The Incredibles

So this time Alex and I went to gym at the crack in one car (mine) and had a a lekker blah blah for an hour. The amazing thing was I asked him to guess his average heart rate. He guessed 122. I guessed mine at 124. 1 minute later we both checked. His heart rate average (over an hour) - 122. Mine - 124. Isn't that freakin' amazing.

Was very tired today. But have some good news despite what seemed like negative sentiment re: writing. GQ have said there isn't confirmation on Korea but my blogger story will probably appear in the October issue. Sunday Times Travel asked me to shorten a piece which shows some interest in it. I think in a few weeks I will give Batman another stab, and a simple traveller tale - something like was written on Shanghai that appeared in the New York Times - on Seoul.

Funny thing is I seem to have ordered the same batman book twice - off Amazon and another website because it wasn't clear that the ordered went through. Now suddenly both have gone through.

Today, listening to the talk about corruption in the court, I made a list of what's falling apart in SA:
1) Justice System
2) Security - Police
3) Electricity
4) Water Supply
5) Roads
6) Food (Collusion with bread prices, milk prices etc)
7) Pharmaceuticals (Either retrovirals are prevented from being rolled out, or there is collusion again)
8) Public Transport is a shambles (Taxi industry is a sort of mafia industry)
9) Education is a shambles
10) Government departments are corrupt
11) President and President in waiting are basically useless
12) Sport is a political tool for personal benefit (Rugby, soccer, cricket, athletics, hockey, swimming etc)
13) The public broadcaster (SABC) is a mess
14) The telecoms industry is one of the most expensive (read profitable) in the world - both mobile and internet. This might make sense if we were a country like Denmark or Switzerland, but we have a huge proportion of poor people unable to afford to even feed themselves.
15) Racism remains rife - not only black on white, and white on black, but also black on black

I think we can stop at 15. Basically you're looking at a country that if it was apiece of furniture, all its legs would be pretty rotten. A small kick would cause the whole moth-eaten contraption to crumple into woody dust.

I also think Bafana Bafana represent the reality of South Africa's grandiose ambitions. We intend to host the Soccer World Cup, but our greed and impatience cause us to rush ahead, after the money and the stadia. What about the work, the practise, the training and preparation? Meanwhile, lights, water, food, government - everything is failing. Do we even care if the team qualify for the event or make it beyond round 1? I'm not sure we do beyond intellectually. But I think Bafana is a great example where the country itself cannot find the motivation or the incentive or the inspiration to make itself into a winner. It is too used to searching for short cuts, too used to blaming and getting out of jail free. As a country we don't know how to be accountable, how to pay the price, put in the effort, required to triumph. All we seem to know how to do is sabotage the system, how to steal and pillage and loot and take what we desire, breaking down what others have built and trying to inhabit the ruins for as long as we can (without rebuilding anything).

All the most talented people left the country a long time ago, and it feels like if there is a God, they took Him with them, leaving us with just each other. And that has never been enough for us.