Quo Vadis Jake

I think the release of the public protector's reports on the police building leases and Jacob Zuma's response to them could prove to be key watershed events for South Africa.

Jake claims to be on the angel's side, that he will not tolerate corruption, nepotism, incompetence and so on. Now the reports, at the very least, clearly identify maladministration, abuse of position and more at the highest levels of government.

If Jake has integrity and the courage to take on and properly punish the perpetrators in a way that sends an unequivocal message that the many forms of abuse of power will not be tolerated then we have a chance of lifting South Africa from the mire we have been sinking into.

If Jake does not then he will be giving license for these abuses to accelerate and intensify and that it is open season on raping the taxpayer and grabbing as much public money as you can as quickly as you can.

Has Jake got the integrity to act consistently with his claimed position? Has he the courage to risk his presidency and stand up to the self seeking hordes in the ANC and government?

I fear not.

I hope against fearsome odds that I am wrong.

Whole Hearted

It’s no accident many accuse me of conducting public affairs with my heart instead of my head. Well, what if I do? … Those who don’t know how to weep with their whole heart don’t know how to laugh either.

~ Golda Meir ~

So, Jake, What Do YouThink About This ...

Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.

~ William Ewart Gladstone ~

Wisdom

We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.

~ Samuel Smiles ~

Follow the Voice of Your Heart ...

Follow the voice of your heart, even if it leads you off the path of timid souls. Do not become hard and embittered, even if life tortures you at times. There is only one thing that counts: to live one's life well and happily...

~ Wilhelm Reich ~

...

Paradoxically, the man who has failed and one who is at the peak of success are in exactly the same position. Each must decide what he will do next, choose the course that will lead him to the future.



~ Jigoro Kano ~

Are you One of Us or One of Them?

If we must all agree, all work together, we're no better than a machine. If an individual can't work in solidarity with his fellows, it's his duty to work alone. His duty and his right. We have been denying people that right. We've been saying, more and more often, you must work with the others, you must accept the rule of the majority. But any rule is tyranny. The duty of the individual is to accept no rule, to be the initiator of his own acts, to be responsible. Only if he does so will the society live, and change, and adapt, and survive. We are not subjects of a State founded upon law, but members of a society founded upon revolution. Revolution is our obligation: our hope of evolution.

~ Ursula K. Le Guin ~ in The Dispossessed