THEWINNINGLETTERRECEIVESR300.
Lettersshouldbeabout 100 words.WritetousatPOBox653284,Benmore2010,emailus
atletters@drum.co.zaorSMSshortlettersto36489.StartwiththewordDRUMLETTERS.
EachSMScostsR1.
NOTADEATHSENTENCE
Itisnotnecessaryforpeopleliving
withHIVtoliveinfearbecausethe
diseasecanbemanagedsuccessfully
withpropertreatment.
ThestoryWinningtheAidsbattle(
July)abouthowNelisiweMphanzaof
Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal,hasbeen
livingwith HIVsince 2012 should
inspireotherpeopletosticktotheir
antiretroviraltreatment.Andthestory
shouldbea remindertopeoplethat
thisdiseaseisnota deathsentence.
Peoplewhorefusetotaketheiranti-
retroviralswhentheyknowthatthey
areHIV-positivearediggingtheirown
graves.
HIVisnolongerthekillerdiseaseit
oncewas,notsincetheintroductionof
THEPEOPLE’SP IER
W
HATaninspira-
tion Northern
Cape premier
ZamaniSaulis.
Inthisdayand
ageweusually
onlyhearofcor-
ruptionwhenit
comestopoliticians.Soit waswonder-
fultositdownwiththishumbleman
whoisinpoliticsnotforthefameand
glory, buttohelphispeople.
We wouldloveit if allourpoliticians
couldadopthisattitude.Imaginea
SouthAfricawherepoliticalleaders
didmoreforusthanforthemselves?
Wheretheydon’tspendmillionson
luxurycarsandhomes.Whereinstead
theyusethatmoneyforthingsthat
couldimprovethelivesofcitizens?
Turntopage 10 toreadmoreabout
thismanwho’sdoingsuchgreatthings.
Untilnexttime,
THEDRUMTEAM
Wewouldlovetohearyourthoughts
onmattersclosetoyourheartor
[email protected]
whatyouthinkofthearticlesinthisissue.
antiretroviraltreatment.
ANDRIESROROKABINI,EMAIL
SAM’SSADENDING
TherecentpassingofSamMeyiwa,the
fatherofformerBucs iconSenzo
Meyiwa,senta floodoftearsdownmy
cheeks.
The old man died heartbroken,
withouteverfindingclosureonthe
deathofhismurderedson.Hedied
withoutseeinghisson’smerciless
killersbroughttojustice.
Hethoughtthemotormouthformer
policeminister,FikileMbalula,would
haveliveduptohispromisesbyapp-
rehendingtheculprits,but dololo
(nothing)!
Then came the fearlesscowboy
“Ndosi”[policeministerBhekiCele],
whoalsopromisedthatSenzo’scase
wouldbea priority,butnothingseems
tobehappening.
I fearSenzo’smommightpassnext,
becauseit isnoteasycopingwithsuch
a loss–herhusbandandtwosons.
MaySamMeyiwa’sheartbrokensoul
restineternalpeace!
SAMUELRADEBE,HEILBRON
BADTOWORSE
I washopingthatthingswouldget
betterinourcountrybutit seemsasif
thesituationisonlygettingworse,
withunemploymentnowat29%.
Wehavethehighestunemployment
comparedtootherBricscountries.
Whyareourleadersnotlearningfrom
othercountries?
Somethingiswrongwithourstate.
Wealsoleadthelistswiththehighest
crimeandcorruption.
Someofthebanksareabouttore-
trenchevenmoreworkersbutnoone
seemsworriedaboutthat– unlessit is
EskomandtheSABC,whereministers
saywecannotallowretrenchment.
Ourcurrentpoliciesarenothelping
usatall.
ALFREDRADEBE,SMS
Unemploymentisprevalentinour
communities.Themainreasonforthis
isthatthegovernmentdoesnotoffer
enoughjob opportunitiesforour
people.Thereisalsoa lackofenthu-
siasmanddriveamongpeople.
I believethegovernmentcanonly
helpthosewhowanttohelpthem-
selves.
Imagineifsomeoneinyourcom-
munityhada businessideaandwent
ontopursueit– drawingupbusiness
plans, budgets and doing allthe
necessaryresearchtoturnthatidea
intoa detailedandconvincingbusiness
venture.
Next,thepersoncouldproposethis
tointerestedparties,companies,the
mayor,councilsandsimilarbodies.
Ifthebusinesstakesoff,moreindi-
vidualswillbeemployedinthatcom-
munityandthenumberofunemployed
peopledrops.
Nowimagineif thiswasthecasein
allcommunities.
I feellikethisis a strategythatshould
beutilisedtoempowerandenhance
livesinourcommunities.
CONSTANCESILANDA,EMAIL
18 | | 19
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WINNING
THEAIDS
BATTLE
RainAlongGHT)mobEshowelewithMSFclinicthe(ABOVEalsoforclhasnmencand
rankatandcalledtheBELOW(FARlocalPhilandodataxiRIGHTRIGHT)
whichhealthcareisrunworkersbymale
INSETMédecreachedstoresnsinNeltargetsSansEshowesweFrontMphanzasetinKwaZulubyèrestheis(BELOW)UnitedoneNatalofNatthewherehassuccessons NEWS
E
NGLISHis a mediumofinstruc-
tionatourschoolsandit’salso
a universallanguage.
It’simportantourchildren
understandandspeakthelan-
guagefluentlyif theyaretoget
aheadinlife.
Butit’snotacceptableforyoungpeople
touseEnglishtobedisrespectfultowards
theirparentsorgrandparents.
Manyelderlypeoplewhodidn’tgo
beyondprimaryschoolleveldon’tunder-
standEnglishverywell.Whenthey
addresstheirchildren,theyspeakto
themintheirlanguage.
Forchildrentorespondin
Englishis disrespectful.
Childrenneedtoknowthatbeing
bettereducatedthantheirparents
doesn’tmeantheyshoulddisrespect
them.Yourparentsputyouinschool
soyoucanbeemployablewhenyou
graduate.
Continuetoshowthemrespectby
speakingtotheminthelanguagethey
taughtyou,evenif youattendschoolin
town.
PERCYMOFFAT,EMAIL
MINDYOURLANGUAGE
LETTER
OF THE
WEEK
4 | 22 AUGUST 2019 http://www.drum.co.za
ED'S NOTE