Our new society was founded on the basis of human dignity, good faith and freedom for all. Our Constitution upholds the highest of moral conduct in our country and promotes human rights on a scale envied by developed countries. This is not my opinion - this is a fact which is taught over and over again in law school. The issue in this country is the implementation of these morals and in protecting these human rights. A piece of paper means nothing when compared to the physical action of our representatives.
Just this afternoon I read another article which disappointed me even more in our current government. Now our taxpayers' money must go into changing the name of Pretoria to Tshwane - a foolish, unnecessary move which Dr Pieter Mulder suggests is politically motivated.
Irrespective of the motivation behind this proposed change, one cannot but question the thinking behind such a thing. If it is repeatedly mentioned in parliament time and time and time again how jobs need to be created, the police force needs funding, people need homes, then what on Earth could be a substantial reason for changing a city's name? The implications are massive - signs need changing, letterheads need changing, the international community needs to change the name, atlases and maps, textbooks, etcetera, etcetera. What kind of human being can possibly justify this gross expense in light of more prevelent issues?
Simply, the issue is not purely on a government level. Have you noticed the number of brand new BMW's driving on pothole-ridden streets in a worldwide recession, or the renovations made to the mansions of fat cat policy-makers? Just the other day I was informed by a university professor that a fantastic R40 million a year is allocated to the royal house of the Zulu king. The comment she made was, "What kind of human being lives in a house worth that kind of money?" That kind of budget harms taxpayers little by little every year in achieving the sole purpose of our hard-earned money.
It's not even as if gross amounts of money like this are invested correctly - they're spent on an array of material, socially useless items. Plasma televisions cannot cure AIDS and nor can they solve our fundamental issues.
It is hard for me to remember a time when the ANC government was not in governance. The regime before was morally corrupt as well. I was, however, under the impression that our new dispensation wasn't going to follow in the footsteps of their enemies and destroy our society further.
It concerns me how society at large condones this. I don't see anyone shaking the foundations of parliament to put an end to this unnecessary waste of potential and those that do, keep ordering for "probes" into ministerial affairs. Probes don't yield positive results - we need action. I cannot believe that I am living in a world where cellphones are prioritised over basic commodities. I suppose, though, from what I've learned from my life in this country, is that the logical explanation doesn't exist and reason is seen only by those who choose to wake up in the morning.
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