirements to form leagues and sports clubs are forced to increase membership fees to purchase additional technology and hire more staff to support their technology enabled games. Obviously, additional reliance on technology is great for peripheral businesses that are spawned to act as technology providers for these expensive sports. The overall effect unfortunately, is that technology serves to make these sports inclusive.

Technology may actually reduce soccer's popularity.
Soccer is the true people's sport - played across the economic and social spectrum, in some of the most destitute, impoverished and oppressed communities in the world, to the most affluent and privileged societies. Regardless of where the game is played - a dirt road, on the beach, a back-alley, a prison yard, a snow-laden field, a roof-top, courtyard etc. , the game is just a scaled down version of any World Cup game! Unlike most other major sports, the rules do not need to be drastically altered to accommodate the environment in which the game is being played in. The ability of the game of soccer to scale with minimal requirements, from a small game played by kids in an open space to game played at the professional level is what fires up the imagination of these kids. Its this scalability of soccer that has propelled it to its global popularity - almost a BILLION World Cup viewers.

Rather than looking at technology as a quick fix to a few, obviously bad calls, lets figure out better ways to improve the selection and training of referees and linesman. By carefully balancing a referee's or linesman's experience, track record and sense of impartiality, we can significantly reduce the frequency of bad calls. Maybe FIFA can adopt a process similar to "jury selection" or teams could democratically select referees and linesmen from a pool of candidates preselected by FIFA... No doubt, there are many better ideas out there, so lets figure out how to improve this fairness coefficient in soccer through some common sense methods rather than simply capitulating to technology for quick fixes which will ultimately prove to be detrimental to the soccer's universal appeal. Relying on human judgment however fallible re-calibrates our perspective of the world - a world that is more human-centered rather than hurtling down this trajectory towards technological utopia.
[Published in Mail & Guardian - SportsLeader posted on Wednesday, July 1, 2010]

Barbarians at the Gates of Mecca?

2010-05-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

The rise of fundamentalism in Islam can be only be countered by reformation within Islam itself. The ability to evolve and adapt to a new world is the only way for Islam to survive as the great religion it aspires to be to its billion plus followers around the world. Free speech is the lifeblood through with Islamic states can transform into democracies and coexist in the diverse world we are fast moving toward. The recent attacks on Islam are deplorable but also understandable given the deafening silence of the Muslim clergy to steady rise of fundamentalism over the last few decades culminating in the shocking terrorist attacks of 9/11. These recent attacks on Islam however, under the guise of free speech, is shortsighted and designed to be counter-productive on the whole. Belittling and demeaning a religion only serves to create further division, anger and violence among the majority, giving more credence to the jihadist minority. Since real change always comes from within, we need to engage with the Islamic world at multiple levels - diplomatic, educational, cultural, economic etc. to create the environment to support their inner transformation.

Most religions generally could care less how their deities being caricatured. In fact, most encourage positive images of deities, prophets, gurus, gods and godesses etc. as an efficient method to propagate and constantly reinforce the principles of the religion to the average followers who are too distracted with the stuff of everyday existence and need regular gentle reminders of their spiritual path. A picture is worth a thousand words, so images are an efficient, compact way to inspire followers to aspire to certain the noble qualities of role models like Jesus, Krishna, Buddha etc. Islam on the other hand, takes a different approach and although images of the prophet are not explicitly forbidden, centuries of tradition and social customs discourage the glorification of human images through pictures and imagery. The suppression of this mode of expression made Islamic art channel its energies to architecture, calligraphy etc. and resulted in many great accomplishments in these areas. Note that Salman Rushdie, primarily incured the wrath of the clerics, not the majority of Muslims, for what he wrote, not what he drew. In fact, I bet very few English speaking readers could keep awake reading through his "Satanic Verses". I'm certain that those clerics who issued their death-decree did so without even reading Rushdie's blasphemous work. These images however, are directly experienced and felt by the majority of Muslims.

The recent Facebook pages promoting the "draw Mohammed day" ratchets up tensions between both the West and Islamic states, resulting in a increasing polarization between Islam and the rest of the world. Cutting off Islamic states from our global village is a dangerous development since we make it infinitely harder for these culturally isolated states to naturally evolve into democracies over time. In fact countries like Pakistan are bound to clamp down on access to Facebook, Google and who knows what else, further entrenching censorship, suppressing free speech and giving Islamic governments big-brother powers. The incessant cries of "Death to Facebook" and "Death to America" have now become accepted everyday language in many Islamic states and a whole new generation of young impressionable minds are being radicalized in their millions. Autocratic governments, like Islamic states, generally don't voluntarily give up power once acquired, making any chance of transformation even more of an elusive dream.

Once again, the two-bit opportunistic cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro, has acted irresponsibly by caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed. The timing of the cartoon is simply to capitalize on the brouhaha swirling around the recent Facebook incident, to bump up his declining ratings as a mediocre cartoonist - a relic of the apartheid era. What the media fails to understand is that unlike other religions, the heart of the matter is not the whether the prophet is depicted favorably or not, but its the fact that ANY image of the Prophet Mohammed is regarded as blasphemous.

Some caricatures are inherently blasphemous. Like depicting Jesus as a pedophile, would make most Christians go ballistic. Showing a bunch of Rabbis eating pigs at a braai, will incur the wrath of the Jewish community. Even through nothing much fazes Hindus, I would wager that making Krishna a star of a porno movie, will bring hordes of Hare Krishna devotees at your doorstep in a jiffy. Anyway, the point is that there are sacred cows in all cultures, and the quicker we learn to be more tolerant of others beliefs, the better the chances are of effecting real transformation within these cultures. The true test of one's beliefs comes from treating others with whom you may vehemently disagree with, with the respect and humanity they deserve.

Fortunately, the Facebook page has been taken down and even the the Seattle cartoonist whose satirical cartoon "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" that inspired the Facebook page has apologized and underscored that her cartoon was actually about the censoring of a television show called South Park, and called for this "day" to be called off. Freedom of speech comes with responsibility and I have no doubt that, had the Facebook page continued to incite religious controversy, leaders like Obama, would possibly have had to step in to speak out forcefully against these incendiary acts under the guise of free speech. Unfortunately, in the absence of local watchdog organizations overseeing our media, apartheid era cartoonists like Zapiro, are given free reign to be as "controversial" as they wish, without repercussions. Belittling and demeaning other belief systems is not the way to create lasting change in fact its the surest way to slow down the transformation so desperately needed in Islam.

Muslims are justified in asking others not to depict Prophet Mohammed in images since strict adherence to this Islamic tradition is designed to, like most other cultures, constantly remind believers that the prophets were mortals, not to be confused with God and to realign their focus to true north - toward the concept of a God that is formless, timeless and infinite - indeed a powerful idea that every human contemplates at some point in their short existence on this earth.

World Cup song earworm alert!

2010-05-03T00:32:00.000-07:00

"Tsamina mina eh eh, Waka Waka eh eh, Tsamina mina zangalewa, This time for Africa"....that's the earworm that will be humming in your head for the rest of the day.

I recently listened to Shakira's rendition of the official song of the FIFA 2010 World Cup performed with our local band - Freshlyground on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ztr96RbMW8 and I think its a great choice! Its basically a happy, playful tune designed to raise the energy level of a crowd. The jivey township tunes wafts in and out of the song while the deep strains of the Zulu isicathamiya harmonies, popularized by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, can be heard towards the end.

Actually the more one learns about the choice of this song, the more one can appreciate mischievous nature of the creators of the original 1986 hit song - the popular Camerounian song "Zamina" or “Zangaléwa”. Some parts of it are actually gibberish but the folklore is that its a veiled criticism of black military officers who were in league with whites to oppress their own people! You can watch Zangaléwa here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHV7gmT5m8I These black military officers were impersonating white offices complete with pith helmets and military regalia and wait for it....white handlebar mustaches - what a hoot! A gentle reminder of what buffoons the oppressors really were - LOL

The pre-game show at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto is going to be fantastic with the lineup of artists like Alicia Keys, Amadou & Mariam, Angélique Kidjo, Black Eyed Peas, BLK JKS, John Legend, Juanes, Shakira, The Parlotones, Tinariwen, Vieux Farka Touré , U2, Vusi Mahlasela. Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams joined by South African soprano Pretty Yendeare are just some of the musical superstars that will be performing to mark culmination of the World Cup.

Anyway, if you want to see more of Shakira's sexy hips-that-don't-lie then this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qmB4ZZF_uA music video will keep you happy. Here are the English lyrics of the
official 2010 World Cup song, Time for Africa in Spanish is Esto es Africa.

You're a good soldier
Choosing your battles
Pick yourself up
And dust yourself off
And back in the saddle

You're on the frontline
Everyone's watching
You know it's serious
We're getting closer
This isnt over

The pressure is on
You feel it
But you've got it all
Believe it

When you fall get up
Oh oh...
And if you fall get up
Oh oh...

Tsamina mina
Zangalewa
Cuz this is Africa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa
This time for Africa

Listen to your god
This is our motto
Your time to shine
Dont wait in line
Y vamos por Todo

People are raising
Their Expectations
Go on and feed them
This is your moment
No hesitations

Today's your day
I feel it
You paved the way
Believe it

If you get down
Get up Oh oh...
When you get down
Get up eh eh...

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa
This time for Africa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh

Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa

Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa

Cutting off one's nose...

2010-04-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

Cutting off one's nose to spite one's face, was exactly what the leadership of the Democratic Alliance (DA) leadership has been doing all along.

The DA's active lobbying AGAINST the granting of the 3.7B dollar World Bank loan to SA has cleared ALL doubts as to whose interests the DA really serves - certainly NOT the majority of South Africans! The granting of a World Bank loan of this magnitude to SA was historic and has the potential to create thousands of jobs by alleviating our critical energy needs. Furthermore, this loan comes in the midst of the worst worldwide recession in almost a century!

Government corruption?
So the DA claimed government corruption as a reason not to grant the loan. This is most puzzling, since the ONLY reasons cited by the US and UK for abstaining from the vote, were environmental concerns. Abstentions were understandably, since the issue of carbon emissions is a highly visible political hot potato in most developed countries. So the US and UK's refusal to buy into the BS claims made by the DA, shows just how little credibility the DA has internationally.

If corruption was truly their concern, surely they could have worked with the ANC in installing checks and balances to ensure transparency and accountability of the funds, instead of unilaterally opposing the loan?

A new power plant means more jobs!
Even Obama administration, in their grudging abstention did not oppose the loan since they clearly understood its significance to SA’s acute energy needs. So why doesn't the DA understand this? So on one hand the DA castigates the government for being incompetent in addressing SA energy needs during Eskom's blackouts but now suddenly works AGAINST addressing our critical energy needs. Just like the old National Party that tried to justify apartheid, the DA exemplifies hypocrisy!

Why does the DA act in this manner?
In trying to make sense of the reasoning behind the DA's actions, I can only concede that the DA leadership itself lacks certain core human values since I cannot believe that they can be so dumb. The German phrase schadenfreude, pleasure derived from the misfortune of others, succinctly captures the DA's attitude. This strange form of schadenfreude seems to arises in societies where the false belief of racial superiority clouds good judgement. The Roman Empire, Germany during WW2 and South Africa during apartheid etc.

Its all about clinging to power.
The upper echelons of the DA leadership is is still dominated by whites, almost two decades since liberation, who came from generations of indoctrination across all levels of society that preached racial superiority. We see evidence of this across the spectrum in the Western Cape (WC) where they skillfully used fear based politics to gain power with the help of the large Colored voting bloc. This apartheid mindset has created and illusion of order and efficiency in the WC while blacks (Africans, Coloreds and Indians) are slowly marginalized and the silent process of gentrification of the prime residential and commercial areas of the WC is currently underway. Ironically, Cape Town used to be one of the most cosmopolitan cities in SA even during apartheid!

To retain control of the WC, the DA, together with their cohorts in the media are desperate to paint the ANC as utterly corrupt, amoral and inefficient. The danger of SA becoming like another Zimbabwe is the fear they constantly play on. Fear based politics worked wonders for the Republicans in US, but look where George W Bush took their country - right to the brink of financial collapse! Fortunately, the masses in SA are cannot be fooled all the time. The Colored vote in the WC will be instrumental in whether the DA continues to retain its tenuous grip on the WC.

For an opposition party like the DA to ACTIVELY lobby AGAINST the loan at this crucial time given our economic and energy needs, was a colossal blunder which will surely come back to haunt them.

SA radicals - our hottest new export?

2010-04-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

In a recent development in the US, a group calling themselves "Guardians of the free Republics" apparently wants to strip Washington of its ability to tax citizens' income and dismantle the FBI and other federal agencies. The group created a stir recently since a letter to all 50 governors demanding they step down within three days or be removed, contained an implicit threat, triggering an FBI investigation.

What does this have to do with SA? Well, according to Mother Jones the websites for this lunatic militia group (goftr.com and guardiansofthefreerepublics.com) are registered to one Clive Boustred of Soquel, California—a British-educated former SOUTH AFRICAN soldier with an apparent knack for "anti-terrorist warfare". Both the sites and the group seem to have suddenly sprung up about two months ago. The youtube video of one of Clive's interviews, shows an individual in a state of confusion and paranoia. My sympathies are with his recently divorced wife and kids who have to put up with all his BS.

Anyway, the attraction of extremist South Africans to neo-conservative and militia groups around the world is a known fact and perfectly understandable given their apartheid indoctrination, army training and super-size egos. Furthermore, these like minded lunatics make effective use the Internet to advertise their groups with the view of attracting new recruits and are constantly exchanging ideas and strategies on how to propagate their false beliefs to a wider audience.

This unique brand of South African radicalism, courtesy of the previous apartheid regime, parallels the right wing militia groups and the neocons of Republican party in several ways:

1. They both paint the government as utterly corrupt, totally inefficient and morally depraved.

The recent spate of media headlines braying corruption at every level of the ANC, surprisingly turn a blind eye to corruption in our private sector, where fatcats pay themselves obscene bonuses while their companies stock price plummets and hundreds of thousands of workers are retrenched in the process. Our corporate fatcats seem to get a free ride from the media scrutiny. In the US, the necons in the Republican Party are constantly speaking of deregulation to the point that the capitalism itself has been pushed to the edge of the precipice while the fatcats on Wall Street, feed at the trough, paying themselves the biggest bonuses in history! The neocons in SA media, constantly fixate on government corruption to deflect public attention from companies bereft of any conscience, raping SA consumers on a daily basis. The abhorrant practice of price-fixing continues unabated in our economy due to the lack of consumer advocate groups and toothless government watchdog organizations.

2. They both propagate the myth that businesses and the rich pay a disproportional share of tax revenues.

The bulk of our taxes are derived from middle class wage earners and ordinary SA consumers. Big business and the wealthy have always had the best resources to minimize their taxes through planning and exploiting legal and sometimes illegal loopholes. This will ALWAYS be true due to the nature of the complex tax laws and its in democracies. Today in SA, one hears constant rumblings from the previously privileged to use "lifestyle audits" against political opponents, a strategy guaranteed to gut our tax system. Similarly, the "Guardians of the free Republics" in the US advocate abolishing the IRS and other neocon groups like the Tea Parties are well known for their tax protests and undercurrent of racism.

3. They both use the divisive politics of fear and personal attacks to demonize the opposition to win elections and cling to political power at all costs.

The racist element of the DA (Democratic Alliance) leadership with their cohorts in the media, have constantly engaged in personal attacks e.g. against President Zuma and Malema just before the elections and recently again when Malema brought up the issue of nationalization of the mines. Just recently, racist saboteurs used fear extremely effectively to scare of tourists to the FIFA World Cup and the media whipped up a storm both locally and the internationally until FIFA were forced to step in to reign in our OWN local journalists. The neocons in the US, under Karl Rove's masterful ocherstration, have repeatedly used the fear of terrorists attacks and outrageous personal attacks to accomplish the impossible - successfully elect George W Bush for TWO terms. Unfortunately these shortsighted strategies ultimately work against them, since Bush left in his wake a trail of destruction that will take the US decades to get out of.

4. They both vehemently oppose Affirmative Action.

The racist neocons of the US Republican party and the DA have both used the "merit" argument against the SA and US governments attempts at creating employment equity through AA. Civil Rights groups in the US have been instrumental in holding the government and companies accountable for the implementation of AA. Tremendous progress has been made over the years culminating in the election of the first African American President - a watershed moment in US history. In SA however, recent studies have shown that over 90% of CEOs are white, yet the DA still opposes AA! Go figure.

5. They are both Nazi sympathizers to varing degrees.
The far right elements like the AWB (Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging or Afrikaner Resistance Movement), Afrikaner Broederbond etc. here in SA and militia groups in the US, have always had an affinity for Hitler's false belief of racial superiority. Ironically, here in SA, these Nazi sympathesizers are quick to compare themselves to the German Jews or the compare black leaders to Hitler, with the view of portraying themselves as being under assault by the black majority. Some elements in SA media use underhanded techniques like juxtaposing and comparing Hitler with Zuma, Mugabe, Malema to propagate their twisted fear based politics.

Unfortunately, due to the previously privileged's continued denialism, amnesia and refusal to take responsibility for apartheid, racism in SA has will take generations to overcome, but in the meantime, many our homegrown racists are voting with their feet and spreading across the globe since the end of white-AA in SA is imminent. Just like the Canadian government's fiasco in admitting Brandon Huntly, the "white SA refugee" fleeing persecution from "black criminals", the US government however, is also unwittingly allowing this cancer to infiltrate their society by not understanding the unique brand of racism that has been festering in our country for centuries. Like the jihadists, our SA racists are adept at manoeuvring through the bureaucratic morass of the US Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department of Homeland with the help of militia groups, neocon organizations etc. made much easier through the Internet. By sheer serendipity however, the worldwide recession has in a strange way slowed down this movement since ALL countries have effectively closed their doors on immigration making it more difficult for these sometimes smart and determined radicals to exploit immigration laws to export their unique brand of extremism abroad.

Just like certain tourists and immigrants are subject to additional security clearances based on their nationality, one can only hope that the US government wakes up in time to stem the infiltration, influence and free movement of these undesirables from our shores into their free societies.

Lifestyle audits - have we gone cuckoo?

2010-03-13T19:55:00.000-08:00

The recent calls for lifestyle audits from some quarters is troubling. Lifestyle audits is the kind of that cancer that can quickly and silently metastasize through any government and suffocate the vibrancy of a multi-party democracy. The very term "lifestyle audit" is unclear and it also conjures up images of a big brother like monstrosity, feeding on its own citizens until it collapses under the weight of its own bellicosity.

Like other tax agencies around the world, SARS (South African Revenue Services) has a distinct, well defined mandate and vision - its primary task is to collect taxes and and ensure that our tax laws are being enforced equitably. SARS is not an anti-corruption agency to chase after people that "appear" to be breaking the tax laws based on their lifestyle, political affiliations, race or any other arbitrary criteria. There needs to be clear, concrete evidence of violation of our tax laws before SARS "goes after" after any citizen. Anyway, once a case warrants criminal investigation, it really falls into the realm of the law enforcement rather than tax administration.

The dangers of "lifestyle audits" is that its a fuzzy term that becomes nothing more than profiling law abiding citizens based on their appearance of some kind of opulent lifestyle according to the whims of some government bureaucrat who may not like you. So the chances are highly likely that YOU could very well be next! For instance, how many of us fall into one of these potential categories that may trigger a dreaded "lifestyle audit":

Driving a fancy cars.
Living in a large mansion.
Too many trips on a yacht or a private airplane.
Having a fetish for expensive jewelry, clothing, hats, books, electronic goods etc.
A taste for expensive cocktails or fancy restaurants.
Taking too many frequent vacations locally or abroad.
Having too many kids or sending them to fancy private schools.
Too many wives...I had to throw this one in. ;-)
Member of a country club or some other organization.

Anyway, you get the picture. Its pretty easy for some of us to even fall into MORE than one of the above categories.

The objectives of lifestyle audits are equally dubious. Is the intent of the tax administration to maximize the collection of under-reported taxes? If so, lifestyle audits simply penalize citizens that display their wealth while the tax dodgers that hide their wealth in offshore bank accounts are given a free pass. Its a well known fact around the world that the major cases of tax evasion involves corruption politicians, fat cat executives, criminals etc. that make use of elaborate schemes involving complex sham financial transactions by leveraging offshore facilities e.g. unnamed Swiss bank accounts and tax havens, that totally outfox SARS who have no jurisdiction to pursue suspects overseas.

On the other hand, if the objective is to root our corruption, then the mandate of SARS needs to be expanded to include anti-corruption functions. This poses an even bigger risk of concentration of power in a single state institution that sets the stage for bad things to happen - politicization of SARS eventually leads to rampant corruption to the extent that ordinary citizens may rightfully start to feel that they need not pay their fair share of taxes any longer if they disagree with SARS political agenda. A critical mass of tax protesters may lead to a collapse of our tax system, which has huge implications for the social and financial stability of our democracy.

Using the tax system to settle political scores is a dangerous precedent that can be easily abused by ruling elite to conduct character assassinations of any political opponents. Remember, due to the nature of the complexity of tax laws, any tax administrator worth their salt, can uncover, distort and twist facts on ANYONE'S tax return, to make them look unethical, criminal etc. - pick your poison. So rest assured, ALL of us, including our families are exposed to this draconian power of lifestyle audits.

Lifestyle audits have been tried in various democracies especially in times of economic instability where everyone is sensitive to obscene wealth in a climate of financial belt-tightening. However these type of audits have been consistently ditched because of its inherent incompatibility with freedoms enshrined in democratic constitutions. For local organizations and individuals to bray for the injection of lifestyle audits in our democracy is short-sighted and myopic. Lifestyle audits should be kept where it belongs, in movies and police states and the tabloids - it has no place in a free society.

Our looming 100 day window of opportunity

2010-03-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

An ancient Chinese proverb states - “Even the Gods cannot help those who do not seize opportunities”.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup (FWC), has ushered in a window of opportunity for all South Africans to seize with both hands! To put our best foot forward towards healing the old wounds of our tragic past. To reach out across the racial divide. To show our gratitude to the world for this gift of the hosting the FWC that cements our inclusion into the world of nations and has enormous potential to create buoyant economic conditions here in SA amidst a sea of recession that tightens its grip across the rest of the world.

Its a chance to recapture that Madiba spirit that constantly threatens to dissipate like the morning mist over Table Mountain, as we come to grips to the damage wreaked by apartheid on our social fabric. Another chance, in spite of our strained history, to warm up to each like that balmy breeze over the Indian Ocean. A golden opportunity to establish SA as a world class tourist destination to tourists who would otherwise not usually view South Africa as a holiday destination, or to business investors who may not be aware of the upward mobility of a burgeoning middle class previously shut out of our economic system.

In the last few decades, most of the world held their breath and from afar cautiously observed SA, as a petri-dish of human experimentation coming to grips with their false belief system of racial superiority. This caution turned to amazement through our ability to transcend past injustices, non-violently, through the power of forgiveness. Much of this was made possible by Madiba's vision that embodied the nobility of our human species.

However, recent developments in the media surrounding the FWC, revealed the divisive antics and harsh tones reminiscent of the old apartheid days of media manipulation that leaves one truly perplexed and ambivalent of the role of our media in an emerging democracy like ours. A recent spate of media reports, all within the span of a single week, simply served to further whip up fear and hysteria surrounding the biggest international sporting event in the history of Africa! At the risk of seeing the wheels fall off, even FIFA, had to step in, to implement stricter controls to keep renegade journalists on a short leash in an attempt to quash the hysteria that had the potential to spread like a veld fire. The most stunning aspect of this fiasco, is that most of these journalists and media organizations, are South African! International journalists seem to be much more responsible in using freedom of speech responsibly compared to our own journalists who see nothing wrong in screaming "FIRE!" in a crowded theater, or berating FIFA's judicious media controls as too draconian.

Where does this macabre form of premature schadenfreude - reveling in the misfortunes of others, come from? What makes Mandela and the majority of black South Africans embrace the rugby world cup as portrayed in the movie Invictus, while on the other hand many white South Africans spurn the 2010 WC and some even go as far as jinx this once in a lifetime event with their outlandish negativity?

Under the National Government during apartheid, all media was strictly monitored and controlled in ways that would even make the Chinese government blush. In order to lengthen the shelf-life of that poison called apartheid, the seed of fear had to be implanted into the limbic system of the white populace. Today we see some in the media, employing similar dirty tricks, craftily engineered to instill a sense of fear in potential tourists to our shores. The following sensationalized incidents, bordering on Internet hoaxes, created headlines in SA media:

1. "stab proof vests" by an imaginary UK based company.

2. etv's concocted "criminal interviews" where the go-between mysteriously "commits suicide". e.tv's abuse of our freedom of press laws that guarantees protection of the sources to spread public hysteria is short-sighted and shameful.

3. International French journalist "Sophie Buillion" being "brutalized" while there was no coverage of this incident during that week on any of the reputable news media, including major French newspapers.

Another recent example of this hype designed to spread fear, is the "controversy" surrounding the vuvuzela, a unique South African creation. Suddenly the vuvuzela is now depicted as an "instrument of war" and seemingly "scientific" studies, subsequently refuted by established scientific organizations, claim that the vuvuzela damages one's hearing irreparably at a certain distance. Unscrupulous entrepreneurs, akin to pond scum, are capitalizing on this using fear based marketing to peddle costly ear-plug devices which promise to prevent "irreversible ear damage". Firstly, whats wrong with simple disposable ear-plugs, bought for a few cents for those sensitive to load noises and secondly why don't these con artists market these costly ear-plug devices at rock concerts - notorious for their ultra large booming speakers that have been one of the primary cause of tinnitus in the developed world.

Yet another damper to the FWC was the anti-competitive price-fixing practices of local airlines and hotels designed to price-gouge tourists, creating an additional sour tone to potential return tourists. It seems like sometimes free enterprise needs to be reigned in for the greater good of our society, for example, this is why ticket scalping is outlawed at venues in most countries and watchful eye of consumer organizations serve to keep order in free enterprise system that could so quickly go awry with unscrupulous businesses that seem to be rife in our nascent democracy.

We all know that rampant violent crime is a festering problem in our society, and has been so for the last decade, under the misguided leadership of the autocratic Mbeki regime. Its also understandable that some in our society want to leverage the FWC to get government to take firmer action against crime, but one wonders why crime has become this gargantuan, sensationalized issue during this FWC and not other international sporting events like rugby or cricket, also hosted in SA in the last decade. Also, in spite of herculean efforts in completing the facilities and transportation systems in time, some bloggers in our media continue to predict doom and gloom for the FWC and come up with even more creative ways to abuse our free speech by spreading misinformation and fear about our FWC - a once in a lifetime event in our country. Makes you think, doesn't it?

Football is perhaps the most international of all sports, with a thread that binds our world in the spirit of our common humanity and love of the game. Fortunately, these positive forces dwarf the ill will that lurks in the hearts of some our very own citizens. As Gandhi wisely reminded us to "be the change", its up each one to us to make it happen.

Just like a parent lovingly supports their kids sporting activities, so to, should our own citizens support the event by making some positive contribution:

Maybe attending or watching one of the matches with a friend from a different culture, religion or race.
Being hospitable and supportive to tourists.
Communicating with friends and relatives around the world e.g. via the web, to share the excitement generated by this event.
Building international business alliances with the exchange of ideas.
Attracting the attention of international students to consider South Africa as one of their study-abroad options.
Speak out against the naysayers and false prophets of doom and gloom, just as we spoke out against apartheid.

I'm sure there are many better suggestions out there, so don't by shy folks!

As South Africans, haven't we learned enough of the tragic lessons of this win-lose mindset of the architects of apartheid? So lets try playing a WIN-WIN game for a change!

Imagine the benefits of the exposure SA obtains as sports lovers all over the world direct their attention to the games for an entire month, being played the beautiful southern tip of Africa! Giving tourists a close-up glimpse of the striking beauty of the African countryside, its majestic wildlife and warm, gracious people is a marketing dream for most country's tourist boards and we should capitalize on this serendipity.

So regardless of how the FWC turns out for our team Bafana Bafana, the one sure thing is that, this is a turning point in our history where we are finally offered a seat at the table of the world of nations - a truly remarkable achievement for a young country still finding its feet after centuries of darkness. Remember, in the long run, a successful FWC guarantees that everyone wins in some way and this once in a lifetime opportunity for most South Africans, will be either be missed by short-sightedness or seized on by people with the foresight to create positive change in our broader community and the world around us. At last, a chance for us to show the world what that famous "southern hospitality" is all about!

[Published in Mail & Guardian - Thought Leader posted on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010]