Ponderings of the Man from Mpofana...

In the news :  Forty-four young Ethiopian men were found locked inside a Sandton house - starving, cold & kept in darkness. Police believe they were trafficked & that their captors demanded up to R50 000 for each victim’s release. Ethiopian men believed to be in SA illegally were found locked in a Parkmore house. Trapped in two rooms, some needed medical help. The trafficker ran before security arrived.  I think there are more illegal immigrants in South Africa than officials would care to count.  We've even heard of hoardes of illegal immigrants from Europe being hidden in the Western Cape & Cape Town.  Ethiopians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis & Somalians are among the most trafficked people to South Africa & it's always just men. I have not seen a single Somalian, Ethiopian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi woman in South Africa but dozens of Somalian males. This is how forced ethnic dilution happens & how race replacement happens. The same ...

South Africa has always had good athletes. Upon our first inclusion into the Olympics after Apartheid, we won the defining event of the ancient Olympics - the marathon. We've had above-average middle distance runners in past but today, we have a generation of really fast guys across many events. Akani Simbine & Wayde van Niekerk being the faces of the recent sprinting renaissance in South Africa.  The relay mentality :  As much as there's chaos & anarchy in South Africa, there are pockets of order. This is why we rarely fuddle simple tasks. Our army for example, isn't the best in Africa but we get some small basic things right. And if you can get small basic things right, you can do surprisingly well. And this is why relays are almost perfect for South Africa. We are seldom wasteful because we don't often have the luxury of plenty & relays are about efficiency as much as they are about speed. That switch between athletes in a race can cost you or save you a ...

I've heard some people quoting from King Shaka's praises claiming that he was "like the sun" therefore light-skinned. But I'd like to ask how comparisons with the sun equate with being light-skinned? If anything, if King Shaka was light-skinned, they'd compare him to something terrestrial like the colour of a cow hide, wood or other object because very few extraterrestrial objects have the colour of any human skin. Even white people are called "ondlebe zikhanya ilanga" ('those who have translucent ears") & not  "abakhanya okwelanga" ("those who shine like the sun"). King Shaka's mother was from Elangeni & there is the Langa clan in KZN, all of them are black with many being exceptionally dark-skinned so I don't think the comparisons comparing King Shaka with the sun have anything to do with his complexion. Even the whites who first saw him & drew him wrote that he was dark & fairly tall. I also don...

South Africa is mainly three types of voters :  • Those who want major reforms & decolonization. About 60% of the population. These guys want nuclear, they want South Africa to win & win now. They believe South Africa is invincible & the best on the continent. The want land reform & majority (i. e. black) rule. Proud Marxists. • Those who want to keep the status quo. About 35% of the population. These are suburban blacks, Indians & wealthier whites. • Those who believe South Africa should adopt more Western ideals. About 20 to 25% of the population. Poorer whites, black millionaires, most coloureds & a section of blacks who believe in Westernizing South Africa. The educated, older upper-class of the black population is at times like this.  Fringe tribal nationalists/black conservatives are a maximum 5% of the total SA population.  Far right whites are no more than 2% of the population but are often the loudest when expressing discontentment. The...

You were born in your traditional homestead in a traditional hut. I imagine because of lack of modern medicine, the likelihood of obtaining disease or dying would've been increased.  As a toddler you eat smaller versions of what the adults eat & coarse maize or sorghum porridge.  In your teens, a lady may be married off & a male may join regiments & start considering starting his own family so you'd get circumcised.  After 21 years or adulthood, you would've been married (or a commoner i. e. permanent regiment, herdboy, hunter or messenger). Your wives plough the fields, you or your sons look after your livestock, you hunt & watch for predators & hostile invaders. You would pay tribute to an elder chief or king of the region in meetings with them & ceremonies like "first fruits" festivals.  You would likely not reach old age as there was lack of modern medicine.  During periods of war, the local chief or king may require your service for ...

National teams really cheat themselves & sell themselves short at times by not selecting their best players. In the football world;  • Benni McCarthy not playing for South Africa in the 2010 FIFA World Cup,  • Clarence Seedorf not playing in his prime at several international tournaments for the Netherlands,  • Ruud van Nistelrooy not being included for the 2010 FIFA World Cup  • Romario not being selected for the 2002 FIFA World Cup & a whole lot more exceptional players that were just not selected for their national teams.  This self-inflicted injustice also happens in the basketball world with the most notable instances being the USA & Serbia. Serbia recently won bronze in the 2024 Olympics & silver in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023. The Serbia team included some notable exclusions for both tournaments, the USA amended their selection faults & won gold at the 2024 Olympics but we can only wonder what could've happened if Serbia sel...

Here are the top 30 most spoken languages in the world , based on the latest available data: Top 30 Languages by Number of Speakers - 1. English: 1.5 billion speakers     - Native speakers: 380 million     - Second language speakers: 1.12 billion - 2. Mandarin Chinese: 1.2 billion speakers     - Native speakers: 941 million     - Second language speakers: 199 million - 3. Hindi: 609 million speakers     - Native speakers: 345 million     - Second language speakers: 264 million - 4. Spanish: 560 million speakers     - Native speakers: 484 million     - Second language speakers: 76 million - 5. Arabic: 422 million speakers     - Native speakers: 313 million     - Second language speakers: 109 million - 6. French: 321 million speakers     - Native speakers: 74 million     - Second language speakers: 247 million - 7. Bengali: 284 million speakers     - Nat...