Januarie | 2008 | duskant sutherland
Die skrikwekkende 70’s…
Januarie 30, 2008, 1:10 nm
Ek kom vroeër af op hierdie CD omslae wat dateer uit die laat 70’s en vroeg 80’s.
Gedig teen Laatte
Januarie 30, 2008, 12:48 nm
By die gloeiende vuur van gister
het ek laataand gesit, leegdenkend
het ek gevoel hoe die suiderkruis my verbysteek
op sy ewige reis tot by die swart.
Op ‘n onbewaakte oomblik by die koue vlamme
het jy my weer kom haal
-die teenwoordigheid van ‘n gestorwene-
het jy die lewe uit my gevee.
Laataand terwyl die sterre begin reën
het my lyk styf geword by die reste van die hout
was die asem wat jy my eens gegee het
so ver soos die verste supernova.
Ek het getreur oor die dood en die koue
dat dit jy moes wees wat die Bloed sou stort.
My weer ‘n lyk sou maak.
En voor die eerste Hadedas begin raas is ek weg.
Ek reis die Pan American Highway
die pad van die dood.
Ek’s die gees wat gebreekte karre regmaak
as die son vir laas op die horison hartseer raak.
En die eensame skadu wat kinders troos
as die pad te lank was…
Januarie 29, 2008, 10:58 vm
Januarie 28, 2008, 11:05 vm
My oë is tranerig vanoggend. Jurie, tant Hessie (van die witperd faam) en hulle skatlike kleindig, Hidrolize – of is dit nou Kroketten…skies Chrizette is nou uiteindelik oppad. Ons volk is die afgelope weke ‘n paar gevoelige houe toegedien. Eers val die pilaar van verdienstelikheid aan die hand van sy lende (wel tegnies seker dan aan die hand van ‘n sekere Janine van der Vyfer – letterlik) en nou verlaat ons blouoog-minnesanger maar meer algemeen, die die gesig van Estee Lauder in Suid-Afrika, en diè se gesin, ons eersdaags. Dis ‘n hartseer dag, mense…Maar wag…laat ek na die Stem van die Volk oorskakel voor die emosie oorhand kry…
Jurie Els groet Suid-Afrika
Uit protes teen swak beplanning, swak dienslewering en misdaad…
Dit is die groot rede waarom Jurie Els, sy vrou, Hestrie, en hul dogtertjie, Chrizette (16 maande), hulle eersdaags vir ’n onbepaalde tyd in Nieu-Seeland gaan vestig…[ ]…“Ons probeer ’n stelling aan die regering maak om wakker te skrik, want hulle verloor baie talentvolle mense,” het Els vertel. “Ons het ’n groot ekonomiese inspuiting aan die land gelewer. Ek en Hes betaal miljoene rande se belasting. Ek sien nie meer kans om vier uur deur slaggate tot by ’n vertoning te ry en dan by aankoms te moet hoor die krag is af nie.”
By die “totsiens-sê” konsert het hy ook skrams verwys na die sage om Steve Hofmeyr en Janine van der Vyver deur te sê: “Net ek en nog een sanger uit my generasie het oorgebly. Julle weet almal wie dit is. “Ek wil mooi vra: Oordeel die daad; nie die mens nie.”
’n Bejaarde vrou in die gehoor het iets gefluister. Els het dit gehoor en gevra sy moet dit oor die mikrofoon herhaal. “Ons gaan jou baie mis. Ons is baie lief vir jou,” het sy gesê. Net voor sy laaste liedjie, waaroor hy en “Hes lank saam gedink het”, het Els gesê: “As dit lekker is daar anderkant kom ons nie terug nie. Maar as hier weer krag is en die paaie is weer reg, dan kom ons dadelik terug.”
Ai…die Stem het darem maar net die regte die manier om ‘n ding so op die naam te noem…kyk byvoorbeeld nou na die diep emosionele verwysing na die ou tannie se stil-onseker woorde. Wat ‘n prag-konklusie op hierdie vernuftige stukkie sentiment-joernalistiek asook op dekades van sukses vir die sanger en die atleet. Maar nou dink ek sommer so hardop… Indien die Els’e mijoene in die staat se koffers ploeg in belasting, aanvaar ons dat die gesinnetjie nie juis noustrop trek nie…wat my nou onwillekeurig laat wonder waarom dit altyd die manne mense met die agt-nulle-bankbalanse is wat die hardste teem oor ons land en met die witbrood onder die arm kla?
So in my menslikheid bespeur ek ook ‘n tikkie argwaan in die “good luck vir Suid-Afrika wat noumaar sonder ons belastinggeld, talent en sprankel persoonlikhede moet sien-kom-klaar” sentiment. Hierdie argwaan sluit natuurlik ook suutjies-poep-brêk opmerkings soos “hulle verloor baie talentvolle mense” en “net ek en nog een sanger uit my generasie het oorgebly” in…Watter talent? En allamagtag, watter generasie…die Jurie Els een? Sjoe.
Maar wat my die meeste “puzzle” is hoe Jurie dit reggekry het om Nieu-Seelandse burgerskap te bekom. Ek meen die Geneefse Konvensie praat baie ernstig teen geheime wapens en wapens van massavernietiging. Al wat ek kan dink is dat dit ‘n merkwaardige Resolusie moes gekos het om Jurie, sonder sy stem en sonder al die Vat-Vat Volumes, in hierdie hoogs-gekultiveerde land toe te laat…
UPDATE: Dit wil vir my voorkom of die Els’e se skielike vertrek dalk iets te doen kan hê met onse minnesanger se gewete eerder as die verskriklike Suid-Afrikaanse lot… https://duskant.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/as-bliksem-jou-geoorloof-is/ .
Die wrang smaak van die Web-Ellis Trofee…
Januarie 25, 2008, 12:44 nm
Ek is ongelooflik mal oor rugby. En so lief soos ek hierdie sport het, so haat ek politiek in enige vorm of mombakkie…So het ek het die RWB geweldig geniet maar gebeure daarna het so ‘n wrang smaak in my mond gelaat dat ek my min bemoei met die hele rugby-toneel. Vir my was die laaste strooi die onlangse politiekery in die aanstelling van die nuwe nasionale afrigter (soos gestorwe soldaat dit inderdaad baie mooi opsom…).
En dan, helaas, kom ‘n mens af op ‘n artikel soos die volgende waar dit in Oktober 2007 in Ierland se Sunday Tribune verskyn het:
South Africa win hijacked by politicians
“…WELL it’s over, we bid adieu and thank Christ for that; it was the worst World Cup of six . . . even worse than the 1999 edition. The entertainment quotient and the quality of the rugby was very poor. Two, maybe three, games out of 48 got the pulse racing.
Even the final moments of the competition grated. The presentation of the cup was a sporting travesty. Let’s look on the bright side first, at least Syd Millar wasn’t throwing the medals at players Mott the Hoople style like he did in ’03. Somebody had obviously had a word. But why was a grumpy old man handing out the spoils of war. Martin Johnson, the captain of the previous winners should have handed over the pot to the captain of the new champions. I don’t like the IRB or anyone who aspires to be a board member. You really do have to question their motives. So what did they do wrong? Well I consider it inappropriate that political leaders of any kind be anywhere else other than the most comfortable seats in the house . . . why then were Nicolas Sarkozy, Gordon Brown and Thabo Mbeki in the middle of the pitch at the prize-giving ceremony. That prize-giving ceremony was a perverse presentation and an act which was repugnant to the spirit of the game of rugby union. I take exception to the very presence of any political leaders but I forcefully object to the image shown around the world on Sunday and Monday in all mediums. The images of Thabo Mbeki being hoisted by ANC state appointed officials with the William Webb Ellis Cup in his hands was a contravention of the very essence of the game. What part had he played in the Springboks victory? What was he even doing on the podium? If England had won would the English squad have lifted Gordon Brown into the air in triumph? Not bloody likely. Nobody seems to consider this inappropriate . . . well I bloody do . . . political hi-jacking of sporting occasions an anathema to most peoples’ notions of sport. Why it was done with the tacit approval of the IRB is not beyond me though.
They realised South Africa and South African rugby is going down the toilet and this pathetic gesture might do some good to assuage forces and opinion back there that this victory was for everyone in South Africa. Jake White deserves immense credit for his single-minded bravery in attaining his objective. It was difficult enough to beat what was in front of his team (actually not really) but the team had to stay focused. What was even more difficult was to stay on course as he was put under huge political pressure to include a significantly higher proportion of black players than he had been up to and including the Tri Nations. To howls of protest, White only picked six non-white players in his squad, the same as in 2003; they might have been the unwritten rules. White kept his head and won in the end without having to carry players who were not up to the grade. Butana Komphela, a senior and powerful ANC member suggested that the Springboks should have their passports revoked by the government.
White, after winning the World Cup, will not get a second term. Komphela has declared that the ANC will never support Jake White if he bids for a second term . . . the point being that he would rather see a losing multi-racial side based purely on political quotas, not merit, represent South Africa than see a predominately white team based on merit. From the new season onwards the Springboks will by law have to have 10 black players in a squad of 22 irrespective of whether the 10 are of international quality or not. How come a political party can dictate this? Surely it is an act which circumvents the fundamental principles of sport . . . pick your best team and compete to win. It is amongst other things an act of overt racism and an act where the ruling black ANC party would take huge satisfaction if not glee from diluting and destroying one of the last bastions and passions of the former white ruling class.
The ANC recently passed another resolution that the Springbok title and emblem be scrapped. Another gentle kick in the nuts for 200 years of oppression. Most right-thinking people found apartheid an unspeakable crime against humanity, the world re-acted to a certain extent with political pressure; sporting and economic boycotts played their parts in bringing it to an end in 1994. How much has changed in those 13 years it is hard to quantify but as it currently stands this country is no happy-clappy rainbow nation. I recently read Martin Meredith’s The State of Africa, and it is a stunning read. It charts the history of every state in Africa since accession or independence. It is also depressing as it charts literally the same dismal cycle of misgovernance, corruption, greed, death, tyrannical leadership etc. But there is a recurring theme of racial hatred. Sometimes we lose the real sense of what racism is about in our politically correct and appropriately sanitised society. Calling someone a sambo as they walk down O’Connell Street might now be considered a heinous crime here, but everything is a question of scale. Witness the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda . . . genocide on a grand scale . . . two million dead inside a year. The Biafran War, 1-2 million dead, Darfur . . . the list is endless. Black people hating black people and willing to kill wantonly . . . you talk of scale then this is point blank.
But no matter how deep seated the indigenous people’s hate for each other is, it pales into insignificance for the dislike of the white man. Read the book, you can’t blame them. Already it has manifested itself in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe’s government decides this course of action on a daily basis, overtly racist, as evil as apartheid. So remind me why, when Ireland played Zimbabwe in the recent Cricket World Cup, that nobody said a dicky? As in the ’60s and ’70s in the sporting protests/boycotts against South Africa, why weren’t there people flour-bombing the cricket crease from crop-dusters or rushing barbed wire fences or holding all day sit-ins outside the Zimbabwean hotel? If I wanted to register my disgust at Ireland playing sport against such a racist regime how would I do so? I tried to ring the Irish antiapartheid movement but no such organisation exists anymore. Now that Kader Asmal is happily ensconced in power in South Africa, I haven’t heard him come back to Ireland and condemn Mugabe and his oppressive regime.
Thabo Mbeki and the ANC give encouragement, economic help and friendship to Mugabe and his regime . . . I find that objectionable. Mbeki has serious issues to deal with in his country. An Interpol report stated that the annual murder rate in South Africa is in fact twice the reported rate of 23,500 (47,000); 95 per cent of that is black killing black, only a matter of time before that changes. Hunger, inertia, political unrest and poverty are powerful catalysts for further change. The white man’s prosperity and capital are what are required and slowly but surely it will be acquired.
Quite possibly the first step is to take the white man’s rugby team away from him . . . that will really hurt. It is my experience of South Africa that the black man plays soccer almost exclusively and the white man plays rugby. On one weekend in Johannesburg years ago I went to watch the Blue Bulls play in Ellis Park on a Saturday, the following Sunday the Kaiser Chiefs played a game of football. On Saturday there were no black faces in the audience, on Sunday my slightly pink visage and that of my companion were the only white people in attendance. Out of a population of 48 million, 38 million are black and 4.3 million are white. The minority play a minority sport within that country . . . there is no bar at school, university, club, provincial or international except that you be good enough. The South African international soccer side has one white man in its squad; there is no bar on participation. The composition of the team is overwhelmingly black yet there is no need for state mandated quotas. Why? If the black political class are serious about multi-racial rugby it should not start from the top down but from the bottom up.
The reason I was opposed to Thabo Mbeki appearing on the pitch in Paris is that he is the president of a party which has imposed sanctions on a sporting body, ones which I think are overtly racist. The spine of the Springbok side realise it and well before their time they are leaving and going to Europe. That is wrong too. It’s hard to gauge how weak South Africa will be in 4 years. It is a worrying trend for rugby and things in general in that country. Have we lost sight of the real meaning of racism or are we afraid to say it. South Africa steps up in 2010 to host the soccer World Cup. If they win, will the white minority rejoice even though they have practically no representation? Debatable. In the meantime will our moral guardians be as swift to act as they were in the 60’s and 70’s if there are further discriminatory shifts in sport policy. Should we call for a boycott in 2010 if things deteriorate more?…”
Jaaaaaaa…swaer…so is die lewe…
Kha vha šale, Frank
Januarie 25, 2008, 9:56 vm
1920(?) – 2008
Frank was die eerste respondent / informant met wie ek kontak gemaak het toe ek tot onlangs veldwerkvanorsing vir my MA in die Limpopo Vallei gedoen het. Eers het ek baie dae by hom spandeer om oorgelewerde inligting te dokumenteer maar later het hy as my vertaler gedien wanneer ek die gemeenskappe in die ou Venda-hartland besoek het. Tussen ons het daar oor die jare ‘n sonderlinge vriendskap ontstaan wat my diep in sy hart en wese geneem het en hy was op sy beurt baie trots op die jong Makoa wat onder sy mentorskap was…
Hy was ‘n ongelooflike bron van kennis en wysheid en ek het baie by hom geleer.
Hy het my geneem diep in die Soutpansberg na mense, plekke en tye waar min witmense al ooit was (sien https://duskant.wordpress.com/2007/11/21/lig/ ).
‘n Ryk en waardevolle boek is nou toe…
Januarie 23, 2008, 7:53 vm
oor ‘n afgrond
Baie dankie, Mykopop – jy het vandag vir my en my kiekies ‘n woordkuns-skadu kom maak. Ek waardeer dit opreg.