This is a letter written to the Guardian Newspaper by a recent Nigerian visitor to our Shores, I found this a fascinating read.
South African experience
SIR: On Thursday October 1, 2009, the National Chairman of our great party Chief Bisi Akande; the Lagos State Chairman of the Party in Lagos, Chief Dele Ajomale; his wife; the representative of the Governor and my humble self left for South Africa to inaugurate the chapter of our party. Business finished on Saturday October 2 and 3, 2009 in both Pretoria and Johannesburg. We had Sunday October 4 to look around. It was my first visit to South Africa and what I saw stunned me.
Am I in Africa or Europe? Am I in America? Is this another Singapore? Could this be true? Where was Nigeria when South Africa was putting all these structures in place? If the white man did all these in South Africa why were the Nelson Mandelas of this world complaining? If South Africans got their independence on a platter of gold the way Nigeria got hers in 1960, would there have been all these structures I am seeing here today? Impossible! From what I saw on ground in South Africa, it looked as if all the companies and industries all over the world are physically present there. Ah! Nigeria has been left behind. South Africa is the potential and undisputable leader in Africa. Thanks to the white South Africans.
I came to the unhappy conclusion that the mosquitoes that drove the whites away from Nigeria in 1960 did a colossal and unmitigated damage to Nigerians. I again asked myself these questions: How many black Africans did the whites kill before surrendering power to them? How many Nigerians have been killed by Nigerian leaders since they took over power from the whites in 1960? Let us compare the figures. I am sure the supreme prize South Africans paid to have the South Africa I see today will be so infinitesimal compared with what our leaders have killed to remain in power in Nigeria.
What I am saying is that God should have allowed the whites to tarry for at least more 30 years in Nigeria and we would have been better for it. Mandela survived 27 years in prison because the whiteman was a better person. He could not have survived 10 years in prison in Nigeria.
My conclusion after seeing what I saw in South Africa is that the whites left Nigeria in a hurry, and that is why we are suffering today. Had the whites tarried in Nigeria, Nigeria would have been like South Africa today. I want the whites back in Nigeria!
According to reports by SAPA the South African Oscar Winner has been a naughty girl…………
The Oscar-winning South African-born actress Charlize Theron auctioned off a meeting with Nelson Mandela without getting permission from the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Beeld reported on Wednesday.
“A very strict process needs to followed to get a meeting with Mandela,” the foundation’s chief executive, Achmat Dangor, told the Afrikaans daily.
“Not even the charity foundations Mandela himself established are allowed to auction off time with him.”
International media reported earlier this week that Theron auctioned off a meeting at a charity event with former president Mandela in South Africa next year alongside a Soccer World Cup trip.
But she managed to raise only R280 000, prompting her to up the stakes and offer the lucky bidder a kiss.
A woman, with a winning bid of more than R1-million, secured the kiss –and the alleged meeting with Mandela, which now seems uncertain. – Sapa
I saw this story on Facebook and it caught my attention because I went to school in Dundee in my youth and spent a fair amount of time in the 80’s in Dundee Hospital through various injuries attained while partying too hard. I remember the place as a clean, well run provincial institution that people were proud of in this small little Northern Natal Town. As I read this article, I found myself feeling increasingly saddened to call myself South African once again. The blatant disregard for the respect and dignity of Tax Payers in provincial hospitals today in South Africa is astounding. The seeds of these problems run very deep in this country, and I just don’t see us as a nation getting out of the slump we find ourselves in under the current Banana Republic Leadership style that the majority keeps voting for. My heart goes out to this family and I hope they can find a way of getting through their loss without too much disdain for the people that served them so badly.
Regards
Mark Oelofse
My father Mr. CFHP Lauwrens, aged 83 years was admitted to the Dundee Provincial Hospital during the afternoon of 2009/09/25. He had fallen at home and was admitted in the hospital for X-rays to be taken of his back, legs and hips to determine if he had broken or cracked any bones as he had great difficulty walking.
On 2009/09/26 my wife and I went to visit him during morning visiting hours 10H30 to 11H30. I asked my father how he was and he said we do not want to know what he had gone through at the hospital. He then said that the staff had emptied his urine bottle on two occasions into the washbasin in the ward he was in and placed it back on the chair next to his bed. He further said that during the previous night he had wet his bed and when he called the staff they said to him that they were going to place a pipe on his penis to make it easy to urinate. He says they then placed a pipe over his penis and secured / taped it to his penis and testicles with plaster. He said that he was very uncomfortable and it was sore, this did not help at all as he wetted his bed again because this pipe leaked. He said he was wet up to his shoulders. Later during the early hours of the morning he said he told the staff that it did not help as he was wet. They then proceeded to pull the pipe and plaster from his private parts. He said that he asked them to fetch a pair of scissors to snip it loose. He said that after it was cut loose they pulled the plaster off and that it was very sore. My father further said that when he asked them to fetch a pair of scissors he was left naked on the bed without the screening curtains drawn for privacy and also whilst there was another patient in the room with him. This patient is Mr. Charles Norval from Glencoe, Cellno – 0739549619 and he witnessed the urine bottle being emptied in the washbasin.
At 11H15 during visiting hours (2009/09/26) I asked my father if he had been given his medication and he said no. I noticed on his bed chart that no medication had been dispensed to him on that day. I then proceeded to the office and found a female nurse without a nametag – I then asked her if my father had been given his medication as it was already 11H30. She said no because they are understaffed. She then turned around took the medication trolley and started dispensing medication. On the way back to my father’s ward I met the ward sister NO Mcunu, whom I also informed about their service delivery that I was unsatisfied with. She was very apologetic and whilst talking to us her cell phone rang, she stuck her hand into her breast and answered the phone. She spoke on her phone for a while then ended the conversation and turned around and walked away. I followed her and said that I am disgusted with their level of service delivery and that I was going to report it to the hospital manager. She said to me that I cannot report them to the hospital manager, then walked to the wall in the passage and showed me a letter stuck on the wall indicating the steps to be followed when you are unsatisfied with any service delivery or if you have problems. She said I was to report to her and she will sort it out.
I then said to her that I do not work for her of the Provincial Government and that she cannot prescribe to me where and to whom I may or may not complain and that if I feel like it I will even report this matter to the newspaper. She then said that I can do as I please and even report it to the newspaper.
I then went back to my father’s room where sister Mcunu spoke to my father in Zulu, apologising and saying that she will speak to her staff. The nurse dispensing the medication then came (11H45), , took a small plastic cup containing tablets and gave it to my father. He placed the tablets into his mouth and then she wanted to hand him a big glass jug of water from his bedside cupboard to swallow it down with. I then said no he cannot drink out of the glass jug. I then took a plastic glass with which he then swallowed his pills. The nurse left the ward before my father had swallowed all his pills. What would have happened if he had choked after she had left his room?
On 2009/09/26 during visiting hours 18H30 to 19H30 I visited my father again. I was accompanied by my stepmother Mrs. JC Lauwrens and my wife. On arrival in my father’s ward we found that he had wetted his bed as his clothes and bedding was drenched in urine. I asked my father why his bed was wet and he then said to me that he had asked the staff to help him up so that he could use the urine bottle, he said that they then told him that he was to heavy to lift and that he must urinate in his bed so that the nightshift staff can clean him and change his bedding. They left according to my father without helping him to urinate. This fact was confirmed by another patient in the ward, Mr. Suliman Desai from Dannhauser Cellnr – 0827854047. Mr Desai who also told me what happened and that he had overheard the nurses saying this to my father. Mr. Desai also said to me that the staff had complained when my father rang the bell for help saying that he must not ring the bell so much as he was troublesome and they are now going off duty.
I then proceeded to sister Mcunu the ward mananger and voiced my dissatisfaction with her and requested her to phone my father’s doctor as I was going to take my father back home and wanted the doctor to discharge him on these conditions. She phoned Dr Mienie and I spoke to her telling her about the bad treatment and service delivery and that I wanted her to discharge my father as I was taking him home. She said that I could take him home. The staff and sister Mcunu then cleaned my father and changed his bedding and then wanted to give him a catheter to drain the urine. My father refused and said he wanted to go home and die there. We took my father home.
I feel deeply dissatisfied with the treatment and service delivery given to my father at the Dundee Provincial Hospital. It is shocking to hear that a urine bottle is emptied into a ward washbasin. Where has hygiene gone to? Probably out the window like a cloud of smoke! Is the procedure followed by the staff by securing a pipe to his private parts and taping it with plaster normal procedure? It must have been degrading and painful. He said that he could not sleep as it was painful and uncomfortable, worst of all – they wanted to pull it off without cutting it loose with scissors and still causing him pain when it was removed.
What training does staff receive? What empathy do they have for their patients? When have you heard that nursing staff of a hospital can say to a patient that he can urinate in the bed and that the next shifts staff will clean up the mess? Where have you heard that a hospital where you entrust your loved one can disregard the dispensing of medication and when you ask them at 11H30 in the morning if medication has been dispensed you are told no they are understaffed. Medication is given for a reason and should be taken as instructed by a doctor – not when hospital staff decides to dispense it at their own leisure.
Service delivery experienced at Dundee Hospital sucks and is shocking. An apology is unacceptable. My father is a frail elderly person not capable of helping himself. He was admitted on doctors orders, belongs to a medical aid scheme, which in return pay fees for certain services. Surely it is not too much to ask to treat patients in a professional and ethical manner as set out in a hospitals mission statement. Appropriate action should be taken to prevent patients from being treated in the manner my father experienced at Dundee Provincial Hospital.
During the period that my father was in the hospital I also noticed how dirty the hospital was. The tiles on the floor to the entrance and the floors in the passages were filthy. The bed my father was lying in had a sheet on that covered only three quarters of the mattress. When I asked sister Mcunu about this she said that the sheets were too short. Dundee Hospital is a public place under control off the Provincial Government. State patients as well as patients with medical aids are treated here. Being a government’s institution a high standard of service delivery is expected which was definitely lacking at Dundee Hospital.
Is there anything Julius Malema does not know anything about? I cannot believe that after he took on Nedbank he has now focused his energy on the South African National Football Coach. How can One Man be exclusively blamed for an entire football teams inability to score goals.
“If we lose, we must lose to one of our own. And if we win, we win with our own,” Malema said. Isn’t the reason Joel Santana is in the job because the ANC and South Africa got tired of Bafana Bafana Losing all the time with one of our Own Coaches?
I guess the only positive out of the dribble from this Childs mouth this week is that his demands are not entirely in your face, and he has conceded that if Joel Santana refuses to leave, then he wants Lucas Radebe to be brought in to work with the Brazilian in the run-up to the World Cup. That is about the first time I have heard this pilgrim actually offer choice over ultimatum.
“Lucas is well placed to do this job. He is the best of South African football. He is proud to be one of our own. And because these (Bafana Bafana) boys grew up wanting to be like Lucas, why can they not be coached by him if they want to play like him?” he said to rapturous applause. “As a winning nation, we can’t have a losing team,” Malema added.
I wonder if anyone has actually spoken to Lucas Radebe with regards to the Job yet, and further more what are his credentials as a football coach? While I think he was a great captain on the field and has been and continues to be a wonderful ambassador for South African Football, there is a vast difference between those designations and actually being a successful football coach.
Maybe all these boys really need is a translator to help them get their heads around what the coach is actually trying to say to them.
AWB leader Eugene Terre’Blanche says right-wing groups will plot their future plans at a Ventersdorp meeting next Saturday. “The circumstances in the country demanded it. The white man in South Africa is realising that his salvation lies in self-government in territories paid for by his ancestors.”
Is jy vokken mal Bru? Not even Selebi can get away with a white man buying a black man a pair of shoes today, come on china, it’s been 15 years, let it go.
“For now there are other options we have to exercise first. We have a strong case to take to the United Nations,” said Terre’Blanche, citing a list of land deals between the Voortrekkers and “black kings” in the 18th century.
The 18th Fucking Century Bru, this Government can’t even figure out what happened yesterday china. Let it go!
EISH, Julius vs Eugene ……………………….Do I delay my plans to become a refugee or do I continue? Man Life can a hard son of so and so sometimes
I am an avid reader of the newsletter that the South African Institute of Corporate Fraud Management President Bart Henderson sends out from time to time. Recently he has come under fire for exposing irregularities at SITA (State Information Technology Agency) and the reading is quite compelling. I am sharing this information because I think South Africa deserves to know the truth, and I will where possible link to the sources and also provide a link where you can subscribe to his newsletter yourself.
Samuel Johnson once said “Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance” and I have a feeling that if I can somehow get through dealing with Johannesburg Water and their wonderful VVM Attorneys this week without committing an act of Murder, I would have without doubt accomplished a GREAT WORK through Perseverance.
Last week I received an SMS from VVM Attorneys which can only really be described as the worst case of customer service I have ever seen in my life. What makes these attorneys think that they have the right to threaten me with something they know absolutely nothing about? And then to do it by SMS and demand in the SMS that I call them back at my expense! What the hell has happened to simple bloody ethics in this country?
I sold a property 3 years and 3 months ago through an Agent on the West Rand of Johannesburg. Now in South African Law (What Law I know) but anyway. A seller is not permitted to sell a property without a clearance certificate, so the law states. “The transferring conveyancer obtains a rates (taxes) clearance certificate from the local authority, on behalf of the seller only if in Johannesburg, section 118 of the Local Municipality Act states that any act of transferring property must be accompanied by a rates clearance from the local authority.”
So, In essence, I could not have sold said property without a clearance certificate stating that I had paid Johannesburg Water for the accounts that were outstanding at the time of the sale. All of this paperwork is done by Attorneys that charge the Purchaser of the home something called a Transfer Fee.
Now, fast forward 3 years and 3 months. Last week I get this threatening SMS from JHB Waters Attorneys telling me that “Legal Action” Is commencing against me for an amount of R 4514.94. Not a single letter in the post for over 3 years, not a single phone call out of courtesy in over 3 years, not even so much as a single visit from the men in green to disconnect the water I assume, then out of the blue, an SMS informing me that Legal Action has commenced against me. Oh, and if I would like to enquire about what action this is, and for what property, I should call them back on a premium rate number to find out more.
And so begins the saga of dealing with machines and people without faces in Corporate and Public Service South Africa. Last week I pick up the phone knowing full well that the journey I am about to embark on is going to be a treacherous one and I dial 086 111 3023. But and I hasten to add, Not before my Blood Pressure Tablets and an Extra dose of Valium have started working.
Ring Ring……and a voice “Welcome to the start of the most annoying experience you are likely to have this year. If you received an SMS press 1″ So I press 1 and am greeted again by Voice, “Please enter the reference Number of your query” I type it in ####### followed by another #. And another series of press this for that and that for this rattles off, until finally I get to the last number on the keypad. “If you would like to speak to a consultant, please press 0″
14 Minutes and 12 symphonies later “Eh, Halo, MA&TY&*^ Speaking eh Ken I have you refereeeence Number pleeese”. Hello, Do you not have it as I just spent 14 minutes typing it in at the request of numerous voice prompts before I actually got through to you. “Eish…Eh No, Ken I have you reference number pleeese?” OK Here it is #######, followed by a deep silence. Hi, Are you still there? Did you get the number? “Eeh Yees Sir, what is the probeleem?”
Long story short, I finally manage to explain to thing without face that I sold the property over 3 years ago and that there must be some sort of mistake. We eventually agree that he will put a note on the system to suspend all communication with me until I have managed (At my Expense) to track down the lawyers that did the transfer and obtain a copy of the clearance certificate, which should take about 2 weeks and then I will get back to thing without face and furnish them with said certificate.
This is where it becomes apparent that the gap between “Thing without Face”, It’s Keyboard, The JHB Water Accounts System and the annoying machine that sends out the SMS’s is so vast that not even physics is able to explain it. I have had an average of 2 SMSs a day for the last 5 days now, all threatening me with the same legal action.
This morning I eventually lost my cool as the valium wore off. I called this company and decided to level the playing fields. I did not diall the 0861 number, instead I went via the switchboard and asked to speak to whom ever was available that did not have their head up their arse. I eventually got through to the head of the JHB Water Relationship / partnership team.
Hi, My name is Mark and I am calling from FYA Attorneys (Fuck You Arsehole Inc.) to you and I. I would just like to let you know that my Client Mr. DNGAF Anymore is commencing with legal action against your firm for constantly annoying him with unsolicited electronic communications to his private telephone number. I have been instructed to personally call you by my client because he still believes that personal is better, but mostly because his SMS machine is too busy annoying other law firms. Should you have any further questions regarding the action being taken against your firm, please do not hesitate to immediately contact 086 Jou Moer (086 568 6637) and Quote Reference # Gaan Kak in die Mielies…… Thank You and have a Wonderful Day.
This is brilliant if you ask me, there could not possibly be a more fitting tribute to Julius Malema in my opinion. Australian penile artist Pricasso announced yesterday that he would be painting a collection of works depicting ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema in a series titled Ignoramus.
Pic from pricasso.com
A Penile Artist! The man paints portraits with his Willy and now he is going to paint South Africa’s biggest Willy with his Willy and call the series Ignoramus, I am laughing my arse off just typing this, it’s brilliant.
There are Millions of Artists in the world but only one who paints with his penis. Many established Artists have commented on the speed accuracy and the unique way Pricasso can paint. Astute buyers have expressed the opinion that Pricasso’s paintings will see an incredible appreciation in value due to the use of video as proof of authenticity, the quality, and physically he can only paint a limited amount due to his age and the equipment being used.
The series of paintings will be completed during Sexpo, which is being held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand from 1t to 4th October 2009, and sold to visitors and collectors. Proceeds of the sales will be donated to charity. “Even down under he’s a newsmaker,” says Pricasso, “widely influencing public opinion of South Africa worldwide.”As a fan of South Africa, and certainly a multiple visitor, I know that the majority of South Africans are opposite to what we read in the papers. The intention of this series of four paintings is not only to raise money for charity, but, importantly, to take a tongue-in-cheek position on a newsmaker that seems to grab headlines even when he has little to say.”
The Ignoramus series will be the latest instalment of Pricasso’s collection of political works. Previously he has painted Tony Blair, George W Bush, DA leader Helen Zille and President Jacob Zuma.
I don’t actually know whether or not he actually has balls, but he certainly carries on like a man with bigger balls than a Blue Bull Supporter. You See Julius we can make fun of ourselves, that’s why I am a Sharks Supporter.
What you did today my “Ever Diminishing Comrade” was totally blow the theory that you actually have a Std 8 in woodwork. Pinocchio was smarter than you, but it goes to show, even puppets with good masters have some talent., and Pinocchio has and will I am sure be around allot longer than you.
How Julius, HOW? Can you go to sleep at night not thinking of yourself as a Cock, after comments like this? In response to Nedbank withdrawing it’s sponsorship to Athletics South Africa, This is the best you could come up!
“That’s what defines our struggle today – of people who are refusing to accept the transformation, to accept African leadership, to accept new development. Why are people – instead of celebrating and putting more money and more sponsorship – are now withdrawing? Are they sponsoring Leonard Chuene or are they sponsoring athletics in South Africa?” asked Malema.
Julius, we are withdrawing because you are a bunch of Lying, No Good Fucking Thieves. You may have the support of the Brotherhood of Dumb my friend, but you will never have the support of those that actually gave Pinocchio the Nose that he deserved. We only learnt how to do that in std 8…….I know, I was there.
