sandCat in Dubai

Category: South Africa

  • stop whining or something

    Being a South African I am very aware of the fact that we complain a lot, about everything. This is true whether we are still in SA, or living somewhere else. I know this because I personally spent many hours complaining about the SA banks, amongst other things, when living in Johannesburg. Essentially there are 4 main banks that operate in the country, and sometimes it feels a bit like Hobson’s choice when deciding between them. However, since moving to Dubai, I have realised the banks back home are FANTASTIC, not to mention rather technologically advanced, when compared with the choices here.

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  • seriously hot, really, seriously

    We attended South Africa Day here in Dubai on Friday last week, the 1st of May, which was to celebrate Freedom Day in South Africa, which was on the 27th April. Last year the location of this was the Mina Seyahi Yacht Club which must have been lovely. In fact it was a very popular event last year, we even read about it in the local paper in Johannesburg at the time. The food and drink were also fully sponsored last year I believe which may account for the crowds, a great deal of whom, I have subsequently learned, were not even South African. But I digress.

    [drumming at SA Day]

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  • making my mark

    We were one (or two at least) of a couple of hundred South Africans who applied for, and were granted, a special vote for today. This came about after a ruling by the Constitutional Court on the 12th March that citizens living abroad, and registered to vote, had the right to vote in the upcoming April 22 election. The special voting date was set for the 15th of April, along with a cut-off date for special vote applications of the 27th March.

    This follows an application by the Freedom Front Plus on behalf of a Pretoria school teacher working in the UK, as well as representation by the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Democratic Alliance, the A-Party, a lobby group, and an independent group of South Africans living overseas. They had argued that it is their Constitutional right to vote and that limitations in the Electoral Act which meant they did not fall into the certain categories allowed to vote, were unfair.

    From the Mail & Guardian online

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