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regulars
Writers’ block
compiled by Birgit Ottermann
A selection of letters debating controversial issues from South African newspapers and magazines.
sense and sensibility
Instead of spending a fortune on advertising health warnings against smoking, perhaps the Good Samaritans in government could dictate that the money be put to better use by helping drug addicts, alcoholics, wife batterers and child abusers. I find this anti-smoking propaganda utterly hypocritical. Why aren’t there notices on liquor bottles warning drinkers that they might go out after a few drinks and write someone off while driving under the influence, or may become inclined to rape and murder? I have to share restaurants and public places with drunks, thieves, paedophiles, rapists and murderers - you could do worse than share these places with me and other smokers. A Valentine, Natal Fair Lady, 17 April 1996
I strongly object to the recent press advertisements from the Tobacco Institute, in which the hazards of second-hand cigarette smoke are underplayed and smoking is represented as a benign social habit which should be treated with tolerance and understanding. The Tobacco Institute has failed to mention the drawbacks to the non-smoker in this blissful co-existence. The adverts minimise, and even suppress, scientific evidence on the hazards of passive smoking, such as its well researched link to heart disease. Why should non-smokers, who make up two thirds of the population, have to comply with the wishes of the minority group of smokers and endure smarting eyes, irritating throats and the inconvenience of having their clothes and hair reeking of cigarette smoke? Far from lacking tolerance and respect for smokers, non-smokers have been brainwashed into believing that their rights are subordinate, and they have been overly compliant for too long. DW Knowles, Johannesburg Sunday Times, 31 December 1995
sabc fiasco
I was nauseated by the SABC’s relaunch. The failed attempt at glitz was utterly inappropriate for a national broadcaster in a country where most people live in desperate poverty. When a country with real heroes needs to import minor American celebrities to bolster itself, you know that it suffers from a crippling inferiority complex. A nation that foresakes its own heroes for foreign soap-opera "stars" has truly lost its soul. Michael de Villiers, Kloof Femina, May 1996
Graag wil ek die Vereniging van Kredietburo’s gelukwens met die goeie besluit om SABC roofkykers nie op swartlyste te plaas nie. Baie Afrikaanse kykers weier om hul lisensies te betaal weens die wyse waarop die SABC Afrikaans op TV afskeep. Niemand behoort in só ’n geval gedreig te word dat sy naam op ’n swartlys by kredietburo’s geplaas sal word nie. Die SABC het geen kredietooreenkoms met kykers nie. Die SABC se advertensie op TV dat mense wat nie hul lisensiegeld betaal nie tronk toe kan gaan omdat nie-betaling ’n kriminele oortreding is, is ook onsin. M Smalberger, Stellenbosch Die Burger, 24 Julie 1996
This is what SABC has done to their loyal supporters: the channel I watched almost exclusively (previously TV 1, now SABC3) has been switched to the weakest transmitters so that I now receive an inferior signal and in fact cannot even receive SABC3 in certain areas. Persons whose home language is obviously not English are used to present news items and various other programmes. Many of the continuity presenters are the most amateurish and unprofessional I have seen. During programme breaks I am now presented with various people doing meaningless twists, turns of acts while others grin stupidly and display things. What is the point of such inanity? GW Attwood, Parow North The Argus, 30 April 1996
Die rede waarom ek nie my lisensie betaal nie, is omdat my moedertaal misken word en ek is nie daarmee gediend nie. Dit is al so erg dat die enkele programme wat nog in Afrikaans aangebied word, in Engels aangekondig word en selfs die advertensies tussenin ook in Engels is. Die Afrikaans wat nog uitgesaai word, is op die kanaal wat die swakste ontvang word. Dit is nie een ’n plesier om te probeer kyk nie. Die SABC kan my TV-stel met liefde present kry. Dit dien geen doel meer in my huis. PA Britz, Vanderbijlpark Beeld, 18 Julie 1996
mandela se kitsch
Dit is te hope dat die jongste dwaasheid waarin pres. Nelson Mandela hom laat praat het, nog geaborteer kan word. Ek bedoel die plan om ’n monsteragtige verhewe hand van koper teen ’n koste van 50-miljoen rand in of naby Pretoria op te rig. Dit kan die ergste stuk kitsch van die eeu word en Suid-Afrika maak tot die spot van die wêreld van smaak en gesonde verstand. Ek praat nie eens van die koste van die vulgêre gedrog nie, en dit terwyl die beeldende en uitvoerende kunste in ons land gewurg word deur ’n geldtekort. Maar die plan is nie dat die staat moet betaal nie. Die kapitalistiese sakelui wat daagliks die skeldtaal van Mandela se kommunistiese kamerade moet verduur, sal maar weer moet opdok, of anders... IK O’Noklas, Kaapstad Die Burger, 4 April 1996
Surely the proposed "Mandela Arm" monument is a bad-taste April Fools’ joke? The amount of R50 million could build more than 3 000 houses for people presently living under shaggy cardboard and tattered plastic. Or it could build and equip at least 200 Aids clinics, each named after some worthy person out of the freedom struggle. It could even pay for four more Sarafina extravaganzas. Tim Anderson, Claremont The Argus, 15 April 1996
bring doodstraf terug
South Africa at the moment is the ideal breeding ground for criminals. The courts are not doing anything about it. The criminals know that irrespective of the crime they commit, they will be placed back in the society after a short incarceration. The only way to stop the increase in crime and the falling credibility of the Government is to erase the criminal from society by reintroducing the death penalty for premeditated murder, car hijacking, robbery, rape and so forth. It is apparent that the courts are reluctant or afraid to give harsh sentences, which in my opinion is the cause of the increase in crime not only in Gauteng but in the whole country. Mr President, I urge you to protect my constitutional right to freedom and peace, because I think it’s worth more to this country than any criminal. The only way you can do that is by reintroducing the death penalty. AM Bently, Johannesburg Sowetan, 22 January 1996
Ons wil graag weer die doodstraf ingestel sien. Ek het nou die aand aanskou hoe iemand lyk wat met ’n mes bygekom is. Hy het niemand nog ooit enige kwaad aangedoen nie en was altyd bereid om te help waar hy kan. Ek was lam van skok en het ’n haat in my voel opstyg. Hoekom ons ou mense aanval wat so hard gewerk het om hierdie land te help opbou? Vandag is daar mense wat net "demand" en bokspring totdat hulle hul sin kry. Hulle verpletter alles voor hul voete en het geen respek vir wat hulle nie help opbou het nie. Hulle eis altyd meer en meer, en word al hoe meer toegelaat om te doen wat hulle wil. Wanneer sal dit tot min. Omar deurdring dat ’n moordenaar die straf moet kry wat hom toekom? MH du Preez, Sunlands Die Burger, 26 Februarie 1996
better life needed, not the 2004 olympic games
We were not promised the Olympics but better life for all. We need houses, jobs and good living conditions for all. Until these needs have been met the people’s trust in our MPs will fade, perhaps as it has started to do already. People are starving - no food to eat, no clothes to wear, no place to stay. Stop the 2004 Olympic bid or else we are just going to pay more and more tax. Paki Zandile, UCT Cape Times, 31 July 1996
There is no indication from the sponsors and developers that they will foot the maintenance bills after the Olympics. If the majority of Capetonians do not have any money to contribute now, how will they be able to share the financial burden of maintenance later? And as far as "badly needed sporting facilities" are concerned, there are at present clubs which cannot maintain their grounds due to lack of money and shortage of water. The "most aspirational buildings" this city needs are proper houses for shack dwellers. The Olympic Village is not the most functional solution in this regard. Rev Herbert Syre, Meadowridge, The Argus, 2 April 1996
Geen land met so ’n swak wisselkoers soos Suid-Afrika op die oomblik het nie kon dit nog regkry om die Olimpiese Spele winsgewend aan te bied nie - al sê mnr. Ball ook wat oor al die miljoene wat verkry sal word met die verkoop van TV-regte en dies meer. Die reuse-skuld sal oor ’n lang tydperk afbetaal en dus staatskuld word. Almal in Suid-Afrika sal dus daarvoor moet betaal. Gideon Malherbe, Strand Die Burger, 6 Februarie 1996
Our new rates accounts for the forthcoming year have now arrived at our door. A small calculation highlights a presumably "moderate" increase of 59% for sewerage and 19% for refuse. We mustn’t forget that Helderberg has been requested (ordered?) to contribute to the costs of the Olympic bid. How much is being kept a secret. But with increases like this we can see how the council intends getting the money. Should the ratepayer accept this without a murmur? Howard Skeens, Somerset West District Mail, 9 August 1996
fight the jackals
A lot has recently been written about the crime levels in South-Africa. One more reason for the anarchy needs to be mentioned. It is our inability (unwillingness?) to resist unjustified aggression the human jackals who, by their acts of violence, consciously resign from the rest of the human race. If you and I are not prepared to uphold the norms and values by which we live; if you and I are not prepared to fight for these values and norms, then civilisation is doomed! Our country has already reverted to anarchy in which the ruthless survive. Only when the criminals find that the price of crime is too high will we be able to walk our street and live our daily lives without fear. CG Serfontein, Mandeni The Mercury, 30 July 1996
Is dit dan nie pres. Mandela se plig om toe te sin dat alle gaste onder ons dak hul verblyf hier in veiligheid en sekuriteit deurbring nie? Is dit dan nie een van die hoofredes waarom hy by die stembus van die vorige "korrupte, ondemokratiese huishouding" ontslae geraak het om met die proses van demokratisering ons land ’n beter en veiliger plek te maak nie? SA se toekoms hang van hom en sy party se spoedige en eerlike, nie net paaiende, antwoord af. Willem Viljoen, Bellville Die Burger, 20 Augustus 1996
tafelberg sweefspoor
The cableway is but one aspect of the multi-faceted tourist industry which is set to boom uncontrollably in the very near future. As many commentators have recently pointed out, the tourist industry may indeed be the most important industry for the Western Cape province, and it is of paramount importance that the "raw materials" which this industry consumes are sustained into the very distant future. An environmental impact study urgently needs to be done for all aspects of the tourist industry seen holistically. An integrated body needs to determine the least environmentally damaging way of promoting optimal tourism and economic growth. We need eco-tourism rather than ego-tourism. Professor J Myers, Newlands Cape Times, 13 May 1996
Die kabelmaatskappy se rekord tot dusver is beroerd. Hulle kan nie besoekersgetalle en -gedrag beheer nie, rommelstrooi en vandalisme voorkom nie, en het geen raad met die rioolafval nie, maar wil nou 1,2 miljoen besoekers berg-op neem. Die uitbreidings op Tafelberg is slegs vir die gewin van die kabelmaatskappy en sub-kontrakteurs. Die dravermoë van die berg is reeds erg oorsky, skade en besoedeling blyk oral, en bergbrande kom toenemend voor. Tafelberg, o Tafelberg, Kaapstad Die Burger, 13 Mei 1996
Cape Town has lost far more than it realises by halting the proposed cableway upgrade. It is preposterous to think that a country which is crying out for economic development and foreign investment to rescue it from a rapidly falling rand would seek to suppress the very development that could make it stronger. The cableway’s proposed upgrade has been a fiasco from the very beginning, not from the planning side but rather from the so-called "opposition" whose motives have stunk from the very onset. As with all environmental issues, the "greens" jumped up and down like hyperactive lemmings and failed to listen to any reason except their own. This leaves us in a situation where the city loses revenue and a stagnation of tourism. Foreign investment is sorely needed. And how do we attract it? By stifling economic development and calling strikes? Clearly this is the "microwave" recipe for disaster. Belinda Webster, Observatory The Argus, 20 May 1996
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