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
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rankatandcalledtheBELOW(FARlocalPhilandodataxiRIGHTRIGHT)
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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