I found the following meaning of the word” democracy” in Wikipedia which you can see at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which all citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal (and more or less direct) participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law. It can also encompass social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination. The term comes from the Greek: δημοκρατία – (dēmokratía) “rule of the people”,^[1] which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) “people” and κράτος (Kratos) “power”, in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens following a popular uprising in 508 BC.^[2]

The first sentence gives a wonderful concept of what democracy should mean and be in an ideal world. As I get older, I am sorry to say that I am getting rather more cynical. Sadly,”Democracy African Style” does not encompass the original Greek concept of this word. What in effect happens in Africa is that the majority give the power to certain people to rule over them and in most cases not in the voters best interests. The individuals voted into power become a brotherhood for self enrichment of family and friends. Once in a position of power it is extremely difficult to get them out. I defy anyone to name one African country that has not followed this trend and sadly I include South Africa near the top of the tree.

More Africans have died at the hands of Africans in power than were ever killed by the colonial powers. Here again I defy anyone to prove me wrong. One of the root causes of this is plain tribalism which is still rife throughout Africa.

During the rule of the colonial powers in Africa the clarion call was to free the inhabitants of this tyranny. In my humble opinion the tyranny that exists in Africa is far worse and a great deal more sinister.

Most of us have read Alan Paton’s book “Cry the Beloved Country’’ which he wrote during the apartheid years. This book was on the banned list.  As a parting thought I wonder what the contents of his book would be if he wrote it today. The title would stay the same but the contents would in all probability be vastly different.

Butch Hannan

However, I feel very badly let down as a citizen of this country. Granted we have some beautiful state of the art stadiums but we are still left with the following.

Poverty and unemployment will most probably get a lot worse. We have beautiful stadiums but millions of people are hungry and live in sub human dwellings. Education and health services are in bad shape. As a nation we somehow seem to have a penchant for compounding the ills that beset this country.

Crime is rampant. I have got the following statistics from http://www.nationmaster.com

We have 21,553 murders, 393,959 burglaries, 52,425 rapes. Many burglaries and rapes are never reported as many of the victims have no faith in our law enforcement authorities or the judicial system. The general feeling is why waste your time in reporting something that you know is not going to get anything done about it. One can only think what these actual stats should be.

The conviction rate for murders is about 11%. If you put this into actual figures what you get is about 19,000 murders that have not been solved. Only about 5% of rape cases ever end in a conviction. This means that you have just fewer than 50,000 rape cases that have never been solved. If you take these figures for a three year period it will mean that you have approximately 57,000 murder and 150,000 rape cases that remain unsolved. The sobering thought is that the perpetrators of these crimes are happily living amongst our people. I will not go to the burglaries as the statistics are even worse.

So what has changed to help improve the lives of our people? You tell me.

Butch Hannan

Help me! Help me! To get on the gravy train,

My child it is easy to get on the gravy train,

You must accept what we teach you,

You must think and talk the way we do,

You must always toe the party line,

You must learn to cheat and tell lies,

You must learn to manipulate the situation,

On graduation you will be deployed,

Into a public post with untold opportunity,

To steal and pilfer the public coffers,

There will be tenders to manipulate,

Expense accounts to plunder,

Travelling allowances to inflate,

Entertainment and more entertainment,

My son, you are now in Aladdin’s cave,

My son, you will be a millionaire.

Butch Hannan

Butch Hannan

John was subjected to a lot of abuse because of his English background. There was verbal and physical abuse. This got to John and he ran away from school and went to the dairy in town which belonged to my father. John complained to my father bitterly about what a certain teacher had said to him concerning his English back ground. Our father listened to John and then told him he must go back to the school. John was horribly disappointed at this result and no doubt hated the old man at that time.

Dad Hannan was a very large imposing man. He always wore khaki clothing with his pants secured by braces. He always had a large stetson type hat on and always carried a sjambok with him looped round his right wrist.

John said all was forgiven and he literally swelled with pride when he saw Dad entering the school obviously on a mission. Dad located the teacher concerned and began to lay into him. Luckily for the teacher he could run a lot faster than our father which minimized the damage to him.

I wonder today how many of you would have loved to do what my father did. I felt many times like this when my children seemed to be getting the thin end of the wedge at school.

Butch Hannan

As a small child I had the privilege of spending my first couple of years on a dairy farm. The only items that my mother purchased from the grocer were tea, coffee, sugar flour and salt. All the other items such as meat, milk, butter and vegetables were produced on the farm. The meat was in the form of chicken, mutton, pork or beef and mostly all came from the farm. With the exception of the meat that was salted everything else was fresh. The vegetables you had with your dinner were always picked a couple of hours before the meal. There were no deep frozen convenience packs for you to simply empty into a pot of boiling water. The bread we ate was baked by my mother. We used fresh farm butter and homemade jam.

When I got to boarding school our recreation was also a lot different to what the children indulge in today. We had no television, video or PC games. Our games during play times were of a very physical nature. We played various ball games in addition to games like running red rover (tag) or rusty chain. These sometimes got banned when some individual broke a bone.

During organized school sport the training consisted of physical training and actually playing the game concerned. Gymnasiums were unheard of in those days. We played hard and other than broken bones and joint sprains none of us knew about a hamstring injury. We in fact had very few injuries and I wonder whether this could be attributed to our upbringing. We had wholesome fresh food and plenty of physical exercise in the games that we played to amuse ourselves.

Today when I look at children I worry about them. They spend hours sitting in front of computers playing games. Part of this is because of the dangerous times that we live in as they cannot go and play outside safely. The food that we eat today is not fresh in the sense that I know and enjoyed as a child. The expectations that parents have for their children also place an awful lot of pressure on them. They are not allowed to be children as I was when I was growing up.

Tomorrow!!. What does this hold for us as the human race. I can see us doing our thing in a horizontal prone position. Medical science will keep us on this earth longer and I sometimes wonder why.

Butch Hannan

We have a very diverse country with areas which are highlands going down to tropical areas with some very interesting semi desert areas in between. We have some very beautiful fauna and flora which is specific to South Africa. Who cannot but marvel at the beauty that the flowers in Namaqualand present to us when they bloom. Who cannot be in awe of the African sunsets that we can enjoy.

If you are a person who likes the sea we have a very long and beautiful coastline. There are many great beaches where you can swim and surf to your heart’s desire. South Africa is renowned for its sunshine which costs you nothing and is more often than not available. There are many restaurants where you can fortify the inner man with whatever nourishment he wants.

Our fresh produce such as fruit, vegetables and meat and poultry are of a very high standard. I believe that nowhere else in the world do you get such quality produce at such reasonable prices. I have bought produce from other parts of the world which have appeared in our shops and I have been horribly disappointed. I know that we export our best produce to overseas countries. I wonder what they send to us.

We are known as the Rainbow Nation. We have a diverse population which covers almost the entire spectrum of the human race. The only people that I have not found in South Africa are Eskimos. We are world leaders in many fields. We have produced many leading world figures in mining, engineering, technology, medicine, music, art and literature to name but a few. You name it we have done it or are busy doing it.

On the other side of the coin amazing South Africa presents another very ugly face that we sometimes try to hide from the world. We arguably have some of the highest crime figures in the world. Armed robbery which is accompanied often by unspeakable violence where the victims are beaten and tortured in various barbaric ways. Quite often this takes shape in the form of shooting, stabbing, rape, strangulation with electric cords and burning with boiling water and a hot iron. The perpetrators of these crimes display a hatred that is difficult to explain.

We are the rape capital of the world. For some obscure reason supposedly civilized individuals commit the most horrendous rapes. The victims are sometimes little girls of a couple of years old with the youngest recorded age a couple of months old. Most of the little girls are murdered after being raped. All I can say is Sick!! Sick!!! Sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We also read about murders of young children for medicinal purposes (muti murders). The sexual organs, heart, and liver are often removed by some individual for their nefarious activities.

The South African society that we live in is quite often involved in bribery and corruption. People in the state organizations as well as the private sector are guilty of this. Billions of Rands have been lost in this way. These funds could have been better spent in education and the upliftment of the under-privileged masses in our country.

The reason that I am writing this piece is that I have been accused of a degree of negativity in my writings and poems. If you stick your head in the sand and ignore the last four paragraphs then South Africa is a wonderful country. Just remember that if you look past a wrongdoing and do nothing about it, are you in fact not condoning that particular action.

Butch Hannan

1. Service Delivery. The intended meaning is the provision of decent roads, sanitation, electricity, schools, clinics, health services, housing and many other things to make life more decent.

The actual meaning of these two words is self enrichment scheme where public funds are delivered into the pockets of service delivery officials.

1. Bail. One of the intended meanings is money paid to guarantee the appearance in court of an accused person who is temporarily released.

In today’s life it means that the accused has purchased a licence to commit even more murders, rapes, robberies, hijackings etc.

1. Commission of Enquiry. To find out the truth about a specific incident or event.

How best to camouflage the wrongs committed and to exonerate the perpetrators. To transfer the transgressors to a section where there is even more money available to line their pockets.

1. We have a plan of action. Normally a course of action to rectify something.

We do not know what to do. We are absolutely “cooking clueless” about what course of action to take.

1. Education System. Supposedly to impart knowledge and skills to all the people so that they can succeed in their chosen stations in life.

We must teach the people useless subjects of no real value. We must not let the masses become too clever otherwise they will realize what we are doing and kick us out.

1. Deploy. Spread out; place troops etc. in good positions.

We owe a lot of people for being good members of our organization. As a reward we will appoint them to high positions such as Mayors and C E O’s of various state departments. It does not matter if they do not have the skills to do the job properly. If they fail we will just move them up the line to another position. There are plenty more people to take their place.

1. Racial Discrimination. To discriminate against any person on racial grounds.

Only white people can be guilty of racism, never ever the black people!!!! If something is going against you bring out the race card which will take the pressure off you.

1. Taxi A small licensed bus for conveying fare paying passengers to their destinations.

The ultimate weapon of mass destruction for the sole purpose of transgressing all the road rules of our country. Sometimes used to scare and intimidate all other road users. Ultimately a law unto themselves. Could also be classified as a large mobile coffin.

1. Eish!!! You tell me what it means. I really love this expression.

1.    Lekka!! or Lekker!!

Nice, Very Nice, Beyond Nice

Butch Hannan

A white person when he sees a black person with a car, bicycle, cell phone or some other valuable item his perception is that the items have been stolen. I will lay my head on a block that this thought goes through the majority of white South Africans.

A black person on the other hand has a perception that all the possessions that a white person has such as a house, cars and other items were given to him for nothing. Many of them have the perception that the whites did not pay for these items.

So, if both sides believe that neither paid for their possessions one is prompted to ask the question “Why the Problem”.

Butch Hannan

It is now nearly the end of 2009 which makes it about fifteen years after independence in 1994 and the buzzwords black empowerment and affirmative action are still being bandied about as if nothing has changed. I took a tour round the places that I do business with and I made the following visual observations:-

1. The twenty or so tills were all manned by black people as were the packers who help at the tills. The butchery, the bakery and the shelf packers were all black. The manager is black. I saw only two white women, one was at the cigarette counter and the other one was in the office. This was at one of the mainline supermarkets where we do most of our shopping

2. The bank that I do my business with all the tellers were black with one Indian and one coloured lady. The enquiries counter was all black as is the bank manager.

3. Department of Home Affairs is all Black.

4. Department of Labour is all Black.

6. A clothing chain store is all Black with the exception of the white woman manageress and two others.

7. The local government hospital is all Black and incidentally is in a shocking state as far as service is concerned.

8. KFC all black.

If you go through our town you will struggle to find white faces behind any of the counters.  What is very sad for me is that affirmative action has resulted in the lowering of service standards. Most of the staff do not have the foggiest idea what customer satisfaction means. They are forever busy on cell phones or carrying on conversations with each other when they should be focusing on the customer standing in front of them. In the supermarkets the person at the till and the packer openly discuss the Malungu standing in front of them with at times not very nice comments about what he is buying.

In conclusion I feel that affirmative action should be done away with as it has achieved what it was supposed to. Just maybe the problem is that the black people are scared to compete on the open market for employment opportunities.

Butch Hannan

The above are all endangered species on the African continent but for very different reasons.

The poor Black Rhino has almost been killed to the point of extinction for the very large horn on its head. The inhabitants of the far eastern countries believe that if the rhino horn is ground into a powder and ingested it has amazing aphrodisiac powers. There is no scientific evidence to support this. In their minds they are convinced it has these powers and go to great lengths and expense to get their hands on rhino horn.

The magnificent and majestic Cheetah was at one stage greatly sought after for its beautiful skin. The high society people loved to have coats made from the cheetah skin. The animal right activists have thankfully put a spanner in the works and the Cheetah should survive.

The last creature under threat is the White Man. It is difficult to see why he is close to extinction on the African continent. He does not have a horn that is worth speaking about and his skin is next to worthless. Maybe it is his superior intellect that makes him a threatened species.

Butch Hannan

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The first one that comes to mind is “speed cops” When we are caught breaking the traffic regulations do we pay bribes when they are solicited by the officers or do we openly ask what his price is. Motorists talk openly of how they pay bribes and actually think they are being clever. I know one individual who paid his bribe with a cash cheque.

Do we live a Jekyll and Hyde existence between our place of work and our homes? Some of us are absolute models of society at work but turn into monsters in our homes. The reverse is true in some cases where at work we are involved in telling dirty jokes, being nasty to our fellow workers and generally being unpleasant, and yet at home, we are model citizens.

Do we tell “white lies” The classic one of course is where we tell our children to tell unwanted visitors that we are not at home while we hide under the bed? The good answer for the child is of course to tell the visitor his parents cannot see them because they are hiding under the bed. Children are not born as liars. We teach them to be liars.

The choice lies with us as to whether we are the problem or the solution. If you pay bribes, talk badly or tell lies you are part of the problem. Do not pay bribes, talk without telling bad jokes and do not lie you are then part of the solution.

A sobering thought to end with is that there are only two people that you cannot lie to and that is the person who looks back at you in the mirror and God. As Christians we need to remember that God knows and is aware of our every thought deed and action.

Butch Hannan