Unfunny
video with
a message
A VIDEO clip comes this way. It shows a rap singer wearing Eskom insignia, telling us he's the Load Shedder and he's back. After a lot of gloating about the trouble he's causing – "And I don't care" – he winds up flourishing a passport.
My name's Load Shedding
And I'm spreading
And you're heading
Overseas …
And I don't care …
On Saturday I'd been watching England's demolition of Australia in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup. But I had to jump into my car and hie me to the offices of this newspaper, where they have an emergency generator, to watch Ireland versus New Zealand.
They say the Eskom bigwigs have been in a huddle to make sure load shedding doesn't interfere with viewing of the World Cup. They weren't doing too well.
Of course, irritation of this sort would hardly bring down a government. But the energy needs of an entire country being apparently at the mercy of a faulty coal conveyer belt will not impress the ratings agencies. Could it bring down an already faltering economy that is trying to attract investment?
A most unfunny video.
The Tembe tuskers
HEY, good news on the environmental front. It seems Tembe Elephant Park, just below the Mozambique border, is going to be almost doubled in size.
My old mate Matthew Hattingh and Mlu Mdletshe, his sidekick at Roving Reporters – a journalist training project - say the 30 000ha Tembe is to be increased by another 26 000ha.
Tembe is a jewel of a nature reserve. Not only is it home to the Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo – it also has numbers of the rare red duiker and the tiny suni, the smallest antelope of all.
It has eight of Africa's 30 remaining "big tuskers" – elephants with massive tusks that grow to weigh 45kg each and it's vital that this genetic pool of big tusks should be allowed to proliferate.
Trophy hunting going back to the 19th century has badly depleted that gene pool. The big tuskers were the obvious target.
These days wildlife scientists closely monitor the elephant herds across the entire continent. One of those monitors is Dr Johan Marais, who says Tembe is a very important gene pool.
Just as important is that Tembe is a living example of the new conservation/tourism.
The park is located on the traditional land of the Tembe clan, a Tsonga group. The luxury lodge is run by clan members, providing significant individual income and profits for the clan, in an otherwise poverty-stricken region. (The extra 26 000ha will be on the land of other traditional communities)
The tourism/lodge operation is in partnership with a private sector entrepreneur. Conservation is the responsibility of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
Tembe has its own airstrip, facilitating visits by tourists from America and elsewhere. Video cameras at waterholes and other spots keep them in touch with Tembe on the internet, once they've returned home. They come back again and again.
It's a working example of local community participation that conservationists seek. The Tsonga women singing and dancing at the lodge gates to greet guests is an unforgettable experience. Tembe Elephant Park deserves to spread all over Maputaland.
Tailpiece
IF MARTIANS live on Mars and Venutians live on Venus, what lives on Pluto?
Fleas.
Last word
Always get married early in the morning. That way, if it doesn't work out, you haven't wasted a whole day. - Mickey Rooney
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