my dear DM168 reader,
How are you? Do you feel that life is a daily drudgery and not worth getting out of bed for, or are you like a 102 year old Holocaust survivor Ella BlumenthalAnd Who thinks life is beautiful.
If you didn’t get last week’s newspaper in which this headstrong Capetonian perennial shared her life story with Carmen Clegg, and you feel like hope is a helium balloon blown up by a bad bully at your child’s or grandchild’s birthday party, here’s a reminder of some wise words from Ella that she took to heart.
“The world is so beautiful. If you look now, can you believe what a beautiful sunset? We see all the birds flying freely, we must realize that life is beautiful; no, it is more beautiful than it is. It is wonderful. We must try to enjoy every minute of it.”
Lessons in Living from a Holocaust Survivor
What kept Ella going despite the horror of the 23 members of her family massacred in the Nazi death camps?
“The love of life kept me going. Those are holy words,” she said.
amazing! How this beautiful?
We journalists, politicians, priests, PR agents, academics, business experts, scam artists, and hackers have so many words that make us live, but let’s face it, very few words are truly sacred.
Holy is an adjective that Christians might like to argue belongs only to the contents of the Bible, but it is much more than that. It includes believers and non-believers, believers of all religions or atheists.
according to Vocabulary.com, recipe sacred It comes from the Old English word Hallig It is related to the German word sacredmeaning “blessed”.
sacred Did you call me allwhat keeps us together, physically and spiritually, mentally and physically.
If we analyze the content of South African conversations in comment forums on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp, I bet we will find a lot of words, but few that make us whole.
You’ll find lies paraded as truth, attention-seeking, self-promotion, bragging, bitterness, arrogance, jealousy, anxiety, fear, bisexuality, narcissism, competitiveness, bigotry, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, interspersed among words of genuine and deep concern over one another. some.
Zama-zamas and blue light brigades serving the egos of politicians
There are two stories that made the news this week that, to me, sum up the dearth of care and the horrors of inequality in our country.
The worst is the tragic loss of 17 people who perished in Angelo Slum After a gas leak linked to large-scale illegal mining in the area.
the other was viral video On Twitter, the VIPs of Vice President Paul Machattel are shown boxing in a car, smashing its window, aiming firearms, and kicking and stomping on young men who turned out to be trained soldiers of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SANDF).
Imagine how much could be spent on solving the housing problem and the zama-zama problem if all our traditional chiefs and politicians had to ride bicycles to work.
The many dangers of illegal mining, by Zama-Zamas, as it is known, harm the most vulnerable and need to be addressed by the government and mining companies in collaboration with the communities.
Blue light brigades are just another vehicle for politicians’ arrogance. Former Police Commissioner General Khalat Sithole It was admitted in Parliament that in 2017/18, for every protected politician, there are 81 commissioned officers.
While we as citizens are robbed, raped, kidnapped, and defrauded left, right, and center, and the police departments that are meant to serve us are understaffed, it is absurd that self-serving politicians should have so many police dedicated to protecting them.
Lots of positive stories to read at DM168 this week
This week, Marianne Tham reveals how absurd South African politicians’ VIP protections add to a waste of taxpayers’ money when she shows how many presidents and prime ministers in charge of countries larger than ours avoid VIP protections, some even commuting to work every day . The government you see is supposed to be a service, not a status symbol. Imagine how much more could be spent on solving the housing problem and the zama-zama problem if all our traditional politicians and leaders had to ride bicycles to work instead of the imported luxury cars that we taxpayers pay for?
Our groundbreaking story should bring a touch of cheer to those feeling a little chilly due to the irony of winter.
Business writer Ed Stoddard met with the CEO of mining company Sibanye-Stillwater Neil Fronman To see how the business-government partnership trend is progressing in tackling crime and security.
Froneman is not a fairytale spinner, so you will be pleased to read about some very positive steps that have been taken to rein in the criminals who cost us trillions of rand annually.
In addition to this little spark of light in the dark, I have tried to dedicate to you more glimpses of truly beautiful moments of life in our country.
The opposite of greed and arrogance. Holy, holy touch. Which, says my domestic heroine, dear Ella Blumenthal, we always need.
Let me know how you are doing by writing to me at [email protected]
To you in defense of the right and a beautiful life,
Heather
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168, available nationwide for R29.
