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Issue 28 ~ June, 2020

Dearest Karoosters

Dearest Karoosters….crawling out of a ……perhaps illegal Lockdown…….

The recent court appeal in Pretoria brought about by a group of genuine Freedom Fighters, ( not the Gucci, red condo-commando ones with the red berets ) the Liberty Fighters Network, is something we can all support. We have….or many, but not all of us, have, elected a government which is sadly now the government of the land. They have shown that they will cling to power as the tide of South African opinion gradually starts to shift from the ANC to other political parties. The sad reality of the present situation is that for many people they cannot identify with any other political party than the ANC. This is a very sad indictment on the wide range of political opposition in South Africa at the moment. We really need a couple great opposition leaders to come forward and to come up with a complete new set of policies to lead us out of the morass and putrefaction which the ANC has put us in and keeps us in;  from the enshrinement of property rights to the opening of the labour market, to large duty free and tax free zones throughout the country, from the Karoo to the Eastern Cape, and Zululand, the introduction of privatised ( with some government cross subsidisation) education, ditto health care, the replacement of the entire military by a voluntary civilian force much as Switzerland, a drastic reduction in  government at every level. Start by reducing the federal cabinet to under 20! Introduce minimum education as well as complete lack of a criminal record,  for all elected officials. We could go on and on here but let your imagination run freely for a while.

We are a good country with good people, and we deserve better that we have , but we are getting what we voted for and there is very little we can do about it. But we must look  at what Reyno de Beer has done in carrying out a full frontal attack on the South African government and in particular the pernicious Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

If the opposition to the government does not come from the house of parliament then it is civil society which must question and take on each and every ridiculous and anti-democratic, dictatorial edict emanating from what ever mouth and fist of government. It is a sad truth but we are being dictated to by a coterie of really low calibre “brain trusts”, who in the main are ill equipped to run this country and  who are furthermore driven by irrational and idiotic notions on how to govern and create an economically viable country, manage a terrible epidemic and put systems in motion which will be to the benefit of South Africa first and not the party which they all bow in allegiance to well before they do so to our country.

The price we must pay for our democracy, or in any democracy anywhere on the planet is that we must be ever vigilant; we cannot ever take our eye off the ball, because these scoundrels never sleep and they are out for nothing less than a dictatorship. They of course will deny this but lets just put them to the test. Lets take a tip from Terrence Floyd ( brother of George Floyd the dude who was killed by the Minneapolis cop ) who told the thousands of rioters to stop immediately and to just show their displeasure by voting at every level of government and bring in change that way…more effective and threatening to the present powers that be ….whether in downtown United States or in South Africa.

On another tack we have a new member of the Booktown Richmond Team, Louise Wessels, TV producer and writer, who has passed on this very timely short essay which may just hit the spot for many of us…it certainly did for me as I sat in  a camping chair in the bush near Hoedspruit, the wood hoopoes chattering up a storm and a honey guide trying his best to get me up and off  into the bush to help him dig out some honey from the fork in the marula tree.

I am a South African

I owe my essence to the big blue skies above small Free State towns. To the rumble of thunderstorms over fields of buffalo grass. To sunflowers bending to the sun and golden valleys of maize as far as the eye can see. To horses in the veld and stubborn donkeys on gravel roads.

My spirit has been shaped by bitterly cold mornings and warm Basotho blankets. By freezing feet on frost covered rugby fields. I climbed countless “koppies” and ran cross country races barefoot up and down mountains with flat tops. I shared the spoils of mountain slopes with monkeys and baboons. And dassies. I have witnessed the loneliness of the “windpomp” against amber sunsets.  

My appetite for life comes from mealie meal, marog and “braaivleis” over an open fire. From stealing cherries from the trees of other people in my hometown. From the scent of strawberry gloss on the lips of the beautiful girls of Bloemfontein.
 
I’m a country boy in the city. My resilience comes from playing rugby with and against the giant Afrikaner boys in the Eastern Free State. From riding horses without saddles in the Maluti mountains. From playing “kleilat” against the Basotho boys across the Caledon river.

I am a South African.

The first time I really saw my country’s future was in the faces of African workers on their way home, smiling up at me in my radio station in a tree in Clocolan. They loved listening to “A change is gonna come” from my Otis Redding vinyl record. The town folk preferred Elvis and Jim Reeves, whose records arrived in the mail in boxes from Readers Digest.  

I first heard the roar of future generations when as a fat kid I saw a skinny Jomo Sono play for Orlando Pirates in Maseru. I learnt a bit about politics when my Greek stepfather secretly dined with political dissidents in Lesotho. I learnt a bit about money when a guy called Anton Rupert sold us tobacco share certificates from the boot of his powder blue DKW. I learnt about art and religion from a Catholic priest called Frans Claerhout, who painted pictures of donkeys in Tweespruit.

I learnt respect for women from my aunt and my mother, who worked fifteen-hour days to keep their children in school. I learnt to stand up for myself when I was forced to join the army, but refused to go to war against the Cubans in Angola. At college I heard about a man who spent more than two decades on Robben Island for his political beliefs.
I am a South African.

In a journalism and media career I chased after rebel cricketers, apartheid politicians and unbanned freedom fighters to get radio and TV interviews. I ran from tornadoes, sped towards sinking ships and ducked rubber bullets. At Wolwefontein in the Karoo I saw drought bring grown men to their knees. In a news room in Port Elizabeth I met the love of my life.

I was in Kempton Park when the politicians argued and agreed to a new constitution for South Africa. I was at the ballot box in 1994 when all South Africans voted for a new future. I was with Nelson Mandela in New York when he spoke at the United Nations, about a rainbow nation. When he met Bill Clinton in Washington. When the new South African flag was hoisted at the African Union in Ethiopia.  

I have shared ideas in family rooms, in rugby teams, in news rooms, in board rooms and in conference rooms. I have argued politics, religion, ethics and morality in school debates, around camp fires and on television panels. But never has it been words, opinions or ideas that defined me.
  
After five decades, it is my essence that has seeped into the soil of this land. My heart beats faster when I feel, smell and taste South Africa all around me. Every day. When I hear Mafikizolo and Karin Zoid on the radio. When I push my fingers into the dry soil of Graaf Reinet in the Karoo, or the dark brown ground of the Free State, or the damp earth of Johannesburg. I feel it.
    
Because I am a South African.

Gary Alfonso is a former radio and TV journalist and media professional. He writes in his personal capacity. 
And here is a nice little ditty which some of you may have happened across but, if not, a good read…..Richmond’s twin village: Can books save a dying town? < LINK |
We hear that things are gradually getting back to normal in the town. Last news was that they have had their first Corona case, someone who visited the Eastern Cape and obviously took no precautions. We pray here is no outbreak in the dorp.

A wool shop has opened in town ….A Ball of Yarn run by a local lady and writer, Louisa Crampton,  and she has engaged a dozen or so other ladies from all over town to knit… knit… and knit. Wonderful for the village.

As far as BookBedonnerd XIII is concerned we are going full steam ahead and looking a t using more smaller venues so we’ll be operating is less cluttered environments assuming that the dread Corona will be still in the air. We will make things as safe as we possibly can. It will be a change up from the normal but will be a lot of fun….more open air events and outdoor dining and partying.

Please help us keep Bookbedonnerd alive

Unfortunately as the Northern Cape Provincial Government is not in a position to support us to the degree required for Booktown Richmond to keep up with its commitments to our various programmes, we are having to look to Crowd Support in order to maintain and grow our efforts in the village. We are firmly committed to seeing that Booktown Richmond survives and indeed grows.  We have, even at this early stage an extremely exciting line-up of speakers, entertainers and activities including the introduction of Spinning-a-Yarn, A Festival of Storytelling and Oral Traditions, a first in South Africa.

To ensure that we survive and indeed grow, the planning committee has launched a backabuddy campaign aimed at crowd-funding the event. Please support by spreading the word and, if at all possible, making a financial contributing. Booktown Richmond is in your hands. Forever BoekBedonnerd….

You will find the particulars here << LINK |.
God Bless us, each and every one,

Forever BookBedonnerd

Peter Baker (co-director of Bookbedonnerd, alongside Darryl David)
Website: Booktown Richmond
PLEASE NOTE DATES OF BOOKBEDONNERD….THE LAST WEEKEND IN OCTOBER

BookBedonnerd XIII

 

October 28-31, 2020
 

A Richmond Community Development Foundation Project

Below is a list of writers that are headed to Richmond. Most have been confirmed, some are waiting to see if they survive the Corona virus😁. Or what their university commitments look like once Corona virus turmoil is over. Whilst a handful are on my hitlist whilst I search for their email addresses 🤭🤭. As you can see the list is quite well advanced, given that the SA INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS AWARDS entrants are still to be factored in.
  1. Pieter Louis Myburgh (t.b.c) Gangster State The Republic of Gupta
  2. Prof Kathy Munro The Humble Post Card… and Karoo Heritage
  3. Prof Ashwin Desai Wentworth and the Beautiful Game
  4. Carla van der Spuy Plaasmoorde Blood on her Hands
  5. Nico Moolman Russia in the Anglo Boer War
  6. Diana Ferrus TBA
  7. Gaireyah Fredericks & Jaja Binks Pedro. Kaaps oppie Richterskaal
  8. Hannes Visser. Die dag toe pa
  9. Steve Wimberley Adventures Of Dr Grumble
  10. Dorian Haarhoff Writing Workshops
  11. ATKV Schools Project/ Storytelling
  12. Prof Carman Miller Anglo Boer War
  13. Antony Osler (t.b.c) Spinning a Yarn. Zen master storyteller of the Karoo
  14. Angie Butler  Shackleton’s Critic, the Life and Diaries of Eric Marshall 
  15. Terry Crawford Brown (t.b.c)
  16. Carina Stander Die Bergengel
  17. Gisella Ullyatt Die waarheid oor duiwe
  18. Sandra Shell (t.b.c)
  19. Andrew Pike The Oceanos Rescue
  20. Philip Kretzman (t.b.c) Vet Tales
  21. Thomas Mollet Annie Dewani Murder
  22. Antoinette Pienaar (t.b.c) Spinning a Yarn
  23. Christine Barkhuizen le Roux. My naam is Prins, ek slaap met die lig aan
  24. Anel Heydenrych. Die Afloerder
  25. Tania Smit . t.b.c
  26. Hedi Lampert. The Trouble With My Aunt
  27. Kevin Chaplan. Can Do
  28. Paul Weinberg. Photography
  29. Darryl Earl David / Sheritha David – Travel Memoir
  30. David Butler – Drama Performance
  31. Gert Vlok Nel – Poetry Reading / Concert

South African Independent Publishers Awards (SAIPA)

 

Call For Entries


The SA INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS AWARDS, hosted by Booktown Richmond is the only such competition to honour the best self-published books in SA. We accept books in all categories, except educational textbooks. From comics to memoirs to fiction to photography, we eagerly await your entries. If your book defies categorisation, we will create one!!! There is no entry fee. All you have to do is post 3 copies of your book to DARRYL DAVID who will then distribute the books to judges. However, where judges are not Cape Town based, you will be required to post individual copies to judges.

Please see our write up about the 2019 SAIPA AWARDS. < LINK |

For further details kindly contact Darryl David on ddavid@uwc.ac.za or 0813918689. We look forward to receiving your entries.

Postal Address. 
UWC Belleville Campus
Faculty of Education
Room 68B
 

Forever BookBedonnerd

BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT TRAINING
Richmond Community Development Foundation
(RCDP)
P.O. Box 1608, Parklands, 2121, Johannesbug, South Africa
33 Loop Street, Richmond, Northern Cape, South Africa
REGISTERED AS A SECTION 21 COMPANY | INCORPORATED NOT FOR GAIN
Registration number: 2008/00/1433/08

Copyright © 2020 Booktown Richmond, All rights reserved.


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