Number one you have cost us dearly

I remember in my early 20s I used to worship the ground that the ANC walked on (So to speak). There were political schools that we used to attend, learning about the ANC and its victories and defeats alike. There are values that the organization itself holds that no one can change.

I remember an ANC of the people and that fought for the rights of the people, an ANC that molded leaders of tomorrow and futures of the black nation of South Africa. I remember an ANC that was free of corruption.

There used to be an ANC that revered on the helping and improving the plight of the people of this country, an ANC that was a mother to the motherless, a GIANT of sorts to movements that rose in the wake of Africa’s children taking their land back one by one. An ANC of John Langalibalele Dube, Sol Plaatjie. An ANC of Oliver Tambo, Joe Slovo, Nelson Mandela, and all other great warriors of this land.

There was an ANC that used to bring hope to its people, the ANC that you and I were raised by. The congress of the people that made South Africa a land of all who lived in it. The ANC that gave birth to democracy and free speech, an ANC that fought against mental slavery.

This is the ANC I once knew. Today we have a dog that used to bite, ustokoloko – inja enganamazinyo. An organization rotten to the core and one characterized by corruption, scandals and shame. YES IT IS NOW AN ANC OF SHAME.

Now in my early 30s I am ashamed that I was ever associated with you oh great giant. You have become a bully of sorts to your own people. You have become the elephant in the room. And all of this is because of your refusal to hear us, your members, and your refusal to listen to the people that put you in power. You have a stubbornness that precedes the entire country. I don’t know why you are willing to let this country go – All because of one person – u number One.  

When willit end?

It is unbelievable the amount of racial slurs that we still witness in the "New South Africa". We see that they actually still see the need to do awareness campaigns on TV for it. Serioulsy, this day and age we still have people thinking that they are more superior and others getting offended at the fact that they think people think they are inferior.

What is this that we are doing? It seems now more than ever do we need a devine intervention from this syndrome. What is worse is that there are more black racists than white and it is a worrying fact.

I have been meaning to tackle this problem but have been unable to truly research on the topic because I found that people are still in that mode of racial protectionism. A sydrome that I myself do not even understand. 

Is Choral music in South Africa dying?

As a young musician who has been in the choral scene for most of my life, I am displeased at the lack of any choral association that is making a real difference in the lives of choristers. In my days I have had the pleasure of travelling to stages that I would have never been to had it not been for choral and opera music.

It has been almost two weeks since the concluding of the 23rd SATICA competition and we are yet to see the results or the performances of those publicised. It is almost a month left before the ECCMA competition begins and also in just two weeks the "seem to be the biggest choral event in SA" National chior festival will commence at the Monument in Grahamstown and yet we have not heard or seen anything relating to it in the media. Why is this?

Is Choral music in South Africa dying?

As a young musician who has been in the choral scene for most of my life, I am displeased at the lack of any choral association that is making a real difference in the lives of choristers. In my days I have had the pleasure of travelling to stages that I would have never been to had it not been for choral and opera music.

It has been almost two weeks since the concluding of the 23rd SATICA competition and we are yet to see the results or the performances of those publicised. It is almost a month left before the ECCMA competition begins and also in just two weeks the "seem to be the biggest choral event in SA" National chior festival will commence at the Monument in Grahamstown and yet we have not heard or seen anything relating to it in the media. Why is this?

Naked and bare

My agony began as I bled tears of my heart,

Wallowing and wondering when it would end

The pain that ripped my heart open

Bare and naked my pride was

Naked and bare as I bled tears of my heart.

As the symphony of life played on,

My notes were stuck in that moment when our eyes met

It was a beautiful sound I could never forget

It was as though my thoughts were frozen in time.

And suddenly I began to move with the symphony of life

I had to face the music, my journey with you had ended

This, I thought while my pride was naked and bare.

Bare and naked as I bled tears of my heart.

My agony began when I heard the words

Words of destruction and nothing of building

It narrowed it down to the pain they were yielding

As I heard the words of destruction I was destroyed

My heart cried in silence and in darkness

My soul was now a wounded soldier

Hurt and heavy at the same time yet I had to carry on

All I wanted to do was to lie down and rest

But the music of the symphony of life was playing

I had to face the music, my journey with you had ended.

This, I thought as my pride was naked and bare.

Bare and naked as I bled tears of my heart.