The Death of Senzo Meyiwa, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, Reeva Steenkamp and being Black in South Africa

This past weekend South Africa witnessed the untimely deaths of two (2) of its Sporting heroes in their prime. First it was the Olympic athlete Mbulaeni Mulaudzi who died in a car crash, followed by Senzo Meyiwa who was the Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper and captain who was shot dead at a house in Voslorus, Johannesburg. 

The latter's passing received more Media coverage than the former, however from listening to interviews conducted with members of both families, one just could not help but take note of the hard reality facing both families, the commonality noted here is not death but the fact that both families had lost breadwinners.

This sad reality is unfortunately one that hits hard on many black South African families, even after 20 years of democracy and freedom. Fact is, the most painful part when ‎Africans‬ as young as Senzo and Mbulaeni die, they take with them what I term "‎Family Tax"‬ (Taking care of Family). When Young Black people in the new South Africa flourish in their careers, the majority of them become fixers of what apartheid did to the past generations, their focus automatically becomes working hard towards fixing parents houses (demolishing the old dilapidated apartheid structures), feeding siblings and extended families, taking them through school, paying their medical bills etc.

While doing all of the above, we find ourselves also trying to afford our own lifestyles as young people in the new dispensation, with all the pressures that comes with the standard of living today, many are forced to live under dark clouds of debts, which is then generally translated as "living beyond our means", of cause we do and it is not by choice but circumstances dictate that we live that life. 

Now when untimely deaths visit the families of these young heroes and heroines (especially through tragic ways such as those that the Meyiwas and the Mbulayeni's suffered this past weekend), the greatest pain is felt by those who depend on them for survival (parents who have had no means of education, therefore no proper jobs or no job at all and receiving government grants which was being supplemented by the support provided by the deceased, siblings that needs to be taken through school, extended family members that needs help financially from time to time etc), it is more like the wheel turns back and those families are faced once again with the hardships of poverty and struggle yet again

It gets even worse when policies such as BBBEE, Employment Equity, Preferential Procurement etc are being implemented, our white counterparts (not all of them but the ignorant majority seem to hold this view) accuses us of laziness and wanting to grab from them, unaware of the dire situation that the black child is faced with. No we are not lazy, we study, we work hard and the government is trying to level the playing fields so that we can all one day become equal and compete on leveled ground, but until then these policies shall remain a necessity.

If I may steal from a recent story in the media that involves a loss of life to try and draw some kind of comparison between flourishing young black and white people in South Africa today. I will use the death of Reeva Steenkamp and the incarceration of Oscar Pistorius just to make my point, both families have lost their loved once (one through death and another through a jail sentence) but the question is "how much has these losses affected the two families from a survival point of view (when compared to Senzo and Mbulayeni's families), will their financial positions change in such a way that the pain of their loss reflects a complete change of lifestyle, a complete turn around of where they are going, will it go as far as turning the wheel to a point where they find themselves back to square one, say back to 1994 when times were really hard?

Trust me I am sensitive to the fact that lives have been lost, but I am merely trying to make a point using what seem to me like very relevant stories of "4 young professionals in their prime" that seemed to be on par in the eyes of the public but in reality they were not, because from the Mulaudzi and the Meyiwa families the above is likely the case (the wheel may have taken a complete turn) and from the Steenkamps and the Pistorius families the above may not be the case.

The reality in all of this is that, indeed Black people still have a long way to go in this our beloved South Africa. ‪#‎GodBlessAfricans #Notyetuhuru ‬#RIPSenzomeyiwa #RIPMbulaenimolaudzi #RIPReevasteenkamp

 #MeditationsOfTheHeart

A Prayer for South Africa's 2014 National and Provincial Elections

With less than 24 hours before the millions of South Africans head out to the polling stations to cast their votes, I think it is befitting to say:

Lord God, we thank you for this beautiful our country South Africa, which you have blessed and are continuing to do so. You have sent us your children Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Chris Hani, OR Thambo, Thabo Mbeki and others to deliver us out of the trying times of the Apartheid regime just like you sent your Son Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, we are grateful father and are certain that we shall never go back to that regime.

As we head to the polls tomorrow (May 7th), we pray father that you continue to guide us, that you continue to lead us yet again out of the trying times of corruption and maladministration, we know that your children deserve better than the raw-deal that they have been handed over at this stage. We are not pointing finger nor are we judging anyone harshly father, but we know that this our country South Africa and its children deserve a better life.

We ask you father to enter into the hearts and minds of all South Africans to go and do what is right for this country, I personally pray for a balanced "National Assembly in the 6th Democratic Parliament" in order for the leaders which shall be elected tomorrow to take just and democratic decisions which will see this country prosper.

We ask father that you enter into the hearts and minds of the leaders which will be elected by the people tomorrow to enter the 6th parliament with sober minds, give them wisdom father, remind them at all times that it is not about them but about the people of South Africa. Enter into their minds father as they debate issues to do so with dignity and respect for one another (especially the young once like Julius Malema) remind them father that Parliament is not a play ground for Political score settlements and personal vendettas, remind them that the people of South Africa would have elected them to go and represent their views and needs and not their own.

We pray that you enter into the heart and mind of especially the one who will come out as our Number one citizen, the one who shall be the President of the Republic father, remind him or her that South Africans deserve a lot more that a raw-deal, remind him/her of those who sacrificed their lives for this FREEDOM we are enjoying today, remind him/her that FREEDOM was earned through bloodshed, sweat and pain, remind him/her that South Africa's FREEDOM came at a price, that all who lived in it collectively fought the devil called Apartheid, that people dies for this our country to be FREE, remind him/her that it is not about a select few but about South Africa and all who live in it.

Re go lopa tse Rara gonne rona re batho ba gago, batho ba bofulo jwa gago le dinku tsa seatla sa gago. Wena kreste kgosi ya kgalalelo, re utlwele botlhoko Morena a kutlwelobotlhoko ya gago e nne mo nageng ya Afrika Borwa gonne re ikantse mo go wena, Kreste re ikantse mo go wena a re se swabisiwe ka go senang bokhutlo. Amen

 #MeditationsOfTheHeart

Outcry at UFS campus over racist attack

Enter in to 2014 with Positivity

Today marks the official start of a New Year, as many of us are faced with the reality of going back to work, we are officially and truly ushering in yet another year of challenges and the realities of life. It is virtually the start to something new but yet old in our lives. We now look for ways to better our lives, make resolutions, and come up with more progressive ideas on how to face the challenges ahead, set new goals and ambitions and how we are going to achieve these goals etc. But another reality to this is that many of us at this time of the year are often faced with the realities that comes with the ending and beginning of a year, especially the realities that speaks to what we have or have not achieved in the past 365 days.

The obvious truth is that if we have not achieved anything significant in the past year, we are likely to fall into a state of negativity, self-pity and low morale (wrong mindsets), therefore the essence of this piece is to help you open the 2014 chapter of your life with confidence, belief and the necessary enthusiasm and how you are going to maintain this throughout 2014.

Look at it this way, everyone goes in to a new year with hopes of emerging victorious at the end but there is never a guarantee of that, a lot can happen in 365 days (both positive and negative). Life is never an open book, you may have worked hard to achieve your goals but the odds still came out against you based on a lot of factors, and that doesn't mean you have to stop dreaming, hoping and believing that your goals will be achieved. this is exactly the reason why you should prepare yourself to give it another go in 2014, continue to dream, make resolutions (even if it’s the same resolutions as last year's and the other past years of your life), bottom line is that you want to achieve those goals, all you need to do is to go in to the new year with Fresh ideas (lessons learned), Fresh approach, positive thinking and renewed Belief and a never give up approach (it is all about what you Believe), "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve."

We need to realise that sometimes it is our own thinking that's keeping us from being our best, you in fact did achieved a lot in 2013 but because your focus is on the bigger achievements (Mostly material achievements, such as buying a new Car, House, Clothes etc.), you failed to realise and acknowledge what you perceive as small achievements (which in fact are bigger achievements and matters the most). You may have helped somebody who was desperately in need of your help and that help may have changed that Person’s life significantly, you may have written a motivational piece on a crucial day that may have claimed a person's life but because that person read your piece, they had a change in thinking and how they view life, you may have shared your food with someone on the streets or given them some  money, these are the little but big achievements that matters the most in our lives, we just don't realise it and categorise them as such.

So if you are going to enter in to 2014 with negative thoughts (I'm not good enough, I'm never going to achieve my goals, I've tried once too many times and have failed, I'm never going to break free from my old habits and addictions, this wasn't meant to be etc.), of cause you are going to fail, because you have already planted a negative seed in your head and that seed will stay there until you remove it yourself, change your mindset and start planting positive seeds in to your mind, think and speak positive, compliment your hard word with positivity, believe that your hard work will eventually pay off, believe that your break through is near, see the light at the end of the tunnel, believe that God wants you to travel that road in order for you to gain enough wisdom and experience to be able to better handle the bigger tasks in your life . He (God) wants you to be a life changer and the only way you are going to handle that task is when you have gone through the tough patches in your life (I call it his tough love). Learn to remove the wrong mindset and start thinking positively because you are a champion.

Always remember and acknowledge that you are smart, you have potential, and you are able and talented. In fact your God given talents are the key to your success, step in to 2014 with those talents as your guns into battle, those talents are the ammunition that you will use to give life yet another go. Always be thankful that God gave you those talents to move your life forward, use them as your bargaining tools in 2014, be confident about them, negotiate your path to success using those talents, don't be shy to expose them, don't be afraid to use them (life is unpredictable so give it a go Now).

Things may have gone wrong in your life in 2013, but the good News is that you are still alive and you can turn things around, you are about to walk in to a New year, new chapter, new begging, new ideas, new and endless possibilities. You are a Champion of your own destiny, get rid of your insecurities and start running the race as a champ because you were born a champ, you are a winner in this race called "life", you are destined to win it but it is you and your thought-line that will determine whether you cross the finish line or not.

Forget about 2013 because it is now in the past, forget about the mistakes you made in 2013 (but learn from them) and the opportunities you missed out on, forgive and forget about those who wronged you in 2013, forget about who says what about you and your efforts and just run your own race, be yourself, be a little bit crazy this year, apply a bit of vigour in all your endeavors this year, continue to maintain your hope and truly believe that you are about to make it.

Walk in to 2014 with confidence, belief, faith, positivity, freedom from wrong mindsets, freedom from excuses, zeal for life, superiority, boldness because "you were born to be great"

Happy New Year, Happy New Beginnings, Happy 20Fortunes..................

 #MeditationsOfTheHeart