Nkandla is where it's at
YOU HAVE to see the big picture. It might seem extravagant to spend R600 million on a tarred road to President Zuma's home at Nkandla, in deep rural Zululand - but you do need a tarred road leading to an airport.
Airport? Yes, that's the next phase in this infrastructural development – a new international airport at Nkandla.
Who will it serve? It will be the stepping-off point for thousands of Sharks rugby fans, there to support their team.
Rugby at Nkandla? Yes, that's to be the new HQ of rugby in KwaZulu-Natal, located in a giant stadium whose plans are still with the architects.
That's just rugby. An even bigger football stadium is to be built just across the road for club and international events.
And the new airport will also serve a constant traffic to and from the International Cricket Council, which is to relocate to Nkandla from Dubai. There will also be regular test matches, ODIs and T20 spectaculars at the Nkandla Oval (on which work is due to begin sometime next year), which will draw huge crowds from around the world.
And, of course, there are lots of Zuma relatives to keep the airport turnstiles clicking throughout the year.
So far we have looked at just the sports aspect of development at Nkandla. On the cultural front, a new opera house is to be built, eclipsing what we already have in Pretoria. Nkandla is about to become the cultural capital of the world.
All this will be matched by financial infrastructure. The Nkandla Stock Exchange will take over from Johannesburg, while it is considered a near-certainty that the World Bank will relocate to Nkandla from New York.
And, of course, there are the security concerns. A squadron of fighter aircraft will be stationed at the new international airport; an artillery battery will be placed at Ntunjambili, opposite the Zuma homestead; and one of the submarines will be brought by flatbed truck from Simonstown for deployment in the Tugela.
You have to see the big picture.
River Kwai
A FORMER British soldier who was tortured by the Japanese while he was a prisoner of war working on the infamous Burma Railway has died at the age of 93. What makes the story of Eric Lomax really extraordinary is that long after the war he sought out and forgave the Japanese individual who had tortured him.
The Japanese himself had suffered nightmares of conscience and had in atonement financed the building of a Buddhist temple near the same railway bridge that featured in the 1957 film classic, Bridge on the River Kwai.
Lomax was repeatedly beaten and interrogated when his captors found a radio receiver he had made from spare parts. Several bones were broken and water was poured into his nose and mouth. One of his constant torturers stood out: Nagase Takashi, an interpreter.
Takashi eventually published a book, Crosses and Tigers, which told of his role during the war and his regrets – especially relating to a particular British prisoner. Lomax realised he must be the prisoner Takashi was referring to and sought him out.
They met in 1993 and Lomax – who had long fantasised about getting physical revenge – was absolutely bowled over by Takashi's absolute repentance and humility. They became friends.
Lomax went on to publish a book, The Railway Man, which is to be made into a film next year.
That's quite a story of humanity rising above it all. Just whistle Colonel Bogey.
River Khwai
IN BOTSWANA they've got a Bridge on the River Khwai. Well not quite, it so far reaches out about halfway across the river.
The contractor who was building the bridge died. A new one was appointed but the roads department decided he should first get an engineering degree at university. So it will be a few years yet.
Well, that's the story I got in the bar at a lodge nearby after we'd had a hair-raising time getting the Land Rover through a drift, the river rising. You never know when these safari people are pulling your leg as a townie.
Tailpiece
AN ARTIST and his model are kissing on the sofa. They hear the front door open.
"It's my wife! Quick! Get your clothes off!"
Last word
Everything is vague to a degree you do not realise till you have tried to make it precise.
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