Unfortunately, this weekend also brings tragedy every year. Every year hundreds die on our roads and many more are injured. This year our Deputy Minister of Health was one of the victims, but that was not the major shock of the weekend. On Saturday, Eugene Terre'blanche, the leader of the AWB, an Afrikaner far-right resistance movement, was murdered by two blacks (21 and 15 years old respectively) on his farm outside Ventersdorp. This could have severe consequences for our country. Feelings amongst Afrikaners are running hot after Julius Malema, the leader of the ANC Youth League has started singing struggle songs containing the words "kill the farmer" whenever he appears on public platforms. Keep in mind that approximately 1 800 people have been killed in farm attacks since 1994 in our country and the Government refuses to take any action to stop the killings or Malema singing his songs. This murder could not have come at a worse time.
On the home front, my weekend was not perfect either. I woke up on Thursday morning with a sore throat and by Friday morning it had developed into fulblown URTI. The kids were home, meaning my household grew from 2 people to 7 who slept over and to 12 during the daytime. I usually love this. I love having them together and around me, but this year I was feeling like a washed out dishcloth most of the time and just could not cope with all the "life" around me. By yesterday afternoon, when the last left, I was as happy to see them go as I was to see them arrive. Maybe we should do the whole Easter Weekend thing over once the cold has gone... or maybe not!
One of the highlights, or maybe the hightlight of the weekend was having two grandchildren with me for the first time.
It was the first time that Rozel (7years) met her brand new brother Joshua (7 weeks) and she will be spending the rest of the week with him. They are both beautiful and I have to agree with whoever said that grandchildren is God's reward to us for not killing our own children (lol).
10 comments:
Oh I am so sorry to hear you have not been well Anne especially with the family there. I hope you feel better soon.Those are lovely looking grandkids!!
Sometimes holidays are just too stressful, which can bring disaster. Yet having family together is a blessing, and maybe even when they go home. Hope you are feeling better.
BTW, I finally read the post about our get together. It was so much fun and next time we'll have to visit for longer.
We have also been feeling so sad about the Julius Malema behaviour, and lack of any government action, and now this murder - just awful.
Sorry you weren't feeling well at Easter, and hope you are feeling much better by now :)
I'm so sorry to hear about the deaths and unrest in your country. It's hard for me to imagine here in quiet, rural Nova Scotia (where we do have shootings and other tragedies, but not people opening inciting others to violence). God bless you and your country.
And yeah, it's hard to be sick during a celebration. But I hope you'll heal quickly now.
I'm sorry to hear about the atrocious murder of the leader of the Afrikaaner movement.
I'm not familiar with what's going on politically in South Africa , but I believe the white people there cannot expect any protection from any black government.
Very sad situation.
Thank you all for your responses. I need to make something clear. The "leader" that was murdered was at the head of a very small (in my eyes a bit fanatical and totally unrealistic) faction of the Afrikaner nation. What is really worrying is the fact that Julius Malema is the leader of the ANC Youth League, a branch so to speak, of the ruling party and they are not doing anything to silence him, in fact it sometimes seems that he receives encouragement from some of the senior members of the ANC. For instance, he is currently on a very high profile visit to Zimbabwe (Robert Mugabe)with the blessings of Jacob Zuma himself. It is all rather confusing and I can only pray that common sense will endure. African politics can be and actually is very confusing, even to some of us who lives here. Now, shut up Human and get off your soapbox (lol).
That is really sad.
Did I read correctly, did you say your granddaughter met her brother for the first time? If so, why is that?
Hi Arley, yes you read correctly. The two have different mothers and Rozel lives quite far away, so she can only come visit in school holidays.
What beautiful children...! Omigoodness.
Yes, I heard about the murder of Eugene Terre'blanche. Although he was a bit of a fanatic, he did not deserve to die like that. I would be very concerned. We have a lot of South Africans living in Canada now, because they are afraid of living in South Africa. The whole situation is very sad.
I hope you are feeling better soon...!
Hi Jo, yes it is no longer the easy, safe and secure life it used to be, but then again, where on this planet are things not changing for the worse? However, the choice is ours. We can live like the chicken who pecks around in the dirt all day long or we can live like the eagle who soars overhed on the currents of the wind, high above the mess down below. Guess which one I choose (needless to say, my prayer life has become much more intense lately - smile)
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