Phuthu Stay Phut, Don't go!

“A defiant ANC has vowed to push for the continued singing of controversial liberation struggle songs for “generations to come” so that memories of the past can be preserved.” – Times Live

I am really struggling to get this. What good can it possibly bring to this country to constantly be reminded of a past that no-one is proud of? And that by singing offensive, racist songs. This is not rocket science:

Negative Past + Daily Reminders of this Past = Bitterness and Resentment.

Personally, I seriously question the competence, intelligence and maturity of Mantashe. Tunnel vision?

I was under the impression that South Africa is trying very hard to move on; away from it’s past to get to a place where we can all move forward in unity. If we continue to sing songs like “shoot the Boer”, we might as well go back to using that hateful K-word. Doesn’t make sense now, does it – we have come so far. Racist songs – in any form – will only stir up old emotions and prolong that bitter taste in the mouths of those who are singing it; making it difficult for them to move forward in forgiveness.

“Any nation that doesn’t know where it comes from  will never know where it is going,” said Mantashe.

Memories of the past can be preserved by giving the future generation a solid history lesson without influencing them negatively – we are working on a better future here, remember. And if you really want to impact the youth positively (which is the aim, isn’t it?), add to this history lesson how South Africans overcame this struggle and how we are now working together to ensure a good future for all South Africans.

Geez.

By Elzet

Reference: Times Live

Whilst not as exhilarating as mountain biking, hiking still has its good points, especially when you’re pregnant:

1. You don’t have to carry a backpack – hubby carries it all

2. You get to stop a lot – We just couldn’t risk peanut getting into oxygen debt now could we. It has absolutely nothing to do with me being unfit or anything.

3. The hikes are not too long – again we wouldn’t want peanut (actually it’s more like a cashew nut) to get into oxygen debt.

4. You get to stop and eat at the top!

We went to Shongweni this weekend and before we could even get to the rocky path that led us up to the cliff, we had to walk through the Dam Wall tunnel. Well, I did a seriously fast, crouched, run-walk because there were spiders, big ones, along the entire length of the tunnel which was lit sporadically with 60 watt bulbs. It was spooky but I suppose it could have been worse – bats, snakes and toads also like dark places. Aaargh! Needless to say that on our way back, I had no qualms about wading through the river to get back to the other side.

This is the stopping and eating part I was referring to in point 4 above.

This is the dozing off part which I failed to mention in the list above,..

And this is going back down the path – I love working with gravity. The building in the top part of the picture is the dam wall – beautiful on the outside but prime real estate for orange and black spiders on the inside….

Okay so we’re in a huge panic, we can’t find Marshall, our very dear, very shy little Easter Bunny who distributes marshmallow Easter eggs to the Phuthu Girls when they need a sugar lift….which is approximately every hour.

He’s been gone for the last 24 hours and to be honest, I’m worried about the collective sanity of the girls in this office. We need to scoff down some serious marshmallow coated eggs and fast! If our sugar drops too low, we might actually start to burn fat cells and lose weight and gosh, well, that’d be a public health catastrophe now wouldn’t it?

So, please help us find little Marshall – he’s hiding in a chocolate Easter Egg on the Phuthu website, in some post that we wrote. If you find him, please let him know that we really are decent girls and we just want the egg delivery to resume. asap. demmit!

He sent us these clues as to his whereabouts:

1. What category do the Phuthu Girls usually post their hysterical and nonsensical (at times)  Tuesday group posts?

2. What is the sum of: 1000 + 500 + 500 + 5 + 4 =

3. Fill the gap: J, F, M, A, M, J, J, _, S, O, N, D?

4. Unscramble the following word: MIANLA

Please let us know what post you found him in by leaving a message in the comments section and we’ll be able to haul his fluffy ears in our direction!

Thank-you

The City of Cape Town is planning on selling green electricity. Now that sounds great, doesn’t it? Like in, positive and the-right-thing-to-do. I just don’t have a cooking clue what the term green electricity means. Can’t help but wonder if one can smoke it? Between mothering my children, wifing my husband, trying to save the human race from itself (myself included) and walking the road less travelled, I haven’t had time to ponder the term green electricity. So I turn to Louise, “Do you know what the term green electricity means?” Nah, she says a bit puzzled.

Over to my BFF, Google:

Green electricity is electricity produced from sources such as solar, wind and wave power. These are the green alternatives for conventional electricity which uses fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. Fossil fuels contribute to the very present global warming crisis, which means we should all follow Cape Town’s lead and go green or go home.

Trust the Mother City to be the first – way to go, Cape Town!

For more on this, click here:
The City of Cape Town
SA Good News – Article on Green Electricity

The Phuthu girls are always looking for ways to promote South Africa and to encourage South Africans to have a more positive outlook on life. Our theory is, if everybody could think on the same wavelength as us (and obviously a whole lot of other pro South Africans), we could make this country a better place to live in. In fact if we could combat crime and corruption altogether, I think that this country would be the most perfect place to live.

So when we came across a post on SA Rocks about a campaign to fight against crime, we just had to spread the word and publish the post as well. We absolutely love this cause and we absolutely loved watching the music video. I must say that I got goosebumps watching our local artists putting their heart and soul into this song.

SHOUT is the brainchild of well known South African musicians Danny K and Kabelo launched the initiative after the tragic death of South African legend, Lucky Dube due to a senseless act of crime.

All you need to do to support the campaign is to SMS SHOUT to 33335 and you will donate R20 to the SHOUT cause as well as being able to download the SHOUT track below.

All money collected by Shout is in conjunction with Business Against Crime and Crime Line and goes towards pre-identified “hot-spot” police stations.

So do your thing and support these guys.

References: www.shoutsa.com; www.sarocks.co.za

Can you work out what the following animals are! For example, “To run away or escape” could be a “flea”

1. Hair-control foam
2. Very exposed
3. Telling falsities
4. A lamenting cry
5. A dull person
6. A precious or loved one
7. First you get a parking ticket, then you get this
8. These make up a chain