Let's compare! NL vs SA (part 1)

NL = the Netherlands SA= South-Africa

- In SA you can drink water from a little stream in a forest, in NL you will die, get sick, if not people will think you're crazy anyway
- DON'T put your degree on your business card in NL, they will think you are showing off, but please do in SA, so people will know you actually had an education
- In NL you obey all the rules, in SA just the ones you like
- Bribing a policeman in NL is stupid, in SA it's smart
- Don't expect crispy chips in SA, don't expect soggy ones in NL
- When a man says 'yes' in NL it is 'yes', when a guy says that in SA it can mean 'yes', change to a 'no', then to a 'yes' again and end up in a 'no'
- When women say 'yes' in NL and SA it means 'no'
- In SA there is a stunning view every 30 km, in NL there are none
- In NL it's summer for 5 weeks in year, in SA it's 5 months
- Get an expensive car in NL and people will frown upon you for showing off, in SA it's still showing off, but people think will you deserve it

If you have any suggestions concerning this topic, please leave a comment!

Meet the Boer bull

This is the Boer bull. A gigantic dog created during the eighties in the lab of dr. Wouter Basson a.k.a Dr. Death. It is a guard dog breeded specially for "south-african circumstances" or so the add said in those days, in other words; the dog had to protect the whites from the blacks. The advertisement slogan worked very well, because the boer-bull was quite popular among Afrikaners.

A town as in a Western

Empty dusty streets, a dog barking in the distance and some Coca Cola cans being blown around in the wind. This is the town of Sutherland at 10.30u on a Sunday morning. We arrive in our bakkie (pick-up truck) in the search for some coffee and petrol, but everything is closed. The lights at the two bed&breakfasts are off and the gasstation is locked up tightly. There is a sign thats says that it will be open on Sundays from 11.30-12.00u. We drive around the couple of streets until we finally see some movement in one of the guesthouses. No, no coffee or breakfast on Sundays, the maid says, we are closed on Sunday. If we want food we should go to Andres Kaffee on the other side of town. But he will only open his store at 11 o'clock, after church. What about petrol? There is one gas station here and it will also open after church, she says. Of course, that explains the remarkable trading hours. We drive towards Andres Kafee. A handful of people is already waiting. Here and there groups of people appear in the streets. Aha, church must be out! A minute later the door of the Kaffee is openend. It turns out to be a small supermarket, which gets it Kafee-status from a little corner where it sells some pastries. Not on Sundays though. Our hopes for a cup of coffee are shattered and we get some water and crackers. At the gas station there's a small queue of cars. Apparently more people take advantage of the half an hour of trading. We wait for the guy to fill up our bakkie. Yes, he accepts credit cards, only he doesn't really know how to work the card-machine. We show him, get into bakkie and drive off to the nearest town. Hopefully in a 120 km we will be able to get some coffee.

A beautiful day

We spent the day at one of the best places on earth. It was at "Die Strandloper" (the beachwalker) in Langebaan. That is a restaurant where you spend the whole day eating fish, walking around, swimming and drinking. You bring your own booze and they get you food. And what food that is! It started with mussels, gigantic ones, they make the ones in Holland look like shrimps, after that grilled fish, followed by a fish paella, crab/crayfish, snoek, angel fish... I'm problably forgetting something. Between all the fish you could eat as much freshly baked bread with homemade marmalade and real butter as you liked. Wow. And everything was cooked right under your nose; the fish on the braai, the stews in the black iron pots and the bread in old round ovens heated by wood. Even the guy who played guitar wasn't annoying, as those restaurant musicans usually are. He gave the place a nice relaxed athmosphere. What a day is has been..............

The cure for AIDS

Source: South African Minister of Health Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang

Every day is childrens day!

Today is another Holiday in South-Africa. It is Human Rights Day. A day only celebrated after the apartheid-era (of course, ha). They choose March 21, because on that date in 1960 there was a big demonstration against the stupid Pass Laws, under which black people couldn't move around without having a document that stated that they were working in a certain region. The demonstration ended in a bloodbath. 67 people were killed. The event became known as Sharpeville, named after the place where the demonstration was held.

SA has a bit too much Holidays if you ask me. There are twelve. Although this year there was one more, because voting day (march 1) was declared a Holiday as well. Of course that pissed most of the businesses of, because no work means no money. But the government thinks that there are people out there who need a whole day to cast their vote.

The list is:

New Year's Day [1 January] Human Rights Day [21 March] Good Friday Family Day (Easter Monday) Freedom Day [27 April] Worker's Day [1 May] Youth Day [16 June] National Women's Day [9 August] Heritage Day [24 September] Day of Reconciliation [16 December] Christmas [25 December] Day of Goodwill [26 December]

The Day of Reconcilliation was also celebrated during apartheid, but then it was called Gelofte Dag. On this day the Afrikaners remembered the victory of 150 boers over 2000 Zulus at a place now called Bloodriver. The battle was a result of land negotiations turned sour when the Zulu's didn't keep their end of the bargain. The Afrikaners thought is was Gods will that they (with the guns) won and the others (with the speers) lost, so they made a Holiday out of it called Gelofte Dag or the Day of the Covenant.
As you can see every family member has his or her own holiday. The women, the children/youth, the worker or provider and the Family as a whole.
I remember Mother's Day back in Holland. Every year I would ask my mother; when is it finally childrens day? Every day!, she would always say, which frustrated me big time. I am happy for the South-African children that they actually have a REAL one, because it means one day less of school.

(pictures courtesy of Herman Warnich)

Upstairs, Downstairs

In all the restaurants I have been to, the kitchen personnel is black and the customers and the waiters are white. For my South-African friends these observations sometimes are getting a bore, but I can't help it. The traces of apartheid are still everywhere. There is no way getting around it. Black means poor and white means rich (besides a few exceptions). Blacks work for shitty wages in the kitchen (150 euro a month) and whites consume.
It's not just the money that's causing the gap, it's the whole lifestyle. The other day I was in a black township and suddenly there was a neighbourhood of really nice houses. " That's the middle class area", my (black) companian explained. And I realised that a lot of black people don't necessarily aim to live in white neighbourhoods, but that they wanna live in the better parts of the townships. These areas are so big, that they are cities on their own with poor, middleclass and rich parts. Deep down I've always believed that black people wanna live in the white and better parts of the cities (this often goes hand in hand). It's part of my ideal image of South-Africa, where in years to come white and black will be living next door to each other, children of all colours playing in the streets together, black guys borrowing a drill from their white neighbour and actually returning it. I guess I have a dream. But the more time I spend in this country the more I start to believe that that will never happen, that there will always be a " white" and a "black" South-Africa. I just hope that in the years to come black doesn't automatically mean poor.

A Declaration of Love

You never let me down

No wish stays unfulfilled
The choices you give me are superb
You're taste is even better

I never met anyone like you

You make everything so easy
Wether it's just me or a group

You're always there to give me the best

Everything seems to stay fresh like a spring-morning

as if I only got it yesterday
It's hard to tell you what I like the most about you
The list is just too long


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DEAD

Everyday three children are murdered in South-Africa. That means that today it could be these three boys.
I also wanted to publish a picture with the number of women that gets raped everyday. But I don't have a photograph with that many women in it. Every ten minutes one gets raped, so that means a 144 each day. Try to fit those in one picture!

You've got AIDS, ha ha ha

An employee of the South-African bloodbank told one of the blood donors that she was HIV-positive as a joke.
The 19-year woman said the employee phoned her on her mother's cellphone on Tuesday. "He said it was the blood bank and he had very bad news: I was HIV positive," she said. "I was utterly shocked and burst into tears, and said it couldn't be true. Then he said it wasn't really true, he just wanted to see how I'd react if he said something like that."
The guy has been suspended.

Hard Times

How's your husband doing?, we ask the 50 something white woman we meet at the airport. She sighs. Times are hard. He's being retrenched at work. This is a fancy word for getting fired to make space for a black or coloured person. (There is some kind of financial plan included, though.) Her husband is 53 years old and has been working at the same company for almost 30 years. Now he has to go. The (white) people at our table are all outraged by this prospect. It's unfair, they say. I don't wanna be this foreign I-know-it-better, but I am not sure what to think. The apartheidsregime caused so much inequality. There has to be some kind of plan to give black and coloured people in South-Africa a chance for a better life. If they don't force change, the jobs will stay in white hands for years to come. But when it's you who's getting fired, I totally understand that you are angry.
It's sad, that a new form of discrimination has to undo the wrongs of the old form of discrimination.

After the drinks we leave and wish the lady well. She needs it, she says, because she's not sure if she will be able to get her husbands Mercedes E-class out of the narrow parking.

Aren't you married yet?

If I had a rand...I mean a euro, everytime somebody in South-Africa asked me if I am going to get married soon, I would have been soooo rich.
I am 27 years old and have been together with my (South-African) boyfriend for 17 months. In the Netherlands that means that you won't be getting married for years, here it is exactly the opposite. My initial response is always that I am still very young, but the faces of the people who pop the question tell me otherwise. The next logical step in conversations like this is the kids-issue. When and how many? Right, how do I tell people who think I already should have been married, that I consider myself still a kid and that up until the age of 34 I'm not even considering it?Anyway, marriage is big here and I must admit South-Africa is the cut-out-place to do it. People are getting married on Game farms, Wine estates and in the Drakensberg. That is so much better than the dark, smokey room behind the local pub where the Dutch tend do it. The only good thing about that being the continuous stream of booze. When your glass is half empty you will already be getting a re-fill. And believe me, at some Dutch weddings you are very, very, very grateful for that. The picture of the blossoming bride in this post was taken at the Twelve Apostels Hotel in Cape Town. She was celebrating the most beautiful day of her life inside a building. I must admit - I don't get that all. The beach or the winelands are just a stones' throw away, why not there? But maybe I should hold my tongue until I decide to tie the knot myself.

It was unprotected

Finally the most important question has been answered. Did Zuma use a condom while raping/having sex with the HIV- positive AIDS-activist? Yes, it was unprotected, he admitted in court.
This case has been dominating the papers for months now. Former vice-president Jacob Zuma was charged with rape of the woman (31) at the end of last year. He says it was with her consent.
The first week of court hearings is over and it was dirty. Zuma is quite a notorious figure. (he also has to appear in court for corruption) Everywhere he goes he draws a crowd of fans and one of foes. His supporters have burnt pictures of the alleged victim and attacked a money transport vehicle outside a bank at the court. Well, since you're there, why not make the most of it? The people who are against him, say that it's amazing that the former vice-president of their country is charged with the two crimes that occur the most in South-Africa: rape and corruption.
Newspapers have been writing pages full about this trial, but ever since the beginning I have been wondering if he did it (whatever it was) safe or not? It is publicly known that she has AIDS, so it is one of the first questions on everyone's wants to know. Now we do.

Oh no! Not here too....

One of the things I don't miss from the Netherlands are those dreadful bachelor parties that would hit Amsterdam on a regular basis. Grooms-to-be forced by their buddies to wear a monkey-constume sweat their way through the last minutes of freedom. For some reason the "friends" always find it more amusing than the guy in the suit.
Yesterday I went to watch a Rugby game in a bar and turns out: they have the same stuff here. Look at Obelix in the picture. First I thought he was hired by the bar as a mascot or something. It was a bar with 350 kinds of Belgium beer, so it could have been. But then I noticed the drunk guys next to him with a vile smile on their faces. That can only mean one thing; a bachelor party. But he wasn't the only one. An hour later this groom walked in on his slippers. Read what's on his shirt and guess how many times he got lucky. And of course where there are grooms there are also brides. I have one request for bachelor parties to come. The costumes can stay, but please, please don't ever take your friend the last night he/she is on the loose to Durbanville! Anything is better then that. It is ok to live there. Nice and safe for the kids, affordable houses, lots of parking, fine for the occasional Rugby game on a big screen, but to party....I don't think so. Let me give some cross-references for the people who are not from SA: Durbanville is the Almere of Amsterdam, the New Jersy of New York and the Saint Denis of Paris. How much fun is that?

Cinderella-story: a poor white girl from Holland

I am previously disadvantaged!
That is a politically correct term for people who suffered under the apartheids regime, so that basically means everyone who lives in a slum or on the streets. I can hear you thinking; how does a white girl from the Netherlands who just started living here all of a sudden becomes prev.disadvanced? Well, thank you for asking.
I found it out the other day when I made some inquieries about a job at a newspaper here in South-Africa. As a foreigner it's quite a hassle to get a job in this country because of working permits and because there is affirmative action. That's another politically correct term meaning positive discrimination for black people.
Anyway, the conversation with the paper went like this (after asking for the right person)
L(that's me): Hello, I am calling about the job. Is it a problem that I am Dutch?
The right person (TRP): Not that I know of.
L: Is it a problem that I am white and female?
TRP: Well, we look at one's capabilities before anything else, but besides you are female so that makes you partly previously disadvantaged. That works in your advantage.
There you have it. Because the apartheidsregime treated anyone who wasn't white and male more or less like shit, I now have a better chance of getting a job here. Isn't that great?! I must admit that after this I look differently at the poor black people on the streets. I feel a connection. I understand their struggle. Just to give you an idea of how hard it is for the previously disadvantaged in this country I inclose some pictures of the houses these people live in. Try to see if you can pick the one I live in.

Black, black, black

And then everything went black and i couldn't do anything anymore.....black house, black city and black computerscreen....
For the last three weeks we are experiencing the most awful powercuts in Cape Town. Not just one that lasts for three hours, gets fixed and doesn't occur anymore, oh no..... These powercuts happen every day and last for about 4 to 8 hours a day. The sudden boost of electricity when the power gets switched back on made our television screen pink and worst of all; made the computer crash. Everything gone! Pictures, word-documents, you name it, we lost it!
The reason for all of this is one broken powerplant and one that can't supply the demand for power on it's own. The shortage will last until June.
The economic damage is huge. The total estimated loss is already 1 billion rand (134 million euro) and that doesn't include the money I paid to get my laptop fixed! But besides from the business-losses there where other hardships to endure i.e. it's 20.00u, you're about to put your rented DVD on (a brand new release you actually fought for in the videostore) and FLOOP! there goes the power, or what to think about not being able to get the one Big Mac you allow yourself to have that year because the doors of the MacDonalds can't open, or being a student and wanting to get a nice cool drink after a boring lecture by candlelight and the cafe's can't open their shields (see picture).
What can one do? Play a game, read by candlelight or have sex. The last picture shows you with what option we went.

Still counting...(updated)

I can't give an outcome of the local elections yet. The counting still continues. Although it looks like 49% of the voters went to cast their vote. Not a very high score for a country that has a democracy for only eleven years. The ANC has won most of the town and cities, but Cape Town is yet indecisive. The latest news is that the ballots of 500 stations still have to be count here.


PS (March 9, 2006) Surprise, surprise...the ANC has won the elections!
Nationwide they got 70,3% of the vote. The biggest opposition party Democratic Alliance (DA) got 13,8 and the Inkatha Freedom Party from Chief Buthelezi got 4,2%.
Cape Town had a quite remarkable outcome. The DA won the city by getting 41,85% of the votes. The ANC " only" got 37,91%. The difference between the nationwide outcome and the local one in Cape Town can be explained by the fact that the DA got a lot of the coloureds to vote for them. There are a lot of coloured* people in Cape Town (and the rest of the Western Cape province) in comparision to the rest of the country. They are not happy with the ANc anymore, because they seem to cater more for the black people then the coloured.

*This basically includes everyone who isn't downright black or white or Indian: a mixture of malay, indian, white, black and people who descend from the indigenous San or Khoikhoi people.

"You are a racist!"." No, YOU are a racist!!!"

It is local Election day and the pot is calling the kettle black. The ANC supposedly only helps the blacks and opposition party DA only has the interests of the whites and a couple of coloureds at heart.
For weeks the mud wrestling has been going on in the newspapers. Especially here in Cape Town it is bad, because the DA (Democratic Alliance) can actually win the elections here; in contrast to almost every other city or village in this country.
"Take back your city" is says on one of the DA posters (or " Vat Oor" in Afrikaans). Take it back from who?, one ANC-member asked himself in the paper; from the blacks? That would be racism. No, WE are not racists, the DA replies. The ANC is racist. They don't give equal opportunities to coloured people, who also suffered from apartheid. And so on, and so on......
In the meantime I wonder if the majority of the voters are actually interested in this. They just want the free houses that were promised them eleven years ago, and the toilets and the electricity. Lots of people in townships still have to use buckets as toilets, which they probably have to search for in the dark because electricity hasn't reached their shacks made of cardboard and iron yet.