We can all help put SA’s faltering rainbow nation back on track
THE public euphoria after the 1994 elections was electric. The budding rainbow nation was on a bullet train into the future and the whole world wanted a piece of the cake.
Money poured into the coffers from overseas investors who wanted to be part of the African revival.
Then came great wins in the Rugby World Cup and the Soccer Africa Cup and the puzzle looked even better uniting the different race groups like never before.
We were all so proud to be a South African.
But over the years things started to change. Greed, corruption, politics and crime started to play a part, and the rainbow nation started rotting at the core.
For brief periods in 2007, 2010 and 2011 things started to look a little better, but little did we realise that by looking back at these periods, we could see it was sport that was re-igniting the interest of the world and country, namely through rugby and soccer.
The common denominator in this country is sport. So first of all we as South Africans need to get behind our chosen rugby team, hold hands and support them throughout the entire period of the 2015 World Cup.
But it must never end there again, as it did in the past. We will need to continue with that type of spirit and hype and togetherness deep into the future if we are to get our country back on track.
The rotten apples will all start falling of the trees and the bullet train will get back on the rails.
I urge all South Africa to climb on board right now and be part of this forthcoming journey.
We all know what we have to do. And VIVA AMABOKKE VIVA. — Clive Muller, Hamburg
Poetic rugby shivers
IMAGINE at the world cup, after the All Blacks have done their Haka ancestral war cry, if the Boks come on and do the Zulu war dance like Johnnie Clegg does it ...
The whole country will get the cold shivers. We all love our homeland very much We are all Africans. — Gavin Rausch
Selection is divisive
SPRINGBOK Heyneke Meyer erred when he left out in-form players from his World Cup 2015 squad.
The players who can feel the pain are Heimrich Brussow, Cobus Reinach and Scarra Ntubeni.
Brussow was the star player against the All Blacks and Australia in the recent Champions Cup games.
The question I ask is where was Rudy Paige and Zane Kirchner in these tough encounters? Did Meyer pick them because they are Blue Bulls?
My next question is when will Cheslin Kolbe and Faf de Klerk be given a fair chance? They are both in devastating form. To crown it all Meyer has picked as many as five injured players and still counting!
Willem Alberts, Duan Vermulen, Connie Oosthuizen, Jannie du Plessis and the declining captain Jean de Villiers.
For these reasons, coach Meyer is struggling to get the “rainbow nation” behind his team, and rightly so! — Mike Godfrey, via e-mail
Running for health
LAST Sunday Mdantsane had a good story to tell despite the wet conditions.
The 10km race known as Real Gijimas 10km has been renamed by us as Comrades in Mdantsane after such a positive turnout.
As was emphasised in last week’s DD, we are the biggest club in the Border region and the province.
Sunday’s event confirmed that truth and indeed we are big, better and continue to grow.
I cannot wait for the planned January 2016 half marathon in Mdantsane.
Our slogan says “We are doing it” and we live our slogan. Come rain, come sunshine – real athletes run for good health. We chase the ills away and wanna live longer.
People, adopt a healthy lifestyle by joining us, or any club for that matter. And UNLESS one has had dealings with the BCM plans department it would be difficult to understand the frustration one has when in that position.
I have had a plan in their offices to be passed for four months now. The plan is a simple extension of approximately 60m² to an existing residential property.
Numerous phone calls or visits to the department get one nowhere and no answers. In fact it’s difficult or impossible to even talk to anyone.
In Port Elizabeth or Cape Town a plan of this size would take 3 to 4 weeks. In East London it’s now 4 months! — Name withheld, via e-mail