The Hoodlum of Italy

The summer of 1976 was the fall of bootlegging as you know it, the pharmacies were being attacked at all angels after the death of the king pin Roberto.

Roberto was a poor peasant who grew up on the sores of italy,his parents worked for the ruler of italy king Black Worth. Roberto didn't have the chance to get a formal education like the upper class children of Venice,he had to work at an early age to keep the family afloat,he work 12 hours a day,5 days a week.He would spend his weekends on the farm of Lord Black Worth helping his parents plough the Maize field, he enjoyed working for the Lord not because he enjoyed the perks that came with the job but the mere fact that he would spend time talking with Grace,Grace was the daughter of Black Worth but was nothing like his father, she was full of spirit and love.

Grace and Roberto began to fancy one other as the years went by, but both knew that it could never work out,they knew that her father would not of approve of them due to the fact that Roberto wasn't of royalty, her father had already chose the man who he thought was worthy of marring her daughter.On the West side of italy there lived called a man of power to how he got his power was a Mistry, he was know by the Golden Dagger name after a rear gun which was owned by a few.

The Golden Dagger was in the bootlegging business which was a lucrative market to venture into in the west side if Italy,the east side of Italy was the people who had old money live and the west was the part of italy were new money lived.Lord Black Worth and the Golden Dagger had business relation so they would met after every second sunday at the end of each month and discuss the distribution channel of the drugs into the east.Roberto and Graciano were the people assigned to offload the goods at sea port once they were delivered at the dust of dawn,Graciano was the right had man of Lord Black Worth who knew the ins and outs of the operation. Graciano would make Roberto work alone whilst he had something to drink and take the credit,roberto would listen to Graciano's every word because when he got intoxicated he would spill the beans on how the Golden Dagger and Lord Black Worth ran the operation.

The conversations between Roberto and Graciano were going on for two years straight,he was starting to master the whole operation of the business so he decided to leave the east side of Italy so he could make enough money and marry Grace.He made the decision to leave everything he loved behind to make a better life for himself.The first couple of months were difficult for him to get by due to the fact that he didn't have any connections at that time.The Hoodlum as he was known developed a bigger an stronger demand in the drug industry he want to transport tobacco into the east.

Tobacco was illegal at that time and was merely impossible to transport it on the east side of Italy if you you were caught smuggling it into Lord black Worths land you were hung and given to the dogs a breakfast.Roberto needed some who had the guts to pull this off and along with the connections,the only person who had the law on his side was the Golden Dagger, he was the only person who had access to eastern part of the drug stores.Roberto and the Golden Dagger went into business after 3 months of Roberto working for the Dagger on one condition that he does mention him if he gets caught and they split the profit 50/50,they came to an agreement and started import the tobacco form Zimbabwe and distributed it though out Italy,the Golden Dagger and Roberto made a name for themselves and sat beside the Lords when they feasted.

The eastern officials of Italy were becoming curious on how Roberto made his money because he was living in the lap of luxury but wasn't of royalty.Roberto was living in the lime light not to impress the public but Grace Worth his one true love,he would buy the best of everything even through parties for the upper class people of italy every Fort night hoping he would see her.That was the major reason that tipped of the officials of Italy, he became a major treat to the economy of Italy,they had to caught him out before he became un touchable.

The summer of 1976 was the fall of the empire the police raided the sea port and everything pointed to the Golden Dagger and he was forced to pin point everything to Roberto which saw the Hoodlum bow to his knees and was sentenced to death,his last dying wish was to see his beloved Grace and tell her that he had left everything in his name and he'd never stopped loving her.

MAYBUYE iAFRICA

It is funny how the traits of the apartheid era have been filtered through with music and the rhythms of ethnic tribalism to all be under one, Amandla'' the phrase of the conscious movements of tortured dignity , a starved freedom promised by a dream, that only awoke in melody of freedom . Fear simply had no place where hope touched hearts and lifted the souls in lyric.

Ingoma,the music was the only thing that left the designated people of South Africa with hope.Music was a vital part of the struggle against apartheid, for most it was the only tool in which they could express their pain,the more they sang the better they felt.Life and death was no longer a question that was running through the mind of the individual but the thought of freedom rattled their minds.

Malibuye,Malibuye are the words that bought hope to the black civilians of South Africa.A man wakes up with the hope of being accepted by the other man,peace was the only thing that people wanted.A mother tired of being asked one of the same questions each and everyday,mama why is it we never have enough to eat,mama why are my brothers and sisters killed like dog everyday,mama when is my father coming home and the mother being left speechless not knowing what to say.

Music became powerful after the Soweto uprising which happened in 1976 when the youth of Soweto came out in their thousands to fight against being taught in afrikaans as a medium of instruction.People were chasing freedom leaving their families behind and going to other neighboring countries in exile.During the 1980 sundays were set aside for burials for the youth it became a war so people would put out their weapons which were the Toyi Toyi and song during the time and would flee into the streets rejoicing because they did not want to get demotivated.Music became a huge part of the peoples lives even when the people were sent to be hang they would burst out in song to keep the hope alive.

The hope of a nation was dependent on one man,one voice, the 11 of February 1990 was life changing for everyone across the globe, when Nelson Mandela was released from prison hope was restored.

1994 bought tears to my fellow South African as they came out in their millions going to the polls to vote for the first time in South African history.When they voted on that day they were not casting votes on their behalf but for their fellow brother and sisters who fraught for freedom but did not have the opportunity to witness it.

BRIGHT LIGHT

If I had the chance to do anything differently with our documentaries would be to eliminate all the technical problems we experienced and we would have appreciated if the film makers were able to speak to us before hand to enlighten us on the steps needed to compile a documentary and give us a sense of direction.

As a group we had a lot of expectation with our documentaries which we were not able to fulfill due to the fact that we did not use a mature approach with making our documentary, If we had put aside our personal differences and make sure that we worked together we would of met the deadline.The one thing I noticed with most of the groups we all had high expectations on producing a documentary that would blow everyone's mind away but failed to visualize excellence in the same way.

The reason we could not get the best out of our documentary is the fact that my group members had different goals and ideas on how to execute the documentary and we all wanted to shine not to realize that we were out shining each other instead of working together.This experience has taught me how to tolerate and be patient with people.

There were a lot of gaps within our documentary which we could not fix due to fact that the footage we complied at the UGU Jazz Festival(Portshepston)did not want to upload onto the computers and the software we used for editing,which was a vital part of our documentary.

We were able to get a one on one interview with Sazi Dlamini which didn't go pretty well on our behalf,we didn't come prepared which was visible during our interview the questions we asked were not in-depth,but the answers we received were the total opposite which made it difficult when it came to our editing.

The fact that we were able to show our documentary to professional film makers was a total bonus,we were able to get feedback which resembled the true reflection of our work,which was an enriching experience because we were able to see how the film industry operates.I was surprised to actually find out that Nollywood is becoming huge around the globe and is a major money making market which is expanding on a regular basis due to the fact that they distribute their film on the streets that's were I would like to see our documentary being sold.

I think I speak on behave of everyone in my group,when I say we really grew from this experience and its something in which we all benefited from.Most of us were able to identify our weakness,strengths, opportunities and was a eye opener for all,being a director wouldn't be such a bad choice after all.

Rural Development And Poverty

My first critique of the State of the Nation Address is that it lacked strategic focus and political luster. My novice understanding is that the address actually has a political and strategic purpose in the life (perceived and real)of a nation.

That is why it is delivered by the head of state and not its foot soldiers. It is actually intended to set the political and strategic agenda for the government and parliament, and set the pace for the workmanship. It is meant to give a critique (politically ,economically,socially) of the state of the nation as the name dictates, and then INSPIRE confidence in the government's program to address national interests. It does not simply mean to itemize government activity items (as you would expect in the cabinet memo or programmer of action) but to inspire confidence in government people and strategic program to respond to the nation's need and aspirations.

Activity items are intended to bear evidence of an agenda in motion, and can't dominate an entire address of this nature. Facts/statistics/quotas alone have never changed the hearts and minds of ordinary people like me. The major problem that affects our economy today is poverty and rural development, whilst reading through the State of the Nation Address and the Mail&Guardian i was touched by these issues.The president outlines what he intends to do during the time period as president, but lack going into detail/depth on how he intends doing that.

Using data from a national living standards survey undertaken in late 1993, this paper disaggregates and explores the economics of livelihood generation and class in rural South Africa in an effort to contribute to the ongoing and vociferous debate in South Africa about poverty and its alleviation. Pursuant to the suggestion of participants in a recent participatory poverty assessment poverty assessment, this paper analyzes what might be termed the class structure of poverty. After exploring the range of claiming systems and livelihood tactics available in rural South Africa, the paper offers a first look at who the poor are by disaggregating the rural population into discrete livelihood strategy classes. Non-parametic regression methods are used to then estimate and graphically explore the nature of the livelihood mapping between endowments and real incomes. In addition to identifying levels below the poverty line (the asset basis of poverty), the topography of the estimated livelihood mapping helps identify the constraints that limit household's ability to effectively utilize their constraints, which limit the effectiveness with which those assets and endowments. These results suggest that poverty is a matter of not only having a few assets, but also of constraints, which limit the effectiveness with which those assets are used, and poverty and livelihood policy needs to be designed accordingly.

Growth, development, poverty and inequality

Over the past decade government have ben seen to be increasingly constrained in terms of the actions that they are able to take which promote growth or regulate the ways in which the benefits of growth or regulate the ways in which the benefits of growth are distributed. An inherent belief behind this approach has been that the benefits of the growth would reach the poor through a trickle down effect. All that was needed for successful development was the freeing up of markets and removals of state controls and intervention. Increasingly these views are being challenged from both the perspectives of neo-classical economics and political economy. Experience has also shown the unqualified belief in the market to be incorrect. In many instances, the poor have not benefited from market-oriented microeconomic policy reforms because the underlying institutional context has remained the same.

The question thats running through my mind is that will the president use the same tactics an strategies which were used in the past an improve on those or will he introduce a new way of doing things and will it work in our favor as South Africans.The RDP housing plan has surely helped those certain individuals in South Africa but hasn't made much difference to the majority of the poor people in South Africa,is it wise for the president to continue with this seeing that there are an estimated 1 billion people in South Africa who are homeless as well as very poor and the number is increasing. These people are not only materially poor,they are also often deprived of basic Knowledge about their rights as citizens and as city dwellers. Their own capacity to change their situation. These two aspects of their poverty conspire to reduce the option the perceive as being available to them as human begins. These people are waiting to see if the government will keep there promises and be able to fulfill their needs, will determine if they will take part in the regional elections next year.

Reference: Mail&Guardian online,Google-RDP development/Rural development/poverty and iol.com/scholar(1993-2010).

The road to a better South Africa.

Twenty years ago,we showed the world that we could unite around common beliefs,the South Africa we living in today has transformed an we are now a democratic,non-sexist and non-racial nation.We showed that working together makes a difference in building a better South Africa for our children and grandchildren.

We should again use the remarkable capability of the nation to address the problems that are affecting our economy. But before we do that we should understand as people living today is that nothing starts from nothing ,we as individuals should look at what we doing wrong an identify those small thing so we'll be able to bring change in South Africa.I believe the one thing that affects our judgement as people living in South Africa is that we no longer have a backbone,we can't make our own decisions we are more reliant on other peoples opinions,we are now living in peoples shadows.

South Africa has introduced a new president,Jacob Zuma to stand for the civilians of South Africa an introduce new traits which will put the South African economy to an advantage.I admire that president is taking a new approach in making South Africa a better place,but the question is will this change be for the better or worst, time will tell.When you read through the

Budget speech an the State of the Nation Address you find that there are a lot of promises made such as introducing more jobs that are aimed towards the youth-but the did not specify on how they were going to implement this,improving rural development and sanitation infrastructure,reshaping our cities-will it be worth pumping so much of money into shaping our cities after the 2010 world cup ,townships and informal settlements.Pravin Gordhan speech was impressive over all so was the State of the Nation Address(SONA) but i believe the SONA was not in detail, the president did not go in-depth an specify the departments in which they want to improve,my personal opinion is not enough,i looked at this through the eyes of the public.

Marea Sing on february 18,2010,9:26 am,Mail and Guardian

I hate what Jacob Zuma is doing to the "education" people of this country-exposing their innate weakness and political misguidedness.Mbeki and Zuma called upon South Africa not to trust entirely analysis and media. After the state of the Nation Address ,President Zuma was attacked by opposition parties before consulting with their constituencies. They asked questions whose answers are in the address. I would of said "speech is good,the presenter was bad".Da,COPE,ID and ACDP did not hear Zuma.He made it clear during session in Parliament when he had to answer their questions that their question lack substance and material.He kept referring them to his his address, which obviously did not read before making some how stupid comments.Pravin's speech was well-anticipated and many got disappointed that ANC's appointment has been extremely balanced and intelligent.

Thuthukani Mkhize on February 17,2010,9:15 pm,Mail and Guardian

Anyone spot how little he looked at his notes while he spoke-really impressive,which means he really understands and believes in what he says.On the other hand,Mr Zuma -glued to his notes.

Time will tell if the Government will live up to their promises and if this sudden change will be for the best. An important thing that people should know is that change does not happen over night an we have to work together to make "our" country a better place.(Andile Makhaye)

Reference:Mail & Guardian online;17 February 2010,Comments on Budget speech and State of the Nation Address,Google.