What do to, where to go? I'm sure as my next birthday is looming the ANC has a slightly longer delay until December.

This is cruchtime when they have some important decisions to make, like who their next leader will be. With the current chaos reigning and the Zuma camp campaigning strongly, one can only hope that common sense will prevail. The notoriuos Youth League has split from Cosatu in naming Zuma their prime candidate. Mbeki is holding on for a further term even though this would be breaking the rules.

It's a scary thought if Zuma should win. The man is still under investigation with the Scorpions having a tough time within their own ranks. Yes, the arms deal bribery (a'la Schabir) case have not seen the end yet, and my bet is that this time next year it'll still be ongoing. Never mind that, his escapades with an HIV positive woman not that long ago made him the laughing stock not only here, but in the rest of the world - except of course for the UK, where anyone "out of Africa" is a hero. What do you expect from the poms?

Mbeki has been stamping his authority in the past couple of weeks. Not that long ago he got rid of Madlala-Routledge, then he got rid of the head of the Scorpions, but he hangs on to those shady characters like Msimang and Selebi? Does he know something we don't? The story about a possible warrant for the police commissioner is not far-fetched taking into consideration that Selebi and Mbeki have been at it for years to integrate the Scorpions under the SAPS umbrella. That way Selebi can have as many criminal friends as he wants, without any recourse.

The tri-party agreement also seem to be coming to an end, slowly but surely. The SACP (Communist Party) has been at odds with Mbeki for some time now, and Cosatu have been more vocal on the differences between what they want and what government is offering. More strikes and more unrest shows that the rest of the nation seems to agree.

The ANC will only remain in power for as long as the people think they're doing the right thing. Perceptions are changing and the truth is starting to come out. I sincerely hope that the people on the ground will eventually see that they've been brainwashed and that the few good things happened because of other influences, and not directly because of government.

On the good side - more cops on the roads. More pay for nursing staff. Better conditions for teachers. A concerted effort from government departments and private sector to win back lost skills. That's good, right? Now if these guys and gals would only bring their part. Teachers Unions refuse to have their members take a test in order to quantify their teaching skills. Nursing staff has gone from worse to pathetic. Please note, here I talk about black staff! And as far as the cops are concerned?

Too many unskilled cops are on the beat. More suicides and family killings happen with cops (SAPS) than with civilians. On a news item the other night SABC news claimed an 800% increase in these fatalities. Does that mean we had none and eight cases were reported? Could've been but we can only dream that to be true. It's scary and shocking. I don't care if most of these were black policemen, it's a loss to our nation and a victory to the criminals. We're fighting a united fight here and we need each and every trained person out there. With a boss like Selebi it could've been worse, but obviously the man hasn't done his job. Those critics out there - remember that if one killing happens in a place for the first time, it's a 100% increase in that crime. Investigate the figures before jumping on the anti-SA bandwagon.

As far as Mbeki goes, I still maintain the old addage "better the devil you know than the one you don't". Be prepared, be vigilant and report crime. If the local copshop won't help, take it further. If you voted you'll know who to contact. Make you voice heard.

 

Let's have your ideas -

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