Umshini Wami - The Political Machine

Umshini Wami is a song that has become a hit. This reached the stratosphere when Mr. Jacob Zuma, the Deputy President of the ANC was overwhelmingly elected the new President of the African National Congress at Polokwane this week. Mr. Zuma has been consistently campaigning on behalf of the economically disenfranchised peoples of South Africa.

There has been a controversy among the White South Africans about whether Umshini Wami is a song of violence. In fact Umshini Wami referred to the armed struggle against apartheid in the past but today it refers to the political machine. It has become a rallying cry against economic apartheid.

The uncompromising premise of apartheid is economic control and gainful exploitation of both natural resources and African peoples. Mr. Jacob Zuma hopes to change that by asserting the economic rights of his people. This explains the resonance of Umshini Wami with the majority.

South Africa’s economy is nearly half of Canada’s GDP and definitely larger than many European countries like Sweden, Switzerland to name but a few and yet over 50% of the population live below poverty line. Moreover South Africa’s peers in terms of PPP GDP like Netherlands, Poland, Iran, among others, the worst case in terms of population below poverty line figures they post fall around 18%. South Africa does not have an external debt like many of these previously mentioned countries nor does it borrow or rely on foreign aid. It’s these kinds of contradictions that have made Umshini Wami such a hit. Mr. Jacob Zuma should release an album so that the gold platinum can be ploughed back to the people.

South Africa’s DA Must Respect Democratic Choice

South Africa’s African National Congress has overwhelmingly exercised its sacred democratic choice in electing Mr. Jacob Zuma as the new ANC President and likely the next President of South Africa in 2009. The leader of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance Helen Zille should refrain from disrespecting that democratic choice.

To disregard this as “a dismal day for the ANC and for South Africa” as reported in the Star on December 18, 2007 is both regrettable and disrespectful of a people’s democratic choice. Mr. Jacob Zuma ran on the platform of change for both the ANC and the majority of the South Africans with a view to giving access to the mainstay of the economy on behalf of the economically disenfranchised majority.

Blogging Under Google

Since the Google search engine purchased Pyra Labs the company behind Blogger, there has been a lot of facelifts. It is now possible to link Youtube videos or post videos directly to the blog. This is a neat thing since it facilitates a multimedia approach to journaling on the internet. I intend to use this to accomplish that. Watch this blog for updates.