A Few Christmas Left-Overs

The Christmas decorations came down this week. This signified the end of the festive bash and caused some retrospection of the past week or so. Patterns of the season tend to repeat themselves but there are always a few surprises.

Christmas Day and New Year’s Day saw the usual masses of people on the local beaches. Most estimates put the crowds in the region of 100 000 or so. As happens every year hoards of children get ‘lost’ and have to be housed at Addington School to wait to be collected by their loving, caring parents. Well they wait and then they wait some more and hours become days and days soon become a week. Even a few days back there were some still waiting to be claimed.

Now how can any parent lose a child or two at the beach and not worry for days on end? No reports to the police, no frantic searching, no anything. It is suspected that the parents know where their kids are and simply leave them there because they are being fed which means it’s not a home expense.

Just before Christmas an article appeared in the local ‘Mercury’ advocating that we should make Christmas more African. The usual argument was advanced that in our part of the world snow, mistletoe and other northern hemisphere symbols are out of place. Up to this point this does make sense but then our esteemed Mayor, Obed Mlaba, was asked for an opinion. ‘Yes’ he agreed, ‘we must go back to celebrating Christmas the way we did before colonisation’!!

A little bit more brandy on your Christmas pud Mr Mayor?

The other bit of unsurprising sentiment being expressed by African despots, dictators and presidents-for-life is that ‘Africa’s Money’ is being siphoned off into relief for the tsunami victims in Asia. This leads one to think that some research should be done into how much Africa receives on an annual basis in the form of relief, reconstruction, disease-control, peace-keeping and general handouts. The suspicion is that it is probably equivalent to a large tsunami every year or so.

On the topic of handouts the Nelson Mandela Childrens’ Fund throw an annual Christmas party at his home town in the Transkei. The invitation is general and a free cold drink, sweets and a token present is promised to all who attend. Now a free-for-all is a serious matter in this part of the world and more than 50 000 arrived in a high state of agitated anticipation. The ensuing scramble eventually became life-threatening and so the proceedings were called off by the organisers. They felt they had got off lightly with a broken limb or two and some random trampling.

The season was, however, rounded off on a sombre note. Nelson Mandela’s eldest surviving son died at the age of 54. The past president went on TV and announced that he had died of AIDS. He is saluted for being honest and open and by his conduct still towers over the current President. If his example is followed 2005 will be a good year.