And in a spectacular own goal...

South Africa has spent the past week reeling from the spectacular own goal scored by the government when it refused a visa to the Dalai Lama to attend a peace conference. The Dalai Lama was evidently due to speak at the conference on the role that soccer could play in tackling xenophobia and racism. The government initially said the reason the visa was denied was because they didn’t want the Dalai Lama’s visit drawing attention away from the 2010 World Cup. However, it seems that it was pressure from the Chinese that inclined the government to deny the Dalai Lama access to the country.

There are a few things that have struck me in thinking about the matter.

Rather worryingly, South Africa’s leaders and some of her people, seem to have forgotten our own long struggle for freedom and democracy. It seems to be a case of, “Now that we’re sorted, tough luck for those who aren’t - not our problem.” This conveniently forgets the international aid and support we had from so many quarters. And it forgets how much of that support came from international sporting bodies.

The decision by the government is nothing more than rank hypocrisy hiding behind the skirts of “economics”. Moreover, it is a decision laced with self-centredness and shows absolutely no consideration for the fact that we are all in this together, as one. It is one world, we are one people - what happens to one, impacts upon the other. Tragically, however, it seems our greed and fear are always too strong for us to remember that. History faced with self interest appears to teach us little.

Sadly, money is once again allowed to speak louder than what is right and just. But this whole business of trade vs human struggle is a double edged sword - given that trade with China has resulted in the loss of innumerable jobs in the clothing, textile and footwear industries in South Africa. While consumers have, to date, been happy to buy Chinese made goods, trade unions and workers have long protested against Chinese imports. And of course, it is not only these industries that have been affected – many others have taken a knock at the hands of cheaply made Chinese goods. It would do well for the government and for those South Africans who support the denial of a visa to the Dalai Lama to remember that.

But the Chinese link raises another issue. Not only has the government failed to consider the often brutal reality of the Chinese occupation of Tibet and our own history and struggle for freedom from the apartheid past but they’ve also forgotten our colonial heritage. In a moment of greed and myopia they fail to observe the role that China is increasingly playing in Africa. If anyone was upset by British colonialism, be sure that it will be a tea party by comparison to Chinese colonization, which is already well under way.

The point might even lead one to ask why Mbeki followed such very quiet diplomacy with Zimbabwe. Was it perhaps because Mugabe had already sold out to the Chinese, thereby giving them a kind of ownership in the country, which enabled them to bring economic pressure to bear on the Mbeki government?

But the most critical point remains this: Trade is all well and good but what happened to ethics and human values? Since when did trade become more important than freedom, justice and democracy - the very pillars on which the constitution of South Africa stands? It is a sad day indeed when one’s own leaders forget these things – and it’s no small wonder that several groups are going to the court over the matter.

The self-interested focus on trade at all costs is a sad indictment of what South Africa – that place that once stood as a beacon for human rights - is becoming. It strikes me that those who support the government’s decision are probably also those who last year took to the streets of South Africa in waves of xenophobic violence against refugees from neighbouring countries – countries that had aided those who sought to end apartheid. It all speaks to the same mindset. And it leaves me thinking that too many South Africans (and too many humans per se – witness the global economy) have become far too focused on self interest - to the extent that the view of the far bigger picture of our humanity has been lost. It is a sad day when the South African concept of ubuntu - the ethical and humanist philosophy which focuses on people's allegiances and relations with each other and which acknowledges that we cannot and do not exist in isolation - is forgotten.

The reality of the thing is that the denial of a visa to the Dalai Lama has nothing to do with soccer. It certainly has nothing to do with peace. It definitely has nothing to do with democracy. It would seem to be about something far more complex. Time to wake up and smell the chop-suey wafting through the plastic bead-curtains of self-interest.

Some photos, oh and some more photos

Remember - to switch your lights off on the 28th March at 20h30 for an hour!!!



I had all good intentions of rushing home and doing a blog post. Only after a week away and nine hours on the road because of road works, I instead came back to various piles of pooh. And since I didn’t want to do a blog post which was full of whinging, I thought I’d just lay off posting completely.

In a nutshell, the holiday was lovely – see pictures below, and the pooh involves:

• painters who didn’t return to finish a job which they had botched in several places and despite multiple assurances they would return to fix things. We now have to find someone else to do so which will mean shelling out more money;

• debt collecting attorneys who are sending me threatening letters for monies owing on an account which I don’t even have. This has meant spending half a day in the store where I supposedly hold the account filling in dispute forms and getting legal advice - and it's still not over;

• and then there was the whole Dalai Lama thing which I’m sure you all know about by now – when, scoring a stunning own goal, the South African government, under pressure from the Chinese, refused the Dalai Lama a visa to the country in order to attend a peace conference hosted by, amongst others, Nobel Laureates Desmond Tutu and former presidents FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela. But that’s a topic for another blog post. By which stage it will be old news.

So, back to being on holiday – which now seems an awfully long time ago... I think I’ll just let the pictures do the talking for themselves! And erm, there may be a lot of photos for the next while. It seems, armed with a digital camera I will take a gazillion shots in order to get “the one perfect shot” and I have an eye that sees “shots” everywhere!

So, there were beachscapes at Noetzie...

Sunsets at Plettenberg Bay...

There were tides of oyster catchers running on the beach...

There were country roads that disappeared into deep valleys...

There miles and miles of vistas of the Outeniqua Mountains...

There were piles of driftwood, some with small birds paying a visit...

There were oceanscapes in moody weather...

There were days spent lounging on the edge of the sea, right down there...

There were walks on beaches...

Crashing waves...

There were toadstools and funghi in the forests...

There was lunch amidst the vines at the Bramon Wine Estate...

And of course there were oysters in Knysna at the Knysna Oyster Company...

And then, oh well, there was just a lot more of this...

I know, I know, it's a tough life, but like I keep saying, someone's got to do it. And I promise, I did think of you on many occasions, and I toasted to your good health far too many times! So you see, you did get to go with me - in spirit...


POSTSCRIPT: For more pics go here or click on the Flickr link in the side bar - and prowl through the first five pages - I did say I was snap-happy, didn't I...?!

Happy Holidays

This blog is going on a short holiday. And hard as it will be for this blogger to tear herself away from the rewrite of her manuscript, she's going on holiday too (but she may take her laptop with so she can keep scribbling furiously).

While the blog will stay just as where it is and practice meditative techniques and other means of relaxation, the blogger will be going here...


Where the view from her room will look like this...


She will eat oysters and prawns and sip chilled white wine.

She may walk with these guys for a while...


She will enjoy vistas like this...




She'll take walks here...



and here...



And she'll find photo opps like this...



No doubt she'll return with even more photographs than before - and here's hoping you feel you're enjoying her holiday with her!

See you in a week or so!

Furious Scribbling... Angela and Bo

Click to enlarge and see the detail...

Scribble, scribble, scribble, tap-tap, tappity-tappity, tap.

Yes, things are a little goal directed around here at the moment, but the good news is that the writing is going blisteringly well.

See, here’s the thing, towards the end of last year, I bit the bullet, trashed my piggy bank and sent my YA paranormal manuscript (MS) to a well-known writing agency in London to get an in-depth manuscript review. They came back with 18 pages of what didn’t work. Aaaargh! It was gutting, especially since so many of my writing and critique partners had said they really liked the story pretty much as it was. It took me a while to get over the filleting and to get my head around what the agency was saying without getting into a lather about it. I took their advice and just let the report and MS be until I felt ready to start working on the MS again. And now I am ready and boy how ready.

I’ve started the rewrite from scratch – in other words, although I have the original draft at my side, the writing has all begun again – which means that amongst other things, I’ve so far cut out more than half of what I originally had and I’m sure much more will go.

I think this is one of the most difficult things for writers, especially new writers – taking a hatchet to your work. It’s far easier just to tweak and twiddle than be really aggressive about it. Of course, those who know all say “don’t be afraid to take a knife to your work” but it’s easier said than done, after all, these words, the story they produce are your babies. Hours and months of writing went into creating them and now here you go shredding them.

The upside though is that what I now have is vastly improved – the story is tighter, the pacing is better, the whole thing more dynamic. My main character’s voice has changed, she’s become less introspective and thereby I do less “telling” and a lot more “showing” which keeps the story more vivid.

So the upshot is that while I was in a complete state about the writing agency’s report when I first received it, I can now see, despite my mutterings at the time, how spot on it actually was.

I should add, I’ve also had a fine time doing mountains of research, which I’ve just loved.



In other news – an update on Angela.

Her interview with my friend Tania – whose Dreamworker website is now up – went really well and they were delighted with each other. Angela worked her last day for me this past Wednesday and once she’s had her baby and is ready to work again, Tania will help her find a job that takes her well away from the clutches of “Mistress Pecksniff”. On that score, both Angela and I have the sneaky suspicion that Pecksniff’s business is in dire trouble. For one, staff members are leaving in droves as reality hits home. For another, clients are also leaving. In addition, Pecksniff has been unable to pay her staff, and has had to get her mother, who started and runs the Johannesburg branch, to come to CT to bail her out – including paying the staff. Perhaps it’s a case of what goes around comes around.

As someone once said to me, all you need is a tiny light to chase away the darkness.



And as for all things guinea fowl… Ms Bo is thriving and growing and has reached the stage where she’s looking decidedly vulturine – she’s lost her face and neck feathers, she’s growing her comb and wattles and her face is starting to turn blue. She’s still undersized but that’s just the way she is – she’ll probably never be as big as a normal guinea fowl, but she should get to at least three-quarter size. We’re still hoping that when she’s big enough not to be at too much risk from the local predators that we’ll be able to release her into the care of the Ba-Kaaka Nostra who visit her daily.

Ba-kaaka Nostra, on patrol...

Right, now back to the rewrite!