My ward has suburbs that are your average leafy suburban suburb and then a stone throw away you find a traditional township and then another stone throw away within the same ward you find a semi-rural suburb which is overshadowed by the lights of the newest suburb in Johannesburg which is desperately trying to claw its way back into the eastern metropolitan City bordering us to escape what they feel is the victimization of the current billing crisis.

In a meeting I once had with former President Bill Clinton, he taught us the meaning of the question – “compared to what?”
You can make a statement of judgment but it really only gains traction when you compare it to something. It is therefore important for me to say that compared to the South-African cities I have travelled this year, Johannesburg seems to be the worst kept and most visibly displeasing City of all.

In a speech in 2001 in the Johannesburg Council, I spoke about Johannesburg not investing enough in maintaining our current infrastructure and instead of being proactive and saving the City money for the future our officials seemed to be sticking their fingers in every hole to try to stop all the springing leaks that seemed to be bursting all over. I also accused the Mayor of the time of not giving enough leadership and direction and hiding behind a closed-door which would eventually lead to a breakdown in service delivery as no one would ever be held accountable.

This had come a few months after a proposal for Joburg Connect was just bull-dozed through Council; a corruption report I had handed over to the Municipal Enterprise member of the mayoral committee and Mayor was brushed aside and an alleged edict that no officials were allowed to engage with Councillors was freshly dished out.

A decade later I am sickened to say that my prophecies have come to life and that we as Councillors are bearing the brunt of the circumstances whilst residents and faithful ratepayers of Johannesburg have very little to be proud and dignified about.

Those of you reading this blog and living in Johannesburg would have definitely:
- passed over a pothole
- came across a non-working robot
- passed uncut grass on public grounds belonging to the City
- noticed illegal dumping
- spoken to someone who was a victim to a power outage.

In fact if we tried to be light-hearted and turn this into a game, I would say, give yourself a point for every one of the above you experience as you come across it. Within these few days of the year 2012 I confidently suggest that your scores would be over 100 by now.

In terms of the broken window policy it was conclusively proven that if a City is shown to take pride in their administration and be productive in cleaning and running the City, residents seem to come to the party too and take responsibility for their properties and for less pollution around them.

I feel frustrated every time I have to explain to a resident the difference between the Councillor and the City. Certain residents believe that a ward Councillor drives around with people on the back of their trucks looking for potholes and broken robots and as soon as we come across them we all get out fix it and then jump back on and move on to the next site. This is an uninformed opinion and fingers the wrong person in the equation. Pat your Councillor on the back if they are representing your ward in Council; if they are communicating Council resolutions to their community; if they are available and approachable to you and if they are assisting you in resolving issues of the ward. However please also take note that a Councillor is only as effective as the administration in which it operates. Premier Hellen Zille of the Western Cape makes a point that people get the Government they deserve. Before making an informed vote, voters should compare their current situation to a similar City in the Country that is run by another party. Currently Johannesburg must be compared to Cape-Town.

How did a City like Cape-Town turn around a City from grime and crime to one of the leading Cities of the world not just the best in South-Africa?

The answer is simple. Run Government like a business and act against corruption and give residents more bang for their buck.

Where does this leave us in Johannesburg?

Johannesburg at the moment faces a billing crisis and a general lack of cash flow all round. An impacted infrastructure bleeds on a daily basis and the best treatment, with our limited resources, we can give it is used band aids that are losing their ability to bond the wounds any longer.

The fight ahead is brutal and make no mistake it will take as many soldiers as possible to bring Johannesburg to a world-class city status. It requires residents to pick up arms (twitter, Facebook, newspapers, petitions and other forms to educate or express opinion) and a passionate sense of activism.

So when remembering the words of Clinton I need to educate residents that when complaining about their suburbs please compare it to the other suburbs of the City. When you complain about a City please compare it to other Cities in the same Country. Finally when you judge a Country judge it compared to others.

This will give you your benchmark in which to judge and if need be in which to fight.

A lot of people are very happy about this but a lot of people are perturbed about it too. However how much of this incident have we interrogated and has the right conclusion really been met?

To understand this we need to ascertain the answers to two questions.
Was Darren Scott asked to leave because he used the K word?
Was Darren Scott asked to leave because he was a racist?

The story that has been loosely told starts off with Darren lending a certain individual money in spurts over time. In fact one loan is apparently as much as R3000-00. This gentleman buys a car and a house in the meantime but is yet to re-pay Darren Scott.

On a team building session, a group with Darren Scott end up at a bar. This individual attempts to join and is kicked away by Scott because of the fact that Darren is upset with this individual for non-payment. The individual tries to join the group again through an invite from someone at the table and at that point Darren Scott uses the K* word to strongly suggest that this individual leaves his space.

Two important incidents take place immediately afterwards.

Darren and this said individual “kiss and make up” as Darren profusely apologizes for the use of the word and furthermore lets this individual off all his debt. This individual accepts fault and accepts Scott’s apology.

The second thing that takes place is that a complaint is lodged with the human resources of Jacaranda FM. Both parties comply with the investigation and are responsive but clear that the issue has been resolved.
Seems someone at the station is not happy with this cheap outcome and gives the newspaper Beeld a little bit of inside info.

From that moment on Darren Scott faces one of the most challenging ordeals of his career.
Darren shows utter remorse and re-iterates the fact that he is not racist and that this was said in a moment of rage. He is willing to accept any punishment thrown his way.

I personally believe him.

Using the K* word can NEVER be acceptable and will never be appropriate and most of all must never be tolerated. However, everyone has a temper and a boiling point. At the point where a person goes into blind rage, he is not entirely responsible for the words he uses. This is recognised in law too.

At a session on Friday at a team building session for a company, I spoke about diversity. I asked them what was worse:
A hardened racist that causes; or intends to cause; or incites himself and others to hate another race and possibly cause harm and injury. Or a person that never practices racism but in an out burst of rage says a word that is unforgivable?

I mentioned this because there are political leaders in the current lime light that are clearly practicing the former but because they are not using any derogatory words will keep their jobs and never face the judiciary. Whereas here, you have a person that could not be too racist if he is lending money and has a naturally mixed friendship base.

In my own opinion Darren Scott should not be fired. However he should face specific sanctions. If I was to mete out the punishment here I would ask him to register for a course on cultural diversity and to give a humble and expressive apology on air through both Jacaranda and Supersport. I think the companies acted in a manner they felt would be acceptable to the public, however, I am not sure that this is what the public expected. As the ANCYL stated can a judge really rule on an interaction between two people out of the public eye? The parties remedied the situation to an extent that they had called it totally and mutually resolved. If there was any ounce of doubt that Darren Scott was a true racist I would not be writing this blog.

The truth is that racism exists and the more we fool ourselves that we have come along way to deal with it the more we suppress the real problems of redress. We all know what happens when a boiling pot eventually hits a certain point – the explosion is massive.

Madiba is the icon of forgiveness and tolerance. However we need to be honest and realize that not everyone shares this very same sentiment. Therefore punishment against proven racists should be done in a manner that would educate like minded individuals in an effort that gave these people an insight into why, how and what the differences are and what the solutions are.

I fear punishing non-racist people for racism in the extreme, based on outbursts, does nothing for reconciliation but everything for further racial polarisation.

I cannot even give the source credit because he is anonymous. This explanation is not about race and does not speak to issues of land and who was here first and the rights of anyone but the explanation is a lesson that we all need to learn from soon.

Suppose that every evening, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to R100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay R1. The sixth would pay R3. The seventh would pay R7. The eighth would pay R12. The ninth would pay R18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay R59. So, that’s what they decided to do…

The ten men drank in the bar every evening and were quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner said, “Since you are all such good customers, I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by R20″. Drinks for the ten men would now cost just R80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.

But what about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the R20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realised that R20 divided by six is R3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay. Therefore, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing. The sixth now paid R2 instead of R3 (33% saving). The seventh now paid R5 instead of R7 (28% saving). The eighth now paid R9 instead of R12 (25% saving). The ninth now paid R14 instead of R18 (22% saving). The tenth now paid R49 instead of R59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got a rand out of the R20 saving,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got R10!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a rand too. It’s unfair – he got 10 times more benefit than me!”

“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get R10 back, when I got only R2? The wealthy always win!”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison, “we didn’t get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists, labour unions and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

(For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.)

At the end of this battle there will have to be a sacrifice of one of these leaders, otherwise, the sacrifice will be the respect of the rest of the Country and other worldly spectators.

In the one corner of the ring we have our President Jacob Zuma and his support base and in the other corner of the ring we have Julius Malema and his support base.

Besides the ANC 100 year’s conference in 2012, where the new ANC President will be elected and other prestigious positions, each camp puts up their own personal prize:

Zuma brings rudderless direction; vacant leadership; grey due process and a scant regard for the Constitution.
Malema brings a firm sense of nationalisation, power thirsty leadership and general divisiveness wherever he points his finger.

The crowd surrounding the ring will be packed beyond capacity with members, supporters, opposition, citizens, neighbours and foreign investors. All have been impacted by these two fighters and for many this determines there next steps. It is therefore comfortable to assume that an ultimate outcome is the preferred result of many.
Leaders and strategists could watch this bout with keen interest as we are about to witness the most decisive move yet from the ANC or a back handed return jab to the jaw from the ANCYL in what will be a knockout to the current ANC regime if there first blow is not convincing enough.

The ANC are left with little choice but to end the career of Malema and his executive committee to protect their positions in 2012 and their policies for the future. Whilst Malema understands that if he scores the knockout then 2012 and beyond has paved the way for him and the politicians he backs for the strategic positions that will deliver his own prophecies.

The real irony of this whole show is that the majority of the crowd is rooting for the President of the ANC but he is up against the stronger leader of the two.

Malema has the characteristics of strong and dangerous dictators that lead before his time. He has the power to grab a crowd and make them believe in the impossible. He can drive through the poorest townships in his brand new luxury vehicles whilst having a go at capitalists. He can get state to provide him privileges yet claim to be a private citizen when asked to account for his wealth. With a supposed G in Woodwork and an all-round poor academic record Malema is able to make the most distinguished professionals rattle. Most importantly he is watched more closely by the media and the markets than the President himself and his actions sometimes affect the market prices. As any relevant leader, he has a substantial loyal following. The danger with this is that if you are to follow Malema’s mutterings you know that the intentions are not sustainable or viable.

Zuma on the other hand has been a leader that has found himself at the right place at the right time. Time and time again. If questioned ten years ago, you would be very hard pressed to find a political commentator predicting Zuma to be the next President. In fact when Mbeki fired him one was forgiven for thinking that this was the end of the road for him. Zuma has the characteristics of a democratic leader of the West in many aspects. He is friendly, approachable and very charismatic. He has an inclusive approach and tries to please everyone and tell them what they want to hear rather then find himself in a conflict. In my opinion though, he has a very poor attention to detail and process. His judgement lacks as much credibility as his understanding of the separation of powers needed for a successful democracy.

However it is not the two figures that make this duel so crucial but it is the actual title of this bout. You see it is not usual for the ANC to take their spats public and in the history of the ANC, there has never been such conflict and attacks from within the rank and file of its members. Competition is crucial if it forces opponents to up their game and provide the best product for the best price. This competition will hopefully force the ANC and the ANCYL to ensure that they up their game and start taking the needs and wants of all people in this Country more seriously through more appropriate policy and placing more importance on appointing suitable candidates for positions based on merit rather than nepotism.

South-African’s have been patient and tolerant. I am sure the bulk of the citizen’s that survive this Country on a daily basis have a vested interest in real reconciliation and effective visible service delivery. This Country has the most all rounded offering in terms of positioning, climate and environment and with a committed and productive Government we could become world class.

Therefore, may it be that at the end of this bout it is vital that the real winners of the day are the spectators and that they get the outcome they deserve and that this changes the political landscape of our future for the
better forever.

AMEN!

Not all of these can be blamed on criminals as some of them are suicide and others are other reasons. However what we can deduce is that police men are definitely targets at the moment and that we are weakening our crime-fighting force policeman by policeman.

To honestly understand what is going on in South-Africa we need to take a look at our universal environment; then a national external look before taking an internal look at our force.

Our universal environment at the moment seems to be a mongrel of cultures and beliefs that is creating more confusion than good amongst the world. Without getting lost in the message one can easily assume that there is a Western culture and an Eastern culture; there is a conservative culture against a more liberal context and there is old beliefs tested against modern beliefs. The net result here is that we have become a world of very little respect and the cost of a life is cheapened by the generation. A policeman as a profession is low down on the ranks these days in terms of class and respect. If a dictator can be toppled through twitter and facebook what chance does a criminal justice system have?

The first real step to fighting crime and protecting police officers is to ensure that there is a culture of respect and appreciation.

On a national focus we need to agree that one of the most successful crime fighting operations of the twentieth century was the broken window policy. In South-Africa I have plagiarised, from the City Safety Strategy document of Johannesburg, a formula.

The formula simply stated is
Crime = Victim + Perpetrator + Environment
Simply put if any one of these variables were taken out the equation a crime could not be committed. Example if your environment was clean, well lit, secure and well maintained, you might have a victim and a perpetrator but you would not have an environment in which you could commit a crime. Same as if you educated your victim and taught them to be aware and what to look out for and/ or avoid, you might have a perpetrator and environment but no victim to fall victim to a crime. Finally if our policemen were crime fighters and the criminal justice system processed and kept criminals behind bars then we could have victims in a crime friendly environment but because no perpetrator we would not have a crime.

Cape-Town to a large extent, in certain areas, has started with the broken window policy. An interesting by-product of the broken window policy is that when a community see the Government showing attention to an area, they feel more obliged to give from their side too. This chain reaction is highly beneficial and brings down the costs of the initiatives. If Government tackles grime by being vigilant against graffiti, dirt and dilapidation you will no doubt residents taking more pride and care in their own properties and even public verges connected to them.

However the biggest spin off here is how our police men could thrive and flourish positively in the neighbourhood. If they were seen as the custodians of our laws and by-laws and people showed them that respect through earned reputation and action then we find an integrated community of citizens and force.

Finally on an internal level it is more than fair to state that we have a long way to go before we can really stand behind our force as the guardians of our safety.
The real issues boil down to intent, ability and support.
If people sign up to become a policeman because it is the only job they can get or because it is the best way to support a criminal lifestyle they are not the ideal custodians of safety because ultimately they do not possess a passion for the badge but rather just bide their time getting through shift by shift. How often have we seen a person stuck on the side of the road or worse yet an accident scene and watched a police vehicle innocently drive past?

Unfortunately that is a symptom of a person doing this as a job and not a vocation.

Ability is the difference between the cop or the criminal dying. The more able and aware a policeman is the more the odds shift towards him against the criminal. Fifteen years ago the teachings were along the lines of defenders having the advantage over attackers. In a nutshell nothing beat pro-active policing. Constant visibility and patrols minimised crime provided the police were able to spot a suspicious person, car or activity. Technology has never been at the forefront of policing in this Country. One of the best inventions is yet to be initiated even though it would increase productivity; decrease corruption and assist in safety. CCTV is not only effective but it is also economical however for some strange reason we are one of the last Countries to accommodate this technology.

Finally every successful police force is dependent on the support they receive from Government, legislation, criminal justice system and of course the public. Simply put if you treat your policeman like scum they will act it. If you do not support arrests and convictions you place an added burden on the front line. If Government does not provide adequate resources you end up un-levelling the playing fields. We have always been warned never to arrive to a gun fight with a knife. Well in my opinion, our dedicated men in blue do this often.

Compare if you will a police force in Germany that I had the pleasure of monitoring in 2009 and our current police force in South-Africa.

In the German context you have a police force that is proud of their uniform; their salaries are middle class and they have the respect of all general local citizens. This is most evident when watching German pedestrians walking 100m further to a pedestrian crossing rather than just crossing the road there and then. Phone their emergency line and you will get through straight away but if you do not they can still to a certain degree trace you phone you back and find out if you are alright? Do not get me wrong they have a problem of hooliganism and other good stuff but you see pride in a person wearing the police uniform and there is no disagreement about that. At every accident scene and breakdown you notice first the blue flashing lights of a police vehicle then the scene itself. Most impressive is that when walking the streets of Hamburg you cannot help but notice two way greetings between residents and police. Finally corruption in the Hamburg police force would make headlines of the local papers even if it is because of a culture or the fact that they have great CCTV technology.

In the South-African context you have a new culture in the police force which until recently was known as a service and not a force. However I think service was a bit too kind. I have worked in and around the South African Police Service for over a decade like any organisation you get your good eggs and you get your bad eggs and you get those leaders that embrace change and those that avoid it like the plague but one thing I need to categorically state is that we as the rate payers of South Africa are not getting a top notch service for our rates. This is brutally honest and is not an attack on the men in blue but rather on those sent to protect our men in blue. When you phone 10111 on a Friday or Saturday night the chances of you not being put on hold is slim but the real lottery comes in the hope that the call taker will be able to understand your crime and where exactly this crime is occurring. After all the logistics are laid down we await the prompt arrival of a flying squad vehicle or local police station. Now prompt response in the South-African context is anything over 15 minutes compared to Germany’s 12 minutes or better response. Most importantly after that is the fact that in most emergency cases by the time our police arrive, our criminals are well on their way and in a shootout the odds are against our police due to training; inside information, technology and equipment. Seeing that we do not rely on our police then for the emergency response time we do need to rely on them for taking down the right type of statement that will ensure once a criminal is finally caught the case is tight enough to secure conviction. However we need to understand with eleven official languages the chance of that officer having English as their first language is not great and the frustration of the crime is nothing compared to the frustration of the victim trying to give a person their statement. Finally we appreciate that there are those that do this just for a job mixed with those that are really proud about their badge; corrupt cops amongst heroic crime fighters and law amongst general lawlessness. This paradox confuses not only policemen but the public too and the net effect is that we not only have a public that tempts officers into bribery but you also have a public that is scared of their police force and lack confidence in their abilities.

This blog is not about slating our officers in fact it serves to be the opposite it highlights what this Country needs to do to stop the slaughter of our police officers and to protect the people that risk their lives on a daily basis to protect us.

With all that I have said it makes sense that if we are to curb the cop killings in South-Africa we need to lobby for the following:

1. Level the playing fields between police and foe. The way we do this is by training our officers and equipping them with the right fire power and protection.
2. Human resources need to spend a lot more effort upfront ensuring that they are hiring worthy and loyal officers that can be depended on by their partners and the public to be their protectors.
3. CCTV on the bonnets of vehicles will no doubt increase pro-active policing; decrease corruption and protect our officers to a certain extent.
4. Citizens of this Country need to start practicing “responsible citizenship” so that they are not caught tempting officers into bribery and corruption and that they themselves are lawful.
5. If you witness or know anything about a crime and you do not report it you are as guilty as the person committing the crime. One of the most productive anti-crime initiatives in South-Africa is Crime Line 32211. You can text anonymous information which is then passed onto the police force and monitored for progress. We need to get back to a reward system whereby people are incentivised to assist.
6. We should embark on having volunteers or students assist the police both in their empathy skills and in their communication skills. If we could produce world class statements and dockets we would see a better conviction rate in the courts.
7. Raise awareness is key to any crime fighting plan. As they say charity starts at home. Ensure that your house is kept in tip top condition. Get to know all your neighbours and look out for each other. Block watches are a good productive way to thwart opportunistic crimes. Encourage everyone that works for you in any capacity to also become “responsible citizens”.
8. At the moment we are short of permanent police members and are losing experienced skills to attractive contracts abroad. To complement our permanent force we have to rely on a reservist force too. However we need to be mindful that there are four types of reservists that should be involved in our force: specialists (divers, paratroopers etc); well trained and experienced members equivalent or better than permanent force; support officers (eyes and ears for police and community) and lastly support staff (administrators and call takers). There seems to be a culture of us versus them when it comes to reservists and permanent staff. There is also a hierarchy problem as a reservist with more skills and ten years- experience will still be out ranked in reality by a trainee police officer at this point in time. The truth is permanent force should be welcoming and appreciating the support offered by our reservists as they are both hopefully fighting against the same common enemy.
9. It is obvious that a lot of stations are run by officers that were never police man and very well could have been administrators more than managers. This causes moral issues as officers trying to climb a ladder of rank are often smacked down for no fault of their own and are then taking orders from people that know less than them and potentially jeopardise the safety of officers and citizens. Business can step in and offer management and strategy courses and up skill middle and top management at every station. This would give the station commissioners more accountability, ability and sustainability.
10. Last but not least this Country and all of its people need to realize that currently there is a war. It is good versus evil. Under the voice of our National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele, police have been given more powers to protect themselves and others and the Commissioner has also echoed the fact that we are at war against crime. A lot of public commentators have warned that this sort of talk has galvanised criminals into attacking our police. The trick is not to back down but to rather meet fire with fire and make sure that we push back convincingly.

Thank you for reading this and next time you pass a police man give him a wave or better yet give him a thank you and let him realize just how respectable his job really is. Remember there are great policemen “dying” to serve you!

No, I am not going to be like that, I am actually doing this to be selfish. You see the effect it gave me was one that must be similar to what a drug addict tries to chase when he looks for that “feel good” release.
In one of my worst days of this year, with no medication, no drug, no cigarette and no whiskey I was able to hit such a high that it gave me a craving to want to repeat it again.

The project I start is not original and I am sure many people do it far more graciously than me but simply put I will strive every day to make a difference to at least one person in whatever way I can.

The inspiration could also be found from the beginning of the week when South-Africa celebrated the birthday of the father of our new Democracy – Madiba. On this day 18th July 2011 people were asked to just do something extra ordinary that could touch someone’s life. In the ward that I am the Councillor of it was easy because our people need lots, and it was with this in mind, that we started off filling 67 black bags with garbage. We then hosted a soup kitchen in a church in Alexandra and then in Klipfonteinview where we followed the same pattern. Throughout the day Twitter and Facebook was a buzz of all the different Mandela Day activities. One or two people mentioned the fact that we should have every day as Mandela Day.

My fondest memory of Monday was at the community crèche when the children sang to Madiba and in his absence they all sang songs to me. However when everyone fought to be held by me, you cannot help but feel that being a politician can be so worth it sometimes. Each hug from a child seemed to be a non-verbal request from them to please keep them secure through the harsh elements they will grow through. These children will grow up with me for the next five years at least and I will not let them down I strive to make it that much better if even just for the children.
However as great as Monday was, Tuesday was the day that spurred on the idea.

I will not bore everyone with the details of how pressurised and negative a day I was having but someone took me for lunch and after our open discussion she sent me a message to tell me that if not for me they would not be coping with life right now and that I will never know just how big an impact on their life I have had and this was not even my wife!

This was real “whistle, skip and smile” stuff but then I got an email from someone that I helped through a very rough patch a while back and I made a few predictions for them if they just changed three major aspects of their life. Well through the thicket of the worst of my day I get the following message,” Darren Bergman you will never know the true extent to how much you changed my life and how much I owe you!” now this pierces a chord for me and I feel a great sense of pride however it could still be understood because I do “instinctive” life coaching, that I help and touch lives on a very regular basis.

However a young gentleman came to my office at the end of this challenging day and had an interview with me. I knew he was not right for the job that I was hiring for but instinctively I started talking to him about his proprietary and we got into a little bit of his background. I was at my last evening meeting when I got a message from the person that had referred him to me to say that this chap was crying after the interview and that I had made him see so much about himself and that he felt like he should have been paying me and asked this person to organise another interview with me.

Three lives in one day!

The feeling is inexplicable – but it would be really arrogant and selfish if this was all about me. Let us not kid but charity is at its most sincere when it is anonymous. Therefore it would be more plausible for me to not blog every time I made an impact or difference to someone’s life, unless of course, there was a benefit to it.

Well here we go. If you read this and you are inspired by what I am writing, enough to go out and try this yourself please will you comment on this blog under this category and in turn get others to do it to. As I mention the concepts exist – LeadSA, pay it forward et al but this is little Darren in his own little way saying we are in a win=win situation we get to help and someone gets to benefit.

I was rewarded the next day already when I arrived at my safety meeting and a colleague had bought me coffee from the quick shop for no rhyme or reason. I was touched again when one of the most respected South African Police members of his time came to offer me cake, I declined and he turned around and said that he had bought this especially for me and that he would not touch it until I had my piece. I quickly accepted, as he was not the kind of guy you wanted to make violent.

I then thought okay payback already I am committed to this “Touch a life” project what would Wednesday yield?

I did not have to wait too long to serve my project justice. A waiter at a curry restaurant was having a tough first day. To cut a long story short, I was thanked with a huge smile from the waiter and I guarantee you if I go there next week or a month later he will still be there.

Thursday was major as an awesome band came to me for a strategy session. I noticed early on that these guys were an awesome group of friends but I also realised a wave of tension that had silently plagued them for seven years. After a two hour session I received the message of impact. Watch out for these guys they have a great product.

Friday night was a special “TALAD” moment, again not to bore anyone with too much detail, save to say, it was a supper with a difference for one elderly gentleman who was there because he had no one else to go to.

Saturday was completely different I literally spent the morning in sh%t. It started the day before when I got a complaint that there was sewer blocked in a township that falls under my ward. I immediately reported it and followed up and again escalated it to an emergency in the evening but by Saturday morning nothing had been done. I phoned my service delivery agent who informed me that it was the weekend and he does not live in that area. I phoned all the hierarchy in Joburg Water but there phones all seemed to be off. I cancelled a business meeting to rush out there, which potentially has lost me a client, as I thought about the people that had to sleep in the leaking sewerage. The scene was more horrific than I thought as people were taking out their appliances and having to sweep effluent out their houses. People were all calling me to see scene after scene. At some stages I had to walk through the stuff myself. A blind man came out of his house all panicked as he heard plumbers working in his yard. He was disorientated and upset that no one had communicated with him. I went to greet him and we spoke for a while. He had caught a fright when he heard banging and knocking as he never expected it would be officials on a weekend and thought it was people trying to break into his house. He told me he had never met a real politician because real politicians never give him the time of day. He was thankful to me for coming to introduce myself personally and alleviating his anxiety. We exchanged phone numbers and as a joke afterwards I asked him what colour he thought I was?
The community around us laughed and my TALAD deed had been done.

I do not know what my deed today will be or tomorrow or for the rest of the year but I do know that if I can make a habit of this I can make a difference even if it is in my own small way. However if others take example from this we all benefit from the effects of compound interests.

One the worst stories that could ever repeat itself from history would be the Tower of Babel.
Twenty six years ago I was taught that a group of people had decided to build a tower to the sky so that they could touch G-d. They believed they were just as smart as G-d and that if they could reach there all the problems of this world could be solved.
I was then taught that as part of G-ds punishment the builders ended up speaking in alien tongue and the rest as they say is History.

At this point people are forgiven for thinking where is this going? Clearly the tallest building at this stage is the Burj-Al-Dubai and the purpose of the tower is not to meet G-d.
Well I think we are living the proverbial tower building at this point in time. There are people in Science that are getting too clever for their own benefit.

I believe that as we advance and build this tower through technology and social enhancements we pull ourselves to a point of no return and this will be when we reach our lowest point yet.

Aristotle correctly identifies tolerance and apathy as the downfall to a society. This world has never had more tolerance than the times we live in at the moment. Save for a few areas in the Middle East that might still practice the special art of living life in biblical ways, in the Western world we are seeing the effects of less censorship and the promotion of freedom of speech. An era where the youth are gaining more rights than the elderly and where prisoners are getting more rights than the victims is paving the way for the type of society that Aristotle warned us about.

Let us look at a simple thing like technology. Fifteen years ago a mobile phone was a luxury afforded to very few people. The first phone now could possibly pass as a weapon of mass destruction but then it was an icon of modern advancement. The microwave oven can take a frozen piece of meat and cook it within the same move within minutes negating the need to spend endless hours on thawing the meat before spending hours cooking the meat. I have heard of people living near electrical pylons and I salute them because I believe one day we will find out that all was not as good as it seems. I am not trying to be alarmist here and everything I write is my own opinion with no substantive proof, however, how healthy can something be that has the ability to alter television signal or cause monitor disturbance when you place it near a monitor?

If micro-waves are questionable how can the food we eat from them not be questionable?
I once saw an email whereby a school boy takes two seeds in two different cotton wool cocoons. On the one he uses pure tap water and on the other he uses water that has been heated through the microwave. As predicted the one seed sprouts into a healthy plant whilst the other one grows in a more dehydrated fashion with more wrinkles and less colouring. (I quote the email without verifying the validity of it).

When it comes to mobile phones I can unhappily say that I have spent many an unproductive hour on such a device. I would feel naked if I never had it and in an emergency we never want to not have one. However, I have personally experienced a burning in the ear or a headache after a lengthy call on my mobile. I stress this could very well be psychosomatic but then again it might not be.

Like cigarettes however I think that the private sector has far more money than the research and development area and the Erin Brokerviches in these arenas are yet to come forward. In the meantime they are enjoyed by not only adults but also children. Children, that are spending more time in front of the television than soaking up direct sunlight and burning energy in the garden.

Now I definitely sound like a parent rather than a child. With such technological advancements under our belt could we possibly have learnt anything from families in the past?

The answer is yes – the traditional siesta and the day of rest. These are two definite answers to our productivity and stress issues. I think the importance of a 15 minute power nap is under stated in today’s times. Have you ever had the opportunity to one day steal a fifteen minute power nap in the afternoon? Can you remember how great you felt afterwards? We should all be experiencing this on a daily basis halfway through our day particularly after lunch when your body naturally shuts down to digest the heavy meal.

I also mentioned a day of rest. In this day and age with a seven-day work week and shops open on public and religious holidays how can anyone ever afford to do this? Is it really that necessary. In leading up to writing this blog I took two Saturday’s off in such a way that I forgot about my cellphone; forgot about work and just focused on family and relaxation (often contradictions in their own rights). The first Saturday felt awkward and I could not relax because I kept on worrying who had contacted me and why and what I was missing. The second time a few weeks later I made a rule that the minute those thoughts would occupy my mind I would immediately picture myself on the beach in Umhlanga with no phone or work worries. WOW! What an experience. To say I found peace and relaxation was an understatement. I believe that if I was able to fulfil one day off a week, and the only way I would be is if society around me was also able to keep it, then I guarantee you the word stress would become redundant.

After technological advancements I think food is the next important factor we need to monitor. Besides the culture of obesity threatening the Western civilization, I believe that the quality and mix of our food is becoming too advanced for our digestive system. As discussed we can now make pre-cooked dinners within seconds. We can drive up to a fast food chain and get 5 burgers, 5 chips and 5 milkshakes in 1 minute. How suspicious is that?

Better yet you could enjoy your chocolate milkshake without ever ingesting anything lactose or with real sugar. How awesome is that? Is it really?

I think we are getting something tasting really awesome but at great expense to the quality of the ingredients we are poisoning our system with. I suppose if we are really to take the taste of a chocolate down to its raw ingredient, we would appreciate that it is more the sugar than the coco bean that gives us the taste we crave. Whatever happened to a good plain meal?

Is a diet cold drink really that much healthier than its fully loaded other? I personally ever only witness fat people drinking them and it is usually with a fat meal.

We then look at the real telling signs and that is in medical advancements. We can now grow an embryo without ever needing the natural act of intercourse. Better yet we can keep a human alive artificially for ever by either letting a machine breathe for you or letting the machine pump your heart for you. In time to come we will be able to transplant any foreseeable organ to create this sustainability. Weird considering we are one antibiotic away from a pandemic and that we still cannot convincingly fight the flu. However I have seen miracles of people that have had their skull detached, life support full engaged carry on to lead a very normal life.

The truth is we are becoming smarter and far more advanced but at the expense of our quality of life. We were meant to only live 3 score years and 10 (to the ripe old age of 70). Children buried parents and that was that. The world cannot cope with the inhabitants it has but imagine now if you will that you have a ratio of more life and less deaths, then we end up with the pension problems that will make Greece’s issues seem trivial.

As qualified before, I am not Nostradamus and I am no scientist either but I am a concerned student of life that knows a scary thing when I see one. When all is said and done I would rather live with the effects of a mobile or microwave but all I am saying is that we need to exercise caution when partaking in all the niceties that technology has to offer.

A state of only sick or weak people is not a state at all!

I had just inherited a suburb of Alexandra (In Johannesburg, South-Africa) and had every intention of introducing myself at an opportune time. I did not ever imagine that my first meeting would be like this.
It started a day before when I got a call from a lady that got my number from a newspaper. She informed me that residents had been without water for a day or two. I immediately passed on the complaint to a very capable official at Joburg Water, who assured me that this matter would be dealt with. She contacted me a few hours later to tell me that the technicians were on site and water would be restored. The next morning I got a call to say that water had come on for a few hours but then because of a faulty valve stopped flowing again.
I recent an email to the same person and hoped this would be the end of it. After a tip off from the Region my whip contacted me to tell me that there was a group of residents that were toy-toying (protesting) in my ward and shouting for the Councillor. She told me to take Metro Police for back-up. I laughed at the thought, thinking to myself that I would look pathetic arriving with an entourage. However when I did arrive Metro Police (JMPD) were already there with the South African Police Service (SAPS). I informed them at the road block that I was the Councillor for this ward and the one officer even asked whether I was sure I wanted to go ahead.

When I arrived I notice two ANC Councillors watching a group of teenagers and some adults dancing in protest. The burnt tyres and rocks in the road were evidence of frustration and anger – setting the tone for the hours ahead of me. I gathered everyone together and told them that I had been given an undertaking that two tankers were on their way and that water would be restored by 17:00. Then one of the leaders came forward and said why you here and why can you not speak our language. I tried to tell him that I was democratically elected to be their source of assistance to and from Council. They then started saying that I do not care about this area because I am white. I retorted that my credential spoke for themselves and that no one could ever accuse me of being a racist.
I tried to catch a glance to see where my two colleagues from the ANC were only to see that they had backtracked and were watching the crowd as if the crowd were their hired puppets.

The youth then started shouting that I am not here for black people and that I must leave. They want the ANC here and they do not need a white person making promises. I tried to tell them that I have two townships in my ward of which both get a lot of attention and will continue to get equal attention and that I plan to bring proper service delivery to the ward but then the protesting started getting louder and more aggressive and songs like “Shoot the Boer” and “Mashimiwame” were being sung and I was getting aggressive looks. People were making finger slits at their throat to warn me that they would sort me out. A few considerate people whispered in my ear that I better leave quickly.

It was at that moment that my security and political training kicked in. Security wise I knew that the danger threat was a full code Red – immediate and real!
Politically I understood that I had never faced the security police during Apartheid but I got a sense now of what dying for a cause meant. I did not want to die and I really wanted to help the community so I made a decision there and then. If I was going to die getting the water to the community and the value of my life was going to be measured on dying for the community, I had to accept the risk. I turned to the leaders looked them in the eye and said that I am staying until the water arrived.

My Chairman and good friend phoned me I told him that I was either going to die or resign. He was there seven minutes later with two other assistants. They were from the community and tried to calm the crowd down. They realized it was not going to work.

A Joburg Water official arrived and after a while informed me that water had been restored. I went and addressed the crowd and told them that water had been restored. A few residents went to check and came back furious and aggressive. They accused me of playing with them and started again in song and gesture shouting “down with the DA down and down with the Councillor down!”

The community leader came up to me and said I had thirty minutes for the water or tankers to arrive otherwise I would be sorted out. I watched a group of youths putting heavy stones in the road and branches and I knew exactly what this meant. I assessed the eight police cars and the fading light and just prayed that this water tanker that had been promised to me was on its way. I phoned the officials again and warned them that I was going to die because of their incompetence. It was then that I learnt that the tankers that were en-route had been redirected to an old age home. My luck was definitely running out.

Two busses tried to go through the barricade and the crowd starting pushing the busses and swearing at the drivers. Watching JMPD I realized I was in trouble. A van then arrived and the crowd started shaking this vehicle. At that instance I heard the sound of a police siren coming from a huge armoured vehicle with riot police. They broke through the barricade and immediately the crowd scattered. We had the police on the one side with riot gear and protestors on the other with stones and in the middle was an old lady in a wheel chair that had been swearing at me and cursing me. I ran in between the two factions and pushed the lady in her wheel chair out of harm’s way. She thanked me and turned to me and begged me to please leave for my safety.

At that moment the Joburg official came from behind and told me water was back properly as the pressure had now built up. I ran up an embankment and a group of men turned to me and said I was a lion and that this was a political set up. They said they would help me as they could see I meant well. I tried the tap and never in my life was I so appreciate of our scarce resource dripping slowly through the tap.

In the distance a water tanker arrived. A crowd gathered around the truck and called me to have the first sip. I gulped down probably a litre just from nerves and then raised my fist in the yeah and shouted “Cheers!” I finally heard clapping and cheering.

To say my heart was not visibly beating through two layers of clothing would be a lie but when the worst of the worst patted me on the back I felt the exact opposite of fear and immediately thought if this is only my twentieth day of being the Ward Councillor – what have I got in store for me?

To watch snake like formations of people stuck in queues for hours to cast their first vote, some nearing their final years of their innings, was intriguing. At that stage I was making money off the elections selling ice-creams and never in my wildest dreams did I believe that in a few years’ time, people would be queuing to vote for me too.

This week we celebrate the 17th Anniversary of our democracy in South-Africa.

At that stage I never knew the emotional and physical cost that most had endured to be able to exercise their right and I guess I never had a strong enough appreciation for the excitement at the time.

No-one can deny that the ANC was the struggle heroes of the time and no one can take that away from them. However, nearly two decades down the line I need to stress that the vote is still about freedom. The challenge is to move away from voting on race and be free to rather vote for a party based on their ability to deliver basic services and a sustainable social infrastructure.

In order to do this a voter needs to be informed and the process needs to be free and fair.

The first thing one has to ask themselves is, if in South-Africa, an election is free and fair?

A free and fair election, in my definition, is when any party has the right to stand under free and fair conditions and that the electorate have the right to vote and that the outcome of the result is accepted by all parties.

In South-Africa I would generally say that we do have free and fair elections. It would be interesting however to see the resultant change in votes if:
1. All parties were given the same resources to canvass with (monetary and media)
2. The electorate were clearly educated on the secrecy of the ballot
3. On election and registration days all polling stations had adequate resources and back up in the event of mechanical breakdowns or resources running out

The second part is the type of system we use in South-Africa. We use a hybrid system when it comes to local elections and a proportional representative system when it comes to national elections.

I think we should employ the hybrid option on both elections so that when people go out to vote they have an accountable face rather than just a party and that there are also public representatives that can focus on running the City, Province or Country in the relevant ministries. The weighting should be more towards the constituencies and less to the PR vote. In my humble opinion – 75 ward councillors to every 25 PR councillors.

Either way Government needs to get closer to the people and people need to get closer to the Government. It is a poor reflection on you and the system if you do not know who your ward Councillor is. I will forgive you for not knowing who your Member of Parliament is, although it is a pity but the system is not geared to assist in this regard.

Thirdly one then needs to understand how important their vote really is. I started by recalling the sacrifice people made to have the right to cast their vote. In Australia it is compulsory to vote. In any company the weakest position to take in a board vote is to abstain. It is no different to not casting a vote. You have a vote and you should exercise your right by casting the vote – regardless of the party or whether you spoil it you should show strength by doing so. In local elections the weight of the vote is such that your vote can mean the difference of one ward candidate coming in over another but more importantly because of the PR vote your vote can make the difference to getting another PR Councillor into Council on a party seat.
How?
Simple, on a ward vote the candidate was once decided over a flick of the coin because it was a tie. You can imagine the power of just one more voter on the day. Secondly for every number of votes that a party gets in the second ballot paper that party gets another seat in Council.

Therefore please see yourself as an important shareholder of the City with a very important vote to make and do the right thing and vote and even better encourage as many people as you know to go out and vote too!