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I was a youngster and just starting at university when I first heard Victor Ntoni. I grew up a fairly typical lower middle class white kid. I was sheltered from much of the reality of South Africa.
1974 and a very few "non-white" students obtained permission to study at "white" universities. I was fortunate to make friends who exposed me to a different music. I had yearned for some kind of music other than the standard pop fare of the times.
As a youngster I remember being entranced by the sound of pennywhistles, which could be heard occasionally in the city around where my grandfather worked. I was awed by the sight and sounds of gang labourers singing and working in unison. Towards the end of my high school I was introduced to Cream and began my lifelong love of blues. Then at university I was exposed to jazz and "African jazz".
Victor's bass was a recurring voice in this new music I came to love and I am sure the beauthy of his playing contributed to my love for the whole gamut of African music. I think one of the key things his playing did for me was to bridge the gap between my "white" ear and the wonderfully visceral spectrum of music from the whole of Africa.
Thank you Victor. From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the many, many other lives you touched for the good.
My apologies for the Sprint session on 22nd January as I will not be able to be there for the session due to work commitments.
Just the other day Cyril Ramaphosa was telling us how Zuma is the "action man" for South Africa who will lead South Africa into prosperity. I understand his words were along the lines of "The time for talking is over. We want action, and action man Jacob Zuma will ensure that this country moves forward."
Thank you Cyril, old buddy, for those reassuring words. I find myself wanting to take comfort from those words ....
But ...
Considering it is 13 months since Judge Willem Heath resigned as head of the Special Investigating Unit and Action Man Jake has yet to appoint his successor I find myself responding to Cyril's words with cynicism.
But hold on ... while we're speaking of crime fighting and especially corruption, one of the SIU's areas of specific concern, wasn't the dismantling of the Scorpions done under Jake's watch.
So maybe Jake is an action man ... Now all we need to do is find the actions that have moved this country forward.
Mines minister Susan Shubangu spoke today with intensity and vehemence. She expressed anger and outrage at the announcement by Anglo American Platinum that it is considering significant cuts to its operations.
Hearing a cabinet minister speaking with such vehemence was a refreshing experience. We are so used to deadly pronouncements that are more concerned with demonstrating allegiance to Jacob "Action Man" Zuma.
She expresses disgust at actions that put many people's livelihood at risk. I believe it is commendable that government ministers should be deeply concerned about the livelihood of South Africans.
I'm not writing this to engage in a discussion regarding the merits or otherwise of minister Shabangu's position. The question that I hope she gets to hear and answer is where was this commendable anger when the Aurora debacle was unfolding. Months went by while workers were simply not paid and it appears that the mine was simply stripped of assets.
Today minister Shabangu was very vocal about the responsibility of mining companies towards their employees. Where was she while Aurora showed callous disregard for their employees.
Hmmmm ....
I wonder if it had anything to do with Action Man Jake's nephew Khulubuse Zuma and Nelson Mandela's grandson Zondwa Mandela being directors of the mine .........
