The 2010 soccer World Cup is finally underway, and we see the whole of South Africa as well as the rest of the world united in “World cup fever”.

Prior to the World Cup, South Africa was in chaos, with the murder of Eugene Terreblanche  leader of the AWB, following some controversial “hate speech by Julius Malema: “shoot the boer”.  I believe that the 2010 soccer world cup has helped South Africans to overcome their differences and embrace and share this amazing event together. Many South Africans have put their differences aside and united in support of their nation. The 2010 soccer world cup illustrates how powerful sport can be in terms of uniting people, we have seen this in the past with the 1999 rugby world cup, where Nelson Mandela sported Francois Pienaar’s number six rugby jersey. This event was crucial in transforming South Africa from a divided nation to a unified one.

An interesting article from Slate:

From 1977 to the present, have you had sexual contact with another male, even once? You’ll have to answer that question, word for word, on a donor form if you want to give blood in this country. The form, authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and reaffirmed 10 days ago by an FDA advisory panel, offers three possible answers: “yes,” “no,” or “I am female.” If you check “yes,” you’re done. You’re forbidden to donate blood.

Why? Because, as the FDA explains, men who have had sex with men—known in the blood world as MSM—”are, as a group, at increased risk for HIV, hepatitis B and certain other infections.” To protect blood recipients from this risk, your blood must be excluded.

Maybe you fooled around with a guy 30 years ago and have spent the rest of your life as a celibate priest. Maybe you’ve been in a faithful same-sex marriage for 40 years. Maybe you’ve passed an HIV test. It doesn’t matter. You can’t give blood, because you’re in the wrong “group.” On the other hand, if you’re in the right group—heterosexuals—you can give blood despite dangerous behavior. If you had sex with a prostitute, an IV drug user, and an HIV-positive opposite-sex partner 13 months ago, you’re good to go.

Read more

I’ve just been reading Upenyu’s recent interview with Patricia McFadden, and these two parts really stood out for me:

Zimbabwe really needs a constitution, not because it’s going to give the poor rights, but because it’s like a salve, the healing balm after the fractures. It’s a site where people can come together and collectively imagine themselves as one people. To have common identity, we need that so much in Africa.

But constitutions are deceptive because they appear as though they are giving people rights, but there are no instruments that can endow you with a right. You have to struggle for a right as a collective. You have to conceptualise it, you have to imagine it you have to engage with those who control the sites where your rights are located and then you can create the possibility for that right to be not only located in the state and then the state can protect it, but you’ll also have to have access to it.

You can read and listen to the whole interview here

For fear of being massacred I would wish that this blog did not have my name but for the hope of starting a ka anti soccer society I will gladly like this blog to bear my name. I hate soccer, why on earth would grown men run around chasing a ball. Of all the things to run after a ball it’s hideous. Thank God this world cup frenzy comes once after four years. Don’t get me wrong I am glad it’s happening only next door and I have watched a match or two. That’s just the problem – I have been forced to watch these matches coz the people I live with watch the live match then the retake and the analysis never stops. What I hate the most is that everyone has got something to say; everyone thinks their point makes sense more than other people talking at the same time. OK back to the so-called sport to those that are anti soccer we could start a society. And if you are not convinced why you should join the society here are ten good reasons:

1. Soccer encourages child labor. What are all those children doing on the pitch before the match? Are they are going to be paid for standing there with those soccer players?
2. You have to keep on cheering even if your team is losing. You can’t just leave the match after paying an arm and a leg to be there.
3. What’s with soccer players thinking that soccer is the only worthwhile sport? I guess it takes skill and class to understand another sport
4. They pay the announcers to say, “Oh he runs after the ball and now he throws it.”Yes he kicks it away. I don’t get that
5. I really would like to agree with the people that say we must ban the vuvuzelaz. What’s the point of watching the game when you are almost deaf?
6. You can head the ball but you can’t use your hands?
7. The throw in all of a sudden and you can use your hands. They should make up their minds.
8. The players run for 90 minutes only to lose. Save my energy for the better!
9. The referees: so much power given to one man gives me the creeps.
10. Why is it when a player scores he runs off to celebrate on his own. Most of the time his other team members have to run after him but he keeps running away.

A week before the FIFA hoopla in South Africa began Minister of Energy Elias Mudzuri made the following announcement:

“I have directed ZESA to suspend disconnections to allow the public to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Zimbabweans have had to endure persistent power cuts for as much as 10 hours per day in some case while ZESA battles to meet demand.”

Essentially ZESA would suspend its regular programme of load shedding so that football fans would not miss the World Cup.

While I’m not a soccer fan I was happy, actually jubilant, that we would have a few more hours a day of electricity. I even considered that I might be able to take a proper hot bath, with more than a bucket of water and perhaps even some bubbles. I admit I may have misinterpreted the Ministers remarks. I thought that it would follow that those customers who had been loyal, i.e. had been paying their bills, to the power utility, would also be rewarded.

As with most promises made by politicians, this one failed and even went backwards. I have been disappointed by Ministers before. In fact I’m still recovering from the promises made to me by another Minister regarding the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe issuing radio and television licences.

In the case of ZESA, and the electricity delivered to my house, the disappointment is particularly bitter. Our loyalty as ZESA customers feels like its being violated. We paid our bills regularly, even in the confusion that followed dollarisation, the few US dollars that we had went first towards the ZESA bill, even when the meter wasn’t being read. When we had faults, we drove the ZESA people around. Under the circumstances, I think we as customers have done more than our fair share of maintaining a cordial relationship with our power utility.

Yet following the Minister’s announcement, it seems that now that we have even fewer hours if any power per day. There has been no explanation of this in the paper, and instead ZESA sees fit to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on an advertising campaign, which most notably features half a page of solid black ink. Moreover, the Minister’s statement undermines the entire purpose of the advertising campaign, and indeed ZESAs recovery. It’s simple, if you didn’t pay for the service, you shouldn’t get it. The World Cup is no exception.

Zimbabwe’s formal economy has been struggling to survive whilst the informal sector has become the key to livelihood. There seems to be a change for the better in many sectors including the fuel sector where service stations now have good stocks of the precious liquid. But black market activities have not ended completely. As one drives up to the pumps in most service stations a swarm of young boys approach you selling coupons at a price cheaper than that pump price.

One wonders how this illegal business is viable given that the fuel price is on the rise the world over? My talk to one informal trader of coupons provided a shocking revelation, which left me close to bursting with anger. He said some people have diesel coupons yet they want petrol so they negotiate an exchange with these dealers who in turn charge a fee for the deal. It also emerged that some people have easy access to coupons, which they sell at a discount on the black market. It also emerged that the key suppliers of fuel are government officials including Members of Parliament who offload thousands of liters on the black market in the form of coupons.

The vendor revealed that yesterday (17 June 2010) some of his colleagues had a fight over about 5000 liters of fuel coupons, which a certain MP had come to offload at the BP Service Station on the corner of Fourth Street and Samora Machel Avenue. The dealers normally buy one 25-litre fuel coupon at US$22 and sell at US$25. The MP is said to have come with two full books of coupons of which one is 2500 liters worth of coupons. The MP is said to have asked the boys to offer good money, and they started bidding against each other, until they could buy the two books at US$24 per coupon.

The fight and the supply of fuel is not my problem; but the problem is where do these MPs get that much of fuel to sell on the black market? It becomes suspicious especially at a time when these MPs are set to take on a big role in the constitution making process. To make the deal more suspicious the MP is reported to have refused to receive the money on the spot. Instead he offered to carry the boys to some unnamed hotel to finish the deal. The government is broke and civil servants are sacrificing themselves to work without enough take-home money. Yet the politicians are busy lining their pockets with national resources. Lately the MPs have been demanding unrealistically hefty rewards for taking part in the constitution making process.

If they get these coupons from the government, one wonders how one person is given that many coupons at once? The administration has a case to answer. It is really disappointing to note that corrupt tendencies are at the top of the government. How will we heal the economy when the healing system comprises rotten elements? The first healing step is to bring these elements to book. Who then should lead the investigation and the arrest of these people?