I love watching the news. I could watch news all day. I don't read the paper, or listen to the radio much, but I do love the news. Having said that, I don't often get to watch, and when I do, I'm frequently disappointed by the SABC's version of the news. (I'm really starting to appreciate Al Jazeera, and the BBC news is always worth watching.)
I love hearing stories about what's going on in the world around me - from other countries to my local area. What I don't enjoy is seeing the same old thing coming up time and time again. For example, I'm really tired of hearing about the 2010 World Cup preparations. I am tiring of hearing about the recession we're about to go into, and I am definitely OVER hearing about how rubbish the ANC politicians are.
Our general elections aren't far away now (next month). As a result, all and sundry are trying to convince the public that they are the party to vote for, but the promises are all the same, and we all know that they're empty promises. No politician ever means what he/ she says. If they did, if it were possible to keep the promises they make, then this world would already be a very different place to live in, because those who were elected to power last time around (or the time before that, or the time before that) would have already made good on those promises.
The latest example of failure to deliver is that the government has refused a visa to the Dalai Lama to SA to attend a conference for Nobel peace laureates, to discuss how the 2010 World Cup (and soccer in general) can be used to promote tolerance, and to fight racism and xenophobia. Effectively, they have banned him from SA, indefinitely. As a result, the conference has been indefinitely postponed.
Now why, I ask you, would a government who should truly understand the fight for freedom, refuse to permit an international icon of peace, an international icon of the fight for human rights & in a similar league to our venerated ex-president Nelson Mandela, to a conference? Many people are speculating that it's because the ANC are in bed with the Chinese, who kicked up a huge fuss when our South African Nobel peace laureates extended the invitation to him. My opinion is that it's obvious to anyone with eyes to see that the ANC is no longer really interested in human rights. Now all they are interested in is power - getting it, having it, keeping it. SA's relationship with China is more important to the ANC than the human rights of either its people or the Tibetans.
Quite frankly, I find this disgraceful and despicable, but not at all surprising. The fact that the ANC is only interested in furthering its own aims, and no longer appears interested in the human rights it struggled so desperately for, for so many years, is old news. We know this. We're bored of hearing this. Move on.
The only good that might come of this, is, I hope, that more people will wake up and choose to vote for another party. While I'm not interested in listening to political debates (a negative campaign is boring to all concerned), I am very interested in seeing the outcome of this general election. I hope and pray that the ANC does not get its majority, and I hope and pray that COPE doesn't choose to sign an agreement with the ANC.
I hope and pray that this election will be a truly democratic affair in which the best party for South African wins - even if that's not the one I vote for - and I really hope and pray that that party is not the ANC. I'm tired of their empty promises, bored of their rhetoric, disgusted by their corruption. Time for change! Let's ring that bell and get some REAL news for a change.
No comments:
Post a Comment