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HOE MOET ONS DIE SABBATDAG HOU? 26/06/2010

Posted by frostygirl in Faith.
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Hierdie vraag het ‘n Afrikaaner op die Internet gevra en ek was bly om te sien dat daar Afrikaaners is wat nou begin om na die waarheid te soek want hulle kry nie die waarheid in hulle kerke nie.

As julle REG wil lewe, volg dan wat GOD vir julle sê om te doen, nie wat “mense” vir julle sê nie.

Ons almal weet dat die HERE die Sabbatdag ingestel het vir die mens en as ons na die volgende verse kyk is dit baie duidelik wat van ons verwag word:

Exo 20:8 Gedenk die sabbatdag, dat jy dit heilig.

Exo 20:9 Ses dae moet jy arbei en al jou werk doen;

Exo 20:10 maar die sewende dag is die sabbat van die HERE jou God; dan mag jy géén werk doen nie–jy of jou seun of jou dogter, of jou dienskneg of jou diensmaagd, of jou vee of jou vreemdeling wat in jou poorte is nie.

Exo 20:11 Want in ses dae het die HERE die hemel en die aarde gemaak, die see en alles wat daarin is, en op die sewende dag het Hy gerus. Daarom het die HERE die sabbatdag geseën en dit geheilig.

Kyk baie mooi na die woorde wat onderstreep is: “gedenk,” “heilig,” “sewende dag,” “gerus,” “geseën” en “geheilig”.

Die HERE wil hê dat ons ELKE Sabbetdag gedenk, heilig hou, op die sewende dag, ons moet rus (geen werk doen nie en geen geld spandeer nie) en as ons dit doen sal Hy al ons Sabbatdae seën en heilig. (Natuurlik is dit van toepassing op almal wat by julle bly in julle tuiste.)

Maar die baie belangrike ding wat die godsdienste van hierdie wêreld verkeerd het is die feite dat hulle toegelaat het dat die duiwel hulle bedrieg en  daarom gedenk hulle die Sabbat op die verkeerde dag en omdat hulle dit doen sal God nie “hulle” sabbatdag heilig nie.

Lees bietjie hierdie verse:

Heb 4:3 Want ons wat geglo het, gaan die rus in, soos Hy gesê het: Daarom het Ek in my toorn gesweer, hulle sal in my rus nie ingaan nie–alhoewel sy werke van die grondlegging van die wêreld af volbring is.

Heb 4:4 Want Hy het êrens van die sewende dag so gespreek: En God het op die sewende dag van al sy werke gerus;

Heb 4:5 en nou hier weer: Hulle sal in my rus nie ingaan nie.

Heb 4:6 Terwyl dit dan so is dat sommige daar ingaan, en diegene aan wie die evangelie eers verkondig is, deur ongehoorsaamheid nie ingegaan het nie,

Heb 4:7 bepaal Hy weer ‘n sekere dag, naamlik vandag, as Hy soveel later deur Dawid spreek, soos gesê is: Vandag as julle sy stem hoor, verhard julle harte nie.

Heb 4:8 Want as Josua (Christus) aan hulle rus gegee het, sou Hy nie van ‘n ander dag daarná spreek nie.

Heb 4:9 Daar bly dus ‘n sabbatsrus oor vir die volk van God;

Heb 4:10 want wie in sy rus ingegaan het, rus ook self van sy werke soos God van syne.

Heb 4:11 Laat ons ons dan beywer om in te gaan in dié rus, sodat niemand in dieselfde voorbeeld van ongehoorsaamheid mag val nie.

Elke persoon wat in die God van Abraham, Isak en Jakob en in Sy Seun Christus, glo sal dus die sewende dag van God gedenk as die Sabbatdag! En watter dag is dit? Saterdag!

Lees hierdie verse:

Mat 28:1 En laat ná die sabbat toe dit begin lig word, teen die eerste dag van die week, kom Maria Magdaléna en die ander Maria om na die graf te gaan kyk.

Soos ons almal weet is die eerste dag van die week nog altyd Sondag gewees, dit is net nou onlangs dat die mens die almanak verander het sodat Maandag gewys word as die eerste dag van die week. Gaan terug na ‘n ou almanak en julle sal onthou dat Sondag altyd gewys was as die eerste dag van die week.

Nou waarom moet ons as Afrikaaners dan die Joodse Sabbatdag volg? Omdat ons in hulle ingeënt is deur ons geloof in Christus en dat Hy vir ons sondes gesterf het.

Die enigste verskil is as ons harte reg is teenoor die HERE is dit nie nodig om al die reëls na te kom wat die Fariseërs op die Jode se skouers gelê het nie.

Lees die volgende verse en wees geseënd om julle self te sien in die skrifte wat soveel jare terug geskryf is en vir ons as “uitlanders” ‘n belofte gee dat ons die HERE se geliefdes sal wees as ons Sy Sabbatdag heilig!

Isa 56:1 So sê die HERE: Bewaar die reg en doen geregtigheid; want my heil is naby om te kom en my geregtigheid om geopenbaar te word.Isa 56:2 Welgeluksalig is die mens wat dit doen en die mensekind wat daaraan vashou; wat die sabbat hou, sodat hy dit nie ontheilig nie, en sy hand terughou, dat dit geen kwaad doen nie.Isa 56:3 En laat die uitlander wat hom by die HERE aangesluit het, nie spreek en sê: Die HERE sal my gewis afskei van sy volk nie; en laat die ontmande nie sê: Kyk, ek is ‘n droë boom nie.Isa 56:4 Want so sê die HERE aan die ontmandes wat my sabbatte hou en verkies wat My behaag en vashou aan my verbond:Isa 56:5 Ek sal aan hulle in my huis en binnekant my mure ‘n gedenkteken en ‘n naam gee wat beter is as seuns en dogters; ‘n ewige naam gee Ek aan hulle, wat nie uitgeroei sal word nie.Isa 56:6 En die uitlanders wat hulle by die HERE aangesluit het, om Hom te dien en om die Naam van die HERE lief te hê deur sy knegte te wees–elkeen wat die sabbat hou, sodat hy dit nie ontheilig nie, en hulle wat vashou aan my verbond, Isa 56:7 hulle sal Ek bring na my heilige berg, en Ek sal hulle vreugde laat smaak in my huis van gebed; hulle brandoffers en hulle slagoffers sal welgevallig wees op my altaar; want my huis sal ‘n huis van gebed genoem word vir al die volke.Isa 56:8 Die Here HERE wat versamel diegene wat van Israel verdryf is, spreek: Ek sal by hom nog meer versamel, by sy versameldes.Isa 56:9 Al julle wilde diere van die veld, kom eet! Al julle wilde diere in die bos!Isa 56:10 Hulle wagte is almal blind, hulle merk niks nie; hulle is almal stom honde wat nie kan blaf nie; wat dromerig lê, lief is om te sluimer.Isa 56:11 En die honde is gulsig, hulle ken geen versadiging nie; en herders is hulle wat nie weet om op te merk nie; almal loop hulle eie pad, elkeen na sy onregverdige wins, almal saam.Isa 56:12 Kom, sê hulle, laat ek wyn gaan haal, en laat ons sterk drank drink, en die dag van môre sal wees soos vandag, buitengewoon groot!

Van vers 9 tot 12 praat die HERE van die priesters in kerklikheid wat blind is en nie kan sien dat hulle bedrieg word nie, moenie hulle in die verderf in volg nie!

Maak jou oë nou oop en volg GOD  se woord!

DIE AFRIKANER VOLK VERBREEK HULLE GELOFTE VAN 16 DESEMBER 1838 AAN GOD 11/12/2009

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God gaan binnekort die Afrikaner Volk herinner aan die gelofte wat hul voorvaders met God gemaak het net voordat hulle teen ‘n magdom Zulu’s sou moes veg op Desember 1838. Die “Trekkers” het hulle onder leiding van Andries Pretorius en Sarel Cilliers met hierdie gelofte tot God verbind.

Die oorspronklike Gelofte afgelê, voor “EEN Heilige God” in Ou Nederlands, wat die taal van die Boere was. In 1838 was Afrikaans hulle tweede taal, maar hulle Bybels en gebede en moedertaal was Nederlands, van Friese oorsprong wat weer oorsprong van Oud Hebreeus, ook genoem Indo- Germaans.

DIE GELOFTE

Mijne broeders en medegenoten,

Hier staan wij tans op een ogenblik voor een
heilige God van hemel en aarde om een belofte
aan Hem te beloven, als Hij Zijn bescherming met
ons zal wezen, en ons vijand in onze handen sal
geven, dat wij hem oorwinnen, dat wij die dag
en datum elke jaar als een verjaardag en een
dankdag zoals een Sabbat in Zijn eer sal
doorbrengen en dat wij een tempel tot Zijn eer
stichten sal, waar het Hem sou behagen en dat
wij het ook aan onze kinderen zal zeggen, dat zij
met ons er in moeten delen, tot gedachtenis ook
voor onze opkomende geslachten, want de eer
van Zijn Naam zal daardoor verheerlikt worden,
dat de roem en eer van overwinning aan Hem
sal worden gegeven. Amen.

God het vir hulle ‘n oorwinning teen die Zulu’s gegee en nie een van die Afrikaner Trekkers was gedood tydens die groot geveg nie, net Andries Pretorius was gewond.

Daar is twee gedeeltes van die Gelofte wat die Afrikaner Volk verbreek het.

Hulle het beloof om:

“dat wij die dag en datum elke jaar als een verjaardag en een dankdag zoals een Sabbat in Zijn eer sal  doorbrengen”

en

“dat wij het ook aan onze kinderen zal zeggen, dat zij met ons er in moeten delen, tot gedachtenis ook voor onze opkomende geslachten,”

Alhoewel party Afrikaners nog die Geloftedag vier, hou hulle nie ‘n “heilige Sabbatdag” nie. Die Bybel beskryf baie deeglik hoe ‘n Sabbatdag gehou moet word, maar as ‘n mens kyk hoe die mense die Geloftedag vier is daar baie min bewyse van wat God vereis.

Die tweede gedeelte wat nie onderhou was nie was die belofte dat hulle vir hul kinders en hulle “opkomende geslacten” sou sê van die Gelofte en die gebeurtenis op 16 Desember 1838 sodat hulle dit saam sal herdenk en vir God die eer sou gee.

Vir meeste van die Afrikaner volk is hierdie dag ‘n vakansie dag en nie ‘n “heilige Sabbatdag” nie. Dit sal interessant wees om deur ons mooi land te gaan en vir elke Afrikaner te vra wat die Gelofte is, waar die oorpsrong was, waarom ons dit nog moet vier en of hulle dit as ‘n “heilige Sabbat dag hou en te hoor wat die antwoorde daarop is.

God is baie lief vir die Afrikaner Volk omdat ons nog een van die min nasies is wat nog so ‘n klein bietjie wys dat ons vir God vrees en omgee wat Hy dink en voel.

Soos ons almal weet het God net ‘n klein bietjie van enige iets nodig om weer baie daarvan te maak (die twee vissies en vyf brode wat ‘n menigte gevoed het). Daarom gaan God weer vir ons Afrikaner Volk wys om Hom te vrees en wanneer dit gebeur sal baie Afrikaner harte weer terug draai na hul Vader en weer Sy weë volg soos ons voorvaders dit gedoen het.

Kyk net hoe na aan God het die Afrikaners gelewe tydens Siener Van Rensburg se leeftyd,, hulle het geluister wat God vir hulle deur Sy “boere profeet” gesê het en terwyl hulle dit gedoen het, het dit goed gegaan met hulle.

Hoe lewe die Afrikaner nou? Baie van hulle vloek soos ‘n matroos,baie se woord is nie meer hul eer nie, baie van hulle se familie is nie meer belangrik vir hulle nie, hulle lewe nie volgens God se wense nie, ens.

Dit het tyd geword dat die Afrikaner Volk hul harte deeglik ondersoek en terug keer na God toe.

SOCCER WORLD CUP OPENING MATCH 04/12/2009

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Now we know that South Africa will play the opening match against Mexico on 11 June 2010 at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg and that will certainly be a great occasion and will attract many supporters!

We wish all the teams a great stay in our country and may the best team win!

PREAMBLE TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONSTITUTION 03/12/2009

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I have copied the preamble to our constitution and show it below and if we look back to 1996 what a wonderful promise this held for ALL South Africans!

It is such a shame that the Government failed to make this a FACT in South Africa. Read the contents and then look at the news and newspapers; talk to the people and see if they think that the contents have been achieved.

This is only the “preamble” what about the rest of the Constitution? From time to time I will post other excerpts and see how we faired with them. I would welcome comments on this!

STATUTES OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA-CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act,

ss. 1 - 3 No. 108 of1996                                                        ss. 1 - 3

Preamble

We, the people of South Africa,

Recognise the injustices of our past;

Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;

Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and

Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.

We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme

Law of the Republic so as to-

Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social

justice and fundamental human rights;

Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on

the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;

Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and

build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign

State in the family of nations.

May God protect our people.

Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso.

God seën Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa.

Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.

SAFETY TIPS FOR TOURISTS TRAVELLING TO SOUTH AFRICA 02/12/2009

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South Africa is a wonderful country to visit! It is so diverse and has something to offer for everyone. Beautiful beaches, great golf courses, scenic tours along the “Garden Route” and the majestic Drakensberg mountains and fantastic experiences with our wild animals in the various National and private game parks. We have a rich past which can be enjoyed by the UK citizens who may wish to visit old war memorials and battlegrounds where their ancestors fought the Boers. The Dutch, French, Germans and Portuguese can visit to find out more about how their countrymen impacted South Africa. There are so many different attractions in South Africa so I will not elaborate further as there are many travel blogs and websites covering this subject.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING

Please first read my two stories on this blog, i.e. “What Shapes a Person?” and “Africa Playing Catch Up” to get a better understanding of the country and its people.

CRIME:

Crime is a very serious problem in South Africa and you need to be aware of the dangers in the country! If your flight is booked to O R Tambo Airport please read the stories by following these links:

Airport heist was an inside job, say cops

Airport security is vital, say businessmen

http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=24169&

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13

These are only a few of the stories, the idea is not to scare you but to make you aware of the dangers so that you can prepare yourself mentally to be on the lookout for strange behaviour around you and avoid becoming a victim. Many tourists are very naïve when they travel abroad and therefore fall victim to crime.

South Africa is not the only country where the above list applies, it applies to many destinations and innocent tourists are caught up in unpleasant situations because they are not vigilant and do not apply wisdom because they are “on holiday” and in a carefree mood.

Please also avoid giving money to beggars; you are more likely to lose your whole wallet in this type of situation. Poverty breeds crime!

21-year-old gang-raped

Actor slain in ambush

Exodus out of Joburg as people flee crime

Family robbed at gun point

http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=24082&

http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=24087&

http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=24158&

HIV / AIDS:

We do not have accurate HIV / AIDS statistics available, but I can quote Dr Inonge M Kamungoma-Dada from the UN who advised that 63% of the inhabitants between the ages of 15 – 25 years, south from the Sahara, are already HIV positive. The amount of HIV infections in this age group will increase by about 5 million per annum.

The moral of the story, DO NOT indulge in sexual activities with the locals as you may take home more than just fond memories of your trip.

Please visit our country, but be vigilant!

AFRICA PLAYING CATCH-UP 01/12/2009

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Please bear in mind that in this post any reference to black South Africans is not racially intended in any form or manner. We must accept the fact that we have a population made up of different population groups. Blacks, Whites, Indians and Coloureds, each one of these different coloured population groups should be proud of the fact of the colour they are. Each person in this country can rise above their circumstances and become who they want to be, with dedication and hard work, because the opportunities are there to be taken if you have the courage to do so. Take responsibility for your own life and stop blaming others for your problems!

The “first” world and its technology arrived in South Africa in 1652 when Jan van Riebeeck was requested to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in the future South Africa. He landed three ships Drommedaris, Reijger and Goede Hoop at the future Cape Town in 1652 and fortified the site as a way-station for the VOC (Dutch East India Trading Co) trade route between the Netherlands and the East Indies. Van Riebeeck was Commander of the Cape from 1652 to 1662; he was charged with building a fort, with improving the natural anchorage at Table Bay, planting fruit and vegetables and obtaining livestock from the indigenous Khoi people. (It may surprise you to realise that it was only the Khoi people who were living in the Cape at the time.)

From this we can see that Southern Africa was 1652 years behind the “first” world countries and had the virtually impossible task of trying to “catch up” technologically speaking to the rest of the world!

When the then ‘first” world technology arrived, “South Africa” was already 1652 years behind. The “first” world had to prioritise what they needed to do and therefore built infrastructures such as buildings, harbours, houses, roads, railways, running water and communications with the unskilled labour force available. The 1820 English Settlers also had a hand in the financing of the infrastructures.

When gold and diamonds were discovered, greed for wealth and power resulted in the Boer War and with it came great bitterness, resentfulness and anger. The white population was divided into segments of Colonials (British) and Boers with the black people sandwiched in between and growing steadily in numbers and 300 years later they were still largely unskilled with some semi-skilled or partly skilled people. That adds another 300 years onto the 1652 we already had, which brings us up to 1952 only 7 years after the 2nd world war.

The country eventually became a Republic and as the large majority of whites were Afrikaans speaking, they were given back control of the country. Even then, there were still deeply entrenched inherited prejudices between these two white groups of the population and up and till then that is where most of their efforts were concentrated on, with the blacks still sandwiched in between them during this period of prejudice and of war. Time is still the great healer and much has been done in the restoration department of human endeavour, but it remains a fact that black “South Africans” and black Africans were largely and still are to this day, in the majority, approximately 1950 years behind the “first” world, technologically speaking.

There are many black South Africans who rose to the challenge and vigorously sought to be educated and they strove for a better life and although there were many challenges, they overcame them and the results can be seen in their lives and their children’s lives today.

One of those individuals is Nelson Mandela; he was born on 18 July 1918 and at age seven he was the first of his family to attend a school, he completed his Junior Certificate in two years instead of the normal 3 years. After matriculating he started to study for a B.A. at the Fort Hare University. At the end of his first year, he became involved in a boycott by the Students Representative Council against the university policies, and was asked to leave Fort Hare. He later started work as an articled clerk at a law firm and while working there, he completed his B.A. degree at the University of South Africa via correspondence, after which he started with his law studies at the University of Witwatersrand. Even when he was in prison he still continued with his education studying through the University of London by correspondence through its External Programme and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws.

Now the majority of the black South Africans did not have Mandela’s mindset and continued with their lives according to their customs and traditions and western education was not high on their list of things to do or strive for. In view of this we do not have the situation prevalent in the USA where the African-Americans had generations of education and life skills in the “first” world. It is therefore not right to compare Africans born and raised in Africa with African-Americans or with Africans who have lived in “first” world countries for generations and who have learned the skills needed.

History is guilty of breeding a handout society. Despite the fact that Africa and all its very costly superstructures such as road’s railroad, dams, buildings, communications, hospitals, high tech farming, etc, having just been handed over to them in pristine condition, they were totally incapable and therefore incompetent to maintain it, let alone manage it. The result is a not unexpected the collapse of these superstructure foundations on which a nation has to BUILD if it is to blossom and grow.

Africa is full of examples of management incapability and resultant incompetence. The “FAT CATS” in the seats of government get fatter and fatter while the rest of the population gets thinner and thinner in more ways than one.

One is either capable or not and that will determine whether you are competent or not. When Nelson Mandela was our President he kept the skilled (white) workers in place to a certain degree and the country could be run efficiently, but when Thabo Mbeki took over he relentlessly marginalised the skilled workers and replaced them with people (black) who did not have the knowledge, skills, understanding, etc of what was required to maintain the infrastructure of the country and that is why South Africa’s infrastructure has crumbled. We have crisis after crisis, electricity load shedding, polluted water, national highways not maintained to ensure safety, insufficient teachers to teach, insufficient schools, poorly run hospitals, I can go on and on.

It is only common sense to train a person for a number of years from the foundation of a business to junior management and then to senior management, of course also making sure that person is literate and can speak English fluently to ensure that they understand what the customer requires.

You cannot take a person who used to work on the streets of the Municipality and make him the overseer or manager of public works without proper training and supervision to ensure that he knows and applies what he has learnt properly. It may seem ridiculous but that is exactly what happens in this country. So the normal maintenance of equipment is not kept up to date and when the equipment malfunctions they just leave it as they do not know what process to follow to get it up and running again and everything comes to a grinding halt.

The government has acknowledged that it is not a lack of funding that has caused our country’s problems; it is a lack of skilled people in management and grassroots positions. In fact most of the Municipalities and Schools have only used 50% of their annual budgets because they do not have the skills to plan and execute what they had budgeted for and at the end of the financial year they lose the unused portion of their budget which should have been used to upgrade, maintain, build, expand, etc their area. Who loses out then? Their community!!!! Their people!!!! Their children!!!! WHAT A WASTE!

It is wonderful when you are democratically elected to run your country on the promises you made to your people, but you are expected to keep the promises if you do not want anarchy on your streets. Yes it is good to promise electricity to all, but then you need to plan forward and ensure that you can meet the increased demand. Do the maths, if you promise electricity to approx 40 million people who previously did not have it, it stands to reason that you will need to build more power stations, not close them down! The other aspect they did not consider is that they would not get paid for the electricity provided as most of the black South Africans could not afford to pay for electricity; they had to write off billions over the years.

We have a time bomb ticking in our country you can push people only so far, no further! Just below the surface there lurks a danger, the one day a person is a responsible security guard watching over your property and the next day he becomes a person with a grievance and damages your property or even kills you. Then again one day a person comes and collects your garbage and the next day he goes on a rampage through the city streets damaging cars, shop windows, rubbish bins, etc because he has a grievance with someone else, but he does not care that he is damaging property of innocent people.

The main cause of this is a lack of education and understanding of how business enterprises work, how any organisation should work and because they are playing “catch up” with the rest of the world they are trying to force people into situations they are not trained for and of course this has disastrous effects throughout the whole country, economy, education, healthcare system, etc.

I hope this gives non-African readers a better insight and understanding into the problem of playing “catch up”. Unfortunately they might not have sufficient time to catch up because HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria, bacteria poisoning from polluted water and the crime in the country is killing so many people per annum and with the multiplying effect of these it could wipe out millions of people in a very short time.

WHAT SHAPES A PERSON? 30/11/2009

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OVERVIEW

I gave this subject some serious thought and realised that it is a huge subject and I need to approach it one step at a time, therefore I decided to look at the broad picture first and then expand on a subject or section at a later date in further posts. It is always better to get your mind around the broad picture first before trying to learn about the detailed picture.

THE MAKEUP OF A PERSON

The “makeup” of a person is very complex, from birth they are exposed to various factors and these factors mould them into who they are. A few of the factors are:

Of course there are many other factors which will influence a person, but I have chosen the above as I believe that they influence each individual the most.

TRADITIONS / CUTURE

Let us take a look at just one “tradition” of a few nations or like-minded groups around the world and see how powerful they are in the mindset of that nation or group.

The Americans traditionally celebrate “Thanksgiving” every year and it is very important to them, why?

Religious Christian groups traditionally celebrate “Christmas” every year and it is very important to them, why?

The Chinese traditionally celebrate their “Lunar New Year” every year and it is very important to them, why?

I can go on and on with this list because everyone has traditions and knows why they are important to them, but that does not mean that the people outside of their group know or understand these traditions!

Now, what would happen if you tell each of the above groups that they must scrap their tradition and follow yours? There will be a huge outcry from all of them!

The point I am trying to make is that you must learn to understand the traditions/culture of a nation; group or individual before trying to communicate with them or you can walk into a minefield and lose a few limbs on the way.

LANGUAGE

There are many different languages and dialects in this wonderful world of ours, but that is one of the most prominent causes of misunderstanding in the world. If you cannot understand what a person is saying to you or the context thereof, then you are lost! Now you must rely on someone else to interpret the words for you and you become reliant on that person’s interpretation and understanding of the words. Therefore what do we end up with? Miscommunication and lack of understanding!

RELIGION

Every religious group strongly believe that their religious belief is correct and will die trying to defend that belief because without it they have no foundation, hope, etc.

EDUCATION

If you do not have education you are at a great disadvantage in this modern world with all of its technologies! If you live in a remote area and you can live off the land then you can get by without a formal education, but as soon as you start interacting with others outside of your area you need education.

SKIN COLOUR

As much as people say skin colour does not make a difference, they know that they are wrong because it does not matter what your skin colour is, if you come in touch with a person who has a different skin colour you view them in a different light, because they differ from you. Therefore, depending on where you grew up your view of another persons skin colour will differ.

OK now that I have shown that the abovementioned factors can shape a person, let me try and paint a broad picture of the African “mindset”.

TRADITION / CULTURE

In South Africa this is a very complex subject because there are so many different “groups” of people in this country and each have their own traditions and some have added traditions from other group’s to theirs over the years and made it their own. I am not going to go into this subject here in any great depth now; I will cover that in future posts. I will just briefly explain one tradition i.e. “Labolla”.

Many black people believe in having large families because a man is judged on how many children he has, they also love having girls because then they can ask for “Labolla” from a man who wants to marry their daughter. This is a negotiated price the suitor has to pay to the father before he is allowed to marry the girl. Unfortunately the effect of this system has caused fragmentation of families as numerous unwed mothers had to fend for themselves and their children because the father of the child could not afford the Labolla and therefore the girl’s father would not allow the marriage to take place.

LANGUAGE

In South Africa we have 11 official languages, that does not mean that there are only 11 languages spoken in South Africa, there are many, many more but the present government decided to recognise 11 of the main ones. Not all South Africans can speak 11 languages, in fact most white South Africans can speak either one or two (English / Afrikaans) and have some understanding of an African language, but most black South Africans can speak at least four languages, their own local home language, one of the other African languages, English and Afrikaans.

As the country previously only had 2 official languages some areas of South Africa are predominantly Afrikaans speaking areas (Free State) and others are predominantly English speaking areas (Kwa Zulu Natal).

We do have a communication problem in South Africa because of our diverse backgrounds and languages, therefore we all need to make an extra effort to make sure that when we speak to one another we communicate effectively and afterwards check that we have been understood correctly. All visitors to our country should also follow this advice it will make your stay so much better.

RELIGION

Once again, because of all the different groups in South Africa there are very many different religious beliefs.

Most black South Africans believe that their forefathers intercede for them in the hereafter and in view of this they give their relatives a huge send off when they die and perform many rituals and ceremonies during the time after death and at the actual burial and for many years thereafter. In view of this they do not believe in cremation. They still believe in witchdoctors, sangoma’s, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangoma ) etc. and will go to them to hear what their forefathers say, obtain medical advice and many other needs. The main-stream religions have allowed them to bring their culture into the “church” therefore they have now mixed the two into one where most go to “church” but they still continue with forefather worship.

EDUCATION

The education system in South Africa was good prior to 1994, even though there were separate schools for the various race groups, the children went to school, were taught discipline, values, how to read and write and any child in South Africa could obtain a matriculation certificate if they set their mind to it. Unfortunately this is not the case now, there is hardly any discipline in our schools, the literacy levels have dropped dramatically where a large percentage of learners do not know how to read or write properly, there is a lack of skilled teachers, the administration system within the Education Department has deteriorated so much that forward planning, using funds budgeted for to build and equip more schools, etc. has come to a grinding halt causing either overfull classes with up to 60 students in a class sharing desks or no classes at all where schools have been vandalised and wrecked. There are now a large number of black children who do not have any form of education because of lack of control in the education system.

SKIN COLOUR

In our country’s history we lived separate lives depending on our skin colour and the system was made law and called “Apartheid” which means “separateness”. Every race group lived in their own area, had schools, churches, etc. in their own area and married in their own race group and were able to develop their own way of life further. When this system was abolished it opened up all areas, schools, churches, jobs, etc. for all race groups. A new Constitution was written which gave equal rights to all; unfortunately reverse racism has now become a norm in the country whereby whites have been sidelined in many areas being replaced by unskilled black people, especially in the Government Departments and whites find it extremely difficult to gain employment in this country and most young white South Africans go overseas to find work.

CONCLUSION

As I said at the beginning of this post, it is a huge and complex subject but if you come back to this blog once a week you will slowly learn more and more about South Africa and its people’s and the African mindset.

My advice, for now, to any visitor to this country is to treat each person they meet in South Africa as an individual, do not generalise. As in any other country in the world you have inherently good people and inherently bad people and you should rely on your “gut” feeling when coming into contact with any person.

There are so many good, humble and law abiding citizens in this country but most tourists do not get exposure to them because of the “criminal element” in the country. I will write an article on hints for the tourist shortly so that any traveller coming to South Africa will be a little more equipped to take on the challenges of visiting Africa.

Thank you for your time.

OOPS! ALL OUR DATA HAS BEEN LOST! 30/11/2009

Posted by frostygirl in Uncategorized.
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I apologise to all my readers/followers for the inconvenience caused by the loss of ALL the data on my blog.

Our ISP did not make a backup of  our records and when everything crashed all our hard work over the past few years was lost.

No use crying…..I have only saved a few of my posts on my computer and will therefore re-post some of them over the next few days while a I try and reconstruct my blog from scratch.

Please bear with me!