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This letter was received on the 19 December
Ted is a past member of the Club

AFRICAN LETTER 2018

Another eventful year in the land of sunshine. We hoped for a big change after
our illustrious President Zuma finally retired, but just like the premier
football clubs when they dismiss the manager for non performance and
everybody expects instantaneous success when the new manager arrives
and nothing changes, we too understand the situation.

A new president and everyone expected instant change. Even the Rand to
Sterling exchange rate dropped from it’s fairly steady normal of 17.5:i level
to 16:1 and we all breathed a sigh of relief and hope. But lo and behold, like a
team with a new manager often nothing happens, we too had the same
experience, and after a few months of our new President the exchange rate
rose to 19:1 and has now settled at around 18.5:1.

Expect for a more popular President, little has changed: hijackings, house
robberies during the day, murders, rapes and road deaths are still at a high.
A new crime has now arrived: ‘racism’, words used to describe certain people.
“K” and “C” are forbidden and carries a hefty fine, and in a recent case a prison
sentence as well. Fines are in the region of R50 000 –R 60 000, and the
prison sentence 2 -3 years. Mind you, the cases that come onto the news
are usually whites uttering the offensive word. Our illustrious EFF Chairman,
Julius Malema still preaches “hate speeches” and although threatened with
action, little if any is taken.

In a recent case a local referred to the blacks on the beach with their litter
all over (the beach) as monkeys; unfortunately she posted it on facebook for
the world to see. Besides the fine she had to donate R150000 to an African
charity and pay a R5000 fine to stay out of prison . The other case a women
consistently used the ‘k’ word and received a three year prison sentence,
one year suspended and had to donate R100000 to an organization.

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