SA Rocks

And this it is:

I am still not 100% convinced that I LOVE the new brand, but it’s clean, simple and definitely stands out enough to catch an eye.

What do you think?

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Ed’s note: Today’s blog is yet another great sumbission from a reader! I like the idea and in essence the below does what SA Rocks is trying to do, we just use different media to portray a message.

Here’s a video to see in the post:

Dear SA Rocks,

I dont know if you have heard about this but it seems like there aren’t many South African events on this day.I am not even sure if any of the South African TV channels are broadcasting it.

Pangea Day taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion while uniting millions of people to create a better future.

In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it’s easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that – to help people see themselves in others – through the power of film.

On May 10, 2008 – Pangea Day – venues in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro will be linked to produce a 4 hour program of power films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.

More importantly, the program will be broadcast live to the world through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones.

Of course, movies alone can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can. So following May 10, 2008, Pangea Day organizers will facilitate community-building activities around the world connecting inspired viewers with numerous organizations which are already doing groundbreaking work.

Please take a look at the following videos for more information. I have also created a facebook group for South Africa.

How the idea was born

You tube Vids

Pangea Day

Kenya Sings For India

Japan for Turkey

Main Web Site

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I just found out that SA Rocks has been nominated in the international blog awards, the Best of the Blogs (BOBs)!

I think it is pretty cool. I am not really sure who else is nominated or involved but I am happy to be on the list of potentials!

Now I have been told that voting is a bit difficult so my request is that you stick with it and get through it and support SA Rocks!

Visit the BOBs to see who else is doing what. Then you can vote for this blog.

Voting is not open yet:

2. Participation in the Voting Competition
Users have from Oct. 22 to Nov. 15, 2007 to examine the nominated Weblogs and to vote for their favorites. During the decision phase, a voter lottery will also take place. After casting a vote users are offered the chance to register for the voter lottery. The voter lottery prize winner will be chosen after the awarding of the contest and announced on the BOBs Web site. Deutsche Welle employees and jury members are prohibited from participation in the voting lottery.

I’ll let everyone know when voting opens and then you can get to the BOBs and vote for your favourite!

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The statue of Nelson Mandela stands loud and proud next to Winston Churchil and Abraham Lincoln right in Parliament Square in England.

The statue looks great, in fact it looks better than the rubbish statue in Sandton Square. Gordon Brown allegedly noted that Mandela is the greatest leader of our time. What a phenomenal achievement for the greatest leader that SA has ever seen (Sorry Thabo).

I really don’t understand why here in SA we can only manage to put a statue up of the man in a shopping centre, but in England he gets a statue in a relevant area like Parliament Square. Go figure. Then to make up for our poor showing of a statue we decide to call every street, bridge, nook and cranny “Nelson Mandela” whatever.

Here’s the video of the unveiling from Zoopy:

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It seems as though SA is not the only nation “struggling” with its citizens flying to other countries and not returning.

According to a BBC report* approximately 385 000 people left the UK over that past year. Of those 385 000, 196,000 were British citizens while 189,000 were “long-term migrants” who had been living in the UK for more than a year.

This is really interesting to me. I love travelling and I admire people who can travel on an ongoing basis because it is a secret desire of mine – drop everything and everyone and just travel – to do so.

With that said, my question is as follows: Is immigration an SA trend recently or is the world suffering from a growing of consciousness?

I am really of the mind that the world is a smaller place, as many people that have left SA in the last ten years have probably also realised. There have also been other people leaving many other nations in search of something. Not greener pastures, not bluer skies, just that something that they think they need.

It has also fast become a name, shame and blame contest here in SA. I think that many people (sometimes myself included) forget how small the world is and forget that some peopler (read: many people) want to experience the world outside of their own country.

Countries for me are like religion, you are born in to one, you do not choose it. But why not? Why not just choose one, go over, get a visa, becoem a citizen and stay? I think there are many arguments relating to this topic and exactly why we need people to stay but I don’t want to get in to them.

All I am saying is that as someone who is passionately and sometimes ignorantly patriotic I need to step back and remember that the world is a smaller place that I think it is. And people have the right to travel, to come, to go, to leave or stay and they probably will choose to do so if they are given the choice.

*Article via Paul from Chillibean.

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Tea and Biltong with the Queen:

In my last column I wrote about isolation versus belonging, and missing the feeling of being part of the bigger picture, a contributing member of an exciting society. I’m cheating a little with this article as it’s not so much about what I miss but rather a continued look at this attitude I described previously.

Now, I’ll concede that South Africa is still a rather divided nation in some sectors, but I do think this is diminishing, especially with the younger generations – for all the reasons I gave here. Racism is something I now tend to associate with older people – products of apartheid who refuse to (for several reasons) change the way they see the world and how they treat people. When I encounter racist youth I am always pretty surprised, and saddened, but I do think these people are the exception rather than the rule.

These racists are both white and black, and the very nature of racism is that it defies logic so you cannot reason it away. I find it very hard to accept this and often “take the bait” and try to make people realise the falsity of what they believe, but in my most rational moments I must accept that this is a losing battle.

With that little disclaimer above, I will say that I believe the over-riding attitude in South Africa is one of amazing optimism. We have so much to overcome, but we were recently found to be the 7th most business-optimistic country in the world, according to a report by Grant Thornton. Other reports suggest that finances rather than ethnicity is now the major deciding factor in terms of where we choose to live – and while divisions in wealth are not a good thing, they are more easily overcome in a growing economy as ours than racial tensions.

If you’ll forgive the bastardisation of a cliché – we now have a South African dream. Unlike the original (read: american) version, this is not a dream of being handed everything on a platter – this dream is not about a land of excess and easy rides. I think the nation dreams of “just rewards” and that my children will compete against yours in a fair world. That is a pretty respectable dream, in my view.

The following quote is taken from an old (2004) BBC article on change in South Africa:
“Where things have changed for the better – where houses have been built, where black people now feel free to go anywhere they choose – this is often taken for granted.
Where things have not changed – where people remain unemployed or live in terror of crime – there is a deep scepticism whether any political party has either the ability or the will to do anything about it. ”

I think this duality of the public opinion of the time is very well expressed, but I would add to this to bring it up to date. We are a nation waking up to personal responsibility and power, we are no longer asking for solutions to be given, but striving for them ourselves. I see this everywhere: in expats marching in London, in various protests and demonstration all over South Africa, in internet discussion forms and websites, in politicians increasingly panicked attempts to explain themselves.

I guess where I see involvement, other may see unrest and dissatisfaction, but I invite them to don a pair of (lightly) rose tinted glasses and get out on the streets (peacefully) or get vocal about our concerns. Action must lead to action.

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Apparently the positivity that exudes from SA Rocks is reaching the higher levels of the media!

According to cnn.com SA’s public broadcaster is launching SABC International with the goal of challenging the media stereotypes surrounding Africa.

Fantastic and about time too. I must admit I don’t know how this is going to turn out in the long or even short run. The SABC has had some questionable incidents this year and in the past regarding media freedom and the like. But nonetheless I think this is a great step forward for the development and altering of Western perception of Africa.

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Tea and Biltong with the Queen: No, it is not the same as Beef Jerky!

I’ve written in previous columns about the distinct feeling of isolation I’ve experienced as a legal alien in the UK, and I’m starting to believe that it’s not so much the addition of a new feeling (isolation) but the removal of a feeling I had at home (belonging). This may seem like a strange thing to say as a South African, but at home I felt part of something – both a movement and a people – and it’s weird to think that I identify more with South Africans from a multitude of cultures, than I do with the British (my ancestral home).

Recently, with the floods in England, I felt an increase of national spirit from the locals here in the UK – sometimes a little adversity will do that. And it reminded me, firstly, that I am not at home here, and, secondly, how great it is to feel like you’re contributing, that you belong and are part of a greater whole. If press coverage of SA is to be believed, there seems to be a similar process happening at home.

It has been thirteen years since the first democratic election in SA. Thirteen years is actually not a long time. The problems we have in SA are going to take generations (yes, generations! Plural!) to fix but we must acknowledge how far we have come, and above all, not cease to strive. This means vote, protest, and foster equal opportunities.

There used to be a feeling of “jump ship” when faced with crime and unemployment in South Africa, now it’s more of a “dig in and get your hands dirty” vibe. Don’t believe me? How about the increase in websites like “SA Good News”, “Homecoming Revolution” and “Crimeline”? How about increased coverage of crime against the poorer sectors of our communities? People worry that more crime stories mean more crime, but often they mean more effective police work and increased awareness. This reflects a change in our collective attitude as South Africans.

It is a very exciting time for South Africa. The afro-pessimists will scream that its scary, sad, chaotic, but I see a full generation of people who attended integrated schools, who know of Mandela as a free man, who’ve escaped the economic isolation of the 80’s, who can travel and compete in international sport. We’re a people who have won the begrudging respect of our international peers, whose constitution is often lauded as the best in the world, who aren’t travelling just to escape, but for travel’s sake.

Yesterday I ran into the members of the Soweto Gospel Choir just walking down the street in Edinburgh. They’ve arrived for the Edinburgh Arts Festival, I guess, and although I was rushing in the opposite direction, and don’t know any of them from Adam, I couldn’t help myself yelling “Molweni” as I passed, to which they happily responded, and those few quick phrases exchanged in Xhosa made me happier than I’d been all week. I felt like I had met people I could identify with for the first time in months.

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I just read on Mike’s blog that Afrigator has been featured at number 20 on the Business 2.0 Magazines’ (CNN Money web’s) top 31 non-US sites to watch!

What a brilliant achievement for SA and this amazing group of guys!

The Afrigator team is not sleeping though and are well aware of their local competition that has international appeal:

That said, we have not been sleeping – we know full well Amatomu is a killer service with outstanding features – rest assured that exciting things are in the pipeline.

Isn’t Justin just so handsome? And he’s an SA Rocks contributor!

Afrigator features amongst a long list of highly impressive international websites such as OhmyNews and Joost.

Lets hope that Afrigator takes the international community by storm and achieves the breakthroughs that the SA market needs!

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I am not in the business of bashing South Africans in London. I love London and respect those who have been and are over there for their efforts. But some of the time I am frustrated by the attitude that some of the expacts (can you call them that?) pick up when over there.

I was recently pointed to a Facebook group started by South Africans (Saffers as they are called over there) living in London. This group intends to stage a protest in London against crime in SA. Agreed, crime is an issue. An undeniable issue. But could someone tell me what good it will do ANYONE to stage a protest on another continent?

I am a firm believer, as I have stated numerous times on this blog, in staying and fighting for what you hold dear. I hold this country close to my heart and thus I stay and I try my best to build it up and fix it in my little ways. In my humblest of opinions, the little bit that I do here in SA is more than 10 000 Saffers can do in London walking the streets in protest of crime in their “home” country.

Do everyone in SA a favour and come back. If you feel so passionately about the situation here then come back and try to better it. Running away and staging a protest over there is not doing anyone any good. In theory the idea is grand, majestic and admirable. In practice it falls flat due to the fact that these people have left the country they are protesting for.

The protest is being organised in support for those who have been influenced by crime, lost someone they love or support the cause. It is tragic when someone dies due to crime in SA. I agree. And the cause is one worth fighting for. However I believe that if you want to fix things your actions will speak louder than your words across the world.

Wouldn’t it be phenomenal if every South African abroad returned and made a stand. Returned and organised a protest gathering here, in SA, at our capital. Maybe we should get HomeComingRevolution involved and see what the think?

I am interested to know what everyone else thinks about this so please comment and let me know.

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