<h3>Buckets of Rain?</h3>

Buckets of rain? [Art by Catt]

I been meek | And hard like an oak | I seen pretty people disappear like smoke. | Friends will arrive, friends will disappear, | If you want me, honey baby, | I'll be here.

Wonderful song this, especially the sneering disclaimer or "out" in Dylan’s question at the close. But that is neither here or there. So to speak. Hmm... it's been a rough week but no-one said it was going to be easy.

But enough of me. I wanted to comment on Nick's entries dissecting a series of two articles on 'poor whites' (pointed to by Rethabile and condemned by others), but the damned thing's for subscribers only.

The Mail & Guardian's reluctance to share its feature articles with all and sundry means most will miss out on Andie Miller's deliciously ironic piece on law and order gone wrong, The Enemy Within. The inaccessibility of Miller's piece can't detract from its quality (which, to me, counts as journalism). Andie's long been a great writer in search of a decent publication, and it's fitting the one paper that has consistently "told it like it is" should articulate her voice.

What is it with our local papers, by the way? Why hide the good stuff, a la Salon (also available to MWeb subscribers), behind a subscription fee? I’d rather not buy the paper. Millions are looking forward to Seymour Hirsh’s next article in The New Yorker and will read it when it comes out. Having just read Susan Orlean’s The Outsiders, I’d be inclined to subscribe to the magazine because that which is available online promises more of the same high quality offline.


"Ain't got no money..." [Musicians: Gugulethu, Cape Town]

Ain't got no home | Ain't got no shoes |Ain't got no money | Ain't got no class | Ain't got no mother | Ain't got no culture | Ain't got no friends | Ain't got no schoolin' | Ain't got no shine | Ain't got no underwear | Ain't got no soap | Ain't got no A-Train | Ain't got no mind...

Hair | Ain't Got No

Eh...sorry, let's get back to 'da white folks', rich or poor. Through circumstance and deceit, it happens white South Africans are generally to be found clinging assiduously to trappings of a misappropriated wealth. However, picking up on last week's entry on hijackings in my suburb, our community paper today offers further evidence that "haves" are living ever closer to "have nots". Three local residents were hijacked in their driveways this past week; two being mothers driving new cars and the other a man accompanied by his girlfriend and his mother.

The paper goes on to list further advice (see last weeks tips before driving to work tomorrow) for surviving a hijacking. The cops, who assume hijacked cars are used for heists—but add that they have no leads backing their assumptions, tell us most people are accosted in their driveway. Because this is so, Capetonians can minimise the risk of attack by taking the following precautions.

• Drive with your doors locked and windows closed, especially in built up areas.
  
• Keep everything of value out of sight.
  
• Be alert. Hijackers prefer residential areas where motorists are more relaxed and traffic lights and intersections are closely spaced, forcing you to stop.
  
• Be vigilant at shopping centres, where you can be hijacked without others noticing.
  
• Be alert at gates, driveways, garages or any other place where you may have to slow or stop.
  
• Ensure your driveway is well lit. Hijackers often lie in wait in your yard.
  
• If you feel something to be amiss, drive away—to your nearest police station if necessary.

Should it not be pointed out that one should drive to a police station only if absolutely necessary? The Claremont police station and cells have been attacked a number of times and are now protected by a private firm. They're no longer safe.

Anyway, hammering away on the subject of 'poor whites' last night, I took a slightly different route to Nick, but arrived at the same conclusion. So I dropped the post and opted for a short one this evening instead. In South Africa, poverty and wealth are obscenities that care little or nothing for the colour of one's skin. Those excoriating Nick would do well to revisit papers that came out of 2002's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

Crime is not our most pressing problem. Poverty, in all its guises, is.


"She rides a Harley Davidson..."

Somewhere on a desert highway | She rides a Harley-Davidson | Her long blonde hair | flyin' in the wind...

Neil Young | Unknown Legend

One last thing. Why ask for four wheels when two will do just fine? The answer's in an article open to Mail & Guardian non-subscribers. In their attempts to follow the 'high road', South Africans could do a lot worse than follow Togolese exhaust fumes:

Need a taxi in Togo? Climb aboard a Zemidjan, or "take me quickly", motorbike and get to your destination faster than you would do in a car. These small motorbikes, which take a single passenger on the pillion, are all the rage in this corner of West Africa. They also provide a regular source of income to thousands of people who would otherwise be jobless. more...

A rough week? It began last weekend with a middle-aged, mildly psychotic woman walking five miles to the seedy side of Cape Town, spending an afternoon in a shebeen (informal tavern) frequented by West African refugees and drug dealers, being saved from being hit on before being served dinner in a run-down tenement by three brothers (an artist, the artist's apprentice and the guy that did the cooking) and, sans money, walking back home at midnight through Cape Town's lawless streets, where armed hijackers lie in wait in every driveway.

Agh, but that story will keep... it gave me time to write my last post (it told the story—in places and in the time posted). For now, the storm is over and things are looking up. The kids are out and Wendy and I have the evening to ourselves. We'll watch TV, or something...

Life is sad | Life is a bust | All ya can do is do what you must. | You do what you must do and ya do it well, | I'll do it for you, honey baby, | Can't you tell?

Bob Dylan | Buckets of Rain

Note

I've posted a link to The Positive Connection at the head of this page. Pointed to it by Ben Sassman in the course of a business-related conversation, I believe a site offering and promoting "a dating service for people living with hiv / AIDS" epitomises the spirit of a country able to overcome its myriad problems.

As Rethabile points out on his site, "Get the poverty and you get the f*****g virus. Women are especially vulnerable for a variety of reasons. Africa as a whole needs to wake up to the fact that it was built and is held together by women, yet they are precisely who we're destroying."

Please support Ben's initiative and Rethabile's advice in any way you can. For further information on hiv / AIDS in South Africa, Health-e is a fantastic new resource run by a strong team of experienced journalists. Our community rag (that which has a "thing" about hijackings) today runs an article on Capetonian and Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) activist Zackie Achmat by Health-e editor, Sue Valentine. It's damned good, but I can't find it on the site right now...

Ah well, life certainly isn't all bad at the Southern Tip.

Another note

Just when things were looking up. Saturation coverage given the sad kidnapping and murder of Leigh Matthews, a wealthy, blonde, 21-year old student from Gauteng, strengthens Nick's argument. Her death has been followed by many dumb statements, including the following:

"Prominent South Africans joined the country in mourning the killing of kidnapped Johannesburg student Leigh Matthews, while the Matthews family set up a trust fund to contribute to the serious and violent crimes unit of the Johannesburg police."

While the president, deputy president, and Madiba indulge their "profound shock" at the girl's murder (and the country grieves), iAfrica.com reports that some 4,000 South Africans are kidnapped each year (IOL revises the figure to twelve—the other 3,988 constitute child theft, domestic disputes or car hijack victims taken by their attackers). Either way, South Africa is one of the world's top five kidnapping countries. The DA, ever ready to join the ghoul fest by lending perspective, points out that 23,000 South Africans stand to be murdered by year end. iAfrica.com then goes on to... you guessed it, offer a list of precautions one can take to avoid being kidnapped.

Gah! When a single murder (out of 23,000) garners such attention for no discernible purpose—trust funds, condolence boards, Web sites, telephone hotlines, political posturing and media schlock), you know something other than poverty is gnawing at the brainstem of white South Africa. I've a feeling most of our TV-and-tabloid-saturated retards grow out of Disneyland and into Hollywood without noticing the transition. Either way, they don't live in Africa.

(See S. Africa grieves for slain kidnap victim, a comprehensive overview and what might be construed a less jaundiced view from the Toronto Star.)