[PersephoneX]

i woke up today, stepped out of my front door and into the world. To one of those mornings that that advertise in those travel brochures, the "typical African sunrise". the sun was just starting to rise, the sky was a million shades of orange and the breeze was cool, pleasant even...
get into the car, and turn on the radio. The old people's station, cos my parents are with me. Five minutes of annoying crap and on comes the news:
Mention of the quack they call a health minister wanting to try a new AIDS testing process in rural clinics (we’ve heard all this before). Mention of a shack fire that set a bridge alight about three weeks ago (people steeling electricity, and demanding free housing. they refuse to go out and get jobs, because white people oppressed them ten years ago). Mention of a three year old kid going missing when his mom left him with some “family member”, so she could hang out with her inebriated friends (the hundredth one this year). Then came the cherry on the top: the DA and a few smaller parties are marching to parliament to protest them getting rid of our mayor, the mayor is being ousted because the ANC isn’t getting their own way, anymore.
Now for some background:
our country has one “ruling” party which is the ANC. Then all the provinces vote again for a provincial party, and then each city votes for a mayoral person-type-thingy. Now, the ANC have ruled for AGES cos the rural population still believe that they will get jobs and free housing, after twelve years of nothing! The provincial elections happen, but no one cares because you’re guaranteed that the party you voted for will take the couple of days they have to be bought over, and then they cross the floor. The mayoral person this year, happened to make it to power because the ANC dude they picked last year turned out to be a bit of a pimp-daddy…and after a huge scandal something sank into the moon-units of our town’s skulls and made them vote for the opposition. The same party that let the pimp-daddy be our mayor, has been our city’s mayoral party since they became the ruling power of our country…The lady in power now is putting some members of the government in the hot-seat by asking too many questions. So the tribe they call the ANC has decided that she will be muscled out. Now note this: the lady that is causing all the waves is an elderly WHITE South African. The DA (which is the opposition, is compiled of a whole stack of smaller parties that joined together) has made NOTICABLE changes to our city, and even provided low-cost housing for those people as promised. Since 1994, our economy has dropped. The crime rate has increased dramatically. The standard of education has declined so rapidly that 78% of the grade 10’s last year FAILED mathematics!!! Streets don’t even get swept anymore! We get to pick up the local smut paper and read about people selling crystal meth from their spaza shops…and week old babies being left in shacks to be eaten by rats! Someone told the natives that having sex with a virgin/child/baby will cure AIDS….so guess what else has increased? The rate of abductions! The amount of people dying of AIDS…the fucking health minister says that if people eat African potatoes and take a shower after unprotected sex, they wont get AIDS. And if they have AIDS, eating potatoes will cure them! Entire ecosystems are going extinct because people are squatting in nature reserves. The conservation bored is run by the government! They want to take the money that is granted to the SPCA away…close the SPCA, for the sake of recreation! The SPCA provides the only reliable health care system in the country…to animals! They take care of people in rural communities livestock, people that blindly vote for the ANC every year…and are now going to be shafted when they wake up and realize that their goats and cows are dying because the cant take care of basic fucking illnesses. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!
Do you know that since 1994, we’ve had free, fair election and equal rights for everyone? I didn’t. Because I don’t see it! The world cup rugby tournament counts as an event in the “fight for democracy”…bullshit! It’s a fucking sporting event! There hasn’t been a milestone in democracy in this country since Nelson Mandela retired!

So I sit here in my crappy office job everyday. I swallow office type shit. I pay my tax. BUT I refuse to vote, I fight when the call is there and I support and create guerilla marketing…and protest art…but Its all so very hush hush…because I don’t want to be labeled a racist now do i?
Enjoy your fucking visit to South Africa…because it going to turn into a big scary replica of Zimbabwe before you know it!

this is not my beautiful country!