Julius Malema ... Robert Mugabe mark II ?

For a while now, Julius Malema, South Africa's infamous ANC Youth leader, loud mouth clown and occasional bully has kept us all entertained with regular public outbursts,appearing to almost seek controversy where ever he goes. He is the butt of a thousand jokes & cartoons and was even the subject of one of Nandos now famous series of adverts. However, with barely 60 days to go until this country hosts the biggest show on earth, Mr Malema, (who some Senior ANC members have dared to suggest could perhaps one day follow in the steps of Mr Mandela, a youth leader turned president), has now moved into a different league completely... a league where those such as Robert Mugabe exist.

Firstly during a recent visit to Zimbabwe, Malema did not try to hide his support for the notorius Zanu PF leader, openly criticising opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and even suggesting that South Africa emulate Mugabe's policy of seizing white owned land and farms. As if this were not enough, less than a week later when talking at a press conference, he again criticised the MDC party for working from air conditioned offices in affluent Sandton,in Johannesburg. When a BBC journalist dared to comment that Malema himself lived in Sandton. Mr Malema once again showed his true colours with an outburst that resulted in him throwing the guilty Journalist out of the conference.



I have been shouting the loudest this last week about the irresponsible British media on the manner in which they have been reporting on the Eugene Terreblanche murder, accusing them of only telling a one sided story and spreading unnecessary panic amongst world cup visitors. However, even I would not blame Jonah Fisher the BBC Journalist at the moment for having a less than positive outlook following his experience, lets hope he is a forgiving man. The man who's head I would really like to get inside of though, is that of Mr Mandela himself .... having gone through everything he did fighting for the day when blacks and whites could share a democracy and achieving his goal and indeed so much more, I cannot help wonder what his thoughts are on our Mr Malema!? I think I have a pretty good idea though!

To all the football supporters coming this way ... you have nothing to worry about and I apologise on behalf of South Africa for this idiot.

On this very subject, I was alerted to an interesting website & blog by Neal Collins http://www.nealcollins.co.uk/ a rare journalist that for once tells the story from both sides.

There's been a lot going on !

I know, I know, it's been a while! When one of my most loyal followers mentions the word blog to me or rather lack of it ... I cringe and find myself defensively explaining that I do not want to talk for the sake of it (Many people would disagree with this statement!)and that when I feel like there is something worth commenting on I will! Except that this theory has fallen by the wayside this last month or two despite there having been many moments, where I wanted to whip out my computer for an impromtu rant ... or rave! My excuse can be summed up in one word "inbox"! The weird thing is, that emails and cell phones etc were originally invented to make our lives easier? but they have simply made the world a more demanding place. What ever happened to the days when you would call someone if you had a query and if they weren't in, you left a message, assuming they even had an answering machine of course and if they called you back in a day or two, it was perfectly acceptable, life still went on! Nowadays if you have not replied to an email within the hour, you somehow feel totally inefficient! I used to choose coffee shops based on their cappucinos, but now it is whether they offer free wireless! A blackberry was something my mum used to make jam with ... I am now counting the days until my new one arrives! (The electronic version that is!) The jury is still out as to whether this will improve or only exasperate the situation! The worst thing for me though to come out of all this advancement, is that people don't talk to each other anymore ...face to face that is.They rather send an email or a text... or facebook each other perhaps!? Don't even get me started on that one, I swore I would never touch it ... and now I have friends in places I did not know existed! In todays world, there are of course advantages too ... I am able to speak to and SEE friends ,family and business colleagues on the other side of the world via skype almost as if they were in the next room and it does not cost a cent! This has of course put an end though to working in my pajamas!! (joke!!)

The truth remains though, that I have spent the majority of my Easter Weekend catching up on admin, so I still have to wonder .... with all this fancy technology, when will someone find a way to add more hours to a day!!

Oh by the way, at the risk of sounding a hypocrite - take a look at my new company facebook page, or better still become a friend .. or should that be fan!?

The Fish Stinks from the head down ....

I have never been one to discuss politics, it is not my favourite or my most knowledgeable subject. However, you do not have to have a degree to know that when a country is battling with the biggest Aids problem in the world, one needs the leader of that country to be pulling out all the stops to combat the problem and above all setting an example himself! However ... as if the scandal almost five years ago where Zuma was accused of raping a family friend was not enough, or the fact that whilst he denied rape (and has since been found not guilty) he took the aids problem back ten years when he admited to having unprotected sexual relations with the lady in question, knowing full well that she was infected with Aids!! He unashamedly told the nation that he had taken simply taken a shower immediately afterwards!! What made the issue even more incredulous was that he was the Head of the national Aids council at the time!!

And now ... Barely even a month has passed since Jacob Zuma married for the fifth time, that saw his current number of wives become three, not fogetting another fiancee in the wings .... along with a total of nineteen children. It appears though, that this were not enough for him, as he has now admitted to repeating history again, in that 13 months ago,he slept with the daughter of a family friend, resulting in yet another Zuma off spring! This weekend, for the second time in five years, he gave into to pressure and unconvincingly apologised to the country. Zuma said he could "acknowledge and understand the reaction of many South Africans," who have accused him of making South Africa the butt of jokes because of his sexual philandering and of undermining the fight against HIV/AIDS by evidently failing to practise safe sex. Well Mr Zuma, with one in every nine people in SA suffering from the Aids virus, that is usually passed on during unprotected sex,I would say your apology comes a little too late ....

Slightly mad ? This is why .............

Anyone that knows me, will tell you that on the 1 to 10 scale of being an animal lover, I am about a 15! I am the one when hearing a story on the news about a man that drowned rescuing his dog, that asks the unthinkable ..."But what happened to the dog?" .... I would give my last cent to animal rescue, even though ,there are people starving just down the road from me. And when all my girlfriends are planning their next pregnancy .... I am busy visualising a day when I can hopefully afford to add more to my four legged brood! All of the above often results in some of my closest friends ,colleagues and even family thinking I am .. Well, slightly mad! A sandwich short of a picnic would be another way to perhaps put it kindly ...to the point where I even agree with them at times.

However, it is days like today when I read of an absolute HORRIFIC and APPALLING story of animal abuse that I know why I feel like I do ..... because they have no voice of their own! At the risk of sounding over emotional, I am unable to even talk about this story, except to say that I cannot get the vision of the person doing what they did to this poor helpless dog, out of my mind, when there were really so many other options. Click here to read what I am referring to and then make up your own mind as to who is the mad one in this equasion?

Peace in Heaven or Hell on earth ....

I had the sudden need to dust off my soapbox this afternoon, when watching a breaking news story on Sky News ,But before I go on, let me first refer back to a story in the news last week. A loving mother, namely Frances Inglis was sentenced to 9 years in prison for having had the courage to end her brain damaged son's pain and suffering, by injecting him with a lethal does of Heroin. She was prepared to sacrifice her own freedom to put Thomas, 22 out of his misery. It was what some might say, the ulitmate gift of love. There was and will always be people that believe murder is murder, but any one who bothered to read all the facts, will know that this lady, was as about as normal as they come. What could possibly be achieved by locking her up behind bars for 9 years? I have known real criminals get far less than this ... for gods sake, by doing what she did, she already has a life sentence of her own. In the end, the only conclusion I could come to, was that if they let her off ,it would open the flood gates for more people to do the same.

But then, back to this afternoon's breaking news .... Kay Gilderdale has been found not guilty for assisting her daughter with her own suicide, by helping her to inject lethal doses of morphine. When that did not work ,she went around the house looking for various bits of medication, with the main aim of finishing the job in hand. Her daughter, Lynn died a couple of hours later. Again a brave, brave thing to do for a loved one that had known nothing but suffering for 17 years, as she fought with the disease M.E. There are of course minor differences to the two situations ... Lynn, although in pain and with a body that had given up a long time ago, by all accounts, her brain was still functioning and she had made it clear with a living will, that it was her wish to leave the world, with perhaps just a small shread of dignity still in tact. Thomas on the other hand, Frances' son could not speak for himself ... he had been totally brain dead for 18 months. Does this really add up to 9 years worth of difference though? In my mind, these two stories could not be more alike, They are about two mothers, who loved their children more than life itself and not only would have done ANYTHING for them ... they did!

And so the question on my lips tonight is why the huge inconsistency in the justice system? Kay Gilderdale, appears to have survived purely due to a technicality in my mind. It could not be proven in the end, whether Lynn died from the morphine she injected herself or the tablets that the mother gave her and so a murder charge was not even valid. Whilst I am over the moon for her and back her all the way ... surely it is the intent that matters? Was that really any different to Frances' intent... to simply see their child at peace? I could not help wondering if Frances has access to news? I hope not for her sake ... I am sure she would have a question or two?!!

Passion should be the fashion !

I could write about how I feel I have been flung from the refrigerator into the fire ... what with less than a week ago having to cope with sub zero temperatures and now back in Cape Town, where there is a 40 degree heat wave in town .... which even by our standards is HOT! But I shall not bore you with any more weather talk at the moment... but rather some promised thoughts on service issues during my recent trip to the UK.

Anyone that knows me, will tell you I have always been an extremely passionate person when it comes to my job ... or in fact most things I believe in I suppose, and find myself expecting or sometimes even demanding this from other personnel that I come into contact with. (This does not always make me popular!) Not only that of my own staff in my previous job, but those elsewhere too. There is nothing worse than being served by somebody that so blatently does not give a damn or want to be there. We all have our bad days ... but do you have to show it? People often ask me what the biggest differences are between SA and the UK? Well if you take the lack of Baked bean varieties, no Coronation Street and absoultely no chance of a white christmas out of the equasion ... when I first started working in SA, I remember answering this question to a new work colleague and referred to the hospitality industry mainly as that was what I knew best. In 1994, it was clear as daylight in the UK, that approx 80% of people working in a hotel from my experience, were there because it was their passion to do that job, they got a thrill out of going to work each day. The other 20% were there because it was simply a job, it was their best offer! I could not help notice though that in SA at that time, it appeared to be the exact opposite - ie: 80% of people were there just for a job ... and there was the odd 20% that showed some sparkle, but in general the service was quite shocking and the staff really hard work. I also took into account though, that poverty and lack of education played a big role in this.

Well 15 years later, I get the distinct feeling that the tables have turned again. The exact details are not really relevant, but while in the UK, there were several incidents where it was indeed obvious that the educated person serving us at the time, whether it be at a hotel reception, a train, coffee shop, restaurant or wine bar had better things to do with their time and they did the absolute minimal required.

Whilst in SA, although there is still a major skills gap in many industries including hospitality ... it was only during these two weeks, that I realised how far they have come since my arrival in 1994 (I am not suggesting I take the credit by the way!!). What they lack in know how, they make up for in passion and to me, It should always be in that order. Needless to say,I have done alot of thinking about this on my many flights and train journeys and the reasons as to why it should be so apparent? My first theory is that the UK's work force appears to have been taken over by Europeans, Polish in particular. Which whether this is right or wrong is a topic for another discussion - but it is definitely the reason for there being a distinct lack of passion. NOT because they are Polish, but because to them it is a job to pay the bills ...the route to a better life. Nothing more, nothing less, whilst I cannot blame them for wanting to earn a better living - it comes across in the service that this is their only goal. My other theory is that although the above scenario was and still is to a certain extent the case in SA - Poverty very much remains, the clear difference since 1994, is that the workers although still needing just a job, apart from learning new skills, they seem to have made the connection that a friendly attitude, is often rewarded financially in the form of a tip perhaps and seem to have genuinely bought into the tourism philosophy that every 8 tourists = 1 job. They are excited about how far the country has come and where it is is going, 2010 is their year and they want to make a difference!

I realise that in many ways, it is unfair to make the direct comparison ... it is not exactly apples with apples and it is very difficult to generalise from a just a few incidents. I also do not want to give the impression that I am slating the UK. Not at all ... apart from the fact that my roots and my family are there - I spent many happy years there and will continue to enjoy my visits. Likewise, I know that SA still has a long way to go in many respects ... I guess I just find it interesting and fascinating really as to what makes a person motivated in their job, where does the passion come from ....are some people just born with it? and if people don't enjoy their job, how on earth do they get through each day? I will let you know if I ever find the answer to this one!

It's Snow fun !

Back safely in the South African sun, where I now realise I truly belong and trying to get back into the swing of things in general ... including my slightly neglected blog! When I just saw that my last entry was December 30th, last year in fact! I found myself wondering why I had not updated it more often when away? I was not exactly BUSY ... stuck up there in the North Pole ... er, sorry Scottish Highlands! Before I got too overcome with guilt for my lack of blog content, I remembered that I had indeed signed in a couple of times with the full intention of entering an update - but there lay the problem, there wasn't one! An update I mean - it had simply snowed and snowed and then snowed again, off and on in fact for the whole two weeks I was visiting, end of story! I think I speak for everyone in the UK at present, except perhaps for the children off school - that snow can be really wonderful, beautiful in fact ....god, I was hoping for a white Christmas more than anyone - but after more than a week of it, the novelty well and truly wears off! I think Bing Crosby's "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" is about to be replaced with "I'm dreading a white Easter!" At least I knew I would be heading for some sun at the end ... Everyone else does not have an end in sight at the moment, well not one that isn't covered in cold, white fluffy stuff anyway! Good luck to you all...and hang in there. I really am thinking of you!(it is amazing how insincere one feels when sending such messages from a sun lounger... but really ...My thoughts are genuinely with you!) I will be back again very soon though with my thoughts and viewpoint on some recent service related experiences while in the UK and where I think things differ in general from SA, until then .... More sun tan lotion please!