Politically incorrect

We have all heard of the saying, "Politics is a dirty game." This is very accurate when referring to our current political situation.

The ANC is the ruling party and the party mostly responsible for bringing us freedom and "equality" in our country. We are forever grateful for their bravery and struggle. We are not however indebted to them because that's the perceptive we get from their die-hard supporters. As a country we are no longer fighting the same agendas we did back in 1988. Our main concerns now are fighting greed, poor service delivery, corruption and abuse of power.

With the obvious out the way, its time to divulge the core political issues in the country. The ANC have leakages compared to that of a tap after a 7 year old has brushed his teeth. This was evident during the last electoral campaign where people blindly voted for COPE, a runaway party from the ANC. They gave Thabo Mbeki a vote of no confidence as South African president, forcing him to step down as president of the country in 2008 and they voted Zuma as ANC president who later became the president of the republic. The same hypocrites of Mbeki's leadership methods are now trying to oust Zuma out of leadership in Mangaung this month. There's talks of another vote of no confidence towards President Zuma in February next year from opposing parties. President Zuma has reshuffled his cabinet ministers 3 times in his one term as president. This poses the question, "Does the ANC really know what they're are doing?" They seem to have a lack in judgement and they are too busy waging power fights among themselves to really notice that the country is getting gatvol of them. We read everyday of corruption in the government, abuse of taxpayer money, nepotism, labour unrests etc.

thanks to our ever vigilant media, the same media the ANC wants to disable by passing the secrecy bill and are forever badmouthing them when they post stories exposing the ANC's iniquitous ways. Our president has been in the media for all the wrong reasons, makes you wonder why he was elected to lead the ANC in the first place. We are all aware of the current state of our economy thanks to the Economists with their front page exposé with the heading "Cry the beloved country" and we all saw live on national television as men were gunned down for their pittance. Labour unrests have been rife and we have seen the most number of strikes, mostly due to unfair pay, in a presidential term under Zuma but yet the man is the most paid leader in a democratic state ever! Inequality in South Africa has remained the same post-apartheid era, it just changed colours. The political game is quite dirty indeed. The ANC promote the starting of small political parties to oppose them but have legislations preventing mergers of small political parties to form one big political party to run against them. This is another form of oppression in my mind but a very conniving and thoroughly thought out form of oppression. 

We can continue putting our faith in the ANC and hope things change for the better or we can look elsewhere but where? The DA? Ran by the ever so confrontational Hellen Zille, do we have hope for the country there. With crazy elitist ideals driving it, extremely focussed on the youth and gen-y a.k.a the boomers...it's a radical party that has two to three valid goals at best but operates within a "point fingers" framework. The DA went and put pit latrines outside black people's settlements and says, "we're doing what the ANC hasn't/ can't/ won't do" vote for us, vote for change. Then goes all elitist and preaches about economic freedoms for whites and blacks etc. Like, what do people from Khayelitsha and the deep rural areas know about financial freedoms? What is a pit latrine meant to do? Is it not better to do things right and build houses with proper plumbing systems and sewage facilities? Quick fix stuff isn't going to help the nation. My judgement of the DA is lacking in factual finding and the lack of knowledge about the DA is mostly due to the control the ANC has on the media.

Do we as the public really have power in this country, do we have a say or do they just tell us that we do to satisfy us and keep us quiet? If you look at it now, there is no "leadership" in African politics, there is what I'd like to call a "Bullying Right". Who gets to be the next one to pillage their nation under false pretence. [to be continued...]

(The view from the ordinary resident around Zuma's iNkandla's residence)

Don't ignore the economy

The word economy has been affiliated with an air of boredom and a stigma that suggests only the smart people should know about it. It is rife with discombobulated jargon to confuse the masses into not understanding how the world works. Understanding the economy will help you not just in terms of long-term decision making but even your day to day decision making. Its important that every citizen in a country understand her economy so not to be caught with your pants down. I hope this piece makes you wanna know more about the economy.

The economy is not just about fiscal policies, REPO rates, Prime rates etc. The economy is about the money in your pocket, the job you wake up every morning to go to. The economy affects your decision to buy a BMW or a Ford and also menial things like to buy albany bread or sasko bread. Understanding the economy will help you know why things around you are happening the way they are, why petrol is going up, why unemployment rate is going up etc. When your manager tells you the company is cutting on some costs to maintain the budget, you will have foreseen it from incidents leading up to this. We all on a mission to be rich and have no stress from monetary shortfall. Let me tell you a secret, with little to no understanding of how the economy works your chances of living in abundance are almost bleak. The first step to understanding the economy is to break away from the bubble of ignorance. A bubble where you think life is all about you and whatever happens around you doesn’t affect you. This is basic thinking because like it or not, as long as you're breathing in the confinements of a country...all that happens in and around it does have an effect on you. With that said let me give you a brief summary of the current state of the economy of South Africa. 

Our economy is not in crisis but we are certainly in distress. The number one reason for expecting difficult economic conditions ahead is the state of South Africa’s consumers. Consumers owe over R1 trillion to various creditors. Around 20% of people selling their homes in South Africa in the third quarter of this year did so “in order to downscale due to financial pressure.” “The vast majority of South African households are forced to restrict their spending by mid-month, regularly run out of money before month’s end, sometimes skip meals, and are often forced to borrow money to keep their heads above water.” Yet another sign of distress can be seen in the fact that over the next three years an additional 1m South Africans will become eligible for government grants. This is particularly alarming in light of the fact that, according to the latest Tax Statistics data published by SARS, only 4.3m or so South Africans actually paid income taxes over the last year (although all South Africans pay VAT and various other taxes), putting the ratio of income tax payers to grant recipients at close to 4:1. And as if all that isn’t enough, inflation is on the rise. Rising inflation eats away at spending power, and will further stress struggling consumers. With high unemployment, rising consumer debt and dependence on government grants, and ever-higher inflation, the outlook for South African consumers is not great. All of this, taken together with the ongoing negative impact of the wildcat strikes that shook the country over recent weeks, adds up to a very gloomy picture. While government is doing its best to manage the economy with prudence and care, there are simply too many deeply entrenched problems that are making it impossible for SA to grow fast enough to meet the needs of her citizens. Unless some radical policy ideas are implemented, or the global economic environment improves dramatically, South Africa is in for a slow and painful few years. [by Felicity Duncan]

The economy is part of your everyday life. From politics, exchange rates, your taxi fare, retrenchments at the work place etc. These are all effected by and will affect the economy. The economy can be both your friend and an enemy. If you know her she will treat you right but choose to ignore her and she will leave you in a devastated and desperate state. Don't ignore the economy.

Marriage constitution

Your wife is a gift from God to straighten your life. The wife is a mirror to the husband. The husband chooses the wife and not vice versa. A husband who makes his wife number one in his home and life, will succeed in life. If you honour and cherish your wife, you will grow rich. Cherishing your wife isn't a 90% effort but a 100% effort. You have to give your wife honour and prestige. Whenever she wants something, honour her wishes. As a husband, you should be considerate of your wife's needs. Treat your wife as a queen and she will make you a king.

A husband must strive to have peace in his home. Charity begins at home. When you increase peace in your home, income will also increase. Peace is the best vessel there is for all kinds of blessings. Marriage is senseless without peace in the home. The wife of a critical husband is broken, depressed, pained and has no power. Peace at home is impossible when you criticize your wife. Negative comments will destroy your wife's happiness. Direct all your compassion first to your wife.

A woman can stay single and alone with no hassles. Men NEED women to be our backbones. A person who's too occupied in finding faults in others won't ever find fault in themselves. If you grab a woman from someone else, you will not be free. If you crooked, there are better crooks than you. When you get attracted to other women, other men will be attracted to your wife. Play your role as the husband and see improvement in your home. We owe it to ourselves to have peace and tranquility in our homes.

[Prophet Phillip Banda]

Don't be afraid

Fear is a negative emotion induced by a perspective threat. Fear is the second name for the devil. Fear is the number one enemy of faith. Fear is a monster that paralyses, leaving you weak and helpless. Fear is destructive and produces misery. Fear will produce defeat and keep you in bondage where it will torment you.

When you get a bright idea you first see it manifest in your mind, all the bright things it brings but then you see the problems with your idea. At this stage its either you come up with a solution or you allow fear to grip your heart. If fear grips your heart, that's the end. Fools mistake fearlessness with ignorance. Seek wisdom as a wise man knows the difference. Being fearless is realising that faith can get you past a situation but ignorance is ignoring all the possible imminent dangers. There is a thin line between the two and a wise man can differentiate between the two. No great man in this world has realised their dream with fear in their heart, they all have one thing in common...they over-came fear.

Its time you realised your dreams. The bigger the dream, the bigger the risk and the least room for fear. If you inspire to do great things, you have to learn to fight fear. Its easier to take the easy route of giving up on a dream or vision but takes real courage to see them through. Fear and courage cannot exist in one matter or space. Today and for the rest of your life, I urge you to choose courage over fear. Be fearless, be a hero and change the world with your vision and courage.

Escape the black mind

The biggest challenge we black people have is money. Money for us doesn't equal liberty and prosperity; it rather leads to envy, greed, competition and pride.

How can we train our black mind so to not fall into the trap of money? The change is almost instant to a black man as soon as he starts making money. This is because he has entered unfamiliar territory with no previous experience. The results are over spending and no saving. Debts creep up on him worse than a thief in the night. Once debt has a firm grip, he becomes a slave to his paycheck. Debt will cripple you in ways unimaginable, it’s an evil system meant to keep you slave to the working force so not to venture your mind into other profitable areas. Interests have been cleverly set up so that paying back debt is near impossible without declining your lifestyle drastically. How do we stop this, how do we train the black mind?

The theory is simple, save more and spend less. If only it was this simple. Thing about the black mind is that money makes him feel superior and being superior means you have to show the rest of the world that you can afford. Everywhere he goes everybody must see that he has made it. We know that majority black girls love money so to date the best you must make the most. The pressure put on us by those who are supposed to be supporting us is immense. That is why our cars are more opulent than the houses we live in. We live to impress others. We give little to no support to our fellow brethren who are trying to make money because we hate being “left behind”.

The saying ‘charity begins at home’ should be a pivotal starting point in our mind set. Don’t try impressing the world if your family is struggling. The thing with a lot of black families is that there is always that one rich person but the rest suffer. What prevents that rich person from sharing his wealth with his own blood and empowering them so they too can have the knowledge to make their own money? Remember that it’s not called wealth until the whole family lives in abundance. We also don’t take the time to plan, we just want to make money and enjoy life. Very few black people have a will put in place let alone life cover. We are big fans of funeral cover though, forgetting that we leaving loved ones behind. We don’t care much for them. We live for us, we die with our money, leaving them to fend for themselves.

It’s time to train the black mind to know how to handle money so that it doesn’t just come visit us for a short period of time and then leave again. Know how to save, take interest in investments, spend within your means, buy cash and borrow less. We have heard all of this before but the lure of spending when money is in your hands is too strong. Here are tips you can use; from here on settle all your debts starting with the very small one. Spend minimal until you achieve absolutely zero debt barring your house and car instalments. This process can take up to 5 years so a budget should be drawn to remind yourself where your money is going end of the month. After you achieve this, start saving. Save for anything and everything you want and stay disciplined and strict to your saving. The more money you make the more you should improve your budget. These are just some helpful tips to help you.

End of the day we have a problem that money changes us and we are weak to its lure and promise of a lavish life. A life that we as kids saw on TV and have been dreaming of ever since. Only discipline and wisdom can help us. We have to understand that what we are doing is leaving a legacy for our children. Wealth won’t be achieved at our generation level but if we nurture our mind, harness our skills and start educating our children at an early age then future generations will enjoy living in abundance.

Blacks have hope!!!

Blacks are fools, blacks are stupid, blacks are greedy, blacks are lazy and thus blacks are poor...we have heard all of this and I say its ENOUGH bashing of our race. Its about time we stop pointing fingers at the problem and start finding solutions.

Let's address us being stupid first. For that we have to look at the core of it all, education. Public schooling at large is the course of this problem. No one inspires to be a teacher no more because of the salary they earn therefore only those that are left with no choice end up pursuing teaching. With a lack of teachers we end up taking whatever is on offer to be entrusted with our children's future. In private schools its very different. They only pick the cream of the crop to educate their children. With our background most of us can't afford to take our children to private schools. We are lagging in a cycle of basic education. Teaching has to be made a high priority, let them encourage people to be teachers by paying teachers more but yet making the curriculum more difficult so only the best make it to educate our children. Parents must also do their part and encourage their children to read more often.

Next let's address this laziness we have. The fact that we think because we took power away from the oppressor our lives must automatically be easy. We are the last to work but when people are benefiting, we the first to complain. We say we want change but we want someone else to get the change done. We must individually take a look at what we are doing to contribute to this change that we forever asking for. Get off your high horse and be part of the solution.

Next big problem is our greed. A black man finds it easy to spend R20 on a burger than to give his friend R10 so they can both enjoy a pie. This is because we always want to feel more important and that's where greed takes over. We once preached about Ubuntu, that was quickly forgotten. Indian people, white people and to a large extent coloured people work to enrich their communities but yet we work to leave our communities. Charity begins at home. Stop making everything about you and your wallet, let's begin working together to rid ourselves off poverty so future generations can live a prosperous life.

We have hope as a race. We couldn't see it before because we never had an example. Now we have Patrice Motsepe who is the richest man in South Africa and hails from soweto. If he can make it, why can't you? Stop tryna shift blame and start looking at yourself and the decisions you made to end up where you are right now. We are free now so let's act free and not only voice concerns but put actions to address this concerns. The fact that we see the problem means we very close to a solution. Blacks have hope!

Vusani Jack Jnr