SA needs to strengthen relations with US
Former president Thabo Mbeki acted promptly about apartheid being declared a crime against humanity by the international community. We should not forget that former president De Klerk is an old man. He did apologise for his mistake.
We are a forgiving people, so we should leap forward and build a vibrant democratic SA. Gandhi said: “An eye for an eye will make us all blind”.
When former president Jacob Zuma was a president of our country, I had contact with the Jacob Zuma Foundation.
Dudu Myeni, who was a director, spoke to me on the phone and asked me to get scholarships for South African students to study in Europe.
An official of the foundation, who I met in Durban, was not interested in the projects proposed by Myeni and Zuma. I immediately stopped my efforts.
We will be having many leaders from Europe who will be visiting SA for trade relations and we should ask them to offer our unemployed graduates internship places in European countries like Germany, France and Britain.
Many of our young people have the qualifications, but are unemployed. If given the necessary training in Europe (Siemens, Mercedes-Benz and British Telekom or even Philips) , they have a better chance of getting employed and even starting their own businesses in SA.
Thailand received 40 million tourists last year. We have a such a beautiful country yet we only have two million tourists a year. Tourism is a labour intensive industry. Millions of jobs directly and indirectly can be created for our people.
Many of our young people are unemployed. Our government should do more to advertise our beautiful country to the outside world. Our visa system should also be modernised so as to make it easier for tourists from Asian and European countries to come easily to our country.
In the last few weeks, there were articles in European papers of tourists being robbed and attacked. Our law enforcement authorities should act firmly against these criminals who are destroying our country.
Businessman Patrice Motsepe was right in inviting US President Donal d Trump to our country. Trump is also a business man. He has billions to invest in our real estate as he does in India. President Cyril Ramaphosa should invite his daughter Ivanka Trump to SA to empower our women as she is doing in India.
America is our greatest trading partner. They buy billions of dollars worth of our cars. We should have good political and economic relation with them.
Science liberates us from past institutions, from past assumptions, from past binding customs.
Science and technology must help us to establish a free society based on economic justice and opportunities for all.
Sears Appalsamy, Netherlands