Welcome to GPSA.

The Weekly update to life in post-apartheid South Africa.

So here we are - the year of Africa and more precisely South Africa. Yes, we're talking the soccer world cup.

I enjoy watching soccer from time to time, but I don't fully understand the game nor am I particularly interested. You see, I'm a white South African and our sport is rugby. Yes, the same sport that our government has been trying to take away from us with quotas on the amount of black players. From union level all the way up to national level. They've been trying for years now to remove the Springbok symbol only to get everyone concerned upset, and to to back down.

I reckon it's just their way of telling us that they have the power and that they will exercise that power anytime they wish to. What a petty way to excerpt their power, to stamp their authority.

Please understand that I am for deserving talented black rugby players. We've seen many of them come and go. We will see (I hope) even more entering this game with good results. No enforcing of any law can make the game better. But that's not the point. Just like changing Dingaans "dag" (Gelofte Dag) to the Day of Reconciliation (December 16) and wiping out street and town names, it's just a show of force.

But that's besides the point these days. We understand. We do not like it, but we understand. Out of the total population there are very few who actually lived and suffered under the apartheid government. There's a new generation that will hopefully be more tolerant and forgiving to each other, and we need to give them the opportunity to do just that.

But back to the soccer - I hope it's gonna be a good one. I hope that for once the ANC government will get their house in order and stand together just this once in order to show us and the world that they can get this country back on track.

There is lots to be said about Mbeki and even Mandela, but with JZ taking his fifth wife and another in waiting like the cow ready for slaughter. In African tradition this means prosperity. The more wives, the more cows, the more money - and if the president has all this, the country must be prospering. The people my be starving, with no jobs and no income, but they're happy.

Should we take the lesson out of this that our greed for money and power can only lead to an unhappy life? Our desire to work upwards and to better ourselves and our living conditions is only a stumble block to true happiness? Why do we keep on chasing after riches and fortunes if the simple uneducated are so happy with so little? Ever had these moments where you question the purpose of live?

The world has gone mad... stark raving mad. Try and name one country where there has been no civil disobedience, strike or bombings or ramblings or unhappiness amongst the indigenous. Obama is destroying America, most of Europe is being overrun by Muslims, Arabs and Africans and no-one seems to care. Where are we heading - or at least, where will it all end for the rest of the world? Are we around the corner from a place in future history where we'd rather not want to be? Is there a silent revolution brewing all over the world where the common man will stand up to fight those others put in power?

"For the meek will inherit the earth" - a bible verse that give me some peace, but still leave me with expectations of the worst future imaginable that awaits us all.

Power. That's what it's all about. The power to rule, the power to dictate and the power to do whatever you want to do. That's what's happening even here in our own backyard.

We know that Cosatu the SACP and the ANC rule this country. Some with more say and some with less, but still the rulers. The fact that communism has failed even in Russia does not deter the SACPs silent revolution to nationalise big industry. The cash crunch that we're still experiencing has put a damper on this though. People are hungry, people need jobs and with even more people from all over Africa right here in sunny South Africa, jobs are scarce.

For many years we've had the so-called personnel agencies. You need a job, you register with them, hand over your CV and await a positive result. Most of the time this worked for most of us. A couple of years ago this evolved into what is called now as labour brokers. These guys saw a major gap in the marketplace and started these very successful ventures. Concentrating on the unskilled labour force, they filled the food pots and provided work to those willing on a contract basis.

It was a brilliant idea. If a guy does not perform, his contract is cancelled. Not only does this motivate workers to get somewhere but also to earn more money in order to uplift themselves and their families. Only one snag here - historically our black African brethren are not used to working. Through history the male was the warrior, the female the provider. Don't doubt for a minute the capacity and capability of the black worker. Without them the whites would've never accomplished what we have here today - and that is relevant right through the history of our great land.

Cosatu cannot provide what the labour brokers can. The Cosatu fat cats have been so quick to call strikes when and where they wanted to. A bit of an unhappy rumbling from a member, and a strike is called. Now these strikes can be devastating, not only to a company but also to our economy. We've seen this many times before. And the affected company cannot just close doors. There are laws against that!

What is happening now is that Cosatu has been loosing members. There are no companies to toy-toy against, there are no money to pay them their sometimes ridiculous increases and perks and benefits. Big companies folded - the company I worked for for close on 20 years shut doors permanently last year December. And this is where the labour brokers can help by plugging the gaps where demand exists. And Cosatu does not like this one bit.

[As you know, going back to the days of Apartheid, the ANC and their Tripartite Alliance which includes the South African Communist Party and COSATU, always had the ability to use STRIKES to disrupt the country. The ANC's ability to overthrow Apartheid and even to have the Western world striking deals with them is all based on the ANC's ability to SABOTAGE the industry and economy of South Africa. The ANC and their Alliance partners have always basically operated as kidnappers. They have always been able to threaten destruction. It was their ability to strike and to bring the economy to a halt that was absolutely central to their rise in power.] African Crisis

So guess what, their alliance partners, the ANC and SACP will pass a law banishing the operation of labour brokers.

It's all about power...

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