DROUGHT

Recently the Uthengulu town council (Richards Bay, Empangeni, Mtunzini and Gingindlovu) declared water restrictions. Apparently the local dams are low in water due to a drought (It has only rained for the last 2 days, not 2 weeks!) So we cannot wash our cars with hosepipes. My Porsche was really dirty so I parked it in the rain, and wet it with car shampoo! The rain is washing the shampoo off. For a drought, there is plenty of water running in the channels on the side of the road! We cannot water the gardens or wash our cars, but the town council can waste water from the local water tower, that under usual circumstances is flushed out once every 10 years, but if there is a drought, they flush thousands of gallons through the tower every 3 days or so! How thick is that?

Driving down the N2 freeway, the water was flowing off of my windscreen like a tap was out of control. The definition of "drought" obviously has different meanings to different people! In the township across the hill, the residents are complaining because the water that they waste, is not clean water! Then when we have water restrictions, they leave the water taps flowing with millions of gallons of water wasted! Then why do they think that they are disadvantaged? Currently there is a huge movement to push the Indian population forward, based on the fact that 150 years ago, some indentured Indians were sent to Africa. Now they want the white man to give them a heap of money to "apologise" for inequalities started 150 years ago. For goodness sake, they run Mercedes Benz cars, but if their ancestors were not indentured, they would be poverty striken at best! I am viewed in a poor light, because my skin happens to be white!

The black powers had an amnesty a few years ago, where former sins were forgiven. It made no difference that the blacks forgave their problems, but the Indians have not bought into this concept! I am seen as a sinner because white men committed atrocities in the past! Where is the Church view that man is guilty of his own sins and not those of his fathers or brothers? I am seen as guilty by the fact that my skin is of European descent!

An interesting thought that a friend voiced on Sunday!
Crime in SA is seen as a black problem. This is for 2 main reasons:-
The black population is so much larger than the white or Indian population. If there is any crime, you are pretty sure - by default - that a black is involved, by virtue of there being vastly more blacks in existance. It is like complaining in Mexico that crime is due to the mexicans! In Utah there is probably a one in two chance that if there is a crime, it was by to a Mormon!

The vast majority of the population of SA, live on - or below - the breadline! Crime is more of a result of necessity, not so much of desire! If your pocket is picked, it is probably a result of someone desperate to feed his family! Does this make theft OK? Obviously not, but if it means the diference between life and death, it is understandable, if not exactly excuseable!

I was watching a recording of "Around the World for Free" where a person circumnavigated the globe relying on the openness of humanity! What is stunning is the poor areas - worldwide - make places like Esikhawini and Port Durnford look incredibly affluent! The people there feel hard done by because they do not have this years model car in the garage! They refuse to see how well off they actually are, compared to destitution elsewhere in the world!

What stunned me was how genuinely helpful the poorest of the poor are, worldwide! Alex Boylin (winner of Amazing Race 2) decided to try and circumnavigate the world, leaving New York with a backpack for his goods, and no money in his pockets! He managed to locate food and lodging with the average man, and the least problems he had was where the population was poor! In more affluent areas he scored things like plane tickets, but food and lodging was more difficult to find! In SA you find this! The poor are open to those in need, but the rich are isolated - generally behind huge wrought iron gates, and a really long driveway!

I have found this! in the less affluent areas of the country, the population is more ready to speak to you when you ask anything (Real Men do NOT ask for directions - ever!) but in wealthy areas, they are shifty and phone for the cops as soon as smile at you! At Church in Richards Bay, the gates are always open, but in Sandton, they want your crime clearance and a deposit before they even open the gate for you to get into the chapel grounds!