Zuma - why should white people like him?

So Nhlanhla Zuma posted a comment on the Witness website in response to an article and comments by a number of people: "[Jacob Zuma] is not going anywhere, JZ is here to stay, whether you like it or not he is going to be the next president of SA. If you do not like him, well pack your bags and catch the next available flight to the UK!"

Ok, there are a couple of things going on here. Firstly, the whole issue of the white man fleeing SA because of the blacks. Secondly, the issue of Zuma as the hope of the nation's majority (black people).

So I'm a white guy, and I like it here. I like the people in South Africa. Most of them anyway. I'm not about to leave because everyone else is leaving. They're leaving because Zuma is going to send this country into die tronks like Zimbabwe. I don't see any evidence of that. All I see is a man with charges against him.

To be honest, I'm not sure whether I like or dislike old Jacob.

I like his demeanour. I like his charm, the way he seems to understand "the people"... as in the real people - the people who put in the elbow grease to make this country work - the workers, the labourers. He chats to them, and they like him for that. Whenever I have heard him speak, he's conducted himself with calmness and generally, a sensible head. Like "we must respect our justice system". That's a good statement.

However, 224 bus loads of people and a bunch of MEC henchmen who rant and rave about Zuma being innocent to the masses doesn't exactly inspire hope in me that Zuma is being heard by the guys that matter - the MECs, ministers and other decision makers.

I'm not sure I like Zuma's silence on certain issues... like Bombshell/Blockbuster Malema. That oke is as thick as two planks. (Why do all the boneheads have big mouths???) Zuma should take him by the scruff and khuluma to that kid about the implications of not thinking beyond the ANCYL. But Zuma hasn't, or at least, it doesn't look like he has.

Beyond the government, I wonder whether Zuma's charisma will extend to the poor. The people who most want him free of court charges and elected as president are those who want houses, more grants, more money... a better life. Will Zuma actually make that happen?

I wonder whether Zuma's influence will extend to change the mindsets of young black men who commit horrible crimes daily. Maybe a black Zulu leader who stands up and says "Don't commit these crimes - there's a better life for you, and this is how you can get it..." will stop some black teenager from swiping a car radio, or killing for a car, or raping someone... maybe if Zuma talks directly to them, it'll make all the difference.

If I were Zuma, that's exactly what I would do. Lead the young black guys. Lead the white guys, like me. Give us hope, give us direction. Speak with authority on the bigger issues and demonstrate that you understand what needs to be done to attain greater freedom and peace in this rainbow nation. And then, by God, DO IT!

The people in this country are desparate for a leader they can trust, a leader who's pioneering, a leader who cares about every race group in South Africa. They want a leader who understands economics and has the moral compass to safely and transparently take the country forward. They want a leader who acts swiftly to attend to difference samong leaders, who strives for unity and who hears the concerns and opinions of all people in the country. They want a leader who inspires hope for everyone in the country.

If Zuma can demonstrate that, he's got my buy-in.

HDTV launch...

Auckland Park in Joburg is always buzzing. It's Thursday night, just after 6pm, and I'm at the launch of HDTV. Champagne on arrival, snacks served and on entry into a large room where old vintage TVs are set up, playing clips from fantastic TV programmes like the Golden Girls, the Cosby Show, Carte Blanche 1988 (when Derrick Watts had ACTUAL hair and Ruda Landman wore shoulder pads)... plus the A-team.


But before nostalgia takes over and everyone gets too plastered on the free cocktails, a curtain at the end of the room unveils a neon hallway. Cue the Enya music, and all 200 people are suddenly in a club-type venue with doof-doof music and swirling disco lights. I feel 18 again. Someone walks up to me and introduces himself. Can't hear a thing. I nod anyway and shake his hand.


Then Mark Bailey (yeah, the Survivor oke), who is MC for the event, dubs his "Mr Incredible" voice and introduces us to some big screen visuals, clips of Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela and Princess Di. The visuals are pretty grainy. But I can see what the set up is. A projector the size of a go-kart is generating the images. Apparently it cost R1,5 million, an insider tells me. Multichoice obviously don't wanna botch up this HD presentation, and hey, what's a few mil for a multi-billion rand company.

Next up is the Parlotones song Colourful over a PA system which has really bad mixing. (Sorry, being a muso, I can't help but notice these things.) Then by far the highlight of the evening for, the Soweto Gospel Choir, singing along to the song playing over the PA system. Spine-tingling stuff. There is nothing like the SGC singing live - it's Africa at its purest, most magnificent.



But back to the HD. Nolo Letele gets up and starts rattling about another "world-class product". Then comes the interesting part: "To take advantage of the Olympics," he says, "we decided to move the launch of HD a month earlier. We have rushed it a bit, so some of the functions won't be available immediately." Obviously the dude didn't study marketing.

"But we have made it possible for HD viewing on people who have PVR decoders already. They can connect to the current PVR," says Letele. Three people clap. "Oh," he says. "Obviously not too many people with PVRs here."

Raucous laughter ensues. But the point is obvious: HDTV, as cool as it is, will remain out of reach for most South Africans.

Mark then goes about a presentation on the big screen as he walks in between the Parlotones performing Colourful.

HDTV varies in its signal source in different continents, but very simply - it works like this:

The systems which broadcast HDTV are defined by three aspects: the number of vertical lines, the scanning system (progressive or interlaced) and the number of frames per second.

SDTV operates on around 570 vertical lines. HDTV typically operates at 780 or 1080 vertical lines. The bottom line is, it looks better.

Regarding scanning - Wikipedia defines progressive scanning as drawing "a complete image frame (all the lines) per image", while "interlaced scanning draws a partial image field (every second line) during a first pass, then fills-in the remaining lines during a second pass". This all gets a bit technical... but essentially what you want to know is what does it look like?

Awesome.