One reads an outdated article by "The Globe and Mail" titled "Africa: An economic giant that’s ready to wake up - The Globe and Mail" (and they are the appreciated source...all rights reserved to them...of the picture you see of Birthday Boy Mr Mduduzi Mathe of Soweto, the Republic of South Africa).
I do not know which planet writers of the aforementioned online journal come from..still I adore them...to be unaware of the hopelessness of Africa!
They make me think of the famous speech by ANC Founder (Politician and also Lawyer) Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme who [exuded incurable hope for his Africa] and as such never saw the perpetual basket-case the continent is said to be... like hell, Africa is a perpetual basket case!
In fact I must write an application to go work for "The Globe and Mail" for, despite the sea of Africans' own Afropessimism of exporting their children from world-famous places like Soweto to go study with lighter-skinned children in so-called "Model C- white schools", Blogger is for Africans learning to improve their local schools SO MUCH THAT WHITE CHILDREN IN JOHANNESBURG SHOULD DESIRE TO GO STUDY IN SOWETO! Believe you me, white children would dearly love to go one day to England, Russia, Australia or any other global spot to report "I got my degree in Soweto"; but before that happens, us Africans must stop lazing about and relying on other races to do the dirty job of educating our infants for us while our black novoeu-riche entirely rely on their recently-acquired purse strings to educate their kids who culturally end up being neither white nor black, Coconuts!
Blogger harbours such thoughts because I'm suffering from the same disease of seeing Africa inferior to nobody and yet superior to nobody either!
Or what do you as Reader, think?
Anyway (and this is the real reason for this post)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR MDUDUZI MATHE! YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO DOES US AFRICANS PROUD, IF ONLY TO MAKE US WINK NO EYE WHENEVER WE CLAIM AND WHEREVER WE ARE IN THE COUNTRY OR ABROAD: "WE ARE SOUTH AFRICANS".
Indeed, you are a quintessential teacher, Sir! May God richly bless your efforts; the efforts of your wards; and the efforts of your great Soweto megacity! May the next academic year... and the next... and the next... see our President Zuma visit your school again. Your school should be a Mecca not only for His Excellency, but for all of us South Africans black and white who want to learn just how to turn things around when all hope is supposed to be lost!
Please allow me to sing your clan (Mathe) praises
Ncanana, Mfeyane, Dlakude, Mgabadeli, Mzilankatha!
Nina base Mhlathuza!
Enathwala ubanana ngesandla,
Thambo elimanikiniki!
Njakazi, eyadla yagunguluza yazishiyela!
Mgabadeli, Mviyaphi!
Mphindela ngokuphindelela ezinkomeni zomtu munye
Mzilankatha!
....aziqedwa
(and for those who do not understand the logic of praise names, it is done in our South African culture so that you can understand the person more deeply than just "Simon Smith"). For example "Thambo elimanikiniki, Njakazi, eyadla yagunguluza yazishiyela," as written above, suggests to me that a real-McCoy Mathe is a far-sighted creature!!!! "Aziqedwa" means "these praises go on ad infinitum")
This is about Pixley ka Isaka Seme’s great speech, "The Regeneration of Africa", which you can read on this link to Blogger’s Previous post
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