Editorial

Dear Reader,

South Africa is perched on the brink of its next historical election and the population is poised and waiting. However, what has become obvious with the research done into this month’s articles is that watching and waiting isn’t good enough anymore. Simmering beneath the surface in a population of people defined by their ability to dig deep is the overriding recognition that now is the time to take control and be responsible.

I, like most self-deprecating South Africans, am uncomfortable with the image of the middle class white man becoming ‘African’. This sentiment is purely because there is something unwholesome about the vision of a human trying to mould themselves into another culture to feel the spirit of the toy-toy while the Johannesburg sun sets over yet another glorious South African day. What is amazing about our country is the fact that we are all different and we want to embrace those differences. We want to learn from them and grow as our rainbow nation. I draw the line at super-imposing myself onto a perceived image of ‘Africaness’ because that is not MY life in South Africa.

I love the energy and the culture and the vibe of everything different and to me South Africa is every piece of every good dream anyone could have. But it is completely egocentric in its make-up and what is so comforting about that is that the rest of the population has its own South Africa to love as well. It’s all those perfect versions of one thing that we need to fight for. It’s a mischievous, contradictory, infuriating, amazing, breathtaking country and it’s ours. We need to take responsibility for that.

That need to fight for what we believe in is a large part of this newsletter’s focus. Also covered is a look at the current status of the ex-pat vote for the April 22 election, as well as the place of the woman in Jacob Zuma’s South Africa. It’s not all pretty reading and if you disagree (or in fact agree) PLEASE tell us about it. The purpose of this forum is to begin discussion and debate to encourage change in the country we all love so much.

Enjoy,

Jessica Farley and The Roots Republic Team

Vote South Africa

A widespread campaign by South Africans at home and abroad to let all registered voters in possession of a valid ID book vote in the upcoming election, whether based in South Africa or abroad, has led to some definite action in the High and Constitutional Courts.

The South African constitution gives every citizen an equal opportunity to vote. The 1994 elections afforded its citizens the right to vote from abroad. However, 5 years later that right was revoked and now, the decision is once again being challenged. Between the Democratic Alliance and ex-president FW de Klerk the matter has been taken up with fervour and is currently in deliberation by the Constitutional Court.

If the outcome allows for remote voting by ex-pat South Africans, then the proclaimed election date of 22 April might be moved. University of the Western Cape law professor Pierre de Vos said there are provisions in the Electoral Act for a postponement of the election if the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is "not ready" to proceed with the poll. However, at present that is the date listed for South Africans to go to the polls. Any South African’s who will be out of the country on holiday, on a business trip or educational visit, attending a tertiary institution, or participating in an international sporting event should check if the will be eligible to apply for the special vote (http://contributetochangeglobal.wordpress.com/2009/02/13/how-to-apply-for-a-special-vote-2/). The cut off date for the special vote application is 27 February.

Opinion

Voting Abroad

By: Jessica Farley

In the past few months, thousands of people have been debating the subject of whether South Africans living abroad deserve the right to vote. South Africa is a democracy. A democracy, by definition, means freedom, choice and an individual’s right to breathe. South Africans living abroad are afforded the right to see the rest of the world and experience different cultures because South Africa is a democratic and free country. The borders are not prison walls and the flight overseas does not sever the ties of patriotism. We are afforded the right to travel, the right to live in different places and the right to return to our country of birth with the life experience that reaffirms the fact that South Africa is a country worth fighting for.

A remote interest in the country is something that should be encouraged, and not actively destroyed in a move that can smell very badly of sour grapes. In an ever shrinking world of blurred lines and information super highways, an active interest across oceans needs to be cultivated. Those life lessons being learned by ex-pats abroad are the very things we want them to bring home to add to the vibrant, rich tapestry that is the life in South Africa that we want to preserve and improve upon.

A letter from Zille to Zuma

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille has the shrewd ability to tap into the dialogue that South Africans use over the dinner table when discussing the state of affairs. Following is an open letter she wrote to Jacob Zuma, which voices the opinion of the people she believes she is fighting for. It is a clever move, and one which demonstrates clear motives, but it is transparent and asks some very good questions and defines key aspects of the current power struggle. To Zille’s letter the ANC responded that it was not going to waver in its support of Zuma "because of misplaced comments by the opposition".

Full letter follows:

Dear Mr Zuma,

Before your legal team makes representations to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) tomorrow, I request that you put your ambitions aside and act in the interests of the country and the Constitution by publicly stepping down as the ANC’s presidential candidate.
Rather than creating a “bad precedent”, as you told your supporters outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court earlier this month, the withdrawal of your candidacy would set an excellent precedent.

It would demonstrate to your fellow South Africans – the people whom you aspire to lead – that real leaders place national interests ahead of personal interests. It would send a clear and powerful message that political leaders must be held to account; that their conduct must be beyond reproach, and their probity must be beyond suspicion.Above all, it would match in deed your recently-stated commitment to upholding the Constitution and the values that underpin it. If you were to be elected President by the National Assembly without having been exonerated of the charges against you in a court of law, that would seriously undermine the Constitution. In fact, I have been reliably informed by senior members of the bar that your election could be challenged in the Constitutional Court. That is because your presidency would create a conflict of interest between your constitutional role as Head of State and your status as an accused in a matter that has been brought against you by the state itself.

Until such time as you are cleared in a court of law, it is impossible for you to serve your country as its President with any hope of being able to discharge the obligations and responsibilities that all of our presidents have to undertake in terms of the Constitution.

To use a soccer analogy: If you were to become President while still Accused number 1, you would find yourself simultaneously in the same position as the Chiefs’ striker (President) and the Pirates’ goalkeeper (Accused).

The rights of an accused to take on the might of the state in defending himself are incompatible with the obligations of the Head of State to run the country properly, accountably and in a manner responsive to the needs of the people. It is quite intolerable for our state to proceed criminally against its own Head, a Head who is well placed to fund or not fund the prosecution, to influence decisions regarding the state’s stance in appeals and processes, personnel and procedures in the case. As Head of State you appoint the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). This is akin to the Pirates’ goalkeeper nominating a Pirates’ player to take the last shot for the Chiefs in a penalty shoot out in the cup final.

Although your candidacy may well be an own goal for the ANC, you must withdraw it now for the sake of our constitutional order.

The NPA currently has 18 charges pending against you, many of which were laid for the first time at the end of December 2007. If you do not stand trial on these charges a pall of suspicion will hang over every move you make and every decision you take in the future.

You may have noticed that in mature democracies, unresolved allegations of impropriety send politicians into early, and sometimes temporary, retirement. Yet, you have chosen to pursue your political career (and presidential ambitions), despite the fact that you have not publicly dealt with the serious and varied allegations the prosecution thinks it can prove against you in a court of law.

Your trial must go ahead. Once the criminal proceedings are finally over, you can re-enter the world of politics, unless any sentence imposed precludes you from doing so. However, until then, you are trying to play for both sides at the same time. You can’t. Nobody can. It’s illegal and irrational. Any vote in Parliament in favour of your election as President is open to legal challenge on the basis that it would be invalid for want of consistency with the Constitution.
It is also politically and morally indefensible to persist in your candidacy under current circumstances. Presidents have to work in the political world of perceptions as well as the legal world of facts and rules. And so you must do the right thing and step aside until your innocence is proven in a court of law.

It is not feasible for you to run the country from the dock in Pietermaritzburg. So, in the interests of our country and its Constitution, which you now say you revere as the supreme law, stand back from politics until the criminal case is properly finalised.

Yours sincerely,

Helen ZilleLeader of the Democratic Alliance

Women Are Fine, As Long As They Know Their Place

By: Ross Farley

One of South Africa’s proudest and most commendable achievements is the vastly rich and esteemed array of women it has produced. The apartheid years brought us iconic and immensely brave characters such as Ruth First and Albertina Sisulu and our modern democracy has produced brilliant and influential women such as the current editor of the Mail & Guardian, Ferial Hafajee and business powerhouse Gail Kelly, who was recently ranked as the world’s 11th most powerful woman. Our country has ushered in two successive female deputy presidents and, had Mbeki had his way, we may have even had our first female president after the next election. Alas, as with so many of the ruling party’s ostensible principles, there seems a grave disconnect between what our leaders say and do with regard to the advancement of women’s rights.

Our current president in waiting, Jacob Zuma (yes, I’m afraid so) is a good place to start. The fact that the leader of a democracy as advanced and high profile as our own can shamelessly continue to accumulate wives like Cub Scout merit badges is startling. Zuma currently has four wives (with a fifth in the pipeline no doubt). One has to admire Zuma’s daring though. Not many men have the whotsits to take on the four mother’s-in-law. Also, there’s the perpetual fear that you’ll yelp out the wrong wife’s names during sex. Four extra birthdays and anniversaries not to forget. Saturday afternoon rugby games would be continually splintered by not one, but four house generals issuing domestic instructions while refusing to recognise why it’s still important in the grander scheme of the Super 14 to watch the Lions play the Reds. Sheesh!

Even with such a vast array of choice, Zuma still found himself in court during March 2006 defending an allegation of rape. It was common cause that sexual intercourse had occurred between Zuma and his accuser. The question of consent was, however, at issue. The fact that none of his wives left him after he so publicly admitted having not only sex, but unprotected sex is the stuff of hypnotized slave girls in Amish communities, not future first ladies. Perhaps the writer is just an opinionated waspy white boy from the Northern Suburbs who has no understanding of the complexities and inner workings of traditional polygamous African marriages. But, if I was one of Zuma’s wives I would have taken to his best suits with a pair of scissors, mixed his toothpaste with paint stripper and networked a collection of premature ejaculation stories.

Then we have Julias Malema, the man recently coined by Koos Van der Merwe - chief whip for the IFP – as the best thing to ever happen to opposition politics in SA. While recently addressing students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Malema stated that, in reference to Zuma’s rape accuser: “When a woman doesn’t enjoy it, she leaves early in the morning. When a woman has had a nice time she will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money ... you can't ask for money from somebody who raped you". While these comments certainly aren’t one of Malema’s grander curdling brain farts, the fact that they are so simplified and so casually childish in a country that is plagued by intensely cruel and pervasive women abuse is unacceptable. Zuma was found not guilty by a court of law and the writer’s believes rightly so. However, for a leader of the youth to politic so smugly about such a sensitive and important issue shows how unfit this buffoon is to be a leader. Moreover, not a peep has been heard from the ANC leadership brass, the most significant omission being the ANC Women’s League. They may argue that by publicly chastising Malema they amplify the influence he wields in the ANC. Malema may be so insignificant within the ANC anatomy that the leadership feels that the sewerage that continually pours from his trap does not warrant a rebuke. However, a vast majority of the South African public (myself included) see the ANC’s silence as a tacit endorsement of Malema’s malevolent rot.

After 1994, like many South Africans, I fell in love with the ANC. Despite its many failings I felt that fundamentally the ANC was a good party who I could believe in. They were also the right party for our country. I also fully support our leadership moving away from the messianic Mandela era to a party of real leaders with real flaws. I challenge any person to find a flawless Western leader. Even Obama soaked up a few joints as a youth. As our democracy grows our leaders will be seen less as demagogues and more as normal people running a (hopefully) normal country. To my mind though, their continued disinterest in properly addressing the issues set out in this article and elsewhere now just form part of the hot steaming pile of hypocrisy that this party seems to have become. As Ferial Hafajee said,” The ANC is a dated, jowly party looking every bit the hundred years it celebrates.” There will have to be an awful lot of courting before I’ll feel love for this party again.

Erasing Apathy

By: Elise Farley

Along with dysentery and malaria, apathy is one of the biggest killers in Africa. When people who have the capacity to help do nothing, the people who are in desperate need of the help will suffer and sometimes die. The problems faced by many cannot be solved by the effort of few.

One of the main problems in Africa’s struggle is that only a portion of the aid money donated from the rest of the world reaches the people on the ground who desperately need it. There are a number of reasons for the misappropriation, least of which are the high levels of corruption in Africa. These problems cannot be combated on a large scale and it is up to the small organizations and community groups.

So what can the individual do in terms of the massive struggle? The solution is quite simple, act now!

If you are living in Africa find an organization or project that you can help out by either raising funds for them or volunteering. There are some great organizations such as the Adonis Musati Project in Cape Town who are desperate for any kind of support.

Or if you are living abroad, you are not helpless or unaccountable and can still contribute by doing some fund raising. One pound goes a very long way when it is converted. When it comes time to choose a project to send the proceeds to, think small. Big organizations like WHO or Oxfam already have large amounts of funding and so rather try and find a small community based project to support. Ask your friends and family still living in Africa to keep an eye out for organizations, projects or causes that meet the criteria you have specified. If you would prefer you could also get them to use the funds and purchase blankets, food etc and they could personally go and distribute the items at an orphanage or a homeless shelter.

Some good fund raising ideas are, organizing a clothes or food collection day; having a cocktail evening or selling borewors rolls or cupcakes; golf days, raffles, auctions and so many more. There are many organizations out there, be sure to do your research before handing over any cash, unfortunately there are fraudsters out there.

Do something different today and be the change you want to see in the world!

African Insights

Malawi: From Famine to Feast
By: Tracy Hammond

The truth is, there is a lot of good and bad happening across Africa, as is happening all over the world. However, the media tends to paint a very negative view of the continent as opposed to offering a balanced view.

South Africans, in particular, are guilty of writing it off as a disaster when in reality there are many lessons we could learn from the rest of the continent. Many of the countries within Africa are, in fact, growing faster and better than we are – yet our arrogance prevents us from sharing this growth and learning these valuable lessons. A perfect case in point is the small country of Malawi.

In 2005, Malawi was unable to produce sufficient food and was heavily dependent on the UN’s World Food Programme to feed its people, many of whom despite this assistance were forced to eat banana stems and roots in a bid to survive. That was until President Mutharika came into power and appointed himself as Minister of Agriculture. He instituted a programme of government policy intervention, despite the wrath of the IMF, World Bank and US Aid who argued that he didn’t have the skills to design an appropriate programme AND that in their experience such intervention aggravated the problem.

In the face of these organisations threats to reduce or halt funding he reintroduced fertilizer subsidies through the distribution of coupons to low income farmers. These coupons allowed the farmers to purchase 220 pounds of fertilizer for US$7, a fifth of market price, and free seed coupons, all complimented by intensive training programmes across the country.

This cost the government $62-million (only 6,5% of the annual budget) and has already paid itself off: in 2005/6 the government saved $100 million as a result of the programme and this number increased to $120 million in 2007/8. In addition to this, rather than requiring aid from the World Food Programme, Malawi supplied them with 400 000 tons of maize in 2008 (amongst other ‘clients’) which yielded a further $120-million in revenue for the government and all this despite massive variations in rainfall and the credit crunch being experienced across the world. The average farmers yield has increased from 0,8 tons per hectare in 2003/4 to 2 tons per hectare in 2007/8 and this success has been hailed as Africa’s most dramatic in the history of the continent’s battle with hunger. Beyond this though it is a noteworthy example of what be achieved when poor countries resist the straight jacket reform policies forced on them by Western donor organisations.

Apathy, Hypocrisy and Deceit

By: Gareth Hobbs

Inspiring feelings of apathy in a population is never really a great move for politicians, even less so in an election year, and yet this is what the bulk of the South African political parties manage to achieve. Couple this together with the large amounts of hypocrisy and deceit on display and it’s plain to see why it’s difficult to choose someone to vote for. Choosing people to vote against is a lot easier.

As we approach the elections the media overload is going to increase, and much like taking a good song and playing it every 45 minutes, this constant barrage of election news, manifesto’s rallies and debates has a similar effect. Although, while it doesn’t engender hatred, it does cause me to actively avoid any political news and the only way to do that is to avoid the news completely.

The hypocrisy and deceit go hand in hand. The public relations people hired by the political parties have one job to do. That job is to placate the public by using speech that is so convoluted that questions are never answered and the public is left feeling that they just haven’t understood what has been said. This is a particular speciality of the ANC spokespeople, and you can see why it would have to be. Here we have a party that is almost certain to hold a majority after the election that has its leader under investigation for fraud and corruption, and yet, they are also the only political party that fails to mention the tackling of corruption in their manifesto.

But, let’s not just bash the ANC here. Most of the other parties are also at fault. All the plans that I have seen so far just involve more talk - talk about improving education, safety and housing, talk about reducing corruption at the highest levels, even talk about keeping the springbok as the national sports emblem - yet no action is ever taken. And the excuse that they don’t have any power is pitiful at best. Yes, they may not be able to enact laws to ensure changes, but they are just as capable of mobilising communities to be empowered as anybody else, if not more so due to the vehicles they have to hand to broadcast their messages.

So, what can the political parties do to get voters to vote for them instead of choosing them as the lesser evil? It’s time they started to act. I’m waiting for a political party to take its campaign budget and use it to fund a free clinic in the townships, or provide stationary and school supplies to under funded schools. What if the party members volunteered as police reservists, freeing the trained officers to patrol and increase the visible police force without additional budget requirements? That would get people’s attention. And free media coverage.

The fault of apathy lies with us, the general voting public. Have we forgotten that our taxes pay the politician’s salaries? We need to start seeing the country in a business light with the taxpayers as the shareholders and the government as the board of directors. After all, if the board of directors did something that the shareholders disagreed with, they wouldn’t be on the board for long.

It is up to us. We need to start demanding action and not just accepting yet another well written speech. We need to stop the old attitude of “there’s nothing I can do” and start saying “my opinion counts and I demand to be heard.” After all, that is the power and the beauty of a democratic system, anyone can make a difference. Sometimes all it takes is one action, one statement, one person saying “The time for change is now and here’s how we’ll do it” to galvanise the apathetic mob into action.

Slim Shady anywhere in the House?

By: Toni Parsons


The privileged and generally educated numbers in the world have, on a whole, been tarnished with the brush of apathy on an increasing scale with the continuous development of a comfortable middle class. It is a phenomenon which is present at home in South Africa and the world over. As adults we live in a culture of people who, on a large generalisation, do not feel privileged and excited to vote democratically and do not take an active role in their communities, not feeling duty-bound to do either.

South Africans are not alone in this. In some ways we have been luckier than most and were given an extra shot at changing our attitudes. The power change in South Africa in 1994 ran a current like electricity through the population, making people feel a range of emotions from believing that the end of the country truly was nigh to feeling like the country had just been reborn.

America and England, the two countries that have had the most marked influence on South Africa through various mediums did not have the privilege of this shake up, and consequently their melodramatic yet apathetic trend within society persisted, with young adults becoming decreasingly concerned with the breakdowns evident within their communities.

All of this was considered both normal and acceptable until the Barack Obama saga began in America. Suddenly, being knowledgeable and having an opinion became cool. Outside of the States, large portions of the population were swept up in the story and developed an interest in how the voting system works.

Suddenly, all the anti-establishment under 35s, with a marked distaste for ‘the man’, became fervent believers in the system of democracy and in the relevance of change – whether they were for the change or against it.

At Obama’s inauguration, despite admitting that he may fall short from time to time (‘We may not always agree on things’ Obama 2008), he stood in front of a record audience in the midst of a disastrous economic climate, admitted that tough times were ahead, and yet still faced an optimistic, ebullient crowd.

Why? For the same reason he won the election – he has no fear of standing up in a crowd, being accountable, taking charge and forging ahead. Decisions and policy changes since his inauguration hammer the point further home.

People respond to a strong leader. At a time when the economic climate is dismal, HIV rates are horrendous and crime and varying other societal atrocities are rife, what everyone wants to hear is good news – that it will be okay eventually, or encouragement to do something about it. Obama stood up on day one and took charge in the US – ‘From today, we need to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off’. He recognized the sentiment within the people, admitted it and proceeded take charge.

As a South African, one cannot help but look at that situation and transpose it onto a South African landscape. Make that enthusiasm South African; the hope and the belief in change make it ours – imagine the possibility if everyone began to take an active interest in the running of their country.

And why not? We have a democratic constitution (one of the best in the world), and we have already proved that anything is possible – an ex-convict was our first democratic president, and we overcame one of the worst systems of oppression in the world without a civil war – we can do it!

Except that we aren’t sure that we can, and we certainly cannot do it without a leader. We have more political parties than we do different languages, and more government committees than we have skin colours, yet we sit at a time where south Africa is either going to fly or falter along the runway, and at present we sit without a definite pilot. I can’t tell you whether Obama is good news long term for America, but I can tell you that I want what they have. I want to be passionate about my government again, and feel a bond with my countrymen about it. I want to look at our leaders and know they worked hard to get where they are, and are accountable for what they do. I want to feel as though they are listening to me, and making decisions with me as a citizen foremost in their minds.

Until we have a strong, true leader in South Africa, I feel that we are missing a vital ingredient in the recipe for a thriving country that fulfils the maximum of its potential.

Will the real Slim Shady please, please stand up – your country needs you.

Gourmet SA

Food to Watch Cricket By

By: The Cobbler King

Two of my great life-long passions are food and cricket. Not, it must be said, that interminably boring, over hyped and under-skilled 20:20 variety, but rather the original Test format and the more recent (but still acceptable) 50 over format. Here in South Africa we are deep into cricket season. In fact, we have had a considerable amount of it already – beating England on English turf 2-1 in the Tests (getting thrashed in the one days - but we can ignore that), followed by the crushing of the oddly untalented Australians in both Tests and the one days in Australia. Now we are looking forward to some similar action in South Africa.

With the impending local games, thoughts turn – as they should - to what will be prepared and eaten at these contests. Now I am not a great believer in the staid food traditions - you know the sort: red wine only with meat, starter, main and pudding in strict sequence, only buying vegetables in season etc. But, I am a bit of a purist when it comes to cricket food or food to watch cricket by. You get some people in South Africa who have to braai at a cricket game; it somehow serves a basic need in their psyches to grill and eat vast quantities of boerewors or steak on mostly boiling hot days and often in some discomfort. I am not knocking it, but to me it does not embellish the languid nature of watching a game unfold over 1, or even 5 days.

I really enjoyed the story I believe about Rafael Benitez the Liverpool football club coach, who when asked if he had ever watched cricket said that he could never explain to his wife that he was going to watch a game and only pitch up at home again 5 days later, she just wouldn’t understand. I digress but it does talk to the special nature of the event and the often idiosyncratic approach to feeding the body and the soul that is at the heart of my perfect cricket food.

A friend of mine swears by pork pies, to him they are an absolute essential at a game. It is a nicely packaged food that you can eat cold and requires, perhaps, in addition only some good mustard to thoroughly enjoy. I, however, always start off with the sandwich: the building blocks of the perfect menu.

The Italian sandwich is one such example of perfection, though it does require some preparation beforehand. This takes the form of oven grilling some Mediterranean vegetables typically red and green peppers, courgettes and properly prepared aubergines in some good cold pressed olive oil with rock salt and a little garlic. Slice a fresh or a defrosted ciabatta bread (Lupos do great pannini and ciabatta) and spread the still hot vegetables onto the bread, add more oil and some sliced buffalo mozzarella cheese, replace the top of the bread and compress. When cool, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge with some weight on it. Next day take out and slice crossways into thick slices – absolutely delicious with some raw carrots, cucumber, baby tomatoes and celery crudities.

Before I get to other good examples of the perfect sandwich, let me explain some important and necessary principles. The sandwich has to be all inclusive. You must be able to watch the game and eat without spattering yourself or those around you with, for example, beetroot, which it has to be said is great in a sandwich but very difficult to handle. The second important principle is that as, very often, you don’t have much space in which to operate, the sandwich should emerge from storage with minimal care required before being consumed, which is why I tend to rule out salad sandwiches and any sandwich which can go soggy in transit for example egg and tomato.

BLT’s are good as are ham and cheese, lettuce and smoked salmon, roast meat and pickles and one cannot forget that beloved English institution cucumber sandwiches. Go easy on anything with too much garlic or chilli. I love both, but they can have severe anti social repercussions and if you are in a large crowd and let’s say - for some unfathomable reason - the Australians are winning, tempers will fray and you don’t want any unfortunate bodily displacements to be blamed on you, do you?

Boiled eggs are an absolute must to accompany your choice of sandwich. Boil between 8-10 minutes and no more as blue eggs are a no-no. This brings me to the third principle of food to watch cricket by – ensure that your food is attractive. Comments will be passed and opinions will be formed around you and in any good cricket crowd your place in society will rapidly be gauged by your clothing and your choice and presentation of food. The clothing story is a subject for another day, but the food and other simplistic skills like your ability to clap and say good shot at the right time are very important. As the day wears on and the Charles Glass effect kicks in this principle tends to lose its importance, but for the first 2-3 hours it is critical.

You need to add good firm fruits, some Woolies crisps and maybe some biscuits to your hamper. This should keep you away from the insidious siren songs of slap chips, grease burgers, horrogs (hotdogs) and pies. All of which smell much better than they actually taste.

Beer at cricket is one of nature’s great gifts. You cannot take your own, so it is a good idea to take along a youngster of drinking age who for the price of a pint is prepared to fight his or her way through the huge crowds who seem to pass most of the game outside the ground in the bar to fetch the amber nectar on a regular basis. Wine is only available in a bottle form where the great and good gather in the various hosted environments. However, good wines are available in “box” form that if kept cool in your cooler would be very acceptable with the rest of the meal. Hot coffee in one of those really smooth steel metal containers, particularly if it is espresso is OTT but great.

If it rains you might have to eat everything in a much shorter period, so be careful not to take too much. As a general rule of thumb, enough food for three people for two meals will be enough for two healthy adults on cricket day.

The time for giving the Australians another snot klap has arrived … so here is to good watching and good eating.

Roots Republic Have Your Say

The lights are off but EVERYBODY is at home!

By: Dominic Esposito

We are all guilty of it, going to the shop and looking for the cheapest deal. Looking at this concept on a national energy level, is choosing combustion over any other form of energy harvesting, despite its record of delivering periodic oil crises and a fouled environment. So in the search for a cheaper option I ask you this simple question, does the end justify the means? Let me try and open this up to debate…

The question our South African policy makers must ask, again, is whether the short-term gain made in the name of rapid growth and development is worth its contribution to global warming and environmental degradation.

Now obviously, if you are anything like me and are from the school of logic, the response would be to accept a degree of environmental degradation while we buy ourselves enough time, and accumulate enough capital, to find alternatives … correct?

It’s all very well applying the above logic, but to make the alternatives work, policy makers have to shift their mindset in two fundamental ways. Firstly, energy, of any alternative type, does not have to be converted into electricity to be directly and locally available. Secondly, where it is being converted into electricity, industries with co-generation capacity should be supported in contributing to the national power grid.

Its not rocket science but this is unlikely to happen while our one and only power provider, Eskom, monopolises the grid and remains under an obligation to be profitable … ‘An obligation to be profitable’… interesting!

We all remember sitting at home on a Sunday afternoon relaxing and catching up with friends around the world on a certain social networking website only to be disrupted by an electricity power-out with no indication as to when the power would return. All the elements that led to last year's catastrophe remain in place, while the cost to the environment and business continues to escalate. Holding no punches, it needs to be said that the train has left the station and it is now time for a radical recalculation of our priorities. Let me leave you with this last stone cold fact which is, our very much loved South Africa has made little, if any, progress in establishing a secure and affordable power supply … Where do we go from here?