Spend one night in hell, you politicians! I dare you!

Today three of us set out early morning before 6 am on a 15 or 16 km run in Khayelithsa, Cape Town from Aliam Drive in Site B.

The air was cold, but not too cold. About 10 degree Celcius is a good temperature for winter. The morning was crisp with no sign of the rain of the previous day or so. The first 800 meters was pure bliss as the new streetlights were paving a way for our fresh legs. We could see properly! No pothole or obstacle in the road would deter us from reaching our objective which was to get in a longish run and to still feel fresh for another run at 7.45 am.

Then there was a bad patch. The new streetlights did not extend much further than the 800 meters and we hasd to run a portion guided by the concentration type lights that was erected by the previous government  - huge lights up there in the sky! The ANC government and the DA led local government did not change much in terms of the lighting. So some long shadows forced us to run in the middle of the road. It was managable.

We encountered some better light a bit further on. This part of the town was coming alive with taxis slowly finding their way to look for possible commuters. We saw quite a number of people walking to get transport to their jobs. You have to leave early to be on time.

 Three kilometers of "light" running followed until we hit the portion that I want to call hell. It was dark, almost pitch dark. Some dogs next to the side of the road barked at us passing, but they could not chase us as it was dark. There was almost no way of seeing them either. We could all hear them, though. Instinctively I started running with lifting my legs almost to knee height to make sure that I do not stumble over anything. The other danger was the potholes. I did put my foot in one and this jarred the body and my back. From time to time we were fortunate to get the light of a lonely passing taxi for a few seconds to get the lay of the land. We managed to find some water in this area as I planned to stop here for half a minute for something refreshing.

I could not believe that people could move here at night. No working streetlights, no concentration camp lights, no moonlight (this morning). This is hell. You cannot see a possible attacker and you cannot see properly to run away if you are threatened. About ten minutes later (it felt much longer) we reached a section with some streetlights again.  I was happy. I went from heaven to paradise.

The rest of the road was fairly de'light'ful as there was adequate lighting all around.

In one run I moved from excitement to caution to frustration and almost anxiety to relief. i do not want to live here. This is truly part of 'dark Africa'.

South African politicians and community leaders ... you should spend one night in hell here. If you do that you will make a change and an improvement. Unless of course .... you work for or with the devil. Then you would want to keep it like this!

We ran 15.33 km in just under 90 minutes in spite of the man created hell. Thank you, Lord!

Lights, but no light in Khayelitsha Aliam Drive

One year ago street lights were erected in Aliam Drive, Site B, Khayelitsha. I was so excited about this. At last the local government and Eskom started doing something to get rid of the "Concentration Camp Lights' in Khayelitsha.

I thought, maybe a week and they will switch on the lights. It might have been in time for my birthday the end of October 2011, but it never happened...

It is now a year later, October 2012, and still no light.

Whose fault is this? ANC, DA, Eskom, City of Cape Town? I do not really care, but switch on the lights. How can you have street lights without light?

So, come on, Patricia de Lille, Helen Zille or anybody else in Cape Town that would like to make a difference in people's lives. Switch on the lights!

You are sending a message already. Start sending a message that you care!

Honey, someone stole the streetlights

Just imagine for a second that somebody will steal (or take away or whatever, but remove) all your streetlight and that your streetlights will be replaced by big, massive lights 100 m up in the sky that throws an eerie graveyard type of lighting all over your neigbourhood.

How safe would you feel?

Imagine, running in the early morning without proper lighting in the streets! In a few streets of Khayelitsha there are streetlights, but they are not working. In most of the streets, you will find no streetlights.

Neither the ANC or the DA governments in the Western Cape cares about this - a streetlight contributes to my safety. This is one of my basic rights as a citizen of South Africa.

So, honey, who stole the lights? Or better yet, who will replace the lights again?

Khayelitsha
Site B

Car alarm and the mouse

Last night our car's alarm was triggered about three times before I decided to unlock the car - must be some mechanical or electrical fault, I thought. Mind you, the car is on the front lawn in front of the house. First, I thought that it was somebody trying to steal the old car. Interesting how my thoughts would almost always go to crime related activities as the first reaction to when something unfamiliar is happening close to me.

 Now, this morning I suspect that it was a mouse. You see the mouse wanted our attention so he triggered the alarm every time. Then, of course, I outwitted him!

So he changed his tactics. He would now show up in the house int he middle of the night, make some noise and torture us. Anita's hearing is better than mine (for sounds of mice and other creatures) and she woke me up a couple of times with a siren like noise - much more intense than the car alarm.

Of course the mouse was nowhere to be seen - so I guess he won this round! ... just you wait Mr Mouse! We will get you!

Khayelitsha
Site B

White man in Khayelitsha

I have been brought up with the picture  of the murder of Voortrekker Piet Retief and his peace commando firmly inscribed in my mind at the hands of the soldiers of the Zulu nation. The fights with Xhosa in the Eastern Cape areas and the intolerable situation under the British rule in the Cape made many people leave to look for greener pastures.

So when I mention to friends of mine that I want to invite them to tea (or coffee) in Khayelitsha, they say ... are you mad ... I do not think I want to be there at all! So they still have the fear ... of death ... or harm about an area like Khayelitsha.

Our son, Johan (Xolani) louw lived in Site B, Khayelitsha for two years (2009 and 2010) and paved the way for us to get here. He was incredibly brave to do this virtually on his own and he made many friends in the process. So when he decided to move back to Bellville, it gave us the ideal opportunity to move into his house in Khayelitsha.

"Is it safe?" is one of the questions that we get. Of course it is safe, but then we also do not go about looking for trouble - we don't want to be out much at night and we are vigilant when we are out, but that is very much the same is it was in Plattekloof or now in Bellville. We (Anita and I) both work from home and spend three days a week in Bellville and the other half of the week In Khayelitsha. We have a calling to improve people's lives. We do it through Herbalife and using our skills and training in various other areas. One of the big things that we can continue that our son started is to build a bridge between the communities.

There is a spiritual depth here that is easy to miss if you look from the outside. Then, on the other hand, the battle for the soul of Cape Town is being fought here. Poverty and unemployment is high with a shortage in houses that the Western Cape government will never get under control if you look at their record of the past ten years - and it is the same for ANC and DA - so this is not a political statement, but a practical observation.

"So why are you there?", is another question... we believe that we can make a difference and change one life which may impact another and another and yet another. And then we get to the next life that we may impact ...

Ideally all shacks in Khayelitsha should go with the help of the capital rich, and all spiritual poverty in the affluent areas in Cape Town disappear with the help of spiritual giants in Khayelitsha. So we can help each other. To do this we need all of us to stand together!

Site B,
Khayelitsha