09 November 2002

Northern Hemisphere Rules Seems like, on the evidence of today's international rugby, the balance of power may be shifting to the north. As I write, the Boks are crumbling in a disastrous match in Marseille (22-3 right now, with 2 front-rankers off the field,  and the loose-head and reserve hooker playing out of position).  With the closure of all the bars in the village, I don't have access to Sky Sports, so I am following it live on the Internet, but is now getting depressing - sounds like a thrashing coming up.... [Later: and it was:  30-10, SA's worst-ever defeat to France.  A thoroughly inept display after so much hope of a new beginning] I did manage to catch an earlier match at a neighbour's house, via free-to-air BBC, where a tenacious Irish team achieved an historic victory over world champs Australia, and thoroughly deserved it.  And England achieved a close-fought win over the All Blacks this afternoon too, so the Poms are ecstatic.  So, 3-0 to the Northern hemisphere.  Let's see how things go over the next two weekends, and if this is a trend. [Much later (Sunday):  here's a piece that emphasizes the common thread of forward dominance in all three matches] 11:22:08 PM    comment []

Bizarre fantasy of the 'Karoo Klux Klan' John Carlin of the Independent, a very good reporter, probes in depth the recent uncovering of right-wing Afrikaner plotters in South Africa, which I, and no doubt many other South Africans have tended to dismiss as the preposterous and insignificant fantasies of a tiny minority.  He shows that in fact this is a serious and ambitious plan, and properly focusses on the situation in the rural areas of the country, so different to the easy and confident mixing of the races in the big cities: This has nothing to do with Mandela, but everything to do with the raw, primitive form of apartheid that prevailed for decades in dry, dusty places like Limpopo province. The shocking statistic is this: since 1994 more than 600 white farmers have been murdered in South Africa, compared to 25 in Zimbabwe. And they have been murdered by their black neighbours. .................... Who can blame them? These far-flung regions of South Africa have not succumbed to the Mandela magic. The ancient grievances remain. A sharp edge remains in relations between black and white. The accumulated fears and hatreds have not gone; and, from the point of view of the black people of the countryside, few of whom have seen any change in the appalling material circumstances of their lives, it is not difficult to see why. Food for thought.  Clearly these are more serious and effective plotters than the buffoon Eugene Terreblanche and his ilk.  Probably the the back of the threat has been broken with recent arrests and upcoming court cases.  However it emphasizes a sad feeling I have that real reconciliation and harmony will take decades, and there is a rocky road ahead.  Particularly when one sees how entrenched racist attitudes and practices persist in the United States, which has had full civil rights for 30-40 years. 11:07:40 PM    comment []